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 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924084820277 
 
Our Native Birds 
 
 OF 
 
 lONG AND gEAUTY, 
 
 A. Complete History of all the Songbirds, Flycatchers, Hummingbirds, Swifts, 
 
 Goatsuckers, Woodpeckers, Kingfishers, Trogons, Cuckoos, 
 
 AND Parrots, of North America. 
 
 By 
 
 HENRY NEHRLING, 
 
 Custodian op the Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wis;, Active Member of the American Ornithologists' 
 
 Union, Corresponding Member of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Member of 
 
 the German Ornithological Society of Berlin, Etc., Etc. 
 
 WITH THIRTY-SIX COLORED PLATES AFTER WATER-COLOR PAINTINGS 
 
 By Prof. ROBERT KIDGWAY, Smithsonian Institution and National Museum, Washington, D. C, 
 Prof. A. GOBBING, Leipzig, and GUSTAV MUETZEL, Berlin. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 * milwaukee: 
 George Brunider. 
 
 Vi*^:„ ' 1896. 
 
I 
 
 (3) 
 
 g-ifea 
 
 Copyright, 1896, by H. Nehrling. 
 
 Ali, Rights Reserved. 
 
 ~B^f^ — ^ 
 
 ^ 6 \ t ^ 
 
TANAGERS. 
 
 Tanagridse. 
 
 |NE of the handsomest and most characteristic families of American 
 birds are the Tanagers. "This beautiful group of birds is re- 
 presented in the United States by only five species, one of them 
 being somewhat doubtful as a member of our fauna; but in 
 tropical America, Tanagers form one of the principal elements of a 
 bird-fauna, which for variety has no parallel in any other part of the 
 world. It may interest the reader to know that the five families of 
 Neotropical birds which are represented by the greatest number of species, 
 are absolutely peculiar to America, these families being the Tanagers 
 (Tanagridas) , Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidas) , Wood-hewers {Dendro- 
 calaptidse), Ant Thrushes {Formicariidae) , and Hummingbirds {Trochilidse) . 
 None of these families have even true representatives in any part of the 
 Old World, the Sun-birds {Nectar idiidse), which some have considered as representing 
 the Hummingbirds, belonging to even a different order (Passeres). There are besides 
 those named above, many families of birds, remarkable for brilliant coloring or other 
 characteristics, which are absolutely peculiar to the Neotropical region; prominent 
 examples being the Honey Creepers {Ccerebidse), Manakins {Pipridse), Cotingas 
 {Cotingidse), Puff-birds (Buccotiidfe) , Jacamars {Galbulidse), and Toucans' (iJa/npAasti- 
 dse). In number of species the Hummingbirds take the first rank, with nearly 450 
 known species, while the Tanagers follow soon after, with about 380 species, or nearly 
 as many kinds as are included in the entire land-bird fauna of North America ! With 
 such a multitudinous host ranged under two families alone, the statement seems less 
 remarkable that the grand total of tropical American birds is something like 4,000 
 species, or about one third of all that are known !" 
 
 "In comparison with such boundless wealth of bird-life, the meagre Ornis of our 
 northern continent must seem a well-tilled, if not worn-out, field ; but notwithstanding 
 its comparative sterility, and long cultivation, by numerous devotees, there are more 
 
SCARLET TANAGER. 
 
 things yet to be learned than can be discovered in the life-time of any man. — The single 
 genus of Tanagridai, which properly finds a place in this work, is one of the most 
 typical of the whole family, and includes two of our most brilliant songsters." 
 (R. Ridgway, in "The Ornithology of Illinois." Vol. I.) 
 
 The family is represented in our country by the following genera : 
 
 Genus Piranga Vieillot. Pour species. 
 " Euphonia Demarest. One species. 
 
 SCARLET TANAGER. 
 
 Piranga erythromelas ViEiLLOT. 
 
 Plate XXV. Fig. 1. 
 
 O June ! the month of tnerry song, 
 
 Of shadow brief, of sunshine long; 
 
 All things on earth love you the best, — 
 
 The bird who carols near his nest ; 
 
 The wind that wakes and, singing blows 
 
 The spicy perfume of the rose 
 
 And bee, who sounds his muffled horn 
 
 To celebrate the dewy morn ; 
 
 And even all the stars above 
 
 At night are happier for love. 
 
 As if the mellow notes of mirth 
 
 Were wafted to them from the earth. 
 
 O June! such tnusic haunts your name; 
 
 With you the summer's chorus came. 
 
 P. D. Sherman. 
 
 JUNE, the month of merry song, of fresh verdure, of a proud assemblage of wild 
 flowers in woodland and meadow, of balmy air and a serene sky, has come at 
 last. June is the real spring month in the northern parts of our country. The mornings 
 and evenings now have acquired a delightful temperature, that invites us to rise early 
 in the morning, and to enjoy the balmy breezes of the evening out of doors. The dew 
 hangs heavily on grass and herbage, glittering like innumerable silver jewels. The 
 early flowers, like the hepatica, the pasque-flower, the claytonia or spring beauty, the 
 blood-root, the early dwarf wake-robin ' are now half hidden beneath the dense foliage 
 of the flowers of the summer. The violets and other delicate plants can hardly look up 
 to us from underneath the stately fern" leaves and the almost tropical foliage of the 
 heracleum. The anemones, the flowers of the ground-nut^, and many other heralds of 
 spring are fast fading below the dense shrubbery. In the mixed woods of evergreens and 
 deciduous trees the trailing arbutus and the wintergreen, the creeping snow-berry' and 
 the partridge-berry* are beautiful in their new dress of tender foliage among the old 
 dry leaves and pine needles which cover the forest ground. The voice of the true har- 
 bingers of spring, of the Song Sparrow and the Bluebird, whose tender warblings were 
 
 1 Trillium nivalc. 2 Aralla trifolia. a Cliiogenes liispidula. * Mitcliella repeas. 
 
heard when snow still covered the ground, are now but faintly audible amidst the 
 chorus of louder musicians. All our hopes realized, and we no longer look to the future 
 for our enjoyments, but we now revel in all the pleasures that were so eagerly desired 
 during the dreary winter and in the variable days of early spring. 
 
 A total change has taken place in the aspect of the landscape since the middle of 
 May. The grass in the meadows and the rye and wheat in the fields wave like the 
 billows of the sea, and the glossy corn-leaves, as they tremble in the soft wind, glitter 
 like millions of mirrors in the bright light of the sun. Among the flowers which are 
 now conspicuous in rich woods is the stemless lady's slipper' with its beautiful rosy- 
 purple blossoms, and not far from it we may find the pretty white-veined and reticulated 
 leaf-rosettes of Goodyera repens. The two species of yellow lady's slippers^ are in 
 their full glory now, the elegant flowers burst upon the sight of the rambler as if 
 they had risen up by enchantment. In similar haunts the trientalis, unrivalled in the 
 peculiar delicacy of its flowers, never fails to attra<ft the attention of the lover of 
 nature. This fine plant has an ebony-colored stem and bears a single whorl of pointed 
 leaves, and above this a pretty white flower. The rosy-white flowers of the wild crab- 
 apple have faded away, but diiFerent species of dogwood, wild snowbalP, and white 
 thorns'* are in full flower on the woodland's edge. While we are resting on a carpet of 
 club moss'', we may listen to the enchanting song of the beautiful Rose-breasted Gros- 
 beak, the unrivalled melodies of the Veery, the metallic che-wink of the Ground Robin 
 (Towhee), and the more modest songs of innumerable other birds. In some parts of the 
 country the wild pastures and low grounds abound in rhodoras and azaleas in full flower. 
 The first named plant is a low shrub, its brilliant rose-purple flowers appear late 
 in May or early in June at the extremities of the branches. But the most beautiful of 
 all the flowering shrubs of this month is undoubtedly the kalmia, distributed widely 
 over the Eastern States, with its evergreen leaves. Its fine rose-colored flowers, unique 
 in form and incomparable in beauty, are almost a revelation to the friend of 
 nature. This plant, known in some parts of the country as calico-bush, mountain 
 laurel, American laurel, and spoon-wood, is rendered singularly attractive by the con- 
 trast between its dark green leaves, its rose-purple blossoms of peculiar resplendency, 
 and the whiteness of the flowers of surrounding plants. This shrub by its flowering 
 marks the commencement of summer, and may be considered an apt symbol of the 
 brillant month of June. 
 
 "June is also the month of the' arethusas,— those charming flowers of the peat- 
 meadows, — belonging to a tribe that is mostly too delicate for cultivation. Like the 
 beautifiil: birds of the forest, they were created for nature's own temples." Quite a 
 number of interesting orchids, now in flower, are hidden in the deep mossy dells in 
 the woods, where they seldom feel the direct rays of the sun. All alike they are "con- 
 secrated to solitude and to nature, as if they were designed to cheer the hearts of their, 
 humble votaries with the sight of a thing of beauty that has not been appropriated 
 for the exclusive adornment of the garden and the palace."* 
 
 < Cypripedium acaule. 2 Cypripedium pubescens and C. parviSoram. 3 Viburnum. < Cratxgus. 5 Lycopodium 
 dendroideum. 
 
 * Wilson Flags, "Birds and Seasons of New England." Boston: James Osgood & Co. 1875. 
 
In the gardens many exquisite varieties of the German iris, the showy orange- 
 lily S the glowing oriental poppies, the day-lilies-, the mock-orange, weigelias, snowballs, 
 w^oodbines, upright honey-suckles, deutzias, several clematis, etc., are now in full bloom. 
 
 June is also the month of bird song and bird nesting. Without the birds, these 
 cheerful and charming summer guests, woodland and meadow, field and forest would 
 be w^ithout poetry and life. Even the most delicate songsters have arrived at the 
 beginning of the month. Their songs resound from every nook and dell. Their nests 
 are concealed in every grove and orchard, among the branches of the trees and bushes, 
 or on the ground beneath a tuft of ferns, a bunch of grass, or a small shrub. 
 
 Many of these cheerful summer sojourners are birds of great beauty, but the most 
 beautiful of all is the Scarlet Tanager. Indeed, it is the most elegant and distin- 
 guished of all our northern birds, dressed in rich fiery scarlet, which is relieved on 
 wings and tail by a deep jetty black. Wherever we may chance to see it, especially in 
 the deep green foliage of the w^oods, or on the ground, it is such a conspicuous object 
 that even the most indifferent observer is struck with its beauty. Noble and retiring in 
 its manners, confiding and trustful toward the true friend of nature, sweet in its song, 
 brilliant in its attire, and useful in its destruction of harmful insects, the Scarlet Tana- 
 ger is one of our most valuable birds, well meriting a cordial welcome. 
 
 Of all the species of the family the Scarlet Tanager is distributed farthest to the 
 North, being found in Maine and even in the region of Lake Winnipeg. How far it is 
 found southward during the breeding season, I am not prepared to say. I did not find 
 it in summer in the Ozark region of south-western Missouri. In other southern States I 
 have never met with it except during migration. Col. N. S. Goss reports it as common in 
 the eastern part of Kansas. "In the southern half of Illinois," says Prof. Robert Ridgway, 
 "the Scarlet Tanager, while not an uncommon summer resident in some localities, is 
 decidedly a less abundant bird than his plainer but more musical relative, the Summer 
 Redbird. He is also much more retired in his habits, preferring the high timber of the 
 bottom lands to the upland woods, and therefore brought not so much in contact with 
 the abodes of man." It is found as far west as the Great Plains. I have nowhere observed 
 this Tanager more numerously than in Wisconsin and northern Illinois during the days 
 of my youth. Every beech wood, every maple grove, the mixed woods of white pine, 
 hemlock, and foliage trees, and even the large apple orchards harbored one or more 
 pairs of these exquisite birds. It belongs to my first acquaintances among our birds, 
 and once seen its picture never fades away from the memory. This reminds me of a beau- 
 tiftil passage in Dr. Elliott Coues' "Birds of the Colorado Valley" : 
 
 "One of the best known members of the family is the Scarlet Tanager, whose 
 encrimsoned body, contrasting with wings and tail as black as night, makes him only 
 too conspicuous an object, the never-failing bait to the greed of the mere collector and 
 dealer in bird-skins. I hold this bird in particular, almost supei-stitious, recollection as 
 the very first of all the feathered tribe to stir within me those emotions that have never 
 ceased to stimulate and gratify my love for birds. More years have passed than I care 
 to remember since a little child was strolling through an orchard one bright morning 
 in June, filled with mute wonder at beauties felt, but neither questioned nor understood. 
 
 I Lilium croceum, ' Uemerocallis, 
 
 v.. 
 
A shout from an older companion — 'There goes a Scarlet Tanager!' — and the child was 
 straining eager, wistful eyes after something that had flashed upon his senses for a 
 moment as if from another world, it seemed so bright, so beautiful, so strange. 'What 
 is a Scarlet Tanager?' mused the child, whose consciousness had flown with the won- 
 derful apparition on wings of ecstacy ; but the bees hummed on, the scent of flowers 
 floated by, the sunbeam passed across the greensward, and there was no reply — nothing 
 but the echo of a mute appeal to nature, stirring the very depths with an inward 
 thrill. That night the vision came again in dreamland, where the strangest things are 
 ti-uest and known the best; the child was startled by a ball of fire, and fanned to rest 
 again by a sable wing. The wax was soft then, and the impress grew indelible. Nor 
 would I blur it, if I could— not though the flight of years has borjie sad answers to 
 reiterated questionings — not though the wings of hope are tipped with lead and brush 
 the very earth, instead of soaring in scented sunlight. . . ." 
 
 In northern Illinois the Scarlet Tanagers do not arrive before the last days of 
 May, and in Wisconsin I never observed them before the beech trees had unfolded 
 their tender green leaves. The quiet, plain-colored, unobtrusive females an-ive fully a 
 week later. In south-western Missouri I saw the first males about May 15, and in 
 southern Louisiana, in Florida, and south-eastern Texas I met with the migrants late 
 in April, when the most beautiful tree of our country, the great flowering magnolia 
 (^Magnolia grandiEora), was in full bloom, perfuming the air with the sweetest fra- 
 grance. In spite of its apparently strong constitution the Scarlet Tanager is exceedingly 
 sensitive to cold weather. At its arrival, spring must be in its full glory. Though the 
 air is usually mild, and the woodland in its full summer dress when the Tanager arrives, 
 it often happens in the Northern States that cold, cloudy, and rainy days predominate 
 during the forepart of June. At such times most of the insects are hidden in the crevices 
 of the bark or in other protected places. Warblers, Vireos, and other denizens of the 
 woods seem not to feel the inclemency of the weather. Cheerily they sing among the 
 tree -tops, searching for insects in the crevices of the bark, underneath the leaves and 
 in the flower trusses. At such times our beautiful Tanagers are found sad and silent, 
 with blustering plumage, in a secluded locality in the woods, evidently severely 
 suffering from cold and hunger. It is not uncommon that, during such a cold spell, we 
 find many of the brilliant birds dead on the ground. 
 
 In northern Illinois the Scarlet Tanager's favorable haunts are the upland prairie 
 woods consisting mostly of a dense growth of oaks. It is also found in localities 
 where prickly ash, white-thorns, viburnums, crab-trees, dogwood, and other shrubs and 
 small trees form the outer edge of the woods, especially near rivers and creeks. In 
 places where the Wood Thrush pours forth its sweetest e-o-lie, where the Veery sings 
 in deepest seclusion its enchanting notes, where the Towhee is heard not far away, 
 where the Rose-breasted Grosbeak si«gs its indescribably beautiful notes, where Blue 
 Jays, these gaudy robbers, roam about in the woods, where Wood Pewees, Vireos, and 
 Warblers occur, we may also look for the Scarlet Tanager. As several small Hawks, 
 like the Sparrow Hawk, make the borders of the woods their favorable abode, the 
 male of this species prefers the interior of the woods. The female, which is of a 
 greenish-yellow color, is so perfectly in harmony with her surroundings that she is 
 
 V™ 
 
rarely seen. In places where the Scarlet Tanag^r feels safe, it is sometimes found • 
 in large shade trees, and in northern Illinois I found two pairs in close proximity to a 
 house. One pair was breeding in the large orchard and the other in a beautiful piece 
 of adjoining woodland. The males were often seen together, flying around in the 
 orchard or in the woods, or searching for food or nesting material on the ground. They 
 did not hop about, but sat quietly in one place, flying to another after a short time. 
 It w^as a beautiful sight to observe two of these exquisite birds on the ground under- 
 neath the green trees. They were not shy, allowing a very near approach. Evidently 
 they knew that they were protected, for the owner of the grounds allowed nobody to 
 shoot, to scare the birds, or to rob their nests. Whenever they heard a strange Sound, 
 or the cry of a Hawk, they were almost struck with terror and hurried to the next 
 tree or the densest part of the woods. In the central and northern part of Wisconsin 
 they usually inhabit mixed woods, consisting of beeches, maples, white-pines, hemlocks, 
 and other trees. Although of a gorgeous scarlet, they are not out of place among the 
 sombre evergreens. On this point I find the following passage in Mr. John Burroughs' 
 "Wake Robin" : 
 
 "That bit of light scarlet on yonder dead hemlock, glowing like a live coal against 
 the dark background, seeming almost too brilliant for the severe northern climate, is 
 the Scarlet Tanager. I octasionally meet him in deep hemlocks, and know no stronger 
 contrast iii nature. I almost fear he will kindle the dry limb on which he alights. He 
 is quite a solitary bird, and in this section* seems to prefer the high, remote woods, 
 even going quite to the mountain's top. Indeed, the event of my last visit to the 
 mountain was meeting one of these brilliant creatures near the summit in full song. 
 The breeze carried these notes far and wide. He seemed to enjoy the elevation, and I 
 imagined his song had more scope and freedom than usual. When he had flown far 
 down the mountain-sides, the breeze still brought me his finest notes. In plumage he is 
 the most brilliant bird we have. The Bluebird is not entirely blue ; nor will the Indigo- 
 bird bear a close inspection, nor the Goldfinch, nor the Summer Redbird. But the 
 Tanager loses nothing by a near view ; the deep scarlet of his body and the black of 
 his wings and tail are quite perfect. This is his holiday suit; in the fall he becomes a 
 dull yellowish-green, — the color of the female the whole season." 
 
 The common call-note of both male and female sounds like chip-a-rarce, 
 chip-a-raree. A soft pensive call-note is frequently heard during nesting time and after 
 the young have left the nest, sounding like weed-weed-weed. The song of this bird is 
 very loud, clear, and flute-like, resembling "somewhat that of the Robin in its modu- 
 lation, but is shriller in tone, more hurried, and enunciated with a peculiar wavering 
 style." These words of Mr. Ridgway I can fully corroborate. I have always found 
 much resemblance in the songs of the birds named. Like the Robin the Scarlet Tanager 
 selects a high perch, usually the top of a tall tree, when singing. At certain times a 
 few notes reminded me of the song of the Baltimore Oriole. The bird sings only when 
 the weather is warm and bright, and for a few weeks only. This may account for the 
 fact that so many ornithologists have so little or nothing to say of the Tanager's 
 song, which is really very fine and impressive if heard in the bright and merry days of June. 
 
 * Eastern New York. N, 
 
The nest I have oftenfound in the borders of woods and several times in orchards. 
 It is always built on a horizontal branch of a forest tree and is not easily seen from 
 Delow, being hidden among a dense growth of leaves, and quite often scrieened from 
 view by grape-vines and other climbers. Oaks, beeches, maples, lindens, and, further 
 east, chestnuts are the favorable nesting trees. In orchards they usually select old 
 apple trees for nesting purposes, and, in one case, a nest was found in a belt of Norway 
 spruces planted around a large orchard. The nest is very carelessly built, the material 
 consisting of fine bark-strips, grasses, plant-stems, rootlets, and is lined with delicate bark- 
 strips. The color of the material is light brownish. It is such a loosely built open 
 structure that one can plainly see the eggs from the ground through the bottom of the 
 nest. The eggs, four to five in number, are very delicate and break easily. Their 
 ground-color is light greenish-blue, speckled, blotched and spotted, more or. less densely, 
 with rufous-brown. Some authors say that in the East the Scarlet Tanager is particu- 
 larly fond of swampy places, and that the nest is generally found in low, thick woods, 
 or in the skirting of tangled thickets. This is, according to my observations, not the 
 case in the Northwest. In the localities where I found this Tanager breeding, the nest 
 is usually found with a full set of fresh eggs by the middle of the second week in June. 
 Incubation lasts about thirteen days. Near the nest the brilliant colored male is rarely 
 seen, and I have never observed that the sitting female was fed by him. More in the 
 interior of the woods he is comparatively safe from his enemies. If it becomes necessary to 
 take part in feeding the young, which is often the case in rainy weather, he approaches 
 the nest with caution and stealth, to avoid the betrayal of the location of his family 
 home by his presence.. The female, whose greenish coloration assimilates with the sur- 
 rounding foliage, incubates alone and is only partially assisted by the male in carrying 
 food, to the young. If the nest, however, is invaded or hostily approached, both male and 
 female take part in defending it. It is a beautiiul sight to observe at such an intrusion 
 the gorgeously colored male hop and skip around the observer in company with the 
 entirely different looking female. The young are clad in the same greenish-yellow dress 
 as the female, and the male in July changes his bright colors also and leaves his 
 summer home in the plain dress of the female and young. 
 
 The food consists almost entirely of insects, w^hich are collected from the leaves 
 and flowers of the trees and sometimes taken on the wing. The birds rarely come down 
 to the ground for the purpose of searching for food. June-berries {Amelanchier canadensis), 
 huckle and rasp-berries, and other wild soft fruits of the woods are also eaten, forming 
 no small part of their diet in summer. When food is very scarce, w^hich sometimes 
 happens just after arrival, even some kinds of seeds are not refused. 
 
 Though the Scarlet Tanagers arrive very late at their summer quarters, they are 
 among the first to depart. Late in August they leave Wisconsin, and I have seen, 
 them pass through south-western Missouri September 15. Their winter home is at the 
 West Indies, in southern Mexico, Central America, and South America to Ecuador. 
 
 No bird is so much killed for its beauty than our Tanager. In this connection I 
 quote the following from Dr. Elliott Coues' "Birds of the Colorado Valley" : 
 
 "These birds are famed for the beauty and variety of their coloration, being among 
 those most frequently exhibited in the show-cases of bird-stuffers and milliners, as well 
 
8 LOUISIANA TANAGBR. 
 
 as on the head-wear of fashionable ladies, who have degenerated into walking advertise- 
 ments of wretched taxidermy in their rage for barbaric ornamentation of their persons. 
 The style used to be to wear plumes selected either for their beauty of coloration or 
 their gracefulness of shape; but the itch of savagery has broken out with aggravated 
 symptoms, to be appeased with nothing short of an ornithological museum. I once 
 counted the feathers of no fewer than fifteen different kinds of birds on the dress of an 
 Indian squaw ; but then her alleged husband had one necklace of grizzly-bear claws and 
 another of human finger-tips; and circumstances alter cases, you know^. It seemed to 
 me less singular than the case of another w^oman w^hom I examined w^ith some care 
 shortly afterward, on whose bosom rested a gilt-tipped tiger 's-claw, from whose«ears 
 depended two claw^s of the same animal, in whose hair nested the greater part of the 
 external anatomy of the bird known as the Shite-poke, and to w^hose loins a live 
 poodle-dog was tied by a long blue string. Such a toilet, I think, w^ould be still more 
 effective with the rouge and Uly- white in streaks instead of layers, and a fish-bone 
 through the nose. ..." 
 
 NAMES: Scarlet Tanager, Scarlet Sparrow (Edw.), Canada Tanager (Penn.), Red Tanager (Lath.J, 
 Scarlet Black- winged Tanager (Sw.), Black- winged Redbird. — Scharlachtangara, Tangara (German). — 
 Tangara &arlate (Le Moine), Cardinal de Canada, Tanagra du Canada (French). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Tanagra rubra L. (1766). Pyranga rubra Vieill. (1807). PIRANGA ERYTHRO- 
 MBLAS Vieill. (1819). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Adult male: Glowing scarlet, with black wings and tail. Female: Above, clear olive- 
 green ; below, greenish-yellow ; wings and tail, dusky, edged with olive-green. Young males like the 
 female. They do not seem to obtain their full wedding dress before the third year, for we see many 
 males interminably variegated with colors of both sexes. 
 
 Length, 7.25 inches; wing, 4.00; tail, 3.00 inches. ^ 
 
 LOUISIANA TANAGER. 
 
 Piranga ludoviciana Richardson. 
 
 Plate XX. Fig. 3. 
 
 5vF THIS beautiful bird Dr. Elliott Coues gives the following exceedingly interesting 
 description in his excellent work, "Birds of the Colorado Valley": 
 "Long before Nuttall and Townsend's journey to the Columbia had contributed so 
 many new species of birds to the respective publications of these authors and of Audu- 
 bon, the still more venturesome and memorable travels of Lewis and Clarke had resulted 
 in enriching Wilson's Ornithology with three remarkable novelties — Clarke's Crow, 
 Lewis' Woodpecker, and the Louisiana Tanager. These birds, Wilson says, 'were dis- 
 covered in the remote regions of Louisiana' ; that is, 'the extensive plains or prairies of 
 the Missouri, between the Osage and the Mandan nations,' and were given a 'distin- 
 
guished place' in his work, 'both as being, until now, altogether unknown to natural- 
 ists, and as natives of what is, or at least will be, and that at no distant period, part 
 of the western territory of the United States.' Wilson seems to have handled three 
 specimens of the Tanager, one of which has gone on record as 'Peak's Museum, 
 No. 6236.' With the mutations of politics, and the shifting of political boundaries, the 
 name of the Louisiana Tanager, like that of some other animals called ludoviciana, has 
 become inappropriate; but in maps of the period, the letters 'Louisiana' stretched 
 clear across the present northern boundary of the United States into British America. 
 
 "Wilson had no information to the point, respecting the habits of this Tanager, 
 nor does the locality in which Lewis and Clarke discovered it appear to be known with 
 precision. It was probably farther west than Wilson indicated; for the bird is not 
 known to extend eastward beyond the extreme foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, being 
 a woodland inhabitant to which the prairie stretches offer a barrier not likely to be 
 surpassed. While connected with Lieutenant (now General) G. K. Warren's Explora- 
 tion, Dr. F. V. Hayden took the bird in the Black Hills of Dakota and at Laramie 
 Peak ; these points representing its easternmost extension, for all that we know to the 
 contrary. Westward it stretches to the Pacific, at least in all suitable localities; but 
 its attachment to mountainous tracts is witnessed in its apparent absence from large 
 areas within the general limits of its distribution. It has not been ascertained to 
 penetrate much, if any, beyond the northern borders of the United States; but in 
 the other direction it extends through Mexico, in suitable tracts of country, and 
 into Central America, where Mr. Salvin has found it at elevations of some five 
 thousand feet. 
 
 "It is migratory, like all the- other Tanagers of this country, and withdraws 
 altogether from our territory in the autumn, probably during the latter part of Sep- 
 tember and early in the following month, to re-enter the United States in the month of 
 April. Its summer home or breeding range is coextensive with the whole of our country, 
 as far as latitude alone is concerned, and its winter resorts include a considerable 
 portion of Mexico, as w^ell as of regions farther south. I do not know whether or not 
 any of the birds nestle in Mexico, but presume that some may do so, in higher or 
 northerly portions at least. The general tide of the spring migration, however, brings 
 the species over our border, and distributes the individuals composing it from the 
 mountainous portions of New Mexico and Arizona to latitude 49° north at least, if not 
 a little farther in slightly elevated districts near the Pacific coast. 
 
 "We had no news of this Tanager for a long while after Wilson figured and des- 
 cribed it from the 'frail remains' that Lewis and Clarke furnished him. In editing 
 Wilson's work. Sir William Jardine found it 'impossible to decide the generic station of 
 this bird'; and thought it probable that British collections possessed no example ot the 
 rare species. In fact, the first additional specimens known to naturalists appear to 
 have been those brought in by Nuttall and Townsend ; while the accounts which these 
 naturalists gave are nearly the whole basis of Audubon's article upon the subject. In 
 later times, Drs. Cooper and Suckley came to be our principal authorities on the habits 
 and distribution of the species ; their observations were published in full in the twelfth 
 volume of the Pacific Railroad Reports, or the 'Natural History of Washington Terri- 
 
 2 
 
10 LOUISIANA TANAGER. 
 
 tory,' and the first-named of these authors also gave a supplementary notice in the 
 'Ornithology of California.' " 
 
 "Dr. George Suckley writes as follows: 
 
 "The beautiful Louisiana Tanager is quite abundant in certain seasons in the 
 vicinity of Fort Steilacoom. In 1854 but a limited number made their appearance, 
 while, on the contrary, in the summer of 1856, I have seen about a hundred specimens. 
 I have had frequent opportunities of studying their habits, and have never yet seen 
 them descend to the low bushes or the ground, as stated by Nuttall, the reverse being 
 the rule (at least at Puget Sound). . . . The favorite habitat of the species, in those 
 localities where I have observed it, is among the tall, red fir-trees belonging to that 
 magnificent species, the Abies Douglasii. They seemingly prefer the edges of the forest, 
 rarely retiring to its depths unless for concealment w^hen alarmed. In early summer, at 
 Fort Steilacoom, they are generally seen during the middle of the day sunning them- 
 selves in the firs, occasionally darting from one of these trees to another, or to some 
 of the neighboring white-oaks {Qnercus Garryana) on the prairies. Later in the season 
 they may be seen actively flying about in quest of insect food for their young. On July 
 10, 1856, I saw one of these birds carrying a worm or insect in its mouth, from which 
 I inferred that the young were then hatched out. Both sexes, during the breeding 
 season, are much less shy ; the males during the day-time, frequently sitting on some 
 low limb, rendering the scene joyous with their delightful melody." 
 
 "The records just mentioned, to which that left by the late Mr. J. K. Lord, fi-om 
 observations in the extreme North-west, may be added, represent nearly all the w^ritten 
 history of the beautiful bird — one conspicuous even among this brilliant family for the 
 striking color contrasts w^hich the rich yellow, intense crimson, and jet-black afford — 
 down to a most recent period. Within the past few years, Mr. Allen, Mr. Ridgway, 
 Mr. Henshaw, and Mr. Trippe are among those who have contributed to the fiill 
 exposition of the economy of the species. The memoranda of both the first and last- 
 named of these gentlemen already enrich the pages of the 'Birds of the North-west,' 
 through the personal attentions of these valued correspondents of mine. 
 
 "In southern Colorado, Mr. Henshaw found the Louisiana Tanager in small num- 
 bers among cotton-w^oods along the streams, at an elevation of about 7,500 feet, and 
 much more abundantly among the pines, up to 9,000 and even 10,000 feet above sea- 
 level. He afterward observed that it was common in southern Arizona, and found it 
 lingering along the Gila River even so late as the middle of October, at which time 
 nearly all these birds had migrated southward. As others had done, he noted the close 
 similarity that obtains between this and the Scarlet Tanager: — 'It is busy the whole 
 time gleaning from among the pines and spruces the larger beetles and insects which 
 infest them, and generally keeps well up among the higher branches, whence it makes 
 its presence known by occasional bursts of melody." 
 
 In the fourth volume of the "United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth 
 Parallel. Clarence King, Geologist in Charge," I find the following excellent account on 
 this bird by Prof Robert Ridgway: 
 
 "This beautiful Tanager, one of the most brilliant of western birds, was found to 
 be very generally distributed through the wooded portions of the route traversed, except- 
 
ing in the valley portions of California, none having been seen from Sacramento east- 
 ward until well into the pine forest of the Sierra Nevada. It was first observed in the 
 w^estem portion of that range, at an altitude of about 5,000 feet, its song first attract- 
 ing attention, from its extreme similarity to that of the Scarlet Tanager, of the East. 
 From this point eastward it was met with in every wooded locality, being much more 
 firequently seen on the mountains than along the rivers of the lower valleys. In May, 
 soon after their arrival from the South, these Tanagers were very numerous in the rich 
 valley of the Truckee, near Pyramid Lake, where they were observed to feed chiefly on 
 the buds of the grease-wood bushes (Obione confertifolia), in company with the Black- 
 headed Grosbeak and Bullock's Oriole. Very few were seen later in the season, however, 
 nearly all having departed for the mountain woods. During July and August it was a 
 common species on the eastern slope of the Ruby Mountains, where it inhabited the 
 groves of cedar, nut-pine, and mountain mahogany ; while from June to August it was 
 an abundant bird in the pine forests of the Wahsatch and Uintah ranges. In September 
 they w^ere noticed to feed extensively on the fruit of the Crataegus rivularis, in company 
 with the Red-shafted Flicker, Gairdner's Woodpecker, the Cedarbird, and the Cross-bills. 
 
 "In its habits this species is almost a perfect counterpart of the eastern P. erytbro- 
 melas, while its soflg is scarcely distinguishable, being merely a slightly finer, or more 
 silvery, tone; but the ordinary note, sounding like plit'-it, is very different from the 
 chip'-^-ra, ree of the eastern species. The note of the young is quite peculiar, being a 
 low whistle, something like the complaining call of the Eastern Bluebird, but louder." 
 According to Dr. Elliott Coues, the same ornithologist found a nest and eggs of 
 the Louisiana Tanager in Parley's Park, Utah, on the 9th of June, 1869. This nest, says 
 Dr. Brewer, 'was on the extreme end of a horizontal branch of a pine, in a grove, flat, 
 and with only a slight depression having a diameter of four and a half inches, with a 
 height of only an inch. It was composed externally of only a few twigs and dry wiry 
 stems, and lined almost entirely with fine vegetable rootlets.' Such description of the 
 nidification shows that the nesting is quite the same as that of the Scarlet Tanager. 
 A set of eggs collected by Mr. Ridgway, and examined by me in the National Museum, 
 differs noticeably from those of other Tanagers of this genus, the ground-color being 
 much clearer green, and more sparingly marked by mere dots of very dark purplish- 
 brown. A few points appear over the whole surface, but the tendency of the markings 
 is to aggregate at the larger end, where the spots nevertheless remain perfectly distinct, 
 though so numerous. In size and shape, these eggs are not very different from those 
 of the Scarlet Tanager, though appearing rather more rounded if not actually larger. 
 Dr. Brewer's measurements give a length of 0.95, with a greatest breadth of 0.66; eggs 
 of P. erythromelas, he states, range from 0.90 to 1.00 in length, with an average 
 diameter of 0.65. The number of eggs laid by the Louisiana Tanager is said by the 
 same author to be usually three; but as the number of instances from which this 
 average is deduced is not stated, we are free to infer that the clutch may ordinarily 
 consist of four or five eggs, as is the case with the Scarlet Tanager. 
 
 "Thus it seems to be established that the habits and manners of the Louisiana 
 Tanager differ in no wise from those of the Scarlet Tanager, and that its singing and 
 nesting are much the same, though there may be some peculiarity of its call-note, and 
 
 _y 
 
12 SUMMER REDBIRD. 
 
 though the eggs, to judge from the few that have fallen under the notice of naturalists, 
 are recognizably diiferent. It is scarcely necessary, therefore, to add my own experiences 
 with this bird: these would only confirm the conclusions draw^n from what has gone 
 before. But in closing another chapter of the 'Birds of the Colorado Basin' — a w^ork 
 that has haunted and besought me for a decade of years, since the destruction of 
 my old Arizona manuscripts, as a spirit that would not be laid, and is now^ become 
 embodied — I am happy to recall, with something of its early freshness, the picture of 
 this brilliant bird, set in the sad-hued fohage of the pine trees, just as a sunny spot 
 breaks here and there amongst the closely-crowded memories of a sombre past. (Coues.) 
 
 NAMES: Looisiana Tanager, Crimson-headed Tanager. — Louisiana Tangara (German). — Pyranga h face 
 rouge (Vieill.). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Tanagra ludoriciana Wils. (1811). PIRANGA LUDOVICIANA Rich. (1836). 
 Pyranga erythropis Vieill. (1819). Pbcenicosoma ladovicianum Giebel (1876). Tanagra colambiana 
 Jard. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Male: Yellow; the middle of the back, the wings, and the tail black. Head and neck all 
 round strongly tinged with red; least so on the sides. A band of yellow across the middle coverts, 
 and of yellowish-white across the greater ones; the tertials more or less edged ■with whitish. 
 Female: Olive-green above, yellowish beneath; the feathers of the interscapular region dusky, mar- 
 gined with olive. The wings and tail rather dark brown, the former with the same marks as the 
 male. 
 
 "Length, 7.25 inches; wing, 3.60; tail, 2.85 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 SUMMER REDBIRD. 
 
 Pirangra rubra ViEiLLoT. 
 
 Plate XIX. 
 
 "O AMERICAN city known to me is so rich in fine shade-trees and subtropical 
 W^ plants than Jacksonville, Florida. Although the grayish-white sandy soil looks 
 very unproductive, the avenues of shade-trees, consisting mostly of water-oaks and some 
 magnolias, are hardly surpassed anywhere in the South. Large and broad, densely set 
 with foliage and spreading branches, these magnificent oaks lend a great charm to the 
 city. It was a fine day early in April when I for the first time strolled through the 
 most beautiful part of the city. Only a few days ago I had admired the luxuriant 
 camelhas and Indian azaleas at Pensacola and the wealth of roses at Tallahassee; I 
 had roamed about in the woods of the Chattahoochee and Suwanee rivers, where many 
 strange and beautiful plants were first seen and admired. But here at Jacksonville 
 many of the most exquisite shrubs and trees of the southern temperate zone and the 
 tropics were seen in the gardens and pleasure grounds. Dense pittosporums S gardenias, 
 
 I Plttosporum iobira. 
 
W"'-: 
 
 
 
 1^ "r 
 
 '■■■ .'■ '•'*•,»- " 
 
 g^^ ,;.,,^ ^^ ^.. 
 
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 CH- 
 
 :fe::;ir^. 
 
 
 ^n^mm^ 
 
 -^ 
 
 ^^r^'"^ 
 
 P^ 
 
 hi ^^ 
 
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 ■\ . -^:C 
 
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or Cape jastnines covered with their glossy green leaves and double -waxy- white, 
 deliciotisly scented flowers, banana shrubs S unrivalled in the sweet perfume of their 
 blossoms, sweet olives^ with their insignificant but exceedingly fragrant blooms, golden 
 dew-drops^, camphor trees, magnolias, orange trees in fruit and blossom, climbing 
 allamandas, star jasmines*, and many other evergreen shrubs, trees, and vines were 
 found growing in the sandy soil in luxuriant profusion. Sago palms ^, bamboos, the 
 indigenous cabbage and saw palmettos, Cocos australis and several species of date 
 palms impart to these grounds a decidedly tropical appearance. This morning's w^alk 
 in the bright sunshine and salubrious air made a deep and lasting impression upon my 
 mind. Near one of the most tastefully arranged gardens, replete with Magnolia fuscata 
 and other choice shrubs, I stopped to admire the beds of beautiful amaryllis {Hippe- 
 astram equestre and its larger and more dazzling variety H. equestre "Hedwig," H. 
 Johasonii, H. Graveana, H. crocea, and other hybrids), the masses of spider lilies °, the 
 immense clumps of crinums^, and especially the gigantic stem-like bulbs of the St. John's 
 lily', and of two other species', the lily -like flowers of which are deliciously fragrant. 
 While I w^as still enjoying the pleasure of gazing at these floral treasures, I heard 
 a well-known Thrush-like song coming from the top of a large magnolia standing in 
 the same grounds. When I looked up, my eyes beheld the beautiful Summer Redbird, 
 or Summer Tanager, a bird which I knew well, having frequently observed it in Texas, 
 Louisiana, and other southern States, but which I had never seen in the immediate 
 neighborhood of the crow^ded streets of a city. 
 
 During the next few days I saw this bright colored bird quite often among the 
 large oaks and magnolias of the city, but nowhere had I such a good opportunity to 
 observe it than near the home of a friend of mine at St. Nicholas, just opposite Jackson- 
 ville. Before we reached his residence we had to pass through a park-like piece of wood- 
 land, at the entrance of which groups of yuccas or Spanish daggers^" were planted. 
 The magnificent Magnolia gra,ndi£ora, loblolly bays, live and w^ater-oaks, sweet 
 gums", red bays'^, and other trees shaded the ground. The underwood was mostly 
 cleared away, but here and there were found thickets of sparkle-berry*', swamp honey- 
 suckle", clethras, hollies, snow-drop trees *^ sweet-leaf bushes *°, and many others; these 
 thickets were frequently overgrown with Carolina jasmine and cross vine". In these 
 grounds the birds, are always protected and find a congenial home. When I entered this 
 piece of woodland I still met large numbers of Juncos, White-throated and White- 
 crowned Sparrows, several Towhees, Catbirds, and many Warblers. Mockingbirds were 
 heard from all sides, singing their sweetest as well as their most peculiar strains, while 
 the loud and ringing notes of the Cai^dinal Redbird, sounding like what cheer! what 
 cheer! what cheer! came from all the dense thickets of holly overgrown w;ith smilax 
 and Carolina jasmine. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were carrying lichens to their nests. The 
 elegant Painted Bunting was to be found in every thicket. In these woods I heard 
 the songs and call-notes of many Summer Tanagers. Perhaps most of them were on 
 
 1 Magnolia fiiscata. * O/ea fragrans. » Daranta Flumieri. * Rbynchospermum jasminoides. = Cycas revoluta. 
 G Hymenocallis caribsea. ^ Crinum asiaticutn, H. erabescens, C, scabrum, C. capense, C. zeylanicum. 8 Critium pedan- 
 culatam. » C. angastam, C. amabile. lo Yucca aloifolia, Y. gloriosa, Y. Slamentosa. ii Liquidambar styraciHua. 
 12 Persea carolinensis. is Vaccinium arborea, ^* Azalea viscosa, 15 Halesia tetraptera. le Symplocos tinctoria. 
 f Bignonia capreolata. 
 
14 SUMMER RBDBIRD. 
 
 their way to more northern latitudes, the breeding range of these birds extending north- 
 ward to about 40°. Central Illinois, Ohio, and New Jersey seem to be the northern 
 boundary line of their summer home. The real home of the Summer Tanager, however, 
 are the Southern States, especially those bordering the Gulf of Mexico. In south-eastern 
 Texas they abound especially in localities where groups of sweet gum alternate with 
 long-leaved pines and oth^r trees. I found them still more common on the edges of the 
 post-oak woods in Lee County of the same State. As soon as the young are able to 
 leave the nest, they are led into the interior of the forest, where I always met them in 
 the large and lofty trees of the bottom woods. In the south-west comer of Missouri 
 they are often met, and according to the late Col. S. N. Goss they are common summer 
 residents in eastern Kansas. West they are found to the Great Plains. According to 
 Dr. C. H. Merriam they occur north regularly to the Connecticut valley. The majority 
 winter in Cuba, eastern Mexico, and Central America, many migrating even into the 
 tropics of northern Southern America. In the south-western part of the country the 
 Summer Redbird is represented by a variety known as Cooper's Tanager {Piranga 
 rubra cooperi Ridgw.). 
 
 Although very beautiful, the Summer Redbird cannot vie with the Scarlet Tanager 
 in intensity and splendor of colors. The ground-color is a very fine rosy vermillion, 
 darkest and mixed with dusky on wings and back. It is a beautiful sight to 
 watch the male when he sings in the top of a flowering magnolia or a loblolly bay, or 
 among the branches of the southern pines. The female is quite different, being greenish- 
 olive on the back and dull buffy-yellow below. Our plate (XIX), made after a beautiful 
 water-color painting by Prof. Robert Ridgway, renders a more detailed description 
 needless. In this connection I cannot refrain from saying that this is one of the most 
 beautiful pictures of the genial artist and ornithologist, whose paintings rank among 
 the very best, being always natural and at the same time ideal and full of poetry. The 
 back-grotmd of the picture represents a part of the woods on the lower Wabash in Illinois. 
 
 During a five year's residence in Texas and other parts of the South I had the 
 best opportunity of studying the habits of this Tanager. According to my observations 
 the birds always choose their haunts in rather dry than in wet and swampy localities. 
 Near Houston, Texas, they were found usually in the beautiful laurel oaks, magnolias, 
 elms, button wood, sweet gum, and other large growing trees. I also observed the 
 bird frequently in the monotonous post-oak woods between the Colorado and Brazos 
 Rivers. In the groups of live-oaks in the prairie regions of Texas I have never seen 
 this Tanager. Its haunts are always in the upper "stories of the woods," where Vireos 
 are its constant neighbors. Below, in the bushes and thickets. Cardinal Redbirds, 
 Blue Grosbeaks, and other songsters have their home. 
 
 Like the Scarlet Tanager, the Summer Redbird is one of the latest arrivals in its 
 breeding range. In south-eastern Texas and in Lee County of the same State the males 
 arrive usually from April 1 to April 10, and in south-western Missouri fi-om April 30 
 to May 17. If the weather be cold, they arrive late, if pleasant, they may be expected 
 from ten to fifteen days earlier. 
 
 According to Prof. Robert Ridgway the male requires several years to attain the 
 full plumage, immature individuals showing a mixture of red and yellow, in relative 
 
SUMMER REDBIRD. ■ 15 
 
 proportions according to the age. Some females show more or less of red, one observed 
 May 21, 1881, at "Wheatland, Indiana, having the plumage more than one half red, the 
 red color being of greater extent, in fact, than on the male, which was also procured 
 at the same time. The tint of the red is very peculiar, however, being of dull Chinese 
 orange, instead of pure rosy vermillion, as in the male. 
 
 "In at least the southern half of Illinois the Summer Redbird is an abundant 
 species in dry upland woods. It is moreover a very familiar species, nesting habitually 
 in trees along the road-sides and even in the midst of towns. For this reason it is 
 much more frequently seen than the Scarlet Tanager, of which it is supposed by many 
 people to be a variety or special plumage. Besides being a more abundant and familiar 
 species, its notes are much louder. The ordinary one sounds like pa-chip-it-tut-tut-tut, 
 or, as "Wilson expresses it, cbickjr-chuck-chuck. The song resembles in its general 
 character that of the Scarlet Tanager, but is far louder, better sustained, and more 
 musical. It equals in strength that of the Robin, but is uttered more hurriedly, is more 
 'wiry,' and much more continued." (Ridgway.) I have almost daily heard this Tana- 
 ger's song in the latter days of April, in May, and often in June, and I can fully con- 
 firm what Mr. Ridgway says of it. To my ear it is a very exquisite, finely modulated, 
 and musical strain. 
 
 Mr. "Wm. Brewster expresses his opinion of the song in the following words: "In 
 the thicker groves I often heard the voice of the Summer Tanager. His song is rich, 
 flowing, and not unlike that of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, although some of his notes 
 recall those of the Robin. The call-note used by both sexes is a peculiar chuckT- 
 chuckTut. The bright colors of the male make him a conspicuous object amongst the 
 branches of the southern pine which, at least in Georgia, is his favorite tree." 
 
 In Texas I found the nest usually in the lower limbs of post and laurel oaks, 
 about 8 to 25 feet from the ground. It is usually built in the smaller branches, near 
 the extremity of the limb, and so far from the trunk, as to be very difficult of access. 
 It is a very carelessly built structure, composed of bark-strips, a few grass-stems, and 
 pieces of leaves, the walls being so thin, that the eggs can be seen from below. Most 
 all the nests were found in the middle of May. 
 
 "In southern Illinois," says Prof Ridgway, "the nest is usually placed near the 
 extremity of a horizontal branch of an oak tree (preferably a white or post oak), 
 alongside the edge of a wood, trees standing by a road-side being frequently selected. 
 The height at which it is placed varies, usually from twelve to twenty feet above 
 the ground, although the writer found one which was nearly thirty feet up. Its average 
 elevation is such that a man standing upon the seat of a wagon could easily reach, 
 either with his hand or whip, the majority of them. The nest is a thin and shallow 
 but very finn structure, composed of loosely interwoven wiry grass-stems, often with 
 the seed panicles attached, and is so thin that the eggs can almost always be seen by 
 one standing underneath the nest. The eggs are usually three in number, and are 
 similar in color and markings to those of the Scarlet Tanager, but somewhat 
 larger." 
 
 In most of the nests which I examined in Texas and Missouri, four eggs formed 
 a complete set. The ground-color of the eggs is a light emerald-green, spotted 
 
16 SUMMSR HEDBIRD. 
 
 and blotched with brown, lilac, and brownish-purple. They are not with any certainty 
 distinguishable from the eggs of the Scarlet Tanager. 
 
 The food of this Tanager consists mainly of insects. Later in the season, when 
 the different wild berries ripen, these constitute a large part of their diet. In Texas 
 they are exceedingly fond of ripe sweet figs. At one time I counted about twelve of these 
 birds in one large fig tree. Two of them were caught, and I kept them a considerable 
 time in the cage, caring for them in the same way as I did for my Bluebirds and Mock- 
 ingbirds. They became very tame, taking worms, flies, and berries out of my hand. 
 
 When taking my regular woodland walks in July, August, and September in the 
 beautiful bottom woods traversed by the West Yegua, I often heard the peculiar ^unds 
 or call-notes of these Tanagers, sounding like chicky-'chucky-chuck, and coming firora the 
 tops of the tallest trees. 
 
 By the middle of September the Summer Redbirds leave the Southern States for 
 their winter home, all in the inconspicuous dress of the old female. 
 
 The Summer Redbird has many enemies. The Cowbird frequently deposits one or 
 two eggs in its nest. The Tanager's own brood is lost thereby, while the parasite 
 leaves the nest of its foster parents in the very best condition. Blue Jays, squirrels, 
 opossums, raccoons, and more especially snakes only too fi-equently destroy the eggs and 
 devour the young. But the worst enemy of our beautiful bird is man. Its glowing 
 garb makes it the target for the common skin collector. The imp of fashion and the 
 morbid desire of many people to have a collection which does not benefit them, because 
 they are neither friends nor students of birds and their ways, cause this beautiful 
 bird to become scarcer from year to year, particularly in the northern part of its 
 summer home. In the glass-cases of milliners and in the show-windows of taxidermists 
 and their customers the Summer Redbird is regularly seen in company with its congener, 
 the Scarlet Tanager, the Baltimore Oriole, and other beautiful native birds. These 
 bright colored birds, so lovely and attractive in our landscapes, are no longer safe 
 there; death and destruction lurk everywhere. Even during the breeding time, when 
 the young brood is in the nest, these birds are being ruthlessly shot. Feeling for, and 
 true enjoyment of the beauties of nature, real enthusiasm for our native omis, are 
 beyond the conception of the average bird-collector. I know quite a number of such 
 destroyers of nature's beauties who annually murder hundreds and even thousands of 
 our small birds, at the same time carrying off their nests and eggs, persons who are unable 
 to tell the correct names of fifty and barely the correct scientific name of a single 
 species. Works of our great ornithologists, like Wilson, Audubon, Nuttall, Baird, Coues, 
 Ridgway, Merriam, and the publications of the American Ornithologists' Union are 
 hardly known to them by name, but they diligently read papers printed for skin and 
 egg collectors, or journals of that ilk. If a collection has been gathered, it is sold, and 
 in the following year a new collection is made. It is for good reasons that the Ame- 
 rican Ornithologists' Union does not permit into their ranks the average collectors and 
 dealers in bird-skins, and that this society appointed a committee for the protection 
 of birds. To the ornithologists we are indebted for the good laws for the protection of 
 birds in different States. The true ornithologist is also the true friend of the birds, and 
 he does everything in his power to have his feathered friends protected. 
 
Cooper's Tanager; Piranga rubra cooper! Ridgw., inhabits the south-western 
 portion of the United States and western Mexico. Dr. Coues observed it at Los Pinos, 
 N. M. and Dr. Cooper at fi'ort Mojave. It has also been found by more recent 
 collectors, especially in Arizona. In its ways and habits it is the true counterpart 
 of the Summer Tanager. It is brighter in its colors than the species. 
 
 NAMES: Summer Redbird, Summer Tanager, Flaxbird, Red Beebird (Ridgw.), Redbird. Mississippi Tana- 
 ger (Lath.), Variegated Tanager (Lath.). — Sommbr-Tangara (Nehrling), Sommer-Rotvogel (German). 
 —Mississippi-Merle (Brehm), Pyranga rouge (Vieill.), Tangara vermilion (Le M.). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilta. rubra Linn. (1758). PIRANGA RUBRA Vieill. (1807). Tanagra estiva 
 Gmel. (1788). Pyranga asstira \ieil\. (1819). Phaenicosoma «stiva Cah. (1850). Tanagra missis- 
 sippensis Gmel. (1788). Pyranga misslssippensis Max v. Wied (1858). Merula marilandica Bartr. 
 (1791). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Bill, nearly as long as the head, without any median tooth. Tail, nearly even, or slightly 
 rounded. Adult male: Rich vcrmillion-red, the upper parts duller and darker. Bill, varying from 
 light pinkish, more salmon-colored on mandible and darker on culmen, to wax-yellow, the maxilla 
 more olive, with darker culmen; feet, lilac-gray. Adult female: yellowish-olive above, light ochre- 
 yellow beneath. Bill, etc., as in male." 
 
 Total length, 7.45 to 7.95 inches; extent, 11.50 to 12.25; wing, 3.70 to 3.95; tail, 2.90 to 3.15 
 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 HEPATIC TANAGER. 
 
 Piranga hepatica Swainson. 
 
 .N THIS Tanager of the .southern Rocky Mountain region, I find the following 
 account in Dr. Elliott Coues' celebrated w^ork "Birds of the Colorado Valley" : 
 "During Capt. L. Sitgreaves' expedition down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers 
 —an excursion well known to ornithologists through the important articles on birds 
 which forms part of the published report— Dr. S. W. Woodhouse observed this beautiful 
 Tanager in the San Francisco Mountains, and secured a fiill-plumaged male, adding to 
 the then recognized fauna of the United States a species long before described by Mr. 
 Swainson as a bird of Mexico. In 1858, Baird recorded a second specimen from Fort 
 Thorn, New Mexico; and, in 1866, I wrote of the bird as a summer resident in the 
 vicinity of Fort Whipple, Arizona, where it arrives during the latter part of April. 
 In 1874, Dr. Brewer spoke of Woodhouse's original as the only specimen known at 
 that time to have been found within the limits of the United States, adding, by a still 
 more curious lapse, that the species 'probably' extended into the mountainous portions 
 of the United States. 
 
 "Meanwhile, however, in 1873, Mr. Henshaw had been busy with birds in Arizona, 
 and had taken a female specimen at Camp Apache, Arizona, as noted by Mr. Ridgway 
 in the appendix of the work last mentioned. There this Tanager was not rare; perhaps 
 half a dozen individuals were seen in the course of one afternoon, in a grove of oaks 
 
18 HEPATIC TANAOm. 
 
 that skirted some pine woods. The birds were very shy, and seemed to be gleaning 
 insects amidst the foliage of the oaks. The following year, when Mr. Henshaw was 
 again upon the spot, he made the Tanager out to be an abundant inhabitant of the 
 pineries, and his observations represent nearly all that we know of its habits. At the 
 date of his enquiries into its mode of life, July 12, it was doubtless nesting; but he was 
 not successful, after a long search, in discovering the nest, though he carefully w^atched 
 the birds as they moved about the tops of the pines in their search for insects, occasion- 
 ally sallying out to capture them on the w^ing. He heard no song, nor indeed any 
 notes w^hatever, excepting the call-note of both sexes, resembling a repetition of the 
 syllables chuck, chuck. . . . Some old nests which Mr. Henshaw^ found at Rocl^ Canon 
 closely resembled those of the Scarlet Tanager in their situation and structure, being 
 composed mainly of coarse rootlets and dried plant-stems, w^ith lining of similar but 
 finer materials; and the rather slight unsubstantial fabrics were placed at the end of 
 low horizontal branches of oaks. During the latter part of August, the birds seemed to 
 leave the pine woods and to become more generally dispersed, some among the deciduous 
 trees along the streams, but the majority amidst groves of oaks. They all appeared to 
 have left for the South by the end of September. 
 
 "The known range of the Hepatic Tanager in the United States is thus limited to 
 a small portion of our western territory, in the Colorado Basin, and near the Mexican 
 boundary line. In the opposite direction, the record I have compiled shows that the 
 bird has been found as far south as Guatemala, and in various Mexican localities, as 
 Orizaba, Xalapa, Oaxaca, and elsewhere." 
 
 NAMES: Hepatic Tanagek, Liver-colored Tanager.— Rotbraune Tangara (Nehrling), [German]. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: PIRANGA HBPATICA Swainson (1827). Phosnlcosoma hepatica Cab. (1850). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Ad'ult male: Above, dull red, strongly tinged with grayish on back, etc.; lower parts, light 
 vermilHon, strongly shaded on sides and flanks with brownish-gray; ear-coverts, dull grayish-red, or 
 reddish-gray, narrowly streaked with white. Adult female: Above, olive-green, the back more grayish; 
 beneath, olive-yellow, strongly shaded with olive on sides and flanks. . . . 
 
 "Length, 7.30 to 8.20 inches; wing, 3.70 to 4.20; tail, 3.20 to 3.60 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 Blue-headed Euphonia, Euphonia elegantissima Gray. This beautiful bird has 
 been ascribed to our territory, but on insufficient evidence of its actual occurrence within 
 our borders ; it was originally described by Prince Bonaparte as a bird of Mexico, and 
 shortly afterward Mr. J. P. Giraud figured it as one of his sixteen new species of birds 
 of Texas. As far as I know it has never been observed by Dr. J. C. Merrill or Mr. 
 Sennett in the region of the lower Rio Grande of Texas. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male. Top of head and hind-neck, uniform light blue; forehead, dark rusty or 
 chestnut, margined behind by black; rest of head and neck, with upper parts generallj', unifjrm 
 glossy blue-black, inclining to purplish steel-blue; lower parts (except chin and throat), plain orano-e- 
 rufous. Female. Top of head colored as in the male ; upper parts, oHve-green ; lower parts, including 
 chin and throat, paler and more yellowish olive-green. 
 
 "Length about 4.70 inches; wing, 2.76; tail, 1.80 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
Finches, Sparrows, Etc. 
 
 Fringillidas. 
 
 INCHES, Sparrows, and like birds are distributed over all the 
 world. We find them, although in limited numbers, in the polar 
 regions, in greater abundance in the temperate zone and in the 
 tropics. They inhabit the shore of the ocean, the grassy, flower 
 adorned prairies, the borders of w^oodland, field and forest, 
 thickets and shrubbery; towns and cities, deserts where only 
 yuccas, cacti, and agaves flourish, and the high mountain ranges. During 
 their breeding time they usually live in pairs, but in the fall they unite 
 into flocks of larger and smaller numbers. When migration begins most 
 of them move southward in very large scattered companies. Most of our 
 Finches find the winter climate of our Southern States congenial, while 
 others pursue their journey more southward. Some of the species are per- 
 manent residents, that is, they live in one locality all the year round, like the Cai'dinal 
 Redbird, the Pine-wood Sparrow, etc. 
 
 Late in the fall and in winter their food consists mostly of seeds of all kinds, 
 especially of those of noxious weeds, w^hile in spring and summer insects, their eggs and 
 larvae, form the main part of their diet. With the exception of that imported foreigner, 
 the European Sparrow, none of our Finches and Sparrows are injurious to vegetation. 
 On the contrary, most all of them are of great value to the husbandman. Many of 
 our Finches and Sparrows, and Buntings and Grosbeaks, and Purple Finches, etc., are 
 excellent songsters. The lay of the Song Sparrow, the sweet voice of the Rose-breasted 
 Grosbeak, the sprightly warble of the Painted Bunting and Indigo Bird, the loud resound- 
 ing song of the Cardinal, the metalHc note of the Towhee, the sweet love-song of the 
 Goldfinch, are familiar to every country child. The dress of most of the members of the 
 
family is of a soft rich color, like that of the Juncos, the Fox-colored Sparrow, the 
 White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, etc., while many are birds of great beauty 
 (Cardinal Redbird, Rose-breasted and Blue Grosbeaks, Nonpareil, Indigo Bird, Goldfinch, 
 Leucostictes, etc.). Their lively ways, their confidence in man, their beauty and song 
 combine to make them important factors of the landscape, which they idealize and 
 impart with happiness and poetry. 
 
 No other birds are so easily kept in the cage as the members of this family. Not 
 only such httle elfs, as the Magpie Finches*, Silver-bills^, Orange-cheeked Wax-bills^, 
 Cordon Bleus^ Fire Finches^ etc., of tropical Africa; Zebra Finches", Diamond Sparrows", 
 Australian Grassfinches ', etc., of Australia; the Java Sparrow', Nutmeg Bird", Aihanda- 
 vade Finch" of India, and the Canary Bird, but also many of our native species, such 
 as the Cardinal Redbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bird, Nonpareil, 
 and many others stand exceedingly high in the favor of German bird lovers and bird 
 fanciers. Dr. Carl Russ, of Berlin, has written several volumes on this subject.* 
 
 The Finch family is represented in our country by about ninety-five species, which 
 are divided into the following thirty-four genera: 
 
 1, 
 
 Coccotbraustes Bkisson. 
 
 One species 
 
 2. 
 
 Pinicola Vieillot. 
 
 it 1 
 
 
 3, 
 
 Pyrrbnla Brisson. 
 
 li i 
 
 
 4, 
 
 Carpodacus Kaup. 
 
 Four ' 
 
 
 5, 
 
 Loxia LiNNE. 
 
 Two 
 
 
 6, 
 
 Leucosticte Swainson. 
 
 Four ' 
 
 
 7, 
 
 Acantbis Bechstein. 
 
 Two 
 
 
 8, 
 
 Spinus Koch. 
 
 Five 
 
 
 9, 
 
 Carduelis Beisson. 
 
 One 
 
 
 10, 
 
 Passer Beisson. 
 
 Two 
 
 
 11, 
 
 Plectropbenax Stejneger. 
 
 tt t 
 
 
 12, 
 
 Calcarius Bechstein. 
 
 Three ' 
 
 
 13, 
 
 Ryncbopbanes Baird. 
 
 One 
 
 
 14, 
 
 Poocsetes Baird. 
 
 (( i 
 
 
 15, 
 
 Ammodramns Swainson. 
 
 Eleven ' 
 
 
 16, 
 
 Chondestes Swainson. 
 
 One 
 
 
 17, 
 
 Zonotricbia Swainson. 
 
 Six 
 
 
 18, 
 
 Spizella Bonaparte. 
 
 Seven ' 
 
 
 19, 
 
 Junco Wagler. 
 
 (( i 
 
 
 20, 
 
 Amphispiza CouES. 
 
 Two ' 
 
 
 21, 
 
 Peucuea Audubon. 
 
 Six 
 
 
 22, 
 
 Melospiza Baird. 
 
 Four ' 
 
 
 23, 
 
 Passerella Swainson. 
 
 One 
 
 
 24, 
 
 Embernagva Lesson. 
 
 li I 
 
 
 1 Spermestes cucullata Sw. 2 Aldemoayne caiitaas Skakpk. s Spormgintbaa melpodus Sharpe. ■• Estrelda pboeni- 
 cotis Sw. 5 Lagonoaticta minina Cab. « Stagonopleura castaooiis Cab. ' vS. guttata Cab. » Aidemoayne modeata 
 Reichenb. 9 Amadina otyzivora. lo Mania undulata. n Estrelda amandava. 
 
 » Dr. Carl Russ. "Die fremdiandiachen StubenvBgel." Bd. I. 13 Colored PI., and "Handbuch fur Vogelliebhabcr" etc. Vol.1 
 
XX, 
 
 1. SIALIA MEXICANA Swains. 
 
 2. SIALIA ARCTICA Nutt. 
 ;}. PIRANGA LUDOVICIANA Rich 
 4..MYADESTES TOWNSENDU Cal). 
 
 5. HABIA MELANOCEPHALAStejn. 
 
 6 . CARPODACUS MEXICANUS FRONTAIJS Ridjivv:- H A U S F 1 N K 
 7.PIP1L0 CHLORURUSBaird. ^ -GRUNSCHWANZIGER ERDFINK 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 -CALIFORNISCHER HUTTENSANGER -California Bluebird. 
 -GEBIRGSHiJTTENSANGER -Mountain Bluebird. 
 
 -COLDTANGARA -Louisiana Tana^er. 
 
 -KLARINO -Townsends Solitaire . 
 
 -SCHWARZKOPFIGER KERNBEISSER -Black-headed Grosbeak. 
 
 -House Finch. 
 
 -Green-tailed Towhee, 
 
25, Pipilo YiEHvLOT. Six species. 
 
 26, Cardiaalia Bonaparte. One 
 
 27, Pyrrhuloxia Bonaparte. " 
 
 28, Habia, Reichenbach. Two 
 
 29, Gairaca Swainson. One 
 
 30, Passerina Vieillot. Four 
 
 31, Sporophila Cabanis. One 
 
 32, Euetheia Reichenbach. " 
 
 33, Spiza Bonaparte. " 
 
 34, Calamospiza Bonaparte. " 
 
 EVENING GROSBEAK. 
 
 Coccothraustes vespertina Gambel. 
 
 Plate XXI. Fig. 1. 
 
 D^HE AUTUMN landscape of last fall was exceptionally beautiful. The leaves of 
 many trees and shrubs and even herbs were glowing in purple, red, violet, yellow, 
 and brown tints. The first light firost had changed the color of the leaves of the stags- 
 horn sumach, the sugar maple, and the Virginia creeper into the most beautiful red 
 and purple, and these gorgeous colors were glowing in the woods like flames of fire and 
 could be seen from a far distance. This beautiful autumn was followed by a very cold 
 winter. Although the winters of Wisconsin are cold and changeable, they are not 
 entirely without pleasure. The trees and shrubs of our garden have lost their beauty 
 and the ground is covered with snow, but our mountain ash trees are still covered with 
 bunches of red berries, which are sought in the early morning by our feathered winter 
 visitants from more northern regions, who occupy the places of our summer sojourners 
 that migrated southward. As soon as the sun rises, our trees are alive with peculiar 
 and lovely birds. By the beginning of January Bohemian Waxwings appeared in great 
 numbers, and Cedarbirds were also present. After being through with their meal they 
 disappeared, returning, however, once or twice in the course of the day. On a very 
 bright, cold morning I observed near my window, among a flock of Waxwings, scarcely 
 ten feet away, two beautiful birds with thick bills, clad in a robe of gold, olive, brown, 
 yellow, and white. These birds, as irregular in their appearance in winter as the 
 Bohemian Waxwings, were Evening Grosbeaks. These visitors from the primeval 
 evergreen forests of British America are rarely seen in Wisconsin. They suddenly appear 
 in one winter and may not occur again in five or ten years. They did not show any- 
 thing of the restlessness and voracity of their companions, being very quiet and slow 
 in their movements. While the Waxwings were quick and restless at their meals, the 
 Evening Grosbeaks took their time, eating the berries with leisure. They only seemed 
 
to eat the seeds of the berries. They appeared and disappeared with their companions. 
 Whenever I had an opportunity to watch these beautiful Grosbeaks, they did not appear 
 smooth, but the plumage looked rather puffed up, which was probably due to the 
 intense cold. I saw them only three days, and then the Waxwings came again alone 
 until March, when all the berries were consumed. They descended even to the ground 
 to pick up those berries which had fallen down." 
 
 These words form a part of a letter which my friend, Miss Hedwig Schlichting, 
 a resident of Milwaukee, Wis., wrote to me in April, 1887, when I still resided in the 
 south-western part of Missouri. She further stated that these beautiful birds had been 
 frequently seen in that locality, and that a flock of fourteen were observed by het near 
 the city. At the same time the birds were observed in large numbers in Lincoln Park, 
 of Chicago. 
 
 This sketch of the life history of the Evening Grosbeak would be incomplete, 
 should I neglect to quote freely from an article written by our great naturalist. 
 Dr. Elliott Coues (Bulletin of the Nutt. Ornithological Club. Vol. IV, 1879, p. 65—75): 
 
 "A bird of the most distinguished appearance, indeed, is the Evening Grosbeak, 
 whose very name of the 'Vesper-voiced' suggests at once the far-aw^ay land of the 
 dipping sun, and the tuneful romance w^hich the wild bird throws around the fading 
 Ught of day. Clothed in the most striking color-contrasts of black, white, and gold, he 
 seems to represent the allegory of diurnal transmutations; for his sable pinions close 
 around the brightness of his vesture, just as the night encompasses the golden hues of 
 the sunset; while the clear white space enfolded in these tints foretells the dawn of the 
 morrows. 
 
 "Once seen, the Evemng Grosbeak will not likely be forgotten, even though we only 
 glance at what was once a brilHant denizen of the maple groves, and is now but a 
 bunch of feathers stuffed with tow ; for there is no bird of our country that in the least 
 resembles this striking likeness of a sunset. They say he has a near relative in the 
 land of Montezuma, but he is otherwise quite an isolated magnificence, his closest kin- 
 ship being with the Hawfinch of Europe {Coccotbraustes vulgaris), whom he resembles 
 in his stature and proportions, though not at all in coloration. Nor has he the curious 
 construction of the wing-feathers that the typical Hawfinch displays, these quills being 
 as simple in form as they are in any other member of the extensive family of the 
 Finches. No very distant relatives among our Fringillidas are such species as the Blue, 
 the Cardinal, the Rose-breasted, and other Grosbeaks, as well as those, like the Pine, with 
 which we have grown accustomed to see him associated in our books and catalogues. 
 
 "He is rather a late aspirant to the questionable honors of our literature, having 
 remained unknown to fame all through the Wilsonian period, and until brought to our 
 notice by Mr. William Cooper, whose letter of introduction, originally published in the 
 'Annals of the New York Lyceum of Natural History,' was soon extensively copied by 
 the editors of other periodicals. The bird thus speedily became known to ornithologists 
 of all parts of the world. The actual discovery of so welcome an addition to our recog- 
 nized Fauna was made by Mr. Schoolcraft, who secured the original example of the 
 species in April of the year 1823, at or near the Saulte Sainte Marie, Michigan. This 
 individual, upon its presentation to the Lyceum just named, became the basis of Mr. 
 
Cooper's communication, and was supposed for a little while to be the only representa- 
 tive of the species known to naturalists ; but other specimens soon became available for 
 the purposes of science. Thus Bonaparte, who first figured the interesting acquisition, 
 in 1828, states that at this date he had examined two other specimens, besides Mr. 
 Schoolcraft's, which had been obtained early in the spring on Lake Athabasca, and 
 were preserved in the Leadbeater collection in London ; one of them serving him' for the 
 elaborate description which he gives in his "American Ornithology." Soon after this, 
 we find Sir John Richardson's allusion to specimens sent to the authors of the "Fauna 
 Boreali- America" by Mr. Prudens, Chief Trader at Carlton House; and this author 
 remarks that the bird is a common inhabitant of the maple groves of the Saskatchewan 
 region, — a circumstance from which its Cree Indian name Seesebasquit-pethaysish, or 
 Sugar-bird, is derived. A very characteristic likeness of the male bird of natural size, 
 drawn and colored in William Swainson's well-known style, accompanies the notice to 
 which I refer; the remainder of the account in the work just named consisting of the 
 junior author's fanciful speculations on the quinary affinities of this remarkable Gros- 
 beak. His ingenuity brings him to the sage conclusion that the bird is related to certain 
 tenuirostral types, notwithstanding that it has one of the largest, stoutest, stockiest 
 bills to be found in the whole Fringilline assemblage. 
 
 "Let us turn another page of written history respecting the subject of the present 
 notice. The statements of fact I have made are all staple accounts, copied by each 
 successive compiler with no less scrupulous exactitude than I have myself exhibited. 
 Quite a fresh and interesting chapter was added by J. K. Townsend, who contributed 
 his observations to Audubon's work, under date of 'Columbia River, May 27, 1836.' 
 He corrected two grave errors which had already cropped out, namely, respecting the 
 sexual similarity in plumage, and concerning the wrong notion that the bird sings only 
 at evening, as implied in the term vespertina. His notice is worth transcribing, even 
 at this late day, so little further information have we acquired respecting the habits of 
 the Evening Grosbeak. 
 
 "'The Evening Grosbeak,' says Townsend, 'is very numerous in the pine-woods at 
 this time. You can scarcely enter a grove of pines at any hour in the day without 
 seeing numbers of them. They are very unsuspicious and tame. . . . The accounts that 
 have been published respecting them by the only two authors to whom I have access, 
 Mr. Nuttall and Prince Bonaparte, are, I think, in many respects, incorrect. In the first 
 place, it is stated that they are retiring and silent during the day, and sing only on the 
 approach of evening. Here they are remarkably noisy during the whole of the day, 
 fi-om sunrise to sunset. They then retire quietly to their roosts in the summits of the 
 tall pines, and are not aroused until daylight streaks the east, when they come forth 
 to feed as before. Thus I have observed them here, but will not say but that at other 
 seasons and in other situations their habits may be different. They are now, however, 
 very near the season of breeding. . . . They appear fond of going in large bodies, and it 
 is rare to see one alone in a tree. They feed upon the seeds of the pine and other trees, 
 alighting upon large limbs, and proceeding by a succession of hops to the very extre- 
 mities of the branches. They eat, as well as seeds, a considerable quantity of the 
 larvae of the large black ant, and it is probable that it is to procure this food that 
 
they are not uncommonly seen in the tops of the low oaks which here skirt the forests. 
 Their ordinary voice, when they are engaged in procuring food, consists of a single 
 rather screaming note, w^hich from its tone I at first supposed to be one of alarm, but 
 soon discovered my error. At other times, particularly about midday, the male some- 
 times selects a lofty pine branch, and there attempts a song; but it is a miserable 
 failure,' and he seems conscious of it, for he frequently pauses and looks discontented, 
 then remains silent sometimes for some minutes, and tries it again, but with no better 
 success. The note is a single warbling call, exceedingly like the early part of the Robin's 
 song, but,not so sweet, and checked as though the performer were out of breath. The 
 song, if it may be so called, is to me a most wearisome one : I am constantly listening 
 to hear the stave continued, and am as constantly disappointed. Another error of the 
 books is this^ — they both state that the female is similar to the male in plumage. Now, 
 this is entirely a mistake: she is so very different in color and markings that w^ere it 
 not for the size and color of the bill, and its peculiar physiognomy, one might be 
 induced to suppose it another species.' 
 
 "The annual movements of the Evening Grosbeak within the area of its usual 
 dispersion have not been well determined. It is a migratory bird in one sense, but does 
 not appear to be subjected to the impulse of migration with periodical regularity, as a 
 strict and proper migrant should be. It is certainly able to endure a very rigorous 
 climate, for its presence during the most inclement weather of winter along our northern 
 border, and even in British America, is sufficiently attested. Thus it appears, from 
 Captain Blakiston's article in the 'Ibis,' that the Evening Grosbeak occurs in the inhos- 
 pitable region of the Saskatchewan between the months of November and April, when 
 birds of this kind were seen feeding on the ash-leaved maples in company w^ith the very 
 boreal Pine Grosbeaks. On the other hand, we have witnesses to their occurrence and 
 probable residence on the table-lands of Mexico, not far from the capital city of that 
 country, where Sumichrast observed them in the pine woods of Monte Celto, in May, 
 1857. Mr. Henshaw considers the species to be 'doubtless a rare resident' in Arizona, 
 in which Territory he secured a specimen in September, near Camp Apache. As I have 
 intimated, our rather meagre records do not furnish the data for the full solution of 
 the question ; and they are in some respects so conflicting apparently, as well as frag- 
 mentary, that we feel our doubts rather increased than removed when we compare 
 them. It would appear in present light, however, that the bird is scarcely a true 
 migrant, but rather a wanderer according to exigencies of food supply, to some extent 
 resembling the Bohemian Waxwing, the Pine Grosbeak, Red-poll Linnet, Crossbill, and 
 species of Plectiophenax. Its general habits, and some traits of its character, especially 
 its sociability, familiarity with man, and ways of feeding, are those of Crossbills, Red- 
 polls, and certain other northerly FringilUdse, rather than of such species as the Rose- 
 breasted, Black-headed, Cardinal, and Blue Grosbeaks, with which it seems to be never- 
 theless related in some technical characters. 
 
 "The erratic movements just intimated to be probably chargeable to this singular 
 bird bring it at times to localities remote from its usual centres of abundance. I shall 
 conclude with consideration of this point, in sketching the geographical distribution of 
 the species. Our early accounts, as I have presented them, indicated a range along the 
 
AMERICAN PINB GROSBBAK. ^ 25 
 
 northern border of the United States from Michigan westward to the ocean, and 
 Richardson ascribed to the bird a northward extension to latitude 56° N. But since 
 those days it has been traced much farther south and east. Being a bird of woodland, 
 it will not be found on the gi-eat plains ; but, aside from any matters of local distribu- 
 tion resulting from surface conditions of the country, this Grosbeak may be said to 
 inhabit the United States from the outliers of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. It 
 is thus essentially a Western species; but in the region of the Great Lakes, and for 
 some little distance thence southerly, it stretches far to the eastward, not in solitary 
 and fortuitous instances, but regularly, or at any rate frequently. Its normal range 
 cannot well be short of Canada, in different localities in which Dominion specimens have 
 not seldom been secured. Thus Mr. Mcllwraith states, in the paper above cited, that 
 he had heard of its presence near Hamilton, Canada West, and that a few years pre- 
 viously several had been obtained by Mr. T. I. Cottle at Woodstock, where they were 
 'quite numerous for a day or two during the month of May.'" 
 
 The first nest was found by Mr. John Swinburne, of Springerville, Apache Co., 
 Arizona, on June 5, 1884, at the head-waters of the Little Colorado River in the White 
 Mountains. The nest was situated in a thick willow bush of a, ilensely wooded canon, 
 and contained three eggs of a clear greenish ground-color, blotched with pale brown. 
 It was placed about fifteen feet from the ground in the extreme top of the bush. 
 The slight canon, with a few w^illow bushes in its centre bordering a small stream, 
 lies in the midst of very dense pine timber at an altitude of about 7,000 feet. 
 
 NAMES: Evening Grosbeak, Sugar-bird.— Abendkernbeisser (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla vespertina Cooper (1825). COCCOTHRAUSTES VESPERTINA Swains. 
 (1831). Hesperiphona vespertina Bonap. (1850). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Crown, blackish, bordered anteriorly and laterally by a yellow patch covering 
 forehead and superciliary region ; rest of head, with neck and back, uniform deep olivaceous, changing 
 gradually to yellow on scapulars and posterior portions of body, above and below; wings, tail, and 
 upper tail-coverts, black; tertials, uniform dull white, the secondaries and inner webs of tail-feathers 
 sometimes tipped with the same. Adult female: Whole top of head, dull brownish or brownish-gray; 
 rest of head, with neck and most of the body, lighter grayish, tinged more or less with olive-yellow, 
 the throat bordered along each side by a dusky streak; a. w^hitish patch at base of inner primaries. 
 Bill, yellowish-green. 
 
 "Length about 7.00 to 8.50 inches; wing, 4.20 to 4.50; tail, 2.75 to 3.20 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 AMERICAN PINE GROSBEAK, 
 
 Pinicola enucleator canadensis Ridgway. 
 
 Plate XXI. Fig. 6. 
 
 "^)T IS a chilly and. dreary winter day. Thick clouds, dense and heavy, darken 
 <§i the sky. The snow descends in large flakes, covering the earth as with a white 
 shroud. The boughs of the evergreens bend under the weight of the snow. No w^inged 
 being seems to enliven the garden; the erstwhile so cheery summer guests have fled 
 
 4 
 
away to the South. With a feeling of melancholy we saw them depart, and yearningly 
 we look for the return of the fii'st harbingers of spring. But winter clings long to the 
 northern parts of our great land, and many weeks will pass ere the first herald will 
 bring to us in jubilant notes the glad tidings: "Yet spring, sweet spring is coming!" 
 We stand at the window observing the whirling snow, but our thoughts wander afar 
 to the distant land where many of our birds spend the winter, as w^e had also done in 
 former years. There, near the Gulf of Mexico, where evergreen hollies, wax-myrtles, 
 yupon bushes (Ilex myrtifolia), magnolias, loblolly bays, and heavily moss-draped 
 deciduous trees make up the forest growth, in the orange groves of Louisiana and 
 Florida, in the palmetto thickets and undergrowth of the woods, there are the 
 thousands of our northern birds, there they find food plentiful, and a congenial clime. 
 Even if an occasional blast from the North may penetrate into that latitude, it has 
 become wayworn in the long journey and lost its vigor. While following these thoughts 
 we failed to notice that a flock of birds had just come up and taken possession of one 
 of the spruces in our garden. They are handsome grayish birds, some w^ith a tinge of 
 red, some even entirely red. How beautiful they appear, these winter visitors, as they 
 move about among the branches and twigs covered with fresh fallen snow. These birds 
 are Pine Grosbeaks who have just arrived from their distant northern home, to spend 
 the w^inter with us. Among them are also frequently seen some Redpolls, Crossbills, 
 Cedarbirds, and occasionally a few Evening Grosbeaks. 
 
 Only in very cold and snowy winters the Pine Grosbeaks visit the northern parts 
 of our country. At such times we may find them south to northern Illinois and Ohio, 
 and occasionally also in eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland, being sometimes very 
 abundant in New England. The coniferous woods of the North, as far as the Arctic 
 regions, are the true home of these birds. There, in peaceful quietness, far from the abodes 
 of man, undisturbed by human nest robbers, the young leave the nest. In these aromatic 
 pine and spruce woods they lead a retired life in the deepest recesses, and here resounds 
 also the loud and melodious song. In their immediate neighborhood Crossbills, Kinglets, 
 Bohemian Waxwings, many of our beautiful Warblers, and probably also Evening Gros- 
 beaks, breed and sing. In the East the Pine Grosbeak is found, during the breeding 
 time, as far south as Maine, the Magdalene Islands, and the Godbout River in Canada. 
 In the Rocky Mountains this bird also prefers the coniferous woods at an altitude of 
 10,000 to 11,500 feet, and it is also found in the Sierra Nevada, where it appears to 
 be a resident throughout the year. According to Dr. ElUott Coues, who observed this 
 Grosbeak in Labrador, it is confined entirely to the thick woods and patches of scrubby 
 juniper. 
 
 The reports on the life-history of the closely allied European Pine Grosbeak are 
 very meagre, but those on our own species are still more so. Most of the travelers and 
 collectors who had an opportunity to observe the birds in their haunts, have nothing 
 to say about their nidification. In the "Report upon Natural History Collections made 
 in Alaska" by H. W. Nelson I find the following interesting account: 
 
 "Along the entire west and north-west coast of America, from Vancouver Island 
 north to within the Arctic circle, this bird occurs in greater or less abundance. The 
 only breaks in this range are the treeless areas which occur along the coast of Behring 
 
AMERICAN PINE GROSBEAK. 27 
 
 Sea. Throughout the interior of the above region it is an abundant species. On the 
 Kadiak Peninsula, in the vicinity of Behring Straits it is found among the stunted spruces 
 to longitude, 165° west, thence through the entire territory of Alaska, to the British 
 boundary line it is abundant ; at Sitka and Kadiak it was found numerous by Bischoff, 
 during the Western Union Telegraph Expedition, and specimens were brought me from 
 points along nearly the entire course of the Yukon. It is limited by the range of 
 spruce, pine, and cotton-wood forests. Dall found the crops of these Grosbeaks filled 
 with cotton-wood buds at Nulato, on the Yukon. During winter, while traveling along 
 the frozen surfaces of the water-courses of the interior, it is common to note a party oJ 
 these birds busy among the cotton-wood tops, uttering their cheerful lisping notes as 
 they move from tree to tree. I have frequently passed a pleasant half hour on the 
 wintry banks of the Yukon, while making a midday halt, and waiting for the natives 
 to melt the snow for our tea, listening to the chirping and fluttering of these birds, as 
 they came trooping along the edges of the snow-laden woods in small parties. They 
 rarely paid any attention to us, but kept oh their vsray, and were, ere long, lost to 
 sight in the midst of the bending tree-tops, and silence again pervaded the dim vistas 
 of the low w^oods. These birds withstand the severest cold in these forests, even within 
 the Arctic circle, and appear to be about equally distributed throughout the w^ooded 
 region. Unfortunately my opportunities for observing them were confined entirely to 
 the short glimpses obtained in the manner cited, and I can add nothing to their histoi-y 
 during the summer and breeding season. Beyond the faint, soft call-note uttered as the 
 birds trooped along through the forests, I never heard thtm make any other sound. 
 The American authors appear to have overlooked, or not noted, the song of this 
 species, which is said to be — especially in the European bird — very pleasant and musical." 
 
 Mr. G. A. Boardman found a nest near Calais, Maine, supposed to belong to the 
 Pine Grosbeak. It was placed in an alder bush in a wet meadow, about four feet from 
 the ground. It was composed entirely of coarse green mosses. The eggs, two in num- 
 ber, w^ere not distinguishable from those of the European species, being pale greenish- 
 blue, spotted and blotched with dark brown surface markings and lilac shell spots. At 
 the end of June Mr. H. A. Purdie observed old Pine Grosbeaks feeding their young in 
 New Hampshire, and Prof. Wm. Brewster observed a young male at Upton, Me. Dr. C. 
 H-. Merriam, the celebrated naturalist of the Agriculture Department, Washington, D. C, 
 observed it "on the Godbout River, which empties in the St. Lawrence from the North, 
 about six miles from the Pointe des Monts, where the river widens into the Gulf" This 
 AAras about the middle of July. According to Mr. Nap. A. Comeau, who accompanied 
 Dr. Merriam, the bird is quite common there both summer and winter. These records 
 show that this bird breeds in northern New England and Canada. Mr. Trippe and 
 other ornithologists found the Pine Grosbeak in the high mountain ranges of the West 
 during the breeding time. 
 
 I am in the happy situation to report of the Pine Grosbeak's breeding in northern 
 Wisconsin. Mr. A. J. Schoenebeck found a nest of this bird May 5, 1890, near Boyd's 
 Creek, six miles west of Chaguamegon Bay, Bayfield County, Wis. It was built in a 
 hemlock about nine feet above the ground and seven feet from the trunk. The ground 
 was dry and the forest consisted of deciduous and coniferous trees. The structure was 
 
composed of hemlock and other twigs, and the interior of grasses and rootlets, lined 
 with finer grasses and a little moss. The eggs, four in number, are now before me. 
 They have a greenish-blue ground-color and are marked with many rather large and 
 irregular lilac shell marks, mostly on the larger end, and a number of dark brown spots 
 and blotches distributed rather unevenly over the entire shell. The eggs measure 
 1.00 X. 73, 1.04 X. 74, 1.03 X. 70, .97x-72. 
 
 These birds occasionally make southern Wisconsin and northern IlHnois their winter- 
 quarters. I have had frequent opportunities of observing them. They usually appear late 
 in fall or early in winter in flocks of from five to thirty. They do not occur every winter. 
 Years may pass before they visit the Northern States, and, on the other hand, it may 
 so happen that they are present in several successive winters. They seem to leave their 
 northern breeding range only when their supply of food, consisting mainly of coniferous 
 seeds and berries, is short. Like all birds from those unsettled regions, they are exceed- 
 ingly tame and unsuspicious when first making their appearance. When fired at or 
 when one is caught in a trap cage, the others, instead of flying away, move toward 
 their enemy, or alight on the cage, entirely unconscious of their own danger. I have 
 seen whole flocks destroyed by bad boys. Later in the season, however, they are more 
 shy and suspicious, having become acquainted, by experience, with the bad traits of 
 man. Without fear they even visit the gardens and parks in large cities. According to 
 the observations of Miss Hedwig Schlichting, they feed largely on the seeds of mountain- 
 ash berries, and later in winter, w^hen this food supply is exhausted, on other seeds and 
 on buds of difierent trees. She has observed these birds during a period of twenty years 
 in seven winters, usually in small flocks and sometimes associated with Crossbills, Red- 
 polls, and other winter birds in Sheboygan County, Wis. She describes them as very 
 beautiful objects on the snow-covered branches of pines and spruces. They always pre- 
 ferred to retire in cold and stormy weather and during night to the evergreens. She 
 observed them always in exceptionally cold and snowy winters. 
 
 In the winter from 1877 to 1878 I observed them in large numbers in northern 
 Illinois. In Oak Park, a beautiful suburb of Chicago, I had an opportunity of seeing 
 them almost daily during the winter. A large garden adjoining my house was planted 
 with a number of spruces, firs, pines, "Und white cedars, besides juniper bushes, apple 
 and pear trees, and ornamental shrubs. In this garden they were at home, nobody being 
 inclined to disturb them. Very early in the morning, after having spent the night in the 
 evergreens, many chattered and sang most diligently, while others were engaged in 
 bringing their plumage in order. The berries of the mountain-ash and seeds of ever- 
 greens and sun-flowers formed their main diet, while the buds of the Iruit trees were 
 eagerly searched for. But no serious damage was done by them, as the apple and 
 pear trees were loaded with fruit in the year 1878. They were very common in the 
 pine and spruce trees near dwellings, and in the belts of evergreens around orchards. 
 In a flock of forty or fifty birds, scarcely more than two or three entirely red ones 
 were seen. Many of the males were tinged with red, while the females showed no red at 
 all. I have rarely seen them on the ground, and only in cases when they were picking up 
 mountain-ash berries which had fallen down. They hop about on the ground in a 
 rather ackward way. In the dense branches of spruces, firs, and pines they display a 
 
PURPLE FINCH. 29 
 
 great skill in moving about. Like the Crossbills and Redpolls they are born acrobats. 
 Their flight is not very quick, rather high and undulating. During the winter months 
 we only hear their soft and lisping call-notes, sounding like cheep, cheep, cheep. Towards 
 the spring a few notes of their very melodious, liquid, and clear song may be heard. If 
 such fine notes are uttered in their winter home, how beautiful must be the song in their 
 summer haunts during the nuptial time ! 
 
 In the cold winter from 1877 to 1878 a large number were captured near Chicago. 
 As they were brought in the warm rooms, almost all died in a short time. I captured 
 four in a trap cage, brought them in a cold room and they felt entirely at home. Even 
 in the summer they did not suffer from the heat, as I kept them in a cool room on the 
 north-side of the house. They were fed with Canary seed, millet, sun-flower seed, some 
 hemp and all kinds of fruit. As I kept the birds in company with Crossbills, Rose- 
 breasted Grosbeaks, Bobolinks, and other species, I rarely heard their exceedingly beau- 
 tiful song. They were so tame that they took seeds, meal worms, and grasshoppers 
 from the hand. 
 
 Prof. R. Ridgway, in his "Manual of North American Birds," describes two 
 varieties of the Pine Grosbeak, inhabiting North America. The one which occurs in 
 northern North America in general, he calls the American Pine Grosbeak, Pinicola 
 enucleator canadensis Ridgw. The other variety, inhabiting Kadiak to Sitka, Alaska, 
 he calls Kadiak Pine Grosbeak, Pia/co/a enucleator kadiaka Ridgw. 
 NAMES: American Pine Grosbeak, Pine Grosbeak, Pine Bullfinch. — Hakengimpel (German). 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Loxia enucleator Linn. (1758). Pyrrhula enucleator Aud. (1838). Pinicola enu- 
 cleator Cab. (1851). Coccotbraustes canadensis Briss. (1760). Pinicola canadensis Cab. "^(1851). 
 PINICOLA ENUCLEATOR CANADENSIS Ridgw. (1887). 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Carmine red, paler or whitisli on the belly, streaked with blackish on the 
 back; wings and tail, dusky, with whitish edging, the former also with two white cross-bars. Bill 
 and feet, blackish. Female: Ashy-gray, paler below, marked with brownish-yellow on the head and 
 rump. There is a great difference in the shade of red of the male, and in the saffron markings of the 
 female. It is one of the largest of the Fringillidse, with a remarkably short, stout bill, convex in all 
 its outUnes, and overhanging tip of upper mandible— almost parrot-like. 
 
 "Length, 8.00 to 9.00 inches; wing, 4.50; tail, 4.00 inches." (Steams and Coues' "New England 
 Bird Life." Vol. I, p. 214.) 
 
 Pinicola enucleator kadiaka RiDGW. is smaller, with proportionally much larger bill and shorter tail. 
 
 Cassin's Bullfinch, Pyrrhula cassini Baird, is a rare inhabitant of Alaska. 
 
 PURPLE FINCH, 
 
 Carpodacus purpureus Baird. 
 
 "ET IS a beautiful, sunny June morning. A cool easterly breeze comes from Lake 
 (^ Michigan. In the low meadows numerous merry Bobolinks are soaring in the air, 
 pouring forth their sweet tinkling strains with great vivacity. The familiar Redwing, 
 dressed in a robe of deep black, which is relieved by fiery scarlet on the shoulders, makes 
 
the reedy marshes and swamps resound with its melodious con-cur-ee. The Catbirds 
 in the thickets of the road-side, the Brown Thrushes in the white-thorn bushes, the 
 Swamp Sparrows on the bushy edge of low meadows, the Robins in the maples, and 
 the gorgeous Baltimore Orioles among the beautiful arching elms, all sing their jubila- 
 tion hymns. Among the white pines and birches of a narrow ravine the enchanting song 
 of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak and the Veery falls on our ear. Everywhere merty bird- 
 life prevails. In the tamarack swamps huckle and cranberry bushes, the red osier*, the 
 kinnickinnik^, and the black haw^ are in full flower, while the woodland's edge seems 
 to be transformed into masses of rosy-white by the flowering wild crab-trees. White- 
 thorns are also in bloom. In the rich forest soil the stemless and the yellow 4ady's 
 slipper^ and many other delicate plants are in blossom. The flowering time of the first- 
 named species is almost over when the yellow lady's slipper comes in bloom. The dense 
 thickets of juniper and young white pines fill the air with a strong aromatic fragrance. 
 We are in that portion of Wisconsin where the coniferous woods begin to extend north- 
 ward. At present only small remnants of the once so majestic forest primeval are left. 
 Most of the land is under cultivation. This undulating and often hilly country is very 
 rich in beautiful localities, in rivers, lakes, swamps, and springs. When w^e are reaching 
 the summit of a slightly sloping hill a few miles west of Sheboygan, a beautiful pano- 
 rama spreads before our eyes. Turning to the -west we see hills and forests, and before 
 our view^ extend the deep blue w^aters of Lake Michigan under a brilliant sky, the w^aves 
 sparkling in the bright sunlight like millions of mirrors. Like an endless wall this 
 beautiful sheet of water lies before us, dotted here and there with sailing vessels and 
 steamboats. 
 
 In this region, fifteen or twenty years ago, the southern border line of the summer 
 home of the Purple Finch w^as found. The pine region, especially where it alternates 
 with fields, gardens, meadows, and pastures, is this bird's natural summer home. It 
 does not breed in the dense w^oods. Formerly, when the original forest had not yet 
 been touched by the devastating hand of man, the Purple Finches were not seen or 
 heard among the gigantic white pines, beeches, oaks, and maples. Only later, when 
 the woods gave place to fields and orchards, these birds began to settle in larger num- 
 bers. In my boyhood, about thirty years ago, only a few of these beautiful birds were 
 seen in the newly settled places. They were, however, very common in fall when the 
 hemp and sunflower ripened their seed. But since that time a great change has taken 
 place. Orchards and shade trees have been planted, and beautiful specimens of spruces, 
 firs, pines, and cedars are a great ornament around the houses. Horse chestnuts and 
 even catalpas, never seen in the days of my youth, are now often met. I left my birth 
 place and the State in 1869, but my friend. Miss Hedwig Schlichting, resided there until 
 1885. A great lover of nature, she carefially watched the change that took place since 
 our school time. In her beautifiil garden at Howard's Grove a large number of rare 
 shrubs, trees, and flowers flourished, and even primulas and auriculas, so precarious in 
 almost all parts of this country, grew luxuriantly and in great abundance. All our 
 common garden birds were present. The Purple Finch also made its appearance in the 
 fruit trees and evergreens of the garden and in the thickets of white pines near the 
 
 1 Cornus stoloalfera. * C. serlcea, 3 Viburnum prunifollum, < Cypripedivm ucaule find C. pubescens. 
 
PURPLE PINCH. 31 
 
 woodland's edge. To-day these birds are cortiTnon in all the larger orchards, especially 
 where evergreens were planted largely for ornament and shelter. At present we may 
 look for them as far south as Milwaukee, and even at Waukegan in northern Illinois 
 they have been seen during the breeding season. 
 
 This beautiful bird is easily observed when it sings. Perched in the top of a tall 
 tree, or on the roof of the house and bam, it sings almost incessantly in the early 
 morning'. Its crimson color, most intense on the head, mixed with dusky streaks on 
 the back, its habit of erecting the feathers on the head while singing, and its loud, 
 melodious, and varied strain combine to make it a very conspicuous objedl wherever it 
 occurs. 
 
 The song is exceedingly beautiful, liquid, and sprightly, but the different individuals 
 differ considerably in scope and capacity of their notes. Usually the bird sits high in 
 the top of an evergreen or another tree while singing, but I often have observed it on 
 fences and posts, w^arbling with ecstacy and keeping its wings in rapid vibration. We 
 may hear the song at all hours of the day, even at noon, when most other birds are 
 silent. 
 
 Although breeding by preference in most thickly settled and well cultivated locali- 
 ties, it is exceedingly difficult to find the nest of the Purple Finch in the dense evergreens, 
 the bird taking great care not to betray its location. The nests found by me in Sheboygan 
 County, Wis., were usually built in dense horizontal branches of spruces and firs, not 
 far from the trunk and at a moderate distance from the ground. Several were also dis- 
 covered by me in apple trees. The materials employed in building the nest are pine 
 needles, grasses, weed-stems, rootlets, bark-strips, fibers of asclepias, hemp, wool, and 
 strings. The lining of the rather shallow structure consists of hairs, and sometimes of 
 pine needles and hemp-like fibers. 
 
 Dr. T. M. Brewer's excellent opportunities of studying the Purple Finch have been 
 fully utilized in his contribution to the biography of this species in "A History of North 
 American Birds." I extract his account in full: 
 
 "The Purple Finch, or, as it is generally known in New England, the Linnet, is 
 one of our sweetest, best, and most constant songsters, and is often trapped and sold 
 as caged birds. They soon become accustomed and partially reconciled to their con- 
 finement, but sing only during a small part of the year. When one of these birds, 
 confined in a cage, is hung outside the house in the country, he is sure to draw around 
 him quite a number of his species, and this furnishes the dealer a ready means of cap- 
 turing them. 
 
 "This Finch was once regarded as quite rare in the vicinity of Boston, so much 
 so that during a four years' residence in Cambridge, when collections of nests and eggs 
 had many votaries, not a single nest of this species was obtained by any one. Since 
 then, from some cause, probably the increase of gardens, rows of evergreens, and other 
 localities favorable for their preservation and reproduction, these graceful little Finches 
 have become quite abundant in places, propitious for their residence. No less than seven 
 pairs of these favorite songsters took up their abode in my grounds at Hingham in a 
 single summer, and two had nests in the same tree, one of which was at least sixty 
 feet from the ground, on the very top of -a tall fir. These several pairs as a general 
 
thing, lived together very harmoniously, save only when one would approach too near 
 the favorite station of another, when the latter w^ould begin to bristle up his crest, and 
 give very evident hints that his near presence was not agreeable. The extreme southern 
 end of the ridge-pole of the house had been, for several summers, the "favorite post for 
 the patriarch of the flock, from which at morning and at evening he made the neigh- 
 borhood vocal with his melody. If in his absence any other of these birds ventured to 
 occupy his position, there was always sure to be a disturbance on his return, if it was 
 not instantly vacated. These encounters were frequent, and always very amusing. Dis- 
 cretion usually took the place of valor on the part of the intruder. 
 
 "The song of the Purple Finch resembles that of the Canary, and though less 
 varied and powerful, is softer, sweeter and more touching and pleasing.* The notes of 
 this species may be heard from the last of May until late in September, and in the long 
 summer evenings are often continued until after it is quite dark. Their song has all the 
 beauty and pathos of the Warbling Vireo, and greatly resembles it, but is more powerful 
 and full in tone. It is a very interesting sight to watch one of these little performers 
 in the midst of his song. He appears perfectly absorbed in his work, his form dilates, 
 his crest is erected, his throat expands, and he seems to be utterly unconscious of 
 all around him. But let an intruder of his own race appear within a few feet of 
 the singer, and the song instantly ceases, in a violent fit of indignation he chases 
 him away. 
 
 "The flight of the Purple Finch is said by Mr. Audubon to resemble that of the 
 Green Finch of Europe. They fly in compadl flocks with an undulating motion, alight- 
 ing all at once, and then instantly, as if suddenly alarmed, take again to flight, only 
 to return to the same tree. They then immediately make each his separate way to the 
 ends of the branches, and commence eating the buds. The food they take to their young 
 is juicy berries and the softer portion of the young cones of the fir and spruce. 
 
 "They nest generally in firs, spruces, or cedar trees, though occasionally on the 
 upper branches of a high apple tree. Their nests are usually placed upon a branch, 
 rather than interlaced between its forked twigs. I have known them not more than 
 five feet from the ground, and at other times on the highest point of a lofty fir tree. 
 The nests are, for the most part, somewhat flat and shallow structures, not more than 
 2.50 inches in height, and about 3.50 inches in breadth. The walls of the nest average 
 less than an inch, and the cavity corresponds to its general shape and form. The frame 
 work of the nest is usually made of small denuded vegetable fibers, stems of grasses, 
 stfips of bark, and woody fragments. The upper rim of the nest is often a curious 
 intertwining of dry herbaceous stems, the ends of which projedt above the nest itself in 
 the manner of a low pallisade. The inner nest is made up of minute vegetable fibers 
 closely interwoven. There is usually no other lining than this. At other times these 
 nests are largely made up of small dark colored rootlets of wooded plants, lined with 
 finer materials of the same, occasionally mingled with the down of birds and the fur of 
 small animals. 
 
 "The eggs of the Purple Finch vary greatly in size, and somewhat in shape, gener- 
 ally they are of an oblong oval, pointed considerably at one end. Their length varies 
 
 • The song of a good Harz Mountain Canary-bird has no resemblance to the song of the Purple Pinch. H. N. 
 
PUttPtn FtNCH. 33 
 
 from .92 to .81 of an inch, and their breadth from .70 to .60. Their color is a pale 
 shade of emerald-green, spotted with dark brown, almost black, chiefly about the larger 
 end. The ground-color is much brighter w^hen the eggs are fresh, and soon fades upon 
 exposure to light and even when kept in a close drawer." 
 
 In Manitoba and the upper Mississippi valley the tinnet is a common summer 
 sojourner. Most of the birds pass the winter south of latitude 40, migrating as far 
 south as the coast region of the Gulf of Mexico. They do not move northward nor 
 southward with much precision. At Caddo, Indian Territory, in winter of 1883 — '84, 
 Prof. W. W. Cooke did not observe them until the real cold weather came ; the first flock 
 was seen January 10, and they were still present March 18. In the Ozark region of 
 south-western Missouri I usually observed them from the middle of December to the 
 first days of May. 
 
 That painstaking and careful observing ornithologist, Mr. Otto Widmann, of 
 St. Louis, Mo., contributes the following to "Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley": 
 
 "During the winter of 1883 — '84, flocks were found at their old stand. There were 
 not so many as in the winter of 1882 — '83, and crimson and plain birds were almost 
 equally numerous. In cold weather they keep mostly on the ground, feeding on seeds 
 of the ash; in w^arm weather they ascend to the tree tops to feed on buds. February 
 23 there was a change in the flocks ; they became larger, but there was a decrease in 
 the number of crimson birds (that is, the old males), 75 per cent, being, brown birds, 
 the balance light crimson. March 17, flocks existed, mostly of brown birds, but sing- 
 ing. March 27, the bulk departed. April 19, the species still present in small flocks, 
 mostly brown but singing much. April 28, last regular migrants. May 5, an accidental 
 party of eight or ten, all brown; May 7, a single brown bird seen." 
 
 In northern Illinois they usually arrive in flocks about September 15, feeding mostly 
 on the seeds of hemp and sunflowers. Much has been written about the injury done 
 to the fruit crop by the Linnet's habit of eating the flower buds. While the Linnets 
 do attack the fruit buds, I have never observed that aiiy damage w^as done in this 
 respect. In good fruit years the flower buds are so abundant that it is merely a 
 thinning out of a worthless surplus, and in bad years fruit is scarce in even such loca- 
 lities, where the Purple Finch never makes its appearance. 
 
 The Purple Finch is one of our best cage birds. While residing at Oak Park, 111., 
 I caught one in a trap cage and kept it from the fall 1875 to early spring 1879, when 
 I left for Texas. I presented the bird to a friend; he kept it until 1884, when it 
 was killed by a cat. In confinement the Linnet is very fond of sunflow^er seed, hemp, 
 Canary seed, and rice. Buds of trees, lettuce, meal worms, and grated hard boiled eggs 
 are eaten with relish in spring and summer. In confinement the Purple Finch soon loses 
 its beautiful red color. My caged bird changed on the back to brownish-yellow and on 
 the under-side the red was soon replaced by a dull light yellow. 
 
 NAMES: Purple Finch, Linnet, Eastern Purple Pinch, Purple Linnet, Rosy Linnet, Purple Grosbeak, 
 Strawberry Bird (Connecticut), Hemp-bird and Sunflower-bird (in the West). — Purpurgimpel, Purpur- 
 fink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla purpurea GmA. (\1S,8). Hsemorhous purpurea Sw. (18S7). Erythrospiza 
 purpurea Bonap. (1838). CARPODACUS PURPUREUS Gray (1844). 
 
 5 
 
34 Cassin's purple finch. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : "Male: Body, crimson ; palest on the rump and breast, darkest across the middle of back and 
 wing-coverts, where the feathers have dusky centers. The red extends below continuously to the lower 
 part of the breast, and in spots to the tibijE. The belly and under tail-coverts, white, streaked faintly 
 with brown, except in the very middle. Edges of wings and tail-feathers, brownish-red; lesser coverts 
 like the back. Two reddish bands across the wings (over the ends of the middle and greater coverts). 
 Lores, dull grayish. Female: Olivaceus-brown above; brighter on the rump. Beneath, white; all the 
 feathers everywhere streaked with brown, except on the middle of the belly and under coverts. 
 A superciliary light stripe. 
 
 "Length, 6.25 inches; wing, 3.34; tail, 2.50; bill above, .46 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 The California Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureas californicus Baird, differs 
 little from the eastern race. All its colors are darker. Its home extends from British 
 Columbia to southern California, breeding in the mountains. 
 
 CASSIN'S PURPLE FINCH. 
 
 Carpodacus cassitii Baird. 
 
 lN this species Prof. Rob. Ridgway gives the following account: 
 
 "Although this Finch was observed to be essentially pinicoline, it was occasionally 
 found among deciduous trees when such occured in the immediate vicinity of coniferous 
 forests, this being notably the case during the breeding season. In the pine forests of 
 the Sierra Nevada, near Carson City, these birds were first observed on the 21st of 
 March, at which date large flocks were found among the trees. They continued to 
 increase in abundance until about the middle of April, when they gradually dispersed 
 through the forest, the greater number going higher up the mountains. At the time of 
 their arrival they were in full song, and continued so during the season, and it was 
 noticed that the young males, in the plumage of the females (possibly the latter also), 
 sang almost if not quite as vigorously and sweetly as those in the adult livery. In 
 certain localities of the eastern slope of the Ruby Mountains they were quite abundant 
 on several occasions, the flocks consisting chiefly of young-of-the-year, which, with their 
 parents, had apparently come from the higher coniferous woods near the summits of 
 the range, since no nests were found among the cedar and piiion groves of the lower 
 slopes. In the pine belt of the Wahsatch and the Uintah Mountains they were abundant 
 from May to August, during the whole of which time they were nesting. Most of the 
 nests found were among the aspens and narrow-leaved cotton-woods^ of the higher 
 portions of the ravines, where these trees replaced the conifers. 
 
 "The song of this species is clear and sweet and is even superior to that of the 
 Eastern Purple Finch, which, however, it greatly resembles. Many passages are loud 
 and clear, and so much like the notes of certain Vireos, that we were several times led 
 by them in search of a new Greenlet. Other portions of its song, which was greatly 
 varied, were sweet soft warblings, and tender, whistling calls." 
 
 1 Populus ttemuloides aud P. angustifolia. 
 
NAMES: Cassin's Purple Finch, Cassin's Linnet. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: CARPODACVS CASSINI Baird (1854). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Top of head, bright crimson; back and scapulars, pinkish-brown, the feathers 
 edged with light grayish and streaked medially with dusky; rump, nearly uniform dull pinkish; 
 throat and breast, pale dull rose-pink; rest of lower parts, white, the sides scarcely tinged with 
 pinkish, and lower tail-coverts conspicuously streaked with dusky. Adult female: Above, olive- 
 grayish, streaked with dusky ; sides of head, nearly uniform grayish-olive, finely streaked with dusky; 
 lower parts, white,- conspicuously streaked with dusky. 
 
 Length, 6.50 to 6.75 inches; wing, 3.60 to 3.95; tail, 2.60 to 3.00 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 HOUSE FINCH. 
 
 Carpoaacus mexicanus frontalis Ridgway. 
 
 Plate XX. Fig. 6. 
 
 ^^^ VERY highminded man is a friend, a true friend of the birds, and ever has been. 
 ^^^ There is a tie between him and these beautiful feathered beings, who enliven our 
 gardens, w^oods, meadows, and fields, a tie which grows stronger w^itli time and closer 
 acquaintance. This affection w^hich he feels for them, is to some extent an inheritance 
 coming down from earlier, long past days ; for before the scientist looked into the ways 
 of these w^inged favorites, the poet and the simple minded peasant had long observed 
 and loved these companions of their country solitude. The one as well as the other 
 looked at the birds with the eyes of a child, admired the grace and the beauty of 
 plumage, in mind even accompanied them over hill and dale, over land and sea, the one 
 devoted to them verse and song, the other showed them hospitality, gladly received 
 them in and about his dwelling place, and could not withstand the temptation to bring 
 them even into captivity in order to enjoy their presence. Such are the ties that con- 
 tinue in undiminished form even to the present day. 
 
 The special favorites of man among the birds are those who take up thei'r abode 
 habitually in the garden and in or near his buildings. None are more loved, none find 
 a heartier welcome when they return home from their winter-quarters, than the familiar 
 Barn Swallows, the merry Purple Martins, the lively Wrens, the amiable Bluebirds, the 
 bright colored Baltimore Orioles, the loud-voiced Robins, the melodious Catbirds, 
 the plain-colored, sweet-voiced Song Sparrows, the Canary-Hke Goldfinch, and other 
 familiar birds. The earliest arrivals, the true harbingers of spring, inspire even indif- 
 ferent people with joy and happiness. In the South no other bird is such a universal 
 favorite as the many-tongued, unrivalled Mockingbird. In the West the House Finch, 
 House Linnet, also called California House Finch, and by the Mexicans, Burion, is one 
 of the loveliest and most confiding birds. Occurring from the 40° south into Mexico, 
 and from New Mexico west to the Pacific, the House Finches are common birds in 
 New Mexico, In Arizona, California, and Nevada. Wherever they occur, these beautiful 
 
36 HOUSE FINCH. 
 
 birds have won the friendship of man. They are exceedingly tame, building like the 
 European Sparrow in nesting boxes put up for them, in outbuildings, in bushes, and in 
 every nook and comer. As soon as the morning begins to dawn, they commence to 
 sing their sweet and melodious strain. Their excellent song, beauty, and familiarity 
 combine to make them great favorites of Califomian rural life. 
 
 Prof. Robert Ridgway, who has had the opportunity of observing this bird in 
 California as well as in Nevada and Utah, gives the following account of its life-history: 
 
 "The 'Red-head Linnet' was the most familiar and one of the most abundant of 
 the birds found at Sacramento, where it frequented the shade trees of the streets or the 
 door yards and gardens in the city in preference to groves in the suburbs or couhtry. 
 In its abundance and semi-domestic habits it thus reminds one somewhat of the Euro- 
 pean House Sparrow, but, unlike that bird, endeared itself to its protectors by the 
 possession of a sweet song and brilliant plumage. It is greatly prized as a cage bird, 
 and justly, too, for while its plumage is equally pretty, its notes excel those of the 
 Canary in sweetness, w^hile at the same time they are fully equal in vivacity and power. 
 All the notes are decidedly Canary-like, the usual utterance being a soft musical tweet. 
 The song itself differs from that of the Canary chiefly in being more tender, less piercing, 
 and interspersed with more varied w^arblings. The males were observed to be shyer 
 than the females, the wariness being perhaps explained by the fa(5t that several were 
 noticed which had their tails clipped, showing that they had once been in captivity. 
 When their nests were disturbed, however, the males exhibited as much concern as the 
 females, and kept up a lively chinking from an adjoining tree. 
 
 "Few birds are more variable as to the choice of a location for their nests than 
 the present species, since it adapts itself readily to any sort of a place where safety is 
 assured. At Sacramento they usually build among the small oak trees, generally near 
 the extremity of a horizontal branch, but one nest was placed inside the pendulous, 
 basket-Hke structure of a Hanging-bird {Icterus bullocki); in the narrow gorge of the 
 Truckee River, where that stream breaks through the Virginia Mountains, one was 
 found inside the abandoned nest of a Cliff Swallow ; along the eastern shore of Pyramid 
 Lake numerous nests were found among the rocks, placed on shelves in the interior of 
 caves, along with those of the Bam Swallow and Say's Pewee, or in the crevices on 
 the outside of the tufa-domes, while in the neighboring valley of the Truckee, where 
 there was an abundance of cotton-wood timber, their nests were nearly all built in the 
 low grease-wood bushes. On Antelope Island, in the great Salt Lake, they preferred 
 the sage brush, like the Black-throated and Brewer's Sparrows ; in City Creek Canon, 
 near Salt Lake City, one was found in a mountain mahogany tree, while in Parley's 
 Park another was in a cotton-wood tree along a stream. At all the towns and larger 
 settlements, however, a large proportion of the individuals of this species have aban- 
 doned such nesting places, as those described above, and resorted to the buildings, where 
 'odd nooks and crannies' afforded superior attractions. 
 
 "Although chiefly a bird of the lower valleys, this species was sometimes found in 
 the lower canons of the mountains, it being common in Buena Vista CafLon, in. the West 
 Humboldt Range, in September, having apparently nested in the ruined adobe houses of 
 the deserted town. In City Creek Canon, near Salt Lake City, several nests were found 
 
at an altitude of about 1800 feet above the level of the mesa, or at the lower limit to 
 the breeding range of Cassin's Purple Finch, a single nest of which was found on a tree 
 adjoining one in which was a nest of the present bird. In Parley's Park it was Hkewise 
 found," but in small numbers, and only on the floor of the park, thfe Cassin's Purple 
 Finch inhabiting the upper portion of the streams." 
 
 In order to give my readers a ftiU account of this valuable and familiar bird of the 
 West, I cite the following from Colonel McCall's biographical sketch of the House 
 Linnet : 
 
 "I found this charming little Finch abundant at Santa Fe, N. M., where it com- 
 menced nesting in March, although the weather was still wintry and so continued, 
 w^ith frequent snow-storms, for more than a month. Notwithstanding this, the song of 
 the male failed not to cheer his mate, during incubation, w^ith the liveliest melody. The 
 notes often reminded me of the soft trill of the House Wren, and often of the clear 
 warble of the Canary. The males of the last year, though mated and apparently 
 equally happy and quite as assiduous as their seniors, were not yet in full plumage, 
 having little or nothing of the red colors that mark the adult birds. 
 
 "The nests w^hich were stuck into every cranny about the eaves and porticos of 
 the houses throughout the town, were variously composed of dry grass, fine roots, 
 horse-hair, long pieces of cotton-twine, or strips of old calico ; in fine, of countless odds 
 and ends, that were picked up about the yards; — these were curiously and firmly inter- 
 woven, so as to make a warm and comfortable abode for the new^-comers. 
 
 "His disposition toward other birds appeared to be mild and peacetul, and I had 
 many opportunities to observe. I will mention one instance. In the piazza of the house 
 I occupied, quite a colony of these birds had their nests ; here the work of building and 
 incubation had gone on prosperously for several weeks, although the weather at times 
 was stormy and cold, and ere the genial warmth of spring was fairly felt, the colony 
 might have been said to be fully established. As the season advanced and birds of a 
 less hardy nature began to arrive from the South, a pair of Barn Swallows made their 
 appearance, and forthwith entered the territory of the Finches. And here they at once, 
 very unceremoniously, began to eredt their domicil. This act of aggression would have 
 been fiercely resented by most birds, and violent measures would have been resorted to, 
 to ejedl the intruders. The conduct of the little Finches was quite different; at first 
 they stood aloof, and seemed to regard the strangers with suspicion and distrust, rather 
 than enmity. In the meantime the Swallows went quietly to work, without showing 
 any inclination to intermeddle; and in a day or two (their mud-walls all the time 
 rapidly advancing) they gained the confidence of their neighbors, and finally completed 
 their work unmolested. Indeed, a perfedt harmony was established between the parties, 
 which I never saw interrupted by a single quarrel during the time they remained my 
 
 tenants." 
 
 Mrs. Sophia Zimmermann, then at San Miguel, San Luis Obispo County, Cal., 
 kindly sent me the following account : 
 
 "The House Finch is one of the commonest songbirds of this locality. The winter- 
 storms, accompanied by heavy rains, are still in full force. The oaks {Quercus corbata), 
 cotton-wood trees, and the sycamores are still leafless. In the fields and on the hill- 
 
38 HOUSE FINCH. 
 
 sides, however, a velvety green gladdens our eyes. Several species of flowers are bloom- 
 ing already. Near San Miguel I have found on January 15 quite a number of different 
 flowers. At this time the House Finches usually make their appearance in large flocks. 
 One morning, early in February, a loud song arrested my attention, and I noticed with 
 great pleasure numerous House Finches around the water pots and nesting boxes which 
 I had put up on trees for the convenience of these birds. After their arrival the males 
 are fighting with great vehemence for the females, and later there is much quarrehng 
 going on for the best nesting sites. The foundation of the nest consists of plant-stems, 
 especially of the wooly stems of Micropus califomica, and the interior is lined with 
 softer material. I am in the habit of supplying these birds and the Orioles with nesting 
 material, and I have invariably found that the birds prefer to go quite a distance to 
 get it instead of taking that which is nearest the nest. They always select white or 
 neutral colored strings and pieces of cloth. Colored material they never employ. Blue, 
 black, red, and yellow strings were never used. Bullock's Orioles also showed a great 
 dislike for colored material.— The House Finch has a great predilection for nesting 
 boxes, but where these are not supplied, every nook and comer near or in a house is 
 occupied by a pair. Beneath the roof, even over the door in a house, I have seen the 
 nest. The birds are exceedingly tame, especially where they are protected. Last spring 
 (1890) two and even three pairs came regularly through the window into my room. 
 On the trees around our house numerous nesting boxes decorated with lace lichen 
 {Razaalina retiformis) and moss are to be found. They were occupied as soon as they 
 were fastened to the trees. These very natural looking moss-houses are especially 
 adapted for these birds. . . . Two years ago an old overcoat was left hanging on a tree 
 during night. When I came to the spot the next morning I was very much surprised 
 in finding in one pocket a nest of these birds just commenced. I left the coat in the 
 same position and arranged the other pocket so that it also could be occupied. During 
 the next hour an other pair, had settled in it. Several broods of young birds were raised 
 successfiiUy in each oocket. I have also seen the birds using old Oriole nests for nesting 
 purposes." 
 
 The House Finch has all the requisites for a vamable cage bird. An excellent 
 smger, of fine plumage, very tame, easy to keep, it is especially adapted for the cage 
 and aviary. Sunflower seed, millet, Canary seed, rice, and now and then a little fi-uit 
 and a few meal-worms are sufficient to keep the bird in good health. After a short time 
 the beautiful red color gives place to a rather dingy yellowish-brown. The CaUfomia 
 Linnet is rarely found in the bird-stores of the East and in Europe. 
 
 This bird is merely a variety of the Crimson-fronted House Finch, Carpodacus 
 mexicanas Ridgw., of eastern and southern Mexico. 
 
 NAMES: House Finch, California House Finch, California Linnet, Red Linnet, Burion. — Hausfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Carpodacus rbodocolpus Cabanis (1851). Carpodacus froBtalis rbodocolpus Ridgw. 
 (1873). CARPODACUS MEXICANUS FRONTALIS Ridgw. (1887). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Above, brownish-gray; below, whitish, more or less extensively streaked 
 with dark grayish-brown ; wings and tail, dusky grayish-brown, the feathers edged with a paler 
 shade of the same. The red spreading at least over breast (sometimes over whole lower parts, except 
 
AMERICAN CROSSSILL. 39 
 
 anal region and lower tail-coverts, and occasionally even tingeing the latter), and also invading, 
 more or less, the crown, hind neck, back, etc., or else, if absolutely restricted within very definite 
 limits, the tint not an intense carmine or crimson. Female: Above, entirely grayish-brown, indistinctly 
 streaked with darker; beneath, everywhere white, broadly streaked with dark grayish-brown. 
 "Length about 6.00 inches; wing, 3.08; tail, 2.57 inches." (After Ridgway.) 
 
 AMERICAN CROSSBILL, 
 
 Loxia curvirostra minor Ridgway. 
 
 When the flowers long have withered. 
 And the wind blows chill north-west, 
 
 In the hemlock bough a bird is 
 Building then a little nest. 
 
 There this bird of blood-red plumage, ] 
 
 'Spite grim winter's darkest mood, j 
 
 Faithful to her instindt, hatches t 
 Fervently her little brood. 
 
 Wonderbird, oh faithful Crossbill: 1 
 
 When the world looks drear' to me, 
 
 "With but duties ties to hold me, 
 Then, oh then I think of thee ! 
 
 From the German of Julius Mosen, 
 
 by Frank Siller. 
 
 IJ^HE POET calls the Crossbill a "Wonderbird," and not without good reason. 
 This bird of the evergreen Asroods has some startUng peculiarities which really 
 justify this term. It occupies quite a place in poetry and fairy-tale, being the Gypsy 
 among the birds, the Parrot of the evergreen forests, whose courtship and song even 
 bid defiance to winter, w^hen ice and snow^ cover the earth and weigh down the dense 
 branches of the pine, spruce, and hemlock. The real home of the Crossbill is found in 
 the vast and lonely northern forests of coniferous trees, not often trodden by human feet. 
 There they live in great numbers. They are not confined to any particular region, but 
 are great w^anderers, and sometimes suddenly appear in localities where they were never 
 seen before, and then disappear as mysteriously as they came. Their migrations depend 
 on the abundance or scarcity of the seeds of the evergreens, their favorite food. If 
 that be plentiful, they remain, if not, they w^ander on, even into thickly settled localities. 
 They often breed there and then disappear as suddenly as they came. Sometimes they 
 arrive in large numbers in forests w^here they were not seen for years. Apparently they 
 make the locality their home, they breed, raise their young, and are off again to renew 
 the same process in other parts of the country during another year. In America their 
 migrations have extended as far south as Mexico. Doubtless the quality and quantity 
 of the coniferous seeds in the different parts of the country have much to do with their 
 coming, remaining, and departing. These irregular movements can only be explained by 
 supposing that larger or smaller flocks of them are moving throughout the entire year, 
 
40 AMERICAN CEOSSSILL. 
 
 roving through the forests and settling where the prospedl for the seed of evergreens is 
 encouraging. But where this appears less promising they pass on after a hurried 
 reConnoitering. Thus they are more abundant in the large northern and mountain 
 wobds than in the more scanty forests of the lowlands, where good seed harvests seldom 
 occur, and where the birds are more likely to be disturbed. Thus they become scarcer 
 from year to year where the extermination of the pine forests is progressing at a deplor- 
 able rate in the Northern and New England States. In Europe this Crossbill, of w^hich 
 our American bird is only a variety, moves very far to the South, being found sometimes 
 in Spain and Greece. They even cross the Mediterranean Sea, visiting the Atlas and the 
 mountains of Asia Minor. Our Crossbill is not known to traverse such a vast, extent of 
 country, though it is breeding, sporadically, south to Maryland and Virginia near the 
 coast, and to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia in the mountains. In the south-western 
 parts of the country, from western Kansas, Colorado, and Arizona south through the 
 Highlands of Mexico, it is replaced by another variety, the Mexican Crossbill, Loxia 
 curvirostra stricklandi Ridgw. It was also observed in the Coast Range and in the 
 Sierra Nevada of California. In Colorado, according to Mr. Trippe, this bird, like the Pine 
 Grosbeak, is irregularly distributed, flocks of hundreds being occasionally seen in Clear 
 Creek County, while, as a rule, it is not commonly to be met with in that part of the 
 mountains. It ranges much lower than the bird just named, "breeding from 7,000 feet, 
 if not lower, all the way up to timber-line ; nesting, as near, as can be judged from the 
 appearance of the young birds, in April and May, according to the elevation, or about 
 the breaking up of the winter. In June flocks composed of young and old may be seen 
 roving through the woods occasionally, and alighting on dead limbs and tree tops, 
 w^here their bright colors and noisy chatter are sure to attract the attention of 
 passers-by. They are not at all shy, and sometimes alight on trees in the midst of 
 larger towns. Their food is the same as the Pine Grosbeak's — the seeds of pines, birches, 
 etc.; and as they sometimes alight in the thickets of rose-bushes, rasp-berries, and other 
 shrubbery, they probably add haws and berries to their bill of fare. In June I have 
 heard it sing very agreeably; its notes are much like those of the Pine Grosbeak." 
 
 The eastern variety I have frequently observed in Wisconsin, usually in very snowy 
 and cold winters. They generally appeared early in January, in large flocks, and were 
 rarely seen again during the next five or six successive winters. The Crossbills, just 
 after their arrival, are so tame that they come without fear in the vicinity of houses, 
 entering even the parks and gardens of our large northern cities. Evergreens are always 
 preferred, as they afford them excelleiit resting places during the night, sheltering them 
 at the same time from cold winds and snow. At this season they feed on the seeds of 
 the mountain-ash, alder, birch, and all kinds of evergreens. In the cold winter of 1875 
 to 1876 the parks of Chicago and the suburbs around the city swarmed w^ith Cross- 
 bills and other northern birds. They came into my garden and to the windows of my 
 house at Oak Park, Ills., picking up crumbs, pieces of fat and tallow, hemp, millet, 
 Canary-seed, cuttle-fish bone, and even salt. Quite a number were caught and kept in a 
 cage, together with Pine Grosbeaks and Red-polls, which all lived in perfedt harmony 
 and, peace. During the hot summer months they suffered very much and most of them 
 died, while others for years remained perfectly healthy. After being caught they never 
 
XXI 
 
 1. COCCOTHRAUSTES VESPERTINA Sw. - /ftBENDKERNBEISSER - Evening Grosbeak . 
 
 2. PARUS ATRICAPILLUS Linn. - SCHVMRZKOPFMEISE -Chickadee. 
 
 3. ACANTHIS LINARIA Bonap. - BIRKENZ El SI G -Redpoll. 
 
 4-. LOXIA LEUCOPTERA Gmel. - WEISSBINDIGER KREUZSCHNABEL - White-winged Crossbill. 
 
 5. SITTA CAROLINENSIS Lath. - CAROLINA SPECHTMElSE - White-breasted Nuthatch 
 
 b. - HAKENGIMPEL - Pine Grosbeak. 
 
AMERICAN CROSSBILL. 41 
 
 should be brought into a warm room. Such a sudden change will kill almost every 
 bird. A very cool, unheated room is the right place for keeping them, and they should 
 always be kept in small companies. A single bird soon pines away. With the exception 
 of our beautiful Baltimore Orioles I have never observed birds that are so much attached 
 to one another than these Crossbills. "When I had caught one. in the trap cage, the 
 other of the pair did not leave its mate, but hopped around in great distress, uttering 
 exceedingly mournful notes. 
 
 The Crossbill is a very diligent singer, even as a cage -bird. The song consists of 
 a number of loud and flute-like notes, which are frequently intermingled with several 
 harsh chattering tones. There are good and poor singers among the Crossbills, as it is 
 the case also with most other birds. The song of the females is in every respe(3; quite 
 equal to that of the males. The usual note is a loud chatter, which is generally heard 
 when they fly. While feeding among the dense evergreens, a soft, persuasive weed, weed 
 is frequently heard. 
 
 I have never found a nest, although these birds, in the days of my boyhood, were 
 sometimes exceedingly abundant throughout the year in the white pines around our 
 small lake in Sheboygan Cotmty, Wisconsin. In Oconto County of this State Mr. B. F. 
 Goss and Mr. A. J. Schoenebeck found a nest of this bird on June 9, 1892, in a hemlock. 
 July 4 it contained four young. Near this old nest Mr. Schoenebeck found on April 29, 
 1893, another one, evidently of the same pair, with four fresh eggs ; this was also built 
 on a hemlock. 
 
 In Maine, Vermont, and even in New York this Crossbill has also been found 
 breeding. The best account on the nesting habits of this bird has been given by Mr. 
 Eugene P. BickneU. 
 
 "Among those of our abundant- birds," says Mr. BickneU*, "whose nidification 
 remains very unsatisfactorily known, the Red Crossbill occupies no inconspicuous posi- 
 tion. True, the nesting of the very intimately alUed European form is pretty thoroughly 
 understood, but, so far as I can now recall, there is but a single authentic descriptive 
 record of the nest and eggs of the American Crossbill having been discovered. In view 
 of these fadls it is with much pleasure that I find myself able to describe the nest and 
 eggs of this species taken in the Lower Hudson Valley ; theoretically one of the most 
 unlikely places to be chosen as a breeding station in the State, and well illustrating the 
 uncertain and erratic disposition of the species in question. 
 
 "The winter of 1874—75 will be remembered as one of extreme severity, during 
 which most of our boreal birds appeared in greater numbers, and extended their range 
 further to the southward than for many winters before. At Riverdale, New York City, 
 Red Crossbills were first observed in 1874 on November 3 (a small flock). They 
 remained apparently but a few days, but reappeared in larger numbers about a month 
 later, and thereafter during the ensuing winter were constantly present in small roving 
 flocks. At one locality, in particular, they were almost always to be found. This was 
 about several private residences overlooking the river, whose grounds, abounding with 
 various species of ornamental evergreens and conifers, especially larches and the Norway 
 spruce {Abies excelsa) seemed to offer them especial attractions. Here as the winter 
 
 * Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club. Vol. V. 1880, p. 7—9. 
 
4S - AMERICAN CROSSBILL. 
 
 waned the birds became none the less common, and in the mild mornings of early spring 
 time this species, as well as the Pine Grosbeak, would often be found in full song, fre- 
 quently on the same tree. As I now recall them, the song of the Grosbeak w^as a sub- 
 dued rambling warble, interrupted with w^histling notes ; that of the Crossbill bolder 
 and more pronounced as a song. During the third week in April a male was daily 
 heard singing about the same spot, and on the 22nd, in following up his notes, I came 
 upon the female busily at work upon a nest. Several times I w^atched it arrange a 
 burden of building materials, gathered from the ground but a few yards distant, in the 
 almost completed structure, w^hich on another visit a few^ days later appeared to be 
 finished, but was empty. On the 30th, however, it contained three eggs. On shaking 
 the tree the female fluttered from the nest, and w^hile I was ascending both birds flew 
 about me with notes of distress and alarm, the female approaching within a foot w^hen 
 the nest was reached, though her mate exercised a greater degree of caution. Notwith- 
 standing all this demonstration, however, the male bird (unquestionably of this pair) 
 was observed near the nest a short time afterward in full song. 
 
 "The nest was placed in a tapering cedar of rather scanty foliage, about eighteen 
 feet from the ground, and w^as without any single main support, being built in a mass 
 of small tangled twigs, from which it was with difficulty detached. The situation could 
 scarcely have been more conspicuous, being close to the intersection of several roads 
 (all of them more or less bordered with ornamental evergreens), in plain sight of as 
 many residences, and constantly exposed to the view of passers-by. The materials of 
 its composition were of rather a miscellaneous character, becoming finer and more select 
 from without inwards. An exterior of bristling spruce twigs loosely arranged sur- 
 rounded a mass of matted shreds of cedar bark, which formed the principal body of the 
 structure, a few strips of the same appearing around the upper border, the whole suc- 
 ceeded on the inside by a sort of felting of finer material, which received the scanty 
 lining of black horse-hair, fine rootlets, grass stems, pieces of string, and two or three 
 feathers. This shallow felting of the inner nest can apparently be removed intact from 
 the body of the structure, which, besides the above mentioned materials, contained small 
 pieces of moss, leaves, grass, string, cottony substances, and the green foliage of cedar. 
 The nest, measured internally two and one half inches in diameter by over one and a 
 quarter in depth ; being in diameter externally about four inches, and rather shallow in 
 appearance. 
 
 "The fresh eggs are in ground-color of a decided greenish tint, almost immaculate 
 on the smaller end, but on the opposite side with irregular spots and dottings of 
 lavender-brown of slightly varying shade, interspersed with a few heavy surface spots 
 of dark purple-brown. There is no approach in the arrangement of these to a circle, 
 but between the apex of the larger end, and the greatest diameter of the egg, is a fine 
 hair-like surface line ; in two examples it forms a complete though irregular circle, and 
 encloses the principal spots. In the other egg, which is the largest, this line is not quite 
 complete and the primary blotches are wanting, but the secondary markings are corre- 
 spondingly larger and more numerous. In. another egg there are two perfect figures of 
 ^ 3 formed on the sides by the secondary marks, one of them large and singularly sym- 
 metrical. The eggs measure rfespectively .74X.56, .75X.58, .78X.59." 
 
WHITE-IVINGED CROSSBILL. 43 
 
 NAMES: American Crossbill, Red Crossbill, Common Crossbill. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Crucivostra minor Brehm (1853). LOXIA CURVIROSTRA MINOR Ridgw. (1885). 
 
 DESCRIPTION : Adult mah^ dull red, brightest on the rump, wings and tail uniformly dusky. Adult female, 
 plain olive, tinged with grayish or yellowish. 
 
 Length, 5.50 to 6.25 inches; wing, 3.20 to 3.60; tail, 1.85 to 2.40 inches. 
 
 The variety Loxia carvirostra stricklkndi Ridgw. (Mexican Crossbill), is a little 
 larger and the colors are brighter. 
 
 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. 
 
 Loxia leucoptera Gmelin. 
 
 Plate XXI. Fia. 4. 
 
 ^HIS handsome bird is as erratic in its movements as the common Crossbill. 
 Occurring during one winter in large flocks and in company with the common 
 Crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks, Red-polls, Evening Grosbeaks, and Waxwings,it may, perhaps, 
 not be found again in the same locality for the next five or ten successive winters. Like . 
 its ally it is a very gregarious bird, being never seen alone, but always in flocks. In 
 the breeding season these flocks separate and each pair is following its own w^ay. In 
 the days of my youth I have sometimes seen flocks of from twenty to hundred in the 
 dense and beautiful woods of white-pines in Sheboygan County, Wis. In the winter of 
 1875 and 1876 I observed them in great numbers in Oak Park, 111. 
 
 "The Crossbills of both species," says Mr. Winfred A. Steams, "are birds of the 
 most strongly marked originality of character, and it is never safe to predict w^hat they 
 may and may not be found about. Their most remarkable habit is that of breeding in 
 winter, or very early in the spring, when one w^ould think it impossible that the callow 
 young could endure the rigors of the season. They are most devoted parents, seeming 
 entirely insensible of danger in the defence of their homes ; and at all times, indeed, 
 betray a confidence in man that is too often misplaced, and that seems the height of 
 folly to one who know^s as much of human nature as most people find out, sooner or 
 later, to their cost. The birds are much attached to pine woods, the seeds of the coni- 
 fers furnishing them abundant food, of a kind that their curiously shaped bills enable 
 them to secure with great ease and address. From their summer resorts in the depth 
 of the evergreen woods the Crossbills come flocking in the fall to all other parts of 
 New England and beyond, generally associated with the other species, or. with Pine 
 Grosbeaks and Red-polls, always gentle, unsuspicious, and apparently quite at their 
 ease. They are not so common, however, as the Red Crossbills are, and both species 
 take such freal^s in deciding thejr course of action that their appearance can never be 
 relied upon. It need surprise no one to come upon a pair of Crossbills breeding any- 
 where in New England; though the general tenor of the Crossbill's way is as above 
 
44 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. 
 
 mtimated ; for they seem to be quite independent of weather and season. Their diet is 
 not so exclusive as many suppose; the birds may sometimes be seen helping themselves 
 to decayed garden fruits. Mr. Maynard has seen them feeding on the seeds of beach- 
 grass, and has also found the stomachs filled with canker-worms. The eggs are still 
 considered a great prize, few having come to the knowledge of naturalists. They are 
 described as pale blue, with the larger end rather thickly spattered with fine dots of 
 black and ashy -lilac; the size being 0.80X0.56. They thus resemble those of the Purple 
 Finch and are probably indistinguishable from those of the Red Crossbill. Both species 
 of Crossbills have a chattering or rattling note, usually uttered as they fly; but the 
 true song is seldom heard south of their nesting grounds." 
 
 A nest of this bird was found by Mr. A. J. Schoenebeck, on April 27, 1891, on 
 a small branch of Fort River, some ten miles west of Ascanaba, Delta Co., Mich. It 
 was found in dense evergreen woods, and was placed in the top of a small pine about 
 twenty-five feet from the ground. Mr. Schoenebeck saw one of the old birds moving 
 around in the tree top in a somewhat uneasy way, and when his companion, an old 
 trapper, knocked against the tree, he saw two birds flying off'. He at once climbed 
 the tree and found to his great delight a nest with two fresh eggs. Both are now before 
 me. The exterior of the nest consists of fine twigs and within this the nest proper is 
 placed. It is built of hemp-like fibers, bark-strips, some fine grasses, and the inside 
 consists of the same material and a layer of black horse-hair mixed with fibers. The 
 inside diameter is 2.75 inches and the depth 1.75 inches. The eggs measure .82X.60 
 and .Six. 62. Their ground-color is bluish-white, almost white when blown, marked 
 with very fine spots of reddish-brown and a few larger dots of dark brown, especially 
 on the larger end. 
 
 The breeding range ot this Crossbill is found from northern New England and the 
 Northern States northward. In winter it is rarely found south of 40°. Dr. C. H. 
 Merriam found this bird in the Adirondacs, and Prof. R. Ridgway in the East Humboldt 
 Mountains. Near Calais, Maine, Mr. Boardman found a nest in winter. In the Rocky 
 Mountains of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana it is not an uncommon bird. 
 
 Among the branches of pines, spruces, and firs these birds are of great beauty. 
 In all conceivable positions they climb around among the dense branches like Parrots. 
 They are especially attractive in winter when the snow weighs down the branches of 
 the evergreens. Several times I have seen them together in such a snow-covered tree 
 with the Red Crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks, and Red-polls. The partially red plumage 
 contrasts beautifully with the dark green of the pine foliage and the snow that covers it. 
 
 I kept several of the White-winged Crossbills in a cage, and they took food imme- 
 diately after being captured. They were very tame, picking pieces of firuit, hemp, and 
 Canary-seed from my hand. They were almost constantly climbing around in the cage 
 like Parrots, moving up and down on the sides of the cage and hanging and walking 
 with the same ease, head downward, on the upper side of the wire netting. They did 
 not seem to suffer from the summer's heat, for I kept them about three and several 
 four years in perfedl health. 
 NAMES: White-winged Crossbill. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: LOXIA LBUCOPTERA Gmel. (1788). Carvirostra leucoptera Wilson (1811). 
 
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BLACK ROSY FINCH. 45 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Male, adult: Rosy-red; feathers of the back, dark-centred; wings and tail, blackish, the 
 former with two conspicuous white cross-bars. Bill, horn-color; both mandibles falcate, with crossed 
 points. The shade of red varies greatly, but is never bricky or cinnabar, as in the other species of 
 Loxia.— Female and young: Olive-brown, the feathers dark-centred; rump, safiron or gamboge- 
 yellow; wing-bars, present. 
 
 Length, 5.75 to 6.00 inches; wing, 3.40; tail, 2.25 inches, forked. 
 
 BLACK ROSY FINCH, 
 
 Leucosticte atrata Ridgway. 
 
 Plate XXII. 
 
 )ROF. R. Ridgway sends me the following account on this rare and beautiful bird: 
 1^ "The first specimen of Aiken's Rosy Finch brought to the notice of ornithologists 
 was obtained September 20, 1870, by the collector of the United States Geological 
 Survey, under Dr. F. V. Hayden, on the Uintah Mountains. This grand range 
 trends exactly at right angles w^ith the meridian of 110°, along the south-western 
 border of Wyoming, and forms part of the boundary line w^hich separates the above- 
 named territory from Utah. On which slope, or in what part, of the range in question 
 the specimen w^as procured, is not known. It was described, in 'History of North 
 American Birds' (Vol. I, p. 505), as the young of i. tephrocotis, -with, the remark, how^- 
 ever, that 'were it not unmistakably a bird of the year it would be considered almost 
 a distinct species, so different is it from adult specimens of the Gray-crowned Leucosticte.' 
 "At the comparatively recent date w^hen this first mention of the present species, 
 wrongly identified, was published, the birds of this interesting genus w^ere, with the 
 exception of L. griseonucba, little known, probably less than two dozen specimens 
 representing the entire material contained in public museums or private collections. 
 During the winter of 1874 — '75, how^ever, the writer, when preparing his monograph 
 of the genus*, w^as able to examine at one time more than four hundred specimens, 
 embracing large series of L. tephrocotis, L. tephrocotis littoralis, and L. australis, 
 besides three examples of L. attata — more than half of w^hich were generously loaned 
 for the purpose by Mr. Charles E. Aiken, of Fountain (now of Colorado Springs), 
 Colorado. At the present time, the three forms above-named, and also L. griseonucba, 
 are common in collections, but L. atrata is still rare, while nothing has yet been learned 
 as to its range during the breeding season. Speculations as to its summer home would, 
 considering the paucity of our present knowledge, be idle ; but it seems not improbable 
 that its breeding grounds may be located in the unknown Rocky Mountain region of 
 British America, or perhaps even within our own territory." 
 
 NAMES: Black Rosy Finch, Black Leucosticte, Black Gray-crowned Leucosticte; Aiken's Rosy Pinch. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: LEUCOSTICTE ATRATA Ridgw. (1884). Leucosticte tephrocotis (1874). 
 
 * "Monograph of the genns Leucosticte, Swainson; or, Gray-crowned Purple Finches." By R. Ridgway. (Bull. U. S. 
 Geol. & Geog. Surv. Terr. No. 2, sec. ser., pp. 51—82. May 11, 1875.) 
 
DESCRIPTION: "Male: General color, black, darker than the frontal patch, deepest anteriorly. Female: 
 General color, dusky slate, lighter than the frontal patch, and with a faint brownish cast on the 
 dorsal region. — In winter-plumaged specimens, there is almost as, much pink on the abdomen as in 
 L. anstralis, while the lesser wing-coverts, together with the middle and greater coverts, form a uni- 
 form patch of this color — a delicate, soft, peach blossom-pink. In younger individuals the greater 
 coverts and tertials are broadly edged with pale clay-color', while the scapulars are widely bordered 
 with the same; the feathers of the breast are widely bordered with dull whitish, and the feathers of 
 the neck, all round, have narrower borders of the same. The gray of the head is not so sharply 
 defined in winter as in the spring specimens, and the bill is dull yellow, with a dusky tip. In the 
 adult female, in spring, there is a less sharp outline to the ash of the crown, and the demarkation 
 between this and the dusky frontal patch is not distinct; the dusky shading gradually along the median 
 line into the color of the occiput. 
 
 "Length, 6.50 to 7.25 inches ; wing, 4.15; tail, 3.09 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCH. 
 
 Leucosticte tephrocotis Swainson. 
 
 ^HE Gray-crowned I,eucosticte, or Gray-crowned Rosy Finch is a resident of 
 the interior of British America, near or in the Rocky Mountains. In winter this 
 handsome bird is common on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, especially in 
 Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, etc. None seem to breed in our territory. They appear 
 in small flocks during the coldest part of the w^inter. Their food consists of small 
 seeds and insects. 
 
 "During the winter,^' says Mr. M. Trippe, "I saw several flocks of this bird near 
 Central City, where they were feeding in the dry gulches and about gardens, acting like 
 Lapland Longspurs ; but did not observe £hem elsewhere, though I looked carefully for 
 them throughout a large extent of country. During summer and autumn the Gray- 
 crowned Rosy Finch is common above timber line, where it breeds, ranging higher than the 
 Titlark, and being usually found in the vicinity of snow fields and the frozen lakes near 
 the summit of the range. It is rather shy in such localities, though exceedingly tame 
 in winter; its flight is in undulating lines, like the Crossbill's, and the only note I have 
 heard it utter is a kind of churr, like the call of the Scarlet Tanager. In the latter part 
 of September small flocks, composed of one or two families, may be seen together; and 
 still later in the season they gather into large flocks. They stay above timber line till 
 the close of October or the middle of November, being much hardier than the Titlark; 
 and only descend when driven aw^ay by the furious winter storms. * * * * Since the 
 above w^as penned, great flocks of the Gray -crowned Rosy Finch have appeared near Idaho 
 Springs. In their habits and actions they are very similar to the Snow Bunting. They 
 are perpetually roving from place to place; feed upon the seeds of w^eeds and grasses; 
 and are never at rest for more than a moment at a time, constantly whirling about in 
 close, dense masses, like so many Longspurs." 
 
 "These Finches," says Dr. J. C. Merrill, "were first noticed here (Fort Shaw, Montana) 
 
shortly before Christmas, when a heavy snow storm and very cold weather (the mercury 
 solidifying on several occasions) brought many birds about the Fort for food and shelter. 
 Of these, Snow Buntings and Shore Larks (var. Leacolsema) were the most abundant, 
 and mingled with them were Red-polls and the present species. During the most severe 
 weather the Finches, when not feeding, sought shelter in Chff Swallow's nests under 
 the eaves of the stables, — a habit I did not observe in the other species. From that 
 time to the present, about two months, the birds have been quite common, but only 
 during storms ; they appear about the buildings within an hour or two of the first fall 
 of snow, and remain until the storm is over. They are now to be found for a day or 
 two among the weeds in the post garden, and then disappear until the next storm ; nor 
 has diligent search revealed their haunts at these intervals. Though very tame, and 
 associating freely with the Buntings and Larks while in the Fort, at the garden the 
 Finches are usually seen in small flocks by themselves, or with the Red-polls. Here they 
 are restless rather than shy, continually rising without apparent cause, to settle imme- 
 diately near the same spot. The only note I have heard is a rather musical chink. On 
 dissection the oesophagus was always found distended with the seeds of a small weed. 
 Both Finches mingle indiscriminately. At this season of the year they are alike in 
 having the bill yellow with dusky tip, iris brown, the legs and feet brownish-black." 
 
 This life-sketch of the Gray-crowned Rosy Finch would be incomplete, should I 
 fail to quote an article from the pen of Dr. R. W. Shufeldt in the "Bulletin of the Nuttall 
 Ornithological Club." He writes: 
 
 "While stationed at Fort Fetterman, Wyoming, in th© spring of 1880, I captured 
 eight Gray-crowned Finches, all apparently in perfect health and feather. After the 
 capture I decided, as well as I could from the diagnostic points of size and plumage, 
 that I had the sexes about equally represented. As these birds were very plenty about my 
 quarters, and anticipating the care of my pets, I had already constructed a large double 
 cage for them, consisting essentially of a lower or breeding cage, 3>c2i4 feet, with a 
 large side door, and admitting the light from in front and upper half through a rather 
 coarse net-work. This part of their home was intended to represent and take the place 
 of their outdoor existence. The floor was covered with two or three inches of earth 
 and sodded ; the grass growing well. Various styles of perches were introduced, minia- 
 ture clumps of dry grasses, and odds and ends of building materials. Above and easy 
 of access there w^as another cage, 2 X 2 X 2% feet, with its floor also spread w^ith earth, 
 well lighted, and containing a large bath tub and a shelf intended to represent the 
 eaves of a house, a style of perch the Gray-crowned Finch is particularly fond of. The 
 capture was effected on the 10th of March, and the little fellows were introduced to 
 their home for the summer. I had two objects in view : first, to observe their style of 
 plumage during the summer months, and, secondly, if possible, to induce them to breed 
 and rear their young. Imagine my delight, w^hen I found that in a few days they not 
 only became accustomed to their narrow quarters, but apparently thoroughly satisfied 
 and happy. Flocks of their companions passing over were certain to be called down, 
 to alight on the fences, the ground, and in fact everything in the neighborhood of the 
 cage, to even the cage itself Their plumage at this time of the year seemed to be 
 almost in a perfect state> all the colorings being very dark. My captives were fed upon 
 
Canary seed, flax seed, finely cracked wheat, and, later in the year, lettuce, and other 
 tender leaves. As the sods at the bottom of the cage were often entirely removed, they 
 no doubt obtained also many insects. Every morning as I approached the cage, a 
 general and impatient chattering commenced for their breakfast and bath, and they 
 immediately availed themselves of both in my presence; and often I deluged the entire 
 thing, birds and all, with a large w^atering pot, they enjoying this sprinkling immensely. 
 Later in the spring this part of the programme was followed by their mounting to the 
 upper cage, pluming themselves in the sun, chattering among themselves, and the males 
 giving utterance to a low, subdued, and plaintive sort of a song, being different from 
 the shrill w^histle they gave to attract the attention of their passing fellow^s outside. 
 
 "By the middle of May, all the birds of this species had entirely left the country; 
 the spring migration w^as thoroughly inaugurated, and the weather was becoming very 
 warm. Swallows were breeding and many other birds were evidently thinking of doing 
 likewise. I now made their home as attractive as possible, by every means that my 
 imagination could invent. Nests of birds of about their own size that built on the 
 ground were introduced into the secluded nooks of their breeding cage, but these they 
 invariably pulled to pieces the very day I placed them there. In short, by the middle 
 of June I had abandoned all hope of their breeding, and during their entire confinement 
 there never seemed any evidence of their pairing, or having the least desire, like sensible 
 birds, of resorting to the business of the season. 
 
 "By the first of July, they were as gentle as any cage birds I ever saw; they 
 w^ould pick seed out of one's hand, and alight on your finger, if you quietly introduced 
 it between the bars ; in fact, they w^ere all that any one could desire in the way of cage 
 pets. On the 10th of July, I opened the doors of their little prison and allowed them 
 all to escape, as they had suffered intensely from the heat for several days ; the sudden 
 exercise was rather too much for one or two of them, and they w^ere readily retaken 
 but only to be kept until the cool of the evening. The brilliancy of their plumage 
 seemed to be at its acme in the early part of May ; at the time of their release it was 
 in all of them many shades paler. On several occasions during the summer they were 
 seen about the post, usually one at a time, so I am quite confident they never 
 made the attempt to either breed that season or to follow their companions to the 
 northward." 
 
 A variety, Hepburn's Leucosticte, or Hepburn's Rosy Finch, L. tephrocotis 
 littoralis Coues, inhabits the Pacific coast ranges of north-western North America. In 
 winter it is found from Kadiak southward and south-eastward to the Great Basin, 
 western Nevada, and eastern Colorado. 
 
 NAMES: Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, Gray-crowned Finch, Gray-crowned Leucosticte. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: LEUCOSTICTE TEPHROCOTIS Swainson (1831). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Male in -winter. General color, dark cinnamon-brown, lighter and more chestnut below; 
 the feathers to a considerable degree with paler edges, those of back with darker centres. 
 Nasal bristly feathers, and those along base of maxilla, and the hind head to nape ash-gray, this 
 color forming a square patch on top of head, and not extending below level of eyes. A fi-ontal 
 blackish patch extending from base of bill, and reaching somewhat beyond the line of the eyes, with 
 convex outline behind, and extending less distinctly on the loral region. Chin and throat, darker 
 
chestnut, not grayish anteriorly. Body, behind dusky; the feathers of abdomen and flanks washed, 
 and of crissum, rump, and upper tail-coverts tipped with rose-red ; wing-coverts, and to some extent 
 quills, edged with the same; otherwise with white. Bill, yellowish, with dusky tip; feet, black. 
 Length, 6.50 inches; wing, 4.30; tail, 3.00 inches. 
 
 Brown-capped Leucosticte, Leucosticte austrahs Ridgw., inhabits the high 
 mountains of Colorado in summer, 10,000 feet and upwards. In winter it is found in 
 the lower districts, south to northern Mexico. 
 
 ALEUTIAN LEUCOSTICTE. 
 
 Leucosticte griseonucba Bonaparte. 
 
 According to Mr. Dall this species abounds on the Prybilof and Aleutian Islands. 
 In August he observed it on St. George's; at this time it was moulting. "This 
 beautiful bird had no song at that season except a clear chirp, sounding like w6et-a- 
 weet-a-wee-weet. It was on the wing a great part of the time, avoiding alighting on 
 the ground, but darting rapidly in a series of ascending and descending curves, nov^r 
 swinging on the broad top of an umbelliferous plant, and now alighting on some ledge 
 of the perpendicular bluff, jumping from point to point, and seemingly delighting in test- 
 ing its own agility. Their nest is a simple hollow on one of these ledges, provided w^ith a 
 few straws or bits of moss. They lay four white eggs in May (0.97X0.67). In August 
 the young were fully fledged." In "Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska,"* 
 Mr. L. M. Turner has given a good description of the habits of the bird, and Prof. R. 
 Ridgway has figured it (on Plate VIII) in his admirable style. According to Mr. 
 Turner, this Rosy Finch is common on all the Aleutian Islands, including the Pribylof 
 group, Sannahk, mainland of Belhovsky, Unga Island, and was also observed on 
 Kadiak Island. At Unalashka the bird is often seen. At the villages of St. Paul's Island 
 and that of St. George's Island the bird is abundant in the so-called streets. Mr. Turner 
 counted as many as twenty individuals around one building at St. George's Island; 
 and some of them w^ithin few feet of several persons. They seemed regardless of the pre- 
 sence of man; vphile at other places they were seldom seen and were then shy, taking 
 long flights when approached. This bird prefers the bold, ragged cliffs along the sea- 
 shore. They are constantly in motion, either on the wing, flying in sweeping, long 
 curves, sometimes near the earth, to mo^nt thirty or forty feet at a single effort, 
 alighting on some projecting ledge of a bluff to search for food, and away again to alight 
 for a moment on a weed stalk. Their nest is built in a small projected ledge of a bluff, 
 or else in a small crevice. 
 
 A nest was found by Mr. Turner in a small cleft of a rock on the side of a high 
 bluff. It was composed of small pieces of wild parsnip stalks, coarse grass stems, and 
 finer blades of grass to form the lining. The nest is not elaborate, the material being 
 somewhat carelessly arranged. Four, sometimes five white eggs are laid in the early 
 part of June. The young are able to fly by the first of August. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Adult: Forehead and forepart of crown, black; throat, dusky; rest of head, uniform ash- 
 gray ; general color of plumage, dark chocolate-brown, with a chestnut cast on the breast, the feathers 
 of posterior region tipped with pink. — Length, 8.00 inches; wing, 4.49; tail, 3.49 inches. 
 
 * "Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska." Prepared under the direction of L. M. Turner. No. II. Wash- 
 ington : Government Printing Office, 
 
RED-POLL LINNET, 
 
 Acanthis linaria Bonaparte. 
 
 Plate XXI. Fig. 3. 
 
 LTHOUGH it is midwinter, the banks of some rapidly flowing creeks and 
 '^■^ bubbling springs are the chosen haunts of bird-life. Where the water boils and 
 foams around a moss-covered boulder, where dense shrubbery and masses of evergreens 
 skirt the banks and the near surroundings, we may be sure to meet quite a ijumber of 
 birds in spite of the extremely cold weather. On sunny, warm winter days the Tree 
 Sparrow sings almost as fervently as in spring. The Blue Jays rove around in flocks, 
 making the woodland ring with their loud, harsh, jay, jay. Pine Grosbeaks and Cross- 
 bills are always seen in flocks, and they feel quite at home among the sombre green of 
 the young pines. We also find that brutal highway robber, the Great Northern Shrike, 
 killing many an innocent Finch or Titmouse wherever small birds congregate. The birds 
 being common summer sojourners among the pines, hemlocks, birches, and elms, are gone. 
 The sprightly Yellow^ Warbler feels just as happy in the gardens of Georgetown, British 
 Guiana, among the tropical trees covered with the gorgeous Bignonia venusta, B. Cberere, 
 and the beautifiil eta and royal palms, as in the maples and other trees of its summer 
 home. The charming Rose-breasted Grosbeak and the Scarlet Tanager, who both are 
 denizens of these woodlands in summer, do now epliven the trees and palms of Venezuela 
 and Colombia. The trees of their winter quarters are quite different from those of their 
 northern breeding ranges, providing congenial homes for ferns, mosses, orchids, philo- 
 dendrons, anthuriums, and other epiphytal plants. 
 
 One of the most common birds in our northern winter landscapes, and even 
 in the gardens and parks of populated cities, is the Red-poll . Linnet, usually 
 called the Red-poll,, a bird whose breeding range is limited by the Hudsonian Fauna. 
 Like the Evening and Pine Grosbeaks, the Crossbills, Bohemian Waxwings, and other 
 bo^real birds, which come to us from the high north, the Red-poll also occurs usually 
 in very large flocks, or in company with the birds just mentioned. Flocks from 
 twenty-five to a hundred and more individuals are frequently seen. Like the above 
 named species it is irregular in its movements, and we never can rely on its appearance. 
 It may occur that these birds remain with us for two successive winters, but this may 
 not happen again for the next five or six years. Doubtless their wandering to southern 
 regions is due to the abundant or scarce food supply of their native land. In case the 
 birch and alder yield an abundance of seed, they do not appear in our country, but 
 if the food supply is short they are forced to move southward. At such times these 
 beautiful and lively little birds pass the boundary line of the Northern States in great 
 numbers. 
 
 Sometimes they arrive in Wisconsin and northern Illinois in November, but usually 
 they are not seen before Christmas or the first of January, and they remain generally 
 until March 1. The flocks roam about in the gardens among the evergreens, in weed3' 
 fields, in the thickets of the lowlands and tamarack swamps, in the shrubbery along 
 
creeks and streams and on the woodland border. Everywhere they are searching for 
 food. At this time the seeds of all kinds of weeds furnish their main food supply. I 
 have even observed them on hay stacks, where an abundance of timothy, millet, and 
 clover seed was found. 
 
 In their habits they are much like our famiUar Goldfinch or Thistle-bird. They 
 are very tame and easily caught in all kinds of traps. While ieeding among the weeds 
 and in the low, dense shrubbery, they are easily startled. The alarmed flock does not 
 fly far. All alight in a neighboring tree and remain perfectly quiet. After a little while 
 a few soft notes are uttered as if to assure each other that no danger is to be feared. 
 Then they all fly down again, one after the other, searching for food as before. 
 
 "While residing at Oak Park, 111., I had a splendid opportunity to observe these 
 and many other birds during the migration and in winter. A large garden planted with 
 fruit trees, ornamental shrubs, and evergreens, next to my house, was the favorite 
 resort of many birds. Red-polls visited this garden in large flocks. In the winter 
 of 1875 to 1876 they were especially numerous. The first few appeared by the middle 
 of November, while the majority did not arrive before the cold days of January. Among 
 the late arrivals I noticed many of a beautiful red hue. Without fear they came under 
 the kitchen windows, picking up millet, Canary seed, and crumbs of bread. The weeds 
 in the garden (a species of Ambrosia) and the hemp stalks were thoroughly searched 
 for food. Like Titmice they climbed, head downward, along the branches of shrubs 
 and weed stalks, always uttering a peculiar cbett, or cbett-cherrett. The exceedingly 
 lively and beautiful birds in company with other winter sojourners are especially striking 
 objects among the snow-laden branches of firs, spruces, and pines, and they imbue 
 such a cold and dreary winter landscape with joy and happiness. Their confidence, 
 their innocent and cheerful manners, their climbing about in all imaginable attitudes 
 combine to make them favorite pets wherever they come in contact with the lover of 
 nature. In their northern home, w^here they are seldom disturbed by human intruders, 
 they have no opportunity to make the acquaintance of man. For this reason they are 
 charmingly innocent and confiding when they make their appearance from the North. 
 Fearlessly they enter large cities and all the smaller towns. The street urchin who does 
 not take any notice of the common House Sparrow, at once takes up the chase of our 
 small native birds with stones, sling-shot, and air-gun, and numberless Warblers, Finches, 
 Creepers, and Nuthatches are killed annually in this way in our towns and cities. The 
 schools have too much to do with biology, morphology, and physiology, and so their 
 pupils are left in ignorance of the charms of nature, revealed to them in thousands of 
 beautiful birds, plants, and flowers. The children are not taught to carefully preserve the 
 beautiful in nalrure, to protect nature's poets, the birds.— The Red-polls who confidingly 
 enter the cities in great numbers, are mercilessly killed with stones and sling-shots, w^ith 
 air-guns and sticks. But they soon learn to avoid danger, becoming just as wild and 
 suspicious as they formerly were fearless and confiding. 
 
 Their flight is not very high, and the scattered flocks move along in undulating 
 lines. They are excellent turners among the branches of bushes and trees, but on the 
 ground they hop about in a rather awkward way. Nevertheless they frequently alight 
 on the snow, picking up the seeds that have fallen down. 
 
They are excellent cage pets, becoming very tame when well treated. As they are 
 just as happy in the cage as among the trees and bushes, and take food at once after 
 having been captured, they do not seem to feel the loss of their freedom. In the cage 
 they should be fed with millet, Canary and rape seed, and in summer with crated 
 carrot, mixed with Mockingbird-food, lettuce and fruit should be added. They suffer, 
 however, much from the heat of the summer. 
 
 On the Red-poll's habits in its summer home Mr. E. W. Nelson* gives the follow- 
 ing account: 
 
 "This and the closely-allied species {AcanthJs hornetnanni exilipes) commenced to 
 nest in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, even as early as May 22, and in 1878, before the 
 ground w^as free from snow, and while the sea and small streams were still covered with 
 ice, we found a nest of this bird cunningly placed in a cavity in a stout branch project- 
 ing from a log of drift-wood, which a high tide, many years before had stranded on 
 the bare tundra several miles from the sea. In the bottom of the shallow^ cavity, to 
 which the bird gained access by a small knot-hole, was placed a compact structure of 
 fine straw^ and grass, lined with Ptarmagin feathers and containing three eggs. The 
 log was from twenty to twenty -five feet in length, and w^hile a native sat at the farther 
 end the female entered the nest, the male keeping close by and continually uttering his 
 cheerful notes, as if to assure his partner of his presence. 
 
 "A pair of these birds built their nest early the same season within the shelter 
 afforded by my inverted kyak, as it lay upon the staging close by the house, and nests 
 were found all about in bushes, or tufts of grass, indifferently, according to the locality. 
 The material used by them is as varied as the sites chosen, and appears to consist of < 
 such material as comes first to hand. One, for instance, is composed entirely of an 
 irregular mass of fine dry twigs with a very few Ptarmigan feathers for lining; an 
 other, is a fine, compadl, cup-shaped structure of dry, coarse grass, warmly lined with 
 a finer material of the same, united with feathers and the cotton obtained from willows 
 and other plants. 
 
 "It has been recorded from the Aleutian Islands, at Unalashka in Ellis' voyage, 
 and this is the only record from those islands. To the north I found it and the Hoary 
 Red-poll on both shores of Behring Sea to the Arctic. On the Alaskan coast the two 
 were common about Kotzebue Sound, the Hoary Red-poll, however, being the pre- 
 dominating species. In the vicinity of East Cape and adjoining portions of the Sibirian 
 coast the two forms occur, the Hoary being in the majority thei"e, as it is on our shore. 
 
 "The first nests are built early in spring, as noted, and from the middle of May 
 until the last of June and first of July they are seen but rarely in the vicinity of the 
 houses. After about the first of July, however, they come trooping about, young and 
 old, in large parties, with great confidence aiid a peculiar pertness, taking possession 
 of the premises and using the roofs and fences for convenient perches, making excursions 
 thence to whatever point appears likely to yield food, or chasing each other playfully 
 about. In spring they are beautiful objects, with their bright rosy hues and fluffy plumage. 
 On warm sunshiny days during April they come familiarly up to the very windows and 
 
 * "Report Upon Natural History Collections made in Alaska between the Years 1877 and 1881." By Edw. W. Nelson. 
 Ng. Ill, Washington: Government Printing Office. 1887, 
 
RED-POLL LINNETS. 53 
 
 doors, and peer about with an odd mixture of confidence and curiosity, examining 
 everything, and scarcely deigning to move aside as the people pass back and forth. By 
 the 8th of June their young are frequently hatched, and by the 1st of July are fully 
 fledged. All through July and August they are extremely abundant, but in September 
 the number commences to diminish, until toward the end of September the majority 
 are gone, and but comparatively few are seen in the vicinity of the coast until spring 
 approaches. Flocks of considerable size, however, unite at this season and remain about 
 the country, frequenting the bushy tracts on the hill-sides, until into November, when 
 all but a few of the hardiest leave. The migrants mainly flock to the interior where they 
 brave the severest weather. The last of March and early in April they reappear on the 
 sea-coast and make their first visits to the houses. Their movements at this season 
 are rather erratic. They sometimes appear in considerable numbers and remain per- 
 manently, or they remain for a few days or hours, and then disappear for several 
 weeks." 
 
 The Red-poll inhabits the whole northern hemisphere. In northern Europe it is 
 very common. Tschudi has found it breeding in the Alps of Switzerland, Hanf in 
 Steiermark. 
 
 NAMES: Red-poll Linnet, Red-poll, Gommon Red-poll. — Birkenzeisig, Leinfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla linaria Linn. (1758). Aegiotbus linaria Cab. (1851). ACANTHIS LINARIA 
 Bonap. (1850). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Male adult: Uppers parts, streaked with dusky and light colors; crown with a rosy- 
 crimson patch ; rump, rosy-white, streaked with dusky. A dusky spot covering chin and upper part 
 of throat. Below, white, heavily streaked with dusky except belly ; breast, tinged beautifully wth 
 rosy-red or deep madder-pink. Female, similar, showing the red crown patch, but lacking the red on 
 the chest and sides. Bill in winter, yellow, black in summer. 
 
 Length, 5.00 inches; wings, 2.91, much pointed; tail, 2.33, rather short and forked. 
 
 Holbcell's Red-poll, Acantbis linaria holbcelli Brehm, is a bird of the northern 
 coasts of Europe and Asia (Norway to Japarf), and has also been found on the coast 
 of Alaska. In winter it has been also observed near Quebec. It is a little larger than 
 the type. 
 
 Gkeater Red-poll, A. linaria rostrata CouES. This variety inhabits southern 
 Greenland in summer and migrates in winter as far south as Wisconsin, northern 
 Illinois, New England, lower Hudson valley; west to Manitoba. It is considerably 
 larger than the common Red-poll, while the colors are darker. 
 
 Brewster's Linnet, A. brewsteri Ridgw., lacks the red on the top of the head 
 and the dusky spot on the chin. Only one specimen is known which was found at 
 Waltham, Mass. 
 
 Greenland Red-poll, A. hornemanni Holb., and its variety, the Hoary Red-poll, 
 A. hornemanni exilipes CouES, can scarcely find a place in this book. The type inhabits 
 eastern Arctic America south to Labrador and the variety is common in Alaska and 
 has been repeatedly found in northern New England in winter. It inhabits circumpolar 
 continental regions. 
 
GOLDFINCH. 
 
 Spinus tristis StejnEGER. 
 
 Plate XV. Fig. 5. 
 
 Let us be alivays out of doors among the trees and 
 grass and rain and wind and sun. Let us get out of these 
 in-door, narrow modem days, whose twelve hours somehow 
 have become shortened, into the sunlight and the pure wind. 
 A something that the ancients called divine can be found 
 and felt there stin. Richard Jeffkies. 
 
 ^UR sprightly little Goldfinch is pre-eminently a summer bird. It does not take 
 part in the jubilee of spring when the true harbingers of the early season, the 
 Robins, Bluebirds, and Song Sparrows make the air resound with their sweet music. Even 
 later, w^hen the wild plum trees, the viburnum bushes, the June-berry trees, and other 
 shrubs blossom on the woodland border, when the rosy flower buds of the apple trees 
 open, w^e scarcely notice one of these birds. At this time the flowering orchard trees swarm 
 with bright-colored Warblers, and in the tender foliage of the maples and elms the Balti- 
 more Oriole sparkles like a flame. The Scarlet Tanager, the most beautiiul and refined bird 
 of our country, and the far-famed Rose-breasted Grosbeak are heard on all sides. The 
 songs of both are exceedingly melodious and beautifal. In the w^oods we find now a 
 host of handsome flowers, among them the blue polemonium and the white trillium. 
 A little later, in June, we now^ and then discover a beautiful yellow lady's slipper grow^- 
 ing vigorously in the spongy soils of shady w^oods. Most of the birds are breeding now^, 
 and nests are found everywhere. The Goldfinch lingers till the gorgeous summer flowers 
 open. "Not until the advent of summer do the brilliant large flowers appear; the spring 
 flora is smaller, more delicate, and generally more ephemeral. You must stoop down 
 for the spring flowers ; the summer flowers reach up to you. The procession formed in 
 May and augmented in June moves steadily through July, when wild lilies blaze and 
 tall habenarias lift their purple spires ; it moves onward during August over stubbles 
 gay with vervains and willow-herb, and meadows fi-agrant with trumpet weed ; it files 
 more slowly in September along streams flaming with cardinal flowers and lanes lighted 
 by golden-rod ; until it halts and breaks ranks in late October, crowned with aster and 
 everlasting, and strewed with painted maple leaves. Do w^e half appreciate these summer 
 days? We long for them in winter, and w^ish the months were w^eeks, to bring them 
 nearer to us. Let us enjoy them w^hen they come ; let us get nearer to this joyous life 
 of nature, and join in the procession of flowers. 
 
 "You would know by the scent of the lilacs that summer was here. How fragrant 
 the censer of June! how profuse with the scent of blossoming vegetation! — odors not 
 alone from myriads of plants, but breathing from orchards, hedges, and thickets, rising 
 from woods and hill-sides, blown fi-om far meadows and pastures. What an exhalation 
 of millions of open petals, mingled with the scent of green growing things! It seems as 
 if nature could not do enough when her appointed time arrives ; as if there were no 
 end to her prodigality of bloom and song and color and sunshine: birds singing amid 
 
the orchard blossoms, bees plunging into the flower-cups, meadows smothered with 
 butter-cups, swamps golden with marsh marigolds, woods aflame with honey-suckles, 
 fields crimson with clover— bird song, insect hum, and flower blossoms on every side!"* 
 
 In the merry month of June we hear from early dawn till the evening falls a 
 chorus of beautiful singing birds. The Oriole in the elm, the Song Sparrow in the rose 
 bushes, the Catbird in the honey-suckles, the Summer Warbler in the mock orange, the 
 Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the trees of the woodland border, the Veery in the mossy 
 swamp, the Bobolink in the flower-adorned meadow, the Red-wing in the reeds, the 
 Mai-tin in the air — all sing in jubilant notes their hymns of joy and happiness. Not 
 earlier than the latter part of that month our lovely little Goldfinch begins to join the 
 chorus, and by July first all the males are in full song. Their brilliant melodious and 
 liquid strains are now heard from all sides. Almost all other birds are now busily 
 engaged in feeding their young, finding rarely time for singing, except in the dusk of 
 the evening. 
 
 The Goldfinch which is also known by the names of Wild Canary, Thistle-bird, 
 YeItLOW-bird, and Lettuce-bird, is one of our most familiar species, being especially 
 abundant in settled localities. Its colors are gay, its song sweet and varied, its ways 
 and manners agreeable, innocent, and enjoying, and its nesting habits and its family 
 -life highly interesting. It is, therefore, quite worthy of the love and favor with w^hich 
 it is regarded by all who love nature. Like the Bluebird, the Robin, Catbird, Baltimore 
 Oi-iole, and Martin, the Goldfinch is one of our most lovely, poetical, and valuable 
 garden birds, and like all the others it has a character entirely of its own, harmlessness 
 being its main feature. 
 
 This bird is distributed over a vast territory, being found firom the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the fur countries. In these northern regions it 
 was observed by Sir John Richardson. He says that it is one of the tardiest of summer 
 visitors, departing in September. In its range of distribution the Goldfinch is found 
 almost everywhere, at least at certain times of the year. It may be found in the low- 
 lands aS well as in the mountain regions. Prof. R. Ridgway found it breeding in the 
 Uintah Mountains in July. He also observed it near Sacramento City, associated with 
 the House Finch and often nesting in the same tree. Nests were found in this locality 
 much earlier than in the East, firom 6th to 28th of June. In the interior of California 
 the Goldfinch is rarely seen. Dr. Newberry found it quite common throughout his 
 route to the Columbia. This sweet songster, he says, has been a constant source of 
 pleasure in the interior both of California and Oregon, far from the haunts of man, 
 where everything else was new and strange. In California it breeds as far south as 
 San Diego, but seems to avoid the hot interior valleys as well as the mountains. In 
 south-eastern Texas, in Louisiana and Florida it is common in winter from Novem- 
 ber to April, but I have never found it there in the breeding season. In northern 
 Arkansas and southern Missouri it is a rather common summer resident, but is not so 
 abundant as in Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Although giving the impression of 
 a delicate bird, it is- quite a hardy little creature, capable of taking a Wisconsin 
 winter as it comes. Probably these winter sojourners are northern birds, while the 
 
 • G. B. Ellwanger. "The Garden's Storj-," p. 135. 
 
summer residents have left for a more congenial clime in the Southern States. I have 
 seen single individuals in Wisconsin about Christmas and New Year, and they uttered 
 their common call-note per-cbick'-o-pee as happily as in summer. Even the few that 
 remain during the winter, are very erratic, moving from place to place until spring 
 arrives. 
 
 In Wisconsin and northern Illinois the majority leave for the South early in No- 
 vember, when their favorite food supply is getting scarce. A few stragglers, however, 
 linger until the middle of December, if the weather be fair. In the Gulf region large 
 scattered flocks arrive in the last days of November or the beginning of December. 
 Their favorite food in the Southern States is the seed of the button-wood tree or syca- 
 more. Sometimes one of these gigantic trees is covered with these now very quiet, 
 plainly dressed birds. With the agility of Titmice they hang on the balls which contain 
 the seeds, and the air is full of the cottony substance in which the seeds are embedded. 
 The seeds of this tree form their main diet during the first half of the winter in the 
 Southern States. In spring they come down to the ground, where they search for seeds, 
 small plants, and insects. While w^alking through one of the most beautiful streets in 
 Houston, Texas, on March 29, 1880, I heard continually low sweet notes which were 
 at once familiar to my ear. I looked around in the broad live oaks and in the magni- 
 ficent large-flowering magnolias in the street and garden, but was unable to detect the 
 birds. At last, when looking over the fence into the large, beautiful semi-tropical garden, 
 I saw on the grass among rose bushes and gardenias a large number of Goldfinches 
 busily engaged in searching for food. Their bills were entirely covered with black soil, 
 and most of them were uttering their low call-note ce-ree at frequent intervals. 
 
 In Wisconsin I have rarely met with the first arrivals from the South before May 
 15, and sometimes I have not seen them before May 25. They usually make their 
 appearance in large scattered flocks, which remain together till the breeding season 
 arrives, when they separate into pairs. This is about the middle of June. Each pair 
 now moves into its old quarters, or, in case of young birds, selects its breeding place 
 in a locality not yet occupied by another pair. Where the birds are common, the nesting 
 range of each pair is verj'^ small, and I have repeatedly found from five to six pairs 
 breeding in one large garden or orchard. 
 
 "The Goldfinch," says Dr. T. M. Brewer, "is to a large extent gregarious and 
 nomadic in its habits, and only for a short portion of the year do these birds separate 
 into pairs for the purpose of reproduction. During at least three-fourths of the year 
 they associate in small flocks, and wander about in an irregular and uncertain manner 
 in quest of their food. They are resident throughout the year in New England, and 
 also throughout the greater portion of the country, their presence or absence being 
 regulated to a large extent by the abundance, scarcity, or absence of their favorite 
 kinds of food. In winter, the seeds of the taller weeds are their principal means of sub- 
 sistence. In the summer the seeds of the thistle and other plants and weeds are sought 
 out by these interesting and busy gleaners. They are abundant in gardens, and as a 
 general thing do very little harm, and a vast amount of benefit in the destruction of 
 the seeds and troublesome weeds. As, however, they do not always discriminate between 
 seeds that are troublesome and those that are desirable, the Goldfinches are unwel- 
 
GOLDFINCH. 57 
 
 come visitors to the farmers who seek to raise their own seeds of the lettuce, turnip, 
 and other similar vegetables. They are also very fond of the seeds of the sunflower. 
 
 "Owing possibly to the scarcity of proper food for their young in the early sum- 
 mer, the Goldfinches are quite late before they mate and raise their single brood. It is 
 usually past the 10th of July, before their nests are constructed, and often September 
 before their broods are ready to fly." 
 
 When the Goldfinches arrive in their summer home, the males have assumed their 
 beautiful lemon-yellow and black color again, which they had lost in the fall. On this 
 change of coloring Prof. R. Ridgway writes as follows: 
 
 "In the fall the male loses his beautiful lemon-yellow plumage and assumes a 
 sombre garb like that of the female, which he wears until the succeeding spring, when 
 the rich colors of summer are resumed very gradually, the change commencing in April 
 and continuing until the summer is at hand, before all traces of the winter dress are lost." 
 
 In the love season the call-notes sound indescribably sweet and liquid. They con- 
 sist of a soft tweet and a very low, persuasive ce-ree, ce-tee. These notes are also 
 uttered in their winter-quarters, when the flock has scattered over a number of trees 
 or over the ground, but then they sound quite diiferent. Shortly before and during the 
 nesting time, especially in July and August, they are often seen circling round and round 
 "with the peculiar undulating flight and calling per-chick'-o-pee, per-chick'-o-pee, at 
 each opening and shutting of the wings, or later leading their plaintive brood among 
 the thistle heads by the road-side." (Burroughs.) At this time the male flies frequently 
 in the air singing and circling around in ecstacy of song and happiness. 
 
 The Goldfinch belongs to our best songsters, its strain being remarkably sweet, 
 melodious, loud, liquid, and varied. I love the song of this bird more than I do that 
 of a common Canary-bird. According to Audubon, the song resembles that of the Euro- 
 pean Goldfinch, a bird that has been introduced to Boston, New York, Cincinnati, 
 St. Louis, and Portland, Oregon, and which promises to become abundant in time. I 
 have frequently heard the song of caged European Goldfinches, and must admit that 
 the lay has a great resemblance to that of our native Goldfinch, but the latter is a far 
 superior songster, its strain being louder, sweeter, more varied and brilliant. The song 
 which has to me a singular fascination, commences and is often interrupted by uttering 
 the common call-note ce-ree, or che-wee, and by the characteristic per-chick'-o-pee. 
 
 "The song of the Goldfinch," says Dr. T. M. Brewer, — "very diflerent from their 
 usual plaintive cry or call-note, uttered as they are flying or when they are feeding — 
 is very sweet, brilliant, and pleasing; most so, indeed, when given as a solo, with no 
 other of its kindred within hearing. I know of none of our common singers that excel 
 it in either respect. Its notes are higher, more flute-like, and its song is, more prolonged 
 than that of the Purple Finch." In July and August, even in the hot hours of noon, 
 the bird sings diligently, and often two and more males are heard at the same time, 
 vieing with each other in their musical perfoirmances. 
 
 With the exception of the Cedarbird the Goldfinch is our latest breeder, and I 
 have never found the nest in Wisconsin and northern Illinois before the ISth of July, 
 and the majority were always found in August. In Wisconsin there goes the saying: 
 "You mav look for the nest of the Goldfinch, when the field peas are ripe," and I have 
 
found this to be true. I have even discovered nests with sets of fresh eggs in the 
 beginning of September. The statement made by some authors that the Goldfinches 
 commence nestbuilding early in June in the Northern States is erroneous. Of the 
 hundreds of nests which I have examined during the last thirty years, none was found 
 before the second week of July. Of course the farther south the earlier the birds begin • 
 to breed. I have seen nests in south-western Missouri in the last days of June and 
 early in July, the difference between the two localities being about two weeks. They 
 always prefer to select their nesting sites near dwellings, especially in apple, pear, and 
 plum trees of the orchard and in dense sugar maples, elms, and box-elders planted for 
 shade around the house, or, sometimes, in high mock-orange and upright honey-suckle 
 bushes. It is also found in Lombardy poplars in gardens and on the road-side, in trees 
 and shrubs in pastures and meadows, but never in the forest and on dry hills far from 
 water. During the warm summer weather the Yellow-birds are very fond of bathing, 
 and they are frequently seen on stones and rocks in shallow brooks for this purpose. 
 The nest is rarely placed higher than from seven to ten feet, although I have seen some 
 fifteen to thirty feet from the ground. They usually' select an upright crotch, in w^hich 
 they build their beautiful and warm structure very ingeniously. During the days of my 
 youth, when orchards were rare in Wisconsin, I discovered many nests in slender ash 
 saplings in the meadows about five or six feet from the ground. Of late I found in 
 several cases as many as five to six nests in one large apple orchard. The birds lived 
 harmoniously together, and the males were often seen flying around in company among 
 the thistles, sunflowers, and hemp stalks, singing diligently in the bright summer 
 w^eather. 
 
 The very artistic and warm structure is composed exteriorly of fine hemp and 
 a^clepias fibers, tender grasses, shreds of cedar and grape-vine bark, and is lined with 
 a very thick layer of soft thistle down. Aug. 3, 1889, I found a very characteristic 
 nest in the orchard of my parents in Sheboygan Co., Wis. It was built in an upright 
 crotch of an apple tree, and contained six white eggs with a faint bluish tint. The 
 outside was mainly composed of sheep's wool and several short flower spikes of a 
 species of vervain. The lining consisted of a few horse hairs and thistle wool. A 
 second nest was found Aug. 14 near the first one, and a third one the same day only 
 about forty steps from the second. All these nests were built in the same style and of 
 the same material. It usually takes six days before such a nest is finished, and twelve 
 days more before the eggs are hatched. The young leave the nest when about ten or 
 twelve days old. The nest is easily found, but where the birds do not feel safe they 
 cunningly hide their domicile among dense branches and leaves. Nests in south-western 
 Missouri cannot be compared in beauty and artistic skill to those in Wisconsin. They 
 are usually built of fine grasses and bark-strips, and the interior is lined with the same 
 material, lacking the compactness and beauty of northern nests entirely. The eggs, 
 four to six in number, are bluish- white ; in very rare cases they are marked slightly 
 with fine brown spots. 
 
 In late August and in September waste places, abounding in thistles, are alive with 
 Goldfinches. They usually perch on the seed heads of these weeds until the stalks bend 
 almost to the ground. In all imaginable attitudes they pick out the seeds, and at such 
 
GOLDFINCH. 59 
 
 times the air is full of thistle down. Whilst thus assembled they are always extremely 
 harmonious and their happiness is expressed by their delightful twittering. The flight 
 consists of a series of marked undulations, and, as I have noted already, occasionally 
 of great circles in the air. Late in August and during September we hear on all sides the 
 peculiar clamoring cries of the young birds, and even in October we may see them follow 
 their parents crying for food. 
 
 The Goldfinches are excellent parents and do not like intrusion or a near approach 
 to their domicile. They cry in pityfal notes like he-de-de-de, he-de-de-de, and the kind- 
 hearted observer soon leaves the premises after he has inspected the nest. Among the 
 German settlers in Wisconsin, the Goldfinch is regarded an excellent cage bird. As 
 soon as the young are able to leave the nest, they are placed in a cage and the old 
 birds feed them until they are able to provide for themselves. Then they are taken into 
 the house and are fed like Canaries — with a mixture of rape and Canary seed and now 
 and then a few hemp seeds. I knew a Goldfinch that lived in captivity for thirteen 
 and another for fifteen years. 
 
 Many of the old males are also caught in trap-cages when they arrive firom the 
 South. If caught later when they are paired, they die after a few days. These old 
 birds rarely live longer than a year in the cage, and most of them die in thd course of 
 the first summer or in fall. In the cage our beautiful Goldfinch proves to be a rather 
 delicate bird, and it takes careful nursing in order to succeed with it. It shows a very 
 varied taste in regard to its favorite kinds of seed. The best food consists of a selection 
 of the following seeds: Canary, flax, rape, oat-grits, hemp and lettuce seed, generally 
 diminishing in favor as in the order named. Should the bird show a decided preference 
 for hemp, it is not advisable to let it have too much, as this seed is very fattening. A 
 few seeds each day or every two days are suflScient. Many bird fanciers do not give 
 hemp seed at all. One very important item in the treatment of the Goldfinch consists 
 in providing plenty of gravel or coarse sand, the former being preferable. This gravel 
 or sand assists digestion, and is a great source of pleasure to the bird, besides being 
 conducive to health. 
 
 "The Goldfinch, particularly when in the aviary, very often suffers from diarrhoea 
 and a wasting away of its flesh. When thus attacked, at once separate from the other 
 birds, place in a small cage with plenty of gravel, over which strew some lettuce seed. 
 Feed as recommended, adding plenty of lettuce seed, also giving some chalk in its water, 
 first having deprived the bird until thirsty — say about an hour — not omitting to stir 
 the mixture recently so as to ensure the bird getting its dose of chalk. If it has 
 been previously fed on any green food, it had better be deprived of that luxury, or 
 vica versa."* 
 
 The Goldfinches become very tame in an aviary. One time I kept about a dozen 
 together with Juncos, Field Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, Chipping-birds, etc. When I 
 entered the cage-door with my hand they at once alighted and picked hemp seeds from 
 the fingers. 
 
 • The Illustrated Book of Canaries and Cage-birds, p. 326. Cassel & Co. London, P»ris, and N^w York 
 
60 ARKANSAS GOLDFINCH, 
 
 NAMES: American Goldfinch, Common Goldfinch, Yellow-bTrd, "Wild Canary," Lettuce-bird, Thistle-bird, 
 Black-winged Yellow-bird, Black-capped Yellow-bird. — "Wilder Canariepvogel" (German settlers in 
 - Wisconsin), Goldfink, Goldstieglitz (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: FringiUa tristis Linn. (1758). Carduelis tristis Bonap. (1825). ' Chrysomitris 
 tristis Bonap. (1838). Astragalinus tristis Cab. (1851). SPINUS TRISTIS Stejn. (1884). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Male: Bright lemon-yellow; crown, wings, and tail, black. Lesser wing-coverts, band 
 across the end of the greater ones, ends of secondaries and tertiaries, inner margins of tail-feathers, 
 tipper and under tail-coverts and tibia, white. Female: Yellowish-gray above ; greenish-yellow below. 
 No black on forehead, wing and tail much as in the male. Young: Reddish-olive above; fulvous- 
 yellow below ; two broad bands across coverts, and broad edges to last half of secondaries pale rufous. 
 "Length, 5.25 inches; tail, 2.00; wings, 3.00 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 ARKANSAS GOLDFINCfA. 
 
 Spinas psaltria Stejneger. 
 
 jS^HIS is not a common bird, and our knowledge regarding its life history is limited, 
 1^ but we may venture to say that it is the counterpart of our eastern Goldfinch. 
 The bird was discovered in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains and described by 
 Thomas Say in 1823. It is distributed over various parts of California and New 
 Mexico, and is also found in Oregon, Utah, and Colorado, and— in winter at least— in 
 Lower California, Arizona, Sonora, etc. 
 
 Dr. Heermann states that the birds are quite abundant in the northern mining 
 regions of California, frequenting the same localities as Lawrence's Goldfinch, and often 
 associated with the Pine Siskin. 
 
 Prof. Robert Ridgway found the Arkansas Goldfinch among the Wahsatch 
 Mountains, his attention being at once drawn to it by its curious notes. He met with 
 it first in the City Creek Canon, near Salt Lake City, where he found it mixed with flocks 
 of Pine Siskins. The note of this bird is remarkable for the powerful and at times very 
 sad tone. The ordinary note is a plaintive, mellow, whistling call, impossible to describe, 
 and so inflected as to produce a very moumfiil eflect. When the bird takes to flight, it 
 is changed to a simple cheer, similar to the anxious notes' of the male Red- winged Black- 
 bird, uttered when its nest is disturbed. This species was rare, not being so common 
 as either the Common Goldfinch or the Pine Siskin. Its nest was found in Parley's Park, 
 Wahsatch Mountains, June 27, in the top of a willow bush near a stream. 
 
 A nest found by Mr. Xantus, containing four eggs, was built in an Obione, 
 about ten feet from the ground. This was at Fort Tejon, May 1. It is reported by 
 Dr. T. M. Brewer in "History of North American Birds," that Dr. Canfield found 
 their nests in considerable numbers, near Monterey. They were all built in the forks of 
 trees, in the same manner as those of the Common Goldfinch, and were structures of 
 remarkable beauty, evincing the great skill of the architects. Eggs, four to five, uniform 
 greenish-white, unspotted. 
 
LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH. 61 
 
 The Arizona Goldfinch, Spinus psahria arizonse Stejn,, a local variety of the 
 foregoing, was found in considerable numbers by Dr. Elliott Coues in New Mexico, near 
 Fort "Wingate, and at Fort "Whipple, Arizona. It is said to occur also in western Texas 
 and in northern Mexico. 
 
 The Mexican Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria mexicana Stejn., is reported to occur in 
 
 southern Texas, from where it is distributed through Mexico south to Costa Rica. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Male: Upper parts and sides of head and neck of Arkansas Goldfinch olive-green. Upper 
 tail-coverts, wings, tail, and hood, but not sides of head below the eyes, black. Underneath, bright 
 yellow ; white band on wings. Female: Upper parts and sides, olive-green ; wings and tail, brown ; 
 white band and wings. — Length, 4.25 inches; wing, 2.40; tail, 1.85 inches. 
 
 LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH. 
 
 Spinus lawrencei Bonaparte. 
 
 This Goldfinch is common throughout a large part of California. In its habits it 
 is much like the American Goldfinch, but its notes are weaker and the song is. higher 
 in its pitch. They are exceedingly gregarious in winter and move about in very large 
 flocks. They eat the seeds of grasses and the buds of shrubs and trees with great 
 avidity. Dr. Cooper says that they sometimes feed on the ground on grass-seeds. They 
 are regarded by him as more of a sylvan species than the Common Goldfinch, and not 
 so fond of willows and other trees growing along streams and in wet places. In the 
 Colorado valley, it is said, they feed on the seeds of the artemisia. They w^ere found 
 breeding at San Diego. Their nests were placed in forks of bushes or stunted oaks 
 and w^ere composed of fine grasses, lined with hair and feathers. Nests found by Dr. 
 Canfield at Monterey, Cal., were all "more or less felted, and beautifully wrought, fully 
 equal in artistic skill to the nests of the Goldfinch. They were about 1.50 inches in 
 height and 3.00 in diameter, and the cavity 1.00 inch in depth and 1.75 in diameter. 
 The walls of these nests were soft, warm, and thick, composed of wool, both vegetable 
 and animal, fine stems of grasses, down, feathers, and other materials, all closely matted 
 together, and lined with the long hair of larger animals. One of these nests was made 
 up entirely of the finer grasses, strongly matted together." (Brewer.) The eggs are of 
 a uniform greenish-w^hite, very similar to those of the species described. 
 
 Correspondents inform me that at present this little Goldfinch nests preferably in 
 pear, peach, almond, and apricot orchards, in orange and olive groves, and also 
 abundantly in the California live oaks. 
 NAMES: Lawrence's Goldfinch, California Goldfinch. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Carduelis lawrencei Cass. (1850). Cbrysomitris lawrencei Bonap. (1853). SPINUS 
 
 LAWRENCEI STEjti. (1884). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Male: Hood, sides of head antftrior to the middle of the eye, chin, and upper part of 
 throat, black. Sides of head, neck, and body, upper part of neck and the back, and upper tail-coverts, 
 ash-color. Rump and lesser wing-coverts, yellowish-green. Throat below the black, breast, and outer 
 edges of all the quills (exfcept the first primary, and passing into white behind), bright greenish-yellow. 
 Wings, bla.ck. Tail-feathers, bl^ck, with a white square patch on the inner web, near the end ; outer 
 edges, grayish; quills, black. Female: Similar, with the black of the head replaced by ash. Young: 
 Like the female, but wing-bands pale fulvous, instead of yellow. 
 
 "Length, about 4.70 inches; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.30 inches." (B. B. & R.) 
 
PINE SISKIN. 
 
 Spinas pinus Stejneger. 
 
 "ORTHERN Wisconsin forms the southern part of the Canadian Fauna. In the 
 extensive and beautifiil evergreen woods of this region many species of Wood 
 Warblers breed, and the sweet soliloquy of the Blue-headed Yireo is often heard. The 
 numerous cool springs, murmuring brooks and deep lakes, and the invigorating climate 
 in summer make this hilly forest region especially attractive to the tourist and friend of 
 nature. This is the true home of the Yeery, the White-crowned Sparrow, the Slate- 
 colored Junco and the Crossbills, and it is also the summer home of the always 
 vivacious little Pine Siskin, or Pine Finch. 
 
 The Pine Siskin is an inhabitant of the extensive evergreen forests of the north, 
 from the Northern States northward and from the Atlantic to the Pacificj but it does 
 not seem to occur as far north as Alaska. In our own country it is found from Maine 
 to New York, in Michigan, ViTisconsin, and Minnesota, in the coniferous forests of the 
 Alleghany Mountains as far south probably as South Carolina and Georgia, in the 
 Sierra Nevada and in the Rocky Mountains, being also a common resident in the plateau 
 of Mexico and in the Alpine regions of Yera Cruz, rarely or never descending below 
 3,000 feet. Its common name there is Dominiguito montero. 
 
 In winter the Siskins are very abundant in the Middle and Gulf States, where 
 they often congregate -with Goldfinches. They frequently come into the gardens 
 in search of food, usually in small troops of ten or a dozen, conducting themselves 
 much like Goldfinches under similar circumstances. In northern Illinois they generally 
 appear by November 10, and by the end of that month they reach southern 
 Missouri. They make their appearance in large fiocks of from fifty to a hundred and 
 more individuals, scouring the locality in the same erratic manner as their allies, the 
 Red-polls. They are often mistaken for Goldfinches, as they resemble them very much, 
 not only in regard to their general appearance, but also in their smoothly undulating 
 flight, their climbing around on the weed stems, their lisping querulous call-note, and 
 in the manner of procuring their food. In their winter-quarters they are often seen 
 moving around together. During the breeding season, however, both species show so 
 many diflferences, and the song of both is so unUke that only the beginner in the beau- 
 tiful science of ornithology is liable to confound , them. — In the pine woods of the 
 Southern States they are very common in winter, feeding on the seeds of grasses and 
 weeds w^hich grow abundantly in these forests, as w^ell as of the seeds of the sycamore 
 and the river or red birch {Betula nigra). 
 
 In Wisconsin and other Northern States they appear in the early part of May or 
 late in April, fully two weeks earlier than the Goldfinches. According to my friend, 
 the late Capt. B. F. Goss, they breed rather abundantly in the northern part of Wis- 
 consin, and his observations fully corrobrorate what Dr. C. H. Merriam has written 
 about the nest. It is a rather bulky structure, the exterior being loosely built of hem- 
 lock and spruce twigs and moss, while the interior is compactly woven of plant down, 
 
PINE SISKIN. 63 
 
 feathers, and hairs. A nest found May 27, 1891, in Town 29, Oconto Co., "Wis., by 
 Mr. A. J. Schoenebeck, was built in the dense branches of a small pine about twenty- 
 five feet from the ground. It was constructed of grasses and pine needles, and the lining 
 was a felted mass of plant down and feathers of the Ruffed Grouse and Blue Jay. The 
 eggs, four in number, were too far advanced in incubation to be preserved. They were 
 pale bluish-white, spotted rather sparingly with lilac and brown. A set of four eggs, 
 taken June 25, 1887, in northern New York, and now in the "Goss Collection of North 
 American Birds' Eggs," in the Public Museum of Milwaukee, shows a great variation in 
 regard to coloring. One egg is speckled all over mth many reddish-brown and a few 
 dark brown splashes and spots ; the second has a dense wreath of dark and light brown 
 markings and a number of spots all over the shell ; the third is only spotted with dark 
 and light brown marks on the point of the larger end, being almost without a trace of 
 markings on the rest of the shell, and the fourth is almost immaculate. 
 
 Dr. A. K. Fisher found a nest of this bird at Sing Sing, N. Y., and Dr. J. A. Allen 
 discovered another one near Cornwall-on-Hudson, Orange Co., N. Y. The house where 
 Dr. Allen stopped from April 20 to May 12, 1887, was in the midst of a lawn of 
 several acres in extent, well set with fruit and shade trees, overlooking the Hudson. 
 
 This great ornithologist writes: "On the day of my arrival a small flock of Pine 
 Finches, busily hunting food in the pines and spruces, attracted my attention, but as the 
 season w^as late and the weather still cold it was not, of course, a noteworthy occurrence. 
 They continued to haunt the vicinity for several days, when all disappeared except a 
 single pair. On the morning of May 3, 1 was surprised to see one of the birds gathering 
 material for a nest. She was easily traced to the lower branch of a Norway pine, 
 scarcdy thirty feet from the piazza, and almost within reach of a little summer house 
 overrun with a w^isteria vine. The site chosen for the nest was the extremity of the 
 branch, about eight or ten feet from the ground, and well concealed. Several times the 
 little builder carried material to the nest while I was sitting in the arbor, almost 
 within reach of it. Although I afterward carefully kept away, the birds seemed not 
 fuUy satisfied with the exposed situation, and after the second day I noticed that 
 nothing seemed to be added to the structure, and my fears that they had abandoned it 
 proved true. Still the birds were about, and the female was often observed with bits 
 of nest-material in her bill. A little patient watching disclosed the fact that a new 
 nesting-site had been chosen, — this time the extremity of an upper branch of a neigh- 
 boring Norway pine, about thirty-five feet from the ground, and about the same distance 
 from the much frequented piazza of the house. As it was on the side of the tree toward 
 the house, and nearly on a level with the windows of my room, I had a fine opportunity 
 of watching the industrious little architects, although the nest itself was completely 
 hidden from view by the .dense pine needles in which it was placed. 
 
 "One of the birds, presumably the female, did all the work, but was escorted to 
 and from the nest by the male, who further manifested his interest and joy by a pro- 
 fusion of Canary-like twee-e-ts and other peculiarly sweet and pleasing notes. Later 
 the birds were more silent and much less frequently seen; — it was evident that incuba- 
 tion had begun. Here was certainly a prize, which, in view of all the circumstances, it 
 seemed hardly right to ignore; for the nests and eggs of the Pine Finch are by no 
 
means easy to discover, are still rare in collections, and the breeding of the species so 
 far south of its usual summer home a noteworthy event; .yet it required no sUght 
 struggle -with tender feelings to decide to break up the happy home, even in behalf of 
 science, and of the museum whose ornithological interests I may be supposed to have 
 deeply at heart. 
 
 "On May 12 I enlisted the services of my young nephew, R. T. Swezey, who kindly 
 ascended to the nest on a tour of observation, finding, as was anticipated, a full clutch 
 and the female sitting. She remained on the nest till his hand touched the branch on 
 which the nest rested, when she flew oiF with a great outcry and dashed frantically 
 about for some seconds, passing and repassing within a few yards of the nest, uttering 
 such plaintive notes of distress as to make the task of securing the prize indeed a sad 
 one. The nest was placed at the base of a bunch ot cones within a few inches of the 
 extremity of the branch, and being thoroughly shielded on all sides by the strongly 
 resisting, long, sharp needles, it was no easy matter to reach out to the nest and, in- 
 serting the hand, safely remove the coveted treasures." 
 
 The nest contained four eggs of a pale bluish-white ground-color, speckled and 
 dotted with dark reddish-brown. "The nest was well-built, neat, and compact, and 
 quite large for the size of the bird. It measured 2.25 inches in inside diameter, 3.50 
 inches in outside diameter, 1.50 inches in depth (inside measurement). The base of the 
 nest is formed of string, thread, a long piece of tape, and rootlets woven into the pine 
 needles on which it rests, some of the strings and the tape being looped about and 
 bound to the clusters of the neecjles. On this rests a cup-shaped structure of coarse and 
 fine rootlets and soft vegetable fiber, lined with black horse-hair." The nest and its 
 contents are now in the American Museum of Natural History at New York. 
 
 The Siskin is quite a hardy bird, wintering often in small numbers in southern 
 Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Like the Goldfinches they have a strong instinct for 
 sociability w^hich they show even in the breeding season, and it is stated that they 
 usually breed in communities, "large numbers occupying for that purpose the same tradt 
 of evergreen wood or swamp, sometimes shared by equal numbers of Crossbills." 
 
 In the cage the Pine Siskin becomes very tame and much attached to its master. 
 It sings from early May to the end of July diligently. The notes are sweet, varied, 
 clear, and mellow, but they are perfectly distinct from those of the Goldfinch. In the 
 cage it requires the same care as the Canary-bird. 
 
 NAMES: Pine Siskin, Pine Pinch, Pine Linnet. — Tannen-, Pichtenzeisig (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla pinusViWs. (1810). L/naria p/«us Aud. (1839). Cfirrsomitris p/nns Bonap. 
 (1830). SPINUS PINUS Stejn. (1884). 
 
 DESCRIPTION : Male and female: Above, grayish or brownish-oUve, below, whitish, plumage conspicuously 
 streaked with dusky. Concealed bases of quills and tail-feathers sulphur-yellow. Two brownish-white 
 bandit on wings. Tail, deeply forked. , "^ 
 
 Length, 4.50 to 5.25 inches; wing, 2.75 to 2.90; tail, 1.85 to 1.95 inches. 
 
EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH, 
 
 Carduelis carduelis BoiE. 
 
 ^HE beautiful European Goldfinch, having been introduced and successfully 
 naturalized a number of years ago, bids fair to become quite plentiful in and near 
 New York, Hoboken, Boston, Cambridge and Worcester, Mass., in parts of New Jersey, 
 Portland and other localities in Oregon, and probably also in St. Louis and Cincinnati. 
 The bird w^as introduced in all these places in small numbers, but nowhere it seems to 
 thrive so admirably than near Portland and in other parts of Oregon. The secretary 
 of the Oregon Society of Acclimatisation at Portland, Mr. Pflueger, informs me that 
 almost all the birds, especially Sky-larks, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Blackbirds {Merula 
 merula Boie), Song Thrushes, Starlings, Cardinals, and even Mockingbirds and other usefiil 
 European and American songbirds, which were set free some years ago, thrive admirably 
 and that the Goldfinch in particular finds the climate and the landscape very congenial, 
 singing most delightfully and multiplying readily, In the extensive orchards they find 
 most favorable haunts, breeding preferably in apple, pear, plum, and coniferous trees 
 where the nest is well hidden among the dense foliage of the exterior branches. Food 
 is always plentiful and the winters are extremely mild. In this region most of the birds 
 have become residents, remaining throughout the year where they sing and breed. 
 
 A nest of this favorite bird, which is the true counterpart of our beautiful and 
 familiar American Goldfinch, has been found repeatedly in Massachusetts and New York. 
 On July 11, 1890, Mr. F. S. Wilder found a nest in Northville, a suburb of Worcester, 
 Mass., in an apple tree within seven feet from the ground, similar to the nest 
 described in Ridgway's "Manual of North American Birds," except that it contains 
 no moss. In Central Park, New York, Mr. E. T. Adney discovered two nests April 20, 
 1886. They were built in pine trees and were placed among the tufts of pine needles, 
 near the end of slender horizontal limbs, about twelve feet from the ground. The neat, 
 compact, and cup-shaped structure is generally composed of fine grasses, mosses, fine 
 bark-strips, etc., lined with a thick layer of plant-down. The eggs, four to six in num- 
 ber, are bluish or greenish-white, marked with reddish-brown round the larger end. 
 
 In Europe the Goldfinch occurs from central Sweden south to Greece and Spain, 
 being also 'found on the Canary Islands and Madeira, in north-west Africa, Asia minor, 
 and a large part of Siberia. In Italy this and other songbirds are exceedingly rare, 
 owing to the "bird-murdering" habit of the Italians. 
 
 Within its range the Goldfinch appears everywhere, especially in such localities 
 where fruit culture is common, orchards and ornamental trees near dwellings being its 
 favorite nesting places. But the bird does not occur everywhere in equal abundance. 
 In Germany and England where it is cherished by all and carefully protected, it is 
 much more abundant than in any other European country. In the fall the Goldfinches 
 assemble into flocks of several hundreds, wandering about in the region, but not migrat- 
 ing far to the south. Cold does not affect the birds, as they are able during the winter 
 
 9 
 
66 ENGLISH SPARROW. 
 
 to find their main food, the seeds of noxious weeds, everywhere. Only when deep snow 
 covers the ground they are forced to wander to more favorable localities. 
 
 The Goldfinch or Thistlefinch is a beautiful bird, and, like our own Goldfinch, it is 
 very restless, quick in its movements, and always happy, cunning, and suspicious. When 
 alighting in the top of a tree, singing in rapturous joy its sweet strain, the bird makes 
 the impression as if it were aware of its fine appearance. Being a denizen of the trees, 
 it rarely comes down to the ground, where all its movements are very awkward. While 
 resting, the tops of medium-sized trees- are chosen. It is always suspicious of man, 
 and even shy, but only after the experience of the bird has found him its enemy. Where 
 it is cared for and protected, it becomes very familiar and tame, breeding and singing 
 frequently in close proximity to frequented walks in the garden or near the house. The 
 flight and the song also remind the observer of our Goldfinch, though its notes are 
 louder and not quite as mellow and sweet as those of our native species. 
 
 Its food consists in winter mostly of the seeds of weeds, and in fall those of the 
 
 alder and birch are searched for. In spring insects are added to its bill of fare, and in 
 
 early summer the seeds of the dandelion and lettuce are greatly relished. But its main 
 
 food consists of the seeds of the burdock and especially the thistle. It is a beautiful 
 
 picture to see the American and European species in a patch of thistles climbing around 
 
 and swinging themselves on the thistle heads. As a cage bird this Goldfinch is a great 
 
 favorite with bird fanciers, and in this respect it is much more valuable than our more 
 
 tender native species, being able to withstand the hardships of cage life exceedingly well. 
 
 It needs the same treatment in captivity as the Canary-bird. 
 
 NAMES: European Goldfinch, Thistlefinch.— Distelfink, Stieglitz (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: CardueUs elegans Steph. (1826). CARDUELIS CARDUELIS BoiE (1822). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Sexes alike. Forepart of head, all round, crimson; lores, hinder part of crown, occiput, 
 and bar from latter half-way across side of neck, black, rest of head, white, more or less tinged with 
 buff; back and scapulars, plain brown; rump and upper tail-coverts, white; wings and tail, chiefly 
 black ; greater portion of greater coverts, basal portion of lower secondaries, and basal half or more 
 of exposed portion of outer webs of primaries, pure gamboge-yellow; secondaries, primaries, and 
 middle tail-feathers, tipped with white, the inner webs of outer tail-feathers partly white; sides of 
 breast, sides, and flanks, plain cinnamon-brown ; rest of lower parts, dull white. 
 "Length, 4.87 inches; wing, 3.02; tail, 2.05 inches.'' (Ridgway.) 
 
 ENGLISH SPARROW, 
 
 Passer domesticus Schaeffer. 
 
 ^HE English Sparrow, also called the European or House Sparrow, is at present 
 one of our most numerous and wellknown birds, being common in all the larger 
 cities and towns, and in many country places from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from 
 Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The first experiment to naturalize this bird was made 
 by Hon. Nicolas Pike in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1850, where eight pairs were imported 
 
from England and liberated in spring of 1851. As these did not thrive, he imported 
 other fifty in 1852 and set them free in Greenwood Cemetery in spring 1853. They did 
 well and multiplied rapidly. In 1854 they were introduced in Portland, Me., in 1867 
 in New Haven, Conn., and in the same year a colony was established at Galveston, 
 Tex. The year 1869 witnessed the importation, in one lot, of a thousand Sparrows by 
 the city government of Philadelphia, which is probably the largest importation of 
 Sparrows ever made to this country. The same year they were brought to Cleveland 
 and Cincinnati, and about the same time they were hberated in great numbers in 
 Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, San Francisco, etc. In many cases it is positively 
 known that the birds were brought to this country mainly from England and Germany. 
 "But no sooner had they become fairly numerous at any of these points than people 
 began to take them thence to other places, sometimes in large numbers, but more often 
 only a few pairs at a time. In most cases these few birds were carefully watched, pro- 
 tected, and fed, and so multiplied rapidly, forming new^ colonies from which these birds 
 spread steadily without assistance, and more rapidly by successive transportations by 
 man. This important factor in the rapid increase and wide distribution of the Sparrow^ 
 in America has been too generally ignored, and it is only within the past year that we 
 have come to realize something of the magnitude of the 'craze' which led so many 
 people to foster and distribute the serious pest."* .... 
 
 "The marvelous rapidity of the Sparrow^'s multiplication, the surpassing swiftness 
 of its extension, and the prodigious size of the area it has overspread are without 
 parallel in the history of any bird. Like a noxious weed transplanted to a fertile soil, 
 it has taken root and become disseminated over half a continent before the significance 
 of its presence has come to be understood. The explanation of this phenomenal invasion 
 must be found in part in the direct assistance given by man in carrying it from place 
 to place intentionally ; in part in the peculiar impetus usually given prolific species when 
 carried to a new country where the conditions for existence are in every w^ay favorable ; 
 and in part in its exceptional adaptability to a diversity of physical and climatic con- 
 ditions. This adaptability has enabled it not only to endure alike the tropical heat of 
 Australia and the frigid winter of Canada, but to thrive and become a burdensome pest 
 in both of these widely separated lands. 
 
 "At first sight it seems difficult to understand why man should have taken so much 
 interest in this bird, and aided in its rapid increase and spread ; but the consideration 
 of a few points bearing upon the matter toU render the case more intelligible. 
 
 "A considerable part of our population, and especially that of the newer parts of 
 the country, consisted of Europeans who naturally remembered w^ith pleasure many of 
 the surroundings of their former homes and doubtless often longed for the familiar chirp 
 of the Sparrow. They had no strong associations connected with pur American birds, 
 and our treeless cities and uncultivated prairies contrasted strongly with the thickly 
 settled country — half garden, half city— which so many of them had left. So, as 
 opportunity offered, small lots of Sparrows and other European birds were brought to 
 this country; or after the Sparrows became abundant in our Eastern cities they were 
 
 * "The English Sparrow in North America." Prepared under the direction of Dr. ^. Hart Merriam, ornithologist, 
 By Walter B. Barrows. Washington; Government Printing Oifiee. 1889. 
 
 J 
 
carried inland to a large number oi different places. There 'is little doubt that if we 
 could obtain the data relating to the introduction of Sparrows at all points where they 
 are now found in the Mississippi Valley, we should find that by far the larger part of 
 these introductions had been accomplished by English, German, and French citizens, 
 inspired by the recollections of the birds of their fatherland. 
 
 "In addition, the prevailing ignorance of the average American citizen with regard 
 to our native birds, joined to the totally erroneous, or at least grossly exaggerated, 
 reports of the benefits conferred by the Sparrows in New York, Philadelphia, and other 
 Eastern cities, tended to increase the interest which naturally attached to an imported 
 bird, until many persons went to the expense of purchasing and shipping Spari'ows to 
 considerable distances in the belief that they were insectivorous birds and must prove 
 beneficial wherever they could be naturalized. In this way a veritable Sparrow 'boom' 
 was started, and the price of Sparrows in New York went up to such a point that 
 many people desirous of obtaining the birds found it cheaper to club together and 
 import them direct from Europe; while in many cases this was doubtless done from 
 the desire to obtain birds from the neighborhood of the importer's native place, or 
 through distrust of the kind of Sparrow already imported, which, unfortunately, was 
 widely known from the first as the English Sparrow. We can never knovir how many 
 separate importations were thus made, nor how many thousands of individuals were 
 introduced, but it is certain that the number of places thus supplied with birds is much 
 greater than has been supposed, and considering this fact and the rapid rate at which 
 the Sparrow breeds, we ought not to wonder that it has so completely overrun the 
 country." . . 
 
 It is due to the great care and fostering, and the protection that the Sparrows 
 increased to such an extent that they have become a public nuisance. Had the people 
 only turned their love and care to our beautiful native birds, to the lovely Bluebird, 
 the brave Martin, the Robin and Wren, and to our excellent native Sparrows ! How 
 would these beautiful choristers have appreciated such love and protection by their 
 exquisite song and familiarity! But all these useful insectivorous birds were treated 
 with indifference and in many cases they were intentionally driven away and pursued 
 with stones and shot guns. Their breeding places and the nesting boxes, placed on 
 posts and in trees, and the tree holes were occupied by the Sparrows, and at present in 
 the costly and fine parks of our larger cities we hear during the merry month of 
 June no longer the fervent strains of the Wrens, the flute-like melodies of numerous 
 Robins, the sweet warble of the Bluebirds; only the harsh and unpleasant chirping of 
 the Sparrow falls on our ear. The anarchist, tramp, and loafer among birds has taken 
 undisputed possession of the parks and gardens of our large cities and towns, and 
 wherever this "ruffian in feathers" makes its appearance in the country and is allowed 
 to multiply, most of the native birds are forced to leave their haunts. 
 
 When the intention to introduce the Sparrow into North America became known 
 to European ornithologists, they did not hesitate to express their opinion on the sub- 
 ject. This opinion was expressed by the late Pastor W. Thienemann, of Zangenberg, 
 Germany, in the following words : "All ornithological authorities agree that the Sparrow 
 is a very injurious bird, quarrelsome, wily, and of a very low charactei". It does much 
 
ENGLISH SPARROW. 69 
 
 injury to the fruit crop and especially to the grain, but most pernicious it becomes by 
 driving away almost all the other useful birds and by robbing them of their nesting 
 places. Its destruction is a necessity, its extermination an impossibility. To naturalize 
 it in other countries is more than unwise." 
 
 That the Sparrow eats the flower buds of fruit trees to a great extent is a well- 
 known fadl, but this does not need much consideration. Enough will remain to insure 
 a good crop. Only when the Sparrows visit the orchards in swarms, as they often do, 
 the damage done to the fruit crop becomes very serious. To strawberries, peas, and 
 grapes they do more harm than any of our native birds. The flower lovers see w^ith 
 great distress their first spring flowers, the crocuses, tulips, and pansies, robbed of their 
 blossoms by the Sparrows. 
 
 Where these feathered anarchists become abundant it is scarcely possible to enjoy 
 the presence of other birds in the garden. The nesting boxes deviced for Bluebirds, 
 Martins, Wrens, Titmice, Great-crested Flycatchers, and other hole breeders are soon 
 taken possession of, the Sparrows having usually occupied them before the rightful 
 owners arrive from their winter-quarters. Should one or the other pair of these birds 
 be successful in occupying one of them, the Sparrows also know how to act in such 
 cases. They seem to have learned by experience the truth of the saying: "Union is 
 strength." If one pair does not succeed in dislodging the rightful owners, they violently 
 call in their harsh, noisy way for help. In a very short time quite a number of 
 Sparrows appear, attacking the denizens of the box, and after a hard fight they are 
 victorious. With great noise and much ado they take possession of the home of the 
 native songsters. This I have frequently observed, and the Bluebirds and Martins are 
 suffering especially from these foreign intruders. 
 
 In many cases protection has been afforded the pugnacious but interesting House 
 Wren and several of our Titmice by supplying them with boxes the entrances to which 
 are too small to admit the Sparrow; but this does not suffice in all cases. 
 
 Concerning the Purple Martin's contests with the Sparrow, I refer the reader to 
 p. 340, 341 of Vol. I of this work. 
 
 They also injure other birds by throwing their eggs and young out of the nests and 
 using the nesting material for themselves. Where they are common, they destroy many 
 nests of the Robins, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Vireos, Goldfinches, Painted Finches, 
 and Cardinals. Mr. Otto Widmann, of St. Louis, observed that they entered the nesting 
 boxes of the Martins in the absence of the owners, eating their eggs, and I have made 
 a similar observation in Milwaukee, where they destroyed the eggs of the lovely little 
 Chipping Sparrow. Every unprejudiced observer may see all this with his own eyes. 
 The same observations have been made in Germany and in England, and the friends of 
 the songbirds in those countries do not tolerate this tramp among the birds of their 
 gardens. Those of our birds not directly driven away by the Sparrows >are so much 
 annoyed by them that they also leave the parks and gardens. 
 
 "There seems to be no possible escape from the conclusion," writes Mr. Walter 
 Barrows, "that the Sparrow exercises an important and most harmful influence on our 
 native birds. It is not claimed that in all cases where native birds have become less 
 abundant, or have entirely disappeared from town or farm, the Sparrow is the cause. 
 
70 ENGLISH SPARROW. 
 
 On the contrary, we know positively that there have been marked changes in the numbers 
 and kinds of birds visiting certain districts, under such circumstances that it is impossible 
 to attribute these changes to the influence of the Sparrow.. The settlement of a country 
 frequently causes great changes in its bird life. The rapid growth of towns and cities, 
 without a corresponding increase in parks and gardens, has done much to diminish the 
 number of birds. Cats, small boys, feather hunters, and similar agencies have aided in 
 the war of extermination. The Bobolink breeds much less abundantly in New England 
 now than it did twenty-five years ago, but this is well known to be due partly to the 
 introduction of mowing machines and the cutting of hay much earlier in the season 
 than formerly, and partly to the wholesale destruction of the species during its migra- 
 tions. But the fact that all disappearances ot native birds ii-om town or country can 
 not be charged to the Sparrow in no way lessens its responsibility for such changes as 
 it unquestionably has caused. 
 
 "On the other hand, many of the most stalwart champions of our native birds 
 are not altogether free from blame for their partial disappearance. In how many cities 
 of the Union were native birds carefully protected and encouraged to build their nests 
 before the introduction of the Sparrow ? It is certain that in many cities hundreds or 
 even thousands of boxes were provided for the introduced Sparrows, where scarcely a 
 dozen had been given to native birds. 
 
 '•In many cases this superabundance of nesting places so suddenly provided will 
 account for the actual increase of native birds in spite of the presence of the Sparrows ; 
 and such cases have naturally misled many candid observers, who recognized the facts 
 without considering all the conditions. As bearing on this point we cite a part of Dr. 
 J. A. Allen's remarks before the Nuttall Ornithological Club, at a meeting held in Cam- 
 bridge, Mass., early in 1878. All of Dr. Allen's remarks were of great interest and 
 value, and should be read with care by every one interested in the Sparrow question. 
 We quote here from the report printed in the Boston Evening Transcript of March 19, 
 1878, but select only the parts referring to the Sparrow's relations to native birds: 
 
 ' The destruction of a few caterpillars Mr. Allen regarded as almost the sole good that can be adduced 
 
 in their favor. Their presence in small numbers, and especially in winter, is indeed cheery and pleasant; but, 
 when in force, their harsh chatter becomes a positive nuisance, and even in summer renders the notes of other 
 birds singing in neighboring trees almost indistinguishable. In regard to the unfavorable side of the score, 
 the list of charges is a long one, and the greater part are too well attested to admit of reasonable doubt. 
 'First in the list is their unfavorable influence upon our native birds. Ordinarily, so far as his observa- 
 tions extend, he believed that they were not violently aggressive, but readiiy became so whenever there was 
 a conflict of interest and occasionally without provocation. The little Chipping Sparrows commonly associate 
 with them on terms of intimacy and harmony, and rarely had he seen them pursue or attack other birds 
 when meeting with them at a distance from their own domiciles. But that they do, by their abundance and 
 petulance, tend to crowd out and supplant our native birds seems nearly unquestionable, since the latter dis- 
 appear wherever the House Sparrows become abundant! Upon such species as have a preference for nesting 
 sites similar to their own, they do exert, however, a most positive influence. These are Bluebirds, White- 
 bellied Swallows, Purple Martins, and Wrens — birds of attractive ways, agreeable notes, and highly insec- 
 tivorous in their diet. When the Sparrows were first introduced into Cambridge, probably at least a dozen 
 bird-houses were put up to each pair of Sparrows. The result was that the native species just mentioned 
 found abundant nesting places, and at once became more numerous than formerly. As the Sparrows rapidly 
 increased, they very naturally possessed themselves of the bird-boxes and forced their former occupants else- 
 where. He cited the following instances as having fallen under his observation : Three years ago no less 
 than three pairs of Wrens and as many pairs each of Bluebirds and White-bellied Swallows raised their 
 
ENGLISH SPARROW. 71 
 
 young in boxes in sight of his windows. The following year about one-half disappeared, and last year not 
 one of these nine pairs of native birds had a representative left within this small area. Not that all the 
 boxes were occupied by the Sparrows, but they claimed possession of all, and by force of numbers retained 
 it. In most cases the former occupants, finding their homes already in the possession of their enemies, 
 appeared to make no struggle to regain them, a reconnaissance of the field apparently satisfying them of the 
 hopelessness of any such attempt; in other cases they were not given up without long and hard-fought 
 battles. On inquiry he found that similar incidents have been observed in neighboring parts of Cambridge. 
 Besides this, instances of uncalled-for aggression had come to his notice, one of which he himself had observed. 
 Last year a colony of Sparrows, not content with three times as many boxes as they had use for— to gain 
 possession of which they had dispossessed Wrens and Swallows — attacked a pair of Robins that very 
 unwisely, as it proved, had chosen a nesting site in an elm close to this pugnacious colony, by which they 
 w^ere so persistently harassed that they had to abandon their completed nest and its, to them, precious contents.' 
 
 "One error mto which many observers who are not ornithologists have fallen lies 
 in the failure to discriminate between the abundance of birds in towns and cities in time 
 of migration and in the breeding season. Thus such a visitor to the national capital 
 during the first week in April, 1887, would have been struck at once with the number 
 of Robins in all the parks, and might have come to the hasty conclusion that, therefore, 
 the English Sparrow had no serious influence on them. 
 
 "There were undoubtedly many thousands of Robins in the city of Washington at 
 that time. On the grass ground in front of the Smithsonian Institution, on the lawns 
 of the Capitol, and in many of the other parks, hundreds were in sight at once, and 
 they seldom appeared to be molested by the Sparrows. But no sooner had these 
 migrating flocks passed northward and the intending settlers arrived in smaller num- 
 bers firom the South than the Sparrows began to show their natural disposition, and, 
 as a result, the Robins which remained and nested in the beautiful parks, numbering 
 hundreds of acres, probably did not average one pair to every ten acres of suitable ground. 
 
 "One other egregious blunder, for which there is still less excuse, is the claim so 
 often put forward that in other countries, notably in Engl&nd and Germany, the Spar- 
 rows live in peace with all birds, whereas if they, were the terrible foes represented they 
 would have expelled all these birds long ago. In general, such statements may be set 
 down at once as totally untrue as regards the facts. The Sparrow in Europe is very 
 much the same bird as in the United States, certainly no better. And wherever there is 
 any marked difference in habits, such a difference is usually attributable to the fact that 
 the conditions of existence are entirely unlike." 
 
 In many parts of Europe bounties have been paid on the Sparrow from time to 
 time for centxiries, and to-day in many sections of England the farmers are fighting 
 this pest as bitterly as in any section of the New World. If any one doubts that the 
 Sparrow attacks other birds in Europe, let him turn to the evidence given before the 
 select committee of the British Parliament in 1873, and read the statements which 
 support the testimony of Col. Champion Russell with regard to the relations of the 
 Sparrow and the Martin. His conclusion is, 'If people will neither protect the Martins 
 from the Sparrows nor let them build near their doors and windows for protection, we 
 shall lose these beautiful and most useful birds ; indeed, we are losing them fast. Unlike 
 most other birds, they will not make their nests far from our dwelhngs ; if not allowed 
 to build there, they disappear.' 
 
 If we want to enjoy the presence of our beautiful native songbirds in the larger 
 
72 ENGLISH SPARROW. 
 
 parks and in all the gardens of the country, we have to wage constant war against 
 the Sparrow, and to assist our native birds in every way to take up their abode near 
 our home. In order to accomplish this all the Sparrow nests should be destroyed 
 wherever found. This is the best and safest way to keep the dangerous pest in check, 
 To exterminate these proletarians is out of question, but we are able to control their 
 multiplication by destroying all the nests we find, especially when they contain half or 
 full grown young. If every friend of our beautifiil native birds would do this, we would 
 not hear so many complaints about the Sparrow's invasion and the decrease of our 
 American birds. 
 
 It is doubtless a very dangerous measure to give everybody the right to shoot 
 and kill the Sparrows. Many people, especially boys, are in many cases not able to 
 discriminate among our native Sparrows and the introduced bird. It is astonishing 
 how little most people know about our birds and how few are able to distinguish the 
 most common species. It is a great deficiency of many of our modem schools, that the 
 children are not made acquainted with the beauties of the surrounding nature, the 
 flowers, mammals, and birds, and their habits and habitat, in a pleasant and interest- 
 ing way. If everybody were allowed to shoot Sparrows, many would make use of this 
 opportunity to follow their love of sport and kill almost any bird they see. I have 
 more than once seen that Song Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, Lark Sparrows, White- 
 throated, White-crowned, and Fox Sparrows were mistaken for the European species 
 and killed. In States where a bounty is paid for each Sparrow head, even most of the 
 oflicials are not always able to distinguish the foreign from the native birds, and cases 
 are known that a bounty was paid for the heads of Bobolinks, and even Thrushes and 
 other insectivorous birds. Instead of allowing everybody to shoot Sparrows it is 
 advisable that the community appoint some reliable person for that purpose. 
 
 It has been recommended to poison the Sparrows, and various methods have been 
 employed, but this is not only detrimental to the Sparrows but our native seed-eating 
 birds would share the same fate. This has been experienced in Australia where the 
 settlers not only killed many Sparrows by poisoned millet, but also numberless of their 
 exquisite small Finches. The Sparrows are there still a public nuisance, but the indi- 
 genous birds are almost entirely exterminated. 
 
 The Sparrow builds its nest in every nook and corner, in houses, bams, stables, 
 in tree holes, on trees and bushes, and, preferably, in nesting boxes. It is a bulk}' 
 structure of dried grasses, rags, strings, pieces of paper, etc., and is lined with feathers. 
 The eggs are dull whitish, thickly speckled and dashed with dark brown and purplish-gra^^ 
 
 NAMES: English Sparrow, European Sparrow, House Sparrow, Common Sparrow. — Haussperling, Sper- 
 ling, Spatz (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla domestica hinn. Pyrgitadomesdca Cuv. PASSER DOMESTICUS Sew abff. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : Above, brownish, the back streaked with black ; wing with two white bands ; lower parts, 
 dull gfrayish-white or p^le grayish. Adalt male with black of throat continued over chest, where 
 forming a broad patch; ear-coverts, entirely dull grayish; top of head, grayish, with a large pntcli 
 of chestnut on each side, from eye back to sides of nape. 
 
 Length about 5.50 to 6.2.'') inches; wing about 2.85 to 3.00; tall, 2..15 to 2.50 inches. 
 
EUROPEAN TREE SPARROW, 
 
 Passer montanus Koch. 
 
 ^N this bird Mr. Otto Widmatin writes as follows: 
 
 "Early in 1870 a St. Louis bird dealer imported, among other birds, tw^ty 
 Tree Sparrows direct from Germany. Mr. Kleinschmidt, hearing of it, persuaded Mr. 
 Carl Daenzer, Editor-in-Chief of the Anzeiger des Westens, who was at that time 
 experimenting with the introduction of European songbirds, to contribute to the 
 purchase of these birds. Accordingly they were bought and taken to Lafayette Park, 
 in the then south-western part of the city, and Hberated April 25, 1870. All left the 
 park immediately, and none were seen again until April 24- of the following year, when 
 a single bird was seen one mile east of the park. This discovery w^as considered w^orthy 
 of mention in the public press, since at that time the introduction of the European 
 Sparrow at St. Louis was thought to be a failure. That this was an error became 
 apparent during the ensuing summer, when these discoveries were reported so often, 
 and from parts of the city so widely separated, that success could not longer be 
 doubted. 
 
 "During the next few years bird dealers had pairs of House Sparrows sent from 
 New York, and well-meaning citizens bought them for liberation, but the exact number 
 can not be learned, since the principal parties have died. Both species increased 
 amazingly, and as early as 1875 Passer had spread over the entire sixty-four square 
 miles which make up the city of St. Louis. In the southern part the Tree Sparrows 
 predominated, and as late as 1877 no House Sparrow was seen on my premises, one 
 mile south of the arsenal, which latter point they had then occupied in large numbers. 
 Also during the winter of 1877 — '78 all of my twelve boxes set up for Sparrows were 
 in undisputed possession of the Tree Sparrows. 
 
 "On March 28, 1878, the first House Sparrow appeared on the scene, and trouble 
 began. One pair of Tree Sparrows was dislodged and a pair of House Sparrows began 
 nest-building. That summer no increase in House Sparrows took place in my colony, 
 and the Tree Sparrows reared their broods in peace, but when the first cold October 
 nights forced the Sparrows to change their roost from the now nearly leafless trees to 
 some warm shelter, a whole flock of House Sparrows took possession of the boxes and 
 the Tree Sparrows had to leave. Thereafter the weaker Tree Sparrow had little chance 
 to gain a suitable nesting site around its old home. Only one pair continued breeding 
 for a few years longer, in a box which, besides hanging lower than the rest, had an 
 entrance which the bigger House Sparrows found uncomfortably small. It appeared to 
 me that the Tree Sparrow would be much more of a house sparrow if his stronger 
 cousin did not force him to be a tree sparrow by robbing him of every suitable nesting 
 and roosting place about human*habitations. 
 
 "With the increase of the House Sparrow the Tree Sparrow had to yield the city 
 almost entirely to him and betake himself to the country, spreading in all directions 
 
 10 
 
r 
 
 74 SNOWFLAKE. 
 
 atid resorting to tree holes and out-of-the-way places, while the other took the cities 
 and towns. 
 
 "This Tree Sparrow is a much more acceptable acquisition than the House Sparrow. 
 Although sharing many of its habits, it lacks the fighting qualities for which the other 
 is so much hated. Of course, like every bird, it defends its home against intruders, but 
 it is not aggressive. It never attacks other birds for mere sport, like its cousin ; on the 
 contrary, it enjoys the company of our native birds, and it is daily seen associating 
 wit*h our wintering Junco and Canada Tree Sparrow. With this latter bird it has some 
 notes in common, and it seems that this resemblance of the voice led the early European 
 settlers to apply the name of Tree Spai-row to this otherwise entirely different bird, a 
 misnomer which in turn gave rise to the equally inappropriate scientific names montana 
 and monticola. 
 
 "The voice of the European Tree Sparrow, although it can not be called a song, 
 is really melodious, especially when a number of them, as is generally the case, join in 
 common concert, much like our Bobolinks and Blackbirds. Not more than two broods 
 are raised annually, while the House Sparrow often raises three, but not four to six, 
 as some claim." The nest is similar to that of the common Sparrow, and the eggs are 
 also much like Sparrow's eggs but averaging smaller and usually darker and redder. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : The black of the throat in the adult male is not continued over the chest ; ear-coverts with 
 a large black spot; top of head entirely liver-brown, or purplish-chestnut. 
 Length about 5.50 inches ; wing, 2.80 ; tail, 2.40 inches. 
 
 SNOWFLAKE. 
 
 Plectrophenax nivalis Stejneger. 
 
 The sky is gray as gray may be, 
 
 There is no bird on wing or bough. 
 
 There is no leaf on vine or tree. 
 
 Slow creep the hours, slow creep the days, 
 
 The black ink crusts upon the pen — 
 
 Just wait till Bluebirds, Wrens, and Jays 
 
 And Golden Orioles come again, 
 
 T. B. Aldrich. 
 
 a- HOUGH the winter in the Northern States of our great country is exceedingly 
 / cold and changeable, it is not entirely without beauty. True, the trees are 
 leafless, the woods quiet, and the beautiful summer flowers rest under a thick cover of 
 snow. The winged choristers of woodland and garden, field and meadow have deserted 
 their natal haunts, sojourning in the tropics or in the mild regions of the Gulf coast. 
 Even the Slate-colored Snowbirds, the White-throated, White-crowned, and Fox 
 Sparrows have left, long before the winter commenced, for the milder regions of the 
 Southern States, where the dense shrubbery of the bottom lands and the woods, fringed 
 with bushes and tangled thickets covered with cross-vine (Bignonia capreolata), Carolina 
 
jasmine, smilax, grape-vines, and other creepers afford them food, safety, and shelter. 
 The weather before Christmas is usually not so very cold, but after the holidays icy north 
 and west winds and snow storms sweep over prairies and stubble fields with increasing 
 vigor, placing lakes and ponds, rivers and streams in icy fetters and covering all nature 
 with a white winter robe. Only the pines, spruces, firs, cedars, and junipers, though 
 clothed in a sombre green, are as beautifiil at this time of the year as they are in 
 spring and summer, their branches being loaded with snow, the white color of which 
 contrasts beautifully with the dark, deep green of their foliage. During winter these 
 trees are frequently visited by flocks of Pine Grosbeaks, Crossbills, and Redpolls, many 
 of which show more or less red color. At this time of the year I especially admire the 
 mixed woods consisting partly of deciduous trees, partly of evergreens. 
 
 The fields and prairies seem desolate, rarely a living creature being visible. But 
 this will not remain so. With the first heavy snow, especially when drifted by high 
 winds, numberless birds appear, usually in large swarms and in rapid and wavy flight, 
 alighting on the stubble fields of Wisconsin and the prairies of Illinois. The prevailing 
 color of these most picturesque of our winter birds is white, and as they come and 
 go with the white crystallizations of winter, they were appropriately named by the 
 people when they called them Snowfl.\kes. Like thousands of snowflakes they whirl 
 into the northern part of our country, "on wings as wayward as those of the storm 
 that urges them on ; but, though thus irregular in their appearance, according to stress 
 of weather, no winter passes without its Snow Buntings, and it is not until April that 
 the last of the birds is seen" in the northern part of the Union. 
 
 The flight of the Snowflake, or Snow Bunting, is extremely beautiful. Great 
 numbers are usually swirling over the ground. "They keep pretty closely in flocks 
 numbering from a dozen or so to several hundreds, and, though they spread over the 
 ground a good deal in running about after seeds, they fly compactly, and wheel 
 altogether. In their evolutions they present a pretty sight, and have a not displeas- 
 ing stridulent sound, from mingling of the weak chirrups from so many throats." 
 (Coues.) The birds are constantly in motion, and when the hindermost alight in front 
 of those that first settled, these again rise and alight again in the front. Thus the 
 whole swarm soon disappears. They do not seem to suffer with cold, although the 
 thermometer often goes down to 30° below zero F. They subsist during the winter 
 entirely on the seeds of weeds which they pick up from the snow, and thus they become 
 very beneficial to the farmer. I have never seen them on trees and rarely on fences, but 
 they frequently alight on stones and boulders. When forced to alight on branches of 
 trees or bushes their movements are awkward, seemingly as if afraid they would fall. 
 Their feet evidently do not grasp small twigs with security. On the ground they are 
 perfectly at home, running around with great agility. By the end of March or the 
 beginning of April all the Snowflakes have departed again for their breeding quarters. 
 They come with the snow, and they disappear with the snow. 
 
 The Snowflakes winter mostly in the Northern States, rarely moving as far south 
 as Pennsylvania or Kentucky. I have never seen them in the Ozark region of south- 
 western Missouri, and Mr. Otto Widmarin never observed them near St. Louis. They 
 commonly invade all our country north of latitude 39°, and less often south to latitude 
 
76 SNOWFLAKE. 
 
 35°, where ttiey are replaced by the Lapland Longspur. Most of them have left Wis- 
 consin for the North by the first of April. 
 
 The breeding range of the Snowflake is found in the circumpolar regions, except the 
 islands in Behring Sea. It has been observed by various Arctic expeditions. Mr. E. W. 
 Nelson, who had a good opportunity of observing the bird in Alaska, writes as follows: 
 
 "But few remain during the season in Alaska, and these mainly on the Aleutian 
 chain and the south-east shore of the Territory, where the climate is comparatively mild. 
 To the North of this the intense cold and violent storms permit the presence of only a 
 small number of the most hardy. Before the winter is fairly broken— by the 6th of 
 April,— they commence to return to the North, and are found on this date at" Fort 
 Reliance, on the Upper Yukon, and thence they advance slowly with the returning sun 
 until during this rnonth they have regained nearly all their summer haunts within the 
 Territory. Along the north coast of Asia Nordenskjold mentions finding it at nearly 
 every stopping place of the Vega during his famous voyage, and notes its arrival at 
 Tapkan, on the Sibirian Arctic shore, north-west of Behring Straits, on April 23. During 
 the summer of 1881, while with the Corwin, I found it common on the Arctic coast of 
 Alaska to Point Barrow, along the entire north-east Sibirian coast, and again on Harald 
 and Wrangel Islands. 
 
 "Elliott found it resident on the Seal Islands in Behring Sea, and informs us that 
 this bird builds an elegant and elaborate nest of soft, dry mosses and grass, and lines 
 it warmly again with a thick bed of feathers. It is placed on the ground beneath some 
 heavy lava shelf or at the foot of an enormous boulder. Five eggs are usually laid, 
 about the first of June. They are an inch long by two-thirds broad of a grayish or 
 greenish-white, spotted sometimes all over, sometimes at or around the larger end only, 
 with various shades of rich dark brown, purple-brown, and paler neutral tints. Some- 
 times the whole surface is quite closely clouded with diffuse reddish-brown markings. 
 Upon the female the entire labor of the three weeks' incubation required for the hatching 
 of her brood devolves. During this period the male is assiduous in bringing food ; and 
 at frequent intervals sings his simple but sweet song, rising, as he begins it, high up in 
 the air, as the Sky Lark does, and at the end of the strain drops suddenly to the 
 ground again. . . . The food of this species consists of the various seeds and insects 
 peculiar to the rough, higher ground it frequents, being especially fond of the small 
 coleopterous beetles found on the island. ... It can not be called at any season of the 
 year gregarious like its immediate relative, the Lapland Longspur, with which it is 
 associated on these sea-girt islands." 
 
 A variety, the Prybilof Snowflake, P. nivalis townsendii Ridgw., inhabits the 
 Prybilof Islands of Alaska, and Kamschatka. 
 
 McKay's Snowflake, P. hyperboreus Ridgw., breeds on Hall Island and probably 
 
 also on St. Matthew's Island, Behring Sea, and in winter visiting the west coast of Alaska. 
 
 NAMES: Snowflake, Snow Bunting.— Schneeammer (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Emberiza nivalis Linn. (1766). Plectrophanes nivalis Meyer. — PLECTROPHBNAX 
 NIVALIS Stejn. (1882). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "In summer: Pure white, the middle of the bacli, the wings, and the tail, mostly black; 
 bill and feet, black. Seldom if ever seen in this perfect dress in the United States. As found with us 
 
the white is Yartousl3' clouded with rich warm brown, which colors most of the upper parts, washes 
 along the sides of the body, forms a collar on the breast and a patch on the ears, and deepens to 
 blackish on the crown ; the black dorsal area is mixed with brown and white ; the feet are black as 
 in summer, but the bill is mostly or entirely yellowish. 
 
 "Length, about 7.00 inches; wing, 4.50; tail, 2.75 inches." (Stearns & Coues, "New England 
 Bird-Life." I. p. 230.) 
 
 LAPLAND LONGSPUR, 
 
 Calcarius lapponicus StejneGER. 
 
 IvTHOUGH this Longspur appears in countless thousands on the fields and 
 jp^ prairies of the northern part of the United States in October and early in 
 November, it is not a familiar bird owing to its plain and inconspicuous coloring. 
 For this reason it does not give an impression to the landscape like its striking con- 
 gener, the Snowflake. Most people, who are well acquainted with the characteristic 
 birds of their surroundings, do not know the Lapland Longspur, though it may be 
 very common everywhere in their immediate neighborhood in fall and spring. While the 
 Snowflakes make the northern parts of the Union their winter home, the Lapland Long- 
 spurs move farther southw^ard. The Mississippi valley below the range of the Snow 
 Bunting is occupied by these birds, and in the East they occur sometimes as far south- 
 ward as South Carolina. In south-western Missouri it is exceedingly common in old, 
 weedy cornfields and on grassy prairies. It also visits Kansas, penetrating even to 
 Texas, where it has been observed at Gainesville. At Caddo, Indian Territory, it was 
 observed by Prof. W. W. Cooke. None were seen until a sudden cold snap in February 
 covered everything with frozen rain. Homed Larks, Smith's Longspurs, and Chestnut- 
 collared Buntings became abundant, and February 13 three Lapland Longspurs were 
 seen. Starting out the next day, Prof. Cooke found hitfiself suddenly surrounded by 
 hundreds and hundreds of them. They fairly swarmed for a week ; but on the night of 
 February 19, taking advantage of a clear sky and a south wind, they disappeared, in 
 company with all their long-clawed brethren, as suddenly as they had come. In 
 Kansas they were very numerous at the same time, and a month later Nebraska became 
 the scene of action for the evolutions of their mighty armies. In the Ozark region of 
 south-w^estern Missouri these birds are usually first observed by December 1, provided 
 the weather be cold at that time, but they rarely make their appearance before 
 January 1. They leave early in March. In Wisconsin they appear in the first days of April, 
 remaining in favorable localities about ten to fifteen days. I have observed these birds 
 almost every winter from 1869 to 1879 on the prairies of northern Illinois. When cold 
 weather commenced they moved southward, but returned late in March. They were 
 exceedingly abundant in old fields, especially in weedy tracts, and heedlessly alighted 
 even on hay-stacks and in farm yards. They are more quiet and do not fly so beauti- 
 fully nor in such compact masses as the Snowflakes. They never retire to bushy tracts 
 or to the woodland border, but always keep in the unprotected open fields and prairies. 
 
This Longspiir is also an inhabitant of Europe, being common all over the northern 
 part of that continent and especially in Lapland. In northern Asia it is just as 
 abundant as in the Arctic regions of North America. Its food in the breeding range 
 consists mostly of insects and their larvje, while in winter it subsists entirely on the 
 seeds of weeds. Like all these small winter birds it is eminently beneficial to the 
 farmer. Mr. E. W. Nelson, who observed the Lapland Longspur in Alaska, gives the 
 following interesting account: 
 
 "During my residence at Saint Michaels over thirty nests were found, and the 
 number might readily have been doubled. Their nests were so abundant everywhere on 
 the grassy flats that one could scarcely walk over the tundra for half an hour dHiring 
 the proper season without finding irom one to a half a dozen of them. By the middle 
 of May the males are numerous and in full song along the coast of Norton Sound, 
 having arrived about this time or a little earlier in flocks, and spread rapidly over their 
 breeding ground. . . . When they arrive early in May the gi'ound is still largely covered 
 with snow, with the exception of grassy spots along the southern exposures and 
 the more favorably situated portions of the tundra, and here may be found these 
 birds in all the beauty of their elegant summer dress. The males, as if conscious of 
 their handsome plumage, choose the tops of the only breaks in the monotonous level, 
 which are small rounded knolls and tussocks. The male utters its song as it flies 
 upward from one of these knolls, and when it reaches the height of ten or fifteen 
 yards it extends the points of its wings upwards, forming a large V-shaped figure, and 
 floats gently to the ground, uttering, as it slowly sinks, its liquid tones, which fall in 
 tinkling succession upon the ear, and are perhaps the sweetest notes that one hears 
 during the entire spring time of these regions. It is an exquisite jingling melody, having 
 much less power than that of the Bobolink, but with the same general character, and, 
 though shorter, it has even more melody than the song of that well-known bird. There 
 is such joyous exultation in the song that the songster assumes a new place in one's 
 regard. 
 
 ". . . . The nests are generally placed on the drier portions of the flats; a hummock 
 or tuft of grass is chosen, or perhaps a projecting bunch of dwarf willow stems, and as 
 one comes directly upon it, the female usually flutters off under one's feet; the male 
 keeps in the immediate vicinity, and joins with his mate in a cheeping protest at the 
 intrusion. If the eggs are nearly ready to hatch the females show the greatest solicitude, 
 as they do also in case the nest contains young. In one instance a parent was driven 
 from her eggs just as they were about to hatch, and she ran along the ground for a 
 few yards, uttering a plaintive note, like chee chee chee, in a fine, vibrating, metallic 
 tone, at the same time dragging her outspread wings and tail upon the ground, and 
 fluttering as though in mortal agony." 
 
 The eggs, four to six in number, are much pointed at the smaller end, and are 
 very dark. colored, much like those of the Titlark. The color is a "heavy clouding 
 or thick mottling" of chocolate-brown; the ground-color is greenish-gray and their size 
 .80X.62. 
 
 The summer home of the Lapland Longspur in North America extends from the 
 Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River northward. 
 
NAMES: Lapland Longspur. — Sporenammer (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla lapponica Linn. (1761). Emberiza lapponka Swains. (1831). Plectro- 
 pbanes lapponicus Cab. (1851). CALCARIUS LAPPONICUS Stejn. (1882). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Male. Head all round, and neck, black, extending on the jugulum in a crescentic patch; 
 a broad line from above and beliind the eye, sides of neck, a patch in the black of hind head, and 
 whole under-parts, white; the sides of body streaked broadly with black. A broad half-collar of 
 chestnut on back of neck, separated from the hood narrowly, and from the auriculars and throat 
 broadly, by the white stripe from the eye. Above, brownish-black, the feathers sharply edged with 
 brownish-yellow. Outer tail-feathers, white, except the basal portion of inner web, and a shaft streak 
 at end; next feather with a white streak in end, rest, black. Legs, black, bill, yellow, tipped with 
 black. In winter plumage the black and other markings overlaid by rusty and fulvous; beneath by 
 whitish. Female with the black feathers of head edged with yellowish-rusty ; the throat white, 
 bordered on the sides and behind by blackish; feathers edged with grayish-white, the rufous of nape 
 obscure, and streaked with blackish. 
 
 "Length of male, 6.25 inches; wing, 3.90; tail, 2.80 inches." (B. B. & R., I p. 515.) 
 
 SMITH'S LONGSPUR; PAINTED BUNTING. 
 
 Calcarius pictus Stejneger. 
 
 This Longsput is also a bird of the Arctic regions of North America, breeding 
 abundantly on the lower Anderson River, where numerous nests were found by Mr. 
 McFarlane. They w^ere all on the ground, and usually in open spaces, but also in the 
 vicinity of trees. The nests, for the most part, were constructed of fine dry grasses, 
 carefully arranged, and lined with down, feathers, or finer materials similar to those 
 of the outer portions. In a few nests there were no feathers; in others, feathers in 
 different proportions; and in a few the down and feathers composed the chief portion 
 of the nest, with only a few leaves as a base. They were sometimes sunk in excava- 
 tions made by the birds, or placed in a tussock of grass, and, placed in the midst 
 of a bed of Labrador tea {Ledum palustris), a beautiful evergreen ericaceous plant. 
 When the nest is approached the female quietly slips off, while the male may be seen 
 hopping or flying around among the weeds or bushes, and like all these ground-building 
 Sparrows, will make all possible efforts to induce intruders to withdraw from the 
 neighborhood. Nests have also been found at Fort Yukon, at the mouth of Porcupine 
 River, and in the Mackenzie district the bird seems to be especially common. The eggs 
 are similar to those of the Lapland Longspur, but lighter in color. 
 
 The Painted Bunting comes and goes with the Lapland Longspur, but it is not 
 as common as this species. It migrates as far south as Caddo, Indian Territory, and 
 even to Gainesville, Texas. In the prairie districts of south-western Missouri it is not^ 
 uncommon in w^inter. It is only a winter visitant of the United States, especially w^est 
 of the Mississippi and east of the Rocky Mountains. According to Prof. Ridgway they 
 sometimes also occur on the prairies of Illinois, and it is probable that they also visit 
 the western parts of Wisconsin during their migrations. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male in summer: Top and sides of head, deep black, relieved by a broad white 
 stripe behind the eye, a narrow white stripe along middle portion of ear-coverts, and a white malar- 
 stripe, much widest posteriorly; hind-neck and entire lower parts deep ochraceous-buff, the first 
 streaked with dusky; anterior lesser wing-coverts deep black, posterior ones pure white, forming a 
 conspicuous bar, widest above. Adult male in winter: Black of head entirely replaced by streaked 
 
80 CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR. 
 
 brownish, the throat and chest also more or less streaked with dusky ; otherwise much as in summer, 
 but middle and greater wing-coverts distinctly tipped with white. Adult female in summer: Much 
 like winter male, but smaller, paler, and grayer, without deep black or pure white on lesser wing- 
 coverts; in winter, similar, but more buffy. 
 
 "Length, 6.45 inches; wing, 3.65; tail, 2.75 inches. Female smaller." (Ridgway.) 
 
 Chestnut-collared Longspur. 
 
 Calcarius ornatus Stejneger. 
 
 IJ^HIS beautiful Longspur, which is also known to the ornithologist as the Chestnut- 
 collared Bunting and Black-bellied Longspur, is an abundant and character- 
 istic species of the Missouri region. Originally discovered by Townsend on the upper 
 Missouri, it has since been traced far north in the interior of British America, and 
 southward, in elevated regions, to Vera Cruz and Orizaba. I have only met with the 
 birds in the prairies of Lafayette, Lee, and Bastrop Counties, Texas, in winter, when they 
 were observed in company with Horned Larks. Their favorite resorts are along old 
 trails and abandoned w^agon roads where the grass is short. "In their search for food 
 they fly near the ground, in an easy, w^avy, circling manner, constantly chirruping as 
 they go, dropping down here and there and running swiftly about. Busy bodies, that 
 have to labor hard and long, in order to pick up enough of the tiny seeds upon which 
 they feed to satisfy their wants." (Goss ) 
 
 Dr. J. A. Allen found these Longspurs breeding in the vicinity of Fort Hays, 
 Kansas. He writes: "Common out on the plains almost every where, it being one of the 
 most interesting and characteristic species of the plains. It has a short, shrill, but very 
 sweet song, which is often uttered while on the wing. It is very wary for so small a 
 bird, and has the habit of circling round the observer when disturbed for several minutes 
 together, approaching tantalizingly near, with feints of nearer approach, but generally 
 keeping well out of range. The nest is a very neat, though slight structure, placed of 
 course upon the ground, and is composed of dry, fine grass and rootlets. The eggs are 
 generally five, blotched and streaked with rusty on a white ground. Full sets of fi-eshly 
 laid eggs were first found about June 3. I met with it in winter from Fort Hays west- 
 ward, nearly to the Colorado line, indicating that it is resident here the whole year." 
 Undoubtedly the Chestnut-collared Longspur also breeds in Nebraska and South 
 Dakota, and Dr. Elliott Goues observed the bird during the breeding season in the 
 greatest abundance in North Dakota. "On the bare plains," he says, "away from a 
 single landmark, it is perhaps the most abundant bird of all, though Baird's Bunting 
 and the Missouri Skylark are not far behind in this respect. All three associate inti- 
 mately together, and there is a great general similarity in their habits. The nest of the 
 present species is placed on the ground, effectually concealed beneath some little tuft of 
 grass; it is a slight aifair, merely a few fine grasses and slender weed-stems, for the 
 most part circularly disposed, and considerably hollowed. Like the nests of most other 
 Sparrows that breed on the ground, it is sunken in a depression so as to be flush with 
 the general surface. It measures about three and one-half inches across outside, and 
 
more than half as much in depth; the bottom is very thin in comparison with the 
 brim, which is well defined. The eggs are usually four in number, measuring about 
 four-fifths of an inch long by three-fifths broad, and are not peculiar in shape. They 
 are grayish-white, more or less clouded, and mottled obscurely with pale purplish-gray, 
 which confers the prevailing tone; this is overlaid with numerous surface markings of 
 points, scratches, and small spots of dark brown, wholly indeterminate in distribution 
 and number, but always conspicuous, being sharply displayed upon the subdued ground- 
 color. I think that two or three broods are reared each season, for I have found firesh 
 eggs and newly hatched birds the same day, July 18, when a w^eek before I had seen 
 young birds already on the wing ; and again, I have found fresh eggs so late as the first 
 week in August. When the nest is approached, the female generally walks quietly off, 
 after a little flutter, threading her way through the grass till she is at a safe distance, 
 and then taking wing. Should the young be hatched, however, both parents will hover 
 together close overhead, in evident distress, with beseeching cries." In the fall they 
 associate with the Lapland and Smith's Longspur, and in October they wend their way 
 south. "Like other small birds of the prairies, it haunts the roads where, as the grass 
 is worn av(ray from the wheel-tracks, it feeds and runs with the greatest ease. I never 
 saw one alight except on the ground. In flight, it may always be recognized by the 
 amount of w^hite on the tail." 
 
 NAMES: Chestnut-collared Lo.ncspur, Chesttiut-coUared Bunting, Black-bellied Longspur. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Plectrophanes ornatus Towns. (1837). Emberiza ornata Aud. (1839). Plectro- 
 phanes ornatus Cab. (1851). CALCARIUS ORNATUS Stejn. (1882). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Bill, dark plumbeous. Male: Crown, a narrow crescent on the side of the head, with a 
 line running into it from behind the eye, entire breast and upper part of belly all round, black; 
 throat and sides of. the head, lower part of belly and under tail-coverts with bases of the tail-feathers, 
 white. The white on the tail-feathers runs forward as an acute point. A chestnut band on the back 
 of the neck extending round on the sides. Rest of upper parts, grayish-brown, streaked with darker. 
 Middle coverts with a white patch. Lesser wing-coverts like the back. Legs, dusky, bill, blue. 
 Female lacking the black and chestnut colors. 
 
 "Length about 6.00 inches; wing, 3.35; tail, 3.30 inches." (B. B. & R. I. p. 520.) 
 
 MC GOWN'S LO^H3SPUR. 
 
 Rhyncbophanes mccownii Baird. 
 
 During a two years' residence near the West Yegua Creek, in Lee County, Texas, 
 1 had an excellent opportunity of observing a number of birds which I never had seen 
 alive before. Among these, to me, new birds McCown's Longspur was one of the 
 most interesting. When walking through the weedy and grassy com and cotton fields 
 in December, January, and February, I was almost sure to find large assemblages of 
 Henslow's, Leconte's, Savanna, and Grasshopper Sparrows, Baird's Buntings, Vesper 
 Sparrows, and Homed Larks. Among these flocks I met McCowti's Longspurs for the 
 first time in December 1881. They usually kept together in flocks from ten to fifty, 
 but were often associated with the above named species. When startled they fly in an 
 easy, wavy, circling manner over the ground, always uttering soft chirruping notes 
 while flying. Like all Longspurs they swiftly run over the ground without uttering a 
 
 11 
 
82 BAIRD'S SPARROW. 
 
 single note. They live on weed and grass seeds, especially on the spiny seeds of the 
 sand-spur or bur-grass (Cenchras), a vile weed. 
 
 This Longspur inhabits the great western plains and probably breeds from northern 
 Kansas northward to the Saskatchewan, wintering from Kansas and eastern Colorado 
 southward through western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to Mexico. 
 
 Dr. J. A. Allen observed McCown's Longspur in the vicinity of Cheyenne, and also 
 near Laramie City. A nest, found by him on Heart River, Dakota, July 7, 1873, was 
 built on the ground, and constructed of decomposing woody fiber and coarse grasses 
 with a lining of finer grasses. It contained four eggs, of a dull white ground-color; the 
 markings are obscure and rather sparse mottling, with some heavier, sharp, scratchy 
 ones, both brown, of different intensity. They measure about 0.80X0.60. 
 
 NAMES: McCown's Longspdh, McCown's Bunting. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Plectropbanes mccownii J^avrr. (1851). RHYNCHOPHANES MC COWNII 'Ridgw. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: SP. CHAR. "Tail-feathers (except middle pair) white, broadly tipped with black (outer 
 feathers almost entirely white). Adult male in summer: Middle, and posterior lesser, wing-coverts 
 rufous; crown, rictal stripe, and crescentic patch on chest, black; sides of head, grayish; back, etc., 
 gray or brownish, streaked with dusky; lower parts (except chest) white, tinged laterally with 
 grayish. Adult male in winter: Crown and other upper parts, dull brownish-buff, streaked with 
 dusky; black rictal streak obsolete, and black patch on chest hidden by light dull buffy tips to 
 feathers. Adult female: Similar to winter male, but without concealed black on chest or rufous on 
 wing-coverts. 
 
 "Length about COO inches; wing, 3.60; tail, 2.40 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 BAIRD'S SPARROW. 
 
 Ammodramus bairdii Giebel. 
 
 ^HIS Finch inhabits the Great Plains, from Dakota and Montana to the Sas- 
 katchewan in summer. In winter it is found as far south as Arizona and New 
 Mexico, and I have noticed large numbers from November to March in the weedy 
 cotton and corn-fields of Lee and Fayette Co., Texas. In its maimers it closely 
 resembles the Savanna Sparrow. 
 
 According to the observations of Dr. Elliott Coues, Baird's Bunting is extremely 
 abundant in Dakota, in some places outnumbering all other birds together. He did not 
 see it immediately along the banks of the Red River, but at once encountered it beyond 
 the low^ Pembina range of mountains, thirty or forty miles west of the river, as soon as 
 he came upon the high prairie. This was the second week in July, when he saw young 
 birds just fledged, though the great majority were then breeding. The males attracted 
 attention as they sat singing on the low bushes of the prairie, the females lying con- 
 cealed in the grass, incubating or attending to the young. The song is peculiar, consist- 
 ing of two or three distinct syllables, in a mellow, tinkling tone, running into an 
 indefinite trill; it may be suggested by zip-zip-zip-zr-t-r-r. In their general appearance 
 and habits, the birds are so nearly the same as the Savanna Sparrows, that it was 
 
SAVANNA SPARROW. 83 
 
 two or three days before Dr. Coues learned to distinguish them at a certain distance. 
 They do not go in flocks, yet there is a sort of colonization among them, for we may 
 ride a mile or two over the prairie, without seeing any, and then come upon numerous 
 pairs breeding together. Dr. Coues deems it probable that a second brood is usually reared 
 each season. After performing incubation, the plumage is renewed, it having become 
 greatly worn and faded. When the young are all on the w^ing, they associate together 
 with their parents, in loose straggling troops, mixing freely with the Chestnut-collared 
 Buntings, and the Missouri Sky-larks. Their numbers sensibly diminish in September, 
 and they apparently move south during the month, as he saw none after the first of 
 October. In September, in this latitude, there is a good deal of cold weather, and not 
 unfrequently a heavy snow-fall, sending the more delicate birds away early. The birds 
 feed upon various seeds, as well as upon insects, even sizable grasshoppers, which in 
 this region seem to be eaten by almost every bird and animal. , 
 
 Although our learned naturalist made many a search whilst the birds were evi- 
 dently breeding, he never succeeded in stumbling upon a nest. Fortunately, however, 
 I am enabled to complete the history of the species with the description of the nest and 
 eggs, taken July 1, 1873, on Big Muddy Creek, North Dakota, by Dr. J. A. Allen, then 
 Naturalist of the Yellowstone Expedition. The nest 'was built, as v^ras expected, on the 
 ground, and is very similar to that of the Chestnut-collared Bunting — a slight structure 
 of grasses and weed bark, circularly disposed, about four inches across outside. It con- 
 tained five fresh eggs, most nearly resembling those of the Bay-winged Bunting, but 
 smaller and decidedly more rounded. They measure 0.80 by 0.65. The ground is dull 
 w^hite, speckled all over, but very irregularly, with light reddish-brown (pale sienna), 
 and having a few larger blotches of the same and a darker shade, owing tq heavier 
 laying on of the pigment. In a number of instances the coloration would probably not 
 be distinguishable with certainty from those of the Vesper Sparrow. 
 
 NAMES: Baird's Sparrow, Baird's Bunting. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Emberiza bairdii Aud. (1843). Cotmniculus bairdi Bonap. (1850). AMMODRA- 
 MVS BAIRDII GiEBEL (1872). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Somewhat similar in general appearance to Ammodramas sandwichensis savanna. Back, 
 ^grayish, streaked with dusky. Crown, nearly covered by black streaks, but divided by a broad 
 median band of brownish-yellow. Eyelids and a faint superciliary stripe, yellowish-white. Beneath, 
 white, with a maxillary blackish stripe and some narrow streaks on the upper part of the breast, 
 and sides of throat and body. Outer edges and tips of tail-feathers, white; the two outer feathers 
 obsoletely white. Bend of wing, white." (B. B. & R.) Length, 5.10 to 5.85 inches; wing, 2.65 to 3.05; 
 tail, 2.20 inches. 
 
 SAVANNA SPARROW. 
 
 Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna Ridgway. 
 
 Plate XXIII. Fig. 7. 
 
 ^HE Savanna Sparrow is one of those inconspicuous little birds which hide in the 
 grass or run stealthily along the fences or furrows, having nothing special in 
 their appearance or habits to attract particular attention." These words from the pen 
 of Prof. R. Ridgway well characterize this plainly colored bird of the grassy low 
 
84 SAVANNA SPARROW. 
 
 meadows, prairies, and salt marshes of the Eastern and Northern States. It breeds from 
 the Northern States northward to Labrador and the Hudson Bay territory. How far 
 it is found south during the breeding season, I am unable to say, but Prof. Ridgway 
 has found a nest near Mount Carmel, in southern Illinois. In New England it is 
 especially abundant, its favorite haunts being the salt marshes bordering the sea-shore, 
 but it may be found in large numbers in any open ground throughout the interior. 
 In northern Illinois, in Wisconsin, and Minnesota it is in some localities common, breed- 
 ing in large colonies, but in other entirely similar places it is not found at all. 
 
 The Savanna Sparrow is thoroughly terrestrial, confining itself almost entirely to 
 the ground, and rarely perching on anything even so high as a shrub or a fence. On 
 the ground it runs "swiftly with pretty steps, threading its way like a mouse through 
 the grass. Always solicitous of concealment, it takes but short wayward flights when 
 forced to rise on wing, soon dropping again into the favoring shelter of the herbage." 
 It is one of those Finches that best deserves the name of "Ground Sparrow," or "Grass 
 Finch," so indiscriminately applied to several distinct species in the vernacular of our 
 rural people. 
 
 The song of the Savanna Sparrow consists of a number of rather weak chirping 
 notes of no great value, but with other bii'd-notes they combine to make the flower- 
 adorned prairies and meadows more delightful. We rarely see the singing birds, as they 
 utter their lay on the ground or on some low growing herb. Where these Sparrows occur 
 we may hear late in May and early in June peculiar music from dozens of performers 
 on all sides. At other times only a slight chirping call-note is heard. The nest is placed 
 on the ground, or, more correctly — in the ground, as it is sunken to the brim. It is so 
 well hidden among the grass and the weeds that it is only accidentally found, while w^e 
 are roaming around on the prairies and meadows. The incubating bird does not leave 
 the nest before we almost step on it. Then it flutters and tumbles along, feigning severe 
 lameness, in the endeavor to attradl attention from the nest to herself, "and thus decoy 
 the intruder away from her treasures." In this manner most ground birds act, when 
 their nest is approached. If we look closely from where the bird started, we may 
 always find the nest. This is a very slight affair, being constructed of grasses only, the 
 brim being flush with the surface. It is in no way different from other ground nests. 
 The eggs, usually five in number, are greenish or grayish-white, spotted, blotched, and 
 speckled with brown and lavender, especially round the larger end. The markings are 
 often so numerous that they almost conceal the ground-color. 
 
 In winter these birds are found in very large flocks, in company with Leconte's, 
 Henslow's, and Baird's Buntings, Homed Larks, Vesper Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows, 
 and other similar birds in the cotton and corn-fields of Texas, Louisiana, and other 
 localities bordering the Gulf of Mexico. In the Carolinas, especially on the sea shore, they 
 are exceedingly abundant during winter. I have seen them frequently in winter on the 
 low prairies of south-eastern Texas, between Houston and Galveston. In fall they 
 usually arrived early in November and remained, at least in small numbers, until the 
 end of April. In the prairies west of Houston, near Hockley, I found them when most 
 of the other birds were breeding, and this led me to suppose that they were summer 
 I'csidents in that part of the State. Later investigation, however, has jiroved that they 
 
"^ 
 
 BELDING'S MARSH SPARROW. 85 
 
 do not breed in Texas. In northern Illinois and Wisconsin they usually arrive about 
 May 9. Full sets of eggs are found in the first week of June. As I have found fresh 
 nests by the middle of July, I am inclined to think that they make two broods 
 each season. 
 
 Like all our small birds these Sparrows are exceedingly beneficial, their food con- 
 sisting, during the breeding time, mostly of insects, and in fall and winter they eat large 
 quantities of the seeds of noxious weeds. Unfortunately these and other songbirds are 
 killed by the thousand in the South by the negroes for the kitchen, and on the French 
 Market in New Orleans large masses of these birds are offered for sale during the whole 
 winter. This shameless slaughter of our native songbirds should be stopped by 
 stringently enforced laws for their protection. 
 
 The Sandwich Sparrow, Ammodramus sandwichensis Ridgw., inhabits the north- 
 west coast from Unalashka eastward and southward, probably to northern California 
 in winter: This is the true species, while the Savanna Sparrow is only a variety. 
 
 Another variety is the Western Savanna Sparrow, Ammodramus sandwichensis 
 alaudinus RidgW., inhabiting western North America, and breeding from the Rocky 
 Mountain plateau north to the Yukon district of Alaska. It winters south to Mexico, 
 but does not occur on the Pacific coast. There it is replaced by the following species : 
 
 Bryant's Marsh Sparrow, Ammodramus sandwichensis bryanti Ridgw. Accord- 
 ing to Mr. Walter E. Bryant, the discoverer of this variety, it is a common resident in 
 the salt marshes about San Francisco Bay. Near Oakland it is especially common in 
 winter in fields and along road-sides. The bird apparently prefers dry ground near salt 
 marshes for nesting sites, although it also breeds in the marsh grass in places not sub- 
 ject to overflow during excessively high tides. The fields where it takes up its haunts 
 are usually those more or less overgrown with grass and weeds, or pasture lands where 
 herds of cattle are grazing. The nests are placed on the ground, usually in a depression. 
 
 NAMES: Savanna Sparrow, "Ground Sparrow." 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla savanna Wils. (1811). Passerculas savanna Bonap. (1838). AMMO- 
 DRAMUS SANDWICHENSIS SAVANNA Kidgw. (1885). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Feathers of the upper part generally with a central streak of blackish-brown ; the streaks 
 of the back with a slight xufous suffusion laterally ; the feathers edged with gray, which is lightest 
 on the scapulars, and forms there two gray stripes. Crown with a broad median stripe of yellowish- 
 gray. A superciliary streak from the bill to the back of the head, eyelids, and edge of the elbow, 
 yellow, paler behind. A yellowish-white mandibular stripe curving behind the ear-coverts, and mar- 
 gined above and below by brown. The lower margin is a series of thickly crowded spots on the 
 sides of the throat, which are also found on the sides of the neck, across the upper part of the breast, 
 and on the sides of body, a dusky line back of the eye, making three on the side of head (including 
 the two mandibular). A few faint spots on the throat and chin. Rest of under-parts, white. Outer 
 tail-feathers and primaries edged with white." (B. B. & R.) Length, 5.17 inches; wing, 2.73; tail, 2.07. 
 
 BELDING'S MARSH SPARROW. 
 
 Ammodramus beldingi Ridgwav. 
 This is a common bird near the coast of southern California, especially in the 
 marshes between San Diego and National City. A nest found April 4, by Mr. L. Belding, 
 was near the beach just above high tide, in a dense growth of Salicornia, Airiplex, and 
 
86 GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. 
 
 Frankeaia. It was composed of surf-worn eel-grass mostly, lined with a few feathers. 
 My friend, Mr. B. T. Gault, found this Finch in large numbers in the salt marshes near 
 National City, in the spring of 1883. A nest containing three fresh eggs was found 
 May 24; it was situated in a patch of marsh weed, apparently raised a little above 
 the ground — several feet above tide-water mark, and was completely saturated with 
 water; notwithstanding the dampness of thfe nest the eggs were warm to the touch, 
 as the female just had left the nest. The structure was composed almost exclusively of 
 w^eed stalks, w^ith a little grass and a few feathers, arranged in a careless manner. The 
 ground-color of the eggs is dirty white, of a brownish tinge, caused by minute specks 
 of brown and lavender, and the blotches of amber-brown, congregating especially on 
 the larger end, with an occasional streak of a darker brown shade. Size about .77 X .58. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: In color this bird is similar to Bryant's Sparrow, but the upper parts are more heavily 
 streaked with black on a much more uniform and more olivaceous brown ground. 
 
 The Ipswich Sparrow, Ammodramus princeps Ridgw., was discovered December 4, 
 1868, by Mr. J. C. Maynard, among the Ipswich Sand-hills, Mass. This is a rare bird, 
 breeding on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, and wintering south to Virginia and the coast 
 of Texas. The eggs are similar to those of the Savanna Sparrow, and the nest is also 
 placed on the ground. 
 
 The Long-billed Sparrow, A. rostratus Cass., inhabits the coast of southern and 
 Lower California, and Sonora. It winters south to Cape St. Lucas and Guaymas. 
 
 St. Lucas Sparrow, A. rostratus guttatas Ridgw. This variety occurs in the 
 vicinity of Cape St. Lucas. 
 
 GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, 
 
 Ammodramus savannarum passerinus Ridgway. 
 
 Plate XXIII. Fig. 6. 
 
 IJ^HE Grasshopper Sparrow, or Yellow-winged Bunting, is a common summer-bird 
 from the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, and 
 from Massachusetts and central Wisconsin to South Carolina and Arkansas, and prob- 
 ably to Florida and Texas. Although abundant where it occurs, it is one of our least 
 known birds, being frequently confounded with other similar species of like habits. It 
 is also a bird of very irregular and unequal distribution, being found in certain localities 
 in great abundance, and not at all in the intervening districts. I have met with this 
 Sparrow in many places in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri during the breeding season, 
 especially in cultivated districts. In Wisconsin it takes up its haunts in rather sandy 
 and weedy places and in grassy pastures. From its living among the grass it is usually 
 known as the "Grass-bird," "Grass Sparrow," or "Ground Sparrow," and, according to 
 Prof R. Ridgway, it is known in southern Illinois and in other rural districts as the 
 "Grasshopper-bird," or "Grasshopper Sparrow," this appelation being derived from its 
 
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. 87 
 
 grasshopper-like song, whioh is uttered from the top of a fence-stake, or a tall weed- 
 stem, or mullein-stalk. It is a very weak performance, and, although frequently uttered, 
 is not recognized by many as a bird song. 
 
 The Grasshopper Sparrow is a very sly and secretive bird, keeping most seduously 
 concealed in rank grass, rarely rising higher than the top of the tall weed-stems. If in 
 late May or during June we stroll through weedy fields, especially in sandy, sterile soil, 
 we shall often have an opportunity to startle the little plain colored bird from its 
 hiding places among the dense weeds and grass. It darts a few yards in wayward 
 flight, disappearing as suddenly from view as it came to light. In northern Illinois it 
 is a common bird in the grassy prairies, especially on higher ground and in old neglected 
 fields and pastures. 
 
 I have ofben found the nest accidentally when rambling through weedy localities, 
 pastures, and prairies. It is sunken in the ground, and is usually placed in or on the 
 side of a tuft of grass or in a cluster of plants, and is thus well concealed. It is built 
 of dry grasses, and lined with the same, and with a layer of horse hair. 
 
 The number of eggs is usually four, but sometimes five complete a set. They have 
 no resemblance to those of the Savanna Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and 
 other ground builders of this family, having a clear white ground-color, somewhat 
 polished, and are spotted more or less thickly with reddish-brown, especially at the 
 larger end. The spots and marblings vary in size and form, occasionally forming a 
 corona about the larger end. They measure about .75 by .63 of an inch. "Early in 
 June, w^hen the female is incubating, the males seem more ambitious than at other 
 times, and often mount a weed, shrub, or fence-post to make their queer music — one of 
 the sounds that an ornithologist learns to recognize without difficulty, though the 
 casual ear might not separate it from the nameless voices that show how the field 
 teems with life at this season." (Steams.) 
 
 Like all our small terrestrial Sparrows it subsists on larvae, insects, and seeds of 
 grasses and w^eeds. 
 
 The Yellow-winged Bunting is a rather late arrival, making its appearance in 
 Wisconsin usually not before May, and leaving again in September. It is not gregarious, 
 and although often seen among the flocks of other similar Sparrows in the cotton and 
 corn-fields of Texas, during winter, it avoids intercourse with its own species on a large 
 scale. I have rarely met four or five together. Dr. Heermann, Mr. Dresser, the celebrated 
 English ornithologist, the well-known naturalist Dr. Lincecum, and other ornithologists 
 of later date as well as myself have observed this bird during the summer in Texas. As 
 I have seen it also near the Gulf coast, I infer that it breeds in that State. 
 
 The Grasshopper Span-ow is mainly a bird of the AUeghanian and Carolinian 
 Fauna. I have no record of its breeding in northern Wisconsin, and it is even rare in 
 northern Massachusetts. 
 
 The variety, Western Grasshopper Sparrow, Atnmodramus savannarum per- 
 pallidus RiDGW., is found from the Great Plains to the Pacific, south over the table 
 lands of Mexico. It is paler in color, and has usually a longer tail and longer wings. 
 
 NAMES: Grasshopper Sparrow, Grasshopper-bird, Yellow-winged Bunting; "Grass Sparrow," "Ground 
 Sparrow," "Grass-bird." 
 
88 HENSLOW'S SPARROW. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla passerina Wils. (1811). Coturniculus passeriaus honap. (1838). Emberiza 
 passerina Aud. (1839). Friiigilla savannaram (Gmel.) Nutt. (1832). AMMODRAMUS SAVAN- 
 NARUM PASSBRINUS Ridgw. (1885). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Feathers of the tipper parts, brownish-rufous or chestnut-brown, margined narrowly and 
 abruptly -with ash-color; reddest on the lower part of the back and rump; the feathers, all abruptly 
 black in central portion; this color visible on the interscapular region, \?here the rufous is more 
 restricted. Crown, blackish, with a central and superciliary stripe of yellowish- tinged with brown, 
 brightest in front of the eye. Bend of wing, bright yellow; lesser coverts, tinged with greenish- 
 yellow. Quills and tail-feathers, edged with whitish; tertiaries, much variegated. Lower parts, 
 brownish-yellow or buff, nearly white on the middle of the belly, darkest on the jugulum. The feathers 
 of the upper breast and sides of the body with obsoletdy darker centers, these sometimes wanting. 
 Sides of breast against bend of wing with a few black streaks, usually concealed." (B. B. & ^.) 
 Length, 4.85 to 5.20 inches; wing, 2.43; tail, 1.87 inches. 
 
 HENSLOW'S SPARROW, 
 
 Ammodramus henslowi Gray. 
 
 WHIS interesting little Sparrow is quite common in restricted localities from southern 
 New England west to the edge of the Great Plains and north to Ontario. During 
 my ten years' residence in northern Illinois I found this species the most. abundant of 
 the genus in Cook Co. and Du Page Co., 111., where it frequented the low flower-adorned 
 grassy prairies everywhere. In its habits it agrees almost entirely with the Grasshopper 
 Sparrow^, but its song is quite different, being somewhat louder and more prolonged. 
 It consists of a number of notes sounding like sit-sit-sit-sit-ser-it. The common call- 
 note is a soft se-wick. While singing the bird is always perched on a tall weed stalk, 
 tittering incessantly its plain and feeble but emphatic strain, "the head being thrown 
 back and the tail inclining forward underneath the bird," in the manner of the Grass- 
 hopper Sparrow. 
 
 Prof. Robert Ridgway found this Sparrow a common or even abundant bird on 
 Fox Prairie, Richland Co., 111., in June 1871. "Twelve years later it was exceedingly 
 numerous on the small remaining patch of open prairie (IGO acres in extent) in the 
 same locality, and also in a similar bit of prairie of equal extent which marked the last 
 vestige of the once extensive but since populous and well-cultivated Sugar Creek Prairie, 
 several miles to the south-west. These birds lie very close, allowing themselves to be 
 almost trodden on before flying ; and notwithstanding a very large number of females had 
 evidently been startled from their nests only one nest could be found. They had prob- 
 ably run some distance through the grass before flying, thus rendering search fruitless." 
 
 In northern Illinois Henslow's Sparrow is a rather late arrival, none having been 
 observed by me before the second week of May. When they leave in fall I am unable 
 to say, but I have seen the first migrants in southern Missouri late in September, 
 which seems to indicate that they leave southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois by 
 the middle of September. 
 
 It is very difficult to find the nest. Although having searched every spring, during 
 my residence in Illinois, for the nests of these birds, I only discovered five, and these were 
 
LECONTE'S SPARROW. 89 
 
 only found accidentally. In the first week of June, 1870, I discovered two nests in the 
 low, grassy prairie near Addison, Illinois, and a few years later I found several in 
 similar situations near Oak Park, 111. All these nests were alike in structure, being 
 built of grasses and lined with finer grasses. No other material entered into the com- 
 position. All were built on, not sunken in the ground, like the nests of the Grass- 
 hopper or Savanna Sparrow, and they were always placed on the side or in the 
 center of a weed or a perrenial prairie flower, which overshadowed and concealed the 
 structure in an excellent way. They were always found on the low prairie, where 
 the grass and prairie flowers were growing most luxuriantly. The four, rarely five 
 eggs have a greenish- white ground-color and are blotched and speckled all o\rer w^ith a 
 mixture of madder-brown and sepia, the color becoming more confluent on the larger 
 end; there are also a few dashes and dots of very dark sepia, almost black, scattered 
 among the spots. They measure about .75X.58. 
 
 In 1879 Prof. R. Ridgway found these birds common in Fairfax Co., Va., about 
 five miles from Washington. Walking along the road at dusk, a few stars having 
 already made their appearance, he was surprised to hear the peculiar note which he 
 had last heard on Fox Prairie, 111., eight years previously. Soon numbers were heard 
 on every hand, the locality being a rather narrow valley between low hills, the lower 
 ground being chiefly damp meadow land. A nest was discovered in this locality the 
 following summer, by Mr. P. L. Jouy. 
 
 In winter Henslow's Sparrow is a common bird among the weeds in the cotton, 
 corn, and sugar-cane fields of southern Louisiana and south-eastern Texas as far west 
 as Lee County. 
 
 NAMES: Henslow's Sparrow, Henslow's Bunting. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Embenza henslowi Aud. (1831). Coturniculus benslowi Bonap. (1838). Fringilla 
 Jiens/owi Nutt. (1840). AMMODRAMUS HENSLOWI Gray (1849). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Upper parts, yellowish-brown, the hood, neck, and upper parts of back, tinged greenish- 
 yellow. Interscapular feathers, dark brown, suffused externally with bright brownish-red; each 
 feather with grayish borders. Tertiaries, rump, and tail-feathers, abruptly dark chestnut-brown, 
 darkest centrally, paler externally, and narrowly margined with gray. Crown, with a broad, black 
 spotted strijw on each side ; these spots continue down to the back. Two narrow black mandibular 
 stripes and one post-ocular on each side of the head, and an obscure black crescent or spot behind the 
 auriculars. Under-parts, light brownish-yellow, paler on the throat and abdomen. The jugulum, 
 upper part of the breast, and the sides of the body, conspicuously streaked with black. Edge of 
 wing, yellow. A strong tinge of pale chestnut on the wings and tail. The median tail-feathers and 
 upper coverts, chestnut or rufous-brown, with sharply defined shaft-streaks of black." (B. B. & R.) 
 Length, 5.00 inches ; wing, 2.15 ; tail, 1.97 inches. 
 
 LECONTE'S SPARROW. 
 
 Ammodramus lecontei Gray. 
 
 kURING the winters of 1880 and 1881 I found this interesting and pretty little 
 Sparrow quite common in the low cotton and corn-fields in Lee Co., Texas. 
 On the evening of October 25, 1881, several, attracted by the light, came through the 
 open windows into my room, and I kept them almost a year in the cage, when I liberated 
 
 12 
 
them again. During the first few weeks of their cage life they were exceedingly wild, but 
 at last became quite reconciled and tame. They arrived in large numbers by the middle 
 of November, after a very cold and rainy "norther." I also observed the bird several 
 times in northern Illinois, especially on a low, moist prairie near Calumet Lake, on the 
 same spot where Pullman is now situated. Mr. Charles K. Worthen found the bird 
 near Warsaw, 111., on the low, swampy prairies in the Mississippi bottom lands and 
 also on dry bluffs. Several observers have met with the bird in South Carolina, 
 Alabama, and even in Florida. It is probably common in winter in Louisiana, south- 
 eastern Texas, and many other localities, but on account of its mouse-like habits in the 
 dense grass it is rarely observed. 
 
 Dr. Elliott Coues found Leconte's Sparrow on the border of North Dakota, while 
 he w^as surgeon and naturalist of the Northern Boundary Survey in 1873. This was 
 Aug. 9, near Turtle Mountain, and a year later he met with the bird on the head-w^aters 
 of Mouse River about the margins of reedy pools, in situations exactly corresponding 
 to those the Ammodrami inhabit along the coast. They had chosen their haunts in the 
 deep green sea of waving grass that rolled over an extensive moist depression of the 
 prairie. "In their mode of flight, the birds resembled Wrens; a simile which suggested 
 itself to me, at the time, was that of a bee returning home laden with pollen ; they flew 
 straight and steady enough, but rather feebly, as if heavily freighted for their short 
 -wings. The only note I heard, was a chirring, like the noise of a grasshopper. Although 
 I found no nest, the circumstances of observation leave no doubt that the birds bred 
 there. They were in company with a number of Short-billed Marsh Wrens ; their neigh- 
 bors of the drier prairie around were Chestnut-collared Buntings, Baird's Buntings, and 
 Sprague's Larks, all very numerous." 
 
 Leconte's Sparrow breeds from North Dakota northward, and seems to be 
 especially abundant in Manitoba, where it was found breeding by Mr. Ernest E. 
 Thompson. This naturalist gives the following account: 
 
 "As little seems to be known of this bird I may describe some of its habits. It 
 fre<5tuents the damp meadows which are a mixture of red willows and sedgy grass. It 
 is commonly found in the willows at all seasons, uttering its peculiar ventriloqual 
 tweete, tweete, whence I knew it as the 'Willow-tweete,' long before I ever heard of 
 Leconte or of any name for this bird. But in spring the male may be seen perched on 
 some low twig in the meadow, pouring out his little soul in a tiny, husky double note, 
 like reese, reese. This is so thin and weak as to be inaudible at thirty yards, yet in 
 uttering it he seems to labor hard, his beak being wide open and pointed straight to 
 the zenith. On the 26th of June, 1882, I found the nest and eggs which I believe were 
 previously unknown. The nest was by a willow bush in the damp meadow; it was 
 apparently on the ground, but really raised six inches, being on the tangle of grass etc. 
 The eggs, three in number, were of a delicate pink, with a few spots of brownish and 
 of black towards the larger end. One measured .75X.50." 
 
 NAMES: Leconte's Sparrow, Leconte's Grasshopper Sparrow, "Willow-tweete." 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Bmberiza lecontei \ad. {I8i3). Coturn/cu/us /econte/ Bonap. (1850). AMMODRA- 
 MVS LECONTEI Gray (1849). 
 
SHARP-TAILED SPARROW. 91 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. "Upper parts, light yellowish-red, streaked with brownish-black; the margins 
 of the feathers and scapulars, pale yellowish-white. Tail-feathers, dusky, margined with light 
 yellowish. Lower parts, with the cheeks and a broad band over the eyes, fine buff. Medial line, 
 yellowish anteriorly, nearly white behind. The buff extending to the femorals and along the sides, 
 streaked with brownish-black. Throat, neck, and upper parts of the breast, without any streaks, 
 and plain buff." (B. B. & R.) 
 
 Length, 4.85 inches; wing, 1.96; tail, 2.01 inches. 
 
 SHARP-TAILED SPARROW, 
 
 Ammodramus caadacutas Swainson. 
 
 I^HE salt marshes which border the coast of Massachusetts are usually compara- 
 tively solid or at least firm enough to bear the weight of a man, but some spots 
 are very peculiar, being composed of soft mud overlaid -with sod. Thus these sloughs, 
 as they are termed, are very deceptive, as the surface which looks solid to the eye, 
 proves very yielding to the feet, and the unwary pedestrian finds himself submerged to 
 the armpits in soft, slimy ooze, the odor of which is only exceeded by its pertinacity in 
 adhering to the clothing. These singular places are doubtless the remains of lagoons or 
 small bays, that have been surrounded by the slowly forming marshes which have 
 gradually encroached upon the space occupied by the w^ater. Indeed, this transforma- 
 tion of w^ater into earth may be plainly seen in progress, for some portions are not 
 even covered with vegetation, others merely support the sod; while small peninsulas 
 have made out which are firm enough to walk upon. These are covered with a species 
 of short, wiry grass that grows very thickly, and, as it is never cut, the dead growth 
 of previous seasons accumulates, forming a mat. The insecurity of the footing prevents 
 cattle or other mammals from wandering on such places, thus the localities are com- 
 paratively lonely and just suited for the home of some retiring species of bird. The 
 Sharp-tailed Finches are aware of this fact, for here they find excellent breeding 
 grounds, as they are almost entirely free from invasion. The thick matting of dead grass 
 is admirably adapted to nest building, and their neat domiciles are almost always 
 placed in it, while the overhanging grass serves to hide them. I know of but few birds 
 which take so much pains to conceal their eggs as the Sharp-tailed Finches. They will 
 frequently form a path for nearly a yard under the grass, by which they enter the nest 
 that is placed in a thicket at the end. The female, w^hen sitting, is extremely difficult 
 to start, and then I have nearly placed my foot on her before she would fly. As will 
 readily be perceived by the foregoing description, the nests are not easy to discover, 
 and it is only by carefiiUy examining every foot of the ground that I ever found one. 
 They breed in communities in the localities which I have described, and I have found as 
 many as eight nests in a space not larger than a half acre." (Maynard.) 
 
 The Sharp-tailed Sparrow is practically confined to the salt and brackish marshes 
 of the coast from Prince Edward's Island and Nova Scotia south to North Carolina, 
 
wintering from South Carolina southward to Florida and probably to Texas. Although 
 exceedingly abundant w^here it occurs, it is of all the common eastern birds one of the 
 least known to the general public, not only because its distribution is very local, but 
 especially because its habits screen the bird from casual observation. These birds take 
 but short and feeble flights when flushed. Usually they keep in the shelter of the reeds 
 and the rank salt herbage. Neither this nor the nearly allied Sea-side Sparrow is so 
 rare in New England as some suppose; "and as each one, like the Marsh Wren, colo- 
 nizes certain spots without settling others to all appearance equally eligible, the actual 
 numbers of the birds can scarcely be surmised." (Stearns.) 
 
 This bird arrives in New England about the beginning of April and remains' until 
 some time in October. Early in June the first set of eggs is laid, and a second brood, 
 perhaps, is reared in July. The nest is placed in a tuft of marsh grass, "just out of the 
 way of the water — some instinct teaching the birds enough about tides to answer their 
 purpose." The nest is built of soft slender grasses, arranged in a circular form. It is 
 large for the bird, spacious and deep, and is softly lined with finer grasses. The eggs 
 measure about .75X.55, and are grayish-white, thickly and pretty evenly speckled 
 with brown. They cannot with certainty be distinguished from some eggs of the 
 Savanna Sparrow, nor readily from those of the nearly allied Sea-side Finch. 
 
 The food consists mainly of seeds, and in spring and summer also of insects of 
 various kinds. 
 
 In the interior of the country, especially in the fresh-water marshes of the Missis- 
 sippi valley, we find Nelson's Sparrow or Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Ammo- 
 dramus caudacutus nelsoni Allen, rather common. In northern Illinois, and near Lake 
 Koshkonong and in the Horicon Marshes in Wisconsin, this is an abundant summer 
 resident. This was the bird I met on the coast of Texas, in winter 1879 and 1880, and 
 which was mentioned as A. caudacutus in the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological 
 Club (Vol. VIII, 1882, p. 12) in my article on the "Birds of South-eastern Texas." 
 
 NAMES: Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Sharp-tailed Finch, Sharp-tailed Bunting, Shore Finch. — Uferfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Oriolus caudacutus Gemel. (1788). Fringilla caudacuta Wils. (1811). Passem/a 
 caudacuta VkHI AMMODRAMUS CAUDACUTUS &vrAms. (X837). Fringilla littoraUs Hutt. (1832). 
 
 DKSCRIPTION: "Upper parts, brownish-olivaceous. Head, brownish, streaked with black on the sides, and 
 a broad central stripe of ashy. Back, blotched with darker; edges of interscapular feathers and inner 
 secondaries, whitish, just exterior to a blackish sufiusion. A broad superciliary and maxillary stripe, 
 meeting behind the ashy ear-coverts, and a band across the upper breast, buff-yellow. The sides of 
 the throat with a brown stripe; the upper part of the breast and the sides of the body, streaked 
 with black; rest of under-parts, whitish. Female, similar." (B. B. & R.) 
 Length, 4.33 inches; wing, 2.27; tail, 2.06 inches. 
 
 Colors of upiier parts in A. caudacutus nelsoni "usually very sharply contrasted, especially the 
 chalky-white streaks of back, as compared with the rich umber-brown ground-color." 
 
SEA-SIDE SPARROW. 
 
 Ammodramus .maritiwus Swainson. 
 
 ^HIS Sparrow inhabits similar localities as the preceding species, but its distribu- 
 tion is more southward, breeding, as it does, from Massachusetts south to Texas 
 on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It seems to be particularly common on the coast of 
 South Carolina and Georgia, which consists of various islands. These are, according to 
 Maynard, separated by deep sounds which form the mouths of the numerous rivers that 
 flow through this section of the country. The islands are not much elevated, but are 
 above high water mark, while the land back of them is very low, being, in fact, over- 
 flowed by the tide. These salt marshes are quite wide, extending for some hundreds of 
 miles along the shore, and are intersected by numerous creeks, some of which are very 
 deep. Here the Sea-side Sparrows, or, as they are sometimes termed, the Gray Shore 
 Finches, find a home in the tall grass which gi-ows very densely, forming a complete 
 protection to them. Thus they are perfectly safe, having few if any enemies ; therefore 
 they have increased to a surprising degree; in short, they fairly swarm in countless 
 numbers. Mr. Maynard says, "that every square acre held its thousands, and every 
 mile its hundreds of thousands of these little gray birds." At first he was not aware 
 that there were so many, for he entered the marshes during a low course of tides, but 
 when the water rose so high as to cover all but isolated patches of tall grass, forcing 
 the birds to congregate in them in large flocks, he saw how numerous they really were. 
 Usually they live concealed, but at such times they retreat before the advancing flood, 
 until they are obliged to perch on the tops of the swaying grass, where they crouch 
 patiently awaiting the subsiding of the waters, when they seek their fastnesses and run 
 about on the mud in search of small shells and aquatic insects which form, in addition 
 to various seeds, their food. Maynard found the bird also breeding at Cedar Keys, 
 Fla., as early as February: 
 
 "The males would give their performance morning and evening, and throughout 
 the day if the weather were stormy. The song consisted of four notes, the first two 
 were given abruptly with a distinct articulation, while the last were more connected ; 
 the former being low and quick, the latter prolonged and accented, and both together 
 much resembled the carol of the Red- winged Blackbird; in fact I thought the sound 
 was produced by this bird, as the Finches were almost always concealed at the time. 
 While giving this singular song the bird becomes greatly excited, ruffling his feathers, 
 spreading his tail, and drooping his wings, while the head is bowed forward when the 
 last syllable is uttered, as if it cost him a very great effort. This somewhat rude lay 
 is evidently quite attractive to the female, for she is always near the spot, and the 
 male often pauses in order to pursue her through the grass. Besides the notes I have 
 described, the Gray Shore Finch utters a low twittering song while hovering in the air 
 a few feet above the grass. It is a singular fact that these birds were about to lay so 
 early in the season at Cedar Keys, for they do not nest in the Carolinas until the first 
 of June which is but a little earlier than the breeding time in Connecticut. The nest is 
 
94 
 
 VESPER SPARROW. 
 
 placed either on the ground, or fastened to grass stalks or stems of low bushes. They 
 arrive on the marshes of the more northern sections during the last part of April, and 
 leave before the ground freezes, but they are constantly resident at least aS far north 
 as North Carolina." 
 
 The nest is found on the ground in a clump of salt grass, and is strongly but coarsely 
 woven of dry sedges and stems of grasses, and is lined with similar but finer material. 
 The eggs, mostly five in number, have a grayish-white ground, and are spotted and 
 blotched with reddish-brown, and these marks are distributed over the entire egg. It 
 is said that they are not with certainty distinguishable firom those of the Sharp-tailed 
 Sparrow, but the sets in the "Goss Collection of North American Birds' Eggs" in the 
 PubUc Museum of Milwaukee show a great difference, those of the Sea-side Sparrow 
 being larger and having a white ground and not so densely spotted. This difference w^as 
 pointed out to me many years ago by Hon. John N. Clarke, of Saybrook, Conil. 
 
 The variety Scott's^ Sea-side Finch, A. maritimus peainsulse Allen, was discovered 
 by Mr. W. E. D. Scott on the Gulf coast of south Florida. 
 
 The Sea-side Finch on the Gulf coast of Texas is now known as the Texas Sea-side 
 
 Finch, A. maritimus sennettii Allen. 
 
 NAMES: Sea-side Sparrow, Sea-side Finch, Sea-side Bunting, Gray Shore Pinch. — Meerfink (GermanJ. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Friagilla maritiwa Wils. (1811). AMMODRAMVS MARITIMUS Swains. (1827). 
 Fringilla mcgillivrayi Aud. (1834). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Edge of wing and supraloral streak, yellow; no distinct superciliary stripe; malar stripe, 
 whitish. Above, nearly plain olivaceous, tinged with ashy, the wings and tail more brownish; 
 beneath, grayish-white, the chest streaked with dull grayish. 
 
 "Length, 5.58 inches; wing, 2.48; tail, 2.18 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 The Dusky Sea-side Finch, y . nigresceas Ridgw., inhabits the marshes of the 
 Indian River, Fla., where it was discovered by Mr. J. C. Maynard in March 1872. 
 
 vespeF^ sparrow, 
 
 Pooceetes gramineus Baird. 
 
 Plate XXIII, Fig. 5. 
 
 Yet these sweet sounds of the early season 
 And these fair lights of its early days, 
 
 Are only sweet when wc fondly listen. 
 And only fair when we fondly gaze. 
 
 There is no glory in star or blossom. 
 Till looked upon by a loving eye ; 
 
 There is no fragrance in April breezes, 
 
 Till breathed with joy as they wander by. 
 
 William Cullbn BRYANf. 
 
 I^HOUGH the first harbingers of spring, the Bluebirds, Robins, and Song Sparrows, 
 have made their appearance in the gardens of the northern parts of our country, 
 April is still a cold and unpleasant month, a month of hopes and surprises, and, in 
 many cases, of disappointments. Stormy, rainy and cold days change with bright, 
 
XXIII. 
 
 2.3. 
 
 .J UNC Q HYEMAL i S S c b. l . 
 SPIZELLA SOCIALIS Bon;ip. 
 SPIZELLA PUSILLA Bou;.p. 
 AMPHLSPIZA BILINEATA Couos. 
 POOCyEfES GRAMINEUS B;nrd. 
 
 1. 
 2. 
 .3. 
 4. 
 5. 
 6. AMMODRAMUS SAVANNARUM PASSE RINUS RidcSw.. 
 
 WINTERFINK 
 
 HAARFINK 
 
 WALDFINK 
 
 SCHWARZKEHLIGER AMMERFINK 
 
 ABENDFINK 
 
 GRASHUPFERFINK 
 
 7. AMMODRAMUS SANDWICHENSIS SAVANNA RidoM-. _ SAVA N N E N F 1 N K 
 
 _ d un CO . 
 
 - Chipping Sparrow. 
 
 _ Field Sparrow. 
 
 _ Black-throated Sparrow. 
 
 _ Vesper Sparrow. 
 
 _ GrasshopperSparrow. 
 
 _ Savanna Sparrow. 
 
VESPER SPARROW. 95 
 
 sunny, and warm ones. During fair weather the lovely Bluebirds are peering into the 
 nesting boxes provided for them, warbling cheerfully their familiar strain. The next 
 day, however, it may happen, that the air is cold and snow covers the ground, while 
 they soar around in wayward flight, uttering rather sad and sorrowful notes. The 
 Robins do not feel the inclemency of the weather so much. Their jubilant songs 
 are heard from the tall elms and maples. The Song Sparrow pours forth its sweet 
 notes in every hedge and thicket. The exhilerating sensation of the first warm April 
 day fills the soul of the friend of nature with joy and hope. Not long after the advent 
 of the feathered messengers of spring the first woodland flowers open their delicate 
 petals. Among, aind sometimes under the old leaves and pine needles the modest and 
 yet so beautifial and fragrant trailing arbutus bursts into bloom, and in certain localities 
 the snowy trillium* is the first flower we find. In some places, especially on dry hills 
 and prairies, the showy pasque-flower" grows in great profusion. But it is not until 
 late in April, that we may look for variety and wealth of the spring flora. While 
 rambling through the woods in Sheboygan Co., Wisconsin, on April 24, 1894, I found 
 in the sunny woodland border some places yellow with the bright lily-like blossoms of 
 the dog's-tooth violet', while near by, in a somewhat moister place, the ground was 
 covered with the spring beauty^, its white or rosy flowers pencilled with red, being very- 
 conspicuous. Everywhere the hepatica® was present, and its dainty blue blossoms were 
 more suggestive of spring than any other flower. The blood-root ' grew in great pro- 
 fusion in the rich soil, unfolding its large rolled-up leaves and its snowy white blooms. 
 All these low flowers on a background of beautiful leaves are the gems of the wood- 
 land in a marvelous setting. Here and there I found bunches of twin-leaf, a peculiar 
 as w^ell as beautiful plant, though the white flower, like that of the blood-root, is verx- 
 ephemeral. The large white trillium or wake-robin' was fast pushing up its three leaves 
 with the flower bud in the center. When w^alking hyme in the dusk of evening I passed 
 large moist meadows yellow with marsh-marigolds®, and in peaty and springy places 
 the gigantic leaves of the skunk-cabbage'" were growing vigorously. Once started, the 
 wild spring flowers succeed one another in astounding rapidity, and many of them are 
 worthy of a conspicuous place in the garden. Pew realize the poetry, charm, and 
 richness of our native flora. Comparatively few are familiar with its infinite grace and 
 beauty in its chosen haunts, and the same holds true of our beautiful native birds. 
 While walking through the lane I frequently saw a gray bird dusting itself and 
 running ahead, occasionally stopping, as if to rest, and then alighting on a fence post or 
 a board. While flying, the tail was spread, and several white tail-feathers became visible. 
 The w^hole or partial w^hiteness of the outer tail-feathers, always noticeable as the bird 
 flies, renders this exceedingly common bird easily recognizable. Although one of our 
 most abundant songsters, it is frequently confounded w^ith other Sparrows, notably the 
 Song Sparrow, but, if this characteristic is kept in mind, it can always readily be 
 distinguished. At this time of the day, soon before night-fall, the exquisite song is 
 heard on all sides until darkness. The country people call this harbinger of spring the 
 
 » Trillium nivale. ' Anemone patens var. Nuttaliana. s Brytbronium americaaum. * Claytonia virginica. 
 s Hepatica triloba. * Sanguinaria canadensis, i Jeffersonia diphylla. « Trillium grandiSorum. a Caltba palastris. 
 • * Symplocarpus faetidus. 
 
96 VESPER SPARROW. 
 
 Grass-bird, or Grass Sparrow, and to others it is known as the Vesper-bird or Vesper 
 Sparrow, Bay-winged Bunting and Evening Sparrow. 
 
 The Vesper Sparrow is one of our most valuable and important birds, breeding 
 from the Atlantic to the edge of the Great Plains, and. from Virginia, Kentucky, and 
 Missouri northward to Manitoba and Nova Scotia. In late fall or early winter it is found 
 in large numbers in the sugar plantations, and in the weedy corn and cotton fields of the 
 Southern States, w^here it subsists on the seeds of weeds and insects. From the Great 
 Plains to the Pacific a paler form, the Western Vesper Sparrow, P. gramineus con£nis 
 Baird, represents the typical species. In Wisconsin the Grass Finch is one of the most 
 plentifiil birds, surpassing in this respect even the Song and Chipping Spatrow, and 
 the same seems to hold true in New England and all the Eastern States. In the northern 
 part of the country it arrives between April 1 to April 15, usually when the w^eather is 
 a horrid mixture of sunshine, rain, snow, and w^arm breezes. 
 
 The favorite haunts of the Vesper Sparrow^ are upland fields, pastures, timothy 
 and clover fields. In northern Illinois it frequents the high rolUng prairies, though 
 in that State it is not so conspicuous a bird as in Wisconsin, where it imparts to 
 the landscape, especially in the late afternoon, by its abundance and its exquisite song 
 an indescribable charm. The nest is invariably placed on the ground, generally "Ifi a 
 pasture, or in a timothy or clover field. It is always sunk into the ground to the level 
 of the surface, and is so artfully concealed among the grass that it is only found by 
 accident. The breeding female does not desert the nest until almost trodden upon, when 
 she will flutter off feigning lameness, so much so, that, when a boy, I supposed that I 
 had really stepped upon and severely injured her. By such adroitness she endeavors to 
 attract the attention from her home to herself, to save her, broods. - . 
 
 "The female," writes Mr. John Burroughs, "builds a plain nest in the open field, 
 without so much as a bush or thistle or tuft of grass to protect it or to mark its site ; 
 you may step upon it or the cattle may tread it into the ground. But the danger from 
 this source, I presume, the bird considers less than that from another. Skunks and 
 foxes have a very impertinent curiosity, as Finchie well knows, — and a bank or hedge, 
 or a rank growth of thistles, that might promise protection and cover to mouse or 
 bird, these cunning rogues would be apt to explore more thoroughly." The structure 
 is built of coarse grasses and lined with the same, only finer, material. The eggs, usually 
 four, sometimes five in number, are pale greenish-white, more or less clouded and blotched 
 with chocolate-brown and with dots and scratchings of various shades of reddish and 
 rusty-brown. The average size is . SOX. 60. They are very similar to the eggs of the 
 Savanna Sparrow. Full sets may be found in Wisconsin and other northern parts of 
 the country by the middle and sometimes even early in May and early in June, and a 
 second brood is raised in July or later, and a third may even be reared in August. 
 
 This plain-colored bird is not only one of our most exquisite choristers, but it is 
 also a very diligent songster, singing as it does from early morning to the fall of 
 twilight in the evening, but we may enjoy its liquid lay even during the months of July 
 and August, when most other birds are silent. It sings, 'however, most fervently in 
 the evening and in cloudy weather, and we have often an opportunity to hear more than 
 a dozen birds sing at the same time around xjs. Most sweetly sounds this strain during 
 
VESPER SPAHROW. Q'r 
 
 the brilliant sunsets of the summer evenings. Can you imagine, dear reader, the song 
 of this bird at such a time? If you pass over the upland fields and pastures at the 
 close of day, when the sun suddenly breaks through the cloud-banks on the horizon, 
 filling the whole landscape around you with a brilliant hue of crimson and golden light, 
 you will notice every Vesper Sparrow in the field mounting a post, a fence rail, or a 
 dry plant stalk, singing his • sweetest notes. From dozens of birds on all sides the 
 enchanting lay is heard, and this "music in the air" heightens the poetry of rural life 
 more than any other bird song in these localities at this time. 
 
 No other observer has described the song of the Vesper Sparrow so correctly, and 
 at the same time so poetically and in such classic language as Mr. John Burroughs, 
 one of our most enthusiastic and charming writers upon birds — in his excellent little 
 volume, entitled "Wake-Robin": 
 
 "Have you heard the song of the Field Sparrow?" he asks. "If you have lived in 
 a pastoral country with broad upland pastures, you could hardly have missed him. 
 Wilson, I believe, calls him the Grass-finch, and was evidently unacquainted with his 
 powers of song. The two white lateral quills in his tail, and his habit of running and 
 skulking a few yards in advance of you as you walk through the fields, are sufficient to 
 identify him. Not in meadows or orchards, but in high, breezy pasture grounds, will 
 you look for him. His song is most noticeable after sun-down, when other birds are 
 silent, for which reason he has been aptly called the Vesper Sparrow. The farmer 
 following his team from the field at dusk catches his sweetest strain. His song is not 
 so brisk and varied as that of the Song Sparrow, being softer and wilder, sweeter and 
 more plaintive. Add the best parts of the lay of the latter to the sweet vibrating chant 
 of the Wood Sparrow, and you have the evening hymn of the Vesper-bird, — the poet of 
 the plain, unadorned pastures. Go to those brpad, smooth uplying fields where the 
 cattle and sheep are grazing, and sit down in the twilight on one of those warm, clean 
 stones, and listen to this song. On every side, near and remote, from out the short 
 grass which the herds are cropping, the strain rises. Two or three long, silver notes of 
 peace and rest, ending in some subdued trills and quavers, constitute each separate 
 songs Often you will catch only one or two of the bars, the breeze has blown the 
 minor part away. Such unambitious, quiet, unconscious melody ! It is one of the most 
 characteristic sounds in Nature. The grass, the stones, the stubble, the furrow, the 
 quiet herds, and the warm twilight among the hills, are all subtilely expressed in this 
 song; this is what they are at last capable of" 
 
 The Vesper Sparrow is not a gregarious bird, though many pairs may live in close 
 
 proximity of each other. Where we find one pair, others are sure of being found near 
 
 by. But they never associate during the breeding season, and even in fall arid winter 
 
 they are not seen in such large flocks, as, for instance, the Juncos, the Field Sparrows, 
 
 and the White-throated Sparrows. I observed them early in November (1891) in large 
 
 scattered flocks among the weeds of Poidra's sugar plantation, about twelve miles 
 
 south of New Orleans, but in south-eastern Texas I met with them during fall and 
 
 spring on i-are occasions only, which leads me to believe that they do not make this 
 
 region their winter quarters. Further west, in Lee, Bastrop, and Fayette Counties, 
 
 Texas, they were exceedingly common in the cotton and corn fields during November 
 
 13 
 
98 LARK SPARROW. 
 
 and December, the paler form outnumbering the typical species by far. They were 
 mostly found in company with Yellow-winged, Savanna, Henslow's, and Leconte's 
 Sparrows. They usually arrived early in November, when the first cold "norther" swept 
 over the State. As in their summer home they never visit thickets a,nd bushes, the dense 
 grasses and weeds of the open fields affording them food and shelter. They i-arely alight 
 on bushes, although they frequently mount posts, telegraph wires, fences, and some- 
 times the lower naked limbs of large trees. They do not remain in Texas during the 
 whole winter, the majority moving farther to the south, probably into Mexico, from 
 whence they arrived again in Lee Co., Texas, about March 1, remaining about two 
 weeks. At Preistatt, Mo., the first appeared about March 15; all had left in the 
 course of about ten days. None remaining there to breed as far as I know. In fall 
 they usually returned in early November and tarried often until December, 
 
 The food of this bird consists of insects and small seeds of grasses and weeds. It 
 is very fond of searching on freshly ploughed fields, keeping almost always on the 
 ground. Though an unsuspicious and fearless bird, it neither seeks nor avoids the 
 companionship of man. It is the most common bird in the country roads of the North, 
 where it searches for food and dusts itself. In the South I have rarely seen it on roads 
 or in the vicinity of houses. 
 
 NAMES: Vesper Sparrow, Grass Finch, Grass Sparrow, Bay-winged Bunting. — Abendfink, Grasfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: FringWa, graminea Gmel. (1788). Emberiza graminea Wils. (1811). Zonotrichia 
 graminea Bonap. (1838). POOCMTBS GRAMINBUS Baird (1858). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes alike. "Tail-feathers, rather acute. Above, light-yellowish-brown; the feathers every- 
 where streaked abruptly with dark brown, even on the sides of the neck, which ai'e paler. Beneath, 
 yellowish (sometimes reddish) -white; on the jugulura and sides of neck and body streaked with brown. 
 A faint light superciliary and maxillary stripe ; the latter margined above and below with dark brown : 
 the upper stripe continued around the ear-coverts, which are darker than the brown color elsewhere. 
 Wings with tlie shoulder light chestnut-brown, and with two dull whitish bands along the ends of the 
 coverts; the outer edge of the secondaries also is white. Exposed portion of outer tail-feather, and 
 edge and tip of the second, white. 
 
 "I^ength, about 6.25 inches; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.50 inches." (B. B. & R. I. p. 545.) 
 
 LARK SPARROW, 
 
 Chondestes grammacus Bonaparte. 
 
 Plate XXIV. Fig. 1. 
 
 Beautiful is the land, -svitli its prairies and forests, and fruit trees: 
 Under the feet a garden of flowers, and the bluest of heavens 
 Bending above, and resting its dome on the walls of the forest. 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 pp our opportunities to ramble around in the post-oak woods of Texas are confined to 
 IL the hot and dry summer time, when the ground is deeply cracked and the flowers 
 withered, we are unable to comprehend the nature and extent of the great beauty and 
 charm of these woodlands in spring, when the feathered minstrels sing their jubilee notes. 
 
and the ground of forest and prairie is aglow with bright-colored wild flowers. Although 
 impressing the mind at first as quiet and unattractive, these post-oak woods are, during 
 a great part of the year, full of life, and abound in an astonishing wealth of flowers. 
 This I found especially true of the region between Brenham and Austin. These woods 
 consist almost entirely of post-oaks, though hickories and black jack oaks are frequently 
 interspersed. In the bottom lands of the creeks and "branches" water oaks, pecan trees, 
 mulberry and hackberry trees, and elms, mostly draped with long pendent festoons of 
 Spanish moss, take the place of the post-oaks. Small live-oak and mesquit prairies, 
 alternating with the woodlands, are another feature of the landscape. The farms are 
 scattered promiscuously in the woods and on the prairies where the soil proves 
 especially fertile. 
 
 The first spring blossoms appear in February. In March the ground is covered 
 with gorgeous masses of lovely flowers. The sweet-scented Carolina anemone', varying 
 in color from white to purplish-red, is the first spring flower we meet, although in sunny 
 and protected places the striped allium^ begins to flower sometimes in January. One of 
 the most dazzling and familiar plants of the post-oak woods is the dwarf coral plant or 
 Cherokee bean'. Its red pea-like flowers are scattered along the leafless stems in great 
 profusion. Later on the ground glows with masses of phlox ^ in different shades of color, 
 from rosy- white to a deep scarlet, the fiery red prevailing. The fragrant nemastylis^, the 
 interesting blue-eyed grass °, the star-grass ' are common everywhere in early spring. The 
 pretty sky-blue larkspur' is a vei'y common plant, while patches of the standing cj'press^, 
 stately in growth and with large spikes of dazzling orange-scarlet flowers, are seen 
 from a great distance. Coreopsis or tickseed", gaillardias", the deep blue lupine'^, and 
 many others add color and variety to the white carpet of wooly gnaphalium, which 
 covers the ground everywhere in the openings. The soft stems of this plant are most 
 extensively used by many birds in nest building. In sandy places the eye beholds large 
 patches of tuberous rooted commelyna", the blue flowers of w^hich exhale the fragrance 
 of the heliotrope. After a heavy shower the star-like blossoms of the yellow zephyr 
 flower" and the snowy- white blossoms of the cooperias'^ appear like magic out of the 
 ground. Characteristic among the flora of these localities are the beautiful pentstemons, 
 especially the thimble-flower'" with its large bell-shaped pale blue, purplish striped 
 blossoms, and the imposing Pentstemon Murrayanus, attaining a height of from 
 four to six feet with magnificent spikes of large scarlet blooms. On dry gravelly soil 
 in the woods we frequently find patches of the exceedingly beautiful comb cactus", the 
 rosy-purple flowers of which are very striking. The bread cactus " is met most abundantly 
 in openings, while the devil's pin-cushion" prefers the dry heavy soil in the open woods. 
 
 The prairies, here and there dotted with patches of live-oak and mesquit trees, 
 abound in a flora of their own. Among the spring flowers the evening primroses-", the 
 sensitive plants", and a host of other flowers^^ convert these localities into veritable 
 
 1 Anemone Caroliniana. 2 Allium striatum. 3 Erytbrina herbacea. •» Phlox Drummondii. s Nemastylis ccelestis. 
 6 Sisyrincbium bellum and S. mucronatum. '' Hypoxia stellaris. « Delphinium azureum. » Gilia coronopifolia. 
 10 Coreopsis Drummondii and C. bicolor. ii Gaillardia picta. 12 Lupinus texensis. la Commelyna ccelestis. n Zephyr- 
 anthes texensis. 15 Cooperia Drummondii and C. pedunculata. le Pentstemon Cobasa. n Echinocereus cxspitosus. 
 18 Mamillaria applanata. is Ecbinocactus texensis. ao CEnothera Drummondii. 21 Schrankia angusta and S. uncinata. 
 22 Gaura L,indheimeri, Scutellaria Drummondii, Callirhoe triangulata, Lindheimeria texana, Lysimachia ciliata, Castilleja 
 indivisa, Hymenopappus asterici folios, Heliantbus, etc. 
 
flower gardens. Near the creeks the beautiful blue foam flowers' and gorgeous cardinal 
 flowers '' grow in great luxuriance. Dense bushes of malvaviscus ' are showing their 
 scarlet flowers and still darker red berries at the same time. Many of these flowers 
 have been transferred to the garden and are highly prized in cultivation. Those mentioned 
 are only a small portion of the rich and interesting flora of the post-oak v^roods of Texas. 
 
 During April these woods resound by a thousand-voiced bird concert. Not only 
 the resident species and the summer sojourners, but also the migrants in their bright 
 wedding dresses sing from trees and bushes their notes of joy and happiness. In 
 this part of Texas many of the farm-houses are built of logs or rough boards, 
 having a primitive and uninviting appearance. With the exception of a > number 
 of peach trees only a few mulberry and China trees are planted for shade. Being 
 familiar with the beautiful trees, shrubs, and climbers found in the neighboring wood- 
 lands, we are disagreeably affected by the dreariness and the desolation around the 
 farm-houses. In this blessed climate, where one of the most beautiful trees in existence, 
 the grand evergreen magnolia, grows to perfection; where gardenias (Cape jasmines), 
 pittosporums, pomegranates, myrtles, tea and Noisette roses, amaryllis (of the genera 
 Amaryllis, Lycoris, Nerine, Hippeastrum, Habranthus, Cooperia, Zephyranthes, and 
 Narzissus), majestic clumps of crinums and many other semi-tropical bulbs and 
 plants appear in unparalleled magnificence, man has the material on hand to create 
 exquisite surroundings, if he only had the taste and love for the beautiful. The famous 
 Mockingbird, in spite ot the scarcity of trees and shrubs, sings its indescribably beautiful 
 and melodious song day and night, and Bewick's Wren is also present everywhere near 
 and in the habitations of man. Where a variety of deciduous and evergreen shrubs, 
 trees, and vines are found, we may be sure to observe the brilliant Painted Bunting, the 
 Blue Grosbeak, the bright-colored, proud Cardinal, the Bluebird, Martin, Kingbird, 
 Orchard Oriole, and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. 
 
 In early spring of 1881 I made the post-oak woods near the West Yegua Creek, 
 Lee Co., Texas, my home for several years. My little cabin was surrounded by many 
 old and crooked oaks. There was little undergrowth, except on the edges of the woods 
 and on the creeks and "branches"; the eye could penetrate far in every direction. 
 In the trees the noisy Tufted Titmouse, pursuing insects from branch to branch, called 
 incessantly .with loud and echoing voice peto-peto-peto, and frequently the whistling 
 note of the Great-crested Flycatcher and the sweet, melancholy call of the Wood Pewee 
 fell on my ear. The shrill cry of the ever present Blue Jay echoed sharply among the 
 trees. There were other sounds. The rolling tapping of the many Pileated Woodpeckers, 
 and of the numerous Red-headed and Carolina Woodpeckers. From the clearings and 
 the prairie outside, pleasantly softened by distance, the songs of the Mockingbirds and 
 Cardinals were heard. But we notice another beautiful and strange song, one of the 
 most characteristic of the woodland choir, its silvery notes being easily recognized 
 among the intermingling of the other voices. 
 
 This sprightly songster proves to be the Lark Sparrow, a bird being most numer- 
 ously distributed over this region. In the gardens the familiar northern Catbird is 
 replaced by the Mockingbird, and the saucy little House Wren by the nobler Carolina 
 
 1 Ageratum. 8 Lobelia spleadeas. 3 Malvaviscus Drammondii. 
 
LARK SPARROW. 101 
 
 and Bewick's Wrens, while the Lark Sparrow occupies the place of the Song Sparrow. 
 In the gardens of the post-oak region it is exceedingly abundant, and is also found in 
 large numbers on the edges of the woods, on the prairies, and in corn and cotton fields. 
 It is a much livelier bird than the Song Sparrow, and is also quicker in its motions and 
 finer in its plumage. Loud and melodious, energetic and merry sounds the song of this 
 familiar bird from the fence posts, the bushes, and trees. In the next moment, after 
 finishing his song, he raises the feathers of the crown, and wildly and in evident excite- 
 ment chases the female in circular flights over the ground, spreading at the same time 
 his tail in a fan-like manner, the outer feathers of which are broadly tipped and 
 bordered with w^hite, characterizing him at once even to the novice. 
 
 I found the Lark Sparrow exceedingly numerous in all parts of Texas, and from 
 Houston to New Braunfels. On Spring Creek Prairie (Rose Hill), in Harris Co., Texas, 
 a favorite field of observation of mine, I had the first opportunity of observing it closely. 
 There the isolated trees as well as those of the margins of the woods, especially the 
 beautiful laurel oaks, were densely draped w^ith festoons of Spanish moss. Mockingbirds, 
 Cardinals, Blue Grosbeaks, Painted Buntings, Orchard Orioles, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, 
 Blue Jays, Shrikes, Sycamore an'd Parula Warblers, Acadian Flycatchers and Lark 
 Sparrows were very numerous on the borders of these woods, all preferring to hide their 
 nests on horizontal branches densely draped with Spanish moss. Thus situated it was 
 almost an impossibility to find a nest, and I never succeeded here in discovering one of 
 the Lark Sparrow. These pretty and mirthful birds could be observed in great abund- 
 ance on the borders of the woods and on the adjoining prairie, and their gushing and 
 sprightly music fell on my ear wherever I chanced to go. In this locality as well as 
 all around Houston the Lark Sparrows were very wild and suspicious, avoiding the 
 society of man almost entirely. At Freistatt, Lawrence Co., Mo., w^here I resided from 
 1882 to 1887, this bird was also a very common summer sojourner, but here also it 
 was very shy, always shunning the immediate neighborhood of man. 
 
 In south-eastern Texas and w^estward the Lark Sparrow makes its appearance 
 early in April'; in the Ozark region of Missouri it rarely arrives before the third 
 week of the same month, while in northern Illinois it seldom appears before May 5. 
 Although occurring occasionally as far north as Minnesota, Dakota, and even Manitoba, 
 it is a rare bird in southern Wisconsin, being generally unknown to the most ardent 
 friend of Nature. In northern Illinois it is nowhere conspicuous among the avi-fauna. It 
 leaves south-western Missouri early in September, and by the middle of October 
 almost all have departed from south-eastern Texas for their winter-quarters. The bird is 
 mainly distributed over the Mississippi valley, east to Ohio, west to the Great Plains, 
 south to Louisiana and eastern Texas. In western Texas and west of the Great Plains 
 to the Pacific the species is replaced by a variety, the Western L.\rk Sparrow, Chon- 
 destes grammacus strigatas Ridgw., a form which is particularly common in California. 
 
 After the birds have arrived from the South in Texas, they attract our atten- 
 tion wherever we meet them. At this time the males are full of that rivalry which 
 the love season inspires. They are now in small companies, and as soon as the 
 females make their appearance a few days later, many a fierce battle is fought among 
 the extremely pugnacious males. In jealous contest they chase each other through 
 
the bushes and over the ground. At such times they -vie in song. On all sides their 
 peculiar music is heard, especially when several males are in pursuit of a female, 
 "who with affected coyness leads them a rapid chase through the tangled maze of bush 
 and foliage, and as they ardently follow her each gives voice to a gushing strain of 
 melody which blends into a whole, marking their track as it were by a continuous 
 stream of music." 
 
 To my ear the song is very beautiftil. I am unable to compare it with any other 
 bird inelody with which I am acquainted. It consists of a succession of loud, clear, 
 mellow, and extremely sweet notes, interspersed with tinkling trills and a few twittering 
 sounds. The whole is flowing forth like a clear rushing stream, ever new and ever 
 charming, being as beautiful as it is indescribable. Prof. Robert Ridgway, who has a 
 very fine ear for bird music, describes the song in the following w^ords : 
 
 "It has been a matter of surprise to us that writers who have described the habits 
 of the western birds, have not mentioned more particularly the vocal capabilities of this 
 bird, w^hich in sprightness and continuity of song has few, if any, rivals among the 
 North American Fringillidss. Words entirely fail to describe its song, which, among the 
 oak groves of California, as well as on the prairies of Illinois, is pre-eminent for the 
 qualities above mentioned. As the bird perches upon the summit of a small tree, a fence 
 post, or a telegi'aph wire, his notes may be heard throughout the day — in the morning 
 before those of any other, and late in the evening "when all else but this unweary 
 songster are silent; indeed, often have we been awakened at midnight by a sudden 
 outburst of silvery warblings from one of this species. This song is composed from a 
 series of chants, each syllable rich, loud, and clear, interspersed with emotional trills. 
 At the beginning the song reminds one of that of the Indigobird, but the notes are 
 louder and more metallic, and their delivery more vigorous. Though seemingly hurried, 
 it is one continued gush of sprightly music; now gay, now melodious, and then tender 
 beyond description, — the very expression of emotion. At intervals the singer falters, as if 
 exhausted by exertion, and his voice becomes scarcely audible; but suddenly reviving in 
 his joy, it is resumed in all its vigor, until he appears to be really overcome by the effort." 
 
 In the post-oak region nest-building begins early in May. The nests are built in 
 very different situations. As a rule horizontal limbs of trees are chosen. The first nest 
 which I found May 5, w^as placed in a dense young mulbeny tree, about six feet fi-om 
 the ground. It was scarcely ten feet from a much frequented veranda and near the 
 main walk. The structure was artfully hidden among the branches and shaded from 
 the fierce rays of the sun by a dense canopy of leaves. The main material used in the 
 construction were the soft white stems of Gnaphalium, arranged in a circular manner. 
 A few grass-blades, bark-strips, rootlets, strings, and fine hair of cattle also entered 
 into the composition. The lining consisted of horse hair. Scarcely ten yards from this 
 nest I found another one in the comer of a rail fence which enclosed a cow pen. This 
 was constructed exactly in the same style as the one above described. A third one was 
 discovered near by in an old Woodpecker's hole, and in such cavities quite a number of 
 nests were discovered later. In the following spring several pairs even occupied nesting 
 boxes which I had put up near my house to accommodate the Bluebirds and Tufted 
 Titmice. Nests in cavities are not built in the substantial manner just mentioned. 
 
They consist only of a foundation of bark-strips and grasses, and are lined with horse hair. 
 I have also made the observation that the Lark Sparrow repairs old nests of the 
 Cardinal, Mockingbird, Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, ^nd Orchard Oriole. As the 
 Lark Sparrow generally avoids the society of man, it seems peculiar that in many places 
 of Texas it is as familiar, and more so, as the northern Song Sparrow. Although I 
 have frequently discovered nests on the ground in cotton and corn-fields in Texas, 
 most of them were built near dwelling-houses in orchard and ornamental trees. In eastern 
 Texas the nest is almost invariably placed in thick bunches of Spanish moss on a horizon- 
 tal limb. At Vermillionville and New Iberia in southern Louisiana they were found in 
 gardens, but more usually in the dense Cherokee rose hedges which surround the fields. 
 In south-western Missouri all the nests examined by me were placed on the ground, 
 usually sunken in a cavity and concealed by tufts of com, clover, or. weeds. These 
 ground nests are exceedingly difficult to find. Several nests found between the years 
 1869—1879 in Du Page and Cook Co., 111., were all built on the ground.* In the gardens 
 of Texas the nests are easily discovered. "Although the parent birds do not make much 
 ado when the nest contains eggs, they become quite excited when the young are hatched. 
 The eggs, usually four to five in number, are pure glossy white, speckled, blotched, and 
 marked with zigzag and wavy lines and spots of very dark brown, almost black; this 
 color is easily rubbed off by a moist piece of cloth, and a dark shade of rusty-brown 
 remains. The markings prevail on the larger end, and the eggs somewhat resemble those 
 of the Baltimore Oriole, though smaller, and much more rounded and polished. They 
 measure .77 to .88 of an inch in length, and from .60 to .67 of an inch in breadth. 
 
 In Texas the Lark Sparrow rears two and sometimes three broods annually, while 
 in south-western Missouri and in all parts of its northern habitat only one brood is 
 raised. In July and August I always heard in Texas the young males of the first brood, 
 scarcely two months old, practice their song in all directions. In delivering their per- 
 formance they were usually perched on the top of some bush or fence-rail, twittering 
 with all their power their short and rather harsh juvenile song. 
 
 This Sparrow, like all' its congeners, subsists in winter largely on the seeds of 
 weeds arid grasses, taking also insects and their eggs when opportunity offers. In 
 August and September the birds are met most numerously in the cotton fields, v^rhere 
 they ai"e chasing the cotton moths and are searching for cotton and boll worms. By 
 the beginning of October they move southward, but stragglers are found until the middle 
 and end of that month. None winter in Texas. Southern Mexico (Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, 
 etc.) and probably also Central America is their real winter home. 
 
 Though not bright-colored, the Lark Sparrow can justly be termed a very pretty 
 bird, its gi'ay, white, and brown color being very tastefully arranged. It is without 
 doubt one of the finest of the group of American Sparrows, known as the sub-family 
 of Spizellihse, termed by Dr. A. E. Brehni "Ammei-finken" (Bunting Sparrows), a very 
 
 * According to the observations of Mr. H. C. Coale, Mr. B. T. Ganlt, and Dr. J. L. Hancock, the Lark Sparrow is rather 
 rare in northern Illinois, which fully agrees with my own observations. "In north-eastern Illinois,'; says Dr. Hancock, "I 
 found the Lark Pinch (scarce) in Englewood, Jtine and July last year, 1893. It was observed by me in middle of July 1887 
 in Hyde Park, and recorded as a 'summer resident' in my notes. At Riverside I met with it 'on the borders of fields in 
 woods,' for the last three years 1891 — 1893, but it is rather scarce. Jt breeds here, for I saw some that were feeding their 
 young. They are not wary, are easy to approach, which makes their identification unquestionable." . 
 
coirect appellation. The liveliness of this SpaiTOw, its excellent song, its dexterous 
 flight, its abundance, and, in many localities, its confidence in man, combine to make it 
 one of the most valuable of»our southern birds. As it easily accustoms itself to cage life, 
 bird fanciers in this country and Europe are very fond of it. Like most members of 
 the Spizellinee, it becomes very tame, is easily kept, sings finely, and its plumage always 
 looks smooth and trim. For the aviary it is not adapted, as it soon becomes the tyrant 
 of all the other inmates, chasing eyen such large birds as Cardinals, almost incessantly 
 around in the cage. All the other members of this sub-family are exceedingly peaceful 
 and harmless. Kept singly, it sings from March to September almost without interrup- 
 tion. Prof Ridgway says, that at Sacramento, Cal., young birds readily sell for four 
 dollars a pair. 
 
 I have kept quite a number of Lark Sparrows in the cage, and observed that, like 
 all members of the sub-family Spizellinse, their wants are easily supplied. A mixture of 
 millet, Canary seed, natural rice, lettuce, wild portulacca, etc., forms the main diet, while 
 they also get accustomed to a mixture of Mockingbird food and crated carrots. Meal- 
 worms are highly relished, and so are grasshoppers and other insects. Some of my cage 
 pets were so intent upon these and other insects, that they took them from my hand 
 without hesitation. 
 
 The Lark Sparrow in different sections of the country is known by different names. 
 From its running in the grass, with lowered head like a Quail, it received the name "Quail- 
 head," and from the habit of running along the road it is called in some places the 
 "Road-bird." According to Prof. Ridgway, the Utah boys call it the "Snake-bird," from 
 the supposed resemblance of its striped head to that of a snake. In Texas it is some- 
 times called the "American House Sparrow," "Prairie Sparrow," "Cotton-bird," and 
 "Texas Song Sparrow." V 
 
 The Western Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus strigatus Ridgw., inhabits 
 the Western United States, east to the Great Plains and middle Texas, south over 
 table-lands of Mexico. 
 
 NAMES: Lark Sparrow, Lark Finch, Quail-head, Road-bird, American House Sparrow (Texas), Cotton- 
 bird, Prairie Sparrow, Texas Song Sparrow, Snake-bird (Utah). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Frhigilla grammaca Say (1823). Emberiza grammaca Aud. (1838). CHONDESTES 
 GRAMMACUS Bonap. (1839). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. Above, brownish or grayish-brown, each feather streaked with blackish; 
 lower parts, chiefly white, with a small black spot on the chest; tail-feathers, blackish, broadly tipped 
 with white, except the middle pair; "crown and ear-coverts, chestnut, the former divided medially by 
 a pale brownish-gray or grayish-buff stripe (whitish anteriorly), the chestnut passing anteriorly into 
 blackish; a black streak across lores, and one along each side of throat." 
 Length, 6.25 inches; wing, 3.49; tail, 2.82 inches. 
 
 Chondestes grammacus strigatus Ridgw. is paler, browner, and larger. 
 Length about 7.00 inches; wings, 3. .58; tail, 2.93 inches. 
 
HARRIS' SPARROW. 
 
 Zonotrichia querula Gambel. 
 Plate XXIV. Fig. 2. 
 
 "HILE residing in the post-oak woods near the West Yegua creek in Lee Co., 
 Texas, I had an excellent opportunity of observing the resident and winter 
 birds of that region. Every day eai'ly in the moming I rambled about in the bottom 
 woods, which were bounded by cotton and corn-fields. A dense border of tangled thickets 
 and trees overgrown with mustang grape-vines, Virginia creeper, smilax, and trumpet- 
 vine surrounded these woodlands. Pin-oaks, elms, pecan, mulberry and hackberry trees, 
 sycamores and hickories were the prevailing species of trees, while the underwood 
 consisted of Mexican mulberry, yupon bushes and white-thorns. During fall, winter, 
 and spring this locality swarmed with birds of many species, but the different Sparrows 
 and the Wood Warblers were most numerous and interesting. In no other place did I 
 ever find so many winter birds as here. It is a well-known fact that in certain localities 
 the w^oods and the undergrowth swarms with birds, while in other places, evidently 
 equally suitable, none or very few are found. 
 
 In fall the birds usually arrive just before a cold rainy storm or contemporaneously 
 with it. These cold snaps, which are known everyw^here in Texas as the "northers," 
 begin late in October and last till March or early April. The duration of such a cold 
 blast is usually three days, but it often lasts six and even nine days. After such a 
 norther has ceased, the weather is clear and spring-like again, the air salubrious and 
 invigorating. While walking through the border of the w^oods on Nov. 14, 1881, when 
 we had experienced a very w^et and cold "norther," I noticed among the raesquit bushes 
 and prickly pear thickets a number of strange birds which I had never seen alive before. 
 Still more numerous they were in the bushy border near a corn-field, and in the 
 dense interior of the woods. I recognized these birds at once as Harris' Sparrows. 
 During the whole winter, until late in March, I had an excellent opportunity of 
 observing them. Thousands of Juncos, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, 
 Towhees and Field Sparrows were generally in their company. In the dense, partially 
 evergreen thickets, and in the equally dense undergrowth of the bottom woods all these 
 birds were excellently protected firom cold weather, and from the many birds of prey 
 that w^ere to be found in open places and in the extensive fields. Great swarms of 
 Passenger Pigeons, w^hich found an abundant supply of food in the post-oak woods, 
 made the dense bottom woods their resting place during the night. Here also the 
 majority of winter birds were found, and I could scarcely imagine a better field for my 
 observations than among these thickets. The Hermit Thrush was hunting among the 
 dry old leaves for insects. Thrashers and Chats hopped shyly through the tangled masses 
 of creepers. The restless, noisy, and inquisitive Bewick's .and Carolina Wrens were creep- 
 ing adroitly through brush heaps and formidable prickly pear thickets. Flickers were 
 seen on all sides, hammering with all their power into the over abundant ants' nests. 
 
 14 
 
106 HARRIS' SPARROW. 
 
 Everywhere in the adjacent fields and in the bushes bird life reigned supreme. Many 
 rare birds from the Saskatchewan and the region of the Red River of the North mingled 
 here with those of the central and southern part of the country. Large flocks of Field 
 Sparrows were seen in company with Pallid Sparrows. 
 
 On the above mentioned day immense numbers of northern birds arrived, and the 
 woods swarmed with migrants from the North. White-throated and White-crowned 
 Sparrows were hopping about in the same thickets with Cardinals and Mockingbirds. 
 But of all the birds which I here saw, none attracted my attention in a higher degree 
 than Harris' Sparrows. I w^as struck with their size and beauty. I never had seen these 
 birds in south-eastern Texas or in any other part of the State. They found an ^bundant 
 supply of food in the adjoining corn and cotton-fields, where especially the spiny seeds of a 
 species of cock-spur grass (Cenchras) abounded. They were very shy and did not venture 
 to stray too far from the edges of the thickets to which they retired instantly when 
 danger threatened. In the outskirts of the woods I could observe them almost for hours, 
 but whenever I changed my position they flew without a moment's delay into the 
 thickets of the interior of the woods where evergreen bushes predominated. In their 
 ways and habits they reminded me of the White-crowned and Fox-colored Sparrows, 
 and to a certain extent also of the Towhee. They do not seem to be as gregarious as 
 many of their kin. I have rarely observed more than six to twelve in a flock. In the 
 early morning they visit with Juncos and other allied Sparrows and even Cardinals the 
 neighboring fields, and they also went in their company to the water. Among the bushes 
 and weeds of the fence comers I have frequently seen them. As soon as the day dawns 
 they are aw^ake, uttering their call-notes from all sides. At day break they fly into the 
 fields for food. In the evening they soon go to rest, seeking the most protected and 
 dense places in the thickets. On the ground they scratch much in the way of chickens, 
 but they throw the old leaves and the soil backward with both feet at the same time. 
 The Towhee, Fox-colored Sparrow, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrow scratch 
 in exactly the same manner. 
 
 In October 1882 I found these birds in small numbers at Freistatt, Lawrence Co., 
 Mo. They were loitering in small troops in the basket vines {Symphoricarpus glome- 
 ratus) and the undergrowth of the woods and the thickets and hedge-rows, along w^ith 
 Juncos, White-throated Sparrows and Towhees, all enjoying at their ease the genial 
 climate and the beautiful autumn days of the lingering season. They w^ere observed 
 during five successive years. Arriving usually by the middle of October, they remained 
 frequently until Christmas if the weather was fair. In spring the first migrants appeared 
 again by the middle of March, and the last stragglers did not leave for the North until 
 the middle of April. 
 
 In Texas I caught quite a number and kept them in the cage. Although very wild 
 in the beginning, they soon became reconciled to their loss of freedom. With kind treat- 
 ment they became very tame, and took grasshoppers and moths from my fingers. With 
 other inhabitants of the cage they lived in perfect peace. They always kept their plumage 
 smooth and in good order. Millet seed, caffir corn, and Canary seed were their main 
 diet. In order to give them an equivalent for their insect diet in spring and summer, 
 I added fine pieces of crated beef, grasshoppers, beetles, and other insects to their usual 
 
HARRIS' SPARROW. 107 
 
 food. The song of my cage pets was very loud, clear, melodious, prolonged, and liquid. 
 They sang most diligently in sultry weather, and the lay reminded me of the song of 
 the White-crowned Sparrow as well as of that of the Fox-colored Sparrow. 
 
 The breeding range of this fine Sparrow is found from northern North Dakota and 
 Montana northward. Our celebrated ornithologist and oologist. Captain Charles E. 
 Bendire, gives the following description of the supposed nest and eggs of Harris' Sparrow: 
 
 "During the summer of 1885, while I was stationed at Fort Custer, Montana, 
 one of my men, who was well posted about the birds of that region, and helped me 
 to collect a good many, while out hunting one day found a nest and four eggs of some 
 Sparrow, without, unfortunately, securing the parent, and brought them in for me. I 
 saw^ at a glance that these eggs were new to me, and visited the place where the nest 
 was found next day, in the hope of possibly still finding the owners about the locality, 
 but failed in this. The eggs in question diflfer materially in coloration from those of the 
 other species of Zonotrichia, as w^ell as from those of the genera Passerella, Melospiza, 
 and Pipilo, all of which are represented by good series in the National Museum col- 
 lection. 
 
 "The nest was found June 24, 1885, in a dense willow thicket close to the banks of 
 Little Horn River, about one and a half miles above the post. It w^as placed between 
 several young willow twigs, about eight or ten inches from the ground, compactly built 
 of strips of decayed willow bark, coarse grasses, etc., and lined with finer materials of 
 the same kind. Outwardly the nest was about four and a half inches wide by three 
 deep ; the inner cavity was two and a half inches wide by two in depth. In its general 
 make-up it resembled the average nest of a Passerella. The eggs contained small embryos. 
 They resemble certain types of Cardinal's eggs more than anything else, but are con- 
 siderably smaller. There is no trace of green w^hatever noticeable in their ground color. 
 This green tint is always found to a greater or less extent in all the eggs of the genera 
 Zonotrichia and Passerella, and with rare exceptions in Melospiza as well, while here, it 
 is a creamy or buffy-white, and the shell is also more lustrous. The eggs are thickly 
 spotted and blotched wth dark brown and burnt umber, and more or less mixed w^ith 
 pale heliotrope-purple and purpHsh-gray. They are ovate in shape, and measure 
 .89X.70, .88X.69, .86X.69 and .85X.65 inch. 
 
 "I am certain that these eggs are not those of the Cardinal, which is not found 
 as far north as Fort Custer and would surely have been noticed by me, if it occurred 
 there, and unless they should be abnormally colored eggs of the Arctic Towhee, 
 which is barely possible, although also rather small for this species, they will certainly 
 prove to be those of Harris' Sparrow. While I do not believe that it is a constant and 
 common summer resident in the vicinity of Fort Custer, it probably breeds there as a 
 straggler; I failed to meet with this species during the summer, but found it not at all 
 uncommon during its fall migration. Specimens collected by me in the early part of 
 October are now in the National Museum. I found them associated with White-crowned 
 Sparrows and Arctic Towhees principally, scattered in small flocks through the under- 
 growth along the Big and Little Horn River bottoms, and it seems to confine itself to 
 the shrubbery found along the streams."* 
 
 » "The Auk," Vpl. VI. 1889, p. 151—153. 
 
~^ 
 
 108 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. 
 
 In their breeding range in fall "they go in little troops-,- loitering in the patches of 
 briers that lead out from the continuous undergrowth into the ravines making down to the 
 streams ; and their habit, when disturbed, of mounting the topmost twigs of the bushes 
 to gain a better view, together with their size, renders them very conspicuous." (Coues.) 
 
 NAMES: Harris' Sparrow, Black-hood Sparrow.— Trauerfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla qaerula Nutt. (1840). ZONOTRICHIA QXJBRULA Gambel (1847). Frin- 
 gilla harrisi Aud. (1843). Fringilla comota Prinz Max. (1841). Zonotrichia cotnota Bonap. (1850). 
 
 DESCRIPTION : "Hood and nape, sides of head anterior to and including the eyes, chin, throat, and a few 
 spots in the middle of the upper part of the breast and on its sides, black. Sides of head and neck, 
 ash-gray, with the trace of a narrow crescent back of the ear-coverts. Interscapular region of back, 
 with the feathers reddish-brown, streaked with dark brown. Breast and belly, clear white. Sides of 
 body, light brownish, streaked. Two narrow white bands across the greater and middle coverts. 
 
 "Length about 7.00 inches; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.65 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, 
 
 Zonotrichia leucophrys Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXIV. Fig. 4. 
 
 Down from the North they are marching. 
 
 The scouts of the winter king ; 
 Where bright spring flowers were blooming, 
 
 Withered and dead lea-res they fling. 
 Their biTonac fires they've kindled, 
 
 Sumachs and maples aglow ; 
 Oaks on the hill-side are waving 
 
 Signals to birches below. 
 O'er field and meadow are drifting 
 
 The smoke and dust of the fray ; 
 In -woodlands dead leaves are falling, 
 
 This Indian summer day. 
 
 Prom "Forest and Stream." 
 
 IJg^HIS time our way leads us to the thickets of the woods and the woodland border. 
 
 L' It is a beautiful day in October, as October itself is one of the most beautiful 
 months of the year in almost all parts of our great country. The thickets and hedge- 
 rows swarm with birds migrating southward. The days are yet quite sunny, though 
 the nights are not free from hoar frosts. A veil-like haze, so vapory as to be percept- 
 ible only on distant objects which it seems to cover, denotes the Indian summer. The 
 wonderfully picturesque effects of the various contrasting colors which the foliage of 
 many trees, shrubs, and even herbs has assumed, produce a deep impression upon the 
 lover of the beautiful in Nature. The deep blue prairie gentian' is flowering abundantly 
 on the prairies of the Ozark region never disturbed by plough or harrow. About the 
 same time the beautiful fringed gentian ^ appears, mirroring the blue October skies. The 
 closed gentian' with its deep purple-blue corolla is less beautiful as the two foregoing 
 
 1 Gentiana puberula. 2 G. criaita.. » O. AndrewaU.- 
 
species. All are exquisite and worthy of special culture in the garden, and all are difficult 
 to transplant. The leaves of the sumach and the Virginia creeper, the latter covering 
 thickets and creeping high up on the trunks of trees, are glowing in the brightest red 
 and purple tints imaginable. In fact, the Indian summer to a great extent rewards 
 for the absence of a fine and congenial spring time, and often continues into December, 
 till a sudden winter storm puts a hasty end to all this autumnal glory. 
 
 This season is peculiarly attractive to the lover of plant and bird life. Though 
 our country is famous for the fading tints of its autumn foliage, the rich yellow flowers 
 of the golden-rod mixing with the falling leaves, do much towards the reputation for 
 unsurpassed beauty which American scenery enjoys. There are almost fifty different 
 species of golden-rods, most of them yellow, but they vary much in "habit and in 
 arrangement of flowers, so that though the golden-rods are everywhere in our fields 
 and forests, there seems to be an unending variation in the effect they produce, and 
 the impression to the novice in their study is that there are even a greater number of 
 species among them than is actually the case." Although exceedingly common evej-y- 
 where, they are among the most distinguished of our wild flowers. Everybody who 
 knows anything of our wild scenery knows the golden-rod, and no picture or description 
 of an American autumn landscape is complete, unless the golden-rod forms an essential 
 part thereof. The autumn sneezewort or "Indian snuff"" {Heleniam autumnale) which 
 usually grows near the water, is also a common plant of the season, as are the numer- 
 ous asters which, mixed with the golden-rods, form a conspicuous part of the autumn 
 landscape. Though many of the shrabs and trees begin to shed their leaves, yet there is 
 cheery life in all the thickets, woodlands, fields, gardens, fence corners, and hedge-rows. 
 Thousands of Wrens, Thrashers, Palm and Myrtle Warblers, Juncos, Towhees, White- 
 throated and Fox-colored Sparrows, and many other species, having arrived from the 
 North silently and unperceived, rest here for a while, enlivening by their presence the 
 enchantingly beautiful days of the Indian summer, and adding in a high degree to its 
 charms. As soon as the days get cold and damp, the birds wend their way southward. 
 
 One of the most striking and attractive of these migrants during the salubrious 
 days of the Indian summer is the White-crowned Sparrow, a bird of very prominent 
 and elegant appearance, and easily distinguished by its white crown which is separated 
 by two black stripes on either side, rather narrower than itself. The black line behind 
 the eye is continued anterior to it into the black at the base of the bill. 
 
 The White-crowned Sparrows appear in central Wisconsin and in western Massa- 
 chusetts from the first to the fifteenth of October from the North. The first flocks 
 reach south-western Missouri by the middle of the month and south-eastern Texas by 
 the first of November. They are usually in company with Juncos and White-throated 
 Sparrows, but rarely more than a dozen are found together in one locality. Each one 
 goes its own way without caring much for the rest. The White-throats are much more 
 gregarious than the present species. It is a peculiar fact that the birds are not observed 
 each year in equal numbers ; they may be exceedingly common in spring, while only a 
 few are seen in fall and vice versa. 
 
 During the fall these birds frequent brier patches, thickets in fields, bushy borders 
 of the woods, fence comers where bushes, golden-rods, and asters grow luxuriantly, 
 
hedge-rows and the btishy margin of swamps. At this time they rarely visit the gardens 
 and parks of larger cities. They are always searching for seeds of grasses and weeds 
 on the ground, and for this purpose even visit the interior of open woods virhere many 
 species of sunflowers- grow abundantly, the seeds of which they greatly relish. Noise- 
 lessly they skip about. Now and then we only hear their call-note, a subdued cheep or 
 chee. In case of danger they all rush into the thickets and into the bushy interior of 
 the woods, not appearing again before they feel perfectly safe. Their flight leads them 
 often over large tracts, though they prefer to move from thicket to thicket. Like all 
 the small birds they migrate during the night, resting and searching for food during the 
 day. On the ground they are perfectly at home, running around adroitly. Although 
 they sometimes take insects from the leaves of the bushes, they pick most of their food 
 from the ground. Among the old leaves and grasses and in the loose leaf-mould of the 
 w^oods they scratch like a hen; yet unlike a hen in so far as they scratch with both 
 feet at once, which is, as Mr. Burroughs says, "by no means the best way to scratch." 
 If we have the opportunity to ramble about in the brier patches and copses and on the 
 bushy woodland border on any warm and clear October day, we shall rarely miss this 
 bird, provided we take an interest in bird-life and have accustomed ourselves to its 
 contemplation. By the end of October they have all disappeared from the Northern 
 and New England States. 
 
 While residing in Texas I had many welcome opportunities to observe these and 
 other Sparrows in their winter-quarters. They were exceedingly numerous in the low dense 
 thickets overshadowed by magnolias, live-oaks, laurel-oaks, red bays', plane or sycamore 
 trees ^, sweet gum', hackberry and other trees on Bufialo and White Oak Bayous near 
 and in Houston, Tex. The underwood and the thickets which margined the woods, 
 consisted mostly of Dahoon'', Yupon^ holly', dogwood, different species of viburnum, 
 button-bush', lantanas, laurel-cherry °, and many other shrubs and small trees which 
 were overgrown with tangled masses of smilax, Carolina jasmine, clematis', and 
 grape-vines. The twisted and in every way grotesque forms of the supple Jack'" were 
 gi-owing to an immense size in the rich, moist soil. Thousands of our northern birds 
 find a safe retreat during the inclemency of the wintry "northers" in these protected 
 localities. The migrants in fall usually arrive immediately before or contemporary with 
 one of the rainy and cold "northers," which frequently visit Texas from early November 
 to the latter days of March. These cold winds are the cause why we cannot expect 
 a more tropical vegetation in this State, though the heat of summer is really tropical. 
 The first White-crowned Sparrows appear early in November, but the majority does 
 not arrive before the last days of that month or early in December. At this time the 
 thickets swarm with birds. In the dense broom grass" they find excellent hiding places, 
 for Sparrow Hawks and several other birds of prey are always present where many of 
 the small birds congregate. Seed-bearing grasses and weeds supply an abundance of 
 food, and there is no lack of insects on the ground and under the old leaves. During 
 the entire winter these localities are alive with thousands upon thousands of birds. 
 
 1 Persea Catolinensis. 2 Plantanua occldentalis. » Llquldambar styraciUue. * Ilex Cassinc. 8 /. vomitora- 
 e I. opaca. ^ Cepbalantbus ocddentalls, » Prunua Carpliniana, » Clematis rioraa, ^o Derch^mi^ volubilis, ii Andro- 
 pogoti macrourus. 
 
Not only winter visitors find here a congenial home, but also many resident species. 
 During the latter part of March and early in April the White-crowns usually prepare for 
 their journey to the North, but I have seen them as late as April 30 near Houston and in 
 the thickets near the West Yegua creek. In Oak Park, 111., I observed them every spring 
 from the last days of April until the middle of May. They were so tame that they 
 came under the kitchen windows to pick up crumbs and seeds. 
 
 At Milwaukee this Sparrow usually arrives about May 1, though in mild seasons 
 the van may appear a few days earlier. They remain about two weeks, and some 
 stragglers tarry even till the last days of the month. In the fine gardens, rich in ever- 
 greens and ornamental shrubs, the exceedingly characteristic and fine strain of the 
 White-crowned Sparrow is heard from all sides on the sunny dnd warm days of May. 
 It sounds like pee-dee-de-de-de. The first two notes are long drawn and rising, the 
 rest hurried and lowering, the whole sounding like a mellow whistle, being easily imi- 
 tated. The song bears a close resemblance to that of the White-throat, but is readily 
 distinguished, being louder and less monotonous and plaintive. While uttering its lay 
 the bird is always mounted in the top of a tall shrub or a small tree, singing incessantly 
 for almost half an hour. If approached while thus engaged, the performer becomes 
 silent and dives hastily into the nearest cover, soon, however, appearing again in another 
 direction and singing as diligently as before. In the garden of Miss Hedwig Schlichting, 
 w^here large old apple trees, ornamental shrubs, and shade trees are found, and where 
 Scotch pines and Norway spruces grow in an adjoining garden, these birds are perfectly 
 at home during the migrations, especially in spring. My friend made the observation 
 that they are not equally abundant every year, and that they are much less numerous 
 as the White-throats, with whom she often found them associated. They leave earlier 
 for their northern home as their congeners, and they are so tame and unsuspicious that 
 they pick up the seeds which she supplies. In an apple tree near her window one male 
 w^as singing every morning during the fine days of May. 
 
 Although the White-crowned Sparrow breeds abundantly in Labrador, it -is much 
 less common in New England during the migrations than more in the interior of the 
 country. Its summer home in the West are the high mountain ranges of the Sierra 
 Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, and north of the Great Lakes it breeds to the 
 Hudson's Bay Territory and Labrador. 
 
 In northern Wisconsin and especially in northern Michigan — in the Lake Superior 
 region — this Sparrow is a rather common summer bird. A nest found by Mr. A. J. 
 Schoenebeck on June 9, 1891, in Oconto Co., Wis., w^as built on the ground and was 
 well concealed under a tuft of grass. It was constructed of grasses and lined with finer 
 grasses. The exterioi: diameter of the nest was 5.00 inches, the interior diameter 2.75 
 inches, and the cavity was 1.50 inch deep. The eggs, four in number, have a pale 
 greenish-blue ground-color, and are thickly speckled, sprinkled, and spotted with cinna- 
 mon and rusty-brown. Mr. Schoenebeck states that some sets of the eggs of this species 
 look as if the ground-color were a pale cinnamon-brown. They average in size .89X.64. 
 
 "Like other naturalists," says Dr. Elliott Coues, "who have visited the forbidding 
 shores of Labrador, I found the White-crowned Sparrow one of the most abundant of 
 the summer birds of that country. Labrador and Newfoundland, indeed, appear to be 
 
the principal breeding resorts of the species along the Eastern coast. The nest appears 
 to be always placed on the ground ; the situations generally selected are thick patches 
 of low heath, and the still more dense growths of scrubby conifers. It is composed 
 chiefly of mosses, but lined with a quantity of very fine dried grasses or rootlets, set 
 evenly round and round. The eggs are four or five in number, about seven-eighths of an 
 inch long, and pale greenish, speckled and blotched, particularly toward the larger end, 
 with brown and neutral tint. The descriptions of some of the earlier authors are cer- 
 tainly erroneous, probably relating to the egg of the Tit-lark, which breeds abundantly 
 with the White-crowned Sparrow, and, like it, builds a mossy nest on the ground. I 
 found nestlings but a few days old the last week in July; these were perhaps of a second 
 brood, as many birds of the year were flying about the same time. The southward 
 migration begins, according to Audubon, as early as the middle of August; this state- 
 ment is confirmed by the presence of the birds in New England, and even in the Middle 
 States, in September. The migration is very extensive, the birds scattering all over the 
 United States, and wintering as far north, at least, as Maryland. Audubon says that 
 they pass beyond Texas ; but he does not appear to have made any personal observa- 
 tion to that effect, and I cannot lay my hand on a Mexican quotation. I can hardly 
 understand the scarcity — much less the irregularity — of the occurrence of the birds along 
 the Atlantic States, considering the numbers that breed to the northward, unless the 
 migration is performed obliquely and in the interior. At Washington, for example, I 
 found that they were not to be depended upon at all. Dr. Prentiss and I used to look 
 for them in October, and especially in April, and some years w^e found a good many, 
 while at others there appeared to be none at all. They seemed, on the whole, more 
 frequent in spring than in the fall, and all those we secured w^ere in breeding dress. 
 They remained sometimes until the second week in May ; frequented the same situations 
 as the White-throats, often associating with them, and showing very similar traits." 
 
 Mr. M. Trippe gives the following interesting account on the White-crown's breed- 
 ing in the Rocky Mountains : 
 
 "This Sparrow appears in the lower valleys of Clear Creek County, Colorado, in 
 the first or second week of May, and soon becomes very abundant, frequenting the 
 shrubby banks of the streams, and occasionally venturing some distance upon the hill- 
 sides, but, as a rule, keeping close to the brooks and creeks. As the snow disappears it 
 ascends higher and higher, reaching timber-line by the middle of June, and going up to 
 the extreme limit of the willows and Junipers, being nowhere more abundant than in 
 those dense thickets that shut the upper edge of the timber. By far the greater number 
 pass the breeding season there, but a few nest lower down, as far as 8,500 feet, below 
 which it does not occur during summer. In habits, during the breeding season, it 
 resembles the Song Sparrow, seeking its food in the grass and among the dry leaves in 
 the thickets. It sings constantly during June and July, and occasionally in August, 
 mounting to the top of some high bush, the dead limb of a pine, or any convenient 
 perch well elevated above the surrounding shrubbery, and chanting its ditty at short 
 intervals for half an hour or more at a time— a lively, agreeable song, fine and clear 
 and frequently heard from a score or more of birds at once, with a most pleasino- effect. 
 While his mate is setting, the male sings almost constantly throughout the day, and 
 
GAMBEL'S SPARROW. 113 
 
 sometimes even late into the evening, long after dark — I have heard it at midnight, and 
 even as late as one or two o'clock. It is very tame; a pair had their nest within a few 
 feet of our camp at Chicago Lake, and all the bustle and noise did not drive the female 
 from her nest, while her mate would pick up crumbs which we threw to him, almost at 
 our feet. It commences building in July, and the young are hatched about the 20th; 
 the nest is placed on the ground in a clump of bushes, composed of coarse grass and 
 weeds, and lined with fine grass. The eggs are usually four, of a pale bluish-green, very 
 thickly speckled and dotted with reddish-brown, the latter color almost wholly obscui'ing 
 the former at the larger end. In September it begins to descend ; by October it is 
 abundant at Idaho, and by November has disappeared. It is by no means as numerous 
 in the. lower valleys during fall as in spring, passing through much more quickly, a 
 peculiarity shared by many species whose migrations are similar, as Sylvania pusilla, 
 Dendroica auduhoni, and others." 
 
 NAMES: White-crowned Sparrow, White-crown, White-crowned Bunting.— Kronfink (Nehrl.), Weisskronfink 
 (Nehrl.) [German]. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: \Bni6er/za leacophrys Forster (1772). FringUla leucophrys And. (1834). .ZONO- 
 TRICRIA LEUCOPHRYS Swains. (1831). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. Distinct white stripe on top of head, bordered on each side by a black stripe; 
 this again is bordered by a stripe of pure white passing over each eye to the hind neck; below this 
 another narrow stripe of black through and behind the eye to the occiput. Sides of the head, forepart 
 of breast, and lower neck all round, pale ash, lightest beneath, shading to ■white on the belly and 
 chin; sides of belly and under tail-coverts tinged with yellowish-brown. Above, gray, streaked with 
 black and brown. Two white bands on wing. 
 
 Length, 7.00 inches; wing, 3.19; tail, 3.00 inches. 
 
 Gambel's Sparrow, Zonotricbia gambeli Gambel. The habitat of this Sparrow is 
 found in the coast ranges of California, north to British Columbia. This bird, which is 
 also known as the Western "White-crowned Sparrow, w^as met with by Prof. Robert 
 Ridgway at the Summit Meadows, near the summit of Donner Lake Pass of the Sierra 
 Nevada, at an altitude of about 7,000 feet. It was there an abundant and character- 
 istic bird. The males were in full song in all parts of the meadow, and the birds were nest- 
 ing in such numbers that on the evening of July 9, on halting for the night, in a hurried 
 search no less than twenty-seven eggs were found within about fifteen minutes. In every 
 instance the nests were embedded under a species of dwarf willow, with which the ground 
 was covered. The birds were extremely unsuspicious, the male often sitting on a bush 
 within a few feet of the naturalist, chanting merrily. In other localities the nests of 
 Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow were found in trees, bushes, and in thick clumps of 
 weeds. The ground-color of the eggs is pale greenish-blue, spotted and splashed with 
 liver-brown. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : The only appreciable and constant difference between this species and the White-crown is 
 found in the character of the black stripe on the side of the crown. In Z. leucophrys the black passes 
 down over the upper half of the lores, and in front of the eye, to a line continuous with the cutting 
 edge of the bill, and sends back a short branch to the eye, which cuts off the white superciliary stripe. 
 In Z. gambeli the superciliary stripe passes continuously forward to the ashy lores, cutting off the 
 black from the eye. The lower edge of the black anteriorly is much higher than in Z. leucophrys, and 
 nearly on a line with the nostrils. 
 
 15 
 
Intermediate Sparrow, Zonotrichia intermedia Ridgw. "Everywhere in Alaska," 
 writes Mr. E. W. Nelson, "the presence of bushes and timber is an almost ceirtain indi- 
 cation of this bird's presence in summer. It is the only White-crowned Sparrow reaching 
 these high latitudes, and it ranges to the shores of the Arctic Ocean and Behring Sea. 
 In the northern half of British America, extending entirely across that country along the 
 Arctic shore and thence west throughout Alaska, it is a very abundant and familiar 
 bird. It arrives on the upper Yukon at the Arctic Circle by the 15th or 20th of May 
 and begins nesting about the 20th of this month. . . ." It is the most abundant Sparrow 
 on the Mackenzie River, and it w^as found breeding in great numbers on the upper 
 Yukon and thence east to the Anderson River, where McFarlane, Lockhart, and Ross 
 found it breeding. The nests found were mostly placed upon the ground or in low 
 bushes, and were well lined w^ith deer-hair and feathers. The eggs have a clayey-white 
 ground-color, thickly covered with small reddish spots, which are only a trifle more 
 numerous at the larger end. In Alaska these Sparrows approach the houses in con- 
 siderable numbers by the 25th of July, joining with the various other Sparrows and 
 small birds. As the cold storms of August commence they gradually pass to the South 
 until, as this month draws to a close, they have all disappeared. 
 
 Near the West Yegua, Lee Co., Texas, I observed these Sparrows in abundance in 
 company with others of their genus. They arrived late in November and remained until 
 about April 1. In their ways and manners they do not differ from their near relatives. 
 They winter south into Mexico. Dr. Hoy obtained a specimen near Racine, Wis., in 1871. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : Similar to the White-crowned Sparrow, but differs in having the lores entirely light ash or 
 bufiy, continuous with the superciliary stripe of same color. 
 
 Golden-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia coronata Baird. According to Mr. E. W. 
 Nelson this bird is a common summer resident from Puget Sound to the peninsula of 
 Alaska. On the lower Yukon and Norton Sound it is also common, penetrating even 
 beyond to the Arctic Circle, in the Kotzebue Sound region, where, however, it is less 
 common. Mr. Nelson found it at Saint Michaels, Alaska, usually from May 25 to the 
 15th of August, about which latter time it passes south with its young. At this time 
 it comes fearlessly about the houses for food, with troops of other Sparrows, and is not 
 so shy as in spring. Its breeding ground is in the alder patches along the hilUsides, 
 where the various bush-loving species make their homes in the matted thickets, well 
 protected from birds of prey and most other foes by an almost impenetrable wall of 
 gnarled and twisted branches. 
 
 A straggler of this species was also obtained by Dr. P. R. Hoy near Racine, Wis. 
 DESCRIPTION: Similar to the White-crown, but the crown-stripe is yellow anteriorly, ashy behind. 
 
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 
 
 Zonotrichia albicollis Bonaparte. 
 
 Plate XXIV. Fig. 3. 
 
 Spring's little lyrist, the White-throated Spanow, 
 Trilled to me dainty triolets this morn, 
 Songs that might make despondence less forlorn ; 
 So forth I fared, from chamber dark and narrow, 
 To a warm, sunny hill that plough and harrow 
 "With their remorseless iron n'er had torn, 
 , For signs that Spring again was newly bom — 
 
 Spring whom I love as lover his "winsome marrow." 
 The feathered minstrel had foretold me true. 
 Nor hope had waked with a deceitful voice, 
 Nor sung through merely vanity of art ; 
 For there were liverworts both white and blue, 
 That, smiling, did at the new birth rejoice. 
 And cheered with wordless eloquence my heart. 
 
 Washington, D. C, March 8, 1879. W. L. Shobmaker. 
 
 J PRING in the northern parts of our country is quite different from that season in 
 the central and southern portions, though the autumn time is almost everywhere 
 pretty much the same. October is beautiful in its bright colors in Wisconsin and New 
 England, in Missouri and North Carolina, in Texas a'nd Florida. In the North spring 
 lingers long, and it takes at least two months before the time of hopes and disappoint- 
 ments is over. Our ideas of May being derived in part from the descriptions of Euro- 
 pean poets and naturalists, abound in many pleasant fallacies. May, at least in our 
 Northern States, is exceedingly changeable. It is a pleasant and weary prolongation of 
 hopes, frequently interrupted by days and often weeks of w^intry gloom. Though Nature 
 is not yet clothed in -the ftilness of her beauty, she is in many respects lovelier and more 
 enchanting in May than she will ever be in the course of the year. 
 
 In this light we have to view^ the month of May in the northern parts of our 
 country, no matter how beautiful and promising it begins. In the present year (1894-) 
 the first two weeks were exceedingly beautiful, while rainy, stormy, and cold weather 
 prevailed during the last two weeks. Several sharp night frosts occurred, and the deli- 
 cate summer birds, like the Scarlet Tanager and others, suffered severely. On May 9 in 
 the gardens of Milwaukee, the apple trees were almost in full bloom, with flower 
 trusses of every shade of color from almost carmine to pure white. The Siberian crab, the 
 pear, plum, and cherry trees were also in frill flower. Beautiful Wood Warblers, on their 
 way to more northern regions, were busily engaged in searching for insects among the 
 flowers of the fruit trees. Their sprightly songs were heard on all sides, while they were 
 running, hopping, creeping, darting, and flying around among the masses of flowers. 
 In the Hospital grounds across the street the large apple trees swarmed with birds. 
 From the windows of my study I saw three beautiful males of the Scarlet Tanager, and 
 the loud, melodious, and flute-like song was heard especially in the quiet and sunny 
 morning hours. The sweet notes of the Baltimore Oriole, of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 
 and the Indigo Bunting were also heard on this bright and mild day. Usually these 
 
birds arrive somewhat later, especially the Scarlet Tanager, and the fruit trees are 
 generally also flowering later, — all coming forth, one after another, to welcome the 
 birthday of June. 
 
 Among the ornamental shrubs the Japan quince, the beautiful Tartarian honey- 
 suckle, and the Japan plum^ were in full bloom. The lowlands were bright with the 
 fragrant meadow pink^, and on the edges of the woods the handsome blue polemonium 
 or Jacob's ladder', the rue anemone^ the fragrant waxy-white flowers of the May-apple 
 or mandrake^, and many others were found. Blue and yellow violets w^ere common 
 everywhere. The next day. May 10, the weather became still warmer, and in the late 
 afternoon and evening the air was rather sultry. Low clouds of a dark gray, color 
 obscured the blue of the sky. After the night had fallen the air was aUve with thou- 
 sands of birds migrating northward. The call-notes of many species could be heard 
 from all sides. Innumerable Bobolinks passed on to the North; they could easily be 
 distinguished by their mettalic notes. Warblers and Goldfinches could also be plainly 
 distinguished by their voices. They all pursued their way northward rather low, and 
 sometimes their forms could be plainly seen. Thousands upon thousands of birds w^ere 
 moving on. Even at three o'clock in the morning I heard their voices. Early in the 
 morning of May 11 all the larger gardens in the city swarmed with migrants, the 
 majority of them being Warblers, especially Chestnut, Blackburnian, Magnolia, Black- 
 throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Black-and-white, Canada Warblers, and others. 
 
 The most conspicuous of all the migrants, however, was the White-throated 
 Sparrow. Its peculiar song echoed from every garden containing ornamental trees 
 and shrubs. Although the van had arrived late in April and early in May, the majority 
 appeared in the second week of that month. In the garden of Miss Hedwig Schlichting 
 they were observed from the day of their arrival till their departure late in May. In 
 the large old apple trees near her house, in the adjoining grounds, and in the evergreens 
 and the ornamental shrubs they felt perfectly at home. My friend fed them under her 
 window twice each day with Canary and millet seed. Sometimes more than twenty- 
 five were picking up the food she supplied, often in company with White-crowns and 
 House Sparrows. She observed that only a few of the last species mingled with the 
 White-throats, and that no quarreling ever occurred. 
 
 "The White-throated Sparrows," Miss Hedwig Schlichting says, "are elegant and 
 noble birds, highly interesting in all their ways and manners, and showing nothing of 
 the vulgar and low traits of the European species. When not molested they are con- 
 fident and even tame. I observe them often for an hour from the open window, enjoy- 
 ing highly their presence. In the broad old apple tree, under which I scatter the food, 
 the sprightly Wood Warblers in great numbers and of many species, the Baltimore 
 Oriole, the Catbird and Yireos are busily engaged in searching for insects and in singing 
 their sweet notes. Now and then one of these Sparrows mounts the top of this or a 
 neighboring tree, warbling with all his power his peculiar and exquisite notes. I even 
 have heard them utter their song on the ground, when they were picking up the seeds 
 which I had scattered around. Often I heard two or three in different directions vicing 
 with each other in pouring forth their melody. This song is quite different from any 
 
 I Primus triloba. 2 Phlox pllosa. •■ Palemonlam cteraleum. t Tbalictrum anemonoldes. » Podophyllum pehatttta. 
 
other bird music I am acquainted with except that of the White-crowned Sparrow, to 
 which it bears close resemblance, though instantly distinguishable by a musical ear. 
 The "White-crown's song is louder, shorter, and, to my taste, finer, consisting only of 
 six notes, while the more prolonged and yaried strain of this bird is made up of about 
 ten to twelve notes. It is sometimes marred by several harsh sounds. Yet it is a pecu- 
 liar whistling strain of great beauty and charm, well adapted to brighten the beauty 
 of such a time as we experience to-day (May 9, 1894). The melody commences with a 
 long syllable, clear and high, loud and reverberating, the second rising still higher ; then 
 the others follow in a quicker tempo and with a falling cadence. There are excellent 
 and poor singers among the White-throats as among other birds. The song can be 
 easily imitated. Probably it can be best described by the following syllables pee-a'dee- 
 de, a'dee-de, a'dee-de, or, as Mr. Ridgway gives it, pc-pe-pe'body, pe'body, pe'body. 
 Though a pleasant strain and a sweet accompaniment to the beautiful days of May, I 
 am inclined to suppose that it is not the full love song which is heard in its summer 
 haunts, the beautiful evergreen woods of northern Wisconsin and northward. During 
 warm weather we may listen to this exquisite song throughout the month. In the 
 resident part of the city it is heard from all directions. These Sparrows are not molested 
 so much by the bad boy and the street urchin as thd brighter colored birds like the 
 Baltimore Oriole, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, the Indigo Bunting, the Goldfinch, the 
 Woodpecker and, especially that 'flame in feathers,' the Scarlet Tanager. They are 
 mistaken for the common House Sparrow and are left alone. The first arrivals are old 
 males, very probably such that pass on to the most northern regions of their habitat. 
 The females and young males of those breeding in the northern part of our own State 
 linger until the last days of May, when they are off for their breeding grounds, leaving 
 not a single straggler. They disappear as suddenly as they arrived, and none are 
 observed again until the bright and balmy days of the Indian summer. They visit 
 our gardens at the fall migration in smaller numbers, and they are also perfectly 
 quiet; at this time I never have heard their notes. They do not linger so long as 
 in spring. Evidently they procure almost all their food from the ground, where 
 they scratch in the same way as the White-crowned and Fox-colored Sparrow and the 
 Towhee." 
 
 I can fully confirm these observations of my contributor, as I have seen them in 
 large numbers in her garden, w^hich seems to be the gathering place for many birds 
 during migrations, especially in spring. 
 
 They arrive about the same time as the White-crowns and the Juncos, being not 
 as numerous as the last, but much more abundant than the first. Moreover this species 
 is more common in the East than in the West. In southern Wisconsin and northern 
 Illinois they usually arrive in fall during the first dayis of October, remaining generally 
 until the 20th or 25th. In south-western Missouri they make their appearance about 
 October 10, remaining well into November. In all parts of Texas and Louisiana they 
 winter abundantly. In southern Louisiana a shameless slaughter of our small song- 
 birds is going on throughout every winter. In the French Market of New Orleans we 
 notice dead Juncos, Towhees, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, Thrashers, 
 Thrushes, Robins, Warblers, etc., by the thousand. We learn from Audubon that even 
 
in his time these birds were slaughtered in immense numbers in Louisiana. In Texas 
 they are not much moksted except by Negroes. 
 
 Wherever the White-throated Sparrows occur in fall and winter and in spring, they 
 are always found in or near thickets, hedge-rows, in the underwood of forest lands, in 
 gardens well planted with ornamental shrubs, etc. In Houston, Tex., they find protec- 
 tion during cold weather in magnolias, loquat trees, pittosporums, gardenias, red cedars, 
 and even in the tangled masses of evergreen Japanese honey-suckles and roses on piazzas 
 and verandas. "They frequent, on the whole," says Dr. Elliott Coues, "different places 
 in the spring and fall. At the former season, they enter the woods in large numbers, 
 less closely associating than during the fall, and ramble over the ground, doubtless in 
 search of insects, the last year's supply of seeds being in a great measure exhausted. 
 In autumn, they ai'e found principally trooping together in shrubbery, along hedge-rows, 
 the brier-patches of old fields, and similar resorts, where the seeds they like are plenty. 
 Audubon's account of their manners at this season is too faithful and vivid to ever 
 grow out of date : 
 
 " 'How it comes and how it departs are quite unknown to me. I can only say 
 that, all of a sudden, the edges of the fields bordering on creeks or swampy places, and 
 overgrown with different species of vines, sumac bushes, briers, and the taller kinds of 
 grasses, appear covered with these birds. They form groups, sometimes containing from 
 thirty to fifty individuals, and live together in harmony. They are constantly moving 
 up and down among these recesses, with frequent jerkings of the tail, and uttering a 
 note common to the tribe. From the hedges and thickets they issue one by one, in quick 
 succession, and ramble to the distance of eight or ten yards, hopping and scratching, in 
 quest of small seeds, and preserving the utmost silence. When the least noise is heard, 
 or alarm given, and frequently as I thought, without any alarm at all, they all fly back 
 to their covert, pushing directly into the thickest part of it. A moment elapses, when 
 they become reassured, and, ascending to the highest branches and twigs, open a little 
 concert, which, although of short duration, is extremely sweet. There is much plaintive 
 softness in their note, which I wish, kind reader, I could describe to you; but this is 
 impossible, although it is yet ringing in my ear, as if I were in those very fields where 
 I have so often listened to it with delight. No sooner is their music over than they 
 return to the field, and thus continue alternately sallying forth and retreating during 
 the greater part of the day. At the approach of night they utter a sharper and shriller 
 note, consisting of a single twit, repeated in smart succession by the whole group, and 
 continuing until the first hooting of some owl frightens them into silence. Yet, often 
 during fine nights, I have heard the little creatures emit, here and there a twit, as if to 
 assure each other that all's well.' 
 
 "The musical abilities of this pretty Sparrow, to which Audubon so feelingly 
 alludes, are of a high order, though the song is rather notable for its limpid sweetness 
 than for power of brilliancy. An attempt is made to express the sound in the name 
 commonly given to the species, in some sections, 'Peabody-bird.' It seems to say, 
 pee-a'-body, a'body, a'body, a'body, beginning clear, high, and loud, with prolonging 
 of the first syllable ; then rising still higher and shortly accenting the second note ; then 
 trilling the remainder with a falling inflexion and decreasing volume ; this latter part 
 
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 119 
 
 being repeated three or four times, the d still accented, but with diminishing emphasis. 
 I think it might be readily written in musical notes, but I am unable to do so." 
 
 "Notwithstanding the slighting manner," writes Dr. T. M. Brewer, "in which the 
 song of this bird is spoken of by some writers, in certain parts of the country its clear, 
 prolonged, and peculiar whistle has given to it quite a local fame and popularity. 
 Among the White Mountains, where it breeds abundantly, it is known as the Peabody 
 Bird, and its remarkably clear whistle resounds in all their glens and secluded recesses. 
 Its song consists of twelve distinct notes, which are not unfrequently interpreted into 
 various ludicrous travesties. As this song is repeated with no variations, and quite 
 frequently from early morning until late in the evening, it soon becomes quite mono- 
 tonous. 
 
 "Among the White Mountains I have repeatedly found its nest. They were always 
 on the ground, usually sheltered by surrounding grass, and at the foot of bushes or a 
 tree, or in the woods under a fallen log. In that region it retained all its wild, shy 
 habits, rarely being found in the neighborhood of dwellings or in cultivated grounds. 
 But at Halifax this was not so. There I found them breeding in gardens, on the edge 
 of the city, and in close proximity to houses, apparently not more shy than the common 
 Song Sparrow. 
 
 "The nest of the bird is usually, if not always, on the ground, but in various 
 situations, as I have found them oji a hill-side, in the midst of low underbrush, in a 
 swampy thicket, at the foot of some large tree in a garden, as at Halifax, by the edge 
 of a small pond, or in a hollow and decaying stump. Their nest is large, deep, and 
 capacious, with a base of moss or coarse grasses, woven with finer stems above and 
 lined with hair, a few feathers, fine rootlets of plants or soft grasses. The eggs vary 
 from four to seven in number. Their ground-color is of a pale green or a greenish-white, 
 marked over the entire egg with a fox-colored or rusty -brown. Occasionally these 
 markings are sparsely scattered, permitting the ground to be plainly visible, but gener- 
 ally they are so very abundant as to cover the entire egg so closely as to conceal all 
 other shade, and give to the whole a deep uniform rufous-brown hue, through which 
 the under color of light green is hardly distinguishable. They measure .90 X .68 of 
 an inch." 
 
 The White-throated Sparrow is an abundant summer sojourner in northern Wis- 
 consin. According to Mr. A. J. Schoenebeck it is a common summer resident in Oconto 
 Co., where he frequently found the nest. While making a trip through the woods with 
 the late Mr. B. F. Goss, on June 8, 1892, he found two nests in a swamp on the ground. 
 They were situated in bunches of moss, and one was entirely covered with moss except 
 on one side. These nests were mainly built of moss and lined with fine grasses. Each 
 contained four eggs, averaging .88X.64. 
 
 The White-throated Sparrow is an excellent bird for the cage. I kept several for 
 years, in Chicago as well as Texas. Near the West Yegua Creek I caught them in a 
 "figure of four trap" in the woods, where they were occupied during the whole winter 
 in silently gleaning for food among the dead leaves. They lived perfectly in peace with 
 other Sparrows, and their appetite was easily satisfied. Seeds of all kinds, and in 
 summer a mixture of Mockingbird-food and crated carrots and half ripe millet and 
 
120 TRBB SPARROW. 
 
 caffir corn was all they desired. The males do not sing if kept in company with each 
 other, but placed separately in a cage they sing almost incessantly through the months 
 of May and June. 
 
 NAMES: White-throated Sparrow, White-throat, "Peabody Bird," Yellow-browed Sparrow, Bush Sparrow. 
 — Buschfink and Weisskehliger Ammerfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: FritigiUa albicollis Gmelin (1788). ZONOTRICHIA ALBICOLLIS Bonap. (1850). 
 Passer penttsylvanicus Briss. (1760) [Wilson]. Fring-illa pennsylvanica hath. (1790) [Audubon]. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : "Two black stripes on crown, separated by a median one of white. A broad superciliary stripe 
 from the base of the mandible to the occiput, yellow as far as the middle of the eye and white behind this. 
 A broad black streak on the side of the head from behind the eye. Chin, white, abruptly defined against 
 the dark ash of the sides of the head and upper part of the brfiast, fading into white on the belly, and 
 margined by a narrow black maxillary line. Edge of wing and. axillaries, yellow. Back and edges of 
 secondaries rufous-brown, the former streaked with dark brown. Two narrow white bands across the 
 wing-coverts. 
 
 "Length, 7.00 inches; wing, 3.10 ; tail, 3.20 inches." (B. B. R.) 
 
 TREE SPARROW, 
 
 Spizella monticola Baird. 
 
 The windflower and the violet, they perished long: ago, 
 
 And the brier-rose and the orchid died amid the summer glow; 
 
 But on the hill the golden-rod, and the aster in the wood. 
 
 And the yellow sun-flower by the brook in autumn beauty 
 
 stood. 
 
 Till fell the frost from the clear cold heaven, as falls the 
 
 plague on men, 
 
 And the brightness of their smile was gone, from upland, 
 
 glade and glen. 
 
 W. C. Bryant. 
 
 MONG the limited number of northern birds spending the winter in Wisconsin 
 'J^^ and northern Illinois, the Tree Sparrow is one of the most conspicuous. Bushy 
 woodland borders, thickets in fields and meadows, and especially hedge-rows are its 
 favorite resorts during the cold winter weather. The van appears late in October. The 
 majority, however, does not arrive before the end of November. Those remaining in 
 the northern parts of the country probably come from the regions of the Yukon, the 
 Mackenzie, the Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake, Labrador, and the Hudson's Bay 
 territory. In the Ozark Mountains of south-western Missouri I found them more 
 abundant during winter than anywhere else in the United States. In northern Illinois 
 they take up their abode in the Osage orange hedges which stretch out for miles along 
 the country roads, or serve as boundary lines between the different farms. In summer 
 these hedge-rows are the favorite haunts of the Thrashers, the Catbirds, Kingbirds, and 
 Shrikes, and the nests of these birds are almost always found in these thorny thickets. 
 I never found the Thrasher so abundant as in these Osage orange hedges. In winter 
 the Great Northern Shrike makes these hedge-rows its favorable hunting ground, and 
 many an innocent Tree Sparrow falls a prey to this harmless looking butcher. During 
 
very cold weather the Tree Sparrows often frequent the door-yards and gardens. At 
 Freistatt, Lawrence Co., Mo., where my house was situated on the edge of the woods, 
 I had prepared a feeding place fbr the hungry winter birds, consisting of a bare spot, 
 surrounded by thorny brush piles and overlaid w^ith brush and some evei-green branches. 
 Here they were quite safe from their worst enemies, the prowling cats, and from birds of 
 prey. Snowbirds or Juncos, White-throated, White-crowned, and Fox-colored Sparrows, 
 Harris' Sparrows, and especially Tree Sparrows visited these feeding places regularly 
 several times each day, picking up the millet, grass seeds and crumbs of bread which I 
 had supplied for them. Such a feeding place is a source of great pleasure to the friend 
 of Nature, and he will often have the opportunity to observe birds, which, perhaps, he 
 has never seen before. In this locality I heard the song of these birds throughout the 
 winter on mild and sunny days. It is a very musical, loud, and clear chant, starting, 
 as Prof. Wm. Brewster says, with two high notes, then falling rapidly, and ending with 
 a low, sweet warble. In the Northern States I have heard the song several times in 
 November, and then again in March, just before they started for their northern breeding 
 grounds. Early in March the majority leaves the Ozark region, and by the end of that 
 month most have departed from Milwaukee, although I have seen stragglers there until 
 April 20. 
 
 Even in North Dakota this Finch is a very abundant winter bird. "At Fort 
 Randall," says Dr. Elliott Coues, "I found the birds as abundant as I have ever seen 
 them anywhere, during pleasant weather in the month of October. All the undergrowth 
 of the river-bottom w^as full of them, in troops sometimes numbering hundreds, singing 
 as gaily, it seemed to me, as in spring time. With the colder w^eather of the following 
 month, so many moved off that I thought none would remain to endure the rigor of 
 winter, but such proved to be not the case. The remainder simply retreated to the 
 deepest recesses of the shrubbery, where, protected from the biting winds, if not from 
 the cold, they passed the winter, and to all appearances very comfortably. I account 
 for their remaining at this inclement season, by the profusion of seeds of various kinds 
 that are to be obtained during the whole winter ; certainly, those that I examined were 
 in good condition, and generally had the crop well filled. Their seclusion and quietness 
 at this season is remarkable, and causes them to be in a great measure overlooked. 
 On several occasions, wherl the thermometer was below zero, the river was frozen solid 
 for two feet deep, and snow on the ground, I have unexpectedly come upon little groups 
 of these birds, hiding away close to the ground among and under network of vines and 
 rank herbage, close enough to collect and retain a mantle of snow. When startled at. such 
 times they have a low, pleasant chirp as they flutter into sight among the bushes, scat- 
 tering a little, but only to collect again and seek their snug retreat as soon as left to 
 themselves. Whether rendered careless by the cold, or through a natural heedlessness, 
 they are very tame at such times ; they sit unconcernedly on the twigs, it may be but 
 a few feet distant, chirping cheerfully, with the plumage all loosened and puffy, making 
 very pretty 'roly-poly' looking objects. There is a particular kind of plant here, the 
 seeds of which endure all winter, furnishing a favorite repast. In a clump of these tall 
 weeds dozens of the birds may be seen together, busily feeding. Some, more energetic, 
 spring up and cling to the swaying panicles, picking away, while others gather about 
 
 16 
 
122 W^Sf^R]^ TREJ^ SPARROW. 
 
 the stem, getting a good dinnei", without trouble, off the seeds that their neighbors 
 above rattle down. At such times the whole company keeps up an animated conversa- 
 tion, expressing their satisfaction, no doubt, in their own language; it is more than 
 chirping, and not quite singing — a low, soft continuous chanting, as pleasing as it is 
 indescribable. The Tree Sparrow^ is, indeed, one of the sweet-voiced of our Sparrows, 
 and one very fond of singing, not only in the spring, but at other seasons ; times are 
 hard with it, indeed, when it cannot, on occasion, tune its gentle pipe." 
 
 The breeding range of this bird is extensive. On the Atlantic coast it breeds from 
 northern Maine to Labrador. In the Hudson's Bay region it seems to be common also. 
 In Alaska it is one of the most abundant birds. But this is a variety, the Western 
 Tree Sparrow, S. monticola ochracea Brewster. 
 
 The nest is described as being placed in similar situations as that of the Hairbird, 
 but it is said to be built often on the ground. Kennicott found the bird breeding on 
 the Yukon, and Dall at Nulato. McFarlane met with it breeding in large numbers at 
 Fort Anderson. The nests w^ere constructed of dry bark and grasses, loosely put to- 
 gether and very warmly lined with feathers. On the ground they were usually concealed 
 in a tuft of grass. The usual number of eggs in a nest is four or five. The eggs have 
 no similarity to those of the Hairbird, being light green, flecked and freckled w^ith 
 minute markings of foxy-brow^n. These markings are distributed with great regularity 
 over the surface, but so sparsely as to leave the ground distinctly visible. Size . SOX. 60. 
 NAMES: Tree Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, Canadian Sparrow, Winter Chippy. — Baumfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla monticola Gmel. (1788). SPIZBLLA MONTICOLA Baird (1858). Frin- 
 gilla canadensis Lath. (1790) [Nutt., Aud.]. Fringilla arborea Wils. (1810). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. "Mandible, yellow; maxilla, black. Pileum, rich rufous, also a distinct postocular 
 stripe; sides of head, light ash-gray, including a broad superciliary stripe, the latter nearly white an- 
 teriorly. Nape mixed ashy and rufous. Back, rusty ochraceous, streaked with rufous and black. Wings, 
 rusty, the feathers blackish centrally; both rows of wing-coverts broadly tipped with pure white, forming 
 two distinct bands ; tertials bordered with white toward ends. Rump, uniform grayish-olive. Tail, dark 
 grayish-brown, feathers edged with paler. Lower parts, whitish, tinted yrith ashy anteriorly, sides and 
 flanks tinged with ochraceous, sides of breast tinged with rufous, and middle of jugulum with a dusky 
 spot." (Ridgway, "Birds of Illinois.") 
 
 Length about 6.25 inches ; wing, 2.95 ; tail, 2.70 inches. 
 
 The Western Tree Sparrow, S. monticola ochracea Brewst., a local form, in- 
 habits western North America, east to Dakota and western Kansas, south in winter to 
 New Mexico and Arizona, in summer north to the Arctic regions. Breeds in Alaska. 
 
CHIPPING SPARROW, 
 
 Spizella socialis Bonaparte. 
 
 Plate XXIII. Fig. 2. 
 
 stranger, if thou hast learned a. truth -which needs 
 
 No school of long experience, that the world 
 
 Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen 
 
 Bnough of all its sorrows, crimes, and cares 
 
 To tire thee of it, enter this wild wood 
 
 And TJew the haunts of Nature. The calm shade 
 
 Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze 
 
 That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balm 
 
 To thy sick heart. Thou wilt find nothing here 
 
 Of all that pained thee in the haunts of men 
 
 And made thee loathe of thy life. 
 
 ■ W. C. Bryant. 
 
 ]^) EAUTIFUL and idyllic country seats are scarce in this country, and comparatively 
 scarce are the true lovers of Nature. Although there is happiness, peace, beauty 
 
 and charm in country life, the young men only too often leave the associations of their 
 early childhood and help to increase the population of our large and smoky cities. The 
 friction of their kind, the stir of multitudes, the thrill of competition, the struggle for 
 success, prove irresistible to the young, and once inured to it the mature man rarely 
 desires to leave it for a more healthful, happy, and quiet existence. The woods, the 
 brooks, the birds and planl;s take a subordinate place in the young man's fancy. But 
 in the evening of his days, after the stress of life's work is over, there will inevitably 
 return the longing to possess and transfigure some portion of the earth's surface. This 
 desire comes naturally to almost every man. The idea of rest in declining years seems 
 to be inseparably connected w^ith rural scenes. The paradise to be regained is never 
 within the walls of the city. This is true even of the city -born and city-bred, and it is 
 doubly true of those reared in the country, and when they take up with renewed 
 interest the occupations of their childhood, they find, to their surprise, that in addition to 
 the flowers or fruit which reward their care there is an ideal harvest of associations which 
 may make their closing years rich with a beauty and pathos all their own. Every leaf 
 and flower, every tree and shrub, every bird in the garden and woodland touches some 
 mystic chord of memory and association, and the glory of that far-off time gilds their 
 downward pathway with a tender radiance and revives the spirit of early youth.* 
 
 Of all this I w^as reminded when for the first time I visited the beautiful country 
 seat of Ex-Governor Francis A. Hoffmann of Illinois — who writes his books and articles 
 on agriculture and horticulture under the nom de plume "Hans Buschbauer." Born and 
 bred in the country, he took for many years a high rank in business as well as in society 
 and politics in the western metropolis, Chicago. But the noise and the enervating life 
 of the great city created in him the desire to return to the country. In Jefferson County, 
 Wis., a fine piece of land was selected. In cultivating the soil, in the planting of trees and 
 shrubs, and in observing the coming and going and nesting of the birds he found health 
 and recreation. From the broad veranda of the house, built in the convenient southern 
 
 • Compare "Garden and Forest," Vol. V, p. 193. The Love of Nature. 
 
124 CHIPPING SPARROW. 
 
 style, he has a beautiful view of the landscape around him. Behind the house the Rock 
 River flows through a piece of the forest primeval. This region was once the favorite 
 habitation of a great people, as the ancient city Aztalan and the many mounds as 
 well as the innumerable implements of stone and copper which were and are still found 
 near the Rock River and throughout Jefferson County, show. Mr. Hoffmann is especially 
 fond of the birds which abound on his grounds. The Orioles in the elm trees, the Vireos 
 and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in the adjoining woodland, the Catbird in the honey- 
 suckles, the Thrasher in the hedge-row, the Swallows in the air, the Wrens, Martins, 
 and Bluebirds around their nesting boxes, the Song Sparrows, Indigo-birds, and Summer 
 Warblers in the ornamental shrubs, all these birds are tenderly loved and protected. 
 There are few places in this State where so many small birds congregate. 
 
 Nowhere have I seen so many Chipping Sparrows, or Hairbirds, than here. In 
 the dense red .cedars and evergreens which surround the house, and in the ornamental 
 shrubs they find excellent nesting places and a safe retreat in case of danger and during 
 the night. As everywhere else the Chippy is a great favorite here, although the clever 
 little gray fellow in its jaunty rusty-red cap is not an elegant bird like its neighbor, the 
 Indigo Bunting, or like the exquisite Rose-breasted Grosbeak and the Scarlet Tanager 
 in the adjoining woodland. Its simple notes which consist of a rapid succession of sharp 
 sounds, may be heard from a bush or a small tree by the wayside or in the garden 
 throughout the day until the evening falls. This song sounds as if "bits of flint were 
 being chipped by striking against each other." I do not know of any bird having a 
 similar song, except the Worm-eating Warbler, a species common in the central regions 
 of our country and frequenting the woods. "If you hear a Chippy sing in the \\roods 
 near St. Louis and in southern Illinois," says Mr. Widmann, "you may be sure to have 
 made the acquaintance of the Worm-eating Warbler." A very striking trait in the life- 
 history of our Hairbird is its familiarity, combined with a good deal of "self-possession 
 if not self-assertion." Without fear the bird approaches the house, coming even in the 
 vicinity of the kitchen door to pick up crumbs and seeds. 
 
 The Chipping Sparrow is everywhere a bird of the garden. Indeed, I have never 
 seen one, during the breeding season, far from the habitations of man. Gardens planted 
 with dense evergreens and ornamental shrubbery, even in our large cities, are its favorite 
 haunts. In the farmer's gardens, where often neither tree nor shrub has been planted for 
 ornament, the Chippy makes its home in a dense currant or gooseberry bush. Although 
 being found from Georgia and Arkansas to the Arctic regions, I nowhere observed it more 
 frequently than in Wisconsiii. Along the Atlantic coast it breeds as far north as Nova 
 Scotia and New Brunswick, and it has been met with in considerable numbers at Fort 
 Resolution, on Great Slave Lake, and at Fort Simpson and Fort Rae. In the United 
 States it is distributed from the Atlantic to the Great Plains, wintering from about 40° 
 southward. From the Rocky Mountains west to the Pacific it is represented by the 
 Western Chipping Sparrow, S. socialis arizonae CouES, which occurs north to beyond 
 60°, wintering as far south as southern Mexico. This variety seems not to be quite as 
 familiar as the true species. Prof Ridgway found it in abundance in all the wooded 
 portions of the Great Basin. He did not meet with it among the cotton-woods of the 
 river valleys, its favorite haunts appearing to be the cedars and nut-pines of ttie 
 
XXIV 
 
 1. CHONDESTES (iRAMMACUS Bonap. 
 
 2. ZONOTRICHIA QUERULA Ciamb. 
 
 3. ZONOTRICHIA ALRICOLLIS Swains, 
 t. ZONOTRICHIA LEUCOPHRYS Sv/ains. 
 
 5. PEUCAA i^STIV'i'U.IS Cab. 
 
 6. PASSERELLA ILIACA Swains. 
 
 LERCHENFINK. 
 
 TRAUERFINK. 
 
 BUSCHFINK. 
 
 KRONFINK. 
 
 PALMETTOFINK, 
 
 FU CHS FINK. 
 
 ~ Lark Sparrow. 
 
 - Harris' Sparrow. 
 
 - White -throafed Sparrow. 
 ~ White -crowned Sparrow. 
 ~ Pine-woods-Sparrow. 
 
 "" Fox Sparrow. 
 
CHIPPING SPARROW. 125 
 
 mountains. In Jtily and August he found it abundantly in such localities on the East 
 Humboldt Motmtains. At Sacramento, Cal., it was also very numerous among the 
 groves of small oaks. He could not find the slightest difference in habits or notes between 
 the two forms. Dr. Elliott Coues observed this form a very abundant summer resident 
 in Arizona, and Mr. Dresser obtained specimens near San Antonio, Texas. 
 
 In the Northern States the Hairbird does not belong to the first arrivals from the 
 South, although it makes its appearance wrhile spring still hesitates with lingering 
 doubts, cold winds and patches of snow on north-facing slopes and in shaded ravines. 
 I have rarely observed it in southern Wisconsin before April 20, and the same holds true 
 of all localities under the same latitude. At Freistatt, Lawrence Co., Mo., where these 
 birds are exceedingly common during the migrations, they do not arrive before March 15. 
 Though the climate of the last-named locality is very mild, none winter there. They 
 arrive from the North eai'ly in October, and by November 30 almost all have lefb. Only 
 few remain to breed. At Houston, Texas, I met with them throughout the winter in 
 the larger gardens, where they found sufficient food and excellent abiding places in the 
 dense evergreen shrubs, conifers, creepers, and rose bushes. The w^inter home of the 
 Chippy is in the Southern States, but the majority winters in Mexico. Dr. Gerhardt 
 found this bird breeding in northern Georgia, and Dr. Coues in South Carolina. 
 
 The haunts of the Chippy are always chosen near the habitations of man. We 
 rarely meet with it in pastures and on the woodland border. In the days of my youth 
 a pair built its nest several times each year in the dense wild grape-vine, which was 
 planted as an ornament on the veranda of my parental home, while near by a second 
 pair had its domicile in a wild clematis or common virgin's bower {Clematis Virginiana); a 
 third pair had its nest in a dense -mid gooseberry bush not more than twenty yards away. 
 In close proximity to my house at Oak Park, lUs.^ a pair nestled in a dense arbor-vitae, 
 and others had their nests in spruces and firs. Where upright honey-suckles, mock-orange 
 and snowherryhushes {Sytnpboricarpus glomeratus) art plarited profusely, these are entirely 
 to its fancy. Twining honey-suckles, clematis, and especially currant bushes are also favor- 
 ite nesting sites. In the East, where rhododendrons, azaleas, andromedas, and kalmias 
 (mountain laurels) flourish to perfection in peaty beds, they are the Chippy's paradise. 
 
 The Chipping Sparrow's nest is one of the most notable and characteristic domiciles 
 among those of our garden birds, and one scarcely to be mistaken for that of any other 
 bird. Fine grasses and rootlets form the substance of the walls and basement, and the 
 deep cup is almost invariably lined with horse hairs, and sometimes it consists chiefly 
 or entirely of such material. The location of the domicile is also very characteristic. 
 In most cases it is built in the interior of a very dense bush, not more than two or 
 three feet from the gfound. If we carefully bend the twigs aside, we may see the beau- 
 tiful nest with its still more beautiful contents before our eyes. Frequently these birds 
 become so accustomed to the presence of man, that they built their nest within arm's 
 reach of those who sit or walk upon the veranda. 
 
 In Wisconsin I often found the nest in almost impenetrable and stunted white- 
 thorn bushes in pastures. These bushes were kept dwarf and dense by the teeth of 
 browsing cattle; no cat or skunk or any other robber could penetrate such a thorny 
 mass, and even the bird itself could often enter it only at one or two places. 
 
The eggs, four or five in number, are bluish-green, and are sparingly spotted about 
 the larger end with dark brown and purple markings. They measure .66X.48. 
 
 The young are fed with small insects, and when they are about six days old the 
 parents carry larger insects, especially green worms, to the nest. When their haunts 
 are infested with the destructive canker worms, they will feed the young with this pest 
 in incredible numbers. They are devoted parents and express great solicitude w^henever 
 their nests are approached and meddled with. 
 
 "The tameness and sociability of this bird," writes Dr. T. M. Brewer, "surpass 
 that of any of the birds I have ever met with in New England, and ai-e only equalled 
 by similar traits manifested by the Snowbird {Junco hyemalis) in Pictou. Those, that 
 live about our dwellings in rural situations, and have been treated kindly, visit our 
 door-steps, and even enter the houses with the greatest familiarity and trust. They will 
 learn to distinguish their friends, alight at their feet, call for their accustomed food, and 
 pick it up when thrown to them, without the slightest signs of fear. One pair which, 
 summer after summer, had built their nest in a fir tree near my door, became so accus- 
 tomed to be fed that they would clamor for their food if they were any morning for- 
 gotten. One of these birds, the female, from coming down to be fed with crumbs, soon 
 learned to take them on a flat branch of the fir near her nest, and at last to feed from 
 my hand, and afterwards from that of other members of the family. Her mate, all the 
 while, was comparatively' shy and distrustful, and could not be induced to receive his 
 food from us or to eat in our presence." 
 
 The flight of the Chippy is in no way peculiar; it is never long and not as quick 
 and graceful as those of the Field Sparrow. The birds pick up their food mostly from the 
 ground, though they capture eater-pillars, moths, and beetles often on the foliage and 
 the flowers of trees and shrubs. They rarely perch at any great height from the ground, 
 and I cannot recall an instance of having seen them in tall trees. Wherever they occur 
 the low shrubbery is their abode. Often we may see them perching upon fences, wash- 
 lines, posts, or farming implements. They are not uncommon in our large cities; in 
 Milwaukee and Chicago I have found them common summer sojourners in the parks 
 and even in the small gardens of the resident parts. Owing to the coal dust and soot 
 the plumage of these city birds looks much darker than that of the Chippies living in a 
 purer air. In populated parts of the country these birds are much more abundant than 
 in the primitive tracts. "They are consequently among the several species who have to 
 contend with the English Sparrows in the ceaseless struggle for existence that is the 
 order of Nature for all creatures. During the pairing and nesting periods they are pretty 
 equally dispersed in their usual haunts, showing no gregarious disposition; but in the 
 fall, preceding or during the migration, flocks of considerable size nlake up by the road- 
 side and in the pasture land. They have at times a song quite different from the sharp, 
 monotonous trill so characteristic of the spring time, and of much more musical quality ; 
 and they are among the several birds of our country which occasionally wake up in the 
 middle of the night, to twitter a tremulous expression of their happiness, and then sink 
 quietly to sleep again." (Stearns.) 
 
 The ordinary note of the Hairbird is a sharp chip, like that of the Tree Sparrow, 
 and its song consists of quite a series of chips, with scarcely any vai'iation. These notes 
 
PIELD SPARROW. 121 
 
 are unique, reminding more of the sounds of an insect than a bird, and are easily 
 recognized. 
 
 NAMES: Chipping Sparrow, Chipping-bird, Chippy, Chip-bird, Hair-bird, Chipper. — Haarfink, Haarvogel 
 (German), 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: FringiUa socialls Wils. (1810). SPIZELLA SOCIALIS Bonap. (1838). Emberiza 
 socia/fs Aud. (1839). Sp/nites socia//s Cab. (1851). Spizella domestica Cones {1882). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Rump, back of neck, and sides of head and neck, ashy. Interscapular region with black 
 streaks, margined with pale rufous. Crown continuous and uniform chestnut. Forehead, black, 
 separated in the middle by white. A white streak over the eye to the nape, and a black one from the 
 base of the bill through and behind the eye. Lores, dusky. Upper parts, unspotted whitish, tinged 
 with ashy on the sides and across the upper breast. Tail-feathers and primaries, edged with paler, 
 not white. Two narrow white bands across the wing-coverts. Bill, black. 
 '■Length, 5.75 inches; wing nearly 3.00; tail, 2.50 (or less)." (Ridgway.) 
 
 The Western Chipping Sparrow, S. socialis arizonae Coues, a local variety of the 
 foregoing, inhabits the Western United States, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. 
 Winters in middle and western Mexico. 
 
 FIELD SPARROW, 
 
 Spizellsi pusilla Bonapartk. 
 
 Plate XXIII. Pig. 4. 
 
 There's something in the a,ir 
 That's new and sweet and rare,- 
 A scent of summer things, 
 A -whirr as if of -wings. 
 
 There's something, too. that's new 
 In the color of the hlne 
 That's in the morning sky 
 Before the s«n is high. 
 
 Nora Perry. 
 
 ^HE HIGHLANDS of south-western Missouri and northern Arkansas are blessed 
 w^ith a most congenial climate throughout the year. Though changeable, the 
 winters are short and not very cold, and the somewhat dry summers are not oppress- 
 ively hot. A very invigorating mountain air, blowing always from the South, makes 
 even the hottest days pleasant. The plateaus of this locality — the Ozark region — are 
 mostly prairies surrounded by w^oods. Hill-sides and valleys, and the many ravines are 
 clothed with a dense growth of forest trees and underwood. These woodlands are not 
 so beautifully romantic as are those of the Northern States or New England, nor do they 
 have the charm of the magnolia and live-oak woods near the Gulf coast, destitute as they 
 are of a great variety of species. Swamps and large sheets of water are entirely absent. 
 The ravines are usually covered with trees and thickets of hazel, white-thorn, sumach, 
 snowberry*, nine-bark^, sweet viburnum'*, black haw', arrow-wood", persimmons, 
 wahoo^, and others. Wild grape-vines, poison sumach', trumpet creeper', and smilax 
 convert many thickets into impenetrable masses of tangled green. In the Northern States 
 May is generally a very cold, changeable, and unreliable month, but here the climate 
 reaches at this time the climax of beauty. The air is exceedingly mild and invigorating, 
 the ground is covered with masses of flowers, and the air is full of bird song. The 
 
 t Sympboricarpas glomeratas. 2 Spirxa opulifolia. 3 Viburnum leniago. -i Viburnum pranifolium. 5 viburnum 
 dentatum. e Euonymus atropurpureus. 7 Khus toxicodendron. « Tecoma radicans. 
 
128 FIELD SPARROW. 
 
 large apple, pear, and peach orchards and the extensive vine-yards of this region yield 
 a large revenue to their owners. 
 
 In speaking of this region, we must not forget to mention the many cool springs 
 with which the whole district is supplied, each the centre of some wild nook, the very 
 paradise of Cardinal Redbirds, Chats, Catbirds, Thrashers, Water Thrushes, Hooded 
 Warblers, and others. Through the thickets one catches a glimpse or hears the voice of 
 the rushing brook into which these springs empty. 
 
 It is not until the beginning of May that the wild flowers in all their beauty and 
 wealth are to be found, although we may cull several species in bloom early in April. 
 The Carolina and wood anemone^ the houstonia, the rue-anemone^ shooting-star, 
 spring-beauty, and other vernal species are exceedingly abundant. Groups of man- 
 drakes' grow luxuriantly in rich shady spots. The bird's foot violet* flourishes in every 
 fence comer, in half-cleared pastures, and on the woodland border, calling forth raptur- 
 ous admiration from the real friend of Nature who happens to see it for the first time. 
 It is the most showy of all our violets, and its true home seems to be here. The com- 
 mon blue violet ° and the arrow-leaved species^ are also very plentifial. On the prairies 
 and in pastures the shooting-star or American cowslip' opens its white or purple 
 fragrant blossoms early in May in such abundance, that large tracts of land are covered 
 by it. The spring beauty^ is also a very characteristic flower of this region, growing in 
 such a profusion on the borders of woods, that it is impossible to set down the foot 
 without crushing the delicate blossoms. Along woods and in half-cleared pastures the 
 hustonias or bluets* overleap all bounds, and many localities are clouded by them. 
 "They become visible by the highway across wide fields, and look like little pufls of 
 smoke clinging to the ground." By this time the apple and pear trees are in full 
 bloom, and wood^ and orchards literally swarm with Warblers. Near my house, 
 situated on the edge of a fine piece of woodland and on the northside of a large 
 orchard, these sprightly and beautifully colored birds explored every branch firom the 
 tallest hickory to the low dense snowberry, the bush honey-suckle", the forsythia, mock- 
 orange, and spice-bush", so urgent is the demand for food during their long journeys. 
 Usually they are seen early in the morning and all day long, searching every leaf and 
 flower for small insects. At night they are up and away. 
 
 Bird-life is exceedingly abundant in this region. The Blue Jays roam around in 
 large bands in the woods, and the harsh jay jay of these beautiful robbers is heard 
 throughout the day. They breed near the houses, being more sagacious and cunning than 
 the House Sparrows. Robins, Thrashers, Catbirds, Bewick's Wrens, Tufted Tit-mice, 
 Yellow Warblers, Red-starts, Chats, White-eyed, Red-eyed, and Bell's Vireos, Cardinal 
 Red-birds, Great-crested Flycatchers, Bluebirds, Orchard Orioles, Kingbirds, Blue Grosbeaks, 
 Indigobirds, Traill's and Acadian Flycatchers, all had their nests in my immediate vicinity, 
 partly in the orchard, partly in the woods, partly in the many bird-houses I had fastened 
 in the orchard and shade trees, and partly in the dense thickets of snowberry bushes 
 in half-wild pastures and on the woodland border. This was the most favorable place 
 for me to observe birds, to study their habits, and to make myself familiar with them. 
 
 1 Anemone Caroliniana and A. nemorosa. 2 Thaiictrum ancmonoides. s Podophyllum peltatam. 1 Viola pedata. 
 5 Viola cucuUata. « Viola sagittata. ' Dodecatheon Meadia. » Claytonia Virginica. » Houstonia minima. 10 L,oni- 
 cera Tartarica. 11 Calycantbus Boridus. 
 
FIELD SPARROW. 129 
 
 The bird most abundantly met with in this locality is the lively little Field 
 Sparrow or Wood Sparrow, one of the most charming songsters we possess. To become 
 acquainted with this Sparrow we need not go far or search long. While sitting on the 
 piazza covered with yellow honey-suckle {Lonicera Sara) and clematis, we hear its 
 peculiar loud and sweet song from all sides. During the breeding season it never enters 
 the interior of woods, nor does it occur in open fields or bushless prairies. Its favorite 
 haunts are the scattered bushes on the edge of woods, neglected fields, and pastures, where 
 bushes and thickets have grown up luxuriantly, and especially in such places it occurs, 
 where the forest has been cut down and where among isolated trees, old stumps, and 
 rotten logs dense thickets of snowberry, hazel, nine-bark, wild gooseberry bushes, and 
 vine-covered small trees have sprung up. We may also find the bird in the shrubbery 
 of fence comers and even on road-sides. Sometimes the ornamental shrubs of large 
 gardens bounding woodlands are also selected for a summer home. 
 
 During the breeding season this little Finch is distributed from Arkansas and Vir- 
 ginia, north to Wisconsin, southern Canada, and Maine, and from the Atlantic west to 
 the Missouri. In the northern parts of its habitat it is a rare bird, having never been 
 observed by me in Wisconsin or northern Illinois, though other naturalists have found 
 it there occasionally. In central Illinois it occurs more frequently, and in the southern 
 part of that State it is very abundant. Its true home extends from Missouri east to 
 New Jersey etc. It is a common New England bird in field, pasture, and scrub land, but 
 it is decidedly more southerly in its general range. "It is naturally" limited northward 
 by the AUeghanian Fauna, though extending also into the Canadian." - 
 
 At Freistatt, Lawrence Co., Mo., the Field Sparrows make their appearance from 
 March 25 to April 1. By the middle of April even the last stragglers and all the females 
 have arrived. At St. Louis they make their appearance about the same time. Several 
 days after their arrival the large flocks dissolve, and by the beginning of May we only 
 observe the single pairs in their breeding ranges. One pair frequently lives in the im- 
 mediate neighborhood of another. In southern Missouri, where the bird breeds in 
 large numbers on the bushy borders of woods and half-wild localities, I have found 
 during the space of a single hour six nests on an area not more than three acres in 
 extent. In this locality full sets of eggs are found late in May, farther north in the 
 first week of June. 
 
 This Sparrow is much livelier and quicker in its motions than the Chippy; its 
 flight is also more extended and rapid, and the bird is altogether wilder. "Although 
 equally common with the Chipping Sparrow," says Prof. Robert Ridgway, "and in many 
 localities even more abundant, the little Field Sparrow is far less known on account of 
 its more secluded habits. Instead of seeking the society of man it almost wholly avoids 
 the towns, and seems inseparably attached to the rural districts. It is by no means 
 timid or retiring, however, but prefers the country because only there can it find those 
 localities which are essential to its presence." 
 
 Only occasionally I have found the nest on the ground at the foot of a dense bush 
 or herb. Almost all the nests I examined were discovered in very dense bushes which 
 were frequently overgrown with climbing plants. They were always artfully hidden in 
 
 the interior of the bushes, and were situated from one to four feet from the ground. 
 
 17 
 
130 FIBLD SPARROW. 
 
 Snowberry bushes are mostly used for this purpose. While roaming around in a half- 
 cleared piece of woodland on May 26, 1886, searching for nests of the Yellow-breasted 
 Chat, Hooded Warbler, Indigo Bunting, and Blue Grosbeak, I found quite a number of 
 the domiciles of the Field Sparrow, which outnumbered those of all other birds com- 
 bined. The nests were all built in snowberry bushes, which were represented in large 
 and dense single specimens and in thickets. In single specimens the branches hang down 
 to the ground. Indeed, I do not know a shrub that is more densely leayed or branched. 
 No sunbeam can penetrate, and the prying eyes of all kinds of robbers are unable to 
 detect the cozy little domicik hidden underneath and within a dense canopy of tangled 
 green. When carefully parting the twigs from above, I usually had a good view 'of the 
 nest and the breeding female before me. Looking at me with her innocent eyes for a 
 moment, she slipped oif silently by the other side. She then alarmed the male, and 
 both uttered anxious notes of distress. Other birds breeding preferably in these bushes 
 or the surrounding thickets also became alarmed, flying around as if terror-striken, and 
 trying to lead the intruder away from the place where their treasures were hidden. 
 Among these the Yellow-breasted Chat was most conspicuous, but Cardinals, Catbirds, 
 Thrashers, Hooded Warblers, White-eyed and Bell's Vireos, Blue Grosbeaks and Indigo 
 Buntings also appeared on the scene. 
 
 The nest of the Field Sparrow is not so easily found as that of the Chippy, being 
 more carefull3^ concealed in the compact shrubs. In construction it is similar, although 
 more bulky and not so thickly lined with hair. The exterior consists of grasses, root- 
 lets, and fine plant stems, and the cavity is lined with horse hair. Nests on the gi-ound 
 are not sunken into a depression ; they are usually situated on the side of a shrub or 
 herb underneath the overhanging branches. They are still more bulky than those in bushes. 
 
 I also found the nests often in brier patches on the road-sides, in wild gooseberry 
 bushes, and in vine-covered thickets. In Missouri the birds confine themselves during 
 the breeding season almost entirely to the bushy outskirts of upland w^oods. They were 
 never observed, during this time, in swampy or wet places. Two and sometimes three 
 broods are raised annually in the southern part of its summer home. 
 
 The eggs, sometimes three and five, but usually four in number, have a bufify or 
 greenish-white ground-color, marked more or less thickly with blotches and specks of 
 ferruginous-brown. The markings are sometimes so dense, especially at the larger end, 
 as to almost wholly obscure the ground-color. The average size of the eggs is .68 X .52 
 of an inch. 
 
 This humble little Sparrow has a very characteristic and melodious song, entirely 
 its own and widely different from all other bird songs I am acquainted with. It is an 
 untiring songster, singing its sweet lay usually from the tops of bushes, fence-posts, 
 stumps, telegraph wires from morning until the evening falls. Although singing at all 
 hours of the day, even in the noonday heat of the summer, its song is mostly heard in 
 the morning and evening, when the bushy fields and the woodland borders ring with 
 the sounds of dozens of performers. Where the birds are common, this song is one of 
 the most familiar to the ear. No other observer has given such a truthful and correct 
 account of the Field Sparrow's song, as Mr. John Burroughs in his alreadj' often men- 
 tioned little volume "Wake Robin." Mr. BuiToughs writes: 
 
"Another favorite Sparrow, but little noticed, is the Wood or Bush Sparrow, 
 usually called by the ornithologists Spizella pusilla. Its size and form is that of the 
 Chippy, but is less distinctly marked, being of a duller, redder tinge. He prefers remote 
 bushy, heathy fields, where his song is one of the sweetest to be heard. It is sometimes 
 very noticeable, especially early in spring. I remember sitting one bright day in the 
 still leafless April woods, when one of these birds struck up a few rods from me, repeat- 
 ing its lay at short intervals for nearly an hour. It was a perfect piece of wood music, 
 and w^as of course all the more noticeable for being projected upon such a broad un- 
 occupied page of silence. Its song is like the words, fe-o, fe-o, fe-o, fewr, few, few, fee, 
 fee, fee, uttered at first high and leisurely, but running very rapidly toward the close, 
 which is low and soft." 
 
 This description gives a very clear and correct idea of the song, showing that 
 Mr. Burroughs is not only a good observer of the habits of our birds, but that he has 
 also a fine ear for bird-music. I have heard the same notes almost daily from November 
 to late in March near the West Yegua Creek in Texas, where the birds winter in count- 
 less numbers, congregating with Juncos, White-throated and many other Sparrows. 
 They kept together in large swarms, and on fine days each male mounted the top of a 
 bush or the rail-fence and began to sing. The air was fiill of the sweetest music, and 
 the song here was much more conspicuous than in its summer home. This Sparrow^ 
 w^as, with the exception of the Cardinal, and now and then a White-crowned and 
 White-throated Sparrow^, the only bifd which uttered its song. Near Houston, w^hen 
 coming from the tangled and almost impenetrable parts of the forest into some open 
 bushy place, I was usually saluted by the Field Sparrow's song. In their winter-quarters 
 — the South Atlantic and Gulf region — they frequent, with many other birds, the thickets 
 and bushy edges of woods not far from w^ater. Evergreen shrubs, such as hollies, 
 yupon bushes, myrtle hollies, and other bushes overgrown w^ith evergreen smilax and 
 Carolina jasmine, are their favorite haunts. Here they sleep, and with thousands of 
 other northern birds are comparatively safe from their many foes, especially Sparrow 
 and Pigeon Hawks which always follow these swarms of small winter birds. This is 
 their starting place, when they, shortly after day-break, fly into the neighboring cotton 
 and corn-fields to pick up the seeds of weeds and grasses. When alarmed they fly 
 directly back to the bushes, seeking and finding refuge in the masses of tangled branches. 
 During cold weather they are found more in the interior of the woods, where the cold 
 wind has lost much of its vigor. When in March the first flowers begin to bloom, 
 coloring the ground with their tender hues, the unspeakably beautiful song of these 
 birds is heard from all sides. A few days later they are on their way to the North, 
 none iremaining to breed in Texas. The departing of these lovely birds and of many 
 others, known to me since my earliest childhood, did not leave me forsaken ; but the 
 contrast for a time suggested solitude. The merry notes of their many voices still rang 
 in my ears and made me long for my northern home. It seemed as if I should follow 
 them, when the loud what cheer, what cheer of the Cardinal Red-bird fell on my ear, 
 driving from my mind all dreary thoughts. The beautiful magnolia under which I rested, 
 the thickets of holly all around me, the trumpets of fragrant Carolina jasmine, the gar- 
 lands of smilax and trumpet creeper scrambling over bush and tree, the songs of the 
 
132 CLAY-COLORED SPARROW. 
 
 Cardinals and Mockingbirds, and Carolina Wrens and Bluebirds made me satisfied with 
 my situation, and in my happiness I wished that it might be forever so. 
 
 The Field Sparrow secures its food mostly on the ground. In fall and winter it 
 subsists mostly on the seeds of weeds and grasses, and in spring and summer on insects, 
 their eggs, and larvae. Grasshoppers, but especially small eater-pillars, are greatly 
 relished. The young are fed entirely with insects, as is the case with all the small birds. 
 The flight is short, low, and undulating. In their motions they are much quicker, being 
 more nervous than the Chipping Sparrow. For cage-life they are well adapted, as they 
 are easy to keep and their wants readily satisfied. With other smaller birds of similar 
 character they may be safely kept together. Millet and grass seed, "ant's eggs," ^ock- 
 ingbird-fbod, etc., form their diet in cage-life. They are also very diligent songsters 
 in confinement. 
 
 NAMES: Field Sparrow, Wood Sparrow, Bush Sparrow, "Feo-Feo," Field Chippy, Red-billed Chippy. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla pusilla Wils. (1810). SPIZELLA PUSILLA Bonap. (1838). Emberiza 
 pusilla Aud. (1830). Spinites pusillus Cab. (1851). Spizella agrestis Coues. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Bill, browtiish-red. Crown, continnous rufous, with a faint indication of an ashy central 
 stripe, and ashy nuchal collar. Back, somewhat similar, with shaft-streaks of blackish. Sides of head 
 and neck (including superciliary stripe), ashy. Ear-coverts, rufous. Beneath, white, tinged with yel- 
 lowish anteriorly, the sides of the breast with a rufous patch. Tail-feathers and quills faintly edged 
 with white. Two whitish bands across the ear-coverts. Autumnal specimens more rufous." (Ridgw.) 
 Length, 5.75 inches; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.60 inches. 
 
 CLAY-COLORED SPARROW 
 
 Spizella pallida Bonaparte. 
 
 ^HIS handsome little species is found quite abundant throughout the country 
 bordering on the upper Missouri. It inhabits with partictdar partiality the small 
 valleys found here and there among the numerous ravines running from the interior, 
 and between such hills I have already mentioned. Its usual demeanor resembles much 
 that of the Chipping Bunting, and, like it, it spends much of its time in singing its 
 monotonous ditties, while its mate is engaged in the pleasing task of incubation. When 
 approached, it will dive and conceal itself either amid the low bushes around, or will 
 seek a large cluster of wild roses, so abundant in that section of country, and the 
 fragrance of which will reach the olfactory nerve of the traveler or gunner for many paces. 
 "The nest of the Shattuck Bunting is usually placed on a small horizontal branch, 
 seven or eight feet from the ground ; and I believe it is occasionally placed in the broken 
 and hollow branches of trees. The eggs, four or five in number, are blue, spotted with 
 reddish-brown toward the large end, and placed in a nest so slightly formed of slender 
 grasses, circularly lined with horse or cattle hair, as to resemble as much as possible the 
 nest of the species to which it is allied." (Audubon.) 
 
"The Clay-colored Sparrows nest abundantly in Dakota, and especially along the 
 Red River, in the open, low underbrush by the river-side, and among the innumerable 
 scrub-willow copses of the valley. They pair here at the latter part of May, when the 
 males come into full song ; the nests are built and the complement of eggs laid, usually by 
 the middle of June. During this month, while the females are incubating, the males mount 
 the tops of the bushes and sing continually— indeed I know of no more assiduous and 
 persistent songster than this little bird is, although his vocal efforts are of an humble 
 sort. His ditty is a simple stave of three notes and a slight trill— nothing like the 
 continuous song of the Chip-bird. In places where the birds are plentiful, several males 
 may be in sight at once, each on his own bush clump, while his mate is nesting below. 
 As soon as incubation is over, the habit is entirely changed, and the males become as 
 inconspicuous as their consorts. The pairing season, during which the males may be 
 seen continually chasing the females about the bushes, is of short duration; and, 
 preliminaries adjusted, both birds set to work in earnest at their nest, with such success 
 that it is completed and the eggs laid in a week or two. Most of my nests were found 
 during the first two weeks in June. In one case, in which I visited a nest daily, I found 
 that an egg was laid each day, till the complement of four was filled. I have not found 
 more than four eggs in a nest, and sometimes only three. They are of a light green 
 color, rather scantly and sharply speckled with sienna and other rich shades of brown 
 — sometimes very dark brown. Generally the dotting is chiefly confined to the larger 
 end, with only a speck here and there over the general surface; the dots are sometimes 
 in an area at the butt, sometimes partially confluent and wreathed around it. The eggs 
 measure about 0.62 by 0.50. The nest is always placed low; I never found one so high 
 as a yard from the ground, and generally took nests within a few inches, in the crotch 
 of a willow or other shrub, or in a tuft of weeds. The nest is inartistically built of fine 
 dried grass-stems and the slenderer weed-stalks, with perhaps a few rootlets ; it is some- 
 times lined quite thickly w^ith horse hair, sometimes not, then having instead some very 
 fine grass-tops. It varies a good deal in size and shape, according to its situation, but 
 may average about three inches across by two deep, with a cavity two inches wide by 
 one and a half deep. In those cases where I approached the sitting bird, she left the 
 nest when I was a few steps away, and fluttered directly into concealment, without 
 attempting any artifice or venturing to protest against the spoliation of her home. 
 "It is most probable that two broods may be reared, even in this high latitude, 
 but I cannot so assert, as I found no nests nor heard the nuptial songs after June. In 
 July the birds appear in greater numbers than ever, from the accession of the year's 
 broods, and now go in little troops in the shrubbery along with several other kinds of 
 Sparrows. I found them in all w^ooded and shrubby situations in Dakota, but never 
 out on the high prairie. Early in the fall, in Dakota, they are joined by numbers of 
 Lincoln's, Gambel's, and Harris' Finches, all of which flutter through the shrubbery 
 together. They depart for the South early in October, according to my observations, 
 though some may linger later. In spring their return may be noted on the Missouri 
 River, in the region about Fort Randall for instance, tow^ard the end of April, at the 
 same time that the Bay-winged Buntings and Lark Finches arrive." (Coues.) 
 
 In his work, "The Ornithology of Illinois," Prof, Robert Ridgway writes as fol- 
 
134 BREWER'S SPARROW. 
 
 lows : "The Clay-colored Sparrow is one of that group to which we have previously 
 alluded, as characterizing a Campestrian Province. Its range is closely coincident 
 with that of Sprague's Pipit, Baird's and Leconte's Sparrows, Harris' Finch, McCown's 
 and Chestnut-collared Longspurs, and Lark Bunting; — being the Great Plains, in their 
 whole extent, from the valley of the Saskatchewan southwards, and to the eastward 
 excending sparingly into the prairie districts along the eastern side of the Mississippi 
 River. In Illinois, the present species is known with certainty to occur only in the 
 more northern portions of the State, although it no doubt inhabits the prairie districts 
 well southward, especially in the more western counties." 
 
 To the West it is found to the base of the Rocky Mountains, and in winter it 
 occurs along the southern border to Arizona and Lower California. 
 
 In its habits this bird closely resembles the Chippy, especially in its confiding fami- 
 liarity, and its song is said to be also very similar to that of its congener. The nest 
 and eggs of one species are hardly distinguishable from those of the other. 
 NAMES: Clay-colored Sparrow, Shattuck Bunting (Audubon), Prairie Chipping-bird, Prairie Chippy. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Embenza pallida Swains. (1831). SPIZELLA PALLIDA Bona.p. (1838). Etnberiza 
 
 sbattacki And. (1843). Spizella sbattucki Bonap. (1850j. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Smaller than S. socialis. Back and sides of hind neck, ashy. Prevailing color above, pale 
 brownish-yellow, with a tinge of grayish. The feathers of back and crown streaked conspicuously 
 A^ith blackish. Crown with a median pale ashy and a lateral or superciliary ashy-white stripe. 
 Beneath, whitish, tinged with brown on the breast and sides, and an indistinct narrow brown streak 
 on the edge of the chin, cutting off a light stripe above it. Ear-coverts,- brownish-yellow, margined 
 above and below by dark brown, making three dark stripes on the face. Bill, reddish, dusky towards 
 tip. Legs, yellow. — Length, 4.75 inches; wing, 2.55 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 Brewer's Sparrow, Spizella breweri Cassin, represents the foregoing closely allied 
 species from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, south to southern California 
 and Arizona. Dr. Heermann was constantly meeting them in the Tejon valley, asso- 
 ciated with large flocks of other Sparrows, congregated around the cultivated fields of 
 the Indians. Dr. Coues states that it is a rare summer bird at Fort Whipple, Arizona. 
 
 Prof. R. Ridgway found this interesting little Sparrow, while abundant in all 
 fertile districts, almost exclusively an inhabitant of open situations, such as fields or 
 bushy plains, among the artemisia especially, where it is most numerous. It frequents 
 alike the valleys and the mountains. At Sacramento it was the most abundant Spar- 
 row, frequenting the old fields. The song, he adds, for sprightliness and vivacity is not 
 excelled by any other of the North American Finches, being inferior only to that of the 
 Lark Sparrow in power and richness, and even excelling it in variety and compass. Its 
 song, while possessing all the plaintiyeness of tone so characteristic of the eastern Field 
 Sparrow, unites to this quality a vivacity and variety fully equaling that of the finest 
 Canary. This species is not resident there, arriving about April 9. He found its nest 
 and eggs in the Truckee Reservation, early in June. The nests were in sage brushes, 
 about three feet from the ground. They are built of dry grasses, rootlets, and are lined 
 with hair. They resemble closely the eggs of the Chipping Sparrow. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Similar to S. pallida; the markings including the nuchal color more obsolete; no distinct 
 median and superciliary light stripes. The crown streaked with black. Some of the feathers on the 
 sides with brown shaits. — Length, 5,00 inches; wing, 2.50 iuch«s.'' (B. B. & R.) 
 
Black-chinned Sparrow, Black-chinned Chippy, Spizella atrigularis Baird. This 
 
 Chippy is an inhabitant of the south-western border of the United States, from Texas 
 
 to California, south into Mexico. But little is known of its history. Probably it has a 
 
 very restricted area of distribution. Dr. Elliott Coues met with it at Fort Whipple, 
 
 Ariz., where it arrives in April and leaves in October. In the spring it has a very sweet 
 
 and melodious song, far surpassing in power and melody the notes of any other of this 
 
 genus that the Doctor has ever heard. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : Tail, deeply forked. General color, bluish-ash, paler beneath, and turning to white on the 
 middle of the belly. Interscapular region, yellowish-rusty, streaked with black. Forehead, loral region, 
 and sides of head as far as eyes, chin, and upper part of throat, black. Quills and tail-feathers very 
 dark brown, edged with ashy. Bill, red ; feet, dusky. 
 
 Length, 5.50 inches; wing, 2.50; tail, long, 3.00 inches. 
 
 Worthen's Sparrow, Worthen's Chippy, Spizella wortbeni Ridgw., is an inhabitant 
 of New Mexico. "Regarding this new species," writes Mr. Chas. K. Worthen in a letter 
 to the author, "I cannot give you a great deal of information, as up to the present 
 time it seems to be a very rare bird and but little known. The type specimen I dis- 
 covered among a lot of skins sent me by one of my collectors, Mr. Chas. Marsh, from 
 Silver City, New Mexico, it having been taken in that locality June 16, 1884. I sent 
 the specimen to my fi-iend Mr. R. Ridgway, who named it to my surprise after me and 
 described it in the Proceedings of the United States National Museum (Vol. VII, Aug. 
 22, 1884)." 
 
 SLATE-COLORED JUNCO. 
 
 Junco hyemalis Sclater. 
 
 Plate XXIII. Fig. 1. 
 
 Autumn's earliest frost had g^ven 
 
 To the woods below 
 Hues of beauty, such as heaven 
 
 Lendeth to its bow; 
 And the soft breeze from the West 
 Scarcely broke their dreamy rest. 
 
 Whittier. 
 
 WHE bright golden and crimson autumn landscape, embellished by a wealth of 
 asters, golden-rods, and heavenly blue gentians, is enlivened by a great number 
 of cheerful birds, many of them being more conspicuous now than during the exceedingly 
 changeable spring time. They return from the North with their families, having reared 
 from one to three broods. Instead of the one pair, that moved northward in spring, we 
 now notice six or seven and even more individuals. Woodlands and thickets, the orna- 
 mental shrubbery of the garden, orchards, meadows, bushy road-sides, stubble fields, and 
 pastures swarm now with birds, contributing much towards beautifying and making 
 attractive every locality where they occur. The skies are bright and the sun still power- 
 ful ; and there is an almost imperceptible haze that seems to soften the landscape and 
 keep every object in true perspective. 
 
One of the most charming and conspicuous birds of the dreamy autumn days is 
 the Slate-colored Junco, or Snowbird. During this brilUant season we may observe 
 it from the coniferous forests of British America to the magnolia and live-oak woods of 
 the Gulf region. Departing from its summer home when the leaves of the forest trees 
 assume their gorgeous coloring, it follows this transformation of the green into crimson 
 and orange hues, until it has arrived in its winter-quarters in the States bordering the 
 Gulf of Mexico. As soon as the nights get cool and frosty, the Snowbird arrives from 
 its more northern home, usually in company of Myrtle and Palm Warblers. They come 
 suddenly during the night, and we get the first glance of them early in the morning, 
 while they are skipping about among the shrubbery and on the ground, picking up 
 seeds and insects. On the outskirts of the woodlands they are also very abundant, and 
 in the bushes on the road-side they are noticeable everywhere. During the day the air 
 is very quiet, soft, breezy, and dreamy, and new-comers from higher northern latitudes 
 arrive daily. The most delicate species, especially the hosts of Warblers, Tanagers, Swal- 
 lows, etc., have left w^eeks ago, though stragglers of some species may still linger. 
 Among the autumn migrants none is more common and familiar than this dainty little 
 Junco. The evergreens and ornamental shrubs in the garden as well as the thickets in 
 fields, meadows, and on the forest border swarm with flocks of these lovely birds. They 
 are chasing each other through the thickets, are running nimbly over the ground or 
 smoothing their plumage. They enter fearlessly the large gardens and the parks of our 
 crowded cities, hopping and flying around as unconcernedly and with as much familiar- 
 ity as in the country districts. When flying or when chasing each other through the 
 air, or sometimes when running over the ground, the tail is spread in a fan-like manner, 
 the pure white exterior tail-feathers contrasting sharply with the black ones. The white 
 tail-feathers, the dark ashy of the back, head, and breast, and the pure white under- 
 parts 'identify our little Snowbird at the first glance. 
 
 In the tangled thickets and in the ornamental shrubbery as well as in the weeds 
 of the kitchen garden and among the firs, pines, spruces, and cedars the Junco is equally 
 well at home, cheering up every spot by its lively ways and charming gladness. In 
 flocks they fearlessly approach the dwelling houses, appearing under the windows and 
 near the kitchen door to pick up seeds and crumbs. They become so tame and confident 
 that they return every day to the same spot, picking up millet and hay seeds pro- 
 vided for them. Exposed places they do not frequent, unless the weeds are dense, the 
 grass high, and bushy coverts not far away. Being much attacked by the smaller 
 Hawks, which follow the migrating swarms of birds from the North to their winter- 
 quarters, they are always on the lookout for these enemies, and the "apparent timidity 
 they evince at certain times and places is due to their apprehensions of this danger." 
 A strange sound, the cry of a Blue Jay, the sudden rustle of the wings of a hen will 
 cause the whole flock to hurry to the nearest thicket as soon as possible. Having con- 
 vinced themselves that all is safe, they fly down to the ground, one after another, only 
 to return to the thickets in the same terrified way when the dreaded sound is again heard. 
 
 In Texas these and other northern birds are usually the forerunners of one of the 
 icy "northers," appearing suddenly in large swarms. As by magic the outskirts of 
 woodlands, the thickets in the ravines, the dense underwood in the bottom lands, the 
 
SLATE-COLORED JUNCO. 
 
 137 
 
 weeds and grasses in the corn and cotton-fields and sugar plantations swarm with small 
 birds, while Whooping Cranes, in the shape of a V. with their leader in the front, are 
 soaring on motionless pinion overhead, or they suddenly stop, and in spiral curves are 
 ascending higher and higher, sometimes so high that they only appear as small spots. 
 They utter a loud, clear, and piercing musical call, sounding like hurr, hurr, which may 
 be heard at quite a distance. Wild Geese and Ducks are also moving southward. The 
 Passenger Pigeon I observed in large numbers during several winters, the bottom woods 
 of all the creeks and rivers swarming with them. Though the air is still warm and 
 sultry, Titmice, Bluebirds, and Wrens are seeking shelter in the nesting boxes and in 
 old Woodpecker's holes. As unexpected as the birds came, the roaring cold norther 
 sweeps over the country. Among the dense and still green thickets the Juncos find an 
 excellent shelter. 
 
 In south-eastern Texas the Snowbirds arrive usually by the beginning of November 
 or late in October. By the middle of December even the last stragglers have arrived. 
 In south-western Missouri they appear about October 15, and in southern Wisconsin 
 and northern IlKnois by the beginning of that month. They winter fi-om the Middle 
 States southward, and small flocks are sometimes found during cold weather as far 
 south as New England. At Freistatt (Lawrence Co.), Mo., they were regular visitors 
 at my feeding places during the whole winter, though the majority moved farther south. 
 
 The Snowbird does not excel by beautiful color or fine song. It is dressed in ' 
 a plain but neat, tasteful, and becoming attire, being altogether a very handsome, 
 attractive, and lovely bird, deserving to be affectionately cared for and protected by all 
 who love the beautiful and poetical in Nature. Indeed, it is one of our most familiar 
 birds, delightfully welcomed by old and young in many country places. Its summer 
 home extends from the northern parts of the Union northward to the Arctic regions, 
 breeding abundantly in northern New England, northern Wisconsin, Michigan, Minne- 
 sota, etc. In the mountain ranges of the East, especially in the AUeghanies, it is also a 
 common summer sojourner. "The Black Snowbird," says Dr. Elliott Coues, "is com- 
 monly supposed to come from the North in the fall and so it certainly does; but its 
 sudden appearance, dependent upon changes of the weather, remained unaccountable till 
 it was learned that the bird breeds in the mountains even as far south as Virginia and 
 North Carolina, and flies up and down, according to exigencies of the weather." 
 
 The spring migration of the Snowbird is also extended over a considerable period. 
 In Wisconsin the first appear by the middle of March, while I have seen them in Lee County, 
 Texas, in large flocks as late as April 22, at a time when the sweet bay {Magnolia 
 glauca) and the large flowering Magnolia grandiSora were in full flower, and when 
 even the most delicate summer residents had arrived long ago, when the woods were 
 in full leaf since almost six weeks, and when the first brood of Bluebirds, Tufted and 
 Carolina Titmice and other birds had left their nests. In Milwaukee I have observed 
 them until late in May, at which time they suddenly disappeared. During their migra- 
 tion they are always partial to all kinds of shrubs and thickets, having a predilection 
 for evergreens wherever they occur. 
 
 The Junco is a very gregarious bird and rarely only a few are observed. Flocks 
 
 varying from a dozen to a hundred are always seen. Apparently the birds are suffering 
 
 18 
 
comparatively little in their northern home from mammal and reptile foes. By their 
 numbers and by their frolicsome play these birds imbue our gardens and all places where 
 they occur with hilarity and happy life. Some are in pursuit of each other on the 
 ground, others through the bushes and thickets, and still others are chasing each other 
 through the air, exhibiting thereby a surprising beauty, their elegant movements and pure 
 white tail-feathers being most conspicuous. During the bright October days these play- 
 ful performances are often observed, and, when chasing each other, a quick tuck, tuck, 
 tuck, tuck is frequently heard. Their common call-note is a soft chip. The song is not 
 loud, but very sweet. It is rarely heard during the spring migration, but time and again 
 I have listened with pleasure to the song of caged Juncos. They usually commenced early 
 in April, but the full song was not heard until the beginning of June. Other birds in the 
 same room, diligent songsters, seemed to inspire my caged Snowbirds. The chant con- 
 sists of a number of faint whispering sounds, often interrupted by their call-note tuck, 
 tuck, and their common chip. They intermingle also several other louder notes, which 
 do not seem to belong to the real melody. For ten to twenty minutes they are 
 sometimes engaged in their performance, being apparently themselves much delighted by 
 it. To my ear the lay has much resemblance to that of the Red-poll Linnet. 
 
 On the "ground these birds run around with great dexterity, and among the branches 
 of trees and shrubs they are perfectly at home. They rarely perch in the tops of large 
 trees. Their roosting places are always chosen in dense evergreens wherever such occur, 
 offering them protection against cold weather and their many enemies. Often a whole 
 flock finds shelter in a large dense Norwdy spruce or Scotch pine. In Houston, Texas, 
 they retired during cold weather and during the night to dense masses of evergreen 
 honey-suckles (Lonicera j'aponica and L. Halliana), loquat or Japan plum trees (JSrio- 
 botrya japonica) and magnolias. In fall and winter their food consists of the seeds of 
 weeds and grasses and in spring and summer of insects, their eggs and larvae, which are 
 by them consumed in incalculable numbers. Like many other members of the sub-family 
 Spizellinse, they often scratch on the ground among old leaves for food. Like all our 
 native Sparrows, the Junco is a very useful bird to the farmer and horticulturist, and I 
 cannot refrain from repeating that in treating the birds with kindness we exhibit the 
 greatest kindness to ourselves, 
 
 In Wisconsin this bird is a common summer sojourner from Kewaunee Co. north- 
 ward. During the days of my boyhood, when many parts of Sheboygan Co. were still 
 covered with majestic pine woods, when the wintergreen, trailing arbutus, rattle-snake 
 plantain, yellow lady's slvp^&c {Cypripedium pubescens and C. pary/florain) , the moccasin 
 flower {Cypripedium spectabile), the trientalis, etc., were common flowers on the hill- 
 sides leading to our small little lake, the Juncos were abundantly met with. I observed 
 them throughout the summer and they were doubtlessly nesting there. In Oconto Co. the 
 Snowbird is, according to the observations of Mr. A. J. Schoenebeck, a common summer 
 resident. Its nest he found as early as May 7, being built under the side of a log and 
 containing five fresh eggs. It was constructe;d of grasses and dry clover leaves, and 
 was warmly and smoothly lined with horse and cow hair. Sometimes the nest is built 
 in the up-turned roots of trees, in overhanging banks, on stumps, and underneath a small 
 dense shrub. The eggs, four or five in number, are of a whitish color, varying from a 
 
CAROLINA JUNCO. 139 
 
 creamy yellowish-white to greenish-white, marked with spots and blotches of a rusty or 
 reddish-brown "confluent around the larger portion of the egg, but rarely covering either 
 end." Average diameter .78 X .58 of an inch. 
 
 In New England the Black Snowbird breeds in all the mountainous regions. Dr. 
 T. M. Brewer found it about Calais, Me., in all the islands of the Bay of Fundy, and 
 throughout New Brunswick and Nova Scotia by far the most common and familiar 
 species, especially at Pictou, "where it abounded in the gardens, in repeated instances 
 coming within the outbuildings to build its nest." In a wood-shed connected with a 
 dwelHng Dr. Brewer's attention was called to the nests of several of these birds, built 
 within reach of the hand, and in places where the family were passing and repassing 
 throughout the day. They were usually called "Bluebirds" by the people. On his ride 
 from Halifax to Pictou, he found these birds breeding by the road-side, often under the 
 shelter of a projecting bank. Afterwards he found them nesting in similar situations 
 among the White Mountains, the road-sides seeming to be a favorite situation. 
 
 During the breeding season the Snowbird inhabits North America from the United 
 States northward to Alaska and the Arctic regions. In winter it is common all over 
 the United States, except on the Pacific coast, where it is found sparingly. 
 
 The Junco is an excellent cage bird, especially when kept together in an aviary in 
 small flocks. Nobody should keep birds in the cage who is not willing to care for them 
 conscientiously, and to supply all their wants, if possible. If tendei'ly cared for, the 
 Snowbird is an excellent cage pet, very happy, always smooth in plumage, and becoming 
 very tame. Its food in the cage consists of all kinds of grass seeds, especially millet 
 and Canary seed, and in summer it should have an additional supply of Mockingbird- 
 food and meal-worms. My cage pets were so tame that they- came on my hand and 
 perched on my head. 
 
 NAMES: Slate-colored Junco, Junco, Snowbird, Black Snowbird, Slate-colored Snowbird, "White-bill," 
 Eastern Snowbird, Common Snowbird: — Winterfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla hyemalis Linn. (1758). Stratbus hyemalis Bonap. (1838). Niphsea bye- 
 malis Aud. (1839). JUNCO HYEMALIS Sclat. (1857). Fringilla hadsonica Forster (1772). Frin- 
 gilla nivalis Wilson (1810). 
 
 DESCRIPTION : Everywhere of a grayish or dark ashy-black, deepest anteriorly ; the middle of the breast 
 behind and on the belly, the under tail-coverts, and first and second external tail-feathers, white; the 
 third tail-feather, white, margined with black. Bill, pinkish-white. 
 
 Length, 6.25 inches; wing about 3.00; tail, 2.74 inches. In winter washed with brownish. 
 Young streaked above and below. Female a little lighter. 
 
 CAROLINA JUNCO. 
 
 Junco hyemalis carolinensis Brewster. 
 
 The Snowbird found in the southern Alleghanies differs in some respects from the 
 typical species. According to Prof Wm. Brewster, who discovered the bird May 28, 
 1885, at Highlands, N. C, this variety is larger, with lighter, bluer, and more uniform 
 coloration, and a horn-colored instead of a pinkish- white or yellowish bill. This new 
 and interesting form is common everywhere on the mountains south of West Virginia, 
 
and it seems to frequent such places where almost impenetrable thickets of rhododendron^ 
 and mountain laurels or kalmias^ azaleas and andromedas are overshadowed by tall 
 spruces and high rocky ridges. Nowhere do rhododendrons and kalmias, when in bloom, 
 make such a glorious display as in the southern AUeghanies, where many of them are 
 found approaching twenty feet in height. On many of the ridges the flame-colored 
 azalea* flaunts its gorgeous flowers. They are of every shade, from light lemon-yellow 
 to the most brilUant fire-red, making a great contrast to the. pretty delicate rosy-pink 
 flowers oi Azalea nudiffora,vfhich grows among them. Both the azaleas and the mountain 
 laurel are abundant throughout the woodlands of these mountains. The lily of the 
 valley is everywhere under our feet. This is the breeding place of the Carolina 'Junco. 
 "About Highlands," says Mr. Wm. Brewster, "it was seen everywhere; flitting along 
 the snake fences that border the fields and roads, twittering shyly in the depths of the 
 'laurel' swamps, flirting unexpectedly from beneath the oaks in the open woodlands, 
 and on the grassy, wind-swept mountain summits, hopping fearlessly among our horses 
 or peering curiously at their riders. On the Black Mountain it was decidedly the com- 
 monest bird, ranging from an elevation of about 4,300 feet to the very top of Mitchell's 
 High Peak. It was here found quite as numerously in the hardwood forests below 
 5,000 feet as among the spruces and balsams above that altitude. The mountain people 
 call it 'Snowbird,' and say it spends the winter in the lower and more sheltered valleys, 
 returning to the mountain sides as soon as spring begins. Thus it is doubtless a local 
 and essentially resident form." 
 
 Mr. Geo. B. Sennett found the bird breeding in spring and summer, 1886, in the 
 same locality at an elevation of 3,000 to 6,300 feet. At the last-named altitude, on the 
 summit of Roan Mountain, he found it exceedingly abundant, outnumbering at this 
 point all other species combined. "In July, on Roan Mountain," writes Mr. Sennett, 
 "I found both fresh-laid eggs and young in all stages ; whenever the almost constantly 
 present and low-hanging clouds would lift for an "hour or so, I could deviate from the 
 main road and find a Junco's nest. My experience told me that the first brood was 
 generally four, but often three, while the second brood was three, and rarely four. I 
 found the birds nesting on the ground in all sorts of places, — in the open among 
 the grass hummocks, along the edge of a cow-path, among the rhododendrons, or 
 myrtle* tussocks (which look so much like the heather of Scotland), under the balsams, 
 or under the deciduous trees of a lower altitude. Two nests, one of which was five and 
 the other three feet from the ground, were found in balsam trees * ; and I found one nest 
 at an altitude of two feet, in the roots of an overturned tree." 
 
 Oregon Junco, /unco hyemalis oregonus Ridgw. The Oregon Snowbird represents 
 the species in western North America, breeding along the Pacific coast region from the 
 mountains of California northward to Sitka, Alaska. In its habits it is the exact coun- 
 terpart of the Eastern Snowbird. Mr. Ridgway found it in summer an inhabitant of 
 the pine woods of the mountains, but in winter descending to the lowlands, and enter- 
 ing the towns and gardens in the same way as the eastern species. In Oregon and 
 
 I Rhododendron maximum, R, punctatam, and R. Catawbiease, » Kalmia latifolia. a Azalea cahndutacea. 
 I Abies Praseri. 
 
 * Probably L,eiopbyllam buxifolium, Sand Myrtle. N 
 
Washington it is a common bird, rearing often three and even four broods annually. 
 
 According to Mr. A. W. Anthony the birds nest in various situations : in the hollow^s of 
 
 •the ground, under low bushes, the nest being flush with the surface; also in holes among 
 
 the roots of bushes and trees. Many nests were found under wood-piles and some on the 
 
 shelf of a railroad cut, which was screened by a thick curtain of vines. Nesting begins 
 
 late in March or early in April. The nests are built of dry grasses, fine rootlets, old 
 
 leaves, and are lined with a thick layer of cow hair. The eggs, four to five in number, 
 
 are bluish or greenish-white, speckled and wreathed with blackish-brown. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: This form has a black or very dark slaty head, neck, and chest; the back and scapulars 
 are umber-brown ; sides distinctly light pinkish-brown or claret color, very different from color of chest. 
 
 Point Pings Jdnco, Junco hyemalis pinosus Loomis. This local race was discovered 
 June 21,, 1892, at Point Pinas, near Monterey, Col., by Mr. Leverett M. Loomis. He 
 subsequently found it a common bird, frequenting the more open places in the pine 
 woods which largely cover the high, cold promontory of Monterey. "The fact," says 
 Mr. Loomis, "that a Junco should be found breeding at the sea level so far south in 
 California, is very significant and in itself enough to suggest the existence at least of a 
 local race. It w^ill be interesting to learn the status of the birds breeding in the Coast 
 Range, particularly those of Santa Clara County." 
 
 Thurber's Junco, /. hyemalis thurberi Anthony, breeds commonly in most of the 
 desert ranges of south-eastern California, as well as in the southern portions of the 
 Sierra Nevada. 
 
 Shufeldt's Junco, Junco hyemalis shufeldti Coale. This variety from Fort Win- 
 gate, N. M., is very similar to the Oregon Junco. 
 
 White-winged Junco, Junco aikeni Ridgw. This species is an inhabitant of the 
 mountain regions of Colorado and Wyoming, straggling east in winter to central Kan- 
 sas. Colored generally like the Eastern Junco ; it is distinguished by its ashy-gray sides 
 and chest, inclining sometimes to pinkish. Wing usually with two white bands. Color 
 of back and head uniform plumbeous-gray. 
 
 Gray-headed Junco, Junco caniceps Baird. This is also an inhabitant of the 
 Rocky Mountains, breeding from Fort Bridger southward. Head, neck, chest, sides, 
 and upper parts except back, ash-gray, the belly rather abruptly white and the back 
 rusty or rufous. 
 
 Red-backed Junco, Junco cinereus dorsalis Ridgw. Inhabits the southern Rocky 
 Mountain districts, especially New Mexico and eastern Arizona. In color resembling 
 much the preceding, but "bill with upper mandible blackish, lower yellowish ; iris yellow ; 
 plumage as in /. caniceps, but paler beneath, the much paler ash of chest and sides 
 fading gradually into white on belly"; back conspicuously rusty or rufous. 
 
 Arizona Junco, Junco cinereus palliatus Ridgw. This is an inhabitant of the depths 
 of the pine woods of the mountainous regions of southern Arizona and Mexico. 
 
 Pink-sided Junco, Junco annectens Baird. This pretty species is also found in the 
 Rocky Mountains from P'ort Bridger northward to Idaho and Montana. It breeds 
 among the pines. A nest was found by Dr. Merrill in Montana in June, at an elevation 
 of 8,000 feet, was built under a shelving stone, in a little hollow dug out by the birds. 
 
142 BLACK-THROATED SPARROW. 
 
 The structure was rather large and compactly built, composed of coarse, dry grasses, 
 with an inner lining of fine yellow straw and hair of the mountain sheep. Eggs dull 
 yellowish-white, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown and lavender. "Adult male 
 and female (sexes essentially alike) with head, neck, and chest clear plumbeous, the lores 
 blackish, in strong contrast; back and scapulars hair-brown" (Ridgway). 
 
 GuADELUPE JuNCO, Jaxco itisularis Ridgw. Inhabits Guadelupe Island, Lower 
 California. 
 
 BaiRd's Jonco, Junco bairdi Beldixg. This species is found a resident in the 
 mountains of Lower California. 
 
 All these birds resemble each other very much, each species being almost the exact 
 counterpart of the other. For further particulars as to size and color I refer the reader 
 to Ridgway's "Manual of North American Birds," or to Coues' "Key to North American 
 Birds." 
 
 BLACK-THROATED SPARROW. 
 
 Amphispha bilineata CouES. 
 
 Plate XXIII. Fig. 4. 
 
 jJl^HIS interesting little Sparrow inhabits the south-western part of our country from 
 liy the lower Rio Grande and western Texas to Lower California and contiguous 
 parts of Mexico, occurring north to Nevada, Utah, and western Colorado. 
 
 According to Mr. Robert Ridgway it "was found throughout the sage-brush 
 country, the most desert tracts of which are its favorite abode. It was equally common 
 in the western depression and in the Salt Lake Valley, as well as in intermediate locali- 
 ties. Unlike the Sage Sparrow {A. belli nevadensis) , which frequents chiefly the more 
 thrifty growth of the artemisia in the damper valleys, this species prefers the arid 
 mesas, where the growth is scant and stunted; and we found it nowhere else so abun- 
 dant as on the Carson Desert, near the Soda Lakes, where much of the surface consisted 
 of loose, shifting sand. It also differs markedly from that species in being migratory, 
 being merely a summer sojourner, and one of the latest to arrive, few, if any, making 
 their appearance in the Truckee Valley before the first of May, the advance individuals 
 being noted on the l3th of that month, in 1868. Like the Sage Sparrow, this species 
 is remarkable for its peculiar song, which in pensive tone and sad expression harmonizes 
 so perfectly with its desolate surroundings. It is from this song that the Indian name, 
 Wut-tu-ze-ze, is derived, for the notes are very nearly expressed by the syllables wat', 
 wut', zeeeeee, repeated once or twice, the first two notes quick and distinct, the last one 
 a prolonged, silvery trill. Frequently a singer reverses, at each alternate repetition of 
 the song, the accent on the first and last portions, thus producing a very peculiar effect." 
 All the ornithologists who have visited the lower Rio Grande, have observed this 
 bird. Mr. Dresser found it at Matamoras, and Dr. J. C. Memll discovered nests at 
 
SELL'S SPARROW. 143 
 
 Fort Brown. Mr. Geo. B. Sennett, the painstaking and accurate describer of the orni- 
 thology of the lower Rio Grande, gives the following description: "Found at Lomita 
 Ranch in even greater numbers than at Hidalgo the season before. It is the sweetest 
 singer of all the birds that frequent the thorny bushes of that region, and I have wil- 
 lingly undergone a broiling sun and considerable laceration from thorns and spines of 
 cactus to listen to its notes. I found three sets of its eggs in April at Lomita. Several 
 nests were discovered in May, but they all contained young. My observations of its 
 breeding habits dififer somewhat from those recorded of it on the arid plains of the Utah 
 Basin. Its nest differs from former descriptions in having more or less horse hair and 
 few rootlets for lining. One nest was fully six feet from the ground, and others some- 
 what lower, but none were found very near the ground, and all were placed securely in 
 crotches. The locality worked over this season had much less open and barren ground 
 than my field of last year, cactus and large thorny bushes covering pretty thickly all 
 spots free from chaparral or timber; yet I found the Black-throated Finch as abun- 
 dant as in the more barren country. Its eggs are perceptibly smaller than heretofore 
 recorded; their length varying from .70 to .66 and their breadth from .55 to .52.' 
 
 The ground-color of the eggs is a pure white with a slight bluish tinge. 
 
 I have observed the Black-throated Sparrow only a few times among opuntias 
 and mesquit bushes near San Antonio and in thick shrubbery near the West Yegua, Lee 
 Co., Tex. The bird is very quick in its motions, and when disturbed flies directly into the 
 dense thickets. Dr. Coues found it very^ abundant in the southern and western portions 
 of Arizona, and Lieutenant Couch met with it in northern Mexico. On one occasion, 
 having halted during a norther in Tamaulipas, he heard a gay little "black-throated 
 fellow, regardless of the bitter wind, from the top of a yellow mimosa, then in bloom, 
 give utterance to a strain of sprightly and sweet notes, that w^ould compare favorably 
 with those of many more famed songsters." 
 NAMES: Black-throated Sparrow, Black-throated Finch, "Wut-tu-ze-ze" (Indians). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Emberiza bilineata Cassin (1850). Poospiza bilineata Sclat. (1857). AMPHI- 
 SPIZA BILINEATA CouES (1875). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Sexes, alike. Above, uniform unspotted ashy-gray, tinged with light brown; purer and 
 more plumbeous anteriorly, and on the sides of head and neck. Under-parts, white, tinged w^ith 
 plumbeous on the sides and with yellowish-brown about the thighs. A sharply defined superciliary 
 and maxillary stripe of pure white, as also the lower eyelid, the former margined internally with 
 black. Loral region, black, passing insensibly into dark slate on the ears. Chin and throat between 
 the white maxillary stripes, black, ending on the upper part of the breast in a rounded outline. Tail, 
 black, and lateral feathers edged externally and tipped on inner web with white. Bill, blue." 
 "Length, 5.40 inches; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.90 inches." 
 
 Bell's Sparrow, Ampbispiza belli Coues, is a common bird in southern California, 
 and thence to Cape St. Lucas, where all the extensive thickets are its favorite resort. 
 It also occurs in Arizona as far north as Fort Whipple, where it was rarely observed 
 by Dr. Elliott Coues. In the sage-brush on the Gila and Mohave Rivers it is abundant. 
 It lives upon small seeds and insects, indifferent as to water, or depending upon what 
 they obtain from dews and fogs. Dr. 'Heermann states that he found these birds in the 
 mountains bordering the Casumnes River, and afterwards on the broad tract of arid 
 land between Kerr River and the Tejon Pass, and again on the desert between that and 
 
144 SAG^ SPARROW. 
 
 the Mohave River. With only a few exceptions, these were the only birds inhabiting 
 the desolate plains, where the artemisia (sage) is the almost exclusive vegetation. 
 When disturbed, the bird chants merrily from some bush top, but at the approach of 
 danger, drops at once to the ground and disappears in the shrubbery or weeds. Near 
 National City, San Diego, Los Angeles, and other places in southern California this is a 
 common bird, visiting frequently the orange groves and breeding sometimes in dense 
 ornamental shrubs and cacti. The nest is said to be built of dry grasses and lined with 
 finer grasses and sometimes hair. The eggs are light greenish-blue, marked with reddish- 
 purple and rusty spots. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Emberiza belli Cass. (1850). Poospiza belli Sclat. (1857). AMPHISPIZA BELLI 
 CouEs (1875). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Upper parts, with sides of head and neck, uniform bluish-ash, tinged with yellowish-gray 
 on the crown and back ; beneath, pure white, tinged with yellowish-brown on the sides and under the 
 tail. Eyelids, short streak from the bill to above the eye, and small median spot at the base of cul- 
 men, white. A stripe on the sides of the throat and spot on upper part of breast, with a few streaks 
 on the sides, with the loral space and region round the eyes, plumbeous-black. Tail-feathers, black; 
 the outer edged with white. Wing-feathers all broadly edged with brownish-yellow; the elbow-joint 
 tinged with yellowish-green. Bill and feet, blue. 
 
 "Length, 5.70 inches; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.90 inches." (B. B. & R.) 
 
 SAGE SPARROW. 
 
 Amphispiza belli nevadensis Ridgway. 
 
 This is a local form of the foregoing and also known as the Artemisia Sparrow. 
 Being an inhabitant of the artemisia or sage plains north to Idado, Wyoming, Mon- 
 tana, east to Colorado and New Mexico, and south to the interior of southern California 
 and northern Mexico, it is probably nowhere more abundant than in Nevada. Prof^ 
 Robert Ridgway, at Carson City, February 27, heard for the first time its sweet sad 
 chant. A week later he found the sage brush full of these birds, the males being in full 
 song and answering one another from all directions. In walking through the sage brush, 
 these Sparrows were seen on every side, some running upon the ground with their tails 
 elevated, uttering a chipping twitter, as they sought to conceal themselves behind the 
 shrubs. Some were seen to alight upon the tops of dead stalks, where they sat with 
 their tails expanded almost precisely after the manner of the Kingbird. The song of this 
 bird is feeble, but is unsurpassed for sweetness and sadness of tone. While its effect is 
 very like the song of the Meadow Lark singing afar oif, there is, besides its peculiar 
 sadness, something quite unique in its modulation and delivery. It is a chant, in style 
 somev/hat like the spring warbling of the Shore Lark. 
 
 On. March 25, at Carson City, Mr. Ridgway found these Sparrows very abundant 
 and everywhere the predominating species, as it w^as also the most unsuspicious and 
 familiar. It was even difficult to keep them from under the feet. A pair would often 
 run before Mr. Ridgway for a distance of several rods with their unexpanded tails 
 elevated, and when too nearly approached would only dodge in among the bushes instead 
 of flying off. On the 9th of April, walking among the sage brush near that city, he 
 found several nests of this Sparrow, the female pai-ent in each instance betraying the 
 
PINE-WOODS SPARROW. 14S 
 
 position of her nest by running out, as he approached, froni the bush beneath which it 
 was concealed. With elevated tail, running rapidly and silently away, they disappeared 
 among the shrubbery. In such cases a careful examination of the spot was sure to 
 result in finding an artfully concealed nest, either embedded in the ground or a few 
 inches above it in the lower branches of the bush. He did not find this species east of 
 the northern end of Great Salt Lake, nor was it seen in the neighborhood of Salt Lake 
 City, where the other species (A. bilineata) was so abundant. The eggs are light 
 greenish, marked all over with very fine dots of reddish-brown, and around the larger 
 end with a ring of confluent blotches of dark purple and lines of darker brown, 
 almost black. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Eesetnbling A. belli, but purer ashy above, with the dorsal streaks very distinct, instead of 
 almost obsolete. 
 
 PINE-WOODS SPARROW. 
 
 Peucsea ssstivalis Cabanis. 
 
 Plate XXIV. Fig. 5. 
 
 "p)T IS a beautiful April day, and the pine-barrens of south Florida are bespangled 
 al with millions of brilliant and charming flowers. The yellow bachelor's button' is 
 everywhere present. The Atamasco lily^ and Mrs. Mary Treat's zephyr flower', 
 closely allied to the former, are flowering profusely on the wayside. On the margin 
 of slow flowing creeks the honey bell or andromeda^ grows in dense thickets, its 
 fragrant waxy-white flowers hanging down in dense one-sided racemes. Its roots are 
 always kept moist by a thick matting of sphagnum moss. Associated with it we often 
 find a shrub with pretty, large leaves and showy white fragrant flowers. This is the 
 large-flowering pawpaw". The American olive", an exquisite broad-leaved evergreen 
 shrub or small tree, grows in the same localities. On the water's edge the umbels of 
 white flowers of the spider lily^ are expanding, filling the air with a strong vanilla-like 
 fragrance. On many places the ground is covered with the white waxy petals of the 
 large-flowering magnolia, and the air is heavy with the strong and indescribably sweet 
 perfume of the glorious flowers, which on their back-ground of large lustrous, leathery, 
 dark evergreen leaves cannot fail to fill the soul with joy and admiration. The more 
 we study this tree, the most beautiful of the American forest, the more we admire 
 and love it. On its limbs and trunk we notice a number of epiphytes, especially air- 
 plants of different species', ferns and orchids'. In the flat pine-woods near by, the saw- 
 palmetto'" forms dense thickets, imparting the landscape with a decidedly tropical 
 appearance. Usually five to six stems, several feet high, form dense clumps, and from 
 April to June, when the yellowish-green flowers open, the air is full of their grateful 
 
 > Polygala latea. « Zephyranthes Atamasco. 3 Zephyranthes Treatiie. * Andromeda racemosa. o Asimia grandi- 
 ttora. « Osmanthus Americanos. 1 Hymenocallis Caribsea. a TWandsia utricalata, T. bracteata, T. Bartrami 
 » Epideadram canopseum and E. venosum. lo Sabal serrulata 
 
 19 
 
odor. Bees are swarming around them in large numbers. Even in the driest places, where 
 the sand looks almost as white as snow, and where only stunted pines and oaks grow, 
 we may find some beautiful plants. The sand rose-mary or sand heathy a pretty and 
 peculiar heath-like shrub with reddish flowers, grows in abundance. The dwarf red bay^ 
 with very aromatic leaves flourishes in such places to perfection. In these open pine- 
 woods our eyes can roam often for more than half a mile in every direction. The many 
 small lakes and the orange groves on their banks add variety to the landscape. As yet 
 we do not find many ornamental plants in the gardens. The blossoming orange trees, 
 though exceedingly sweet-scented, are not as showy as the flowering apple trees of the 
 North. Sometimes our eyes meet gorgeous masses of fiery orange color, being enchant- 
 ingly beautiful in the distance. On coming nearer we find beds of the Barbadoes lily or 
 orange amaryllis' in full bloom. This is, indeed, a sight worth a long journey. From all 
 directions the harmonious and sprightly song of the Mockingbird falls on our ear. The 
 Carolina. Wren carols from almost every thicket, and in the tree tops and among the 
 bushes countless numbers of migrants, on their way to the North, are hopping around 
 in quest of food. In winter the palmetto thickets as well as the dense shrubbery of the 
 adjoining hammocks are swarming with northern birds, which here find an abundance of 
 food and excellent shelter. Among the summer birds I expected to find the Cardinal 
 Redbird in large numbers, but I only noticed a few. Florida is very poor in songbirds, 
 compared with Texas and the other Gulf States. Painted Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks, 
 Chats, Orchard Orioles, Lark Finches, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, so common in almost 
 every garden and woodland in south-eastern Texas, do not breed in southern Florida. 
 In the pine-woods where the saw-palmetto and also the dwarf-palmetto* form 
 dense thickets, and where the intervening space is covered with low^ dense huckle-berry 
 bushes, andromedas, and grasses, the Pixe-woods Sparrow is an abundant bird, 
 occumng from southern Florida to southern Georgia in all suitable localities. I met 
 with it for the first time near Jacksonville and a few days later in Orange County. Its 
 favorite haunts are always the palmetto thickets of the flat woods, which it occupies 
 with the White-eyed Towhee or Joree and the Carolina Wren. So common is this 
 Sparrow in such places that the boys call it the Palmetto Bird or Palmetto Sparrow. 
 Were it not for the fine, loud, and clear song, the plainly colored and shy bird w^ould 
 be easily overlooked. Its grayish color harmonizes so perfectly with the sandy soil, the 
 dry leaves, and the dead grasses that it requires a sharp eye to discover it and to follow 
 its mouse-like movements among the dense herbage. Sometimes it sings for twenty 
 minutes or more in the lower limbs of a pine, but as soon as it finds itself observed it 
 dives down into the thickets, and it is with difliculty chased from its safe retreat. In 
 the neighborhood of orange groves it is very numerous, but it rarely mounts an orange 
 tree to carol its song. When strolling around in the lonely pine-woods I met with this 
 bird, which is almost as conspicuous by its song as the Vesper Sparrow in Wisconsin. 
 Long before I had made its acquaintance the song was familiar to my ear. When I for 
 the first time heard the lay I thought it was the performance of a Wren or some other 
 insectivorous bird, as I was unable to see the songster, nor could I say from what direc- 
 tion the music came, the notes being exceedingly ventriloquial. Sometimes they seemed to 
 
 » Ceratiola ericoMea. 2 Persea Catesbynna. » Hippeastram egucstre i Sabal Adausoni. 
 
come from a dense clump of palmettos, and in the next moment they sounded as coming 
 from a great distance. One morning, while roaming about among the flowering mag- 
 nolias and andromedas, and then again in the flat pine-woods, I had the good fortune 
 to notice the birds while engaged in their song right over my head in the branches 
 of pines. They were at least from forty to fifty and more feet from the ground, 
 where they could scarcely be seen. Since that time it was always easy for me to find 
 the bird. When I threw a stick in the air the birds immediately darted down and dis- 
 appeared among the low shrubbery and palmettos. The song resembles closely that of 
 Bachman's Sparrow, but it is not as varied and musical. It is very liquid and fasci- 
 nating, somewhat metallic and very varied. The bird is so numerous that the song is 
 heard from all sides. The pine-woods would be lonely without this plainly-colored 
 songster. Most diligently it sings early in the morning and late in the afternoon, but 
 immediately before the breeding time it is heard during the entire day. 
 
 Among the North American Sparrows {Spizellinas) we find quite a number of ex- 
 quisite songsters. There are no showy birds among them, their prevailing color being 
 gray and brownish, but their attire is exceedingly rich and tasteful. In the high 
 North we find the beautiful Fox-colored Sparrow, and in the northern and mountainous 
 regions of our country the White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows occur, all being 
 excellent songsters. The gardens of the East and North are the haunts of one of our 
 most familiar songsters, the Song Sparrow. In the bushy outskirts of the woodlands 
 of the central part of the country we find the sweet-voiced Field Sparrow, while the 
 sage tracts of Utah and Nevada resound with the melodies of the Sage Sparrow. The 
 sprightly and mellow strains of the Lark Sparrow add greatly to the charm and beauty 
 of the woodland borders and gardens of Texas, and the pine-barrens of the lower South 
 are enlivened by the strains of the Pine-woods Sparrow and Bachman's Sparrow. Each 
 one of these birds has peculiarities entirely its own, and each one has its special 
 attractions. When recalling to my mind the pine-barrens with their charming, though 
 often hidden, floral beauties, the patches of saw-palmettos, the exquisite flowering andro- 
 medas, the lovely sand rose-mary, and other plants, the orange groves and the 
 gorgeous masses of orange amaryllis, it seems to me as though the song of this bird 
 were still in my ear. 
 
 The nest is exceedingly difficult to find, and it is only accidentally discovered while 
 roaming around in the pine-woods. Mr. Frank M. Chapman, of the American Museum 
 of Natural History, New York, found a nest near Gainesville, Fla., on May 21, 1887. 
 "This nest was placed beneath a scrub-palmetto, a growth which everywhere here 
 covers the ground, and was constructed almost entirely of fine dry grasses. It was 
 well made and quite compact, and held well together when lifted from the ground. It 
 was not arched over in any way, was perfectly round, with the sides or rims every- 
 where of equal height, in fact it was a symmetrical nest and well proportioned." The 
 eggs were pure white in color, slightly glossy, and rounded ovate in shape. 
 
 In south Florida this Sparrow doubtless rears from one to three broods each year, 
 the first full sets being found late in March and early in April, while nests with fresh 
 eggs are found as late as June 25. The nest is almost always built under the over- 
 hanging fronds of a saw-palmetto or dwarf-palmetto, and is built exactly in the same 
 
 J 
 
way as Mr. Chapman has described it, being well protected from sun and rain 
 
 and many enemies by the dense palmetto leaves. The eggs, usually four, but sometimes 
 
 only three in number, are pure white. The nest is securely hidden, and it is only found 
 
 when we accidentally flush the female from it. 
 
 NAMES: Pine-woods Sparrow, Palmetto Bird, Palmetto Sparrow, Summer Finch. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla xstivalis Licht. (1823). Fritigilla lestiva Nutt. (1840). PEUC^A 
 ySSTIVALIS Cabanis (1850). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. Feathers of upper parts, dark brownish or chestnut, margined with or 
 streaked with black; lower parts of breast and belly, dull w^hite; sides, flanks, and chest, pale gray- 
 ish-buff; top of head streaked with grayish or brown ; no white bands on the wing and tail-feathers 
 without distinct bars; edge of wing, yellow. The variety is similar, but paler. 
 Length, 6.00 inches; wing, 2.35; tail, 2.57 inches. 
 
 BACHMAN'S SPARROW. 
 
 Peacasa aestivalis bacbmani Brewster. 
 
 This is only a variety of the former, but a very valuable one, for w^hich reason I 
 enter more fully into its life-history than I usually do in treating of sub-species. This 
 bird was discovered by Dr. J. Bachman, a friend and co-worker of the great Audubon, 
 in April, 1832, at Parker's Ferry near the Edisto River, S. C. It has since been found 
 from North Carolina through all the South Atlantic and Gulf States to eastern Texas, 
 where it invariably inhabits the pine-woods. It is found north to Tennessee and 
 southern Illinois. 
 
 Prof. Wm. Brewster observed these birds very closely at St. Mary's, Ga., a tow^n 
 situated on the very border line of southern Georgia, where he spent almost four weeks, 
 from April 5 to early in May. In describing the pine-woods of that region, he especially 
 mentions the bright green beds of palmettos that cover most of the ground. "Were it 
 not for the half-wild cattle," Mr. Brewster continues, "that range at will through the 
 country, the palmetto would probably usurp every inch of ground ; but these creatures 
 keep it within reasonable limits, and many spaces of closely cropped grass and stunted 
 blueberries intervene. About such places I used to find the Bachman's Pinch, a retiring 
 little bird which might easily be overlooked by one unacquainted with its habit of 
 skulking among the herbage and lying concealed until nearly trodden on. But no one 
 with the slightest ear for bird music can long remain in ignorance of its presence after 
 the breeding season has set in, for the male possesses vocal powers of a very rare order. 
 His song is a prolonged, leisurely chant composed of several distinct bars or sets of 
 notes, with brief pauses between, as if the bird stopped to take breath. The final notes 
 of each bar have sometimes a rising, sometimes a falling, inflection, and the tone is 
 varied in the most subtle manner. Now it has a full bell-like ring that seems to fill the 
 air around; next it is soft and low and inexpressibly tender; now it is clear again, but 
 so modulated that the sound seems to come from a great distance. The whole perform- 
 ance is very simple and I hardly know the secret of its charm. To be ftdly appreciated 
 it should be heard in the soft twilight of an April evening, when the still woods are 
 filled with dusky shadows. At such tinjes it ha? moved me more deeply than I care to 
 confess. 
 
BACHMAN'S SPARROW. 149 
 
 "The male always sings from an elevated perch, usually a dead twig close to the 
 trunk of a southern pine. He sits perfectly motionless and is unaccountably hard to 
 see. I have often stood directly beneath one for several minutes, vainly straining my 
 eyes in the direction from whence the sound came, and perhaps finally discovered him 
 within ten feet of my head in plain view. The ventriloquous character of many of his 
 notes increases this difficulty. If disturbed in the midst of his song, he pitches to the 
 ground beneath and at once seeks shelter in the grass." 
 
 Prof. Robert Ridgway detected the bird in southern Illinois, where it is known as 
 the Oak-woods Sparrow^. It is a summer resident there and breeding, but is not com- 
 mon. It inhabits old fields, where, perched upon a fence-stake or an old dead tree; it is 
 described as chanting a very delightful song. He first observed the bird on July 12, 
 1871, on a road about half-way between Mount Carmel and Olney. The bird was then 
 seen on a fence, and its unfamiliar appearance and fine song at once attracted Mr. Ridg- 
 w^ay's attention as he was riding by. He speaks of its song as one of the finest he has 
 ever heard, resembling most the sweet chant of the Field Sparrow, but is stronger, and 
 varied by a clear, high, and very musical strain. Mr. Ridgway describes the song as 
 resembling the syllables theeeeeSe-til-lat-lat-lat, the first being a very fine trill pitched 
 in a very high musical key, the last syllable abrupt and metallic in tone. 
 
 Of the nesting of Bachman's Sparrow Major Charles E. Bendire gives the following 
 excellent account: 
 
 "Through the kindness of Dr. Wm. C. Avery of Greensboro, Alabama, an en- 
 thusiastic naturalist, who has devoted considerable labor and no little time to the study 
 of the nesting habits of this species, I am enabled to give what I consider the first 
 reliable and accurate descriptions of the nest and eggs of Bachman's Sparrow. In 
 addition to not less than five nests and several full sets of eggs, adult birds, and young 
 of the year, all generously presented to the National Museum collection at Washington, 
 D. C, Dr. Avery has sent the writer small pen and ink sketches of several of the 
 nests and a beautifully executed crayon drawing, natural size, by Miss M. Erwin, which 
 shows the peculiar and unique structure and shape of these nests as far as this genus 
 is concerned, perfectly, and enables me to give a better pen picture of them than I could 
 have done otherwise. Greensboro, Alabama, is situated in the central part of the State, 
 about 140 miles north of Mobile. 
 
 "All the nests of this bird vary totally in structure from those of the other species 
 of the genus Peucsea, as far as known to me. They are all distinctly roofed over or 
 domed, a feature only found in the nest of a closely allied species, Bmbernagra. ruH- 
 virgata, the Texas Sparrow, which constructs a somewhat similar nest. They are 
 
 cylindrical in shape, and all are constructed out of dry grasses exclusively, and are 
 
 lined with fine grass tops only. Some are much more artistically and compactly built 
 than others ; the roof projects somewhat over the entrance in all cases. The measure- 
 ments are taken from the best preserved nest, obtained May 8, 1888, near Greensboro, 
 
 Alabama, containing four nearly fresh eggs The base of the nest is always placed 
 
 in a slight depression of the ground, and the entrance is invariably canted upwards, at an 
 angle of about 15°, in some instances the elevation is greater still. The entrance to the 
 majority of the nests found faced the west. The above-mentioned nest was found on 
 
the side of a hill in a sparse growth of old-field pines ', and was supported in the rear 
 by a tuft of grass. 
 
 "A second one, found May 9, in a patch of pine and plum bushes^ was held snugly 
 between two tufts of broom sedge. It contained three young birds nearly grown and 
 an addled egg. The parents were perched on a pine, about fifteen steps from the Doctor, 
 and manifested their alarm at his presence by their nervous movements. A short search 
 revealed this n^st. It resembled the one found on the 8th, except that the entrance was 
 somewhat more inclined upward, and was not quite so well concealed 
 
 "On June 3 a fourth nest was found in a siqiilar situation to the last, and as in 
 former cases, the noise made by the alarm of the parent at Mr. Avery's presence at- 
 tracted his attention and indicated to him where to search. In a letter dated June 4 he 
 writes me regarding this find, as follows: 'Yesterday I found still another nest of Bach- 
 man's Sparrow, but it contained four fledglings instead of eggs. I had been looking for 
 nests of this bird for several hours when, pausing a few moments to look at a tree 
 called here 'mimosa' " and wondering by what agency it had been brought to this unusual 
 spot amongst the pines", my attention was attracted by a dark looking little object, 
 quadruped or reptile as I first supposed, running through the grass and uttering chay, 
 cMy, a sound more like the hissing of a snake than the scolding of a bird. I soon 
 discovered my mistake, however, for the Sparrow, a Bachman's, remained about ten 
 feet from me until I found its nest. Its entrance faced me, looking this time towards 
 the north (the first three found all faced the west). It required a close search to find 
 this nest, though I was standing not more than six feet from it when the peculiar hiss, 
 as it were, of the parent bird and its rustling in the grass, startled me from my musings 
 as to how the beautiful mimosa had reached that desolate spot amongst the pines. A 
 peep into the cosy structure discovered the objects of my search ; not four glistening 
 eggs this time, but four outstretched reptile-like mouths and necks greeted my view. 
 At my approach the old bird did not fly, but ran away a few feet from the nest and 
 changed his scolding into an anxious seep, seep till I turned towards him, when he ran 
 along ahead of me for some steps, then rose and perched upon a fallen tree top, chip- 
 ping and turning about much after the manner of a Wren. Here, while I was examining 
 him with my field glass, he surprised me by bursting into song, soft, sweet, and full of 
 gladness as that which at times wells from his throat when the shadows of evening begin 
 to creep over his sombre pines. It was the male bird that I surprised in the act of feed- 
 ing his young, who thus expressed his satisfaction at having lured me from his nestlings.' 
 
 "On June 6 Dr. Avery found another nest of Bachman's Sparrow, containing 
 two eggs. It was domed like those previously found. The parent ran from the nest 
 and the Doctor writes in this connection : 'I have yet to see one fly, as do other birds 
 when disturbed at incubation. They all run, some showing greater alarm than others 
 for the safety of their little thatched domicile.' On June 23 a sixth nest, containing 
 
 four nearly fresh eggs, of Bachman's Sparrow was found by an old negro He had 
 
 been ploughing up a field that had not been cultivated for years, and the oxen, said he, 
 as well as himself, were startled by the bird running from the nest. He stated that he 
 took the bird for a snake, and explained to me that he was at first afraid to go to the 
 
 I Plaus trnda. 2 Pruiius chlcasa. a Albizzla JuUbrissla. 
 
CASSIN'S SPARROW. 151 
 
 spot where the Sparrow was seen, and that he struck at the place first several times 
 with his whip, till he discovered the parent and then her nest.' This seems to fully 
 confirm the theory that Peucaea aestivalis bachmani imitates, as far as possible, the 
 movements and hiss of a snake, when disturbed on her nest, and tries to protect it 
 thereby, to some extent at any rate. 
 
 "A day afterwards the Doctor in passing within thirty steps of this last-mentioned 
 nesting site, flushed four Sparrows which he took for early birds of this species, prob- 
 ably hatched in April. They rose like a covey of Bob-whites, all together, and with a 
 whirr. There seems to be little doubt but that two broods are raised in a season, if 
 not more. Bachman's Sparrow is mainly terrestrial in its habits, though when flushed 
 it often alights in trees. Frequently, when suddenly disturbed, it rises with an 
 audible whir. 
 
 Dr. Avery writes me that they sing at all hours of the day, but their song is 
 especially striking and attractive at twilight, commencing with a prelude of some sweet, 
 soul-stirring sounds, then, changing to a trill, louder and more melodious than that of 
 the Field Sparrow. This prelude is varied, and relieves the song of monotony, the little 
 musician seeming to endeavor to make himself as entertaining as possible by frequent 
 changes in the introductory notes of his strain." 
 
 NAMES: Bachman's Sparrow, Oak-woods Sparrow. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla bachmani Aud. (1834). Peucasa bachmani Aud. (1839). Peucaea illinoiensis 
 Ridgw. (1879). Peucxa ^stivalis illinoiensis Ridgw. (1881). PBUC^A ^STIVALIS BACHMANI 
 Brewster (1885). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Lighter than the type, "with streaks on upper parts bright rusty, the back often without 
 black streaks." 
 
 Length, 5.30 to 6.25 inches; wing, 2.4,7; tail, 2.61 inches. 
 
 CASSIN'S SPARROW. 
 
 Peucasa cassini Baird. 
 
 ]pN THE dry region of Texas, where the beautiful Yucca Treculeana forms a conspicuous 
 (a part of the landscape, where the characteristic flowering willow', the evergreen 
 sophora^ with its lustrous leaves and deliciously fragrant flowers, the pretty silver bush', 
 the mesquitS and a large number of cacti, pentstemons, small growing or stemless 
 yuccas and many other characteristic plants grow in great profusion, Cassin's Sparrow 
 is the most abundant member of its family. It is especially common where the mesquit 
 forms thickets and open woodlands ; here it is at times the only feathered inhabitant. In 
 spring the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as well as the Orchard Oriole and the Lark Sparrow 
 are also very numerous in these locahties. In the eastern part of the State the bird 
 frequents the edges of the live oak prairies and places where the bumelia^ white-thorns, 
 and other shrubs skirt the woodlands. In the vicinity of Austin, New Braunfels, and 
 
 1 Cbllopsis saJigna. * Sopbora secuadiflora. 3 Leucophyllum texaaum. * Prosopis JaliSora. 5 Bumelia lanuginosa. 
 
152 CASSIN'S SPAKHOW. 
 
 Fredericksburg I found the bird particularly common, but near La Grange, Schulenburg, 
 Weimar, and Brenham it was also found more or less numerous, while near Houston it 
 was a rare bird. In the region of the lower Rio Grande it prevails, according to Dr. 
 Merrill and Mr. Geo. B. Sennett, in considerable numbers, especially near Brownsville. 
 To the west it is distributed through southern Arizona, and in western and middle 
 Kansas it seems to find the northern limit of its range. Northern Mexico is the southern 
 limit of its breeding range. 
 
 In Lee County and near Austin, Texas, Cassin's Sparrow arrives about March 20, 
 remaining to the last days of October, when the largest number leave in scattered com- 
 panies for the South. In spring, immediately after their arrival, the air is ftill of the 
 sweetest music, as almost every male mounts the top of a small tree or shrub, pouring 
 forth his most delightful strain. The song reminded me first strongly of that of the 
 Bachman's Sparrow, though it has some peculiarities which cannot be described, but 
 must be heard in order to notice the difference. It sings most diligently before sunrise 
 or late in the afternoon. During the calm nights of March and April, w^hen the 
 nocturnal sounds of the Chuck- will's- widow, the enchanting song of the Mockingbird, 
 and the loud what cheer, what cheer, of the Cardinal mingle with the notes of this 
 Sparrow, when the air is full of the sweet fragrance exhaled by the flowering willow 
 and the evergreen sophora or the strong carnation odor of the deciduous sophora (Sophora 
 a&nis) — this song is especially beautiful. The bird also sings frequently w^hile rising in 
 the air. The song is not loud, but very sw^eet and ventriloquial. 
 
 Cassin's Sparrow, like all the other members of the genus, is a shy bird. Its 
 neutral colors render it almost invisible w^hile resting, and when approached it darts 
 into the thickest of bushes. Its food, which consists in spring and summer mainly of 
 insects, and in late fall and winter almost entirely of seeds of weeds and grasses, is 
 mostly gathered from the ground. It only mounts trees and bushes when flushed or for 
 the purpose of chanting its song. 
 
 The nests which I had an opportunity to examine, were all placed on the ground, 
 near a tuft of grass or on the side of a low spiny cactus. A typical nest found May 3, 
 1882, was built under the overhanging leaves of the Yucca filamentosa in a mesquit 
 prairie. It was constructed of grasses, lined with finer grasses and some horse hair. 
 The four eggs were white, immaculate. 
 
 In its habits, Cassin's Sparrow is the very counterpart of the Pine-woods Sparrow, 
 and it is, therefore, not necessary to enter into a more elaborate description. 
 
 NAMES: Cassin's Sparrow, Mesquit Sparrow. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Zonotrichia cass/m Woodh. (1852). PEUCMA CASSINI Baird (1858). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Above, grayish, spotted with clear umber-brown and dusky, the upper tail-coverts with 
 subterminal transverse, more or less crescentic, spots of dusky; beneath, dull grayish-white, faintly 
 tinged with brownish on chest and sides. 
 
 "Length, 6.00 to 6.75 inches; wing, 2.50 to 2.70; tail, 2.65 to 2.90 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 Several less known species of this genus enter our ten-itory from Mexico or occur 
 in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. As they all seem to agi-ee in their habits with 
 the Pine-woods Sparrow, it suffices, to make short mention of them. 
 
SONG SPARROW. 
 
 153 
 
 The RouFous-CROWNED Sparrow, Peucsea ra£ceps Cass., inhabits the coast of 
 California, but seems nowhere common. Its variety, Boucard's Sparrow, P. ruGceps 
 boucardi Ridgw., occurs in southern New Mexico and Arizona. The Rock Sparrow, 
 P. ru^ceps eremceca Brown, another variety, is found in south-western Texas, south 
 into Mexico. The Rufods-winged Sparrow, P. carpalis CouES, is found in Arizona, 
 while the Mexican Sparrow, P. mexicana Ridgw., is a bird of the valley of the lower 
 Rio Grande, south into central and western Mexico. 
 
 SONG SPARROW, 
 
 Melospiza fasciata Scott. 
 
 Plate V. Fig. 7. 
 
 Joy fills the vale : 
 With joy ecstatic quivers every wing. 
 As floats thy note tipon the genial gale, 
 
 Sweet bird of spring! 
 
 The violet 
 Awakens at thy song, and peers from out 
 Its fragrant nook, as if the season yet 
 
 Remained in doubt; 
 
 _ While from the rock 
 The columbine its crimson bell suspends. 
 That careless vibrates, as its slender stalk 
 The zephyr bends. 
 
 Say! when the blast 
 Of winter swept our whitened plains — what clime. 
 What summer realms thou charmedst, and how was past 
 
 The joyous time ? 
 
 Did the green isles 
 Detain thee long? or, 'mid the palmy groves 
 Of the bright south, where Nature ever smiles. 
 
 Didst sing thy loves ? 
 
 Oh, well I know 
 Why thon art here thus soon, and why the bowers 
 So near the sun have lesser charms than now 
 
 Our land of flowers: 
 
 Thou art returned 
 On a glad errand — to rebuild thy nest, 
 And fan anew the gentle fire that burned 
 
 Within thy breast! , 
 
 And thy wild strain, 
 Poured on the gale, is love's transporting voice — 
 That, calling on the plumy choir again. 
 
 Bids them rejoice. 
 
 Nor calls alone 
 To enjoy, but bids improve the fleeting hour — 
 Bids all that ever heard love's witching tone. 
 
 Or felt his power. 
 
 The poet, too. 
 It soft invokes to touch the trembling wire; 
 Yet ah! how few its sounds shall list, how few 
 
 His song admire ! 
 
 But thy sweet lay, 
 Thou darling of the spring! no ear disdains: 
 Thy sage instructress. Nature, says, "Be gay !" 
 
 And prompts thy strains. 
 
 Oh. if I knew 
 Like thee to sing— like thee the heart to fire — 
 Youth should enchanted throng, and beauty sue 
 
 To hear my lyre. 
 
 Oft as the year 
 In gloom is wrapped, thy exile I shall mourn - 
 Oft as the spring returns, shall hail sincere 
 
 Thy glad return. 
 
 H. Pickering. 
 
 ^<^F THE beauty and poetry of spring time little notice is taken in the large cities. 
 ^^ The seasons come and go without making any deep impression on mind and 
 soul of most people. But how different is this in the realms of Nature! The inhabit- 
 ants of our crowded cities can hardly have an idea of the pleasure and manifold enjoy- 
 ment which the true friend of Nature finds in the country at all seasons of the year, 
 
 even in midwinter, when ice and snow covers the ground. In early spring it is Nature's 
 
 20 
 
awakening which charms him. Before the air gets balmy and warm, or before the first 
 delicate blossom announces the approach of spring, the Robin and the Bluebird bring from 
 the South the first glad tidings of its northward march. Soon after the arrival of these 
 harbingers the first flowers appear. Modestly hidden in some sheltered nook they open 
 their buds to the enlivening rays of the sun. Rough and wintry winds alternate -with 
 balmy breezes. The buds of the orchard trees and the wild crab on the woodland 
 boi-der begin to swell. More and more of the winged summer sojourners arrive from 
 the South, flower after flower opens. In the woodlands the snowy trillium* flowers 
 almost unseen. When the beautiful blue hepaticas are nearly out of flower, the ane- 
 mone, the dog's-tooth violet, and the bloodroot are blooming profusely in sheltered 
 nooks and comers. In the woods the wild plum, the June-berry, and the moosewood* 
 break into bloom and a week later the orchard trees are covered with white and pink 
 blossoms. Then fluttering, chasing, twittering, song and jubilation pervades the fragrant 
 wilderness of tender leaves and sweet blooms. The effect of this happy life in the flower- 
 adorned bushes and trees is as indescribable as it is beneficent. Large numbers of 
 Wood Warblers in their bright-colored attires are flitting about in the blooming trees, 
 leading a happy and joyful life in hunting for insects, which now^ appear in swarms 
 among the flowers and the tender foliage. The true lover of Nature in the country 
 needs not to go far to enjoy this spring time splendor. He cannot live in a bare and 
 unattractive place. His house is embowered in a w^ealth of climbers and surrounded by 
 masses of shrubs, by fruit and ornamental trees and flowers. The branches of the shade 
 and orchard trees are alive with cheery Titmice, Wrens, and Bluebirds. They build their 
 nests in the boxes provided for them, while the Martins occupy those placed on posts 
 or on the roofs of buildings. At the time when the trees are in their richest and freshest 
 green, and when they are embowered in a wealth of blossoms, an army of noxious 
 insects makes its appearance, being, however, kept in check by the innumerable birds 
 now moving northward. Incessantly these little migrants wage war against these 
 insect enemies. We may now listen to the sweet strain of the Catbird, the enchanting 
 song of the Brown Thrasher, the flute-like notes of the Robin, the home-like twittering 
 of the Swallows. We observe the fire-hued Baltimore Oriole weaving its hanging nest 
 high up among the slender twigs of an elm. We carefully open the canopy of dense 
 green of an upright honey-suckle or a mock-orange and discover the glossy emerald-green 
 eggs of the Catbird in a nest lined with dark rootlets. A great number of our birds 
 frequent such surroundings, but I can only mention a few where I should like to 
 describe in a more detailed way. 
 
 With the beginning of June the warmer season of the North has. approached. In 
 the gardens the lilies begin to bloom, following one after another from the orange lily' 
 in June to the noble golden-banded and Japan lily'' in August. The song of the birds 
 is by the end of June gradually waning, their attention being now occupied by the 
 rearing of their progeny. As their duties in that direction increase, they become almost 
 silent. After having raised their young, many remain hidden in the thickest shrubbery 
 to pass through the process of moulting. When this is over they slowly congregate 
 in flocks more or less numerous. The Bobolinks, moving about in swarms by the 
 
 > Trillium nivale, 2 Cornua circlnaia, » Llliam umbelleium. * Lllhtm auratum and L. speclosum. 
 
SONG SPARROW. 
 
 end of July, are the first to take leave. The Swallows follow by the end of August, 
 and thus one species after the other moves away, in-esistibly away towards the South. 
 During the month of October the gardens swarm with migrating Nuthatches, Brown 
 Creepers, Kinglets, Palm and Myrtle Warblers and a large number of Sparrows. These 
 also move southward as November sets in. Charmingly beautiful are these October 
 days, the salubrious and brilliant days of Indian summer. The trees and shrubs are in 
 their magnificent coloring. Then after the first hard frost each gust of wind shakes 
 down the bright-hued foliage. Apart firom a few belated stragglers the happy summer 
 sojourners have disappeared.. Still later arrive -from the Arctic regions our winter birds, 
 the Crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks, Red-poll Linnets, Tree Sparrows, and Great Northern 
 Shrikes to visit our gardens, while over the snow-clad fields in dense flocks the Snow 
 Buntings whirl about like flurries of Snow. 
 
 This picture of the coming and going, the appearing and passing away was before 
 my mind while I was engaged in writing the life -history of one of our most familiar 
 summer birds, the Song Sparrow. 
 
 Like the beautiful Bluebird and the vocal Robin, the Song Sparrow is one of the 
 heralds of spring, arriving in the North usually as early as March 20, but the majority 
 does not appear before the first days of April. When we hear the mellow warbling of 
 the Bluebird, we may be sure to find the Song Sparrow also. Both arrive only 
 a few days after the Robin. I have sometimes observed a few of these birds as early as 
 March 10, but they disappeared when again very cold and stormy weather followed. 
 Although it is a great satisfaction to look upon March as one of the spring months, and 
 to try to force oneself in the belief that the balmy spring weather will soon bring out 
 the delicious green tints on meadows and forests, and call forth the early blossoms and 
 the arrival of birds, yet we of the North are forced to admit with each returning spring, 
 that March is a blustering, unsatisfactory, decidedly disagi-eeable month with but very 
 few exceptions, and it is only the thought of the real spring time that lies just beyond, 
 that tnakes it at all bearable. Many Bluebirds perish during very cold and snowy 
 March weather, though the Song Sparrows find food and shelter among the weeds and 
 grasses of the swamps and in fence comers. A few, probably from high northern lati- 
 tudes, sometimes winter even in sheltered places in the Northern States and New 
 England. In the Middle States they seem to be quite common in winter, but their real 
 winter home is found in the South' Atlantic and Gulf States. 
 
 The summer range of the Song Sparrow extends mainly over the eastern part of 
 the United States, from the Atlantic to the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, and the 
 most northern point to which it has been traced are the plains of the Saskatchewan 
 and the shores of Lake Winnipeg. How far its breeding range extends southward 
 I cannot say. Prof, Wm. Brewster does not include it in his list of the summer 
 birds of the mountains of North Carolina. In south-western Missouri it is a common 
 winter resident, but it never breeds there. According to Prof. Robert Ridgway, it breeds 
 chiefly north of latitude 40°. In southern Illinois he found it as a winter sojourner, 
 "abundant, but very retiring, inhabiting almost solely the bushy swamps in the bottom 
 lands, and unknown as a song bird. The same are also probably its habits throughout 
 Illinois and the adjacent districts. This is a remarkable instance of variation in habits 
 
156 SONG SPARROW. 
 
 with longitude of one geographical race, since in the Atlantic States it breeds abun- 
 dantly, as far south at least as the parallel of 30°, and is besides one of the most 
 familiar of the native birds." 
 
 In New England and in the Northern States, from northern' Illinois northward, 
 the Song Sparrow is one of our best known and the most common of birds. Although 
 plainly colored, it is one of our most beloved and popular songsters, being longingly ex- 
 pected as one of the real harbingers of spring by old and young. Its familiarity and 
 confidence, its early arrival and especially its simple cheery strains combine to make it 
 a favorite to everybody who loves Nature. In the northern part of our country we can 
 hardly pass a garden replete with evergreens and dense ornamental shrubs without 
 observing at least one pair. I found it particularly abundant all over "Wisconsin and 
 northern Illinois during the breeding season. Thickets of roses, dense wild gooseberry 
 bushes', spiraeas, mock-oranges, bush honey-suckles, and also red cedars and junipers are 
 its favorite nesting places. In the East, from Massachusetts southward to Delaware, 
 the peat-loving plants, such as rhododendrons, azaleas, andromedas, and kalmias are 
 often planted in dense masses. These beds, especially a collection of the gorgeous 
 evergreen rhododendrons, are exquisitely beautiful when in flower and very attractive 
 throughout the year. In, soils containing lime they do not thrive, while in northern 
 Illinois and Wisconsin the winters are too severe for them. These shrubs are always 
 planted close together, soon forming dense thickets of leaves and foHage. Many of the 
 small garden birds, like Chipping Sparrows, Indigo Buntings, Catbirds, Yellow Warblers, 
 and Song Sparrows find a safe retreat and excellent nesting places in them. 
 
 The Song Sparrow, however, is not confined to the ornamental shrubs of the 
 gardens. It is almost equally common in low grounds near brooks, in moist meadows 
 and pasture lands and on the edge of swamps, where dense shrubbery affords it a safe 
 retreat in danger and a good nesting site. On our old farm in Wisconsin this bird was 
 very numerous in the low meadows on the small lake in the days of my boyhood. 
 It was one of the first birds whose nest I found and to whose call-notes and song I 
 listened. 
 
 In meadows and in other moist situations the nest is mostly built on the ground 
 near a tussock of grass or a shrub, but near the habitations of man experience has 
 taught the bird that it is safer to build its domicile in bushes. Sometimes nests have been 
 found in hollows of apple and other trees and on branches six to eight feet from the 
 ground. All the nests I have seen were placed in bushes one to three feet high or on 
 the gi-ound. Nests have also been found by the side of a railroad track where the trains 
 were continually passing. Like the Chippy the Song Sparrow frequently builds in dense 
 twining yellow and trumpet honey-suckles S and even in dense clematis and wild grape- 
 vines, which grow on verandas or cover arbors and garden walks. In the fields the 
 nest is not infrequently placed under a bunch of clover or a growing com stalk. 
 Whether built on the ground or in bushes, the nest is always well made. The foundation 
 consists of stout stems of grasses and rootlets; then the nest proper follows, being 
 constructed of long slender grasses and sometimes hair. As the old birds hop around 
 with great uneasiness and are lamenting incessantly when an intruder cqoiq? ne^r the 
 
 1 Lonieern fiavn anci I,, sempervina^. 
 
SONG SPARROW. 157 
 
 nest, they usually betray it themselves. For this reason it is easily discovered, and every 
 country boy is well acquainted with the breeding habits of this bird. 
 
 The first set of eggs usually numbers five, rarely four or six, and the second mostly 
 four. The eggs show a great diversity in coloration. The ground-color is greenish or 
 greenish-white, more or less thickly blotched and spotted with dark reddish-brown. 
 These markings vary greatly in size and color. In thirteen days, after the set is com- 
 plete, the eggs are hatched. During the first few days the young are fed with plant 
 lice, small green eater-pillars, and worms; later moths, butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, 
 and many other injurious insects ai^ brought home, and in about ten or twelve 
 days they are able to leave the nest. While the old male is caring for the young 
 until they are able to shift for themselves, the female prepares for a second or third 
 brood. The first set of eggs is usually complete by May 20, and by June 25 a second 
 brood is generally hatched. A third brood often follows in July. Nests found late in July 
 demonstrate the fact that some accident has befallen the preceding brood. 
 
 Late in August or early in September the Song Sparrows have abandoned their 
 abode near man. They are now usually found in the shrubbery near roadsides, in 
 tangled thickets, and on the bushy edges of swamps and creeks, or in the bushy border 
 of woods and fields. Being very quiet and retired now, they are rarely seen except by 
 the attentive observer. The tide of fall emigration to the South begins early in October. 
 "Collecting in small loose flocks, probably all of each group members of the same family, 
 they slowly move towards the South. As one set passes on, another succeeds, until the 
 latter part of November, when we no longer meet with flocks, but solitary individuals 
 or groups of two or three. These are usually a larger and stouter race, and almost 
 suggest a different species. They are often in song even into December. They apparently 
 do not go far, and are the first to return. In early March they are in full song, and 
 their notes seem louder, clearer, and more vibratory than those that come to us and 
 remain to breed." (Brewer.) 
 
 As its name implies, the' Song Sparrow is one of our most noted and conspicuous 
 singers, imparting even the dreary winter landscape in March with hope and beauty. 
 Early in the morning, shortly after day dawn, we hear its loud notes, and they do not 
 wane until the evening falls. Being one of our most constant musicians, its song is 
 heard from early spring until July and sometimes longer. It is repeated at short inter- 
 vals almost throughout the day. This song is very powerful, resonant, sweet, and sur- 
 passes that of all our northern Sparrows, with the exception of that of the Fox, Field, 
 and Vesper Sparrow, in beauty and melody. To my ear it sounds much like sh'nide- 
 sh'nide~sh'nide-sh'nide-ze ze ze ze ze ze, the first four syllables in a slow, the rest in a 
 quicker tempo. Bewick's Wren has a very similar song, though more hurried. This lay 
 is especially impressive when snow still lingers on the ground and few other birds are 
 heard. It is the sound of the opening spring. Plain and homely in its dress, its sweet 
 song and its gentle confiding manners render it a welcome visitor to every garden, and 
 around every rural home wherein such attractions can be appreciated. "Whenever these 
 birds are kindly treated they readily make friends, and are attracted to our door-steps 
 for the welcome crumbs that are thrown to them ; and they will return year after year 
 to the same locality, whenever thus encouraged." (Brewer.) 
 
158 SONG SPARROW. 
 
 There are good and poor singers among the Song Sparrows. Those arriving first in 
 spring, are northern birds, and are the most exquisite performers ; those breeding with us 
 are not quite as gifted songsters. Even the same bird changes in power and beauty of 
 its voice as the season advances, the first song heard being the most inspiring and beau- 
 tiful. The celebrated ornithologist, Thomas Nuttall, dwells with much force upon the beauty 
 and earnestness of expression of song of the Song Sparrow.. "When he first arrives," 
 says Mr. Nuttall, "while the weather is yet doubtful and unsettled, the strain appears 
 contemplative, and often delivered in a peculiar low and tender whisper, which when 
 hearkened to for some time, will be found more than usually melodious, seeming as a 
 sort of reverie, or innate hope of improving seasons, which are recalled with a gwateful, 
 calm and tender delight. At the approach of winter, this vocal thrill, sounding like an 
 Orphean farewell to the scene and season, is still more exquisite, and softened by the 
 sadness which seems to breathe almost with sentiment, from a decaying and now silent 
 face of Nature. Our songster, never remarkable for sprightliness, as the spring advances^ 
 delivers his lay louder and more earnestly. He usually begins with a tsh'-tsh^-tsbe-te- 
 tshete-tschete, and blends in a good deal of quivering notes. Individuals also excel, and 
 vary their song firom time to time with very agreeable effect; and it is only because 
 our familiar vocalist is so constantly heard and seen, that so little value is set upon 
 his agreeable, cheerful, and faithful performance." 
 
 The Song Sparrow is one of our most useful birds, feeding almost entirely on in- 
 jurious insects during spring and summer. Large numbers of small eater-pillars are- 
 carried to the young. They are frequently feeding upon cabbage worms and moths. 
 Rose-bugs, cut-worms, and all kinds of beetles they are continuously searching for. 
 In the fall and winter they largely subsist on seeds of grasses and weeds. Near Buflalo 
 Bayou, and later near the West Yegua and Alum Creeks in Texas, I met them every 
 winter in large flocks, usually in company with many other Sparrows. During the day 
 they visited the dense grasses and weeds in cotton, corn, and sugar-cane fields, retiring 
 in the evening to the dense thickets in the bottom lands. Near Spring Creek they roosted 
 with other birds in the low branches of trees densely festooned with Spanish moss 
 (Tillandsia usneoides), which afforded them shelter during cold nights, besides protecting 
 them against all kinds of enemies. When I passed the borders of the woods during the 
 night, large swarms of birds were flushed from these moss roosts. The upper branches 
 were usually occupied by flocks of Robins and Cedarbirds, while the Sparrows had taken 
 possession of the lower ones. They leave south-eastern Texas early in March, and I have 
 never noticed them after the 10th of that month in the places where my observations were 
 carried on. In south-western Missouri, where they winter rather sparingly, they inhabit 
 from November to the middle of March the moist bushy valleys and dense ravines. In 
 their winter-quarters they are exceedingly shy, rarely approaching, human habitations. 
 In southern Louisiana they are often met with near the dense hedges of Cherokee roses, 
 retreating during the night into these evergreen roses, which are covered all over with 
 formidable spines. 
 
 The Song Sparrow has many enemies. In gardens many nests are destroyed by 
 strolling cats, and many young and old Song Sparrows are killed by them. Cats 
 should never be tolerated in garden or field. They do more harm to our familiar 
 
SONG SPARROWS. 159 
 
 garden birds than all other enemies combined. In the lowland skunks, raccoons, minks, 
 and snakes are the Song Sparrow's chief enemies. Jays, magpies, and shrikes and also 
 the parasitic cowbirds do much harm to this and all other small birds. The Song 
 Sparrow will breed in all the country gardens of the North if well protected. 
 
 I have kept Song Sparrows in a large cage with other birds and also singly. 
 They make excellent cage pets and become in time very tame. If kept singly they sing 
 very diligently from March to June. If carefully supplied with a variety of food, they 
 keep in good health for a long time. I supplied them in winter with millet and Canary- 
 seed, adding in spring and summer "ants' eggs," crated hard boiled egg. Mockingbird- 
 food, lettuce, and meal-worms, The latter they took fearlessly from the hand. 
 
 NAMES: Song Sparrow.— Singsperling, Sangerfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla fasciata Gtnel. (1788). MELOSPIZA FASCIATA Scott (1876). Fringilla. 
 melodia Wils. (iSlO). Zonotrichia melodia Bonap. (1838). Melospiza melodia Baird (1858). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. "General tint of upper parts, rufous and distinctly streaked with rufous-brown, 
 dark brown, and ashy-gray. The crown is rufous, with a superciliary and median stripe of dull gray, the 
 former lighter ; nearly white anteriorly, where it sometimes has a faint shade of yellow, principally in the 
 autumn ; each feather of the crown with a narrow streak of black, forming about six narrow lines. Inter- 
 scapulars, black in the center, then rufous, then pale grayish on the margin, these three colors on each 
 feather very sharply contrasted. Rump, grayer than upper tail-coverts, both with obsolete dark streaks. 
 There is a white maxillary stripe, bordered above and below by one of dark rufous-brown, and with an- 
 other from behind the eye. The under-parts are white ; the jugulum and sides of body streaked with clear 
 dark brown, sometimes with a rufous suffusion. On the middle of the breast these marks are rather 
 aggregated so as to form a spot. No distinct white on tail or wiiigs. Bill, pale brown above; yellowish 
 at base beneath. Legs, yellowish. 
 
 "Length of male, 6.50 inches ; wing, 2.58 ; tail, 3.00 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 Mountain Song Sparrow, Melospiza fasciata montana Hensh. This form inhabits 
 the Rocky Mountain districts, w^est to Nevada, eastern Oregon, and eastern Washington. 
 According to Prof. R. Ridgway, this Song Sparrow is one of the most abundant resident 
 species inhabiting the fertile portions of the Great Basin. It principally occupies the 
 willow^ thickets near streams, but it is also found in the tule sloughs of the river valleys. 
 In all respects, as to habits, especially in its familiarity, it represents in the West our 
 well-known Song Sparrow of the East. Mr. Ridgway expresses the song thus : Cha- 
 cha-cba-cha-wit'-tur'-r-r-r-r-r-tut. He found nests in the Wahsatch Mountains. They 
 were generally among bushes, in willow thickets along the streams, about a foot from 
 the ground. 
 DESCRIPTION: With larger wings and tail, smaller and more slender bill, general tone of plumage more 
 
 gray, and streaks, both above and below, narrower. 
 
 Heermann's Song Sparrow, Melospiza fasciata heermanni Ridgw., inhabits the 
 interior of southern California, east into western Nevada. It takes the place of its 
 counterpart, the Song Sparrow, in California, and is also knowii as the California Song 
 Sparrow. Whether or not it breeds in gardens I cannot say, but it is common on the 
 bushy hill-sides, in canons and along the banks of creeks and rivers. It usually nests in 
 bushes from four to six feet from the ground. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : This is a larger and darker-colored bird, with ground-color of upper parts decidedly brown 
 or olive, the dark streaks, both above and below, heavier and blacker. 
 
160 SWAMP SPARROW. 
 
 Samuel's Song Sparrow, M. fasciata samuelis Ridgw., is distributed over the coast 
 region of California. Wherever there are salt marshes near the coast, this variety is 
 sure to occur, being especially common near San Francisco. The nest is usually placed 
 on the ground beneath tussocks of grass and sometimes in low shrubs growing on old 
 sand drifts. Mr. Walter E. Bryant records a nest that has been found by Mr. Otto 
 Emerson in an old oyster can, which had lodged sideways among some driftwood, in a 
 willow. This variety is smaller than the foregoing. 
 
 Desert Song Sparrow, Melospiza fasciata fallax Henshaw. This form inhabits 
 our southern border of New Mexico and Arizona, occurring in the willow thickets and 
 marsh grass near water. In its habits and nesting it closely resembles the Eastern 
 Song Sparrow. It is smaller and the general tone of coloration is more rusty than in 
 the type. 
 
 The Rusty Song Sparrow, M. fasciata guttata Ridgw., inhabits the Pacific coast 
 districts, breeding from western Oregon north to British Columbia. The markings of 
 the plumage are more or less obscured by the prevalent dull rusty or sooty coloring. 
 
 The Sooty Song Sparrow, M. fasciata ruRna Ridgw., seems to be restricted to the 
 coast of southern Alaska. 
 
 Aleutian Song Sparrow, Melospiza cinerea Ridgw., is an inhabitant of the Aleu- 
 tian Islands, and east to Fort Kenai, Alaska. 
 
 SWAMP SPARROW, 
 
 Melospiza georgiana Ridgway. 
 
 "pF WE desire to become acquainted with the Swamp Sparrow, a bird as rich in 
 ^ song as it is shy and retired in its habits, we have to explore its marshy retreats 
 covered with a varied and rank vegetation in low meadows, pastures, and swamps. 
 Such localities are almost everywhere abundant in the northern portions of our country. 
 My native State Wisconsin, more especially Sheboygan County, is very rich in moist 
 lowlands, marshy lakes, and dense swamps. Though avoided by most people, such 
 localities are highly interesting and instructive to the student of plant and animal life. 
 I shall here refer to a locality where I spent my boyhood. The hilly country at that 
 time was mostly covered with a dense forest of white pines. There were many swamps 
 surrounded by thickets. Under the trees near by the club moss flourished and the winter- 
 green grew in dense patches. The small lake near my home, surrounded at some distance 
 by forest-clad hills, had marshy shores covered densely with thickets and sedges. Its 
 outlet meandered through low marshy land. The soil near the lake and just where the 
 outlet began was very oozy, waving up and down under one's footsteps. A cool 
 spring gushing forth from the foot of the hill south of the lake, showed a rusty-colored 
 sediment indicating its iron properties. Near it grew birches, ashes, and elms, while the 
 top of the hill was crested with magnificent white pines. On the edge of the lake near 
 
by thickets of willows, alders, dogwood, viburnums, and leatherwood were found, shaded 
 by tamaracks, ashes, and elms. The trees on the foot of the hill were the very paradise 
 of Scarlet Tanagers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks during the summer. At some distance 
 north and west of the lake the land had been cleared. What at one time had been a 
 dense forest, was now a rich grassy meadow, dotted in -early spring with marsh mari- 
 gold, and later with phloxes, stately lilies, and many other flowers. Along the edge of 
 the outlet the water was covered with the leaves of the fragrant white water-lily and 
 the yellow pond-lily. Rails, Gallinules, and Coots, leading their young over the floating 
 leaves of these plants, were frequently seen. In those by-gone days wild Ducks were 
 very abundant. The most beautiful species, the Wood Duck, hatched its eggs in hollow 
 trees. Their dowqy young, barely out of the eggs, dropped themselves down from con- 
 siderable heights without receiving the least injury. They at once instinctively took to 
 the adjacent water. I, several times, held a young Wood Duck in my hand. It was hard 
 to the touch like a rubber ball. Among the reeds and rushes colonies of Red-winged Black- 
 birds were nesting, and in the trees and high bushes and even in the roots of up-turned 
 trees and in tree hollows Bronzed Crackles had their nests. In the immediate vicinity of 
 the water, where clumps of wild goose-berry and black currant bushes and red osiers grew 
 rather sparingly among wild balsams', cardinal flowers, milk-weed ^ and masses of ferns, 
 in those early days the Swamp Sparrow was a common bird. It does not inhabit locali- 
 ties where dense thickets and trees cover the ground, selecting always half-cleared, half- 
 wild moist places ; its favorite haunts being the swampy edges of brooks, low bushy 
 meadows, the borders of white cedar and tamarack swamps near fields and pastures. 
 It is never found during the breeding season far away from such localities and never in 
 fields or on dry ground. Whoever is familiar with this bird can easily find it in its 
 swampy retreats, its loud, pleasant, and characteristic chant betraying its whereabouts. 
 The inaccessibility of its marshy haunts is the chief reason that this splendid songster 
 is comparatively unknown. 
 
 The Swamp Sparrow breeds from the Northern States northward to Fort Simpson, 
 New Foundland, and Labrador. It winters from the Middle States southward, being 
 particularly common in the Gulf States. I did not find it near Houston, Texas, though 
 it was a rather numerous bird in the thickets near the West Yegua in Lee County. I 
 also met with it in all marshy places near Vermillionville and New Iberia in Louisiana 
 during January and February. 
 
 In its marshy home in the Northern States the Swamp Sparrow makes its appear- 
 ance about April 15. At this time I have never heard its song. Keeping itself hidden 
 in secluded thickets, it is very difficult to observe. Not before a month later its vernal 
 song is heard, but mingling with the thousandfold voices of the Bobolinks, Redwings, 
 Catbirds, Tanagers, Towhees, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and others, the lay, though 
 very melodious, makes little effect on the mind of the general hearer. It isings most 
 diligently late in May and throughout June. It is remarkable that almost all our great 
 ornithologists have so little to say about this song, which is almost as loud and varied 
 as that of the Song Sparrow. The lay resembles the syllables chee-chee-chee-chee-ze-ze- 
 ze-ze-ze-ze, but without having heard the notes the reader can form no idea of the gre^t 
 
 1 Iwpatiens pallida. 2 Asclepias purparascens, 
 
 21 
 
162 SWAMP SPARROW. 
 
 beauty of this song. It resembles somewhat the melody of the Field Sparrow, though it 
 is louder and more varied. When disturbed it dives down among the grass and herbs to 
 repose out of sight. On the ground its movements are as quick, as silent, and secret as 
 those of a mouse, and once lost out of sight it is only with great difficulty to be 
 found. But if we remain quiet it soon mounts another low shrub and sings again. Its 
 loud, sweet, and somewhat plaintive notes are continued till late in the morning, and 
 after sunset in the evening. The common call-note sounds like chuck, and when excited 
 or when its nest is approached it utters incessantly sharp notes sounding like 
 cbck-chck-chck, 
 
 "Were it not for its abundance," says Mr. Winfred A. Steams, "this timid and 
 secretive inhabitant of the thickest shrubbery would be little known, so closely does it 
 hug the dense coverts which it instinctively chooses as a screen from the danger of 
 notoriety. It seldom ventures so far from its retreat that a hurried flight of a few 
 seconds will not enable it to regain the thicket, and no oftener climbs the bushes to 
 any considerable height from the ground. Moreover, such cover as the bird prefers is 
 that growing in the greatest profusion in swampy or other wet places, access to which 
 is doubly diflSicult from the treacherous yielding of the ground and the sturdy resistence 
 of the mantling vegetation. If, however, we overcome such obstacles, and penetrate 
 such recesses, we may. be pretty sure to see the Swamp Sparrow in the comparatively 
 free spaces beneath the woven canopy of foliage, fluttering in the shade, threading shyly 
 among the briers, running nimbly over the ground, or even wading about in tiny pools." 
 
 This is a true picture of the Swamp Sparrow's breeding grounds. In such places 
 1 have found many nests during my boyhood. They were most generally built in a 
 tussock of grass, sometimes in a dense goose-berry bush, and then again under the shade 
 of a clump of ferns or huckle-berry bushes. The structure, which is well built, consists of 
 coarse grasses and is lined with grasses and sometimes a few hair. Two broods are 
 annually raised. The first set, usually consisting of five eggs, is found by the 20th of 
 May, and a second set, usually containing four eggs, is found by the middle or end of 
 June. The ground-color of the eggs is bluish-green or bluish-white, densely spotted, 
 blotched, and clouded with dark and chestnut-brown. The eggs closely resemble those 
 of the Song Sparrow, but the dense clouding usually suffices to distinguish them. 
 
 The food is largely collected from the ground. It consists of small eater-pillars, 
 beetles, worms, and such insects which usually are found near water. During fall and 
 winter the seeds of grasses and weeds foi-m a large part of its diet. 
 
 NAMES: Swamp Sparrow, Swamp Soiig Sparrow, Spotted Swamp Sparrow. — Suraplsperling (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla georgina Lath. (1790). MELOSPIZA GEORGINA Ridgw. (1885). Frin- 
 gilla palustris Wils. (1811). Melospiza palustris Baird (1858). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. "Middle of crown, uniform chestnut; forehead, black; superciliary streak, 
 sides of head and back, and sides of neck, ash. A brown stripe behind the eye. Back with broad 
 streaks of black, which are edged with rusty-yellow. Beneath, whitish, tinged with ashy anteriorly, 
 especially across the breast, and washed with yellowish-brown on the sides. A few obsolete streaks 
 across the breast, which become distinct on its sides. Wings and tail, strongly tinged with rufous; 
 the tertials, black, the rufous edging changing abruptly to white towards the end. 
 
 "Length, 5.75 inches; wing, 2.40. 
 
 '''Female with the crown scarcely reddish, streaked with black, and divided by a light line." (Ridgw.) 
 
LINCOLN'S SPAh^ROW. 
 
 Melospiza lincolni Baird. 
 
 TS\ incoln's Sparrow, though in some localities very numerous, is one of the least 
 J!^ known of the whole group of Spizellinse or "Bunting Sparrows." Being plainly 
 colored and in appearance much like others of the group, it is easily overlooked, even 
 by the experienced field ornithologist. Its summer range extends from our northern 
 border northward, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In the West it is much more 
 common than in the East, but on the whole it is a bird which straggles in "such loose 
 and desultory fashion that it cannot be relied upon." ' Though having been found 
 breeding by Dr. Hoy near Racine, Wis., and in the high mountain ranges of the East 
 and West, it breeds mostly north of the United States, in Labrador, the region of the 
 Saskatchewan, the Mackenzie, and in Alaska. According to Mr. Trippe it breeds in the 
 Rocky Mountains of Colorado, from 9,500 or 10,000 feet up to timber line, and Dr. J. 
 A. Allen found it in the same State from 8,000 feet to above the limit of trees, occurring 
 chiefly in the vicinity of wooded streams and in moist or swampy thickets. 
 
 The late Dr. Hoy, with whom I had frequently very pleasant discourses about his 
 ornithological discoveries in Racine County, Wis., told me that he had found the nest on 
 very moist ground, among grasses. It was built entirely of grasses lined with finer 
 grasses, much in the way as the ground nests of the Song Sparrow. The eggs, having 
 a greenish-white ground, were thickly marked w^ith dots and small blotches of reddish- 
 brown, often so numerous that they concealed the ground-color. 
 
 Mr. Egbert Bagg, Jr., found two nests in Hamilton Co., N. Y. The first one was 
 discovered on the 13th of June, 1878, on a beautiful little pond. It was placed 
 on the ground, where it was almost spongy with water, within about two rods of the 
 pond, and about the same distance from the edge of the forest. It was not under the 
 protection of any bush or stone, but was quite well concealed in some tall grass of last 
 year's growth. It was composed entirely of dried grasses, the lining being neatly made 
 of the finer spears. The three eggs measured .74 by .56. The ground was a pale green, 
 covered with spots and blotches of different shades of reddish-brown. On one of them 
 the spots were so numerous as to become confluent with and almost concealing the 
 ground-color, while on another they were much smaller, so that the greenish-white of 
 the ground-color was the predominant tint, except at the large end, where the spots 
 became larger and more confluent, as indeed they did on all three. A second nest was 
 found in 1880 in an entirely similar location. 
 
 Mr. Kennicott found nests at Fort Simpson and Fort Resolution, British 
 America. A nest discovered June 14 was on the ground, built in a bunch of grass in a 
 rather open dry place. It contained five eggs. The female permitted Mr. Kennicott to 
 approach very close to her. Another nest was built in a bunch of grass growing in the 
 water of a small pond. 
 
 During the winter this Sparrow is found far to the south in southern Mexico and 
 even in Guatemala. In Texas I fovind it very numerous from the middle of November 
 
to late in March in the moist thickets in Lee and Bastrop Counties, usually in places 
 where many other Sparrows congregated. One day I caught one in a figure-of-four trap 
 and placed it in a large cage together with about twenty-five of its congeners. It was 
 so extremely wild and unruly that it flew with great force against the bars of the cage, 
 thereby exciting all the other inmates in such a degree that I had to take it out again 
 and give it its liberty. 
 
 NAMES: Lincoln's Sparhow, Lincoln's Finch, Lincoln's Song Sparrow. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla lincolni And. (1834,). MBLOSPIZA LINCOLNI Bmrd (1858). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Upper parts, streaked with black, bro\Ynish-gray, and grayish-brown; tail-feathers, narrow 
 and rather pointed, the outer ones shortest; nnder-parts, white, rather finely streaked with black, 
 a broad cream-baff band across the breast, a cream-buff stripe on either side of the throat ; sides 
 tinged with cream-btiff. 
 
 "Length, 5.75 inches; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.40 inches. 
 
 "Remark: The cream-buff band on the breast is distinctive of this species." (Frank M. Chapman.) 
 
 FOX SPARROW, 
 
 Passerella iliaca Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXIV. Fig. 6. 
 
 There comes from yonder height 
 A soft repiaing: sound, 
 AVhere forest leaves are bright, 
 And fall like flakes of light, 
 
 To the ground. 
 
 It is the autumn breeze 
 That, lightly floating on, 
 Just skims the weedy leas. 
 Just stirs the glowing trees. 
 
 And is gone. 
 
 -He moans by sedgy brook, 
 And yisits, with a. sigh, 
 The last pale flowers that look. 
 From out their sunny nook, 
 At the sky. 
 
 Bryant. 
 
 ^HE pine-barrens near the Atlantic coast, fi-om New Jersey southward, contain much 
 to interest us throughout the year. Even in midwinter the beautiful hollies, kal- 
 mias, andromedas and other evergreens, often growing in dense masses together, add a 
 peculiar charm to the level landscape. October is especially beautiful in these pine-woods. 
 No frost has yet touched the woodlaiids, and the flowers and foliage were never more 
 beautiful than they are now. The ripened leaves of many shrubs and trees are as hand- 
 some as gaily colored blossoms. The flowers linger, many summer-blooming plants 
 throwing up side-shoots from the old stems. The swamp maples have donned their 
 deepest crimson and scarlet, and vie in brilliancy with the tupelos, whose spray-like 
 horizontal branches are covered with small fiery leaves. The sweet gum is a gorgeous 
 sight in its bright autumn colors. The aromatic sassafras is brilliant in yellow and 
 scarlet, while the sumach and many shrubs of the heath family (Bricacese) have turned to 
 deep crimson, shading to purple. Many old trees and stumps are clothed from base to 
 summit with Virginia creeper in most brilliant tints of crimson and scarlet, intermingled 
 
FOX SPARROW. 165 
 
 with clusters of dark purple berries. The asters and golden-rods are never more beau- 
 tiful than they are in October. The dry, hot summer has kept them back until the 
 cooler weather of September and October came, when all the waste places and wood- 
 lands were suddenly ablaze with gold and azure. The gorgeous New England aster* is 
 in its prime, its flowers varying from a soft rosy to a fine deep purple. Planted in good 
 garden soil it attains a height from five to six feet. The golden asters^ flower side by side 
 with rudbeckias, small sun-flowers and blazing stars', the last with rosy flowers on long 
 wand-like stems. In marshy jalaces the burr-marigold* with showy yellow flowers is 
 common. The little orchid, ladies' tresses^, with its spikes of deliciously sweet-scented 
 pure white flowers, is quite common in damp places. The deep green hollies*, mingUng 
 with these bright colors, make charming pictures. Mostly they grow in shrub-like form, 
 but fine dense trees, with the lower branches touching the ground and thickly set with 
 their bright scarlet berries, occur frequently, displaying a high degree of beauty. There 
 are spots here and there in these pine barrens at this season of such enchanting splendor, 
 that no words can do them justice.* 
 
 Birds are at all times common in these woodlands, especially on the edges of 
 swamps, densely covered with shrubs, trees, and climbers. The Indigo Bunting, the 
 Field Sparrow, the Chewink, the White-eyed Vireo, the Chat, the Yellow Warbler, and, 
 more southward, also the beautiful Cardinal Redbird, are numerous summer sojourners 
 in the tangled masses of shrubs and trees. In fall all the thickets are swarming with 
 migrating birds, and in October Black Snowbirds or Juncos, Song and Swamp Spar- 
 rows, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows are exceedingly common, enlivening 
 the bright-colored landscape everywhere with their presence. Among these fall migrants 
 the Fox Sparrow, a large and richly colored bird, is also common in the pine- 
 woods, where holly thickets and other evergreens afibrd it excellent shelter against its 
 many enemies and the inclemency of the weather. At this time the Fox Sparrows 
 move in small scattered flocks. They are also observed in localities where other 
 members of the tribe occur, though they never mingle with them. I have found them 
 common in October in Wisconsin and Illinois. A little later they made their appearance 
 in south-western Missouri, and by the middle and towards the end of November I 
 met with them in south-eastern Texas, where they frequented throughout the winter the 
 thickets and the dense undergrowth of the margins of woodlands, retreating during 
 cold weather and in case of danger into the interior where the underwood was denser 
 and more tangled. During the migration and also in their winter-quarters the little 
 flocks are skulkers, but are easily startled by throwing a stick into the thicket, when 
 they rise with quite a whirring of the wings and a musical twitter. It is surprising how 
 many different kinds of birds are sometimes found assembled in such a thicket. Cardinals, 
 Towhees, Brown Thrashers, Song and Swamp Sparrows, Lincoln's Sparrows, White- 
 crowned and White-throated Sparrows, Juncos, Field Sparrows, Wrens, Chippies, and 
 even Chats and other Warblers left the thickets near the Buffalo Bayou or near the 
 West Yegua and Bluff" Creek in Texas, when I forced my way through them. The Fox 
 
 J Astet Novie-Angliae. 2 Chrysopsis Mariana and Ch. falcata. 3 L,iairis spicata and L. graminifolia. * Bideus. 
 » Spiranthes cerniia. ' J lex opaca. 
 
 * Compare "October in the Pints" by Mrs. Mary Treat. "Garden and Forest," 1890, p. 524; 1893, p. 443, 
 
sparrows are much less common than their allies, only a few being seen in the 
 large assemblages of different Sparrows in the cotton and corn-fields on the woodland 
 border. All these birds do not venture to go far away from their coverts. If we throw 
 a stick in the air they all fly heedlessly into the nearest thickets, not leaving them until 
 entirely satisfied that all is safe. 
 
 Hawks of various kinds, especially Sparrow and Pigeon Hawks, are very abundant 
 during the winter in the Gulf States, and if the small birds had to personify death, they 
 would certainly represent him as a Hawk, for this is the form in which he most gener- 
 ally appears to them. The Hawk glides noiselessly along on the edge of the woods and 
 alights on a bough near, where he hears the small birds twittering amongst the bushes 
 or in the dense weeds in the adjoining field. Perhaps they see him and are quiet for a 
 little, but he sits motionless as a sphinx, and they soon get over their fear and resume 
 their play and feeding. Then suddenly a dark mass swoops down and rises again with 
 a small bird grasped in his strong talons, gasping out its last breath. Its comrades 
 are terror-struck for a moment and dash madly into the thickets, but soon forget their 
 fear. They chirp to each other; the scattered birds reunite; there is a fluttering and 
 twittering and rearranging of mates, then again songs, feeding, love, joy, jealousy, and 
 bickerings. 
 
 Like the Towhee, the Fox-colored Sparrow prefers the interior of the woods, where 
 it scratches among the old leaves and loose soil for food. As all kinds of insects are 
 abundant in the leaf-mold, and seeds of grasses and weeds are also numerous, our beau- 
 tiful birds do not suffer from want of food. In south-western Missouri they winter 
 sparingly near creeks densely fringed with hazel bushes, briers, and climbers. They 
 also winter in small numbers near St. Louis and in southern Kansas. 
 
 They leave their winter-quarters early, the first disappearing from south-eastern 
 Texas at the beginning of March ; a few days later all have left. At Freistatt, Lawrence 
 Co., Mo., they were quite common about March 17, but a few days later none were 
 to be seen. In southern and central Wisconsin they are usually common -during th« last 
 days, of March and the first week of April. These birds breed north of our northern 
 boundary. Mr. Ernest E. Thompson has recorded them as breeding abundantly at Duck 
 Mountain, Manitoba, and they were also abundantly met with at Fort Simpson, Great 
 Slave Lake, on the Anderson and Swan River, Fort Res®lution, Fort Yukon, Nulato, etc. 
 According to the reports of Kennicott and MacFarlane the nests are found in trees 
 as well as on the ground. A nest, discovered eight feet from the ground, was similar 
 to that of Alice's Thrush. They were nearly all found after the middle of June, and a 
 few as early as June 7. One found on the ground in a tuft of dwarf willows, was 
 composed of coarse grasses, lined with some of a finer quality, a few deer hairs, and a 
 small quantity of fresh and growing moss, intermingled together. Mr. MacFarlane, in 
 speaking of this nest, states that all the nests of the Fox Sparrow he had pre- 
 viously met with had been built in the midst of branches of pine or spruce trees, and 
 had been similar to those of Alice's Thrush, which, in this instance, it did not resemble. 
 
 According to Audubon,- who found the birds breeding in Labrador, the nest 
 is placed mostly on the ground, usually concealed by the drooping branches of 
 evergreens. 
 
Dr. Elliott Coues, unrivalled by any other naturalist in describing the life of our 
 birds, writes as follows on the Fox-colored Sparrow: 
 
 "During the winter they are dispersed over the Southern States, beyond which, 
 however, they do not appear to pass, as I have found no record. In March they again 
 become plentiful in the Middle States ; and, having already taken up their line of migra- 
 tion toward their homes in the North, their coming is with song of gladness and all 
 the busy stir of the opening season. They are not all off until April, and during the 
 sunny days that precede their departure, the males are fond of mounting the little 
 bushes, or even the trees, to warble a few exquisitely sweet notes, the overture of the 
 joyous music which, later in the year, enlivens the northern solitudes, whither the birds 
 resort to nest. So musical is the Fox Spart-ow, indeed, that even in autumn, when the 
 transient glow and fervor of the nuptial period has subsided and common place occu- 
 pations alone engage him, he forgets the dull season at times, and lisps fugitive strains 
 of sweet memories awakened by the warmth and glamour of the Indian summer. But 
 this is a mere fragment — the shadow of a song stealing across the mind, not the song 
 itself, which we only hear in perfection when the bird's life is quickened in the sunny, 
 showery April, and he leaves us with cheery 'good-bye,' promising to come again. 
 What one of our fringilline birds is so entirely pleasing as this, my favorite? Strong, 
 shapely, vivacious, yet gentle, silver-tongued ; clad most tastefully in the richest of warm 
 browns; and, that nothing may be wanting to single him out from among his humbler 
 relatives, a high-bred bird, exclusive, retiring. We do not find him mixing indiscrimin- 
 ately with the throng of Sparrows that accompany him in his journeyings and spend 
 the winter with him. With a few select associates of his own kind, perhaps only two 
 of three families that were reared together, he chooses his own retreat, and holds it 
 against intrusion. In some little glade, hedged about with almost impenetrable briers, 
 you will come upon him and his friends, nestling among the withered leaves on the 
 ground, gently calling to each other in the assurance of safety. On your unwelcome 
 appearance, they will hurriedly take flight together, throwing themselves into the 
 thickest shrubbery. You will find such company, again, in the ravines overgrown with 
 smilax and brambles that lead down to the brook; and as you pass along neglected 
 fences, fringed with tall, rank weeds, you may surprise the birds out for a morning's 
 ramble, and make them hurry back in alarm to the shelter of heavier undergrowth." 
 
 Of all our Sparrows this species sings most diligently in confinement during spring 
 and early summer, and snatches of song can be heard even in winter. Its clear, loud, 
 and melodious voice is unequalled by its congeners; all its notes are rich, full, varied, 
 and prolonged. This song is only heard in the cage, when the bird is kept alone 
 and not in company with others. It becomes very tame and soon takes its food from 
 the hand if kindly treated., Like the Bobolink it becomes very fat in confinement if 
 allowed to eat to excess, but if care is taken in the selection of its food, it can be kept 
 in good health for years. I have kept quite a number of males in the cage and they 
 were all splendid songsters, always happy and beautiful and exceedingly tame. 
 NAMES: Fox Sparrow, Fox-colored Sparrow, Rufous Sparrow. — Fuchsfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla iliaca Merr. (1786). PASSBRELLA ILIACA Swains. (1837). Fringilla 
 rufa, Wils. (1811). Fringilla ferruginea Wils. (1812). 
 
16S POX SPARROWS. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sex, alike. '.'General aspect of upper parts, foxy-red, the ground-color and the sides of neck 
 being ashy; the interscapular feathers each with a large blotch of fox-red; this color glossing the top 
 of head and nape, sometimes faintly, sometimes more distinctly ; the rump unmarlied ; the upper coverts 
 and surface of the tail continuous fox-red. Two narrow white bands on the wing. Beneath, with 
 under tail-coverts and axillars, clear white; the sides of head and of throat, the jugulum, breast, and 
 sides of body, conspicuously and sharply blotched with fox-red; more triangular across breast, more 
 linear and darker on sides. Sometimes the entire head above is continuously reddish. 
 
 "Length, 7.50 inches; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.90 inches." (B. B. & R. 11. p. 50.) 
 Townsend's Sparrow, Passerella iliaca utialaschcensis Ridgw., inhabits the Pacific 
 coast region, from Kadiak south, in winter, to southern California. In winter these 
 birds seem to be quite common in all suitable situations on our Pacific coast. 
 
 Thick-billed Sparrow, Passerella iliaca megarhyncha Ridgw. This variety in- 
 habits the Sierra Nevada and Coast Range, California. According to Prof. R. Ridgway 
 it is a very common bird among the alder swamps in the ravines of the eastern slope 
 of the Sierra Nevada during- the summer. Near Carson City, April 25, in a swampy 
 thicket near the streams in the level slopes, he heard its beautiful song for the first time; 
 this was one of the most exquisitely rich utterances he ever heard. In richness and 
 volume it resembled that of the Louisiana Water Thrush, qualities in which that bird 
 is hardly equalled by any other North American bird. They were singing in all parts of 
 that swampy thicket, and up the ravines as far as the snow line. From the nature of 
 the place and the character of their song, they were at first supposed to be the Water 
 Thrush, until specimens of these exquisite songsters were secured. Prof. Ridgway 
 regards this bird as second to none of our singers, belonging to the Sparrow family, 
 and though in variety, sprightliness, and continuity, and also in passionate emotional 
 character, this song is not equal to that of the Lark Finch, yet it is far superior in 
 power and richness of tone. Mr. L. Belding found this Fox Sparrow nesting in Cala- 
 veras Co., Cal. The nest is described as being built just above the ground, and some- 
 times at a height of five feet, and always in bushes and thickets. The eggs are like 
 those of the Slate-colored Sparrow. This variety is larger than the type, with shorter 
 wings and tail and a decidedly thicker bill. 
 
 Slate-colored Sparrow, Passerella iliaca schistacea Allen, occurs in the Rocky 
 Mountain region, west across the Great Basin into California and Oregon, east, in winter 
 to the Plains. Prof Robert Ridgway found the Slate-colored Sparrow very plentiful in 
 Parley's Park among the Wahsatch Mts., in June, nesting among the willows and other 
 shrubbery along the streams. There it is always found in company with the Mountain 
 Song Sparrow, which in song it greatly resembles, though its notes are quite distinct, 
 the ordinary one being a sharp chuck. The nests of the two species, he adds, were also 
 much alike in manner of construction and situation, and the eggs so similar, that it 
 required a careful observation to identify a nest when one was found. A nest, found by 
 Mr. Ridgway, June 23, 1869, is described in a more detailed way. It was built in a clump 
 of willows about two feet from the ground, being constructed externally of coarse decayed 
 water-grass, and lined with fine hair and finer grasses. The eggs, four in number, were 
 .80x -67 of an inch, of very rounded oval shape, the ground-color of a pale green, blotched 
 and marked, chiefly at the larger end, with brown spots of a wine-colored hue. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: This form is readily distinguished by the slaty head, back, and slaty spots on the breast, 
 belly, and sides. 
 
TEXAS SPARROW. 
 
 Embernagra ru£virgata Lawrence. 
 
 Plate XXXII. Fig. 3. 
 
 ^HE flora as well as the ornis of south-eastern Texas, especially in the region of 
 the lower Rio Grande, is very characteristic. Of birds w^e meet here quite a 
 number of species not found elsewhere in our country. Trees of great beauty abound 
 in the bottom lands, and the adjoining rather level country is covered with almost 
 impenetrable thorny thickets, called chaparral. The many yuccas, always beautiful, are 
 a magnificent sight when in flower. The cactus family is represented by many species. 
 The Indian fig attains tree size, and other species, armed with formidable spines, form 
 impenetrable masses. Underneath these often very large cactus specimens skunks and 
 rattle-snakes find safe retreats. Dasylirions and agaves are also common eveiywhere. 
 During summer the heat is very intense, but the winter months are very mild, and 
 innumerable birds find excellent winter-quarters among the dense thickets of spiny 
 shrubs. During the spring migration and in the breeding season the chaparral swarms 
 with birds. "While the Warblers, bound northward, hunt among the branches for insects, 
 many of the resident species are engaged with their brood. 
 
 One of the characteristic species of this locality is the Texas Sparrow or Green 
 Finch. Mr. George B. Sennett met with the bird abundantly on the lower Rio Grande. 
 This painstaking and accurate ornithologist writes as follows: "This was one of the 
 first birds we saw at Lomita, and remained constant during our stay. It is quite tame 
 and confined to low shrubbery. Its song I can describe no better than Dr. J. C. Merrill 
 has already done: a repeated chip-chip-chip, begun slowly but rapidly increasing until 
 the notes run into each other, and which w^hen once heard and identified, is always 
 distinguishable. It feeds upon larvae and seeds, especially the seeds of the AArild tomato, 
 and begins to breed early." 
 
 Mr. Sennett adds that on April 19, 1878, a young bird more than half grown 
 came under his notice and also a nest containing two eggs about to be hatched — all found 
 in one clump of bushes. Many nests were found by Mr. Sennett as well as by Dr. 
 Merrill. The doctor first found them in the vicinity of Brownsville, and later Mr. Sen- 
 nett found them abundantly some seventy miles further up the river. "The domed nests 
 are situated in the heart of bushes, generally from two to five feet above the ground. 
 They were found in all sorts of open thickets. One I detected close by the roadside, in 
 a clump of bushes, under a small tree; another on a dry knoll, which was covered with 
 cacti, thorny bushes of various kinds, and scattering trees of mesquite and ebony, and 
 in close proximity to nests of the Long-billed Thrasher and the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 
 Most frequently, however, nests were found in those depressions near woods, w^here 
 water stands during the wet season, which, when dry, abound with grass hummocks 
 and bunches of rank weeds covered with wild tomato vines. The nests are nearly round 
 in shape, large for the size of the bird, and constructed of dried weed-stems, pieces of 
 
 22 
 
bark, grasses and leaves, — sometimes with a little hair for lining of the bottom, but 
 more frequently without. The complement of eggs is four, and two or three broods are 
 raised in a season. Several sets of eggs were found in April, but many more early in 
 
 May Dr. Merrill found fresh eggs August 5 near Port Brown, and others slightly 
 
 incubated on September 7. The eggs are pure white. 
 
 NAMES: Texas Sparrow, Green Finch, Texas Pinch, Cactus Sparrow. — Texas-Fink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: EMBBRNAGRA RUFIVIRGATA Lawr. (1851). Zonotrichia plebeja Licht. (1856). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Above, plain olive-green, the top of the head with two dull chestnut-brown (lateral) and 
 one grayish or olive-greenish (median) stripes; sides of head, grayish, with a brown streak behind 
 eye; lower parts, dull white, strongly tinged anteriorly and laterally with pale buffy-grayisk ; edge of 
 wing, bright yellow. 
 
 "Length, 6.00 to 6.75 inches; wing, 3.60 to 2.75; tail, 2.50 to 2.70 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 TOWrtEE, OR CrtEWINK. 
 
 Pipilo erythropbtbalmus ViEiLLOT. 
 
 Plate XXV. Fig. 4 and 5. 
 
 Climbing the loose-piled wall that hems 
 The road alongr the mill-pond's brink. 
 
 From 'neath the arching barberry stems 
 My foot-step scares the shy Chewink. 
 
 I/OWEUl.. 
 
 MONG the tenants of the shrubbery and undergrowth of our woodland borders 
 ^^S. the vivacious and rather jaunty Chewink, or Towhee, is my special favorite. 
 The thought of this beautiful and poetical bird brings back to my memory recollections 
 of my earliest woodland rambles. The fields and forests, the hills and vernal w^oodland 
 glens of those days are still before me. The richly flowing and withal so tender song of 
 the exquisite Rose-breasted Grosbeak and the enchantingly beautiful hymn of the Veery 
 still seem to resound in my ears. In a remote corner on our farm was at that time an 
 extensive swamp, covered by a dense growth of tamarack trees, elms, and ashes. Around 
 this the trees were almost entirely cleared away, and thickets of hazel bushes, black 
 haws, high bush cranberry shrubs, witch hazel, red branched dogwood, wild gooseberry 
 shrubs, and dense masses of raspberry and blackberry bushes had sprung up. The many 
 half rotten stumps were full of holes occupied by the ever active Nuthatches and 
 Chickadees, by Flickers and Red-headed Woodpeckers. Bronzed Grackles were exceed- 
 ingly common in the swamp, while the dense thickets surrounding it appeared to be 
 the very paradise of Indigo Buntings, Catbirds, Thrashers, Yellow Warblers, Song and 
 Swamp Sparrows and Vireos. 
 
 An old log fence, which separated this part of the farm from the adjoining woods, 
 was converted into a picture of beauty by wild grape-vines and the Virginia creeper. 
 Many of the thickets were covered by climbing plants, such as moonseed*, virgin's 
 bower ^, and honey -suckles *. In May and June this locality was exceedingly beautiful, 
 
 I Menispermum Canadensc. 2 Clematis Virginiana, 3 L,onicera hirsuta. 
 
XXV. 
 
 2.3. 
 
 1. PIRANGA KRYTHROMELAS Vieill. 
 
 2. 3. HABIA LUDOVICIANA Stojn S & 2 
 
 4. .5. PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS Vieill <J&2 
 
 _SCHARLACHTANGARA. _ Scarlet Tana^er . 
 
 _ ROSENBRUSTIGER KERNBEISSER._ Rose breastecrGrosbeak , 
 
 -ERDFINK. -Chewink.Towhee. 
 
TOWHBE, OR CHBWINK. 171 
 
 and the lover of Nature could hardly strike a more secluded and interesting place for 
 his rambles. From the deep rich mould of decaying trees lying prostrate on the ground, 
 immense specimens of ferns emerged. The twin-flower', the Jeffersonia^ the moccasin 
 flower', the yellow lady's slipper*, the wintergreen and partridge berry^, the trientalis 
 and bunch-berry" flourished almost side by side. In some shady nooks large spaces 
 were covered by the deep green pine moss'. Dog's-tooth violets, hepaticas, the spring 
 beauty' and blood-root were the first flowers to open. Among the shrubs, at those 
 days, the buffalo berry*, the sheep-berry", the red-branched dog-wood, the June-berry, 
 and the many wild cherry and plum trees attracted my attention. The fragrance of 
 the blossoming trees and shrubs, of which 1 have mentioned only a few, the invigorat- 
 ing aromatic odor exhaled by the white pines and the young leaves of the black birches, 
 the air ringing with bird song, made a deep and lasting impression on my mind. In 
 later years I have rambled among America's most beautiful trees, the grand evergreen 
 magnolias, among flowering rhododendrons, azaleas, and mountain laurels, among live 
 oaks and palmettos ; I have walked underneath trees festooned with garlands of flower- 
 ing bignonias, trumpet creeper, and Carolina jasmine ; I have spent many hours under 
 trees covered entirely with the gray festoons of Spanish moss ; I have gathered spider- 
 lilies" and crinums*^ on the banks of the St. John's River and Lake Apopka in Florida; I 
 have inhaled with delight the fragrance of the sweet bay in Louisiana and have roamed 
 for years through the woods of Texas and southern Missouri and rejoiced in them all, — 
 but that indescribable freshness and loveliness, above referred to, I have found only in 
 the coniferous woodlands of my native State. When I returned after many years from 
 the South and revisited my old haunts, the woods had been converted into fields, the 
 shrubbery and swamp were no more, and only a few Rose-breasted, Grosbeaks and 
 Cedarbirds reminded me of that poetical spot of my boyhood. 
 
 One of the characteristic birds of the above described locality was the Towhee or 
 Chewink. I used to look for this lively and sprightly tenant of the woods when the 
 wild plum and the June-berry tree were in full flower, although I found later that it 
 arrives at least fully a week or two earlier. Shortly after its arrival our bird is rarely 
 heard, but as soon as the season opens with mild air and flowering trees and shrubs, 
 the Chewink's metallic notes are sounding loudly through the forest. Late in May and 
 in June the concert of the woodland choir is unsurpassingly beautiful. Then we hear 
 the loud and varied song of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, the flute-like notes of the 
 Scarlet Tanager ; from the murmuring brook the indescribable song of the Veery falls on 
 our ear ; the thickets resound with the song of the Catbird and the liquid strain of the 
 Thrasher. Blue Jays scream and Flickers and Red-headed Woodpeckers are drumming 
 on hollow limbs. A great number of minor notes can be distinguished among the voices 
 of this bird concert. The loudest and most characteristic of all the sounds of this vernal 
 bird jubilee are those of the Towhee ; they are very peculiar, reminding one of a cymbal, 
 but they are much more animated and beautiful. This call sounds distinctly like 
 tow-bee or cbe-wink. Hence the bird's common names Towhee, Chewink, Joreet, Charee, 
 
 1 l.innsea borealis. « Jeffersonia diphylla. a Cypripedium spectabile. < Cypripediam pabesceas. » Gaultberia 
 procumbeas and Mitcbella repens. « Cornus Caaadensis. '' Lycopodium dendroideum. « Claytoaia Virgiaica 
 9 sbepberdia Canadensis, to Yibwaum Leatago. ii Hymenocallis lacera. a Crinum Americanum, 
 
172 TOWHEE, OR CHBWINK. 
 
 Pink-pink, and Wink-wink. Its plumage is very tasteful, mostly deep black relieved by 
 white and — on the sides — by a very fine chestnut-brown. This chestnut-brown color has 
 obtained for our bird the name of Ground Robin and Swamp Robin. From its beautiful 
 red iris it is often called Red-eyed Towhee. 
 
 The Towhee is one of our finest and most strongly characterized native birds. 
 Prequenting close and sheltered thickets it spends much of its time on the ground among 
 the old leaves, scratching and searching for insects and their larvEe. Though a tenant 
 of retired localities, it is far from being a shy and wild bird. On the contrary, it .is one 
 of our most popular birds, being well known and well liked among the country people. 
 Of its familiarity and popularity its many common names are an ample proof. 
 
 "Next to the splendid Cardinal," says Mr. Ridgway, "the Chewink is decidedly 
 the finest of our terrestrial Finches, and in some respects is, perhaps, the most attractive 
 of all. Without brilliant or gaudy coloring, his plumage is yet handsome by reason of 
 its bold contrasts. His notes possess a peculiar charm, and notwithstanding his abode 
 is in the thickets of the wildwood and the remote corners of the farm, no bird is more 
 confiding in the presence of man." 
 
 Its chosen haunts . are always the bushy woodland borders and the dense under- 
 wood in the forest, though it does not penetrate far into the dark interior. In Wis- 
 consin it prefers such localities as I have described, and in northern Illinois it is usually 
 common in the borders of woodlands traversed by a creek or a river, avoiding 
 entirely the higher oak-woods on the prairies. Not many years ago it was a common 
 bird in the woods near the Desplaines in the vicinity of Oak Park. Wild crab-trees, 
 white-thorns, black haws, hazel and blackberry bushes formed dense masses of verdure 
 on the edge of the woods, while the interior was also overgrown by extensive thickets. Its 
 nearest neighbors here were Catbirds, Thrashers, Wood Thrushes, Yellow Warblers, Indigo 
 Buntings, Red-eyed Vireos, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and Scarlet Tanagers,the latter three 
 occupying the "upper story" of the woods, while the former were tenants of the lower. 
 In Wisconsin the vegetation of its haunts is exceptionally dense and vigorous, no doubt 
 owing to the many old tree trunks lying around on the ground and being in all states 
 of decomposition. Old logs and low stumps are its common resting places, from which 
 re-echos its loud metallic call-note which is usually accompanied by a peculiar flirt of 
 its long tail. Brooks and springs are usually found not far away, or, in absence of 
 these, ponds or swamps are certainly near at hand. In south-western Missouri I found 
 the Towhee always in rather damp places, where the red snowberry, the basket- 
 vines of the settlers, luxuriated vigorovjsly and where dense thickets of hazel bushes, 
 gooseberry shrubs, masses of wild roses {Rosa setigera), persimon trees, often covered 
 from top to bottom with wild grape-vines, smilax, or the trumpet creeper, were 
 flourishing. In this locality the Cardinal Redbird, the Yellow-breasted Chat, the 
 Hooded Warbler and Catbird, the Blue Grosbeak, Field Sparrow, Indigobird, the White- 
 eyed and Bell's Vireos were the Towhee's next neighbors. The dense masses of snow- 
 berry bushes afforded all these birds excellent nesting places and shelter against the 
 inclemencies of the weather and against their many foes. In the mountains of eastern 
 Kentucky and Tennessee the Chewink is always to be found in the magnificent masses 
 of mountain laurels {Kalmia latifolia), azaleas, iindromedas, and rhododendrons, but it 
 
TOWHEB, OR CHEWINK. 173 
 
 does not appear to go high up in the mountains. In all these regions it is found on the 
 borders of woodlands near fields and cultivated lands, but always in places where the 
 undergrowth is dense. In the deep interior of extensive forests it does not occur. 
 Swamps it also avoids, though it may be found on their edges. 
 
 Wherever the Towhee may occur in the breeding season, its metallic call-note 
 is one of the leading bird voices in the concert of Nature, and its vivacity and liveliness 
 does much to convert the localities where it has chosen its haunts into attractive and 
 poetical spots. 
 
 It rarely alights on trees. Most of its time is spent on the ground where it runs 
 around with great dexterity. It usually searches for food underneath the bushes, only 
 alighting now and then on an old stump, a half decayed log or an old rail fence ; where 
 it often sits for many minutes uttering its metallic, far sounding notes, or cleaning and 
 arranging its plumage. In close proximity the female answers, or another male not far 
 away, but across the boundary line of its nesting range. In northern Illinois I observed 
 three pairs breeding on a comparatively small tract of woodland not exceeding five 
 acres in area. Their notes, blending together, were in themselves quite a woodland 
 concert. When one called, the others responded. Though the breeding range of each 
 pair was small, its boundary lines were carefully watched and every intruder was at 
 once attacked and driven away if invading the premises of another pair. 
 
 The flight is rather quick, low, and short, and seems to be heavy when the bird 
 has to overfly a naked tract. It usually flies a short distance when flushed, soon 
 alighting again on the ground and disappearing among the bushes and thickets. While 
 flying the tail is spread out in a fan-like manner. Often when walking through its 
 haunts we may hear a rustling noise among the old leaves, and on approaching we 
 see the Chewink busily engaged in scratching for food. This is done in the same manner 
 in which the Fox Sparrow and the White-crowned Sparrow and others operate, i. e. with 
 both feet at the same time. The spot thus laid bare is carefully searched for food. If 
 frightened it runs with great rapidity along on the ground for quite a distance and 
 suddenly reappears on an old stump or on a brush heap, reconnoitering or uttering its 
 common note. It is neither shy nor retiring, but very cautious and prudently avoids 
 danger. When convinced that the observer is harmless, it allows him to approach and 
 may tlien be closely observed. In south-western Missouri several pairs nested near my 
 house among the dense snowberry bushes, wild roses, and stunted black jack oaks. They 
 were very tame, and gathered some of their food from the feeding places I had prepared 
 for the winter residents. 
 
 Wherever the Towhee occurs it is easily detected by its loud and sonorous notes 
 which resound through the woods from early morning until the evening falls. These 
 melodious notes are very loud, varying somewhat during the mating season. We usually 
 hear a simple loud che-wink or tow-hee, or a subdued wink, which is often prolonged 
 into a sweet wink-wink. A louder and more energetic cheo-we-wink and wenk-wenk- 
 wink is also heard, especially when the male challenges a rival near by. The common 
 note of anxiety or alarm, when its haunts are invaded or its nest is approached, sounds 
 like chuck-chuck. The Towhee has also a low, prolonged song, but it is rarely heard 
 by the common rambler and is scarcely audible among the voices of the woodland choir. 
 
It is entirely distinct from the clear sonorous cbe-wiak, consisting of a number of rather 
 monotonous, guttural notes which 1 am unable to describe. The common call-n6tes are 
 uttered by both male and female. As a rule the one calls and the other replies. These 
 sounds are so loud, mellow, sweet, and beautiful that we easily forget to expect a real 
 prolonged song. They seem to be particularly suggestive of romantic woodland beauty 
 when heard together with the musical E-o-lie of the Wood Thrush, which is frequently 
 the case in northern and southern Illinois and Missouri. 
 
 For a nesting site the Ground Robin always selects a lonely spot in woods 
 seldom trodden by human feet. Late in May and early in June the nest is completed 
 in its northern habitat, while in south-western Missouri I have several times fou«d it 
 by the beginning of May. It is almost invariably built among very dense bushes, gener- 
 ally in a depression of the soil which was evidently scratched for this purpose by the 
 bird, and its rim is, in most cases, level with the ground. Occasionally when it is built 
 underneath a low growing bush it rests on the ground. I have found the structure on 
 the side of old stumps, on or under fallen logs, surrounded and overgrown with masses 
 of ferns, on and in brush heaps and among the shrubbery in fence corners. It is built 
 in such a way that the material used for its construction is in perfect harmony with 
 the old leaves and grasses surrounding it. The nest rests generally on a foundation of 
 old leaves on which are placed plant-stems, grape-vine bark, pine-needles, and fine root- 
 lets, and the cavity is lined with fine grasses. The shady retreats of the woods and 
 sometimes the midst of damp forests, among a rank growth of ferns and other plants, 
 are its favorite nesting places. It is said that the nest is sometimes built in bushes, but 
 I have never found it higher than about five inches, in which case it was situated in a 
 brush heap. It is almost always a bulky affair, but well constructed. 
 
 The eggs, usually four, sometimes three and rarely five in number, have a 
 white ground-color, mostly with a faint shade of pink or bluish. They are marked or 
 speckled with light reddish-brown; on some eggs the markings are bold and sparsely 
 scattered, so that the eggs closely resemble those of the Cardinal or Cowbird, but as a 
 rule they have a faint pink flush so that they can be easily' distinguished from those of 
 the above named species. They average in size .95 X .72 of an inch. 
 
 Whether the nest is in a brush heap, on the side of a stump, underneath an over- 
 hanging bush, or under the shelter of a rotten log overgrown with ferns, it is always 
 difficult to find, unless one by chance almost steps on it. When the rambler is looking 
 for it, without being familiar with the habits of the bird, the search is likely to be 
 without success, owing to the sagacity of the birds. If its domain is invaded by any 
 intruder, the watchful male utters its alarm note, when the female at once leaves the 
 nest and its neighborhood. Both reappear at some distance from it, uttering incessantly 
 their notes of distress. By these manoeuvres they draw the attention to the place, where 
 they are then hopping around, but they soon fly still farther away, repeating their trick 
 in another place. Sometimes they lead the intruder in this way quite a distance from 
 the nest, to which they then triumphantly return under the cover of low and dense 
 bushes. The birds are now very quiet, and while the nest hunter is still searching, the 
 female is probably quietly sitting on her nest. But if by chance the nest is discovered, 
 the anxiety and excitement of the birds becomes truly pitiable. Their lamenting and 
 
TOWHEE, OR CHEWINK. 175 
 
 screaming is uttered in such plaintive and pitiful tones that the kind-hearted oljserver 
 often quickly leaves the place. In Missouri several pairs were perfectly convinced of iny 
 harmlessness, hence they never showed any sign of excitement, when I inspected the nest. 
 Frequently one, two, and even three eggs of the detestable parasite and vagabond, the 
 Cowbird, are found in the nest of the Ground Robin. I often had occasion to call the 
 attention of my readers to the fact that every brood, in which a Cowbird's egg is found, 
 is lost. The parasite only leaA'es the nest, while the legitimate occupants have either 
 been thrown out or robbed of their food by the young Cowbird and were thus 
 doomed to starvation.— Even in the North with its comparatively short summers 
 the Towhee seems to raise two broods, as I have found fresh sets of eggs as late 
 as July 10 in Wisconsin. While the female hatches, the male not only guards her care- 
 fully, but supplies her with food and utters to her his sweetest and most persuasive 
 notes. Thirteen and fourteen days is the nesting time, and the first days after the 
 young are hatched the male alone supplies the nestlings with food. I have observed 
 several times that the male was hatching while the female was looking for food. Per- 
 haps these birds, like many others, attend alternately to their parental duties. 
 
 The Towhee inhabits the region east of the Rocky Mountains, being found as far 
 north and west as Minnesota and eastern Dakota, and breeding from south-eastern 
 Texas and northern Alabama and Georgia northward. It winters largely in the Gulf 
 States. Although I have found no nests in Texas, I am convinced of their breeding in 
 the woods near Spring Creek (Harris Co.), where I observed several pairs all the year 
 round. In Texas and Louisiana, the Towhee usually appears suddenly in November 
 with other seed-eaters from the North. In Missouri they are most common during the 
 month of October. "As we walk along the weedy old 'snake' fences and thick hedges," 
 writes Dr. Elliott Coues, "or by the briery tracts marking the course of a tiny water- 
 thread through a field, scores of the humble gray Sparrows flit before us; while ever 
 and again the jaunty Towhee, smartly dressed in black, white, and chestnut, comes 
 into view, flj'ing low, with a saucy flirt of the tail, and dashes again into the 
 covert as quickly as it emerged, crying tow-bee with startling distinctness. In the 
 spring it is less conspicuous, and more likely to be found in low, tangled woods, 
 amid laureJ brakes and the like, on the ground rustling and busily scratching the 
 matting of the last year's leaves that covers the earth, doubtless in search of insects. 
 Its notes are then louder, and oftcner heard. Some say that the males precede the 
 females in migrating; this raaj^ average true, but I have constantly found the sexes 
 together at both seasons. This is only a partially gregarious bird, large gatherings 
 being seldom witnessed. In fact it seems to prefer the society of the smaller and plainer 
 Sparrows, among which it shines without difliculty, doubtless patronizing them in the 
 genteel way, costumary with big folks, that is so exasperatingly oppressive to the 
 recipients." 
 
 In Wisconsin they first make their appearance from the South late in April, the 
 majority arriving during the first week of May. Should the season be far advanced, the 
 first migrants sometimes appear by the middle of April near Milwaukee. They usually 
 move in pairs or alone, never in large flocks. In mild winters some are found in sheltered 
 places in south-western Missouri. Mr. Widmann saw several in winter near St. Louis in 
 
176 TOWHEE, OR CBEwmiC. 
 
 company with Cardinals. In the spring of 1884 Mr. Widmann jotted down the following 
 notes regarding the Towhee's migration: "February 24, first arrival; March 13, first 
 songbirds still scarce; March 17, arrival of bulk; March 23, many, noisy, conspicuous; 
 March 31, transients in parties of six to eight; April 1, summer residents carrying 
 building material ; April 4, last transient ; April 17 to 19, singing, fighting, love making ; 
 May 24, first young out of the nest." In Milwaukee they can be observed during the 
 spring and fall migration in large gardens among the ornamental shrubbery. 
 
 During winter I found the Towhee a very common resident along the Cherokee- 
 rose hedges . of southern Louisiana and also in the wax myrtle thickets. In south- 
 eastern Texas they inhabit in large numbers in company with other northern Spar- 
 rows the evergreen yupon thickets and the almost impenetrable masses of shrubbery 
 overgrown with smilax and other creepers. They show the same fondness for dense 
 underwood in the forest, the bushy edges of woodlands, ravines, and glens covered with 
 dense thickets as they do in their more northern breeding ranges. I have rarely heard 
 the inspiring tow-hee in the South, the birds usually keeping perfectly silent, and only 
 their low chuck is a sign of their presence. During the night these thickets swarm with 
 birds, but in the day-time most of them are hunting for food in the neighboring cotton, 
 corn, or sugar cane fields. The Towhee, however, rarely joins these assemblages, never 
 venturing to leave the safety of its bushy retreats. 
 
 The Towhee has many enemies, especially among the small mammals and reptiles. 
 In Louisiana they are frequently killed by pot-hunters. This beautiful and valuable and 
 in no way harmful bird, should be especially protected by the law wherever it occurs. 
 
 As a cage-bird the Towhee is well adapted to. In a few days it has forgotten the 
 loss of its freedom, and in a few weeks after its capture it will take meal-worms out of 
 the hand of its master. A change in the diet now and then is necessary or the bird 
 will become very fat and soon dies. A mixture of various seeds, such as millet and 
 Canary seed, meal-worms and now and then hard-boiled egg in winter, green milky 
 oats and millet, lettuce. Mockingbird food mixed with grated carrots and all kinds of 
 insects in summer will keep the bird healthy. The cage should be large and its bottom, 
 especially in summer, overlaid with sods, which must be renewed every few days. The 
 bird will scratch very much in the sods, searching for insects, and this exercise will 
 prove valuable for its health. 
 
 NAMES: Towhee, Chewink, Ground Robin, Marsh Robin, Red-eyed Towhee, Pink-pink, Wink, Wink-wink, 
 Joreet, Jaree, Towhee Bird, Towhee Bunting, Pipilo, Turkey Sparrow. — Grundrotel (Brehm); Erdfink, 
 Tohi, Tschiwink, Wink- Wink (Nhrlg.) [German]. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC N.\MES: Friagilla erythrophthalmus Linn. (1766). Emberha erythrophthalma Gme\. (1788), 
 Wils. PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS Vieill. (1824)^ Audubon, etc. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Adult wale: Upper parts, black, sometimes margined with rufous; throat and breast, black; 
 belly, white; sides, rufous; outer web of primaries, mostly white; tall, black; the three outer feathers 
 tipped with white; outer web of the outer feather entirely white; iris, red. Adult fema/e.- Upper 
 parts, wings, throat, and breast, bright grayish-brown ; tail, fuscous ; the three outer feathers tipped 
 with white; sides, rufous; middle of the belly, white. Young in the Hrst plumage have the back and 
 under-parts streaked with black. 
 
 "Length, 8.35 inches; wing, 3.34; tail, 3.68; bill, .55." (Frank M. Chapman.) 
 
WHITE-EYED TOWHEB. 177 
 
 WRITE-EYED TOWHEE. 
 
 Pipilo erytbrophtbalmus alleni CouES. 
 
 White-eyep Towhee, Florida Towhee, Allen's Towhee, Charee, Joreet, Joree, Pal- 
 metto Chewink are the names of a variety of the common Ground Robin with a white, 
 instead of a red, iris, and which differs also very much in its notes and song. This bird 
 is distributed from the southern part of South Carolina and eastern Georgia to southern 
 Florida. 
 
 Prof. Wm. Brewster found it quite a common resident at St. Mary's, Georgia. 
 According to his observations it "was chiefly a bird of the oak scrub, although it 
 was also to be found in open pine-woods where it haunted the beds of saw-palmetto. 
 Its note differed widely from that of the Red-eyed Towhee; the chewink was shorter 
 and harsher, and in addition to its cry, both sexes occasionally uttered a sharp clear 
 whistle that sounded like a sportman's call to his dog. I am not sure that I heard 
 the song, or at least identified it. These Towhees .... were shy and retiring, rarely 
 venturing far from their secure retreats." 
 
 I met with the Joreets frequently in Orange Co., Fla., were I found them in- 
 variably inhabiting the oak scrub and the dense palmetto thickets, especially the latter, 
 whence they announce themselves unmistakably by sharp whistles. When hearing these 
 notes for the first time I did not know by what bird they were uttered, so different are 
 they from the call-note of the northern Towhee. They are usually searching for food or 
 running around under the overhanging dwarf palms. Now and then one mounts a 
 palmetto leaf, uttering its loud jo-ree, and allowing the observer to see its pale yellow 
 or whitish iris. Except for this mark, which can only be seen in close proximity, this 
 Towhee looks exactly like the type, It is also a little smaller. 
 
 "This bird," says Mr. J. C. Maynard, "frequents the scrub, never being found else- 
 where. Like the Red-eye they spend the greater portion of their time on the ground, 
 and on still mornings may be heard scratching among the leaves in all directions, for 
 they are very numerous wherever they occur. These birds are exceedingly inquisitive 
 and will follow one for a long distance through the bushes. The "White-eyed Towhees 
 are also sympathetic, for they will gather in large numbers around a wounded comrade 
 when they hear its cries, evincing the utmost compassion for its misfortune. Although 
 they possess similar habits to those of the more northern species, yet they are not as 
 restless, neither is the ordinary call given as loudly or with as much energy. This note 
 also has a different sound, like the syllables jo-ree with a very decided accent on the 
 latter, the first being frequently given so quickly and so low, that it is not very notice- 
 able. I have often heard the two varieties together and could always distinguish them 
 by this utterance alone. 
 
 "Througlrout the winter the White-eyed Towhees do not sing, but by the first of 
 March the males may be seen on the highest boughs of the small live oaks, pouring 
 forth their song which is lower and sweeter than that of the Red-eye. This outburst 
 of song is the prelude to the breeding season, and soon the birds are busily engaged in 
 constructing their domiciles. Although I have searched long and carefully for the nest 
 yet, on account of the thickness of the bushes among which they build, never found one. 
 
 23 
 
178 TOWHEES. 
 
 It is quite probable that the females sit closely, as they are very tamej; which would 
 also render the nests difficult to find. The first week in April, however, I was fortunate 
 enough to capture a newly fledged young in the bushes, near our camp on Indian River. 
 There were quite a number of the little Jo-rees, as the boys call them, about and their 
 parents were extremely annoyed at my presence, scolding me vehemently while they 
 hopped briskly about, jerking their tails over their backs, thus evincing as much anger 
 as is possible for a bird to exhibit." 
 
 It is said that the Florida Towhees usually breed in young pines from three to 
 ten and even twenty feet from the ground and that the nest resembles that of the 
 Yellow-breasted Chat. In Florida I have been informed that they sometimes build in the 
 dense clumps of saw-palmettos, but that they usually construct their nest on the ground. 
 The nest consists of coarse weeds, pine needles, and grass, and is lined with finer grasses. 
 Sometimes the eggs, which have a white ground-color, are densely speckled and spotted, 
 sometimes they are almost unmarked. 
 
 The Arctic Towhee or Saskatchewan Chewink, Pipilo maculatus arcticus 
 CouES, is distributed in summer over the region of the Platte River, the upper Missouri, 
 the Yellowstone and Saskatchewan Rivers, north to Great Slave Lake. It winters from 
 Colorado and Kansas to Texas. In its habits and appearance it is quite similar to the 
 eastern species, but it seems to be much shyer, being easily frightened when it hides in the 
 bushes until all danger is over. According to Dr. J. C. Merrill it is abundant in all parts 
 of Montana wherever a stream with bordering underbrush affords the needed shelter. 
 The nests are placed on the ground under some brush, a favorite place being small isolated 
 cherry bushes so often seen near streams flowing down many of the mountains ; lower, on 
 the plains, any growth of bushes or shrubbery appear to answer well. The rim of the nest 
 is flush with the surface of the ground, the birds scratching a hollow large enough to con- 
 tain the nest. This is well and strongly built ; externally are placed dead leaves and broad 
 strips of bark ; then a wall of finer strips of bark and blades of dry grass, lined usually 
 with yellow straws. The eggs, four or five, have a white ground-color, slightly tinged 
 with greenish and covered with dots and small spots of reddish-brown and lavender, 
 most numerous on the larger end, where a more or less distinct wreath is formed. In 
 some sets the ground-color is scarcely distinguishable on account of the very numerous 
 markings which cover the entire surface. 
 
 Spurred Towhee, Pipilo maculatus megalonyx CouES. This variety inhabits 
 especially the Rocky Mountain region, and is found west to southern California and 
 north to eastern Washington, wintering in Mexico and Lower California. This Towhee 
 seems to be especially common in New Mexico and Arizona. According to Prof. R. 
 Ridgway it is common near Salt Lake City. When he first met with the bird he was 
 surprised about its call-note which is very similar to that of the Catbird. The nest he 
 found on the ground, among the scryb-oaks of the hill-sides; In Riverside, Cal., nests 
 were found in low bushes by Mr. S. C. Evans, and Mr. O. Emerson, of Hay wards, Cal., 
 also found the nests in his locality in bushes, the lowest about ten inches from the ground. 
 
 Oregon Towhee, Pipilo maculatus oregonus Coues. This local form, which is 
 also known as the Oregon Ground Robin, is a resident of the western parts of northern 
 
GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. 179 
 
 California, of Oregon and Washington. In its nesting habits and traits it is said to be 
 the counterpart of our Eastern Towhee. 
 
 On the Island of Guadalupe, Lower California, a closely allied species occurs, which 
 is known as the Guadalupe Towhee, Pipilo consobrinus Ridgw. 
 
 GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. 
 
 Pipilo chlorurus Baird. 
 
 Plate XX. Fig. 7. 
 
 [j^HIS fine Towhee is a summer resident of the Rocky Mountains, north to eastern 
 Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, and west its range is limited by the 
 Sierra Nevada. Its winter home is Mexico, and probably also the lower districts of 
 Arizona etc. Like all its allies it is an inhabitant of the dense shrubbery which it 
 imparts with life and beaUtyj Mr. Robert Ridgway, while accompanying the expedition 
 of Clarence King as Uaturalist, found it very generally distributed throughout the fertile 
 mountain portions of the interior. He first met with it in the ravines at the base of the 
 eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. On the high moUntaiti ranges it was a characteristic 
 bird and the best known singer, as well as one of the most abundant of the Finches, 
 being found in all bushy places, from the bases to the summits of the mountains. It is 
 exclusively a summer species, arriving at Carson City about the middle of April. He 
 describes the usual note of this bird as very peculiar, and, as nearly as can be described, 
 a sweet laughing utterance of the syllables keek-keek, a little iresembling the tweet of 
 a Canary, but very musical. This curious note was generally uttered when anything 
 unusual attracted its attention, such as the approach of an intruder. Then, with 
 elevated tail, and its very conspicuous red cap raised, it would hop familiarly and un- 
 suspiciously about. Mr. Ridgway says that it is a songster of high merit, in power and 
 variety ranking very little below the song of the Lark Sparrow. The song varies in 
 the modulations greatly with the individual, but the same general style is preserved. 
 At times it seems to have a slight resemblance to the song of Bewick's Wren. In the 
 early part of July, near Austin, in the canons of the mountains, Mr. Ridgway found these 
 birds breeding in the greatest abundance, and later in the same month a few of its nests 
 were found on the East Humboldt Mountains. All of its nests, with hardly an excep- 
 tion, were placed from eighteen inches to two feet above the ground,- among the thick 
 bushes of a species of Sytaphodcarpus, or snowberry, which grows in great abundance 
 upon the sides of the canons of those mountains. The maximum number of eggs was 
 four. It was also quite a common bird in the WahSatch Mountains, though less 
 abundant than the Spurred Towhee. The eggs are oval, neither end being apparently 
 much more rounded than the other. "The groundA:olor is white with a bluish tint, over 
 which is profusely diffused a cloud of fine dottings of a pinkish-drab. These markings 
 are occasionally so fine and so thickly distributed as to give to the tg^ the efppearaiice 
 
180 CANON TOWHEE. 
 
 of a uniform color, or as an unspotted pinkish-drab colored egg. Occasionally the dots 
 are deeper and larger, and more sparely diifused." (Brewer.) 
 
 DrJ. A. Allen found the bird in Colorado. "This is one of the most interesting birds," 
 he writes, "met with in the wooded portions of the great central plateau of the continent. 
 In the mountains of Colorado it ranges from the foot-hills up to the limit of trees, and 
 throughout the mountain valleys is one of the more common species. It aifects the 
 moister thickets near the streams, and possesses a peculiar and very pleasing song. In 
 habits or notes it has but little resemblance to the group of Towhees with which it is 
 commonly associated by systematic writers, presenting in these respects far more resem- 
 blance to the group of Sparrows so familiarly represented in the Atlantic States by the 
 common "White-throat, from which it only differs structurally in its relatively longer tail." 
 
 NAMES: Green-tailed Towhee, Green-tailed Finch, Green-tailed Bunting, Chestnut-crowned Towhee, 
 Blanding's Finch. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla chlorura Audubon (1839). Zonotrkhia chlorura Gambel (1843). PIPILO 
 
 CHLORURUS Baird (1858). 
 DESCRIPTION: "Above, dull grayish olive-green. Crown, uniform chestnut. Forehead with superciliary 
 
 stripe, and sides of head and neck, the upper part of the breast and sides of the body, bluish-a$h. 
 
 Chin and upper part of throat abruptly defined white, the former margined by dusky, above which 
 
 is a short white maxillary stripe. Under tail-coverts and sides of body behind brownish-yellow. 
 
 Tail-feathers generally, and exterior of wings, bright olive-green, the edge and under surface of the 
 
 wings, bright greenish-yellow; edge of first primary, white. First quill longer than eighth, fourth 
 ~ longest. 
 
 "Length, about 7.00 inches; wing, 3.20; tail, 3.65 inches." (B. B. & R., "North American Birds," 
 
 II. p. 131.) 
 
 CANON TOWHEE. 
 
 Pipilo fuscus mesoleucus Ridgway. 
 
 ^HE type of several varieties of Towhees, among which the Canon Towhee and 
 the California Towhee are the principal forms, is known as the Brown Towhee 
 (Pipilo fuscus Swains.), a bird inhabiting Mexico north nearly to the United States 
 boundary. 
 
 The Canon Towhee is an inhabitant of New Mexico and Arizona, where it has 
 been found by many of our well-known ornithologists, among whom I will only mention 
 Dr. ElUott Coues, Major Chas. E. Bendire, Dr. Palmer, Dr. Heermann, Dr. Henry, 
 Dr. Kennerly, Mr. W. E. D. Scott, etc. 
 
 The best description of the Cafion Towhee's haunts and nidification has been given 
 by Major Charles E. Bendire, the well-known ornithologist and oologist of the National 
 Museum, Washington, D. C. He writes as follows: "The late Dr. T. M. Brewer pub- 
 lished the first correct description of the eggs from specimens collected by the writer in 
 1872, in the vicinity of the present site of Camp Lowell, about seven miles north-east 
 of Tucson, Arizona. Here I found the Canon Towhee nesting quite abundantly on the 
 more or less open plains immediately back from the Rillitto Cre^k bpttom, which &rQ 
 
r 
 
 CARON TOWHEE. 181 
 
 here covered with straggling mesquite trees and bushes of various kinds, some of them 
 attaining a height of ten or twelve feet, interspersed here and there with cacti and 
 yuccas of different species, the cholla cactus predominating. The nests were usually found 
 from one to two hundred yards distant from the creek bottom and scarcely ever more 
 than a mile away from this, but never in the bottom proper, the chosen home of Abert's 
 Towhee. According to Mr. W. E. D. Scott, who has done so much excellent work in 
 Arizona in more recent years, the Canon Towhee is equally abundant in the neighboring 
 mountains and ranges well up to the pine forests. He found his first nests -in the Cata- 
 lina Mountains at an altitude of 3,500 feet, about the middle of March, and according 
 to him the breeding period extended well into July. To explore the same localities 
 that Mr. Scott did in 1883, would have been exceedingly unwholesome in 1872, on my 
 second visit to Arizona, and still more so in previous years. The chances would have 
 been more than even, that an inquisitive naturalist, venturing into the recesses of the 
 Catalina Mountains, even with a fair-sized and w^ell-armed party, would have been 
 himself collected sooner or later by one of Chief Cachise's enterprising cut-throats who 
 then roamed over these mountain ranges more or less at their own sw^eet will. The 
 ornithologist collecting in Arizona at the present day cannot imagine the changes that 
 twenty years have brought about in that country, and it is hard to realize the diffi- 
 culties under which the earlier explorers labored. It would take too much space to 
 enumerate even a few of these here, but having entered Arizona myself as early as 1857, 
 although I had no means to collect anything then, I am quite competent to judge what 
 risks and discomforts the pioneer naturalists of Arizona, Dr. Coues, Cooper, and Palmer, 
 underwent in the interests of science. Only on my second visit to the Territory in 1872 
 was I enabled to add a little to our knowledge of the avifauna of that even then still 
 little known region. Fortunately there was a cessation of hostilities, on our part only, 
 however, against the hostile Apaches, for a portion of the year, as peace commissioners 
 had been sent out from Washington to make terms with the hostiles, which enabled 
 me to make a few^ interesting discoveries w^hich I could not have done otherwise. 
 
 "I found my first nest of the Canon Towhee on June 4, 1872; it contained two 
 fresh eggs, and was placed in a mesquite bush about four feet from the ground and not 
 particularly well concealed. According to my observations (I examined some seventy 
 nests) by Jar the greater majority were placed in low mesquite trees, sometimes close to 
 the trunk, in the forks of limbs, and again well out on a branch, rarely more than 
 eight feet from the ground. An occasional nest was placed in a cholla cactus. None 
 were found directly on the ground. The nest is a large one for the size of the bird, 
 loosely constructed externally. It is composed of weed stalks and coarse, dry grasses, 
 and is lined with fine thread-like rootlets and horse hair, when the latter is obtainable. 
 It is an -unusually deep nest 
 
 "The eggs are usually three in number; about one nest in ten contains four; 
 occasionally I have found the bird sitting hard on but two, probably a second or third 
 brood. On comparing notes with Mr. Herbert Brown of Tucson, an enthusiastic 
 naturalist, who has made careful and extended observations over pretty much the same 
 ground I did in 1872, I found the nesting season of 1872 "must have been an ^inusually 
 late one, as he has since then found many species breeding there fully two months earlier 
 
than I did. Nests of this species with perfectly fresh eggs were found by me as late as 
 Sept. 11, and it is reasonable to presume that as many as three broods are raised by 
 some of these birds at least. 
 
 "The ground-color of the eggs of the Canon Towhee is a very pale bluish- white, 
 or very light pearl-gray, scarcely an egg in a series of one hundred and three specimens 
 can be called pure white. As far as markings are concerned, these eggs can be divided 
 into two types. In one the spots are sharp, well defined, occasionally connected with 
 each other by lines and scrawls, and principally concentrated about the larger end. 
 Their color is a very deep brown, almost a black. This pattern includes the less heavily 
 marked specimens. In the second type, the markings are less clearly defined, more irre- 
 gular in shape, mere blotches, and much more profuse. The color is less deep, more of 
 a claret-brown or vinaceous rufous. In addition fine sh^ll markings of lavender and 
 heliotrope-purple are scattered more or less profusely over the entire egg in both types. 
 The eggs bear a certain resemblance to those of the Meadow Lark, especially to heavily 
 marked specimens of the western race, Western Meadow Lark 
 
 "In its habits and its call-notes the Canon Towhee does not differ materially from 
 Abert's Towhee. Neither can be called a songster. It is more or less terrestrial at all 
 times, rather shy, sticking close to the underbrush, but not nearly as much so as Abert's 
 Towhee. It is much more easily observed, as the localities frequented by it during the 
 breeding season are much more open and free from undergrowth and creeping vines 
 than the bottoms where the former lives. During winter I have noticed it frequently 
 associated with other ground-feeding species like Zonottichia leucopbrys and intermedia, 
 Melospiza fasciata fallax, Calamospiza tnelanocorys, Peucsea carpalis and arizonae, and 
 Ampbispiza bilineata, as well as others. Large flocks composed principally of the species 
 mentioned would frequently alight on the open ground about my camp, especially about 
 the picket line where the cavalry horses were tied up at night and fed, and at such 
 times they would allow themselves to be aproached rather closely, and it was generally 
 an easy matter to select such specimens as one -wanted while they were searching for 
 food." 
 
 According to Mr. A. W. Anthony, who found the Canon Towhee a numerous bird 
 in south-western Mexico, the favorite nesting sites are thick bunches of cholla cactus 
 and between the leaves of yuccas. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Above, very dull grayish-brown; top of head, conspicuously rufous; sides, paler grayish- 
 brown. The loral region, chin, throat, and upper part of breast, pale yellowish-rufous, finely spotted 
 on the sides and more coarsely across the breast with brown ; an obscure spot on middle of breast ; 
 lower portion of breast and the upper part of belly almost pure white. 
 Length, 8.50 inches; wing, 3.80; tail, 4.70 inches. 
 
 California Towhee, Pipilo fascas crissalis CpUES, also known as the Crissal 
 Towhee, and Brown Towhee, inhabits the State of California, where it is said to be a 
 constant companion of the California Thrasher, frequenting the dense chaparral and the 
 thickets which line the mountain canons. Its favorite abode is found in the vicinity of 
 water courses, where it is generally seen in pairs. "It is at all times a familiar bird, 
 boldly coming into the roads to feed and permitting a close approach. If compelled to 
 retreat, it darts suddenly into the thicket, but returns as soon as the cause of alarm 
 
ABBRT'S TOWHBB. 183 
 
 has disappeared." The situation of the nest varies. Its favorite nesting places are thick 
 dense bushes three to five feet from the ground, but occasionally the nest is found on 
 the ground, in crevices of vine-covered rocks, and in hollow trunks of trees. According 
 to Prof. B. W. Evermann, who found the bird abundantly in Ventura County, the nest 
 is in that region usually built in a sage or greasewood bush or in a cactus, from one 
 to five feet from the ground, but he occasionally found it in live-oaks, ten to fifteen feet 
 up. The nests were composed of twigs, bark-strips, grasses, and lined with rootlets. 
 The eggs, usually four in number, have a blue ground-color, and are spotted and 
 blotched with varying shades of dark and light purple; in some cases these spots are 
 almost black. The markings are chiefly or w^hoUy at the larger end. In their general 
 appearance they resemble very much the eggs of the Red-winged Blackbird. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Darker than the fdrmer and larger, showing more of a rufous tint. Upper parts, dark 
 olive-brown, the crown not conspicuously marked dark rufous; under-parts somewhat similar, washed 
 with grayish ; middle of the belly, whitish ; chin and throat, pale rufous, margined all round by 
 brown spots, a few of them scattered within the margin. 
 Length, 8.75 inches; wing, 3.87; tail, 4.53 inches. 
 
 ABERT'S TOWHEE. 
 
 Pipilo aberti Baird. 
 
 ^HIS interesting Towhee is an abundant inhabitant of the shrubbery, particularly 
 in the cacti and yucca thickets of Arizona and Mexico, being especially numerous 
 in the valleys of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. It is a large and long-tailed bird ; and 
 is said to be very shy, rarely leaving the chaparral which affords it an excellent pro- 
 tection against many intruders. 
 
 The best description of its habits and nidification has been written by Major 
 Chas. E. Bendire, of the United States Army, and from it I quote the following : 
 
 "Abert's Towhee is the largest of the plain colored Pipilos of the Pacific coast, 
 and a quite different looking bird from the Canon Towhee, its most striking characters 
 being its uniform pale cinnamon color, only relieved by a slight edging of black around 
 the base of the bill, and its unusually long tail. I found it a quite common resident, 
 and breeding abundantly, in the vicinity of ray camp on Rillitto Creek, Arizona, if pos- 
 sible even more common than the Canon Towhee. In its habits it is one of the shyest 
 birds I know, and although I could readily find one of its nests, every hundred feet, in 
 a eertain limited area, it was quite a different matter to secure the parent for identifi- 
 cation. I wasted more than one hour in w^atching for these birds. Their loud alarm 
 note of httit, huh, indicated their whereabouts readily enough, but getting a good view 
 of them was another thing. Even during the winter months they were hard to secure, 
 and not by any means as social in their habits as the Canon Towhee. I found my first 
 nest with eggs on May 13, 1872, placed in a willow thicket, about three and a half 
 feet irom the ground. Outwardly this was composed exclusively of the soft inner bark 
 
184 ABERT'S TOWHBB. 
 
 of the Cottonwood, resting on a slight platform of small sticks and dry weed stalks. 
 Inside the nest was lined with finer material of the same kind, and a few horse hairs. 
 This first nest was a rather flimsy affair ; most of those found subsequently w^ere much 
 better constructed, principally dry w^eed stalks, the soft inner bark of dry cotton wood 
 logs, swamp grasses, fibres of wild hemp, an occasional leaf, and fine roots, entering 
 into the composition of the nests. A few only w^ere lined with horse hair, a material 
 probably furnished by my herd which grazed in the vicinity and was daily driven into 
 the creek bottom to water. The measurements of a nest taken by myself are 5.50 
 inches across externally by 4.00 inches in depth. Inner diameter, 3.00 inches ; depth, 
 2.50. The inner cavity is very small for the size of this bird, scarcely large enough to 
 accommodate the body. Its long tail sticks up out of the nest, when sitting on its eggs, 
 at a perfect right angle, and it certainly must be an uncomfortable position for the bird 
 to stay in for any length of time. 
 
 "All the nests I have found, about eighty in number, w^ere placed in the densest 
 thickets in the creek bottom proper, with but one single exception. This I found in the 
 forks of a mesquite bush about four feet from the ground, on the open plain fully fotir 
 
 hundred yards from its customary breeding places Fully sixty of these nests were 
 
 placed in willow thickets, or on willow stumps around the tops of w^hich young green 
 sprouts had grown out again, the top of the stump itself making an excellent base 
 for the nest. I found many such stumps in the creek bottom, cut off about three or 
 three and a half feet from the ground. With the characteristic laziness of the native 
 Arizonian, I presume, they found it easier to cut them at that height, as it obviated 
 bending their backs to a certain extent. These young willow trees were iirom five to 
 six inches in diameter, and were used for stringers or rafters on their adobe huts, 
 to support the heavy dirt-covered roofs. I did not find a single nest directly on the 
 ground ; usually they were from two and a half to three and a half feet above it, and 
 seldom more than five feet up. After w^illows, a species of ash was the next favorite] 
 and I found one nest in such a tree fiilly twenty-five feet from the ground, placed in a 
 fork in its topmost branches. Now arid then a nest w^as placed in a bushy mesquite 
 tree, and a couple of nests I found in wild currant bushes. 
 
 "The usual number of eggs laid by Abert's Towhee is three, sets of only two are 
 by no means unusual, however; in but a single instance I found four. Their ground- 
 color is a pale clay-blue The markings are sparse, sharp, and well defined, gener- 
 ally heaviest about the larger end, in color very dark brown, almost black in some, in 
 others these dark spots are less intense and msfrgined with vinaceous and rufous about 
 the edges. The average size of eighty-three specimens, all but six collected by myself, is 
 .94X.70 inch. 
 
 "I believe fully three broods are raised during the season, as I found a perfectly 
 fresh set of eggs on Sept. 10. Several other species also were laying then. Abert's 
 Towhee has many enemies to contend against during the breeding season, and it is 
 questionable after all, if they ever succeed in raising more than a couple of full broods. 
 Small parties of Arizona Jays, from the mountains in the vicinity, were more than once 
 met with by me, evidently bent on an egg-hunting expedition themselves, and no doubt 
 some of the numerous species of Hawks, Owls, squirrels, and snakes, especially some of 
 
XXVI. 
 
 
 I 1 K()( IIILI S COLI HRIS J,]iiii. r- 
 •2. „ „ „ 9 
 
 3. CARDINALIS CARDINALIS Licht.S 
 
 -r. 1) n « S 
 
 5. CONURUS CAROLINENSIS Less. 
 
 6. THRYOTHORUS LUDOVICIANUS Bonap 
 
 RUBINKOLIBRI 
 
 KARDINAL 
 
 KAROLINASITTICH - 
 KAROLINASCHLUPFER- 
 
 Ruby-throated Hummingbird fmale). 
 » • „ (female) 
 
 Cardinal (female). 
 
 ( male ) . 
 Carolina Paroquet, 
 Carolina Wren. 
 
CARDINAL. 
 
 185 
 
 the latter, destroy a good many of their young as well as the eggs. The shrill cry of 
 alarm uttered by these birds when in distress, was more than once heard by me, when 
 still quite a distance from the nest, due no doubt to the presence of some other intruder 
 than myself I frequently found broken egg-shells lying at the foot of the empty nest, 
 where a day or two previously! had seen a single egg and had left it for the set to be 
 completed." 
 
 NAMES : Abert's Towhee, Gray Towhee. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: PIPILO ABERTI Baird (1852). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Upper parts, pale brownish-red, brighter beneath and more ochraceous; sides of head and 
 chin, dark brown; bill and legs, yellowish. 
 
 Length, 9.00 inches; wing, 3.70; tail, 4.85 inches. 
 
 CARDINAL. 
 
 Carditialis cardinalis Lichtenstein. 
 
 Plate XXVI. Fig. 3 and 4. 
 
 When April woods were budding, 
 
 And wild-flcwers blooming brigbt, 
 And wide the sun was flooding 
 
 The world with -warmth and light; 
 When birds abroad were winging 
 
 Their way without a fear, 
 1 heard a clear voice singing. 
 
 "What cheer! what cheer! what cheer!" 
 
 It came from one apparelled 
 
 As in a robe of fire : 
 No bird so gaily carolled 
 
 Of all the woodland choir, 
 A living coal seemed blazing 
 
 Where he, in thicket near, 
 Was Nature's joyance praising — 
 
 "What cheer! what cheer! what cheer!" 
 
 No marvel that so gaily 
 
 His madrigal resounds! — 
 When new flowers open daily, 
 
 And new-bom life abounds ; 
 When in their course untrammelled 
 
 Glide on the brooklets clear, 
 Their banks with moss enamelled, 
 
 "What cheer! what cheer! what cheer!" 
 
 In crowded streets lurks sadness, 
 
 E'en on the brightest days; 
 Methinks 'tis only gladness 
 
 That haunts the woodland ways: 
 No hate, no grief, no quarrels, 
 
 No scornful brows are here; 
 And loud my Redbird carols, 
 
 "What cheer! what cheer! what cheer!" 
 
 Would we forth oftener wander— 
 
 We, long in houses pent — 
 On Nature gaze and ponder. 
 
 Beneath the sky's blue tent, 
 'Twould heal the mind's diseases — 
 
 Refresh our hearts grown sere: 
 In woods, birds, brooks, and breezes 
 
 "What cheer! what cheer! what cheer!" 
 
 W. .L,. Shoemaker. 
 
 IJ^HE Cardinal, known also as the Cardinal Redbird, Cardinal Grosbeak, Cardinal- 
 bird, and Redbird, is one of the jewels of our bird-fauna, being incomparable in 
 the combination of proud bearing and gaudy coloring, and unexcelled in certain qualities 
 of its song.* Few birds iriipart their haunts with such life, beauty, and poetry than 
 this brilliant songster, one of the most famous among birds and highly prized by all 
 bird lovers. Wherever it occurs in our southern States it is a conspicuous and charac- 
 
 * See Ridgway's "Ornithology of Illinois," Vol. I, p. 295. 
 
 24 
 
186 CARDINAL. 
 
 teristic feature of the landscape, and its loud and melodious song cannot fail to inspire 
 every lover of Nature with rapture and delight. 
 
 Like the Catbird, the Chat, and the Thrasher the Cardinal Grosbeak is a tenant 
 of the shrubbery. It does not inhabit the trees like the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and it 
 likewise avoids localities where undergrowth is scarce. Its favorite haunts are open 
 woodlands intermingled with dense bushes, thickets overgrown w^ith climbing plants, 
 and the brooks and rivulets fringed by shrubbery. All over the South the dense Cherokee 
 rose hedges are its favorite haunts. Throughout the spring these localities resound with 
 .the many-voiced chorus of the Cardinal Grosbeak. Though loud, the song is enchant- 
 ingly beautiful, mellow, and varied. The proud and noble bearing, and the rich Scarlet 
 color of its plumage combine to make an exquisite picture on the back-ground of the 
 deep green foliage. In order to become thoroughly acquainted with the Cardinal in all 
 its splendor, we must ramble through its favorite home in the Gulf region. 
 
 April is ready to give way to May. The splendid evergreen magnolia is in full 
 flower, its large white blossoms fill the air with delicious perfume. The violet-like 
 odor of the blooming wild grape-vines is almost overpowering. The cross-vine and 
 several species of evergreen smilax, the sweet-scented Carolina jasmine and other climb- 
 ing plants transform the thickets into impenetrable masses of green. Everywhere we 
 notice the orange-scarlet blossoms of the -trumpet creeper, hanging down from the 
 branches of the forest trees. The observer, not acquainted with the plant, sometimes 
 mistakes the bright-colored flower clusters for Summer Tanagers or Cardinals. Ever- 
 green trees and shrubs form a characteristic feature of these w^oodlands, and in some 
 places they are the prevailing part of the forest flora. Red-bays *, different holUes, ever- 
 green oaks, among them the famous live-oak, laurel cherries', sweet bays', anise bushes^, 
 loblolly bays, wax-myrtles, beautiful kalmias, sparkle-berry and andromeda shrubs, the 
 sweet-scented American olive^, and the most beautiful of all, the grand evergreen mag- 
 nolia, are everywhere common. Many oaks, sweet gum, and tulip trees, the button-wood 
 and other deciduous trees attain here gigantic proportions. Swamps and w^oodlands 
 are bordered by thickets densely overgrown with creeping plants. 
 
 At this time of the year bird-life in the low shrubbery as well as in the woods 
 and gardens is exceedingly vivid. The great throng of sprightly and richly attired 
 Wood Warblers is now migrating northward, and in their company many other species 
 are found. The magnolias fairly swarm with Warblers. The shrubbery in the woods, 
 the orchard trees, the Cherokee rose hedges, and the tops of the tallest forest trees, all 
 have their visitors. A few weeks hence the same birds will arrive in their breeding 
 range in northern British America, where they will be engaged in the same way among the 
 less attractive, alders, birches, willoyrs, and spruces. Magnolia and Blackbumian War- 
 blers appear to be the most conspicuous as well as the most numerous sojourners in the 
 flowering magnolias. Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Bay- 
 breasted, and Yellow Warblers are scarcely less abundant. Vireps and Flycatchers are 
 also present. The Warblers are always busy and full of activity. They are fluttering, 
 flying, creeping, and hopping among the branches, always in search of insects. Oft they 
 stop for a moment and sing their sprightly notes. In a playful way they frequently 
 
 1 Persea Caroliaensis, ' Prunua CaroUnensis. a Magnolia glaaca. * Illlclum Floridanum . o Osmanthus Americaaus. 
 
CARDINAL. 187 
 
 chase each other through the branches of the trees and the air. These armies of birds 
 save our forests from ruin, cleansing them, as they do, from the ground, carpeted with 
 mosses and ferns, to the tops of the tallest trees from injurious insects. Were it not for 
 the good and timely work of the birds, especially these migrating hosts, the trees would 
 soon be destroy^ed by their many insect enemies. They search each leaf and flower for 
 insects and they even take them with great celerity from the crevices of the bark. The 
 number of the Warblers alone is immense, and their good work is of inestimable value. 
 When they are ready with their good work in the South, they proceed northward/cleansing 
 every orchard on their way from insect pests. In south-eastern Texas and on the Gulf 
 coast this activity lasts till about May 10, when even the latest stragglers depart for 
 their northern home. Amid all this life, activity, and splendor the songs of a large 
 number of resident species resound. The incomparably charming song of the Mocking- 
 bird, and the sprightly strains of the Carolina and Bewick's Wrens are heard on all 
 sides. The cheerful twittering of the Parula Warbler and Redstart, the peculiar cbickty- 
 beaver of the White-eyed Vireo, the loud and plaintive peto-peto of the Tufted Titmouse, 
 and the gushing notes of the Orchard Oriole fall constantly on our ear. There are other 
 sounds. The Red-eyed Vireo sings in the South as persistently as in the North, and 
 the Chat is at home in almost every suitable thicket. The Yellow-throated Warbler 
 sings everywhere in the branches covered with swaying Spanish moss. Woodpeckers 
 are numerous as their rappipg on hollow trees indicates. The fervent strain of the 
 Painted Bunting or Nonpareil, and the mellow notes of the Blue Grosbeak sound through 
 the thickets. But the loudest and most characteristic song among the woodland choir 
 is that of the Cardinal Grosbeak. We hear it in the early morning hours and during 
 the night, during the cool hours of the day as well as in sultry weather. High up in 
 the blue sky the Fork-tailed Kite in majestic flight describes its wide circles. How 
 graceful and fascinating his motions are, and how charming the contrast between the 
 pure white and dark of its plumage with the deep azure of the sky ! Although a bird 
 of prey, it, ra,rely feeds on small birds, snakes being its main game. In the water near 
 bv little Blue and White Herons are seen, and occasionally a Snake Bird or Anhinga. 
 The splendid Fork-tailed Flycatcher, everywhere in Texas known as the "Bird of 
 Paradise," darts in picturesque zigzag lines through the air, uttering incessantly its shrill 
 notes. In Avhatever direction the observer may turn his eyes, he will glance upon a vivid, 
 many-hued and beautiful picture. Yet this apparently restful and idyllic picture has also 
 its dark shades. Many a feathered robber darts in among the cheerful throng of inno- 
 cent songsters, causing fright and terror. On the water's edge lurks the most dangerous, 
 of our snakes, the venomous w^ater moccasin*, awaiting its prey. How often have I 
 been in^ danger w^hen searching among the bushes for nests, while the exceedingly poi- 
 sonous moccasin snake or copperhead" lay coiled near my hand, ready for a strike. And 
 how often have I been warned not to proceed farther among the thickets of the woods 
 by huge specimens of the diamond rattle snakes'! Tree-climbing snakes, such as the 
 whip snake, the southern water snake*, pilot snake^, chicken snake^, black snake', and 
 
 t Agkistrodon piscivoras, i Agkistrodon eontortrix. a Crotalus .adamaateus. * Tropidoaotus fasciatus. 
 e Coluber obsoletus. « Coluber guadririttatus. i Bascaniun constrictor. 
 
others wind in rapid motions through the brush wood, thickets, and the branches of 
 trees, catching birds and plundering nests. 
 
 In these localities, particularly near the bushy edge of the woodlands, no other 
 bird appears so numerously nor sings so loudly and attracts more attention than the 
 Cardinal Redhird. In brambles, among the hazel and holly bushes, in hedge-rows and 
 in the thickets bordering brooks and swamps, this splendid bird is at home, fluttering, 
 flying, and singing everywhere, enlivening its haunts in the most attractive way. In all 
 the larger southern gardens, replete with masses of evergreen ornamental shrubs and 
 climbers, the Cardinal is a common tenant. I can here only mention a few of the 
 favorite garden shrubs in which the Redbird likes to take up its abode. Evergreen roses, 
 such as the Cherokee, the Banksia and Macartney roses are frequently chosen as nesting 
 sites and also such deciduous climbing roses, as the Marechal Niel, Lamarque, Chroma- 
 tella, etc. Dense coniferous shrubs and trees, especially retinisporas, cedars, cypresses, 
 cunninghamias, etc., intermingled with Cape jasmine, holly-leaved and sweet olives*, 
 banana shrubs^, Japanese euonymus, privets, cleyeras', fragrant viburnums*, form 
 excellent haunts for this beautiful bird. Being very cautious, the Cardinal breeds only 
 in such gardens where it is protected and where it feels safe, and in such cases the nest 
 is often found in close proximity of the house. In most cases, however, it settles in an 
 out-of-the-way comer, densely planted with evergreens. In the northern part of its 
 habitat it is a wild and shy bird and usually avoids the vicinity of human habitations, 
 choosing for its home remote thickets and half-wild pastures and woodlands. 
 
 The region inhabited by the Cardinal extends over all the Southern States, chiefly 
 south of the 40° of latitude, being occasionally found as far north as Massachusetts. 
 It is a rare bird iti northern Missouri and not abundant in southern Illinois, Indiana, 
 and Ohio. In south-western Missouri, although a well-known songster, it is not very 
 numerous. Old settlers, however, told me, that thirty years ago it was much commoner 
 than it is now, just as in the case of the Mockingbird, which is now a rare songster in 
 that locality, owing to the fact that every nest is plundered for its young. During my 
 five years' residence in the south-west comer of Missouri, the Cardinals were trapped 
 each winter in large numbers, and sent to northern bird dealers. Sometimes, when 
 brought in warm rooms, the sudden change of the temperature diminished their numbers 
 rapidly. In all parts of Texas, visited by me, the Cardinal was an abundant bird, and 
 in the fertile lands of southern Louisiana it formed a conspicuous part of the landscape. 
 The undergrowth on the edges of cypress swamps, the wax-myrtle thickets, the orange 
 groves, the hollies fairly swarmed with them. All over the South I found them most 
 common in the very beautiful dense hedges of Cherokee roses, which sometimes line the 
 road-sides for miles. These roses are most beautiful plants, the large fragrant white 
 flowers are relieved by elegant glossy evergreen leaves. They grow exceedingly dense, 
 and the stems and branches are provided with formidable spines. These hedges are a 
 safe retreat for many birds, especially for different Sparrows and other small birds in 
 winter, and for Mockingbirds, Blue Grosbeaks, Painted Buntings, Chats, Thrashers, 
 White-eyed Vireos, and particularly for Cardinals in summer. Redbirds outnumber all 
 
 1 Osmanthus acgulfolium, O. fragrans. 2 Mlchelia faseata, • Clejrera Japonlca, < Vil)urnum oaoratissiwum onil 
 V. Aivafaki. 
 
 \^ 
 
CARDINAL. 189 
 
 others at all times of the year in these hedges, and during the breeding season dozens 
 of nests can be found in a hedge not exceeding a mile in length. In the southern AUe- 
 ghanies the Cardinal prefers the edges of brooks, rocky slopes, and dense ravines', where 
 azaleas, rhododendrons, mountain laurels {Kalmia latifolia), sweet-scented shrubs 
 (fialycanthus) , and many others form dense and extensive thickets. In south-western 
 Missouri the Cardinal's haunts are the dense thickets fringing the woods, the shrubbery 
 in the ravines, the hazel copses, snowberry, wild rose, and gooseberry bushes, and 
 especially thickets Overrun with grape-vines and other climbers in spots where the woods 
 have been cut down. In their northern habitat the scarcity of food frequently drives 
 them to the farni yards, especially to corn cribs, hay and straw stacks, and manure 
 heaps. They came in numbers of five to ten to my feeding place, which I had arranged 
 for various birds in the woods bordering* my house, in Missouri. At first they were 
 exceedingly wild and suspicious, but they soon lost much of their usual shyness. They 
 fed on sun-flower seeds, hemp, some oats, but did not eat corn, a fact proving that 
 they only eat corn vsrhen they can find nothing else. During warm days, even in 
 February, they sang beautifully in the underwood near my house. According to the 
 observations of Mr. Otto Widmann, they are not uncommon near St. Louis, where they 
 show^ a predilection for the "sink-holes," so peculiar to that locality. These places are 
 usually densely overgrown with various shrubs and vines. In northern Florida I found 
 this brilliant bird most numerous along the Chattahoochee and Suwanee Rivers, in the 
 vicinity of Tallahassee and Monticello, and on the St. John's River. Further south, on 
 the peninsula, they were not quite as abundant. 
 
 Wherever the Cardinal Grosbeak occurs it is a resident species. Only in the 
 most northern portions of its range the inclemency of the weather and consequent 
 scarcity of food drives it to temporary short wanderings in order to procure food. The 
 northern Cardinals are far more shy than those of the Southern States, and their 
 plumage is of a somewhat deeper red. The southerti birds are a trifle smallef, of a 
 more brilliant red, and quicker in motions. During the late fall they congregate and 
 even associate with other Sparrows. They are not quarrelsome and generally live peace- 
 fully among themselves and with other birds. During the latter part of February I 
 witnessed in the South violent contests among the nlales and happy calls of victory 
 after one or the other of the combatants was driven away. The female always chooses 
 the victorious male for her partner, the companies dissolve, and the pair selects its 
 breeding range which is mostly small, but well guarded against intrusion by birds of 
 the same species by the pugnacious male. Many of the males, especially younger birds, 
 are compelled to remain bachelors. It is a well-known fact, that among the smaller 
 birds, as a rule, there are more males than females. The breeding range is always 
 chosen in a thicket, and the more secluded and hidden this is, the more the birds feel at 
 home'. Any thicket, if only dense enough, suflices for a pair. In Texas I found eight 
 to ten pairs breeding on a space not exceeding an acre in area. As I have remarked 
 in the foregoing, the Cherokee rose hedges all over the South are their favorite nesting 
 sites, and I have found as ,many as ten nests in a mile's walk. In these hedges the 
 birds as well aS the nests are well concealed and very difficult to find. While w^alk- 
 ing along the hedge every few steps a Cardinal was flushed. Indeed, these hedges 
 
 
 
190 CARDINAL. 
 
 appeared fairly to swarm with these exquisite songsters. Mr. Bradford Torrey, an 
 excellent observer and a good writer, made the same observation while traveling in 
 Florida. After speaking of the beauty of the Cherokee rose, Mr. Torrey writes: 
 "I stopped, of course, to pluck a blossom. At that moment a female Redbird flew out 
 of the bush. Her mate was beside her instantly, and a nameless something in their 
 manner told me they were trying to keep a secret. The nest, built mainly of pine- 
 needles and other leaves, w^as in the middle of the bush, a foot or two from the grass, 
 and contained two bluish or greenish eggs thickly spattered with dark brown. I meant 
 to look into it again (the owners seemed to have no objection), but somehow missed 
 it every time I passed. From that point, as far as I went, the road was lined with 
 Cherokee roses, — not continuously but with short intermissions; and from the number 
 6f Redbirds seen, almost invariably in pairs, I feel safe in saying that the nest I had 
 found was probably one of fifteen or twenty scattered along the way-side. How glorious 
 the birds sang ! It was their day for singing. I was ready to christen the road anew, — 
 Redbird Road," 
 
 Cardinal Grosbeaks rarely alight high in the trees, keeping always in the low 
 shrubbery, in which they also breed. The nest is usually not more than two to three 
 feet from the ground, but I occasionally found one as high as six, eight or ten feet up 
 in low branches of trees densely festooned with Spanish moss, or in the top of a small 
 tree overgrown with vines. Though the vicinity of water is preferred, the nests are 
 found in quite various places, but always in localities where thickets alternate with 
 trees and open spaces. My first nest was found in Lee County, Texas, in a dense r«d 
 cedar near a dwelling. Early in March I saw the female carry nesting material into 
 the interior of the cedar. In four days the domicile, which could not be seen from the 
 outside, was ready. Then the birds disappeared for several days. Six days after the 
 nest was finished I found the first egg ; in three days more the complement of three was 
 full and in thirteen days the young were hatched. This nest was constructed entirely of 
 fine rootlets and grasses ; then a layer of old leaves followed and the interior was lined 
 with finer grasses. Near Houston the Cardinals were more abundantly met with than 
 the Mockingbird. A half an hour's walk from my home in the western part of the city 
 brought me to a prairie where groups of trees and dense masses of thickets were com- 
 mon. These prairie thickets consisted of small elms, red bud trees, viburnums, dogwood, 
 etc., and were covered and mingled with the grotesque forms of the supple Jack {Ber- 
 chemia volubilis), thorny sniilax, Carolina jasmine, coral honey-suckle, blackberry bushes, 
 grape-vine, trumpet creeper, cross-vine, poison jvy, and Cherokee roses. It was almost 
 impossible to penetrate these masses of thorny bushes and creepers. In order to reach 
 the more open interior I had to crawl on hands and feet. With torn clothes, scratched 
 and bleeding hands I almost always returned from such an excursion. Cardinals nested 
 in great numbers in these, thickets, and also Mockingbirds, Chats, and Yellow-billed 
 Cuckoos. On the edge White-eyed Vireos had usually their exquisite moss-covered nests 
 suspended from a horizontal branch. Frequently I found the Cardinal's nest on some 
 low horizontal branch densely covered with Spanish moss. In such cases the domicile 
 was imbedded in the moss, which formed the outside walls, the interior being lined with 
 pine-needles or grasses, They were only discovered by accident, like tho§e in the 
 
CARDINAL. 191 
 
 Cherokee rose hedges, when the female happened to dart fropi it. I also found nests in 
 the corners of rail-fences overgrown and hidden by the trumpet creeper and poison ivy, 
 in bushes overhanging the water, in brush-heaps, and especially in blackberry brambles. 
 In most cases the nest is a frail, loose structure, built of rootlets, grasses, twigs, grape- 
 vine bark and a layer of leaves, lined with pine-needles, rootlets, or grasses. Sometimes 
 a few horse hairs also enter into the composition. The description of one nest suffices 
 for almost all. On April 24, 1881, while walking through a pine-wood near Houston, 
 I discovered several Cardinal nests, almost all in dense Cherokee roses. Long-leaved 
 pines, sweet gum, oaks, and elms were the prevailing trees, and the ground was on 
 many places covered with a dense growth of blackberry bushes. Bird-life was exceedingly 
 abundant. While observing a pair of White-eyed "Vireos, 1 discovered a few steps from 
 the domicile of these birds a female Cardinal on her nest. This was placed in the center 
 of a rather open blackberry bush about two feet frOm the ground, and consisted Uke 
 almost all nests in this region of a foundation of Spanish moss. Upon this were placed 
 some dry elm leaves, shreds of grape-vine bark and grass-blades; the cavity was lined 
 with fine rootlets, pine-needles, and grasses. Underneath the nest and around the shrub 
 dense mats of partridge-berry {Mitchella repens) grew, the starry white flowers of 
 which filled the air with a delicate perfume. This nest contained four eggs — three and 
 four eggs always seem to complete the set. 
 
 The ground-Color of the eggs is usually whitish or bluish or greenish-white. The 
 markings are densely scattered over the surface. They vary from pale lavender and 
 grayish to a dull reddish-brown. Some are so densely marked as to conceal almost 
 entirely the ground-color. In some cases the eggs closely resemble those of the Cow- 
 bird's, in others they remind us of the Loggerhead Shrike's eggs and the Rose-breasted 
 Grosbeak's. The female alone hatches the eggs, but it is guarded and now and then 
 fed by the male. The time of hatching is about thirteen days. During the first few 
 days the young are fed w^ith small insects, especially green eater-pillars, moths, bugs, 
 and all kinds of larvas, later they are also supplied with grasshoppers and beetles. Ten 
 days after they are hatched they are able to leave the nest. They look exceedingly 
 wild, and frequently I made the* observation, that they all left the nest quickly and in 
 great excitement, when I came near, disappearing in all directions among the bushes. 
 Other young birds, when nearly able to leave the nest, act entirely in the same w^ay, 
 but they do not look so wild and unruly. The young are led by the parents into some 
 thicket, w^here they remain until they are able to shift for themselves. In the meantime 
 the female hatches a second and often a third brood. During the whole of the breeding 
 season the male is extremely pugnacious, wild, and watchful, attacking and driving 
 away from his haunts every intruder of his own species and also small nest robbers 
 and squirrels. When danger threatens a warning call sounding like a sharp cbp-chp is 
 uttered. When I came near a nest both parents usually hopped around with raised 
 crests in great distress. At such times they look very wild. In real danger, especially 
 when a tree-climbing snake approaches, they even call other Cardinals to their aid, and 
 other birds breeding in the same locality alw^ays join to drive away the intruder. One 
 day, while walking through the thickets near the West Yegua Creek, I heard the scream- 
 ing of many birds and when I came near, Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Summer Tanagers, 
 
192 CARDINAL. 
 
 Kingbirds, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, and even Blue Jays were attacking a large 
 snake which lay coiled around a Cardinal's nest. One of the young, almost fully fledged, 
 was between the jaws of the snake. A stroke with a) stick disabled the hideous reptile 
 and a second killed it. When the birds saw their enemy dead on the ground, they 
 returned to their nesting places with calls of victory. Only the Cardinals hopped around 
 in great distress, uttering mournful notes and bemoaning the loss of one of their young. 
 At the age of two or three months the young Cardinals usually congregate with others 
 of their species and roost in gi-eat number in the dense evergreen thickets of the cypress 
 swamps, in cane-brakes, and other more or less inacessible localities. During the approach 
 of evening they fly singly or in small flocks to these roosts. Nuttall made the same 
 observation in South Carolina. "At all times," he writes, "they appear to have a 
 predilection for watery groves, and shaded running streams, abounding with evergreens 
 and fragrant magnolias, in which they are so frequent as to be almost concomitant 
 with the scene. But though they usually live only in families or pairs, and at all times 
 disperse into these selective groups, yet in severe weather, at sunset, in South Carolina, 
 I observed a flock passing to a roost in a neighboring swamp and bushy lagoon, which 
 continued, in lengthened file, to fly over my head at a considerable height for more 
 than twenty minutes together. The beautiful procession, illumined by the last rays of 
 the setting sun, was incomparably splendid as the shifting shadowy light at quick inter- 
 vals flashed upon their brilliant livery. They had been observed to pass in this manner 
 to their roost for a considerable time, and, at day-break, they were seen again to pro- 
 ceed and disperse for subsistence. How long this timid and gregarious habit continues, 
 I cannot pretend to say; but by the first week in February the song of the Redbird 
 was almost daily heard. As the season advances, roving pairs, living, as it w^ere, only 
 with and for each other, flit from place to place; following also their favorite insect or 
 vegetable fare. ..." 
 
 The Cardinal Grosbeak is an exquisite songster, and with the exception of the 
 Mockingbird none of our songbirds is so famous. Some writers on cage birds have 
 pronounced the song as moiiotonous and too loud, but they have certainly not heard 
 good singers in their native wilds. "The verdict," Prof. Robert Ridgway adds, "is un- 
 doubtedly a just one when applied to many that we have heard ; but there is probably 
 more individual variation in quality of song than there is in any other. We have 
 listened with peculiar pleasure to some whose vocal performance w^as characterized by 
 a clearness and mellow^ richness of tone, a tender and passionate expression, and per- 
 sistent vigor, that altogether were wholly unique. Even the females are good singers, 
 though as a rule inferior to the males, and it is extremely probable that the impressions 
 which some writers have received were derived from the songs of birds of this sex." 
 
 Audubon's description of the song is so true, and at the same time so poetical, 
 that I would deem this life history incomplete, should I neglect to quote from it. "Its 
 song is at first loud and clear, resembling the finest sounds produced by the flageolet, 
 and gradually descends into more marked and continued cadences, until it dies away in 
 the air around. During the love season the song is emitted with increased emphasis 
 by this proud musician, who, as if aware of his powers, swells his throat, spreads his 
 rosy tail, droops his wings, and leans alternately to the right and left, as if on the eve 
 
CARDINAL. 193 
 
 of expiring with delight at the delicious sounds of his own voice. Again and again are 
 those melodies repeated, the bird resting only at intervals to breathe. They may be 
 heard from long before the sun gilds the eastern horizon, to the period when the blazing 
 orb pours down its noonday floods of heat and light, "driving the birds to the coverts 
 to seek repose for a while. Nature again invigorated, the musician recommences his 
 song, when, as if he had never strained his throat before, he makes the whole neighbor- 
 hood resound, nor ceases until the shades of evening close around him. Day after day 
 the song of the Redbird beguiles the weariness of his mate as she assiduously warms 
 her eggs ; and at times she also assists with the modesty of her gentler sex. Few indi- 
 viduals of our own race refuse the homage of admiration to the sweet songster. How 
 pleasing is it, when, by a clouded sky, the woods are rendered so dark, that were it 
 not for an occasional glimpse of clearer light falling between the trees, you might 
 imagine night at hand, while you are yet far distant from your home — how pleasing 
 to have your ear suddenly saluted by the well-known notes of this favorite bird, assur- 
 ing you of peace around, and of the full hour that still remains for you to pursue your 
 w^alk in security! How often have I enjoyed this pleasure, and how often, in due 
 humbleness of hope, do I trust that I may enjoy it again!" 
 
 These words of our great Audubon so fully agree with my own opinion and ob- 
 servations that I have little to add. The song of this bird heard in the realms of Nature 
 is quite different from that of caged birds. The latter do not exhibit the variety and 
 sw^eetness which is so prevailing in the performance of birds in the freedom of Nature. 
 Moreover, caged birds often become monotonous by repeating some passages of their song 
 too often, w^hich is not noticed or really overlooked by man in the song of wild birds. Of 
 course, there are excellent and poor singers among Cardinals as among other birds. 
 Being very diligent singers, their lay may be heard throughout the day and for six or 
 eight months in the year. According to Nuttall the Redbird's song is more lively in 
 wet weather; the sadness of Nature, softening and soothing the tender vocalist into a 
 lively, pathetic, and harmonious reverie. "So highly were these birds esteemed for their 
 melody," continues Nuttall, "that according to Gemelli Careri, the Spaniards of Havana, 
 in a time of public distress and scarcity, bought so many of these birds, with which a 
 vessel was partly freighted, from Florida, that the sum expended, at ten dollars apiece, 
 amounted to no less than 18,000 dollars ! Indeed Latham admits that the notes of our 
 Cardinal 'are almost equal to those of the Nightingale,' the sweetest feathered minstrel 
 of Europe. The style of their performance is, however, wholly different. The bold 
 martial strains of the Redbird, though relieved by tender and exquisite touches, possess 
 not the enchanting pathos, the elevated and varied expression of th? far-famed Philomel, 
 nor yet those contrasted tones, which, in the solemn stillness of the growing night, fall 
 at times into a soothing whisper, or slowly rise and quicken into a loud and cheering 
 warble. A strain of almost sentimental tenderness and sadness pervades by turns the 
 song of the Nightingale; it flows like a torrent, or dies away like an echo; his varied 
 ecstacies seem poured to the pale moon-beams, and like the desponding lover, seeking 
 to hide his grief in solitude, his sapphic lays, wasted, as it were, in the desert air, now 
 meet with no response but the sighing zephyr or the ever murmuring brook. The notes 
 
 of our Cardinal are as full of hilarity as of tender expression ; his whistling call is 
 
 25 
 
194 CARDINAL. 
 
 uttered in the broad glare of day, and is heard predominant over most of the feathered 
 choir by which he is surrounded. His responding mate is the perpetual companion of 
 all his joys and cares; simple and content in his attachment, he is a stranger to 
 capricious romance of feeling ; and the shades of melancholy, however feeble and transient, 
 find no harbor in his preoccupied affections." 
 
 In order to form a correct idea of the great beauty of the Redbird's song and of 
 the charming impression it makes on the mind of the hearer, we are obliged to pene- 
 trate its bushy haunts. This is best done in the morning when the dew is still on the 
 plants and the air laden with the fragrance of the flowers. In the northern parts of its 
 range it is a rare bird, and extremely wild and shy, though conspicuous even in such 
 secluded resorts by the brillancy of its coloration, the power of its Toice, and the activity 
 of its disposition. In its southern home we have not far to go in order to hearken to 
 its song. In the large gardens, where dense evergreen ornamental shrubs, coniferous 
 trees, rose thickets and a wealth of climbing plants abound, the Cardinal is almost as 
 numerous as in the secluded thickets of the wildwood. In these gardens it is a familiar 
 bird, and its sweetest notes resound on all sides. From late in January, when the roses 
 and camellias begin to open their flower-buds, until November, when the southern woods 
 are brilliant with autumn hues, the many-voiced jubilee of these birds is heard, blending 
 with the enchanting notes of the Mockingbird, the vivacious strain of the Carolina Wren 
 and the notes of many other birds. On two occasions the marvelous beauty of the Car- 
 dinal's song was impressed most vividly on my memory. While walking along the edge 
 of the forest near Spring Creek, Harris Co., Texas, one morning in early March, I heard 
 the loud whistling notes of these birds on all sides, as I had never listened to them before. 
 The trees consisted almost exclusively of hollies S some of them beautiful pyramids of 
 deepest green, still sparkling with myriads of shining red berries. They grew with 
 branches so low, that the trunks were entirely hidden. In these trees the Cardinals sang 
 incessantly, heightening the effect and deepening the impression made by the surrounding 
 landscape. At another time I passed a large garden in Houston. The magnolias were in 
 full flower. The roses bloomed in a profusion the like of which I had never seen before. 
 Cape jasmines, loquats, banana shrubs, retinisporas, cypresses, cedars, raphiolepis^ pho- 
 tinias'', and many other ornamental plants flourished to perfection in this garden. 
 
 It was an ideal spring day of such beauty as I had never experienced in the North. 
 The air was warm and laden with the fragrance of flowering tea and Noisette roses, 
 magnolias, banana shrubs, and Cape jasmines. Though it was bright sunshine, the 
 salubrious breeze from th? Gulf made out of door rambling very pleasant. The Cardinals 
 were at home in this garden. From every thicket the loud and melodious strain fell on 
 my ear. I heard at least six males and several females at the same time. While sing- 
 ing they were usually perched on the top of some ornamental shrub, on an arbor or on 
 the fence. Hardly ever I heard such a fine bird concert in a city, and it shows how 
 a fine garden of the South is made attractive by the presence of this exquisite songster. 
 Mockingbirds were also pouring forth their charming notes, and Orchard Orioles and 
 Painted Buntings completed this bird jubilee. While singing the Cardinal raises its crest 
 which gives character to the bird and reveals its whole beauty. I think, the effect of the 
 
 » Ilex opaca. s R. Japoaica and R. ovata. a Photinia serrulate. 
 
song is much heightened by this raising of the crest ; it also gives the bird a wild and con- 
 spicuous appearance which fits well to the loud and beautiful strain. Every unprejudiced 
 fancier ranks the Cardinal among the very best of all songbirds. The ordinary song 
 sounds much like jehu-jebu-Jehu-jehu-teii, teii, ted, teri-trrrrrrrr,hut it is frequently changed 
 and varied. The whistling j'ehu-jeba is oft repeated, and the ted sounds especially sweet 
 and melodious. There are times in life which never pass out of one's recollection, moments 
 and hours w^hich brighten as "time steals away." This is with me particularly true of the 
 spring and summer nights spent at Houston, Texas, in the years from 1879 to 1882. The 
 broad verandas embowered in a wealth, of vigorous growing Marechal Niel, Lamarque, 
 and other climbing roses, in evergreen honey-suckles, Cape tecomas {Tecoma Capensis), 
 and other climbers were much frequented places during the beautiful cool evenings. 
 The air was saturated with the perfume of flowers, particularly of those of the night- 
 blooming jasmine {Cestram Parqui). Far ofiF, first in a low gentle tone, then gradually 
 louder, fuller and sweeter the incomparable song of a Mockingbird sounded through 
 the calm and beautiful night. One of his companions, inspired by the song of its rival, 
 commenced to join and in a very short time almost all Mockingbirds far and near were 
 rivalling in their music. At such times the Cardinals cannot withstand the temptation 
 of joining the chorus of this nocturnal concert. At first one utters a few notes, which 
 slowly increase in power, becoming louder, fuller, and more varied. Another and a third 
 follows till their songs resound from far and near. I have heard this incomparably 
 enchanting concert of Nature not only when the moon poured her light on the landscape, 
 but also during very dark nights. The spring and summer nights in the Gulf region are 
 unrivalled in beauty and salubrity of the air, but they are indescribably charming and 
 bewitchingly beautiful when Mockingbirds and Cardinals join in their fascinating night 
 concerts. 
 
 My friend, Prof. Robert Ridgway, of the Smithsonian Institution, offers the 
 following description of the Cardinal's night song: "Not only do birds' songs differ 
 materially according to the individual, but often each individual possesses a more 
 or less extensive repertoire, the separate parts or tunes of which are so different from 
 one another that, heard without the singer being seen, they might readily be attributed 
 to different birds. This is particularly true of the Cardinal Grosbeak ; and I have not 
 the slightest doubt some observers have received an unfavorable impression, of this 
 bird's song from having first, or perhaps only, heard one of the less attractive tunes of 
 an individual which half an hour later might be singing a song totally different, and 
 far finer. A pet Cardinal, which I had for several years, sang six very distinct songs, 
 besides minor variations. A remarkable peculiarity of this bird (though one w^hich I 
 beUeve to be characteristic of the species) was that one of these songs was almost 
 invariably repeated until he himself became tired of it before he changed to another. 
 
 "The difficulty of expressing a bird's notes by words is well known, but the follow- 
 ing attempt may give some idea of the different songs of my Cardinal : ^ 
 
 I. Hoit, — wboit, whoit, whoit (eleven times); hoit, — whoit, whoit, whoit 
 
 (eleven times). 
 II. Wbeu, wbeH, wbeH, whed, whed. 
 III. Tchew, tchew, tcbew, tcbew, tcbew. 
 
196 CARDINAL. 
 
 IV. Bird'ie, bird'ie, bird'ie, — tchew, tchew, tcbew, tchew. 
 V. Bird'ie, — bird'ie, bird'ie, bird'ie, bird'ie, bird'ie. 
 
 VI. Whoy'it,— whoy'it, wboy'et, wboy'et, chichichicbicbichi (a jingling trill, 
 so long continued that it apparently ended only when the singer 
 became 'out of breath'). 
 
 "The notes of many Cardinal Grosbeaks are clear and tender — far sweeter than the 
 mellowest notes of fife or flageolet." 
 
 During summer, especially in the late afternoon, the Cardinals are often seen dusting 
 themselves in the country roads, near Osage orange and Cherokee rose hedges. They 
 are also exceedingly fond of bathing and are therefore rarely found far from the water. 
 This bathing is usually done in the early morning hours. After their bath they mount 
 the top of a bush, a dry branch or a fence, preening their wing and tail-feathers and 
 sunning themselves until the plumage is dry. 
 
 The flight is low but rapid. It is rarely continued over a large tree and bushless 
 space and never high in the air, being performed in glidings and jerks of the tail. The 
 bird usually flies from bush to bush or from thicket to thicket. When alighted the crest 
 is raised and the tail frequently jerked. On the ground it is perfectly at home, although 
 its movements appear to be awkward. Its motions among the bushes and thickets are 
 rapid and graceful. 
 
 Most of its food is gathered from the ground. It usually sits on one place, search- 
 ing it thoroughly for seeds and insects, and then hopping to another spot where it con- 
 tinues its search for fbod. The latter consists during the spring and summer months 
 almost entirely of insects and their larvas. In autumn and winter berries and seeds are 
 added to the bill of fare. The Cardinals are very fottd of grasshoppers, and at times 
 they scarcely touch anything else. The aromatic berries of the Mexican- mulberry 
 {Callicarpa Americana) are greatly relished, also thost of the mulberry and holly. In 
 winter the Cardinals are even more conspicuous in the dark evergreen foliage of the hollies 
 than in summer, as almost all the surrounding trees and shrubs have shed their leaves. 
 During the cold season the birds assemble in small flocks of five and more and roam 
 around in search of food. They are frequently seen in company of other Sparrows on 
 the borders of woods in cotton and corn-fields, where they are engaged in picking up 
 all kinds of weed and grass seeds. They are very fond of burr grass seeds or sand spurs 
 {Cencbrus ecbinatus), which are furnished with formidable spines. This grass is a very vile 
 weed of the southern fields and the orange groves of Florida. When alarmed the Cardinals, 
 like all the other bush-loving Sparrows, dart in a rather heedless way into the nearest 
 thickets. I have often amused myself in throwing my hat or a piece of wood in the 
 air, while observing the birds on the border of the woods. As soon as one of them ?aw 
 the strange object, an alarm note was uttered and almost all the birds rose at the same 
 time, and in a swarm, as quick as possible, tried to reach the covert. They are all 
 aware of the great danger they are exposed to in the open field, as the smaller Hawks 
 are always on the lookout for their prey in such places. As a rule these assemblages 
 of Sparrows do not venture to proceed too far from their protecting thickets. More in 
 the interior of the weedy fields we find the Grass Sparrows and Shore Larks, which find 
 their best hiding places among the dense weeds. 
 
CARDINAL. 197 
 
 Few other birds are such universal cage pets as the Cardinal Grosbeaks. They 
 are trapped by the thousands each winter and brought to northern markets. Thousands 
 are shipped annually to Europe, where they are everywhere regarded as cage birds of 
 the highest rank. In Germany it has been raised successfully in the aviaries, and escaped 
 cage birds have even bred in the forests. If carefully and kindly treated, the Cardinal will 
 live for many years in confinement. A roomy cage and Tariety in food is very essential 
 to keep the bird in good health. A mixture of Canary and sunflower seed, natural rice, 
 millet, Kaffir corn, some oats, mealworms, grasshoppers, pieces of meat, and also 
 Mockingbird-food mixed with crated carrots and all kinds of berries ought to be the 
 Cardinal's food in confinement. 
 
 In the South the Negroes commit great havoc among our beautiful native birds. 
 Mrs. OHve Thome Miller, in her interesting book, "In Nesting Time," has told us how 
 these idlers proceed in catching and disturbing the birds, and I can fully corroborate 
 what sbe writes. In Texas as well as in Louisiana and Florida I have seen Negro boys 
 with strings of dead Cardinals and other birds wandering through the streets of the 
 towns, offering their booty for sale. It is a disheartening sight to every lover of Nature 
 and to every noble minded man, to see how war is waged against the beauties of 
 Nature. "No wonder," says OHve Thorne Miller, "the Negroejs know all about the 
 birds, and lay violent hands on eggs, nests, or nestlings as they choose, creeping around 
 as they do vvithout a sound. It is only surprising that a bird is left, so persistently do 
 they rob the nests." But there are other enemies. The Blue Jays, oppossums, raccoons, 
 and especially tree climbing snakes, destroy many broods. 
 
 This glory of our bird-fauna deserves everywhere careful protection and fostering. 
 Stringent laws should be passed by the legislatures of the Southern States for the pro- 
 tection of birds, and these laws should be strictly enforced. We cannot have too many 
 of these glorious birds in our woodlands and gardens. 
 
 NAMES: Cardinal, Cafdinal Grosbeak, Cardinal Redbird, Cardinal-bird, Redbird, Virginia Nightingale, 
 Virginia Redbird, Crested Redbird, Top-knot Redbird. — Cardinal, Roter Cardinal (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Loxia cardinalis Linn. (1758), Wils. Fringilla cardinalis Bonap. (1828), Nutt. 
 Pitylus cardinalis Aud. (1839). Cardinalis virginianas Bonap. (1838), Brd. CARDINALIS CAR- 
 DINALIS LiCHT. (1854). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Uniform vermillion-red, pure beneath, darker and more brownish above. 
 Lores, anterior portion of malar region, chin, and throat, black — this color meeting across forehead 
 at base of culmen. Bill, bright vermillion-red ; iris, brown ; feet, horn-color. Adult female: Bill, eyes, 
 and feet as in the male. Red of head and body replaced by olive-gray above, and grayish-buff or pale 
 fulvous below; the crest, sometimes also the breast, tinged with red. Black of throat, etc., replaced 
 by grayish. Young: Bill, dusky. Plumage much as in the adult female, but browner." (Ridgway.) 
 Length, 8.25 to 9.25 inches; wing, 3.90; tail, 4.35 inches. 
 
 A variety, the Arizona Cardinal, C. cardinalis superbus Ridgw., inhabits southern Arizona and western 
 Mexico, south to Mazatlan. The colors are paler than in the type, otherwise the resemblance is very striking. 
 
 The Saint Lucas Cardinal, C cardinalis igneaa Stejn., is found in Lower California. East and central 
 Mexico, north to Mirador, is inhabited by the Mexican Cardinal, C. cardinalis coccineus Ridgw.; Yucatan 
 by the Yucatan Cardinal, C. cardinalis yucatanicus Ridgw. Another variety, the Cozumel Cardinal, 
 C. cardinalis saturatus Ridgw., is found on the Island of Cozumel, Yucatan. 
 
 Of the closely allied species I shall mention the Colima Cardinal, C. carneus Less., a bird of south- 
 western Mexico (Colima), and the Venezuelan Cardinal, C.phceniceus Gould, an inhabitant of the northern 
 coast of South America and of Trinidad. 
 
TEXAN CARDINAL. 
 
 Pyrrhuloxia sinuata Bonaparte. 
 
 S^HE Texan Cardinal is an inhabitant of the dense thorny thickets or chaparral, 
 7 consisting of mesquit bushes, prickly pear (Opuntia), and other cacti, yuccas 
 and thorny shrubs, of the lower Rio Grande, being a rather common bird in southern 
 Texas and in northern Mexico, and thence through southern Arizona to Lower Cali- 
 fornia. Although a fine and elegant bird, it cannot compare in beauty and song 
 with the Cardinal Redbird. It is very shy and suspicious and very difficult to 
 observe in the almost impenetrable thickets. It seems to be a resident species wherever 
 it occurs. In winter these Cardinals collect in small flocks, which roam around in the 
 chaparral. According to Captain McCown, who observed these birds on the lower Rio 
 Grande, they have a strong partiality for damp and bushy woods. So far as he observed 
 they never ventured far from the river. He describes the bird as gay and sprightly, gener- 
 ally seen in company with others of the same species, frequently erecting its crest and 
 calling to its mate or comrades. In its voice and general habits it appeared to him 
 very similar to the common species. 
 
 No other ornithologist has studied the birds of the lower Rio Grande so thoroughly 
 and has written more interestingly about them than Mr. Geo. B. Sennett. In the close 
 vicinity of Brownsville he found the Texan Cardinals quite abundant. One day, while 
 following up a brush fence just without the city, he observed eleven. At Hidalgo, further 
 up the river, he met occasionally solitary pairs in the thickets away from the habitations. 
 
 "Their habits," Mr. Sennett continues, "I found to be much like those of the 
 Cardinal Redbird, only they keep closer to the ground. I several times heard the whistle 
 of the male, and I could readily distinguish it from the note of the common Cardinal. 
 I found this species very shy ; and when surprised, instead of flying boldly off to another 
 bush, it would invariably dart toward the ground, and fly along the brush, behind some 
 projection, or through the fence to the opposite side." 
 
 At Lomita, seven miles abovfc Hidalgo, and sixty-five miles from Brownsville, 
 Mr. Sennett found this Cardinal tolerably common. It breeds fully as early as the 
 Virginia Cardinal, and there is little difference between the habits of the two, but the 
 Texan is more confined to open and exposed situations near settlements. It was always 
 shy and suspicious, so that Mr. Sennett rarely came upon it unaware. 
 
 "On April 17, at Lomita," writes Mr. Sennett, "and within a short distance of 
 the river, I flushed a female from her nest, and found four eggs. The nest was about 
 five feet from the ground, among the close-growing shoot of a small ebony stub, stand- 
 ing alone near a brush fpnce, and not far from the roadway. It was rather compact 
 and small for the size of the bird, being about three and one-half inches in diameter on 
 
the outside, with an inside diameter and depth not exceeding two inches," and composed 
 
 entirely of dried inner bark, grasses, pliant twigs, with a few rootlets for lining. The 
 
 eggs had been sat upon a few days. In shape they somewhat resemble those of the 
 
 Virginia Cardinal, but are more round, and are irregularly covered with spots in various 
 
 shades of brown and lavender, which at the larger end are massed together, sometimes 
 
 forming a band, but more frequently covering the entire end." 
 
 NAMES: Texan Cardinal, Cactus Cardinal. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Cardinalis sinuatus Bonap. (1837). PYRRHULOXIA SINUATA Bonap. (1850). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Head with an elongated, pointed crest, springing from the crown. Upper parts generally 
 pale ashy-brown; hood, sides of neck, and under-parts of body, rather paler. Long crest-feathers, bill 
 all round including lores and encircling eye, wing, and tail, dark crimson. Chin and upper part of 
 throat, breast, and median line of the belly, under tail-coverts, tibia, edge and inner coverts of the 
 wings, bright carmine-red. Bill, yellowish.— Length about 8.50 inches; wing, 3.75; tail, 4.50 inches. 
 
 Female similar, with the underpart brownish-yellow; middle of belly and throat only tinged 
 with red. 
 
 ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 
 
 Habia ludoviciana Stejneger. 
 
 Plate XXV. Fig. 2 and 3. 
 
 Prank-hearted hostess of the field and -wood. 
 
 Gipsy, whose roof is every spreading tree, 
 
 June is the pearl of our New England year. 
 
 Still a. surprisal, though expected long, 
 
 Z^er coming startles. Long she lies in -wait. 
 
 Makes many a feint, peeps forth, draws coyly back. 
 
 Then, from some southern ambush in the sky, 
 
 With one great gush of blossom storms the w-orld. 
 
 A week ago the Sparrow -was divine ; 
 
 The Bluebird, shifting his light load of song 
 
 From post to post along the cheerless fence, 
 
 "^as 4s a rhymer ere the poet came ; 
 
 But now, O rapture! sunshine winged and voiced. 
 
 Pipe blown through by the warm, -wild breath of the West, 
 
 Shepherding his soft droves of fleecy cloud. 
 
 Gladness of woods, skies, waters, all in one. 
 
 The Bobolink has come, and, like the soul 
 
 Of the s-weet season vocal in a bird, 
 
 Gurgles in ecstacy -we kno-w- not -what 
 
 Save June! Dear June! Now God be praised for June! 
 
 Lowell. 
 
 FTER an absence of tw^enty years I once more enjoyed the opportunity of rambling 
 j^3l about in the haunts of my boyhood as of yore. This was in June, the real 
 spring month in the northern parts of our country. In all my wanderings in the Eastern 
 and Gulf States, through the mountains of the southern AUeghanies and over the flower- 
 adorned prairies of Texas and the Indian Territory I have rarely found a spot more 
 
beautiful and picturesque than the region of Elkhart Lake and the adjacent country. 
 The whole territory is well supplied with springs, rivulets, and lakes. The hills and 
 valleys in the days of my boyhood were covered with a primeval forest. Each valley 
 has its stream, usually a shallow brook of clear, cool water, flowing between banks 
 mostly fringed with dense shrubbery and vine-covered trees. A conspicuous feature of 
 this locality are the extensive tamarack and white-cedar swamps, especially the great 
 Sheboygan Marsh. In the latter the white cedar had attained immense proportions, but 
 that deadly enemy of all forests, the lumberman, already in the days of my youth began 
 his inroads, and the grand old trees that had resisted the storms of centuries, fell before 
 the merciless axe. As a second growth almost impenetrable masses of black sprace *, 
 alders, dogwood, viburnums, leatherwQod^, and young white cedars and tamaracks have 
 sprung up. The ground is thickly matted with sphagnum moss, from which immense 
 clumps of cypripediums emerge. Wintergreen', partridge berry, snowberry*, many 
 terrestrial orchids, dwarf cranberry bushes grow luxuriantly in this soft carpet of moss. 
 When I visited this immense swamp in the first part of June, 1895, the beautiful white 
 Labrador tea" was in full flower. The charming stemless lady's slipper °, the white and 
 the large yellow lady's slippers" were growing and flowering side by side with pitcher 
 plants ^ About the middle of June the exquisite moccasin flower', of which I found 
 very large clumps with fully expanded blossoms, was in full bloom. Among ferns, 
 which here find a most congenial home, the cinnamon and Clayton's feni" as well as 
 the common brackeh", and now and then a bunch of sweet-scented fern'^ were met with. 
 The outlet of Elkhart Lake, which forms the Sheboygan River, flows through this 
 swamp. During the first part of June the chorus of bird songs in this locality is inde- 
 scribably charming and varied. Indeed I have rarely heard so many fine songsters at 
 one time. Catbirds and Orioles, Thrashers and Towhees, Yireos and a host of Warblers, 
 all praised the beautiful month of June and its salubrious air in the serenity of these 
 w^oodlands and swamps. The most charming song, full of variety and enchanted 
 sweetness, was that of the most accomplished of our northern songsters, the 
 Veery. It sounded from far and near, and the liquid, mellow notes filled the soul 
 with gladness and delight. In the immediate vicinity of where I rested the sweetly 
 flowing strain of the Water Thrush and the characteristic ditty of the Mourning 
 Warbler came from the dense thickets of Labrador tea, red osier, and leather-wood. 
 The Winter Wren, bubbling over with joy, was at home among the ferns and moss- 
 covered prostrate logs, while Yellow Warblers, Vireos, Redstarts, Parula Warblers, 
 Black-throated Green Warblers, and Flycatchers hopped about among the branches of 
 trees over my head. 
 
 Elkhart Lake is a beautiful sheet of blue water, still fringed with much of its 
 original forest growth, although the grand old white pines, oaks, and maples which 
 formerly covered the valleys and crested the hills, have been cut down. For almost a 
 score of years this lake has formed an attractive and popular summer resort. On the 
 hills we often meet fine specimens of red cedar, furnished vnth branches to the ground 
 
 J Abies nigra, t Dirca palaatrls. a Gaaltheria procumbens. * Chiogenes bispidala. o Ledum latifolium. e Cypri- 
 pediam acaule. ' C. nlrale and C. pubcscens. » Sarracenia purpurea. » Cypripediuni spectabile, tii Osmunda ciaaa- 
 momea and O Claytonlana, > < Pteris acqiillloa. ' J Aspidium fragraas, ■ --■ 
 
and -yvith foliage of a bluish hue. In the woods, reaching down to the very edge of the 
 water, white pines mingle with oaks, beeches, white birches, maples, hickories, horn- 
 beams, and other trees. On lower ground and in the ravines the. tamarack stands near 
 sweet birches', ashes,, and elms. Oft we find a marshy place on the lake's side, the home 
 of the Swamp. Sparrow, the Mourning Warbler, and the Water Thrush. The peaty soil 
 in such spots is usually covered with sphagnum moss, in which the fragrant rosy pyrola' 
 flowered profusely. Near by, but in drier soil, we may cull the white flowers of the 
 northern bedstraw' and the fragriant false Solomon's seal*. June-berry, plum and wild 
 cherry trees are everywhere. Large white pedars reach out in a horizontal w^ay over the 
 water, and w^hite birches, so conjmon in these woodlands, grow abundantly near the 
 w^ater's edge. Springs emerge near the foot of the hills, sending their cold clear water 
 in strong currents into the lake. Hither come the birds to wash themselves and to make 
 toilet. White-thorns and w^ild crab trees are common, and the wild grape- vines, embower- 
 ing many a tree, are now in flower, filling the air with a strong mignonette-like fragrance. 
 Dry places in the woods are covered with dense prostrate bushes of juniper^, and in 
 shady nooks and corners one of the most charming and delicate plants, the harebell" 
 with its pretty deep blue flowers w^as growing and blooming abundantly. 
 
 Most of the villas and hotels, are built in the original forest, while near others 
 many of the largest and finest trees have escaped the axe. Large elms, maples, white- 
 pines, red and white cedars and other trees are met with everywhere around the houses. 
 Foot-pathSj mostly fringed on both sides with trees and dense shrubs, lead almost around 
 the lake and; everywhere through the woods. My friends and co-workers, Misses Hedwig 
 and ElseSchlichting*, who both frequently accompanied me in my rambles in these beau- 
 tiful June days, proclaimed that they, were never "nearer to Nature's heart," that they 
 never enjoyed out-of-door life more than on this beautiful lake and its surrounding 
 woodlands, full of variety, regarding the silva and the smaller forest flora, and replete 
 with bird-life. There were no troubling insects, no venomous snakes, and as there were 
 only a few guests in th^ hotels, the friend of Nature and especially the birds in the 
 woods were little molested by human intruders. It is impossible to give within the 
 limits of this sketch anything like a definite idea of these woods ; 1 am only able to give 
 a rough outline of this favorite locality. 
 
 Bird-life was exceedingly abundant during all June. Martins nested on the beams 
 under the broad veranda of the largest hotel. Baltimore Orioles, uttering almost 
 incessantly their loud and melodious notes, were flying firom tree to tree. Song Sparrows 
 chanted from all sides more diligently than any other bird. The Chippy was everywhere 
 among the dense red cedars, and. the Catbird and Robin made the air vocal with their 
 music. The Phcebe nested under the verandas of some of the villas. Warbling and 
 Red-eyed Vireos and Yellow Warblers had chosen, as they always do, the tree tops for 
 their free concerts. Goldfinches or, as they are almost invariably called in this part of 
 the country, "the wild Canaries" were common in the orchards and the Indigo Bunting 
 
 * The last-named of the two friends of my childhood, a highly cultivated woman, an ardent friend of Nature, and 
 a conscientious assistant of the author in his work, passed away on the 2Sth of July, 1895, after she had vainly sought 
 relief in the beauty and quietness of Nature. H. N. 
 
 1 Betula lenta. 2 Pyrola rotttndifolia. a Galium boreale. ' Smilacina bifolia. s Janiperus communis var. alpina. 
 *■ Campanula rotundifolia. 
 
 26 
 
 .J 
 
202 ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 
 
 in the thickets of the woodland border. Cedarbirds were abundantly met with. King- 
 birds were common tenants of the gardens, while Bam, Chff, Wood, and Bank Swallows 
 were seen in large numbers over the lake. Redwings were breeding in the reeds of the 
 west end of the lake and Bobolinks near by in the low meadows. But no bird attracted 
 more attention and none aroused my enthusiasm more than the exquisite Rose-breasted 
 Grosbeak, of which I often heard three and four at the same time singing in the tree 
 tops near the lake and in close proximity to the dwellings. 
 
 How the exquisite song of the beautiful bird filled my soul w^ith rapture! And 
 how many pleasant recollections of my boyhood did these notes recall to my mind! 
 Only a few miles east of Elkhart Lake I spent my earliest youth, and there, on our small 
 lake, especially near the spring on the south side, whither I was particularly fond to 
 lead my steps during the spring and summer months, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak was 
 a regular summer resident. The forest growth did not differ from that near Elkhart 
 Lake, except that the white pines were more common and the white and red cedars 
 entirely absent. Sweet and white birches were especially numerous. In these woodlands 
 the songs of the Veery, the Purple Finch and Towhee were frequently heard, especially 
 in the early morning hours and at sunset. The brilliant red plumage of the Scarlet 
 Tanager gleamed among the deep foliage of the pines. But what most attracted me to 
 this idyllic place was a wonderfiil and beautiful bird with a deep black head and blackish 
 upper parts, a white rump and underside and a beautiful rosy-red breast. Its unique 
 and loud song floated down from the tops of the white pines and birches; mounted 
 almost on tiptoe, raising its wings, the underside of which showed a beautifiil rosy-red 
 color, and moving its body to and fro as if seemingly in an "ecstasy of enthusiasm and 
 delight at the unrivalled harmony of its own voice." It could be heard sometimes 
 almost for an hour in succession. In those early days I did not know its name. The 
 boys called it "Red-breast," and by this appellation it was also known to the settlers. 
 Its exquisite song as well as its brilliant color characterized the bird at once, and it could 
 not be confounded with any other of the woodland minstrels. Much later, when I had 
 an opportunity of reading Audubon's unrivalled description, I remembered my old 
 favorite and learned its correct name. How I loved this song, a song entirely its own, 
 enchantingly beautiftil, mellow and sweet, rich and powerful, exceedingly touching and 
 filling the soul with rapture and enthusiasm ! Even the indifferent cannot help to listen 
 to this strain with admiration. I felt, even when a boy, the power of this song, felt 
 that this was an exceptionally wonderful bird and a glorious songster. And in my 
 later years I have rarely heard a song more richly varied, more touching, more appealing 
 to the heart, more striking than that of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I fully agree with 
 Nuttall when he describes these notes as "wholly w^arbled, now loud and clear, now 
 with a querulous and now with a sprightly air, and finally lower and more pathetic." 
 
 One must listen to the melody of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the beauty of the 
 June woods in order to understand and appreciate its unrivalled harmony and sweetness. 
 Most enchanting, this song sounds in the bright moon-light nights when all Natiire is 
 silent and only the nocturnal notes of the Whippoorwill re-echo through the forest. 
 These notes are delivered so gently and so full of melancholy and yet so lovely that I 
 cannot find words to describe the impression they make on the mind of the hearer. 
 
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 203 
 
 "One year in the month of August," says Audubon, "I was trudging along the 
 shores of the Mohawk River, when the night overtook me. Being Httle acquainted with 
 that part of the country, I resolved to camp where I was ; the evening was calm and 
 beautiful, the sky sparkled with stars, which were reflected by the smooth waters, and 
 the deep shade of the rocks and trees of the opposite shore fell on the bosom of the 
 stream, while gently from afar came on the ear the muttering sound of the cataract. 
 My little fire was soon lighted under a rock, and, spreading out my scanty stock of 
 provisions, I reclined on my grassy couch. As I looked around on the fading features 
 of the beautiful landscape, my heart turned toward my distant home, where my friends 
 wetre doubtless wishing me, as I wished them, a happy night and peaceful slumbers. 
 Then were heard the barkings of the watch-dog, and I tapped my faithful companion 
 to prevents his answering them. The thoughts of my worldly mission then came over 
 my mind, and having thanked the Creator for all his never-failing mercy, I closed my 
 eyes, and was passing away into the world of dreaming existence, when suddenly there 
 burst on my soul the serenade of the Rose-breasted bird, so rich, so mellow, so loud in 
 the stillness of the night, that sleep fled fi-om my eyelids. Never did I enjoy music more: 
 it thrilled through my hearty and surrounded me with an atmosphere of bliss. One 
 might easily have imagined that even the Owl, charmed by such delightful music, 
 remained reverently silent. Long after the sounds ceased did I enjoy them, and when 
 all had again become still, I stretched out my wearied limbs, and gave myself up to the 
 luxury of repose. In the morning I awoke as vigorous as ever, and prepared to con- 
 tinue my journey." 
 
 The Rose-breasted Grosbeak must be ranked among our most beautiful birds as 
 w^ell as among our most exquisite songsters. It is evidently a high-bred bird, being 
 nowhere very common, living rather retired in the most beautiful parts of the forest and 
 being of a quiet and noble disposition. Its accomplished song is a charming accom- 
 paniment to the notes of the Wood Thrush, the Veery, the Scarlet Tanager, the Towhee, 
 and other woodland minstrels. It is heard most frequently from the bird's arrival until 
 latri in June or the beginning of July. The male sings even on the nest. "During incu- 
 bation," says Dr. T. M. Brewer, "and in the presence of its mate, this Grosbeak is a 
 persistent and enthusiastic singer, and, at times, carries his love of song so far as to 
 betray his nest. This is more especially so when he relieves his niate, takes her place on 
 the nest, and then apparently oblivious of the danger of lifting up his voice in song 
 when upon so responsible a duty, attracts, by his melody, the oologist to his treasures." 
 
 The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a late, arrival. In Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, 
 I have never heard its full Song until the third week of May, but I have often seen 
 males as early as the second lveek of the same month. It winters south of the United 
 States, in the tropics, being especially numerous in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and 
 Honduras. In the latter country Mr. Erich Wittkugel found it in the wooded mountain 
 region west of San Pedro Sula. It winters also in Cuba, through all States of Central 
 America south to northern South America, as far as Ecuador. In the collection of 
 Colombian birds at the World's Columbian Exposition I found quite a number collected 
 by C. Balen in the Andes during the winter of 1891 and 1892. In south-eastern 
 Texas I have never seen the bird, but in southern Louisiana I met with small 
 
flocks among the flowering magnolias late in April. These flocks consisted almost 
 entirely of females, the males having passed through a week before. In the Ozark region 
 of south-western Missouri I noticed the first flocks of males during the last week of 
 April and in northern Illinois in the first days of May. The southern limit of the Rose- 
 breasted Grosbeak's breeding range seems to be St. Louis, where it arrives, according 
 to Mr. Otto Widmann, in the last week of April. He writes me, that there it rears two 
 broods each season, and that it leaves for its winter-quarters late in September.* It 
 usually breeds from latitude 37° northward. How far^ it penetrates the British territory 
 we do not know, but it is met" with in the Selkirk Settlement and, according to Mr. E. 
 E. Thompson, it is a tolerably common summer resident at Portage la Prairie, Mani- 
 toba, where it arrives about May 22. It migrates in large and rather scattered flocks, 
 and the males arrive usually five or six days in advance of the females. At Shiocton, 
 Wis., according to Mr. Griindtvig, this bird is rather common, and in 1882 he found a 
 dozen pairs breeding in the vicinity of a house. He saw the first male May 9, the first 
 female May 15, and the bulk about May 24. About its occurrence in the mountains 
 of North Carolina, Prof. Wm. Brewster writes as follows: 
 
 "1 found this species only in the country about Highlands and on the Black 
 Mountains. In the former locality it ranged from (approximately) 3,500 to "4,500 feet; 
 in the latter from 3,800 to 5,000 feet; in both it was far more abundant than I have 
 
 ever seen it at the North. Its favorite haunts were the 6pen oak woodlands 
 
 Throughout these, at all times of the day, I was rarely out of hearing of its voice. 
 .The song did not seem to difier from that of our northern bird, but what a superb 
 performance it is whenever heard — so rich, flowing, and withal so tender and plaintive! 
 I know of no bird-voice more expressive of feeling and sentiment." 
 
 This Grosbeak is an inhabitant of eastern North America, west to the Missouri 
 plains, being more abundantly met with in the West thaii in the East. "I have nowhere 
 found this beautiful bird more abundant," writes Dr. Elliott Coues, "than along the 
 Red River of the North, and there may be no locality where its nidification and breeding 
 habits can be studied to greater advantage. On entering the belt of noble timber that 
 borders the river, in June, we are almost sure to be saluted with the rich, rolling song 
 of the rose-breasted male, and as we penetrate into the deeper recesses, pressing through 
 the stubborn luxuriance of vegetation into the little shady glades that the bird loves so 
 well, we may catch a glimpse of the shy and retiring female, darting into concealment, 
 disturbed by our approach. She is almost sure to be followed the next moment by her 
 ardent spouse, solicitous for her safety, bent on reassuring her by his presence and 
 caresses. Sometimes during this month, as we enter a grove of saplings, and glance 
 carefully overhead, we may see the nest, placed but a few feet from the ground, in the 
 fork of a limb. The female, alarmed, will flutter away stealthily, and we may not catch 
 another glimpse of her, nor of her mate even, though we hear them both anxiously 
 consulting together at a little distance." 
 
 Formerly the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, although not very abundant and of some- 
 what irregular occurrence, was a numerous bird in the Eastern States and New England, 
 but now it is a rare bird in many places. Even in Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin it 
 
 • "In 1885 common Sept. 16, Tcry numerous September 2a, bulk present Sept, 25, and bulk departed Sept. 29," 
 
has become a scarce bird of late in many localities. The reason for this sad fact is the 
 uninterrupted and unexcusable war waged against our birds, especially those of bright 
 colors. It has been recorded that in certain places, where our birds are protected, the 
 Rose-breasted Grosbeak increases in numbers. Dr. J. A. Allen is of the opinion that it has 
 increased in numbers in all parts of Massachusetts during the last twenty-five years, and in 
 the Connecticut valley it seems now to be also a more common bird than in former years. 
 
 I have already alluded to the fact that this elegant bird is of a rather local 
 occurrence. In Wisconsin we may find five or six pairs in a tract of woodland not ex- 
 ceeding two or three acres, while several miles away in a locality, apparently no less 
 suitable, not one pair is found. Woods consisting partly of evergreens and partly of 
 deciduous trees and shrubs are its favorite haunts. It prefers the borders of woods 
 and the vicinity of lakes and streams, often also breeding in close proximity to houses, 
 selecting for this purpose evergreens, ornamental and pear trees. 
 
 The nest is usually built among the dense foliage in some horizontal branch, very 
 near the trunk of a tree, firom six to fifteen feet from the ground, near the border of 
 woodlands, or near springs, rivers, and lakes. I found the structures almost always in 
 alders, birches, young white pines and cedars, and in northern Illinois the birds had a 
 predilection for white-thorns and pear trees which were found in an orchard bordering 
 the woodland. On the Des Plaines, in northern Illinois, I usually found the nests early 
 in June. They wer^ built in tracts of dense and rather low woods with an almost 
 impenetrable growth of underwood consisting of different species of viburnums, white- 
 thorns, wild crab trees, hazel and gooseberry bushes, grape-vines, Virginia creeper, and 
 climbing bittersweet {Celastrus scandens). On the rank herbaceous plants several 
 parasitic species of Cuscata or dodder, with yellowish or reddish thread-like stems; were 
 twining in a luxuriant way. Oaks, hickories, elms, and ashes were the prevailing forest 
 trees. Catbirds, Wood Thrushes, Towhees, Brown Thrashers, Red-eyed Vireos; and 
 Scarlet Tanagers sang their sweetest notes. The nest was placed usually near the trunk 
 of a white-thorn or a wild crab tree, and I discovered several on which the male was 
 breeding, his black head being noticeable fi-om quite a distance. During this time masses 
 of flowering wild crab trees perfumed the wildwood air. The nest is not an elegant 
 aftair ; it is, in fact, bulky, if not actually slovenly, being formed of long slender grasses, 
 plant stems, and rootlets. The lining consists of finer grasses and fibres. It has on the 
 exterior a diameter of about six inches and a depth of four inches. The cavity is 
 usually three inches wide, by one and a half deep. 
 
 The eggs, generally three and four and rarely five in number, are greenish-blue, 
 more or less spotted over the entire surface, with dots and blotches of deep and reddish- 
 brown. They closely resemble the eggs of the Scarlet Tanager. 
 
 The late Dr. R. P. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., found seven nests about six miles from that 
 city on the 15th of June, all within a space of not over five acres. Six of these nests were 
 in thorn trees from six to ten feet fi-om the ground, and all were in the central portion 
 of the top. Three of the four parent birds sitting on the nest were males. When a nest 
 was disturbed, all the neighboring Grosbeaks gathered around and appeared equally 
 interested. Both nest and eggs so closely resemble those of the Tanagers, that it is 
 difficult to distinguish them. Their position is, however, usually different, the Grosbeaks 
 
206 ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 
 
 generally nesting in the central portion of a small tree, the Tanagers' nest being placed 
 on a horizontal limb.— The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a very beneficial bird. In spring 
 and summer it feeds largely on injurious insects, especially beetles, eater-pillars, moth's, 
 and others which infest the trees. It even eats the Colorado potato beetle. Wild fruits 
 and seeds of many kinds also constitute a part of its diet. In winter seeds form the main 
 part of its food. It is said to eat green peas, and for this reason it is often killed, though 
 the damage done in this way does not compare with the many benefits which it bestows. 
 This elegant and useful bird, one of the jewels of our bird fauna, should be pi;otected where- 
 ever it occurs by stringent enforcement of the laws for the protection of our native birds. 
 
 In the woods its flight is light and easy, but over large treeless tracts it is' some- 
 what slow and heavy. During migration the flocks ascend high into the air, and then 
 the flight is quick and constant. 
 
 Although the Rose-breasted Grosbeak is nowhere more beautiful and poetical than 
 in its natal haunts, although its song is most thrilling and lovely in the fresh flowering 
 June woods, the bird fanciers years ago ranked it among the most valuable cage pets. 
 Large numbers are exported annually to Europe, where they are highly appreciated 
 as cage birds. I have kept this Grosbeak frequently in confinement. It soon becomes 
 tame and much attached to those who treat it kindly, taking flies, grasshoppers, meal- 
 worms, and other insects out of the hand. Mealworms are especially relished and while 
 in song during spring and summer it should have from ten to fifteen each day. If 
 these cannot be fiimished hard boiled egg and "ant's eggs" (the dried larvae of ants) 
 should be substituted. Its main food in the cage should be a mixture of Canary, millet, 
 and sunflower seed, and also Mockingbird-food mixed with crated carrots. If exclusively 
 sustained by seeds it becomes exceedingly fat and soon dies. Therefore it is necessary to 
 supply the bird with all kinds of fruits as the season offers them. Only those who are able 
 to supply all the w^ants of this beautiful songster, should keep it in the cage. During 
 spring and early summer, and also during bright moonshiny nights, it sings very sweetly 
 in the cage. Though apparently a robust bird, it is easily affected by cold, suffering 
 very much in cold wintry nights. The cage, which must be roomy and kept very clean, 
 must always be kept in a warm place and out of draught. I knew a Rose-breasted 
 Grosbeak which was kept in perfect health for over fifteen years. All the white of the 
 plumage had become in time a very beautiful rosy-red. 
 
 NAMES: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Rose-breast, Redbreast, Red-breasted Song Grosbeak, Red-breasted Gros- 
 beak, "Potato-bug Bird." 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Loxia ladoviciaaa Linn. (1766). Guiraca ludoviciana Swains. (1827). Cocco- 
 tbraastcs ludoviciana Rich. (1837). Coccoborus ludovicianus Aud. (1839). Goniophsea ludoviciana 
 "Bowd." Hidymeles ludoviciana Cab. (1851). Zamelodia ludoviciana Coues (1880). HABIA 
 LUDOVICIANA Stejneger (1884). Loxia rosea Wils. (1810). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Male. "Upper parts generally, with head and neck all round, glossy black. A broad cres- 
 cent across the upper part of the breast, extending narrowly down to the belly, axillaries, and under 
 wing-coverts, carmine. Rest of under-parts, rump and upper tail-coverts, middle wing-covei'ts, spots 
 on the tertiaries and inner great vying-coverts, basal half of primaries and secondaries, and a large 
 patch on the ends of the inner webs of the outer three tail-feathers, pure white." 
 
 ■Female entirely different. "Without the white of the quills, tail and rump, and without any black 
 or red. Above, yellowish-brown, streaked with darker; head with a central stripe above, and a super- 
 ciliary one on each side, white. Beneath, dirty white, streaked with brown on the breast and sides. 
 Under wing<overts and axillaries saffron-yellow." (B. R. & R. II. p. 70.) 
 
"^ 
 
 BLACK-READED GROSBEAK, 
 
 Habia melanocephala Stejneger. 
 
 Plate XX. Fig. 5. 
 
 IJg^HIS fine bird," says Prof. Robert Ridgway, "was quite abundant in the fertile 
 valleys and lower canons along the entire route, from Sacramento to the 
 Wahsatch and Uintahs. Its range was exactly that of the Lazuli Finch, and it was 
 observed that in the interior both these species reached their upper limit about where 
 the summer range of the Louisiana Tanager commencedj viz, about the middle portions 
 of the canons. It was abundant both at Sacramento and in the valley of the Truckee, 
 in western Nevada, but was nearly restricted in the former locality to the willow 
 thickets, while in the latter it preferred the shrubbery of buffalo-berry and other bushes. 
 At the latter locality it was observed to feed, in May, upon the buds of the grease- wood 
 {Obione confertifolia) , in company with the Louisiana Tanager, Bullock's Oriole, and 
 several other birds. It was also found in the shrubbery along the lower portion of the 
 mountain streams, but was there less numerous than in the river- valleys, while at an 
 altitude of about 7,000 feet it appeared to be entirely absent. It was consequently rare 
 in Parley's Park, where, however, a few pairs' were nesting in the thickets along the 
 streams. It was frequently observed that the male of this species assists in incubation, 
 being, in fact, more often seen on the nest than his mate. This species appears to be 
 a perfect counterpart of the eastern Rose-breasted Grosbeak, its notes especially, in all 
 their variations, being quite the same." 
 
 In his excellent work, "Birds of the North-west," Dr. Elliott Coues gives the 
 following description of the Black-headed Grosbeak and its habits : 
 
 "This interesting w^estem ally and representative of our Rose-breasted Song Gros- 
 beak, is of common and very general occurrence in the middle arid western provinces 
 of the United States. The easternmost instance is, I believe, that recorded by Mr. Allen, 
 who found the bird in middle Kansas, breeding, in June. He saw young birds on the 
 11th, and the eggs of a second brood toward the end of the month. I have not ob- 
 served any references beyond the United States to the northward ; in the other direction 
 the bird appears to extend through Mexico, on the table-lands. Many reside in that 
 country ; others, obeying the -mysterious impulse of migration, enter the United States 
 in April, and become extensively dispersed, as we have just seen, retreating to their 
 warm w^inter-quarters in the fall. In the mountains of Arizona I found it to be an 
 abundant summer resident from the beginning of May until the end of September. It 
 appeared to shun the pine woods, preferring ravines wooded with deciduous trees and 
 upgrown to shrubbery, as well as the thick willow-copses that fringe the mountain 
 streams. Like others of the same beautiful genus, it is a brilliant and enthusiastic 
 vocalist, its song resembling that of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and having much 
 similarity to that of the Baltimore Oriole. Its ordinary chirp, or call-note, strikingly 
 resembles that of Gambel's Plumed Quail — so closely, indeed, that I n^ver could tell 
 
208 BLACK-HBADED GROSBEAK. 
 
 which of the two I was about to see, both species often being found together in the 
 creek bottoms. It feeds at times extensively upon willow buds, and similar soft, 
 succulent vegetable matter ; also upon seeds and berries, in their season, and upon various 
 insects. Mr. Allen has noted its fondness for peas, causing it to be ungraciously regarded 
 by the agriculturists of Utah. 
 
 "According to Dr, Cooper, a nest 'found May 12, at the eastern base of the Coast 
 Range," was built on a low, horizontal branch of an alder, consisting of a few sticks 
 and weeds, very loosely put together, and with a lining of roots and grasses. The eggs 
 were only three, pale bluish-white, thickly spotted with brown, densely so near the large 
 end; size, 0.95 by 0.70.' Dr. Heermann's account of the nidification is substantially 
 correspondent, except as to the situation of the nest, which, he says^ is 'formed with 
 little care of twigs very loosely thrown together, and lined with roots ; it is placed on 
 the branches of a bush. The eggs, four in number, are greenish-blue, marked with 
 irregular spots of umber-brown, varying in intensity of shade.' In nearly a dozen 
 specimens, T can find no reliable differences from the egg of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 
 
 "During Mr. Allen's western reconnoissance, the species was first met with at 
 Fort Hays, and afterward at various localities near the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, 
 and in the valleys, up to about 8,000 feet. Its song and breeding habits, according to 
 his observations, agree with, those of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and the nidification is 
 very qimilar. Mr. Merriam, who found the species to be quite numerous among the 
 scrub-oaks at the foot of the Wahsatch Mountains, obtained a nest on the 22nd of 
 July, in T6ton Basin, Idaho. 'It was on a cotton-wood sapling, about five feet above 
 the ground, and was composed of pieces of grass and vines laid carefully together, with 
 their ends sticking out four or five inches; it contained tw^o fresh eggs.' Mr. Trippe 
 writes to me as follows: 
 
 " 'The Black-headed Grosbeak arrives in the lower valleys of Bergen's Park, 
 Colorado, about the 20th of May, and by the 1st of June has become quite numerous 
 throughout the park. It rarely ventures higher than 7,500 feet, however, as it is rare 
 in the valley of Clear Creek, and, indeed; quite uncommon outside of Bergen's Park, but 
 is abundant from there down to the plains. It is the exact counterpart of the Rose- 
 breasted Grosbeak in its flight, manner of feeding, and general habits and actions, and 
 its song closely resembles that of the latter bird, but is nevertheless distinguishable. In 
 September it disappears from the upper range in the mountains.' " 
 
 This bird is confined to the Western United States, east to the Great Plains. 
 
 NAMK8: Black-headed Grosbeak, Mountain Grosbeak.— Schwarzkopfiger Kernbeisser (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Guiraca melanocephala Swains. (1827). Coccotbraustes taelanocephala And. (1839). 
 Hedymeles melanocephala Cab. (1851). HABIA MELANOCEPHALA Stejn. (1884). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Hood, black; the throat, and sometimes postocular stripe (occasionally a 
 stripe on middle of crown also), light cinnamon-ochraceous ; wings and tail, black, varied with white, 
 as in H. ludoviciatia; back, mixed black and light cinnamon (sometimes uniform black); rump, collar 
 round hind-neck, and most of lower parts, uniform buffy-cinnamon ; belly and under wing-coverts 
 lemon-yellow; under tail-coverts, white. Adult female: Above, dusky grayish-brown, streaked, 
 especially on back and middle line of crown, with pale fulvous or buffy ; beneath, pale fulvous or 
 ochraceous ; streaked on sides and flanks with dusky, but usually without streaks on breast ; belly, 
 pale yellowish, and under wing-coverts clear lemon-yellow. 
 
 "Length, 7.50 to 8.90 inches; wing, 3.85 to 4.20; tail, 3.40 to 3.90 inches." (R. Ridgway.) 
 
BLUE GROSBEAK. 
 
 Guirnca caerulea Swainson. 
 
 Plate XVIII. Fig. 5. 
 
 There are moments of life that we never forget. 
 
 Which brighten and brighten as time steals away ; 
 
 They give a new charm to the happiest lot, 
 
 And they shine on the gloom of the loneliest day. 
 
 Anon. 
 
 g^HE northern woodlands awaken from their winter sleep to real life when spring 
 J sends its first heralds, the Song Sparrow, Robin, and Bluebird. But not until 
 May and June do the forests really resound with the thousand-voiced chorus of their 
 plumed inhabitants. During the early part of June the grand and exhilerating concert 
 of the woodlands inspires even the indolent with delight and poetical emotions. This 
 concert would seem incomplete were any of the Vireos, Warblers, Tanagers, Thrushes, 
 or Woodpeckers absent. Their united efforts are indispensable. Further south in the Gulf' 
 region it is somewhat different, for there the woods are almost perpetually enlivened by 
 numerous birds, and though they do not sing regularly, they often warble parts of their 
 lays. In these southern woods winter is doubtless quite apparent also. Most of the 
 trees have lost their foliage, and only the pines, the live-oaks, the grand evergreen 
 magnolias, the loblolly bay, red bay, laurel cherry, and holly and a number of shrubs 
 like the dahoon, the yupon or cassine and the wax myrtle make a splendid appearance 
 in their garments of dark evergreen foliage. Where the undergrowth is dense, birds are 
 wintering abundantly. What can be more charming than yonder evergreen holly, adorned 
 with its bright red berries and enlivened by numbers of Cardinal Redbirds, hopping 
 about among the dense branches ! If the day is sunny and the air salubrious, they chant 
 their loud rolling song in all directions, inducing other songsters to join them, until the 
 whole woodlands ring with their sweet music. The Carolina Wren sings in the dense 
 evergreen thickets or in the almost impenetrable cane-brakes or bamboos {Arundinaria 
 macrosperma) its liquid notes, and along the edge of the woods hundreds of Field 
 Sparrows warble their cheerful melodies. Without these feathered inhabitants the wood- 
 lands with their beautiful trees and shrubs would seem deserted and desolate. Their 
 songs lend to them an indescribably poetic charm. 
 
 The bird song is to him who can understand and interpret it a poem, an idyl of 
 life and happiness. At home it cheers us, in strange localities it is a touching and home- 
 like greeting, and often it gives consolation in sorrow and sadness. What music has 
 such enlivenitig touch of hope and bliss as the first spring greeting of the Bluebird, 
 the tidings of spring's approach brought by the Song Sparrow and Robin, when ice and 
 snow still cover the ground ! What blissful rapture fills the heart when in the South 
 the flower-perfumed night is made melodious by the enchantingly sweet song of the 
 Mockingbird ! 
 
 No wonder, therefore, that man of true sentiment and dignity has ever been 
 and will always be a friend and protector of the birds of song and beauty. Hunting 
 
 27 
 
210 BLUB GROSBEAK. 
 
 and killing them and robbing their eggs denotes a low degree of civilization, cruelty 
 and want of feeling. 
 
 Man values and cherishes not equally all the feathered inhabitants of wold, field, 
 and meadow. He may be fond of them all, but he generally prizes most highly those 
 who manifest their confidence and attachment by seeking his company and depending to 
 some extent on his hospitality, and who in the most beautifiil season of the year come 
 into close proximity of his dwelling, cheering him by their happiness and sweet music. 
 None of our songbirds are such universal favorites in the North than the Robin, Blue- 
 bird, Song Sparrow, Catbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Purple Martin, and Bam Swallow, 
 and none enjoy the love and good will of man in the southern gardens more than the 
 Mockingbird, Cardinal Redbird, Carolina Wren, Painted Bunting, Orchard Oriole, and 
 the beautiful Blue Grosbeak, the subject of this sketch, with whom I wish to make 
 my readers now more closely acquainted. 
 
 Audubon describes this exquisite bird as shy and recluse, effecting remote marshes 
 'and the borders of large ponds. The following life-history will shgw that, on the con- 
 trary, the Blue Grosbeak is at present one of our most familiar birds, never inhabiting 
 marshy places and the interior of the woods, but preferably orchards, the ornamental 
 shrubs of the garden and the brambles on the road-sides. 
 
 The Blue Grosbeak is one of the most refined and beautiful of all our native birds. 
 The color of the male is a brilliant deep blue, darkest on back and almost black on the 
 tail. Two small reddish-brown spots on the wing characterize the bird at once. The 
 female is light brownish, darkest on the breast. When the sun falls on the plumage of 
 the wings and tail, it has a faint bluish tint. Both birds have much similarity to the 
 Indigo Bunting, only that the latter is much smaller and without the characteristic 
 reddish-brown wing spots. 
 
 In all parts of Texas, from San Antonio, New Braunfels and Austin to Houston 
 and thence through southern Louisiana to New Orleans, and from there to Tallahassee, 
 Florida, I found the Blue Grosbeak a common, though nowhere an abundant bird. One 
 of the delightful unfading pictures in my memory of the southern blackberry thicket?, 
 the Cherokee-rose hedges, and the shrubbery of the fence-comers is that of this elegant 
 bird. I met with it for the first time on April 22, 1879, at Serbin, Lee Co., Texas. It 
 was perched on a fence, uttering its lively strain after short intervals. As the bird was 
 not shy I could observe it for quite a while. When approaching too closely it took 
 wing and disappeared in a blackberry thicket, almost touching the ground when flying. 
 At the end of the same month and at the beginning of the next I rambled about in 
 south-eastern Texas, near Spring Creek. The farms in this locality are situated on fertile 
 prairie land on the outskirts of very beautiful and dense woods. In the comers of the 
 rail-fences a thick growth of blackberry bushes, wild roses, smilax, sassafras, and trumpet 
 creeper as well as small trees and now and then a dense mass of Cherokee roses, occurred. 
 Such places are not only the favorite haunts of Cardinals, Yellow-breasted Chats, Painted 
 Buntings, Carolina Wrens, and White-eyed Vireos, they also form the true home of the 
 Blue Grosbeak. Thickets of cacti {Opuntia Engelmanni), yuccas, and small trees covered 
 with grape-vines, smilax, and trumpet creeper were found everywhere in the pastures 
 and on the prairie. 
 
BLUB GROSBEAK. 211 
 
 When I visited this locaUty again in May, 1880, I found these birds still more 
 numerous than the year before. May 18th I discovered the first nest on a road-side 
 only a fevc steps from a much frequented wagon track. It was built in a very thorny 
 blackberry bush, about two feet above the ground, and was so \<fell hidden in the dense 
 foliage that it could only be seen when the twigs were bent aside. This nest was a 
 very pretty and compact structure, entirely different from what I had read about it. 
 Externally it was constructed of corn-leaves mixed with long fibrous rootlets, large 
 pieces of snake-skin and small dry leaves. The rim was made of catkins of the oak, 
 intermingled with spider's nests and caterpillar's silk. A little cotton also entered into 
 the composition. The cavity was lined with fine brown rootlets. The eggs, three in 
 number, were of a uniform bluish-white, without spots. All other nests found sub- 
 sequently were built in the same manner, and all were discovered near dwellings. 
 Several domiciles found in gardens in rose-bushes, and one in a dense sweet myrtle 
 {Myrtus communis), displayed, in their construction also a few pieces of paper, parts of 
 strings and muslin and in the lining- a few horse hairs. Snake-skins, with the Blue Gros- 
 beak, always are a favorite and characteristic nest-building material, forming sometimes 
 almost the entire exterior of the nest. For what purpose this is used I am unable to 
 say, but very probably it forms a protection against different animals, if not against 
 the hideous nest-robbing snakes themselves. All the nests, of which I found about 
 tw^enty, in 1880, were built from two to eight feet above the ground. 
 
 In the spring of 1881 I discovered many more nests in the peach orchards near the 
 West Yegua Creek, Lee County, Tex. These nests were situated from three to twelve 
 feet from the ground, and all were constructed materially of a very soft whitish wooly 
 plant (probably a species of Gaapbalium), fine plant-stems, snake-skin, strings, spider's 
 nests, and the cavity w^as lined with fine rootlets. In the following year I discovered 
 the first nest on May 13, in a peach orchard. It was built between the trunk and a 
 sapling of a peach tree about six inches above the ground. Weeds in great luxuriance 
 grew all around, screening the nest from observation. It was a very peculiar, though 
 beautiful and artistic structure, built externally of broad shreds of corn-husks, a few 
 plant-stems, and mostly of sna.ke-skin, the latter arranged in a turban-like way. All 
 over it w^as decorated with cinnamon-brown eater-pillar nests, w^hich gave the domicile 
 a very odd appearance. A few days later I found another peculiar nest, which was 
 placed in a half-pendulous way in a horizontal branch of a black-jack oak, about 
 twelve feet from the ground. Above and below it, was protected by a canopy of dense 
 foliage. Fine shreds of corn-husks and pliable plant-stems, mixed with spider's nests, 
 formed the bulk of the material, and the cavity w^as lined with fine pieces of corn-leaves 
 and tender grasses. A third nest was also in a rather extraordinary position. It was 
 built in an almost pendulous branch of an oak on the woodland border and far from 
 the trunk, about twenty-five feet above the ground, and entirely out of my reach. All 
 the other nests were built in orchard trees and ornamental shrubs. One was placed in 
 an apple tree only a few steps from a house and near a much frequented walk. Almost 
 all contained four, only a few three, and none five eggs. In May of 1882 I found 
 fifteen, and in June six nests of the Blue Grosbeak. In the South usually two broods 
 are raised each year. 
 
 V_ 
 
The country people of Texas love these strikingly beautifiil birds to such a degree 
 that they do not allow them to be molested in any way. The nests have a great 
 resemblance to those of the Painted Bunting, but they are larger. In south-western 
 Missouri, at Freistatt, Lawrence Co., the Blue Grosbeak is a tolerably common bird, 
 breeding preferably in pear and apple trees, and sometimes even in snowberry, upright 
 honey-suckle, mock orange, and prairie rose bushes. The construction of the nests differed 
 much from those found in Texas. The exterior was usually built of fine bark-strips, 
 rootlets, grasses, moss, and spider webs, and the lining consisted of fine rootlets. In 
 this locality I found snake-skin never used in the construction of the nests. 
 
 A friend near Tallahassee, who has a special love for these birds, informs me that 
 besides Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Bluebirds, Carolina Wrens, Painted Buntings, and 
 Orchard Orioles these birds breed every year in his garden in close proximity to the 
 broad veranda of the house, embowered in masses of Marcchal Niel, Chromatella, 
 Lamarque, Woodland Marguerite and Banksia roses. They feel perfectly at home among 
 the masses of camellias, Cape jasmines, holly-leaved' and sweet olives", cleyeras*, euryas,* 
 abelias^, pittosporums', banana shrubs', magnolias ^ laurustinus', sweet viburnums"", 
 silver shrubs", Japan euonymus^', retinisporas", cypresses", cunninghamias'*, podo- 
 carpus", and rose bushes. They prefer to nest in red cedars", in Cherokee" and 
 Macartney'' roses and in pear trees. The nests do not differ from those found in Texas. 
 In its nesting range the Blue Grosbeak is a very shy and quiet bird, rarely betraying 
 its hidden domicile by its presence or warning call-notes. Near my house in south- 
 western Missouri a pair had built its nest in a pear tree near a much frequented garden 
 path, but it was not before the young were hatched that it was discovered. The female 
 approaches and leaves the nest in a very quiet and stealthy way. Very early in the 
 morning the female carries the material to the nest, but the work stops when the sun 
 appears above the horizon. She also hatches the eggs without the assistance of her 
 elegant partner. Sometimes the latter aids her in feeding the young, and this work is 
 performed almost exclusively by him, when they have left the nest, while the female is 
 preparing for a second brood. When approaching the nest we may hear a low warning 
 note of the always watchful male. Without delay the female leaves her nest, flying low 
 over the ground and hiding among the bushes. Her neutral colors perfectly protect her 
 from observation, while the brilliant male is soon detected. But as the latter is always 
 on the alert to keep out of sight and to hide in the shrubbery, we rarely see him near 
 the nest. The pair is much attached to each other. In times of danger, when the female 
 leaves the nest, the male utters a metallic call-note, not very unlike the common note 
 of the Bobolink. 
 
 The Blue Grosbeak is a very diligent singer in the early morning hours, and in 
 order to enjoy its song we must rise early. I have rarely heard its lively strain during 
 noon-tide, and not until it becomes cooler, late in the afternoon, the lovely and 
 varied song sounds through the air in its full beauty. While singing the bird is perched 
 
 1 Osmantbus ilicifolia. » O. fragrans. b cieyeta Japonica. • Earya latifolia variegata. » Abelia rupestris. 
 • Pittosporum tobira. t Micbelia fuscata. » Magnolia graadlBora and glauca. » Viburnum tinus. lo Viburnum 
 odoratissimum. n Elxagnua Simoni. 12 Euonymus Japonica. 13 Retlnispora plumosa, R. obtusa, R. pisi&ra. 
 It Cupressus fanebris, C. Knightlana, C. Californica, C. toraloaa, C. glauca peadula. m Cunnlnghamia Sinensis, 
 ta Fodocarpua Japonica, P. Nagei. it Junlperus Virgiaiana. i» Rosa Sinlca. t» Rosa bracteata. 
 
BLUB GROSBEAK. 213 
 
 in the top of a bush or small tree, on a post, or a telegraph wire. Not infrequently 
 it pours forth its sweet strain while hidden in dense shrubs and vine-embowered trees. 
 The lover of bird songs will scarcely tire to listen to these, although rather short, but 
 exquisitely sweet, clear, melodious, and somewhat metallic notes. The whole performance 
 has something very peculiarly and indescribably pleasant. Some observers claim that the 
 song is much like that of the Indigo Bunting, and others compare it even to the Bobolink's 
 unrivalled reverie. In my judgment it has not the slightest resemblance either with 
 one or the other, f robably Cooper is not far amiss when he likens the song to that 
 of the California House-finch. To my ear the song had always a great similarity 
 to that of the Purple Finch, though not so quick and energetic. It sounds much 
 like the following syllables: thse-tbse-tsbe-woid-tsbe-tsbe, but these sounds are so 
 frequently varied and changed that words cannot do them full justice. In Texas I have 
 often heard the song late in the evening, and at such times the slower and somewhat 
 melancholic notes make a deep impression on the hearer. The bird sings from the time 
 of its arrival late in April until the young are hatched and have left the nest. 
 
 Although of quick temper, this Grosbeak is a very peaceful bird. Its nesting range, 
 although comparatively small, will be bravely defended against intruders of its own 
 species, but with all the other birds of the shrubbery it usually lives in perfect harmony. 
 Generally only one pair is found in a garden, yet in Texas I have observed four pairs 
 breeding in a peach orchard of two acres. In this orchard I found quite a number 
 of dense young mountain cedars, said to be a variety of the common red cedar, though 
 its berries are about three times as large, of grayish color, very juicy, and highly relished 
 by many birds, especially by the Cedar-birds, in winter. The Painted Bunting quite often 
 nests near by and the Orchard Oriole, or Kingbird, sometimes built in the same tree. 
 
 In spring and summer its food consists mainly of all kinds of insects, especially 
 smooth eater-pillars, moths, grasshoppers, plant-lice, bugs, and a few berries. The young 
 are fed almost entirely with insects. Later in the season, during August, the famiUes 
 gather in loose flocks, which lead a rather retired life in the Cherokee rose hedges, in 
 the bushy borders of the woods and in the shrubbery of pastures and fields. I -have 
 never found these birds in moist or marshy places. In September they subsist partly on 
 insects and berries, partly on seeds. By the middle of October almost all have left Texas 
 for their winter-quarters in southern Mexico, Yucatan, Honduras, Costa Rica, the West 
 Indies, etc. 
 
 The flight of the Blue Grosbeak is short and low, usually leading only from one 
 thicket to another. During migration it mounts high into the air and then its flight is 
 rather hurried. On the ground, where most of the food is gathered, its motions are 
 somewhat awkward. It usually searches one place thoroughly and then hops. to another. 
 In the branches of trees and shrubs its movements denote that in these it is perfectly 
 at home. It has a predilection of perching in the tops of low bushes and trees, where 
 it swings up and down. 
 
 In south-eastern Texas the Blue Grosbeak rarely makes its appearance before the 
 20th of April, and in south-western Missouri not before May 9th, always when the red 
 clover is in flower. This beautiful bird would be much more common in Texas and 
 Missouri, were not so many nests destroyed by the exceedingly numerous, half domesti- 
 
cated pernicious Blue Jays, the fiercest, boldest, and most dangerous of all the enemies 
 of our small birds. 
 
 The breeding range of the Blue Grosbeak extends over the Southern States, north to 
 Washington, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Missouri, and west to Texas, Indian Territory, and 
 Kansas. A little larger variety, of a rather lighter blue color and with much broader 
 and paler rufous wing-bands occurs in the western United States, especially in Arizona 
 and California, north to Colorado. This is the Western Blue Grosbeak, Guiraca 
 cseralea eurhyncha Coues. It does not differ in its manners from the eastern form. 
 
 The Blue Grosbeak is well adapted for the cage, soon becoming very confiding and 
 much attached to its keeper. I have kept several for a long time in the cage, and they 
 lived peacefiiUy together with a large number of African and Australian Finches. A 
 mixture of millet, Canary seed, KaiEr corn, rice in its natural state, formed their main 
 diet in winter, with an addition of all kinds of fruits. In spring and summer crated 
 hard boiled eggs, ant's eggs, grasshoppers, and especially mealworms are a compensation 
 for the insect food in its haunts. The French Creoles, in New Orleans, are great 
 admirers of the Blue Grosbeaks, and they fi-equently keep them in cages, usually under 
 the name of "Le Grosbec ou EvSque bleu," its common name being "Blue Pop." 
 
 NAMES: Blue Grosbeak, Blue Pop.— Blauer Kembeisser, Bischof (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Loxia casrulea Linn. (1758). GUIRACA C^RULEA Swains. (1827). Gotdopbxa 
 cserulea Sclat. (1856). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Uniform dull ultramarine blue; lores, black; wings and tail, blackish; the 
 feathers edged with bluish, the former with two fulvous bands. Adult female: Above, fulvous-brown; 
 beneath, paler fulvous; wings and tail, dusky; the former with two light fulvous bands. Young: 
 Similar to adult female, but colors more ochraceous, the wing-bands more rusty, etc. Immature 
 males: The plumage of the adult male and female mixed, in various proportions, according to age. 
 Adult males in winter: Blue or black, breast, etc., more or less obscured by light brownish or buffy 
 tips to feathers.— Length, 6.35 to 7.50 inches ; wing, 3.35 to 3.60 ; tail, 2.70 to 2.90 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 INDIGO BUNTING. 
 
 Passerina cyatiea Gray. 
 
 Plate XXVIII. Fig. 2 and 3. 
 
 Jes' so our spring gits everythin' in tune 
 An' gives one leap from April into June : 
 Then all. comes crowdin' in ; afore yon tliink, 
 Yonng oak-leaves mist the side-hill -woods with pink ; 
 The Catbird in the laylock-bush is loud ; 
 The orchards turn to heaps o' rosy clouds; 
 Red-cedars blossom tu, though few folks know it, 
 An' look" all dipt in sunshine like a poet. 
 
 J. R. LowEi.1,. (In "Biglow Papers.") 
 
 'E ARE rambling about in south-western Missouri on a beautiful day in May, 
 and the soft, balmy air is filled with the delicious fragrance of the flowering 
 wild grape-vines. The woods on the plateaus are much less beautiful and varied than 
 in many other portions of our great country, consisting, as they do, mainly of the 
 
XXVIII 
 
 e^.-^^^^k,^X^ 
 
 1. PARSERTNA CYANEA Vieill . S 
 
 •^ • 1? 1) 11 * 
 
 3. PASSERINA CIRIS VieiU. 
 
 4. PASSE RTNA AMOENA Gi-ay. 
 
 5. GUIRACA CAERULEA Swains, 
 
 JNDIGOFINK. 
 
 1) 
 
 PAPSTFINK. 
 
 LAZULIFINK. 
 
 5LAUER KERNBEISSER. 
 
 I n d i ^o bi rd. 
 
 Painted Buntind. 
 Lazu I i Fin ch. 
 Blue Grosbeak. 
 
INDIGO BUNTING. 215 
 
 ungainly forms of the black-jack oaks. The prairies are at this time of the year a 
 glorious sight, being embellished by gorgeous masses of bright-colored flowers. The 
 woods are edged by broad borders of various shrubs, often intertwined and covered by 
 luxurious climbers. During a great part of the year these thickets are swarming w^ith 
 many species of small birds. We hear the Catbird's sweet medley, the Thrasher's charm- 
 ing sdng. The Wood Thrush sounds its melodious E-o-lie through the forest, and the 
 Cardinal's powerful notes fall on our ear from all sides, filling the soul with hilarity and 
 delight. The gushing strain of the White-eyed and Bell's Vireos, the sprightly song of 
 the Field Sparrow, the odd notes of the Yellow-breasted Chat, the notes of the Mock- 
 ingbird, of the Yellow and Hooded Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Kingbird, Wood Pewee, of 
 Traill's and the Acadian Flycatcher, of the Lark Sparrow, Bluebird, Robin, and Blue 
 Grosbeak are almost constantly heard. The Orchard Oriole pours forth its cheering 
 melody, and in the near fields Lark Sparrows, DickciSsels, and Meadow Larks sing 
 without interruption. The unpleasant screaming notes of the Blue Jay and the cawing 
 sounds of the Crow, although not a fit accompaniment to the general bird concert, are 
 nevertheless ever present, while the drumming of the Red-headed Woodpeckers and their 
 loud ga-rack, ga-ruck, ga-rack, and the notes of the Flicker, the whistling of the Bob- 
 white are not out of place in Nature's beautiful concert, the like of which we have never 
 an opportunity to enjoy in the Northern States. Among these notes we hear a very bright 
 and rapid warble, reminding us of the song of the Painted Bunting of the Southerh 
 States. Sometimes we may hear three or four of these performers at one time in close 
 proximity. It is rather difficult to find the songsters among the dense snowberry, hazel, 
 and blackberry thickets, but if we keep quipt, we soon see them perched in the tops of 
 bushes or small trees, where the deep indigo-blue color of their plumage beautifully 
 reflects in the rays of the sun. Sometimes they are ascending, as if in ecstacy, into the 
 air and then descending again immediately. 
 
 The sprightly songster is the dainty little Indigo Bunting, or Indigo-bird, one of 
 the jewels of our native ornis like its near relative, the southern Painted Bunting and 
 the western Lazuli Finch. This elegant bird is a tenant of the dense shrubbery of the 
 woodland border, the thickets in the fence comers, the bushes in the fields and pastures, 
 and sometimes of the ornamental shrubs of the garden. Thorny bushes, especially 
 blackberry brambles, and also dense snowberry bushes on the borders of woods and in 
 waste fields and pastures are its favorite haunts. In Missouri and Arkansas it is a very 
 common bird. In Illinois and Wisconsin it is rather locally distributed, being abundantly 
 met with in one place and not at all in another apparently equally as well Suited to its 
 wants. In all parts of the East it is a more. or less common summer sojourner, being 
 a numerous bird in New England, especially in the southerly portions, becoming less 
 common the farther north it proceeds. Westward it is found to the edge of the Great 
 Plains, and northward to the southern parts of the British Provinces. I observed the 
 Indigo Bunting late in April and early in May quite abundantly in southern Texas, but 
 it was evidently migrating, and I do not beheve that it breeds there, its summer home 
 beginning in the northern part of said State. 
 
 Though the Indigo-bird in many parts of our country must be ranked among the 
 most numerous summer residents, it is not at all a familiar and well-known bird like 
 
216 INDIGO BUNTING. 
 
 the Song Sparrow or the Chipping-bird. The deep indigo-blue color of its plumage, though 
 brilliant in the extreme, when the sun strikes it, does not readily attract our sight. 
 Moreover it is a very wild and suspicious bird, not seeking man's society. This is 
 especially true during the breeding season. In the spring migration, however, it often 
 comes into the gardens, even in cities, with other Sparrows, and at such times it is 
 perceived at once by its beautiful blue color, which is especially striking on the back- 
 ground of brownish or gray soil. 
 
 The Indigo Bunting is a late arrival, not appearing in northern Illinois and 
 southern Wisconsin before the middle of May, although a few stray birds may be seen as 
 early as May 9. In south-western Missouri I have never observed it before Apral 29.* 
 From late in May until July and August it chants its bright and charming song, which 
 has the only fault of being too short. It closely resembles the w^arble of the Painted 
 Bunting and the. Lazuli Finch, but it is louder. It certainly is difEcult to decide which 
 of the three birds is the best singer. The song consists of a repetition of short notes, 
 at first loud and rapid, but gradually less frequent, and becoming less and less distinct. 
 To enjoy the sweet lay of this bird in all its beauty, w^e must hear it in its bushy 
 haunts. Though not a first class songster, it is certainly one of the most beautiful, 
 active and animated, fascinating alike to the ear and the eye. It sings with equal 
 animation in May and June, more sparingly in July and August, and not less during 
 the noonday heat of summer than in the early morning or when the sun disappears 
 behind the fiery-red clouds of the western sky. In Missouri I have listened to its 
 sweet chant in the early days of August from the open window of my study. The 
 bird was perched on a telegraph wire near my garden. Only a few birds were singing 
 as late in the season. In my garden cannas, dahlias, tritomas, tiger', Leichtlin'^^, and 
 Maximowicz's* lilies and gladioli displayed their beautiful colors, while tuberoses, golden- 
 banded* and Japan lilies ° perfumed the air w^ith their most delicious fragrance. While 
 singing the Indigo Bunting often sits in the top of a large bush or small tree, also on posts 
 and stumps, and even on chimneys and lightning rods, where the beautiful bird is sure 
 to attract attention by its persistent ditty. Usually it keeps its place for a long time, 
 repeating its notes almost incessantly. With great rapidity it darts down into the 
 dense shrubbery when danger threatens, keeping hidden and quiet until it feels safe 
 again. The female is still more suspicious and shy, though her neutral brownish-gray 
 color well protects her from observation. 
 
 Miss Florence A. Merriam, in her fascinating manner gives the following description 
 of the female Indigo Bunting and her ways : 
 
 "In walking among clumps of bushes in clearings or old pastures, look sharp if a 
 small brown bird flies before you, especially if she calls cheep and twitches her tail 
 nervously from side to side. Though she be a sparrowy-looking bird, look well to her 
 shoulders and tail. If you discover a glint of blue and her cries call her mate, you will 
 
 • Mr. Otto Widmann of St. Loula, Mo., one of our most accurate and painstaking observers, gives the following 
 report on the Indigo Bunting's spring migration for St. Louis: "April 28, first, a male, in song; April 29, an increase, 
 a small flock of males; April 30, males in song in a few places; May 6, the bulk of the males and the first female 
 arrived; May 6, males everywhere in noisy flocks and many transients. These two days (May 5 and 6) were the height 
 of the season for males. May 9, the bulk of young males and the bulk of females arrived ; birds mating ; May 21 , nest 
 building; May 31, one of our most industrious songsters." 
 
 t Lilium tigrinum. 2 I,. Leicbtlinii. » L, Maximowicti' * L. auratum. ' L. speciosum. 
 
INDIGO BUNTING. 217 
 
 ever after be a more trustworthy observer — for his brilliant coat is unmistakable. 
 Having made sure of your birds, watch them to their nest — a compactly made cup — 
 too cleverly hidden in the dense thicket to be easily discoverecl. The color of the eggs 
 will again test your accuracy of observation; in varying lights they look green, blue, 
 and white. The female Indigo is so suspicious that it is hard not to be vexed with 
 her, but the primary virtues of an observer are conscientiousness and patience, so take 
 your hard cases as a means of grace. However distrustfial the poor mother bird is, her 
 mate's cheery song makes up for it all. After most birds have stopped singing for the 
 year, his merry voice still gladdens the long August days. I well remember w^atching 
 one Indigo-bird who, day after day, used to fly to the lowest limb of a high tree and 
 sing his way up from branch to branch, bursting into jubilant song when he reached 
 the topmost bough. I watched him climb as high into the air as he could, when, against 
 a background of blue sky and rolling w^hite clouds, the blessed little songster broke out 
 into the blithest round that ever bubbled up from a glad heart." 
 
 The nest is found in the bushy edges of woods, along roadsides, in neglected fields, 
 in old pastures, and in orchards and gardens. Usually it is built in the center of a dense 
 shrub, preferably a blackberry, hazel, or snowberry bush, sometimes also in climbing 
 roses, in young black-jack oaks and in orchard trees, often quite close to the ground, but 
 sometimes ten to twelve feet high. It is generally built in an upright crotch of a bush, 
 and the material used is of a rather miscellaneous character, weed-stalks, grasses, root- 
 lets, strings, bits of paper, etc., forming the outside of the structure, while the cavity is 
 lined w^ith finer grasses and rootlets. It is a rather large structure for such a dainty 
 little bird. The eggs, usually four in number, are very pale blue or bluish- white and 
 unmarked. Occasionally a set is found with eggs having a few dots. The eggs are laid 
 in south-western Missouri by the end of May and in Wisconsin by the beginning of 
 June, and a second set is deposited early in July in south-western Missouri. In Wisconsin 
 only one brood is raised annually. 
 
 The nest is usually so well hidden among the shrubbery that even the friend of 
 birds does not discover it very' often. The male rarely sings in close proximity to 
 his nest, and the plain-colored female, occupied chiefly with household cares, is perfectly 
 safe under the canopy of dense foliage. Although little danger threatens to the hidden 
 domicile by feathered robbers, the parasitic Cowbird seems to know exactly where to 
 look for it, in order to drop its egg into it. When w^e are approaching the nest the 
 female leaves it quietly, disappearing on the opposite side of the shrub. We can scarcely 
 get a glimpse of her, so quickly does she leave the place. The female hatches the eggs 
 alone, but she is assisted by her mate in feeding the young. The breeding time averages 
 twelve days, and in twelve days more the young are able to leave the nest. Very small 
 insects form the diet of the young and later they also receive small seeds. The food of 
 the old birds consists almost entirely of all kinds of insects during spring and summer, 
 but later in the season they greatly jelish.the half-ripe seeds of millet and the seeds of 
 weeds, which they often search for on the ground, even in gardens and in company with 
 other Finches. 
 
 "Being of little hardihood, this representative of a decidedly southern genus takes 
 early departure in the fall, scarcely remaining through September." As it is one of the 
 
 28 
 
218 INDIGO BUNTING. 
 
 latest arrivals in spring, it is one of the eariiegt migrants in the fall, leaving southern 
 "Wisconsin by the middle, south-western Missouri by the end of September, and in 
 southern Texas they are not seen after October 15. They winter abundantly in southern 
 Mexico and throiughout Central America and the "West Indies. 
 
 During the migrations they overfly in an easy way immense stretches of country, 
 and during the breeding season they fly quite rapidly; even when there is no necessity 
 for such wandering, they often fly more than a mile at a considerable height, moving 
 from one pasture to another. 
 
 The Indigo Bunting is a great favorite with bird fanciers. I have frequently kept 
 them in confinement and even caught them myself in trap cages. They were at fir^t 
 exceedingly wild and unruly, but in time they submitted to the kind treatment they 
 received and became tolerably tame. "When residing in Oak Park, 111., I always kept a 
 large number of native birds in cages, among them also several Indigo-birds. While 
 cleaning the cage one day a fine male escaped. I saw him all day long, and also the 
 next day, in the neighboring garden, replete with ornamental shrubs and evergreens. 
 Then the bird disappeared and I had given up the hope to see him again. About eight 
 days later my escaped bird appeared with a female in the same garden. They both 
 hopped about on the ground, searching for food. — Among the bird-fanciers in Europe 
 the Indigo Bunting has always been a great favorite. Vieillot, in his excellent work, 
 "Les Oiseaux Chanteurs," published in 1790, describes and figures it and praises it as 
 a cage pet. Dr. Carl Russ has raised several broods in his "bird-room." 
 
 Although generally fed on seeds only, every bird-keeper will soon find out that 
 this is a mistake, for the bird will neither remain healthy nor endure long on such a 
 diet. A little animal food, in the shape of a few mealworms, flies, spiders, small grass- 
 hoppers and a little hard-boiled egg, is indispensable, and giving these regularly our 
 cage-pet will soon become so tame that it will take insects from between the fingers. 
 
 NAMES: Indigo Bunting, Indigo-bird, "Indigo," Blue Linnet, "Green Bird," "Green Linnet," Blue Nonpareil 
 (French Creoles).— Indigofink, Indigovogel (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Tanagra cyanea, Linn. (1766). FringiUa cyanea Wils. (1810). PASSERINA 
 CYANEA ViEiLL. (1817). Cyanospiza cyanea Baird (1858). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Rich blue, deeper on the head, brighter on the back; lores, blackish; wings 
 and tail, black; margined with blue. Adult female: Upper parts, uniform grayish-brown without 
 streaks; wings and tail, fuscous, sometimes lightly margined with bluish; wing-coverts, margined 
 with grayish-brown ; under-parts, whitish, washed with grayish-brown and indistinctly streaked with 
 darker; belly, whiter. Young: Resemble the female, but darker. Adult male in winter: Resembles the 
 female, but has more or less blue in the plumage. 
 
 "Length, 5.59 inches; wing, 2.58; tail, 2.11; bill, .41." (Prank M. Chapman.) 
 
LAZULI BUNTING. 
 
 Passerina amoena Gray. 
 
 Plate XXVIII. Fig. 4. 
 
 H^HE beautiful little Lazuli Bunting or Lazuli Finch is one of the most common 
 summer residents of California and the west coast, north at least to Puget 
 Sound and east to the Great Plains. Mr. Ridgway found it common in California, 
 Nevada, and Utah, inhabiting all the bushy localities in the fertile districts. He regards 
 it the exact counterpart of the Indigo Bunting. The notes of the two are so much alike 
 that their song w^ould be indistinguishable but for the fact that in the Lazuli Bunting 
 it is appreciably weaker. He found their nests usually in the low limbs of trees, near 
 their extremity and only a few feet from the ground. Nuttall found the nest fastened 
 between the stem and' two branches of a large fern. It was ftmnel-shaped, being six 
 inches in height and three in breadth. 
 
 According to the information of a friend in Santa Barbara Co., Cal., the Lazuli 
 Bunting arrives there in the third week of April, remaining until late in October. There 
 is hardly an orchard or a garden planted with ornamental shrubs uninhabited by one 
 or more pairs of these sprightly and beautiful birds. They usually sing from the top of a 
 silk oak*, of a silver tree^, of an Australian myrtle', of a Jacaranda*, or of other unique 
 trees of those unrivalled gardens, and hides, when disturbed, often in the very large and 
 dense masses of bamboos^. They often build in rose bushes, dense myrtles, orange trees, 
 and thorny shrubs, usually from five to fourteen feet from the ground. The nest con- 
 sists of fine grasses, pliable plant-stems, and bark-strips, and is lined with fine grasses 
 and almost always with hair. The eggs, usually four in number, are bluish-white, 
 without spots, resembling those of the Indigo Bunting closely. My friend also states 
 that the common name of this bird near Santa Barbara is "Indigo-bird," and that rarely 
 one person out of fifty is acquainted with its correct name. 
 
 Dr. Elliott Coues found these birds in Arizona, but there they were not abundant. 
 Dr. J. A. Allen observed them in Colorado up to 7,000 feet; 
 NAMES: Lazuli Bunting, Lazuli Finch ("Indigo-bird" in Cal.). — Lazalifink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Emberiza amoena Say (1823). Fringilla amcena And. (1839). Cyanospiza amoena 
 Baird (1858). PASSERINA AMCENA Gray (1870). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Head, neck, and upper parts turquoise-blue, the back darker and duller; 
 middle wing<overts, broadly and greater coverts, narrowly tipped with white (sometimes tinged with 
 ochraceous); breast (sometimes sides also), deep ochraceous, or tawny; rest of lower parts, white. 
 Adult female: Above, grayish-brown; tinged with bluish on rump, the wing'coverts tipped with dull 
 whitish or bufiFy; anterior lower parts, pale dull bufiy, deeper on chest and fkding into white on belly 
 and lower tail-coverts. Young: Similar to adult female, but without blue tinge on rump. 
 
 "Length, 5.00 to 6.25 inches; wing, 2.70 to 2.95; tail, 2.30 to 2.80 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 1 Greviilea robusta. 2 Lettcadendron argenteutn. 8 Bugeaia Australis. * Jacaranda znimosiefolia. s Bambusa 
 vulgaris, Phytlostacbys riridi-glaacescens. Ph. nigra, Pb. mitis, and others. 
 
PAINTED BUNTING. 
 
 Passerina ciris ViEiLi/OT. 
 
 Plate XXVIII. Fig. 1. 
 
 ^UR grand evergreen magnolia {Magnolia grandiAora) is the queen of the southern 
 forest, the most enchanting tree of the South, as it is the most poetical and 
 dignified. Covered perpetually with large, leathery, gliDssy foliage, embellished, late in 
 April by a wealth of milky-white, deUciously fragrant flowers and growing in an 
 exquisite form, it is not only the most beautiful tree of North America, it is one of the 
 most beautifiil known anywhere. To see this glory of our southern forests in full bloom 
 is worth a journey from a great distance. When I first beheld the magnolia in flower on 
 the picturesque banks of Buffalo Bayou in Houston, Texas, I could not find words to 
 express its beauty and grandeur. The noble trees, furnished with branches almost to 
 the ground, were densely covered with large white flowers, which in a distance looked 
 like stars, each well poised against a background of dense glossy foliage. The air around 
 was scented with a most delicious perfume. I am incapable of describing the impression 
 these grand trees made upon me to my readers. Many years have come and gone since 
 I first saw these majestic trees in all their beauty, nobility, and grandeur, yet their 
 glory is as fresh in my memory to-day as it was then. After securing several flowering 
 branches and observing the many birds among their foliage and blossoms, I resumed 
 my journey, but not w^ithout many "longing, lingering looks behind." 
 
 More than a hundred years ago William Bartram in his "Travels"* gave the fol- 
 fowing glowing description of the magnolia: "Behold yon promontory, projecting far 
 into the great river, beyond the still lagoon, half a mile distant from me. What a 
 magnificent grove arises on its banks! How glorious the palm! How majestically 
 stands the laurel, its head forming a perfect cone! Its dark green foliage seems silvered 
 over with milk-white flowers. They are so large as to be distinctly visible at the 
 distance of a mile or more. The laurel magnolias which grow on the river, are the 
 most beautiful and tall that I have anywhere seen, unless we except those which stand 
 on the banks of the Mississippi ; yet even these must yield to those of the San Juan, in 
 neatness of form, beauty of foliage, and, I think, in largeness and fragrance of flower. 
 Their usual height is about 100 feet, and some greatly exceed that. The trunk is per- 
 fectly erect, rising in the form of a beautiftil column, and supporting a head like an 
 obtuse cone." 
 
 This excellent description had the effect of promoting the culture of this tree largely 
 for ornament in southern Europe, in the milder parts of Great firitain, and even in 
 Japan and China. The most beautiful magnolias are doubtless to be found in the lower 
 Mississippi valley, especially in and near New Orleans, and near Mobile Bay. They are 
 the most exquisite in form, foliage, and flower, being royal in size, almost too symmetrical 
 
 * "Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, Bast and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the 
 extensive Territories of the Muscogulgea or Creek Confederacy, and the country of the Choctaws. By William Bartram. 
 Philadelphia, 1791." 
 
in outline, and exceedingly glossy in foliage. The Florida magnolias do not grow as 
 vigorous, having smaller and less glossy leaves, being not as dense and flowering when 
 quite small. 
 
 In autumn the cone-shaped fruits with bright red, highly aromatic seeds also form 
 quite an ornament. Though originally growing in moist places along brooks and rivers, 
 this magnificent tree has been largely transplanted into the southern gardens. In these 
 it is perfectly at home, forming the most charming object imaginable. When late in 
 April and early in May, the large white blossoms unfold and fill the mild air with their 
 fi^agrance, when innumerable Warblers on their way to their northern breeding grounds 
 are seen among its branches, when Cardinal Grosbeaks and Mockingbirds utter their 
 song of jubilee, and Hummingbirds whir from blossom to blossom, then the firiend of 
 Nature stands before this glorious picture full of enchantment and surprise. Another 
 beautiful magnolia of the southern forest is the sweet bay or swamp magnolia {Mag- 
 nolia glauca). This is a much smaller tree, but its abundant creamy- white, cup-shaped 
 flowers are still more fragrant than those of its ally. The leaves are smaller, thinner, and 
 of a silvery- white color on the underside. Growing together in large masses in swamps, 
 the glaucous underside of the leaves is very conspicuous, especially when the wind is 
 blowing. Such a magnolia swamp in full flower is a sight always to be remembered. 
 The loblolly bay*, the red bay", the holly, the laurel cherry', and the American olive* 
 are all very fine trees and often transplanted into the gardens, where they mingle with 
 fragrant viburnums^, with sweet olives®, with myrtles, oleanders, many species of palms, 
 pomegranates, Chinese hibiscus. Noisette, Banksia, and tea roses, Australian myrtles' 
 and bottle-brushes'. Camellias, Cape jasmines, and other semi-tropical shrubs attain 
 here an immense size. A magnolia-like plant, everywhere known as the banana shrub*, 
 with deliciously fragrant flowers, is one of the jewels of these gardens. Pampas grass 
 forms dense fountain-like clumps of great beauty, and several hardy bamboos" of great 
 elegance, growing in dense masses, adorn the finer gardens. Crinums, amaryllis", spider- 
 lilies'^, and many other plants of our northern greenhouses are flourishing in the open 
 air all the year round in this mild climate. 
 
 The charming southern gardens and w^oodlands as well as the hedge-rows of 
 Cherokee roses on the road-sides and in the fields are enlivened by numerous birds. 
 Here is the true home of the "many-tongued" Mockingbird, whose unrivalled song is 
 heard by day and night among the fragrant blossoms of the magnolia, the orange tree, 
 and the laurel cherry. The proud Cardinal Redbird, the elegant Blue Grosbeak, the ever 
 active and ever loud Carolina Wren, the sprightly Orchard Oriole, and the pretty Yellow 
 Warbler are the most prevalent birds in these gardens. 
 
 As the large evergreen* magnolia is the most beautiful among our trees, the Painted 
 Bunting is the most richly colored among our birds. When first seeing and admiring the 
 magnolia, I also noticed this bird among its branches. With its shining purple-violet 
 head, its green back, and its vermillion-red underside it was a striking picture among 
 
 1 Gordonia Lasiantbus. * Persea Carolinensis. ' Prunus Caroliniana. * Osmantbus Americana, b Viburnum 
 odoratissimum and V. Awafaki. « Osmantbus fragrans. i Myrtus Australis. « Callistemon rigidus, Metroslderos 
 robusta and M. semperOurens. » Micbelia fuscata. ' » Phyllostacbjs riridi-glaucescens, Pb. Quilioi, Pb. nigra, Pb. aurea, 
 Fb. mitis, Ph. Henonis, Pb. Sb. castiltonis, Pb. violascens, Pb. bambusoides, Bambusa Metake, Tbamnocalamus Falconeri. 
 ti Hippeastrum. u Hymeaocallis. 
 
222 PAINTED BUNTING. 
 
 the pure white blossoms and glossy green leaves. It was so full of glee that it chanted 
 its bright notes incessantly. The first French settlers in Louisiana, being struck by the 
 beauty of this songster, named it Nonpareil (the incomparable, the unequalled) and 
 Le Pape, while the Spaniards called it Mariposa (the butterfly). Also on account of its 
 brilliant plumage it was called Painted BunTing, Painted Finch, and Paradise Finch. 
 The name "Pop" and "Red Pop," by which it is known by bird-dealers in southern 
 Louisiana, is a corruption of the French Le Pape. 
 
 The summer home of the Painted Bunting extends from the Gulf States north to 
 Indian Territory, Arkansas, and rarely to southern Illinois, southern Kansas, and North 
 Carolina. In the mountains of South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama it does not occur 
 as a summer resident. I have observed it in great abundance in the Gulf region firom 
 Tallahassee, Fla., to Austin and New Braunfels, Texas. On the peninsula of Florida I 
 have never seen it during summer, but I presume it will become numerous -when the 
 land is more extensively cultivated. The Nonpareil, like the Blue Grosbeak and the 
 Orchard Oriole, seems to have acquired a special love for the habitations of man. This 
 is doubtless due to the protection which such localities afford against various natural 
 enemies. Not only because raccoons, oppossums, wild cats, birds of prey, and other 
 robbers are apt to avoid the presence of mankind, "but as the country is more open 
 about plantations it enables the birds to perceive more readily the approach of any 
 intending disturber of their peace." At the same time insects are much more abundant 
 on the cultivated plants than on the wild vegetation, and this is another important 
 fact why so many birds are found in gardens, and orchards. In southern Louisiana, 
 where the French settlers in the last century developed grand plantations and built 
 opulent houses, where the golden orange glowed among the dark evergreen leaves, where 
 magnolias and evergreen ornamental shrubs and roses formed the main attractions of 
 these gardens, the Painted Bunting soon became one of the familiar birds. "A wealthy 
 French planter," writes Alexander Wilson in 1810, "who lives on the banks of the 
 Mississippi, a few miles below Bayou Fourche, took me into his garden, which is 
 spacious and magnificent, to show me his aviary ; where among many of our common 
 birds, I observed several Nonpareils, two of which had nests, and were then hatching." 
 
 In south-eastern Texas, near Houston, the favorite haunts of the Painted Bunting 
 are blackberry thickets on the borders of woods and along fences. But it is equally 
 common in large gardens, where magnolias, laurel cherry trees, crape myrtles, and dense 
 ornamental shrubs are common. In geatest numbers, however, I found this bird about 
 one hundred miles west of Houston, on the West Yegua Creek, in Lee County, Every 
 thicket, peach orchard, and forest border harbored one or more pairs of these lively and 
 sprightly birds. In southern Georgia, near St. Mary's, Prof Wm. Brewster has also 
 found this bird quite common. In his interesting way he writes as follows : 
 
 "The Painted Buntings or Nonpareils, as they are universally called by the towns- 
 people, arrived April 23 and through the remainder of the month were abundant. I 
 used to find them in flocks about the openings, where they spent much of their time on 
 the ground. They were timid rather than shy, flying to the thickets upon the slightest 
 alarm, but when once conscious of being pursued it was diflicult to approach them. 
 The brilliant plumage of the adult male makes him a conspicuous object either on the 
 
PAINTED BUNTING. 223 
 
 ground or in green foliage, but it is no easy matter to see one among the flowers of 
 the trumpet-vine where they often seek refuge, apparently fully conscious of the pro- 
 tection afforded by the clusters of scarlet blossoms. The young males during the first 
 year are colored precisely like the females. They sing, and for aught I know, breed, 
 while in this condition. The song is a low^, pleasing w^arble very un-Finch-like in 
 character. I should compare it to that of the Canada Flycatcher, but the notes are less 
 emphatic, though equally disconnected. • The bird almost invariably sings in the depths 
 of some thicket, and its voice ceases at the slightest noise. Both sexes have a sharp 
 chirp of alarm, which closely resembles that of the Indigo Finch. Most of the Nonpareils 
 left St. Mary's by May 1, but a few^ pairs remained up to the time of my departure, 
 when they were apparently preparing to breed." 
 
 The Nonpareil, in Texas also known under the name of "Mexican Canary" and 
 "Texan Canary," arrives near Houston and in the West Yegua region from its winter- 
 quarters at a time w^hen the deciduous trees and shrubs are in their full spring beauty, 
 ■when many of the resident species and summer sojourners are busily engaged with nest- 
 building, with hatching, or with feeding their young. The first males are usually seen 
 between April 10 and April 15, and the females arrive usually from six to ten days later. 
 About April 25 even the last stragglers have made their appearance and the cheery 
 carol of the Painted Buntings is heard from all sides. Generally at this time the 
 numerous small prairies and even the monotonous post-oak w^oods are covered mth a 
 carpet of richly hued flowers. Innumerable beautiful blossoms cover the sandy soil, 
 mostly in groups or masses, each kind by itself. Dense bushes of coral plants {Brytbriaa 
 herbacea) display their glowing red flowers. Large places are covered with phlox {Phlox 
 Drummondii) of an intensely red hue, and the most sterile sandy spots are transformed 
 into veritable flower gardens, gaillardias, calliopsis, lark-spurs, lupines, and cacti of 
 different species in full flower forming an exquisite adornment of such localities. 
 
 As I had five or six breeding pairs every spring in close proximity of my house in 
 Texas, I had a good opportunity to observe them. Soon after its arrival the Painted 
 Bunting is one of the loudest and most cheery birds, spending its time in playing and 
 frolicking until the females arrive, when the playing turns into courting and fighting. 
 Usually extremely cautious and more frequently heard than seen, it seems to leave every 
 precaution out of sight when the females appear. The male is now^ very quarrelsome 
 and tries to attract the attention of the female in every w^ay. He flies down to the 
 ground, hops about in all kinds of positions, spreading his wings and tail, turning 
 quickly around in a circle, and all the while singing his sweetest notes. This lasts a few 
 days, when the small flocks dissolve and the birds commence to pair. Being now rather 
 shy, they cunningly hide among the blackberry thickets and trees covered by a luxuriant 
 growth of vines or in thorny bushes and Cherokee roses, or even among the dense 
 festoons of Spanish moss. Like many other birds, after they are convinced that man is 
 their friend and protector, the Painted Bunting becomes very confident in some gardens. 
 Without fear it mounts the top of a magnolia, an orange tree, or an ornamental shrub, 
 and even the top of a chimney or lightning rod, singing its cheerful strain. In such 
 places it is easily detected and observed, and highly valued on account of its exquisite 
 beauty, its sprightly song, and its activity. 
 
224 PAINTED BUNTING. 
 
 I have quite frequently kept the Painted Bunting as a cage pet, but in captivity 
 its colors loose much of their brilliancy, and such a bird cannot be compared with 
 those enjoying freedom. The colors of the latter are much more intense and brilliant, 
 its motions are quicker and more graceful, its song brighter, more cheerful and varied, 
 the beautiful southern landscape, the deep blue sky, the brilHant rays of the sun, and 
 the mild, yet refreshing Gulf breeze adding to it a particular charm. Only in its native 
 haunts the friend of Nature can fully appreciate the beauty and song of this elegant 
 bird. When I kept it in the cage I considered it a very beautiful bird, but thought the 
 name Nonpareil an exaggeration, but when ' later I observed it among the flowering 
 magnolias, camellias, banana shrubs, orange trees, crape myrtles, and other fine trees 
 and bushes I was convinced that the name was well chosen. 
 
 On a fine day late in April or early in May a dozen of these birds may be sometimes 
 heard singing at the same time and in all directions, some hidden in the interior of 
 thickets, others displaying their beauty in the top of a small tree or bush or on a 
 chimney, while a few, more excited, rise into the air or ascend from a low shrub to the 
 crown of a larger tree. Still others inspired by the song of the Mockingbird even warble 
 at night. The song is very clear, melodious, and sweet, but short and not much varied, 
 resembling closely the ditty of the Indigo Bunting. The Nonpareil is a very diligent 
 songster, whose song is heard from early mom till late in the afternoon, even during 
 noon, when the tropical heat of the southern sun puts to silence most other birds. 
 During cold, rainy weather it rarely sings, but after one of the warm showers it is 
 especially active and vocal. 
 
 In gardens, orchards, thickets, and on the bushy woodland border each pair selects 
 a breeding range, the boundary lines of which are fiercely defended against intrusion by 
 any other male of its own species. With the quickness of an arrow the jealous male 
 darts down upon such an intruder and drives him bravely away. 
 
 With other birds it generally lives very peaceably. I often found nests of Lark 
 Sparrows, Cardinal Grosbeaks, Orchard Orioles, Blue Grosbeaks, Chats, White-eyed 
 Vireos and Mockingbirds near those of the Painted Bunting. These different birds, after 
 having become accustomed to each other, seem to form one family. Upon the alarm note 
 by one of them, the others of the neighborhood hurry to the spot in great excitement. 
 There seems to be no end of lamentation if a snake or another nest robber has made 
 its appearance, but if they have succeeded in driving the enemy away, they all join in a 
 triumphant jubilee. 
 
 "At this period," writes Mr. H. F. Peters, of Bonham, Texas, "the male is very 
 attentive, but after nest-building has commenced he is quite another bird. He helps to 
 find the place to build, and appears to be very particular about it, but as soon as it is 
 decided upon, he retires from business. He never works ; he is a little dude, too finely 
 dressed to do any labor. I have frequently seen him sitting a few feet above the nest, 
 singing unconcernedly, while his mate would be struggling with a yard or two of twine, 
 or a piece of old rag to weave into the nest. I have never seen the male help in nest- 
 building, or in feeding the young while in the nest, but have seen him feed them after 
 they were fledged. . . . While the female is very gentle and tame, frequently coming to 
 the door in search of material for the nest and food for the young, the male is shy and 
 
PAINTED BUNTING. 225 
 
 keeps at a distance. When the young are full grown, he troubles himself no more about 
 them. The middle of August he leaves wife and family and goes south to his winter 
 home, The female and young remain until the second week in October." 
 
 This agrees fully with my own observations, except in regard to the migration of 
 the males, w^hich I have seen as late as October 1. 
 
 I have found the nests in very different localities. In Louisiana they are often 
 built in orange trees, while in Texas they were frequently situated in peach trees, in 
 post-oaks, blackberry bushes, and in Cherokee roses. While writing these lines twelve 
 nests, which I found near the West Yegua, are before me. Eight of them were built in 
 horizontal branches, some in a half pendulous way, and the rest in upright crotches. 
 They are all small, compactly built structures, more or less similar to each other. Only 
 a few diversify regarding the material. Externally they are largely made of the soft, 
 wooly, whitish plant I have often alluded to in this work, of snake-skin, old leaves, 
 bark-strips, fine slender grasses. Near dwellings pieces of paper, rags, cotton, twine, 
 etc., enter into the composition. All these materials are mixed with spiders' and cater- 
 pillars' webs and with these the nest is also fastened to the branches. The interior is 
 lined with fine brown rootlets, and generally with hair. A very peculiar nest, consisting 
 almost entirely of pure white goose feathers, mixed with several long hairs, a few shreds 
 of plant-stems and spider-webs, was found late in July in an upright crotch of a peach 
 tree. The lining of the cavity consisted of plant fibres and horse hair. Another pecuUar 
 nest was built of the entire skin of a moccasin or copperhead snake arranged in a 
 turban-like manner, and within this the nest proper was formed, made of bark-strips, 
 rootlets, and fine grasses. Near the abodes of man the foundation of the nest usually 
 consists of paper. All the domiciles are usually so well hidden among the green foliage 
 that they are not easily discovered. In south-eastern Texas usually two broods are raised 
 ?inriually. Nests of the second brood are often more carelessly built than those of the 
 first brood. The eggs, three to five, but generally four in number, are dull pearly-white 
 or bluish-white, speckled and blotched with reddish-brown, especially at the larger end. 
 
 The young are almost entirely fed with plant-lice, small eater-pillars, moths, and 
 other insects found on trees and shrubs, and insects in all conditions of life form the 
 main diet of the old Nonpareils. Later in the season poke-berries, elder-berries, figs, etc., 
 are also eaten to some extent. In autumn and winter they subsist largely on all kinds 
 of small seeds, which they gather from the ground as well as from weed-stalks. 
 
 The winter home of the Nonpareil is found in Central America. Mr. Erich Witt- 
 kugel informs me that they are very common in the gardens of S^n Pedro Sula, Hon- 
 duras, from November to March, and, according to Dr. J. Gundlach, they are a,bundant 
 winter visitors in Cuba. — At their arrival in spring they are caught in great numbers 
 near New Orleans and sold to northern and European bird dealers. Yieillot informs 
 us that already in his time they were numerously imported to France and that they 
 successfully bred in confi|iement. In Germany, where these birds have often raised broods, 
 it was observed that the young males attain their beautiful color in the third year. In 
 the second year sometimes only a few feathers denote the sex of the birds. My caged 
 males usually lost the beautiful red of the underside, which was substituted by a yellow- 
 ish color, and the metallic green also lost much of its lustre. It is, in fact, difficult to 
 
 29 
 
226 SHARPENS SEED-EATER. 
 
 preserve the bright colors of old birds for a great length of time in confinement. To 
 retain its beauty the Nonpareil requires, more than any other cage bird, sunshine, pure 
 water, shady growing bushes where to seek repose at pleasure, and suitable food, con- 
 sisting of millet, Canary seed, small mealworms, grated hard-boiled egg, dried larvas 
 of ants, etc. 
 
 NAMES: Painted Bunting, Painted Pinch, Nonpareil, Paradise Finch, Red Pop, Pop, Mariposa, "Mexicp.n 
 Canary," "Texan Canary."— Papstfink (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Emberiza ciris Linn. (1758). Fringilla ciris Wilson (1811). PASSERINA CIRIS 
 
 ViEiLLOT (1824). Cyanospiza. ciris Baird (1859). 
 DESCRIPTION: "Male: Head and neck all round ultramarine-blue, excepting a narrow stripe from, the chin 
 to the breast, which, with the under-parts generally, the eyelids, and the rump (which is tinged with 
 purplish)., are vermillion-red. Edges of chin, loral region, greater wing-coverts, inner tertiary, and 
 . interscapular region, green ; the middle of the latter glossed with yellow. Tail-feathers, lesser wing- 
 coverts, and outer webs of quills, purplish-blue.. Female: Clear dark green above; yellowish beneath. 
 Young: Like female." (B. B. & R. II, pp. 87, 88.) 
 
 Length, about 5.00 inches ; wing, 2.70 ; tail, 2.52 inches. 
 
 Varied Bunting, Passerina versicolor Gray. According to Dr. J. C. Merrill, this 
 beautiful bird seems to be rather abundant in the vicinity of Brownsville, Texas, fre- 
 quenting mesquite chaparral. Its song has some resemblance to that of the Indigo 
 Bunting, and is constantly uttered. This is a common species of northern Mexico and 
 near Vera Cruz is known as the Prusiano. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Back and breast, dark wine-purple; occiput and throat, claret-red; forehead and rump, 
 purplish-blue. Eyelids, purplish-red. Female: Fulvous-gray above, uniform pale fulvous below. 
 
 SHARPE'S SEED-EATER. 
 
 Sporophila moreletti sbarpei Lawrence. 
 
 The Seed-eaters are mostly small, thick-billed, plainly colored birds, w^hich are found 
 from the lower Rio Grande south to Brazil. Though lacking in brilliancy of plumage, 
 they are always gay and smooth, cheery and full of life, and have a pleasant song. 
 Many of them are especially valuable for the reason that they select for their haunts 
 localities near the habitations of man. In gardens they please by their lovely manners 
 and tameness as well as by their melodious ditty. In Europe many of them are highly 
 prized cage birds. Dr. J. C. Merrill, who observed Sharpe's Seed-eater near Browns- 
 ville, Texas, writes as follows: 
 
 "This curious little Sparrow is not uncommon during the summer months, and I 
 am inclined to think that a few may pass the winter. During the breeding season the 
 male has a very sprightly song, much resembling that of the Indigo-bird, but sweeter; 
 this it frequently utters while perched on the topmost twig of a bush. They are usually 
 seen in patches, of briers and low bushes, at no great distance from water; they are very 
 tame, and will permit a person to approach very closely. At least two pairs built 
 within Fort Brown during the season of 1 877. One of these nests, found nearly finished 
 early in May, was in a bush about three feet from the ground : it was not pensile, but 
 was placed on a small branch between three or four upright twigs, and was entirely 
 composed of a peculiar yellow rootlet. It was destroyed by a violent storm before eggs 
 
GRASSQUIT. 227 
 
 were deposited. A second nest, found May 25 in a young eboily bush, four feet from 
 the ground, was deserted immediately after completion. It is a delicate little nest, sup- 
 ported at the rim and beneath by twigs, and built of a very fine, dried grass, with 
 whibh a few horse hairs, a leaf or two, and a small rag are interwoven: it is 1.70 inches 
 wide, by 1.50 inches in depth. Both these nests are open and transparent. A third 
 nest, found May 5, 1878, was attached to a hanging rim about four feet from the 
 ground. The nest was partly pensile, and was built of delicate rootlets. It contained 
 three young." 
 
 Mr. Geo. B. Sennett writes that this diminutive bird is not uncommon near Lomita 
 on the Rio Grande, but that its smallness and its habit of frequenting low bushes and 
 weeds preclude its frequent observation where there is so much undergrowth. He also 
 states that it is quite tame and fearless. 
 
 It is found in southern Texas and adjacent parts of Mexico. 
 
 NAMES: Sharpe's Seed-eater, Little Seed-eater.— Texanisches PfafTclien (Germkn). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Spermopbila moreletti Pnch. (1850). SPOROPHJLA MORELETTI SHARPEI 
 Lawrence (1889). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: The top and sides of the head, back of the neck, a broad band across the upper part of 
 the breast extending all round, the middle of the back, the wings and tail, with the posterior uppfr 
 coverts, black. The chin, upper throat and neck all round, but interrupted behind, the rump, with 
 the remaining under and lateral portions of the body, white ; the latter tinged with brownish-yellow. 
 Two bands on the wing, across the greater and middle coverts, with the concealed basis of all the 
 quills, also white. Female: Dull yellow; olivaceous above, brownish-yellow beneath. 
 "Length, about 4.00 inches; wing, 2.05; tail, 1 90, inches." (B. B. & R. II, p. 91.) 
 
 GRASSQUIT. 
 
 Euetbeia bicolor Gundlach. 
 
 This little Grassquit has been found repeatedly in the southern coast region of 
 Florida. Mr. Maynard gives the following interesting description of the discovery of 
 the Grassquit in Florida. He writes as follows : 
 
 "Although there are now but a few houses at Miami or vicinity, yet this section 
 has been settled many years. The inhabitants who formerly occupied this spot, have 
 left many evidences of their presence in the shape of ruinous w^alls, old wells, etc. Tra- 
 dition points to this place as being the haunt of pirates, and we were informed upon 
 reliable authority that one of those infamous men lived here until quite recently. Indeed, 
 there are individuals now living who have seen him. He was a Spaniard named 
 YuSippie, and was the leader of a band of blood-stained villains w^ho lived upon the 
 banks of the Miami, while the river formed a fine harbor in which to moor their vessels, 
 that they might not be seen from the open ocean. 
 
 "Among the traces which these Spaniards have left behind them are evidences of 
 cultivation of the soil. The ground has been cleared for some distance back of the old 
 fort, but is now mainly -grown up to bushes and trees ; there are, however, frequent 
 glades in the midst of these thickets which are entirely void of shrubs, being only 
 covered with grass and low herbage. These spaces vary from a few yards to several 
 rods in diameter, and are closely surrounded by foliage. The trees and bushes are so 
 thickly covered with vines and creeping plants that their forms are entirely concealed 
 
228 GRASSQUIT. 
 
 and they resemble rolling clouds of living green risirig in huge billows one above the 
 other. This deciduous mass is thickly starred with the large, white flowers of the 
 Ipomcea Bona-Nox and the purple blossoms of the wild convolvulus, while the orange 
 and yellow Lantana Catnara fills the air with a peculiar fragrance. As can readily be 
 imagined, these dense thickets were filled with birds, and therefore we frequently visited 
 the lovely spots for the purpose of taking the various kinds found there. 
 
 "Mr. Henshaw was collecting here with me on the 19th of January, 1871, when 
 his quick eye detected a small bird among the thick bushes, and he instantly secured it. 
 After making his way into the thicket and searching for a time he returned, bearing his 
 prize, but with a puzzled expression on his countenance, that instantly communicated 
 itself to mine when I saw the little gray bird which he held in his hand, for it was a 
 species which I had never beheld. It proved to be the Black-headed Finch, the first and, 
 up to this date, the only specimen ever taken in the United States. As Mr. Henshaw 
 brushed through the lantanas to secure the bird, the spicy odor of the crushed leaves 
 filled the air and floated around us as we were examining the specimen ; therefore the 
 Phonipara zena is ever associated in my mind with the shrub upon which it is figured 
 in my work." 
 
 It does not seem to be a resident species, but is evidently only a straggler from 
 the near Bahama Islands, where it is a numerous resident in suitable localities. It is a 
 rather plainly colored bird of a dull black color on head and lower parts and a dull 
 olive-green on back, wings, and tail. 
 
 A near congener of this bird, the Melodious Grassquit, Euetbeia canora Brewer, 
 an abundant inhabitant of all suitable localities of Cuba, is a very beautiful and 
 interesting little species. 
 
 According to a report of Dr. H. C. Merriam, it has been found on Sombrero Key, 
 Fla. It is not improbable that it often visits the extreme southern Keys of Florida, if 
 not the mainland also. The Melodious Grassquit would be an excellent bird for intro- 
 duction into Florida, being a resident species in Cuba, and very beneficial, lively, and 
 melodious. In Germany it is a highly esteemed cage bird, and young ones have been fre- 
 quently raised in confinement by Dr. Karl Russ and other bird-lovers. These tiny birds of 
 an olive-green color, with velvety black throat, cheeks, and face, and with a broad yellow 
 collar round the black throat, are extremely lively in the cage, but they are veritable 
 game-roosters if several are kept together. They live quite well on Canary and millet 
 seeds in winter, but need a diet like the Indigo Bunting in spring and summer. They 
 build a beautiful globular nest with a small entrance on the side. Like the small African 
 and Australian Finches the pair frequently sits together even in the nest. The four, 
 rarely five eggs, are grayish, or greenish-white, minutely dotted and blotched with 
 green, dark and light brown. The young birds leave the nest very early and when 
 scarcely fledged. 
 
 The Cuba Finch or Melodious Grassquit is known in the eastern part of Cuba 
 under the name of Senserenico and in the western part, according to Dr. J. Gundlach, 
 Tome guin del Pinor is its common name. 
 
Tafel XXVII 
 
 SPIZA AMERICANA RIDGW. 
 
 S C H I LD AM MER. 
 D i c l< c i s s e 1 . 
 
DICKCISSEL. 
 
 Spiza americatia Ridgway. 
 
 Plate XXYII. 
 
 BURING the month of April and May the plain, monotonous prairie west and 
 north-west of Houston, Texas, offers a magnificent sight. As far as the eye can 
 reach, the grassy savanna is covered with a carpet of highly colored flowers. Phloxes', 
 verbenas ^ lark-spurs, crowfoots", gaillardias*, coreopsis ^ and many other flowers 
 impart these rich prairies with a beauty peculiarly their own. Everywhere we find the 
 prostrate, very prickly stems of the mimosa or sensitive plant*, the rosy-purplish 
 flower-balls of which exhale a delicate honey-like fragrance. The leaves of this interesting 
 plant are very sensitive, bending, folding, and apparently shrinking away from the touch 
 of the hand. Pure white, deliciously scented spider-lilies' grow and flower abundantly 
 in the black soil, and blue-eyed grass' and the pretty nemastylis® are also found in 
 favorable places. Yuccas and opuntias, the latter armed with formidable spines, are 
 everywhere numerous. Here and there the prairie is dotted with small trees and shrubs. 
 
 Among the birds, which chiefly appeal to the t)oetic feelings of the country jieople 
 and move their admiration and enthusiasm, the Dickcissel or Black-throated Bunting 
 is especially noteworthy. It is one of the most numerous and familiar inhabitants of 
 these prairie districts, attracting the attention of even the indolent by its incessant 
 chirping and twittering, which falls on the ear from all sides. Nowhere I found this 
 bird more abundant than in the prairies of south-eastern Texas; in the interior of 
 the State it is not so numerous. In the prairie regions of south-western Missouri 
 and Illinois it is one of the most common summer sojourners. In most parts of eastern 
 Wisconsin, as far north as Howard's Grove, Sheboygaq Co., it is abundantly met with. 
 From Massachusetts and New York west to the Rocky Mountains and north to southern 
 Ontario and South Dakota it is found in all suitable localities. I have never seen it in 
 Alabama, Georgia, or Florida. In fact it is rare or entirely absent east of the Alle- 
 ghanies. 
 
 The New England record of the Dickcissel* is interesting, though not so satis- 
 factory as might be desired. "It seems that we have in this case a bird of the Carolinian 
 and part of the AUeghanian. Fauna, of rare though constant occurrence as far north as 
 Massachusetts, yet irregular in its numbers during successive years, and locally distrib- 
 uted moreover." It has been occasionally found in certain spots, some seasons, and 
 again, it is not to bfe found in the same places at all. 
 
 The Dickcissel is one of the latest arrivals in spring, and one of the first to depart 
 in autumn, In Texas it arrives about the middle of April, in south-western Missouri 
 about April 28, and in eastern Wisconsin not before May 15, appearing always in small 
 flocks from twelve to twenty and more. 
 
 1 Phlox Drummondii and Pb. pilosa. a Verbena Anbletia. s Ranunculus Texana. t Gaillardia lanceolata and G. 
 pu'chella. " Coreopsis Drummondii, C. auricnlata. 6 Scbrankia uncinata. i Hymenocallis Galvestonensis. » Sisyrin- 
 cliium Bermadianutn and S. mueronatuzn, » Nemastylis gemininifiora. 
 
 * See New England Bird-life. By W. A. Stearns and Dr. Elliott Coues. Vol. I, p. 379 ff. 
 
230 DICKCISSEL. 
 
 "From its winter abode in tropical America," writes Dr. Elliott Coiles, "the Black- 
 throated Bunting enters the United States in April, in small troops. Vast numbers pass 
 up the Mississippi valley, some finding their final resting place in Iowa, but others 
 lingering to breed all along the route. Many spread westward over the prairies of 
 Kansas and Nebraska, and a part of the kost reaches the Middle Atlantic. States by the 
 latter part of the month, some even penetrating eastward to southern New England, 
 which forms their terminus. • Rearing their young in nearly all parts of this great extent 
 of land, from Texas to Nebraska, and New England, they depart before the approach of 
 cold weather to their homes far south." 
 
 While no brilliancy of coloration can be claimed for the Dickcissel, it is nevertheless 
 a handsome bird, "with tasteful color contrasts, trim form, and a peculiarly smooth, neat 
 plumage." Arriving in more or less numerous flocks and being not at all parsimonious 
 with their musical ability, their presence cannot be overlooked even by the inattentive. 
 In Missouri the whole migrating flock mounts an isolated tree, preferably an apple tree, 
 and each individual utters its ditty as loud and noisy as possible. This monotonous con- 
 cert can often be heard for a quarter of a mile. Often for an hour the flocks remain in the 
 same tree, uttering incessantly and untiringly their peculiar notes. When disturbed they 
 fly to another treie in order to continue their music. Apparently these noisy troops are 
 old males, the females arriving quietly a few days later.* This peculiar bird-concert can be 
 heard for a few days, when the birds migrate northward, or the flocks dissolve. In the 
 northern parts of the country they usually inhabit clover and timothy fields, while in 
 Missouri, Illinois, and Texas they are partial to prairies. The open tree and bushless 
 prairie does not suit the taste of the Dickcissel, but where a fence is found or a few 
 isolated trees and bushes, on which the males can perch in order to sing and watch, 
 they settle. Woods, hills, and swamps are avoided entirely. Neither too dry nor too 
 wet places are chosen for their abode. Often we meet with the bird in localities where 
 once the land has been covered with woods, having settled and increased in numbers 
 with the increase of cultivation. In south-western Missouri I often found the nest in 
 corn-fields and in Wisconsin quite often in fields of peas. Wherever the bird occurs it is 
 easily detected. Its abundance in all favorable localities, its confidence and tameness 
 and its noisy ditty soon attract our attention. Prof. Robert Ridgway, who observed it 
 abundantly near Mount Carmel, 111., writes as follows: 
 
 "While some other birds are equally numerous, there are few that announce their 
 presence as persistently as this species. All day long, in spring and summer, the males, 
 sometimes to the number of a dozen or more for each meadow of considerable extent, 
 perch upon the summits of tall w^eed-stalks or fence-stakes, at short intervals crying 
 out : See, see-Dick-cissel, cissel; therefore Dickcissel is well-known to every farmer's boy 
 as well as to all who visit the country during the season of clover blooms and wild 
 roses, when Nature is in her most joyous mood. Perhaps the prevalent name of this 
 species is Little Field Lark, or Little Meadow Lark, a name suggested by its yellow 
 
 • Mr. Otto Widmann, of St. Louis, Mo., gives the following report of their spring migration in 1884: "April 86, 
 the first breeder and two transients; April 28, still scarce; April 29, bulk of males arrived, many at stands and often 
 seen on the wing going east ; April 30, males noisy at stands ; May 5, bulk of females arrived. This was the height of 
 the mating season. Several parties were seen on the wing going east in the morning. May 9, young males arrived; 
 May 20, young birds were still coming, and the species was usually seen in pairs." 
 
DICKCISSEL. 231 
 
 breast and black jugular spot, which recall strongly the similar markings of the Meadow 
 Lark, and also the fact that the two frequent similar localities. The name Black- 
 throated Bunting is probably never heard except from those who have learned it from 
 the books." 
 
 When singing the male always mounts some high object, be it a fence-stake, a bush 
 or a weed-stem, occupying the same position as shown on our plate (XXVII). As a 
 vocalist we must rate it a very humble performer even during the mating season. "Its 
 song is short and simple, even weak, and grows monotonous with repetition through 
 the season of incubation, when the male, from the highest perch he can find near his 
 nest, cheers his faithful mate w^ith the assurance of his presence and protection. He 
 seems to say, look! look! see me here! see! And if we do not like his performance, we 
 may remember we are not asked to listen." (Dr. Elliott Coues.) 
 
 Where one pair nests, others are found in the immediate neighborhood. In the 
 prairie region near Spring Creek, Texas, I found almost on every acre of ground a pair, 
 and on the sunny, bright mornings the entire flower-adorned grassy prairie seemed 
 to re-echo with their music. The nest is always placed on the ground, usually in a slight 
 depression on the side of a tuft of grass, a bunch of clover, or a herbaceous perennial 
 flower. In Texas I found the structure always in the prairie grass, in Missouri often 
 near corn-stalks. Externally it is built of plant-stems, grasses, corn-leaves, and the 
 lining consists of fine grasses. The eggs, usually four, rarely five in number, are uniform 
 light blue, exactly like those of the Bluebird. Several ornithologists report that the 
 Dickcissel in some localities departs from its usual habit of building on the ground. 
 They found the nest several inches and in some cases several feet from the ground. In 
 some parts of Illinois the structure was discovered in the tops of grasses, usually 
 worked in among a bunch of thick grass, so as to make it quite firm. The late 
 Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., states that he never found the nest on the ground. He 
 w^rites that during one season he visited and made notes of nineteen different nests. 
 Ten of these were built in gooseberry bushes, four on thorn bushes, three among black- 
 berry brambles, one on a raspberry bush, and one on a wild rose. None were within a 
 foot of the ground and some were six feet from it. A few miles north and west of 
 Racine, where I had an opportunity to observe these birds, they invariably had their 
 nests on the ground. It was already remarked by Audubon that the Dickcissel appears 
 to avoid certain districts, both in its migrations and for breeding, giving preference to 
 fertile portions of the country, and in settling down to breed will make capricious choice 
 of particular spots and confine itself to them. The fact of its becoming abundant in 
 regions where it was scarce before, is also attested, but remains in many cases unexplained. 
 
 Its food consists largely of grasshoppers and all kinds of insects living on grass. 
 In fall and winter it also subsists on the seeds of grasses and weeds. The Dickcissel is 
 always and everywhere a highly beneficial bird. 
 
 These birds leave for their winter-quarters early. In eastern Wisconsin and northern 
 Illinois they commence to move southward early in September. In south-western 
 Missouri none were seen by the end of that month, and in south-eastern Texas they 
 leave for their winter home early in October. The Dickcissel winters abundantly in 
 Central America as far south as northern South America. 
 
232 LARK BUNTING. 
 
 NAMES: Dickcissel, Black-throated Bunting, Little Meadow Lark, Little Field Lark, Judas Bird, Judas 
 Iscariot. — Schildammer (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Bmheriza americana Gmel. (1788). Easpka americana Bonap. (1838). SPIZA 
 AMERICANA Ridgw. (1880). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male: Head and sides of the neck, ashy-gray; forehead, tinged with 3'ellow; a 
 yellow line over the eye and one on the side of the throat; a black patch on the throat; chin, white; 
 " breast, yellow, spreading down on the white belly ; back, streaked with black and pale grayish-brown ; 
 rump, brownish-ash; lesser wing-coverts, rufous; wings and tail, fuscous. Adult female: Similar, but 
 the head grayish-brown, streaked with blackish, and with no black patch on the throat and less 
 yellow on the breast, which is sometimes lightly streaked with black. 
 
 "Length, 6.00 inches; wing, 3.20; tail, 2.35 inches; bill, .55." (Prank M. Chapman.) 
 
 LARK BUNTING, 
 
 Calamospiza melanocorys StejnEGER. 
 
 ^HIS interesting bird has a restricted range, being found ft^m the Plains of middle 
 Kansas north to Manitoba and Assiniboia, west to the Rocky Mountains, less 
 commonly to the Pacific in southern California, and south to Guanajuato and Lower 
 California. As I have never had an opportunity to observe this bird in its home, the 
 grassy western plains, I quote the following from Dr. Elliott Coues' excellent work, 
 "Birds of the North-west": 
 
 "The Lark Bunting is one of the most singularly specialized of all our fringilline 
 forms. As implied in its name, it has somewhat the habits of a Lark, and shares the 
 long inner secondary quills. An eminently terrestrial bird, yet the hind claw is neither 
 lengthened -nor straightened as is usual with passerine birds frequenting the ground 
 almost exclusively. The bill is that of a Grosbeak, being shaped almost exactly like 
 that of Blua. Grosbeak for instance, and the sexual differences in plumage are as great 
 as in that bird. But a more remarkable circumstance still is the seasonal change of 
 plumage, which is exactly correspondent with that of the Bobolink, to which the species 
 bears a general similarity in coloration. This fact was first noticed, I believe, by 
 Mr. Allen: 'After the moulting season, the males assume the plumage of the female, the 
 change in color being similar to that of the males of the Bobolink.' There is still another 
 curious analogy, that the same writer has brought out: 'It has habits that strongly 
 recall the Yellow-breasted Chat, singing generally on the wing, hovering in the same 
 manner as that bird, while its notes are so similar to those of the Chat, as to be 
 scarcely distinguishable from them.' 
 
 "I found it common from the plains in Kansas to the Raton Mountains, westward 
 of which I never saw it. In some places it was extremely abundant, and fairly to be 
 considered the characteristic species. This was in June, when the birds were breeding, 
 apparently in straggling groups, keeping up somewhat of association, but by no means 
 intimate companionship, still less flocking ; each pair finding its own business sufficiently 
 
LARK BUNTING. 233 
 
 interesting and absorbing. As I was traveling by coach at the time, I had no oppor- 
 tunity of looking for the nests. Judging from the fact that I saw scarcely any females, 
 the birds were then either incubating or brooding over their young. The more con- 
 spicuous and voluble males were almost constantly in view, fluttering over the grass, 
 every now and then starting up on tremulous wing, almost perpendicularly in the air, 
 hovering and singing the while, till they dropped as if exhausted. Sometimes several 
 were in view at once, and I used to watch their vocal rivalry with unflagging interest, 
 as each strove, it seemed, to rise the higher, and carol the louder its joyous song. 
 
 "The Lark Bunting nests on the ground in open prairie, building, as usual in such 
 cases, a rather rude structure of grasses and slender weed-stalks, with merely a little 
 finer material of the same sort for lining. The nest is sunk flush with the surface of the 
 ground. The eggs are commonly five in number, sometimes only four. They are of a 
 clear pale bluish-green, and look almost exactly like those of a Bluebird, in fact, could 
 not be distinguished with certainty, though rather larger and thicker. 
 
 "The following was prepared by Mr. Allen for this work: 'The Lark Bunting, 
 though of rather local distribution and limited range, must be regarded as one of the 
 most characteristic and interesting birds of the Plains. Generally in the breeding season 
 a number of pairs are found in the same vicinity, while again not an individual may be 
 met with for many miles. At other seasons it is eminently gregarious, roving about in 
 considerable flocks. In its song and the manner of its delivery it much resembles the 
 Yellow-breasted Chat, like that bird rising to a considerable distance in the air, and 
 poising itself by a peculiar flapping of the wings during its utterances, then abruptly 
 descending to the ground to soon repeat the manoevre. It is a very strong flier, and 
 seems to delight in the strongest gales, singing more at such times than in compara- 
 tively quiet weather. I met with several colonies not far firom Fort Hays in June and 
 July, and later at Cheyenne, Laramie, and in South Park, and in the elevated open 
 table-lands, between South Park and Colorado City. They were also frequent along 
 the route from Colorado City to Denver, sometimes considerable flocks being met with. 
 They were then moulting, and the parti-colored flocks of young and old were quite un- 
 suspicious and easily approached. During the breeding season we found them exceedingly 
 shy and difficult to procure, and were unsuccessful in our efforts to discover their nests.' " 
 NAMES: Lark Bunting, White-winged Blackbird.— Lerchenammer (German). 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fring-illa bicolor Towns. (1837). Calamospiza bicolor Bovap. (1838). Corydalina 
 
 bicolor Atid. (1839). Dolkhonyx bicolor Nutt. (1840). CALAMOSPIZA MELANOCORYS Stejn. 
 
 (1885). 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male in summer: Uniform black, with more or less of a slaty cast, the middle and 
 
 greater wing-coverts, white, forming a very conspicuous patch on the wing. Adult female: Above, 
 
 brownish-gray, streaked with dusky, the white wing-patch, smaller; lower parts, white, streaked on 
 
 breast and sides with dusky." (R. Ridgway.) 
 
 Length, 6.81 inches; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.10 inches. 
 
 30 
 
AMERICAN STARLINGS 
 
 (BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC.). 
 
 Icteridae. 
 
 ^CTERID-i© is a family of birds characteristic to America, like the 
 Hummingbirds, Vireos, Tyrant Flycatchers, Wood Warblers, and 
 Mockingbirds, and it plays a far greater role in the household of 
 Nature than any of those mentioned. We find in this large family 
 exquisitely colored birds, eloquent songsters, expert nest-builders, 
 notorious nest-robbers and parasites destroying the happy family-life of 
 other small birds. Among this family we find such beautiful and familiar 
 birds like the Orioles, the Bobolink, the Red-winged Blackbird, and the 
 Meadow Lark. They enliven their haunts by their abundance, activity, 
 beauty, and especially by their gregariousness. Wherever they occur, be it 
 in the grassy, flower-adorned meadow, in field and garden, in the swamp 
 or on the woodland border, they impart to the landscape the peculiarity 
 of their presence. With the exception of the Orioles and the Meadow Lark, 
 all are exceedingly gregarious. When arriving and departing they move in 
 large flocks, consisting often of thousands of individuals. Soon after the breeding season 
 they commence to congregate into flocks, which move about in the locality until they 
 migrate southward. On sunny April days we frequently see a whole flock mounting an 
 isolated tree, where each one utters its peculiar notes until a most characteristic concert 
 is heard. All these birds moving in large swarms are known by the rather insignificant 
 name Blackbirds. The Baltimore Oriole, which is represented in the West by Bullock's 
 Oriole and in the South-west by different other bright-colored species, belongs to the 
 most beautiful and beloved of our garden birds. The Bobolink is one of our most 
 poetical birds and a glorious songster, rivalling and surpassing the celebrated European 
 Skylark. 
 
 Most of the members of this highly interesting family are exceedingly beneficial. 
 The Bobolink belongs at the North to the farmer's best friends, and the same is true of 
 the Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbird, the Meadow Lark and Orioles, and of 
 the Rusty and Brewer's Blackbirds. The Grackles are doing some harm to the crops 
 and they also become noxious by plundering many birds' nests, while the Cowbirds are 
 destroying many a brood of our small insectivorous birds by their parasitic habit. 
 
Among the one hundred and ten known species of the family about twenty inhabit 
 our country. They are divided into the following genera: 
 
 1, DoJicbonyx Swainson. Bobolink. One species. 
 
 2, Molothrus Swainson. Cowbirds. One species. 
 
 3, Callothrus Cassin. Red-eyed Cowbird. One species. 
 
 4, Xanthocephalus Bonaparte. Yellow-headed Blackbirds. One species. 
 
 5, Agelaius Vieillot. Red-winged Blackbirds. Three species. 
 
 6, Sturnella Vieillot. Meadow Larks. One species. 
 
 7, Icterus Brisson. Orioles. Seven species. 
 
 8, Scokcopbagus Swainson. Blackbirds. Two species. 
 
 9, Quiscalus Vieillot. Grackles. Three species. 
 
 BOBOLINK. 
 
 Dolichonyx oryzivorus Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXIX. Fig. 1 and 2. 
 
 A flock of merry singing birds were sporting in the grove ; 
 Some were warbling cheerily and some were making love. 
 There were Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Wiuterseeble, Conquedle, 
 A livelier set were never led by tabor, pipe, or fiddle : 
 Crying, **Phew, shew, Wadolincon; see, see Bobolincon 
 Down among the tickle-tops, hiding in the buttercups ; 
 I know the saucy chap; I see his shining cap 
 Bobbing in the clover there, — see, see, see!" 
 
 Up flies Bobolincon, "perching on an apple tree; 
 
 Startled by his rival's song, quickened by his raillery, 
 
 Soon he spies the rogue afloat, curvetting in the air. 
 
 And merrily he turns about and warns him to beware ! 
 
 "T'is you that would a wooing go, down among the rushes O! 
 
 Wait a week, till flowers are cheery; wait a week and ere you marry. 
 
 Be sure of a house wherein to tarry ; 
 
 Wadolink, Whiskodink, Tom Denny, wait, vrait,- wait!" 
 
 Every one's a funny fellow ; every one's a little mellow ; 
 
 Follow, follow, follow, follow o'er the hill and in the hollow. 
 
 Merrily, merrily there they hie ; now they rise and now they fly; 
 
 They cross and turn, and in and out, and down the middle and wheel about, 
 
 With a "Phevir, shew, Wadolincon ; listen to me Bobolincon ! 
 
 Happy's the wooing that's speedily doing, that's speedily doing. 
 
 That's merry and over with the bloom of the clover ; 
 
 Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, follow, follow me!" 
 
 O what a happy life they lead, over the hill and in the mead ! 
 
 How they sing, and how they play! See, they fly away, away ! 
 
 Now they gambol o'er the clearing, — off again, and then appearing; 
 
 Poised aloft on quivering wing; now they soar, and now they sing, 
 
 "We mus t all be merry and moving ; we must all be happy and loving ; 
 
 For when the midsummer is come, and the grain has ripened its ear. 
 
 The haymakers scatter our young, and we mourn for the rest of the year ; 
 
 Then, Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, haste, haste away!" Wn-soN Flagg. 
 
 !*ROM the beginning of April spring is on its northward march. Many^ of our 
 IP^ charming songsters have arrived from their winter home, and numbers of dainty- 
 flowers bloomed and disappeared. Almost every day is a revelation to us and brings us 
 new delight. There were salubrious, sunny, and warm days, and cold and blasty ones 
 
236 BOBOLINK. 
 
 since the Robin and Song Sparrow announced spring's atrival. Even during the last week 
 of April a heavy snow-storm may sweep over the extreme northern parts of our country. 
 With the beginning of May the wild flowers are becoming more abundant, and each 
 day brings us new arrivals from the South. The familiar Catbird, the famous Rose- 
 breasted Grosbeak, the flame-colored Baltimore Oriole, and the most brilliant of all our 
 birds, the Scarlet Tanager, are usually present by May 9. At this time the plum and 
 cherry trees are in full bloom, and a week or ten days later the apple trees are like one 
 sheet of rosy and white color. Thousands of ekgant and sprightly Wood Warblers 
 celebrate their annual spring festival among the flowering trees. How joyfully do they 
 fly, dart, and hop about, and how cheery sound their strains ! 
 
 This is the time of revelry of the Bobolink. In the grand concert of Nature, late 
 in May and throughout June, no other performer is so well-known and beloved than 
 this happiest bird of our spring. Coming "amid the pomp and fragrance of the season," 
 the life of these birds seems all sensibility and enjoyment, all song and sunshine. On a 
 warm and sunny day we hear their merry music from all sides in the low meadows. 
 During the night they arrived from their winter home in the far interior of South America. 
 And what glad tidings do they bring! Spring is really here at last, spring in all its 
 glory, brilliancy, perfume, and music! The beautiful males. in their jaunty attire of deep 
 black, white, and bufi", are bubbling over with exhileration and happiness. They are the 
 merriest of all our birds, ever in motion, ever rollicking and frolicking and singing, ever 
 passing to and fro in easy flight. When half a dozen or more are sporting about over 
 the fresh and sweet meadows, enamelled by countless flowers, and when the air is full 
 of their tinkling and enchanting song, words are powerless to describe the impression 
 of such activity and music. There is no plaintive strain in the whole performance. 
 Each sound is fuU of glee and hilarity, full of sweetness and charming beauty. It seems 
 to be the mission of this exquisite songster to pour joy, hope, peace, happiness, and 
 exhilaration into our often so weary and depressed souls. 
 
 In the days of my boyhood the Bobolink was very abundant in the meadows 
 surrounding our little lake. At that time I had the same feeling which one of our 
 greatest writers so vividly describes:* 
 
 " "Of all the birds of our groves and meadows, the Bobolink was the envy of my 
 boyhood. He crossed my path in the sweetest weather and the sweetest season of the 
 year, when all Nature called to the fields, and the rural feeling throbbed in every bosom, 
 but when I, luckless urchin ! was doomed to be mewed up during the livelong day in 
 that purgatory of boyhood, a school room. It seemed as if the little varlet mocked at 
 me as he flew by in frill song, and sought to taunt me his happier lot. Oh, how I envied 
 him! No lesson, no task, no hateftil school; nothing but holiday, frolic, green fields, 
 and fine weather." 
 
 I often counted a dozen or more singing Bobolinks in one meadow. Most of them 
 were passing to and fro in easy flight. Others were perched on the tops of bushes or 
 long flaunting weeds, and as they rose and sunk with the breeze, poured forth a 
 "succession of rich tinkling notes, crowding one upon another like the outpouring melody 
 of the Shylark, and possessing the same rapturous character." Frequently one descends 
 
 * Washington Irving. 
 
BOBOLINK. 237 
 
 in full song from a rocking bough or from the air, and flutters tremulously down to 
 the earth, as if overcome with ecstasy at its own music. When one spreads its wings 
 and bursts into ecstatic song, others are sure to follow. This sailing, frolicking, and 
 singing in the air, and this rocking on the slender weed-stems is continued all day long 
 in fine w^eather. 
 
 The Bobolink never sings before sunrise. It begins its sweet music when the more 
 earnest and solemn melody of the Robin, which was heard from earliest day-break, is 
 almost at its close. Nature seems to have ordained that the serious parts of her musical 
 entertainment in the morning hours should first be heard, and that the lively and merry 
 strains should follow them. In the evening this order is reversed, and after the comedy 
 is concluded Nature lulls us to repose by the mellow notes of the Vesper Sparrow, and 
 the pensive and still more melodious strains of the solitary Thrushes.* 
 
 One of our most congenial and amiable ornithologists, the late Dr. T. M. Brewer, 
 has given an account of the Bobolink's song which is too faithful and vivid to ever 
 grow out of date : 
 
 "Of all our unimitative and natural songsters the Bobolink is by far the most 
 popular and attractive. Always original and peculiarly natural, its song is exquisitely 
 musical. In the variety of its notes, in the rapidity with which they are uttered, 
 and in the touching pathos, beauty^ and melody of their tone and expression, its 
 notes are not equalled by those of any other North American bird. We know of 
 none, among our native feathered songsters, whose song resembles, or can be com- 
 pared with it. 
 
 "By the time these birds have reached, in their spring migrations, the 40th parallel 
 of latitude, they no longer move in large flocks, but have begun to separate into small 
 parties, and finally into pairs. In New England the Bobolink treats us to no such con- 
 certs as those described by Audubon, where many voices join in creating their peculiar 
 jingling melody. When they first appear, usually after the middle of May, they are in 
 small parties, composed of either sex, absorbed in their courtships and overflowing with 
 song. When two or three male Bobolinks, decked out in their gayest spring apparel, 
 are paying their attentions to the same drab-colored female, contrasting so strikingly 
 in her sober brown dfess, their performances are quite entertaining, each male endeavor- 
 ing to outsing the other. The female appears coy and retiring, keeping closely to the 
 ground, but always attended by the several aspirants for her affection. After a contest, 
 often quite exciting, the rivalries are adjusted, the rejected suitors are driven off by their 
 more fortunate competitor, and the happy pair begin to put in order a new home. , It 
 is in these love quarrels that their song appears to the greatest advantage. They pour 
 OHt incessantly their strains of quaint but charming music, now on the ground, now on 
 the wing, now on the top of a fence, a low bush, or the swaying stalk of a plant that 
 bends with their weight. The great length of their song, the immense number of short 
 and variable notes of which it is composed, the volubility and confused rapidity with 
 which they are poured forth, the eccentric breaks, in the midst of which we detect the 
 words bob-o-link so distinctly enunciated, unite to form a general result to which we 
 can find no parallel in any of the musical performances of our other song-birds. It is 
 
 ' See Wilson Flagg. "Birds and Seasons of New England," p. 46 ff. 
 
238 BOBOLINK. 
 
 at once a unique and a charming production. Nuttall speaks of their song as mono- 
 tonous, which is neither true nor consistent with his own description of it. To other 
 ears they seem ever wonderfully full of variety, pathos, and beauty." 
 
 As already remarked, the Bobolink is one of our latest arrivals. I never noticed 
 one of them in eastern Wisconsin before May 11, and never before May 9 in northern 
 Illinois. Usually the merry assemblages of these birds do not appear in full force before 
 May 15 or 20 in Wisconsin. In Texas I have observed them only once during the migra- 
 tion, but I have frequently heard their tinkling call-notes during the night when they passed 
 in low flight over the city of Houston. I heard them more frequently during the fall than 
 during the spring migration. One day late in April, while rambling about in a small 
 prairie near the West Yegua, I heard quite a number of throats pour out one brief, 
 hilarious, tuneful jubilee. I recognized these familiar sounds at once, and when looking 
 skyward I detected the gay horde pushing northward. On an isolated live-oak the 
 whole flock mounted, and, w^hile many w^ere rocking themselves in the exterior branches, 
 others w^ere soaring through the air and singing their merry strains. Although very 
 sweet, this was not the full, familiar, and loud song, which I was accustomed to in 
 my earliest childhood. Though vely fascinating, there w^as a strange remoteness, some- 
 thing very peculiar about all the sounds. These northward moving flocks seemed to 
 scent the fragrant meadows afar off and shouted forth "snatches of their song in anti- 
 cipation." 
 
 The haunts of the Bobolink are invariably low meadows and grassy prairies. 
 They are said to breed in New England in clover fields and to banter and chant in apple 
 orchards, but this I have never observed. Where one pair settles we may find others in 
 close proximity. In the days of my youth, when these hilarious songsters were much 
 more abundant than they are now, all the low meadows were resounding by their 
 merry songs. Frequently as many as a dozen sailed through, the air in full song. The 
 impression of such a concert during a warm and sunny June day is a deep and lasting 
 one. It must be heard in order to be fully understood and appreciated. The plainly 
 colored, quiet, and retired female selects a place for her nest in a small depression of the 
 soil, while her gay partner is hovering above her in the air or is perched on a slender 
 weed-stem which bends under his weight, all the while overflowing with song and 
 eloquent with melody. The feathers of his neck and head are mostly ruffled, and the 
 wings are somewhat spread while rolUcking and singing. The nest is exceedingly diffi- 
 cult to find. It is always built in the open meadow or prairie, without so much as a 
 bush, a perennial herb, or a tuft of grass to protect it or to mark its site. "Bobolink 
 nests are concealed in the luxuriant herbage of meadows with such instinctive care for 
 their safety as to be difficult to find except by accident, as when disclosed by the scythe 
 or the mower. In the western country the sajring goes that an Indian can hide behind 
 three blades of grass ; and the hiding capabilities of a tuft of herbage are never better 
 displayed than in screening a Bobolink's nest, not only from casual observation, but 
 from patient search. The female is said to employ some artifice in arranging the spears 
 of grass about the structure, as still further protection, and she is careful in going and 
 coming, threading her way shyly through the herbage, into which she flies at some 
 distance usually from the cherished spot. As the males at such times are singing any- 
 
BOBOLINK. 239 
 
 where about, apparently with little thought in the matter, there is little or nothing to 
 focus attention in one spot more than another in the waving grass."* 
 
 The nest is always a slight structure, composed entirely of grasses and flush with 
 the ground. The eggs, four to five in number, are grayish- white, sometimes with a 
 greenish or brownish hue, and the whole surface is blotched with chocolate-brown and 
 with other indistinct shell-markings. The female constructs the nest alone and she 
 hatches also the eggs without the assistance of the always merry and frolicking male, 
 and she also feeds the young until they are able to leave the nest. In his hilarity and 
 song, especially when flying easily and gracefully over the grassy plain, or when sitting 
 on a slender weed-stem with ruffled plumage, the male is a picture of beauty and poetry. 
 But this changes suddenly when the young leave the nest and parental responsibilities 
 increase. The song is less and less frequently heard. After a while, when the young 
 are able to fly, it ceases entirely. A sudden change takes place in the appearance as 
 w^ell as in the habits of the males. The merry players and happy musicians "throw off 
 their black dominos, the medley ceases, and the carnival is over." The plumage of con- 
 trasting black, white, and buff", so conspicuous and striking, changes with almost instant 
 rapidity into a brownish-gray, until they are no longer distinguishable either by plumage 
 or note, from their mates and young.** 
 
 In the Northern States the Bobolink is one of the most beneficial of all our birds. 
 Its food, from the time of its arrival until its departure, consists almost entirely of all 
 kinds of noxious insects, especially of grasshoppers. When by the first of July the meadows 
 are mown, large numbers of Bobolinks run over the half dry grass in pursuit of insects. 
 When the grasshoppers, crickets, moths, and beetles do no longer find food and hiding 
 places in the mown meadows, they move into the neighboring fields of barley in order 
 to continue their ravages ; but the Bobolinks are following them instantly. I have seen 
 many hundreds of these birds in the barley fields by the middle of July, and all were 
 hunting insects. At this time we are scarcely able to recognize our beautiful songsters 
 of May and June. They are strange in their appearance and strange in their ways and 
 habits. They do not fly and rollick around any longer, and they are also rather timid. 
 In large flocks they move about in the locality, disappearing entirely by the end of July 
 from their breeding haunts. I have seen large flocks in the reeds and sedges of the great 
 Horicon and Koshkonong Marshes in southern Wisconsin early in August. At the same 
 time they appear in the marshes of the Delaware River. They are now not any longer 
 known as the Bobolinks, but have become the "Reed-birds." Late in August or early in 
 September they leave the northern parts of the country, travelling mostly by night to 
 elude observation. "Some still dark night you may know that the play is played out, 
 hearing the cbink-link-ink from the upper air as the birds speed on; that is the tinkle 
 of the bell that rings the curtain down on the last act."* 
 
 A few weeks later they swarm in the rice plantations of South Carolina and 
 Louisiana. Having become exceedingly fat on the different kinds of seeds, they are killed 
 in immense numbers by sportsmen for the table of the epicure. They are now known 
 
 » "New England Bird-life." By W. A. Stearns and Dr. Elliott Cones. Vol. I, p. 294. 
 
 ** For further information I refer the reader to Mr. Frank Chapman's article "On the Changes of Plumage in the 
 Bobolink." The Auk. Vol. VII, 1890, p. 120—124, 
 
as the "Rice-birds." Late in October they are leaving the United States, making a short 
 halt in the West Indies, where they are said to feed on the seeds of the Guinea-grass. 
 In Jamaica they receive a new appellation, being there called "Butter-birds." Everywhere 
 in the South and the West Indies the Bobolinks are constantly killed in immense num- 
 bers. It is really a great loss to northern agriculture as well as to the great numbers 
 of friends of Nature, that these birds are allowed by our modern governments to be 
 killed in^uch countless numbers. These beautiful birds have become so scarce of late in 
 many localities that something must be done in order to stop the wholesale slaughter 
 at least in our own country. Even in the Southern States the Bobolink is probably 
 much more beneficial than injurious, for it has been ascertained that they "feed greedily 
 upon the larvas of the destructive cotton-worm, and in so doing render an immense 
 service to the cultivators of Sea Island cotton." 
 
 In allusion to its song the Bobolink has received quite a number of names in its 
 natal haunts, being known as the Boblincon, Bob, Robert, and Robert of Lincoln. 
 Meadowink is of the same character with additional reference to the place where the 
 birds are mostly found during the season of song. "Skunkbird" and "Skunk Blackbird" 
 it has also been called from its resemblance in color to the notorious beast in mention. 
 "Ortolan" it has been named during the autumn on the Atlantic coast. 
 
 The summer home of the Bobolink is found from the Middle States northward to 
 Maine, Ontario, Manitoba, Assiniboia, and Alberta, and from the Atlantic Ocean west 
 to Montana, eastern Nevada, Utah, and Idaho. Together with quite a number of other 
 North American birds two specimens were obtained byHeinrich Gatke on the famous island 
 of Heligoland as stragglers. The birds seem to winter from the West Indies southward, 
 being found in great numbers even as far south as Brazil, Bolivia, and even Paraguay. 
 With bird fanciers in this country and in Europe the Bobolink is a great favorite. 
 Large numbers are exported annually to Europe. They are usually caught at the time of 
 their arrival in nets or trap cages, and they soon become accustomed to cage life. I 
 often caught these birds, and when I lifted the cage from the ground they began to 
 sing. Being very peaceful, they can be kept together with many other small birds. It 
 is difficult to keep the Bobolink in the cage for any length of time, if fed exclusively 
 with seeds. In addition to these they must get Mockingbird-food, mixed with grated 
 carrots, mealworms, grasshoppers, and other insects, and fruit. I have kept several for 
 three and four years, but they did not change their plumage in spring in the way as 
 wild birds do, but they sang just as beautiftiUy. Instead of the deep black color the 
 plumage showed a mixture of black and brown spots, and the creamy cap on the hind 
 neck and the white on the back were replaced by an inconspicuous drab and gray. 
 NAMES: Bobolink, Boblincon, Bob Lincoln, Robert of Lincoln, "Bob," "Robert"; Meadowink, "Skunk- 
 bird" and "Skunk Blackbird"; Reedbird, Ortolan, Ricebird, Butterbird. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Emberiza oryzivora Linn. (1758). DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS Swains. (1827). 
 
 Icterus agripennis Bonap. (1834). 
 DESCRIPTION: "Male, in breeding plumage: Black; nape, buff; scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts, 
 ashy-white; middle of back, streaked with black, buff, and ash; outer quills, edged with yellowish; 
 bill, blackish; feet, brown. Male in fall, female and young, entirely different: Yellowish-brown above, 
 brownish-yellow below; upper parts and sides below streaked with black; crown with median and 
 lateral light stripes; wings and tail, dusky, with pale edges of the feathers; bill, brown." (Stearns 
 & Coues, N. E, B, I, p. 293.)— Length, 7.25 inches; wing, 3.75; tail, 2.75 inches. 
 
COWBIRD. 
 
 ■ Molothrus ater Gray. 
 
 Plate XVII. Fig. 2 and 3. 
 
 H^HE CowBiRD, also known as the Cow Blackbird, Cow Bunting, Sheep-bird, Lazy 
 £* Bird, Clodhopper, Shiny-eye, and Buffalo Bird, has a very bad reputation. Like 
 the European Cuckoo it is a pernicious parasite, imposing its eggs upon other birds, 
 leaving to them the hatching and the raising of the young. As it is an exceedingly 
 common and rather tame bird in all the rural districts of the eastern part of our 
 country, we are well acquainted with its habits. These birds are usually moving about 
 in loose flocks among the grazing cattle and are often seen perched on the backs of the 
 cows picking off all kinds of parasitic insects. The male is a plainly colored bird, deep 
 black, with a chocolate-brown head. The female is brownish-gray. 
 
 The Cowbird's geographical range is a large one. It is found over the whole 
 of the United States and British America, north to Little Slave Lake. It winters from 
 southern Illinois to southern Mexico, being very abundant in all suitable localities in 
 the South Atlantic and Gulf States, where it is often seen in company of Red- winged 
 Blackbirds. In south-eastern Texas I observed it in large flocks from the early part 
 of November to the beginning of March, and many remained during the breeding season. 
 In all the cultivated districts of the Northern States, east of the Rocky Mountains, it 
 is one of the most numerous of our birds. Sparingly it occurs as far west as eastern 
 British Columbia, eastern Washington, Oregon, and California, but it is totally absent 
 west of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains. From the latitude of Houston, 
 Texas, and New Orleans it is distributed to Little Slave Lake, Athabasca, latitude 
 55°, 33', and perhaps still farther into the Arctic regions in summer. 
 
 In Wisconsin and northern Illinois the Cowbirds make their appearance about the 
 middle of April, often in company of the Red-winged Blackbirds. Without separating 
 into pairs they remain together in smaller or larger assemblages, roaming about in the 
 country, usually in pastures, near orchards and thickets, and on the w^oodland border. 
 They derive several of their common names fk-om their associations with the cows and 
 sheep, and we often see them on the backs of these animals or among the cattle on the 
 ground, where they find abundance of food in the droppings. They are not easily 
 disturbed, so we may observe them at leisure. If flushed the whole flock alights on the 
 ground at some distance, returning as soon as they feel safe. All of the members of the 
 odd band act as if by mutual consent. When one flies down to the ground, the others 
 follow at once, and when one rests, the others do the same. During the hottest time 
 of the day they seek shelter in the shady branches of an isolated tree, where they are 
 resting, preening their feathers and stretching in a droll way their legs or spreading their 
 wings. At this time, especially from their arrival until late in June, we have an oppor- 
 tunity to become acquainted with their musical abilities. Quite a number of males may 
 be seen perched on a fence, or the limb of a tree, each one uttering very singular harsh, 
 
 31 
 
guttural and croaking notes, which are accompanied by all kinds of comical motions. 
 They stretch their legs, spread their wings and tail, lower and raise their heads, turn 
 their neck, and make the imp^ression as if these notes were produced with much trouble. 
 Mr. H. D. Minot gives the following excellent description of the Cowbird's musical per- 
 formance, which fully corresponds with my own observations : 
 
 "There is something ludicrous, and yet pitiable, in the efforts of the male to 
 express his passions musically. It is often as painful to hear him and see him, as to 
 converse with one who stutters badly. He ruffles his feathers, spreads his wings and 
 tail, gives a convulsive movement to his body, and yet produces nothing but a shrill, 
 unmusical clack-seS. He often adds to this, or splutters out at other times, a chattering 
 call, quite distinct from that of any other bird, or utters a few low guttural notes, not 
 audible at a distance. He has in common with other members of his family a loud 
 chuck; but he is not wholly destitute of musical powers. One may often hear in spring 
 from the top of some tree, a clear, pensive, but rather shrill whistle, usually followed 
 by a few similar but falling notes. These belong to the Cowbird, who also whistles 
 sometimes as he takes to wing." 
 
 During the breeding season the Cowbirds are always found where many small 
 insectivorous birds occur, particularly on the borders of woods, near gardens, in pastures, 
 near thickets and bushes. There are usually about one third females and two thirds 
 males in the flocks. They live in. polyandry and polygamy and the male pays his court 
 to several females, or one female is courted by several males. "Polygamy," says 
 Dr. Elliott Coues, "is rare among higher birds; in no creatures are the parental and 
 conjugal instincts more strongly developed or beautifully displayed. But the Cowbird 
 illustrates this mode of life, and not in the lordly manner of the barn-yard cock, so 
 devoted to his harem, so gallant and just to all. As in this species there is no love of 
 offspring, neither can there be conjugal aifection; all family ties are dispensed with. 
 The association is a mere herding together in quest of food in similar resorts. The 
 Cowbirds never mate; their most intimate relations are no sooner effected than for- 
 gotten; not even the decent restrictions of a seraglio are observed; it is a perfect 
 community of free-lovers, who do as the original Cynics did. The necessary courtship 
 becomes in consequence a curiously mixed affiair. During the period corresponding to the 
 mating season of orderly birds, the patriarchs of the sorry crew mount up the trees and 
 fences, to do what they call their singing. They posture and turn about, and ruffle 
 their feathers to look bigger than Nature made them ; if their skins were not tough they 
 would certainly burst with vanity. They puff out their throats and pipe the most 
 singular notes, perhaps honestly wishing to please their companions of the other sex — 
 at any rate, to their own satisfaction. Meanwhile the females are perched near by, but 
 without seeming very enthusiastic — rather taking it all as a matter of course, listening 
 at times, it may be, but just as likely preening their plumage, with other thoughts and 
 an ulterior purpose. The performance over, it is a very little while afterward when the 
 whole band goes trooping after food in the nearest cattle-yard or pasture." 
 
 It is very interesting to observe the female Cowbird, ready to lay. She becomes 
 uneasy and restless. Quietly and stealthily she leaves the flock, sallying forth to 
 reconnoitre, "anxiously indeed, for her case is urgent, and she has no home. How 
 
COWBIRD. 243 
 
 obtrusive is the sad analogy ! She flies to some thicket, or hedge-row, or other common 
 resort of birds, where, something teaches her— perhaps experience— nests will be found. 
 Stealthily and in perfect silence she flits along, peering furtively, alternately elated or 
 dejected, into the depths of the foliage. She espies a nest, but the owner's head peeps 
 over the brim, and she must pass on. Now, however, comes the chance; there is the 
 very nest she wishes, and no one at home. She disappears for a few minutes, and it is 
 almost another bird that comes out of the bush. Her business done, and trouble over, 
 she chuckles her self-gratulations, rustles her plumage to adjust it trimly, and flies back 
 to her associates. They know what has happened, but are discreet enough to say 
 nothing— charity is often no less wise than kind." (Coues.) 
 
 If we search closely we may find the parasite's egg in the nest of a Maryland 
 Yellowthroat, a Vireo, a Song Sparrow, a Yellow-breasted Chat, etc. The egg is always 
 deposited in nests from which the owners are absent. She never attempts to force 
 a bird from her nest. It is a rather peculiar fact that the always watchfiil birds, being 
 usually awrare of everything that is going on in their nesting range, are so quiet and 
 careless when the parasitic Qowbird is stealthily searching for a nest, and that they 
 apparently do not notice it when the strange bird has occupied the place in their domi- 
 cile. I have never heard that they even uttered a warning note, when the Cowbird was 
 sneaking around in the vicinity of their home, while their screaming and lamenting 
 seems to find no end when any other strange bird is approaching their nest too closely. 
 I am of the opinion that in many cases the Cowbird cannot inflict her eggs on other 
 birds entirely unnoticed. Exceedingly comical are the actions of the rightful owner when 
 returning to her nest. She discovers the ominous egg at once; half astonished, half 
 scared she utters her call-note and the male is on her side. Both are looking upon the 
 parasite's egg with amazement and hop about greatly excited, and apparently they do 
 not know what to say about the evidence of the Cowbird's unfriendly visit. At last 
 they become silent. The male begins to sing and the female occupies her place in the 
 nest. With this act the fate of her own brood is decided : the foster child will leave the 
 nest in the best condition, while her own children are doomed to an early death. 
 
 "Such seems to be the fate," writes Major Charles Bendire, "of nearly all the young 
 \ which have the misfortune to be hatched with a Cowbird for a companion. I have yet 
 to see a nest containing young birds of both species more than a few days old ; by that 
 time the rightful offspring are either smothered or crowded out of the nest by their 
 stronger foster brother, or starved, and he then absorbs the entire attention of the 
 parents. Only in such cases where these are as large or larger than the imposter is there 
 any likelihood to be an occasional exception to this rule. It can readily be seen what 
 an immense amount of harm the Cowbird causes in the economy of Nature, granting that 
 only a single one of its eggs is hatched in a season; to accolnplish this a brood of 
 insectivorous and useful birds is almost invariably sacrificed for every Cowbird raised, 
 and they are certainly not diminishing in numbers. 
 
 "While a few of the selected foster parents resent the addition of a parasitic %gg 
 in their nest, either by abandoning it entirely or by building a new one over it, and 
 occasionally even a third one, the majority do not appear to be much disturbed by such 
 an event, and after a short time go on as if nothing had happened. A few species, like 
 
244 COWBIRD. 
 
 the Indigo Bunting, for instance, will sometimes abandon their own eggs should the 
 stranger's egg be removed, but apparently do not mind the loss of one or two of their 
 own, and continue incubating just the same. 
 
 "Almost invariably the nests in which one or more of these parasitic eggs have 
 been deposited contain only incomplete sets of their rightful owners. Where the Cow- 
 bird drops an egg in the nests of species considerably smaller than itself, as the Gnat- 
 catcher, etc., its much larger size seems to be a positive advantage to the more rapid 
 development of the embryo, as the egg must necessarily receive more animal heat than 
 the smaller ones, which can scarcely come much in contact with the body of the sitting 
 bird, and the development of the embryos in these must be more or less retarded th'ereby. 
 
 "It is ludicrous to see a fat, fully fledged young Cowbird following a pair of 
 Chipping Sparrows, or some small Warbler clamoring incessantly for food and uttering 
 its begging call of seerr-seerr most persistently, only keeping quiet while its gaping beak 
 is filled with some suitable morsel, and stranger still to note how devoted the diminutive 
 nurses are to their foster child. One would think that they might see through the fraud, 
 at least after the young interloper left the nest, if not before, and abandon him to his 
 fate, but the greatest attachment seems to exist between them until the Cowbird is able 
 to shift for himself, when he leaves and joins his own kind." 
 
 Such is the Cowbird's bad reputation. For every individual in the flock of Cow 
 Buntings four or five of our beautiful insectivorous birds had to suffer their death — and 
 there are often many hundreds of these birds in a single horde. In localities w^herethey 
 are abundant they become a great nuisance, and their parasitic habit does more harm 
 to our beautiful native birds than the much hated European Sparrow. 
 
 It is astonishing how many different species of our birds suffer from this parasite. 
 Major Bendire, the celebrated oologist and ornithologist of the National Museum in 
 Washington, D. C, mentions ninety different small birds, comprising pretty much all 
 the species nesting within the Cowbird's breeding range. These foster parents of the 
 parasite range from the size of a Mourning Dove, down to that of the House Wren 
 and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. One would naturally suppose that birds breeding in holes 
 like the Wrens and Woodpeckers, or build nests with a small entrance on the side, like 
 the Parula Warbler, would be exempt from this infliction, but it is not the case. All 
 these birds are exceedingly valuable in the household of Nature. I have found the egg 
 of the Cowbird in a nest of Bewick's Wren, in one of the nesting boxes I had provided; 
 the entrance hole was very small so that no Bluebird and not even the Tufted Titmouse 
 could enter. Nevertheless the Cowbird deposited its egg in the nest. "It seems almost 
 impossible," says Major Bendire, "that a bird of this size would be able to enter the 
 small pendant nest of the Parula Warbler and deposit its tgg therein in the usual way ; 
 still this species is occasionally imposed on, and it is possible that the egg is dropped 
 in the nest with the beak." I have found from one to three Cowbird's eggs in one nest 
 and other observers have even discovered five and seven, but generally only one egg is 
 deposited in a nest. Although I have paid much attention to the subject I have never 
 found more than one young Cowbird in one nest. In Texas, where I found two para- 
 sitic eggs in the nest of the Painted Bunting, and three in the nest of the Orchard Oriole, 
 only one was hatched, while the other disappeared in a mysterious way with the foster 
 
parents' own eggs. In the nest of a Yellow-breasted Chat in south-western Missouri 
 three Cowbird's eggs were found together with two of the rightful owner; one dis- 
 appeared before hatching and so did the owner's eggs, while two Cowbird's eggs were 
 hatched. At the age of three days one of the young parasites disappeared and only one 
 left the nest of its foster parents. 
 
 It is not unusual to find one or more of the eggs of the rightful owner thrown 
 out of the nest, and it is supposed that the female Cowbird is responsible for it. This 
 is doubtlessly done to enhance the chances of her own offspring. In other cases there 
 are minute punctures in the shells of the remaining eggs, and this is probably done on 
 purpose by the Cowbird, either with the beak or with the claws, to keep them from 
 hatching. 
 
 The eggs of the Cowbird show a great variation in color as well as in size. They 
 show a pearly-white, often a pure white, a grayish-white or pale bluish ground-color, 
 and are more or less densely spotted with chocolate-brown, lavender and cinnamon- 
 brown spots. 
 
 On page 271, Volume I, of this work I have quoted Mr. John Burroughs' opinion 
 of the Cowbird and the way in which he rids the nests of our small birds of the 
 young parasite. For many years I have followed his example, and I destroy every 
 parasitic egg and every young Cowbird wherever found. 
 
 As soon as the young Cowbirds are able to shift for themselves they leave their 
 foster parents, seeking instinctively the society of their own species. Young and old 
 assemble into flocks, and these flocks again join others until large swarms are formed. 
 With other Blackbirds, notably Redwings and Yellowheads, they frequent marshes where 
 they find abundance of food in the seeds of wild rice and reeds. By the middle or the 
 latter part of October they begin to migrate southward. 
 
 In south-eastern Texas, from Houston southward, I met also the Dwarf Cow- 
 bird, Molotbrus ater obscurus Coues, but it was not common. On the Rio Grande and 
 the adjacent Mexican territory, and thence westward to Arizona and Lower California, 
 it replaces the typical species. It resembles the common Cowbird closely, being only a 
 little smaller. 
 
 NAMES: Cowbird, Cow Bunting, Cow Blackbird, Cow-pen Bunting, Sheep-bird, Lazy Bird, Clodhopper, 
 Shiny-eye, Buffalo Bird, "Parasite." 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Oriolus ater Boddaert (1783). MOLOTHRUS ATER Gray (1870). FringiUa 
 pecoris Gmel. (1788). Emberiza pecoris Wilson (1810). Icterus pecoris Bonap. (1824). Molotbrus 
 pecoris Swains. (1831). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Male: Black, lustrous, with purplish-brown head and neck. Female: Smaller, dark uniform 
 grayish-brown, paler below, with dark shaft-lines on most of the feathers. Bill and feet, black in 
 both sexes. Young male at first like female, but the underparts decidedly streaked." S. & C, "New 
 England Bird-life." Vol. I, p. 295. 
 
 Length, 7.00 to 8.00 inches; wing, 3.87; tail, 2.87 inches. 
 
RED-EYED COWBIRD. 
 
 Callothrus robustus Ridgway. 
 
 IJg^HE Red-eyed Cowbird, or Bronzed Cowbird is an inhabitant of the lower Rio 
 Grande region of Texas, south through Mexico and Central America to Panama. 
 It has been found as far north as San Antonio, Texas. 
 
 Like the common Cowbird the female deposits her eggs in the nests of other birds, 
 and the beautiful Orioles of that region, Audubon's Oriole, the Hooded Oriole, the 
 Orchard Oriole, and Bullock's Oriole, appear to be the especial victims, and among these, 
 according to Major Charles Bendire, Audubon's seems to be the worst sufferer. In nine 
 sets of this species in the United States National Museum Collection there are only two, 
 w^hich contain the normal number of eggs, four. The other seven all contain from one 
 to three of these parasitic eggs, with one or two of their own, and some of these are 
 usually punctured. In none of these nests were eggs of the Dwarf Cowbird found in 
 addition to those of the Bronzed Cowbird. The former appears to confine itself to the 
 smaller Orioles only. 
 
 We are indebted to Dr. J. C. Merrill, U. S. Army, for the following account of this 
 parasite : 
 
 "My first specimens were taken at Hidalgo, on the Rio Grande, seventy miles 
 north-west of Fort Brown, where, however, they are not so abundant as lower down 
 the river. Here they are common throughout the year, a small proportion going south 
 in winter. Those that remain gather in large flocks with the Long-tailed Grackles, 
 common Cowbirds, and Brewer's, Red-winged, and Yellow-headed Blackbirds; they 
 become very tame, and the abundance of food about the picket lines attracts them for 
 miles around. The Red-eyed Cowbird is readily distinguishable in these mixed gatherings 
 from the other species by its blood-red iris and its peculiar top-heavy appearance, caused 
 by its habit of pufiing out the feathers of the head and neck. 
 
 "This habit is most marked during the breeding season and in the male, but is 
 seen throughout the year. 
 
 ."About the middle of April the common Cowbird, Brewer's, and Yellow-headed 
 Blackbirds leave for the North ; the Long-tailed Grackles have formed their colonies in 
 favorite clumps of mesquite trees ; the Redwings that remain to breed have selected sites 
 for their nests ; the Dwarf Cowbirds arrive from the South, and the Red-eyed Cowbirds 
 gather in flocks by themselves and wait for their victims to build. The males have now 
 a variety of notes, somewhat resembling those of the common Cowbird, but more harsh. 
 During the day they scatter over the surrounding country in little companies of one or 
 two females and half a dozen males, returning at nightfall to the vicinity of the picket 
 lines. While the females are feeding or resting in the shade of a bush, the males are 
 eagerly paying their addresses by puffing out their feathers, as above noted, strutting 
 up and down, and nodding and bowing in a very odd manner. Every now and then 
 one of the males rises in the air, and poising himself two or three feet above the female, 
 flutters for a minute or two, following her if she moves away, and then descends to 
 
RED-EYED COWBIRD. 247 
 
 resume his puffing and bowing. This habit of fluttering in the air was what first 
 attracted my attention to the species. In other respects their habits seem to be like 
 those of the eastern Cowbird. 
 
 "My first egg of the Red-eyed Cowbird was taken on May 14, 1876, in a Cardinal's 
 nest. A few days before this a soldier brought me a similar egg, saying he found it in a 
 Scissors-tail's (Milvulus) nest. Not recognizing it at the time, I paid little attention to 
 him, and did not keep the egg. I soon found several others, and have taken in all twenty- 
 two specimens the past season. All but two of these were found in nests of the Bullock's, 
 Hooded, and Orchard Orioles. It is a curious fact that although Yellow-breasted Chats 
 and Red-winged Blackbirds breed abundantly in places most frequented by these Cow- 
 birds, I have but once found the latter's egg in a Chat's nest, and never in a Redwing's, 
 though I have looked in very many of them. Perhaps they feel that the line should be 
 drawn somewhere, and select their cousins, the Blackbirds, as coming within it. The 
 Dwarf Cowbirds are not troubled by this scruple, however. Several of these parasitic 
 eggs were found under interesting conditions. On six occasions I have found an egg of 
 both Cowbirds in the same nest. In four of these there were eggs of the rightful owner, 
 who was sitting. In the other two the Cowbird's eggs were alone in the nests, which 
 were deserted. But I have known the Hooded Oriole to set on an egg of the Red-eyed 
 Cowbird, which was on the point of hatching when found. How its own disappeared 
 I can not say. Once two eggs of this species were found in a nest of the Orchard Oriole. 
 Twice I have seen a broken egg of this Cowbird under nests of Bullock's Oriole on 
 which the owner was sitting. 
 
 "Early in June a nest of the Hooded Oriole was found, with four eggs, and one of 
 the Red-eyed Cowbird, all of which I removed when leaving the nest. Happening to 
 pass by it a few days later, I looked in, and to my surprise found two eggs of this Cow- 
 bird, which were broken. These were so unlike that they were probably laid by different 
 birds. Still another egg, and the last, was laid in the same nest within ten days. But 
 the most remarkable instance was a nest of the Orchard Oriole, found June 20, contain- 
 ing three eggs of the Red-eyed Cowbird, while just beneath it was a whole egg of this 
 parasite; also a broken one of this and the Dwarf Cowbird. Two of the eggs in the nest 
 were rotten. The third, strange to say, contained a living embryo. As the nest was 
 certainly deserted, I can only account for this by supposing that the two rotten ones 
 were laid about the first week of June, when there was considerable rain, and that the 
 other w^as deposited soon after, since which time the w^eather had been clear and very 
 hot. On one occasion I found a female of the Red-eyed Cowbird hanging with a stout 
 thread around its neck to a nest of the Bullock's Oriole. The nest contained one young 
 of this Cowbird, and it is probable that its parent after depositing the egg was entangled 
 in the thread on hurriedly leaving the nest, and there died. It had apparently been dead 
 about two w^eeks. This case supports the view that the eggs or young of the owner are 
 thrown out by the young parasite and not removed by its parent, though I could find 
 no trace of them beneath the nest." 
 
 Several other species of Cowbirds inhabit South America.* 
 
 * For further information on this very interesting subject see Major Charles Bendire's excellent paper: "The Cow- 
 birds" in Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1893, pp, 587—624. 
 
248 YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. 
 
 NAMES: Red-eyed Cowbird, Bronzed Cowbird. 
 
 SCIBNTIPIC NAMES: Psarocolinas leneus Wagler (1829). Molothrus robustus Cab. (1851). CALLO- 
 THRUS ROBUSTUS Ridgw. (1887). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Adult male: Uniform glossy black, with bronzy lustre; lesser and middle wing-coverts and 
 rump, glossed violet; wings in general, upper tail-coverts and tail, glossy blue-black, changing to 
 greenish; iris, bright red. Size, 9.00 to 9.50 inches. Adult female: Brownish-gray. About one inch 
 smaller. 
 
 YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, 
 
 Xanthocephalus xahthocephalus Jordan. 
 
 Plate XXIX. Fig. 3. 
 
 ^HE Blackbirds belong to the most characteristic features of our American landscapes. 
 Wherever they occur, be it in their breeding haunts, on their way to and from 
 the South or in their winter-quarters, they impart the landscape with the conspicuous- 
 ness and peculiarity of their presence. Being eminently gregarious when not breeding, 
 they move about in large black swarms. Though possessed of a special fondness for low 
 marshy or watery places, we find them scouring the open cultivated country in quest of 
 food, being frequently seen in fields, pastures, meadows, and orchards. The swarms of 
 Blackbirds are familiar to every "country boy, and their coming and departing is quite 
 an event in rural life. The prevailing color of these birds is a deep black, glossed with 
 bronze, violet, purple, blue, green, and gold. All the Crackles, as well as the Blue-headed 
 and Rusty Blackbirds, are entirely black, while in the Bobolink, the Red-wings, and the 
 Yellow-headed Blackbirds the lustrous black contrasts well with their other colors of 
 bright red, yellow, and white. When arriving in spring they are exceedingly noisy and 
 their characteristic call-note, a loud teck, is uttered by almost every individual of the 
 swarm. Throughout the season, from their arrival in spring until they assemble again 
 in swarms after moulting time, these peculiar sounds are heard always and every- 
 where. With the exception of the Cowbird, each species utters a few pleasant song- 
 like notes. 
 
 One of the most beautifiil and conspicuous birds in the marshes of the low rich 
 prairies of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and thence westward to California, is 
 the Yellow-headed Blackbird or Yellowhead. Being found in great abundance in 
 one locality and not at all in another, it is a familiar bird in some places, while entirely 
 unknown in others. Generally it occurs in the flat, moist prairies where extensive 
 marshes, overgrown with luxuriant rushes and sedges, are found. While the Red-winged 
 Blackbird is contented with small swamps in wooded and cultivated districts, the 
 Yellow -headed Blackbird is only met with in places particularly adapted to its wants. 
 It is at all times a gregarious bird and usually breeds in large colonies, one nest being 
 found in close proximity to another. The smallest swamp offers all necessities of life to 
 the Redwing, but for the sociable Yellowhead only the largest marshes offer an induce- 
 ment for colonization. It has always been found in such places and, indeed, only in the 
 
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. 249 
 
 marshes of extensive prairies, never in swamps located in forest regions or where fields 
 and woods alternate. The Yellowhead is therefore pre-eminently a prairie bird. I have 
 observed this beautiful and interesting species in great abundance in the Calumet marshes 
 of northern Illinois, and in the Koshkonong and Horicon marshes of Wisconsin. Its 
 breeding range extends from Texas and New Mexico northward to the interior of the 
 fur countries, where it was found to latitude 58°, and from Illinois to California. In 
 Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, the Dakotas, and Manitoba the Yellow-headed Blackbirds are 
 found in large communities, but their occurrence is always restricted to extensive 
 marshes. In some localities in California they are exceedingly abundant. Prof. Robert 
 Ridgway reports that they abound in the marshes of California and that they even 
 exceed the Redwings in number. Frequently their nests filled the rushes of their breeding 
 places. Dr. Elliott Coues found them in large numbers in Kansas and New Mexico. 
 Thousands were breeding in a marshy place near Laguna, just west of the Rio Grande, 
 and they were also seen by him in eastern Arizona, but not in such plenty. About 
 Klamath Lake, Oregon, they also have been found in abundance. They are said to 
 reach the Saskatchewan by the 20th of May. Single specimens have been recorded from 
 Florida,' Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and even from Greenland, and this erratic appear- 
 ance in localities so remote from their usual habitat and from their route of migration 
 sufliciently attests the nomadic character of the species. 
 
 Twenty years ago this beautiful bird was a characteristic and abundant summer 
 sojourner on the Calumet marshes and of Calumet Lake, near which the city of Pullman 
 has since sprung up as if by magic. At that time I had an excellent opportunity of 
 observing these birds. I first visited the colonies of Yellowheads on June 10, 1878, 
 Calumet Lake was then situated in the wide open prairie, about a mile from Kensington. 
 The shallow water was bordered with a dense growth of reeds which ultimately attained 
 a height of from six to eight feet. No tree, no shrub was found anywhere near this 
 body of w^ater, and only toward south-east the eye met a wooded elevation. It was 
 a beautiful, warm day especially adapted for roaming about in quest of birds and 
 flowers. At a distance of almost a half a mile I noticed these birds already in great 
 numbers, and when I came nearer I alsot heard their voices. Large numbers were search- 
 ing in the low^ prairie for food, and small flocks were incessantly flying away, while 
 others were returning. Many were busy collecting and carrying nesting material. When 
 I approached the edge of the water more closely I heard their noisy guttural and 
 whistling sounds. Hundreds of them were gamboling and flying about among the 
 rushes, or they were perched on the stalks of these plants which w^ere bending under 
 their weight. All of them were exceedingly active, and their movements among the 
 reeds as well as on the ground were graceful and adroit. I found qui^e a number of 
 nests in all stages of completion. Being all situated quite a distance from the shore, 
 they could not be approached without the aid of a canoe. I attempted to reach several 
 of the nearest by wading, but the water became deeper and deeper so that I had to 
 return. When I paddled my small canoe with much difficulty through the rushes I had 
 the good opportunity of examining many of the nests. They often were scarcely three 
 feet apart and were built only a few inches above the water. They were attached to 
 tall reeds or rushes, usually in the midst of clumps of the latter, and these were so 
 
 32 
 
dense in their growth that the nests were not easily discovered. The material of which 
 these nests are woven consists of coarse pliable sedges and grasses and the lining of 
 finer grasses. This material is collected from the water and it is only used when 
 thoroughly wet and soft. I saw many nests just begun or only partly finished and all the 
 material was entirely wet. I also observed the birds gathering and carrying the wert 
 grass-stems to their nests. Only a few^ of the structures contained a full complement of 
 eggs, usually four or five in number, while many contained only one or two. A typical 
 nest which I took with me measured 8.00 inches in length and 6.00 inches in width. 
 The cavity was 3.00 inches wide and 2.50 inches deep. After the wet material has 
 become dry the nest is very compact and durable, and it is also a very skilful piece of 
 work. This nest is placed in a tuft of upright reeds, some of which pass through the 
 walls, fastening it securely. Marsh Wrens and a few pairs of Redwings were breeding 
 peacefully among them. The eggs, usually four and sometimes five in number, are dull 
 grayish or pale greenish'white, and are densely covered with small spots and blotches 
 of drab, purplish-brown, and umber. When I visited the colonies of these birds, myriads 
 of May or June flies {Ephemera) were swarming over the water and in the air, so that 
 it was almost impossible to keep the eyes open. 
 
 The Yellowheads never arrived before May 15 in this locality, and as the reeds 
 and sedges in the swamps are small at this time they do not settle in their breeding 
 haunts before the first week in June. As soon as the water becomes warm the rushes 
 grow with great rapidity. By the 15th of June they are so strong and dense that the 
 nests are well hidden and not readily seen at any distance. I have seen these birds 
 swarming about throughout the winter from October to May in the marshes on 
 the Gulf coast of south-eastern Texas. Even in May I have observed flocks of them. 
 Their presence so far south at this season, and in such numbers, would indicate that 
 they breed there. 
 
 At present the Yellow-headed Blackbirds are abundantly breeding in the Koshkonong 
 and Horicon marshes in Wisconsin, and their light, neat, and elegant structures are 
 frequently found in the dense rushes and sedges by the middle of June. Towards the 
 end of summer they congregate into large swarms, assembling with Redwings and even 
 with Cowbirds. They move about in the country for some time and pass southward 
 by the end of October or earlier. Indeed, I have seen none of these interesting birds 
 after the beginning of Sjeptember in Wisconsin. Their food consists largely of grass- 
 hoppers, snails, all kinds of water-insects. May flies, etc. The young are exclusively fed 
 on insects. Like the Redwings, the Meadowlarks, and Brewer's Blackbirds the Yellow- 
 heads are a great blessi|ig to the farmer, destroying, as they do, immense numbers of 
 noxious insects. According to Mr. W. J. McLaughlin, of Centralia, Kansas, these birds 
 arrive in that region about the first of May, and all disappear about the 10th of June. 
 He does not think that any breed there. During their stay they made themselves very 
 valuable to the farmer by destroying swarms of young grasshoppers. On the writer's 
 land the grasshoppers had deposited their eggs by the million. As they began to hatch, 
 the Yellowheads found them out, and a flock of about two hundred made clean work 
 on about two acres each day, roving over the entire lot in the manner of wild Pigeons, 
 the rear ones flying to the front as the insects were devoured. In their winter-quarters 
 
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. 251 
 
 and late in fall they also subsist on all kinds of seeds, especially those of the reeds and 
 sedges. Most of their food is picked up from the ground, and they even dig into the 
 soft earth with their bills in search of insects and their larvae. It is interesting to watch 
 them while running over the ground. They are straddling about with a quaint and 
 graceful gait, entirely in the manner of the Redwings and others of the family. 
 
 The notes of the Yellowhead are harsh and not musical, but they are by no means 
 disagreeable, while frequently their attempts to utter a song to. the best of their ability 
 is very amusing. Every sound is usually accompanied by raising and lowering the head, 
 turning the neck, spreading the wings and tail, and stretching the legs. The common 
 call-note is a loud teck, similar to that of all Blackbirds, but of a rather deeper tone, 
 while the song, if song it may be called, consists of several whistling and many harsh 
 and guttural sounds. When hundreds of these birds have alighted in an isolated tree 
 and almost every male is uttering its peculiar notes, the effect of the concert is really 
 pleasant. I have kept one for several years in a roomy cage, and from early April until 
 the middle of July the bird was by no means parsimonious with its notes. 
 
 These birds are exceedingly gregarious, even in the nuptial season, breeding in large 
 communities wherever found. As soon as the young are able to join they move about 
 in dense swarms, and it is a very attractive sight to observe the immense black cloud- 
 like hordes, moving along over the ground or speeding on in graceful undulating lines 
 through the air. 
 
 There is no doubt about the real and assthetical value of these birds. They belong 
 
 to the most active and beautiful ornaments of our American landscape, g,nd desolate 
 
 and dead indeed would seem our tree and bushless marshy prdiries without the presence 
 
 of these elegant summer sojourners. 
 
 NAMES: Yellow-headed Blackbird, Yellowhead.— Gelbkopfstarling (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC N.4.MBS: Icterus xantbocephalus Bonap. (1826). Agelaius xaatbocephalas Swains. (1831). 
 Icterus icterocepbalas Bonap. (1835). Xantbocephalus kterocepbalus Baird (1858). XANTHO- 
 CBPHALUS XANTHOCEPHALUS Jordan (1884). 
 
 DESCRIPTION. "Male: Black, including the lores; head, neck, and fore breast, yellow; a large white wing- 
 patch.— Length, 10.00 to 11.00 inches; extent, 16.50 to 17.00; wing, about 5.50; tail, 4.50 inches. 
 "Female and young: Brownish-black, the yellow restricted or obscured, and little if any white on 
 the wing. Female much smaller than the male. — Length, 8.50 to 9.00 inches." 
 
 (Stearns & Cones, New England Bird-life. Vol. I, p. 300.) 
 
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 
 
 Agelaius phceniceus Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXIX. Fig. 4. 
 
 Why chidest thou the tardy spring? 
 The hardy Bnnting does not chide ; 
 The Blackbirds make the maples ring 
 With social cheer and jnbilee ; 
 The Redwing flutes his o-ka-tee. 
 
 R. W. EUERSON. 
 
 f 
 
 ^^^^ VERY locality has its characteristic vegetation and bird-life. In some favored 
 ^^^ places where the conditions are particularly propitious, we may find a large 
 number of species, while in other spots less opportune only few birds occur. The birds 
 of the mountains and woodlands are different from those of the plains and prairies, the 
 field and meadow harbors others as the garden and orchard. Many birds have a 
 restricted range of distribution, while others are found over an immense territory. In 
 the foregoing pages * I have frequently alluded to the surroundings and associations of 
 my youth, and particularly the "small lake" of my native State has often been men- 
 tioned. In that locality the conditions were exceptionally favorable to vegetation and 
 bird-life, and almost all the species occurring in the region were found on the lake or in 
 close proximity to it. Marshes and low meadows, thickets and openings. Cultivated 
 lands and large tracts of primeval forest, hills and valleys, small swamps filled with 
 cat-tail flags', bulrushes^, common meadow-sweet', and the large blue flag or iris*, and 
 extensive thickets covered with climbers were found everywhere in the vicinity of the 
 lake. The marshy outlet was bordered partly by dense masses of thickets and partly 
 by rank growing rushes and sedges. In early spring large tracts of meadow land were 
 transformed into a yellow and green carpet by the marsh marigold, and in June the 
 edge of the outlet appeared in some places at a distance like a beautiful blue ribbon by the 
 masses of flowering blue flags. In the water the exquisite fragrant w^ater-lily^ and the 
 yellow pond-lily grew abundantly. How often have I observed the Virginia Rail and 
 the Sora leading their active and timid young over the wat^r-lily leaves! The con- 
 spicuous nests of the muskrats were numerous on the edge of the lake, and they 
 formed quite a feature of the landscape especially in winter, when all the shrubs 
 around them were leafless. The Pied-billed Grebe, the Hooded Merganser, the Wood 
 Duck, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Pintail, and other Ducks were breeding nnmolested at 
 that time, and the lonesome, patient angler had always a good success, as fishes were 
 very plentiful The American Woodcock nested numerously in the moist woods. In the 
 sloping beautiful woodland toward the edge of the lake the songs of the Veery, the 
 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and the Scarlet Tanager were familiar to the rambler, and in 
 the evening the notes of the Whippoorwill lulled the hard working settlers into a sound 
 slumber. Passenger Pigeons were seen in incalculable numbers, and some trees, especially 
 
 ' See page 202. 
 I Typba latifolia. ^ Sclrpus.' » Spireea salidfoUa. * Iris versicolor, e Nympheea tuberosa. 
 
XXIX 
 
 1. 2. 
 
 0. 
 
 1. 2. DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS Swains 6 &-9 
 
 3. XANTHOCEPHALUS XANTHOCEPHALUS Jordan. 
 
 4. AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS Swains. 
 
 5. STURNELLA MAGNA Swains. 
 
 BOBOLINK. - Bobolink. 
 GELBKOPF-STARLING.- Yellow-headed Blackbird. 
 ROTHriUGFL- STARLING. - Red-wmged Blackbird. 
 WIESEN -STARLING.- Meadowtark. 
 
RED WINGED BLACKBIRD. 253 
 
 beeches, were filled with their nests, which nearly without exception contained only one 
 egg. How persuasive and sweet sounded their melodious, loud, and rather high song-like 
 call-notes through the forest when they arrived in their breeding haunts from their foraging 
 tour! How suggestive of spring in all its beauty were these sounds, and what charm 
 did these notes and the drumming of the Ruffed Grouse lend to the glorious, almost un- 
 touched forest ! How do I long to hear these sounds again ! But alas ! they are silent 
 forever as are the whistling notes of the Bobwhite, and destroyed is the beauty of the 
 once so magnificent forests. The meadows swarmed with BoboUnks, and although not 
 jet exterminated, they have become quite rare of late. 
 
 The birds of the swamps and the marshy borders of the lake were compai'atively 
 safe from intruding enemies. With the exception of the black water snake, the mink, 
 and the raccoon there was little to fear. The latter came here during the night to in- 
 dulge in hunting and catching cray-fishes. Although the ground swung up and down 
 under my feet near the edge of the lake and the outlet, there was so much to attract 
 me that I could not resist from penetrating the seclusion of the rank vegetation, where 
 gorgeous flowers, brilliant birds and butterflies, noisy katydids and restless dragon flies 
 abounded, and where numerous bullfrogs called out in loud and "echoing bellow, w'rroo, 
 'warroo, 'worwrroo, 'boaroo, which again was answered, or as it were, merely varied, 
 by the creaking or cackling voice of their feathered neighbors." Here Marsh Wrens, Ducks, 
 and other birds nested, and in August brilliant lobelias blossomed abundantly. There 
 was no firm footing, still I ventured on, hidden from all the w^orld at times by the tall 
 reeds, the silk-weed {Asclepias), the stately typha, and thickets of shrubs. The Swamp 
 Sparrow, the Maryland Yellow-throat, the Cedar-bird were often disturbed by me on 
 their nests, and the Great Blue Heron casted ominous shadows when taking wing. The 
 most characteristic inhabitants of such localities, however, were the Red-winged Black- 
 birds who were breeding in large colonies among the reeds and swamp grasses. Indeed, 
 they imparted to these and similar localities a beauty and life entirely their own, being 
 the most conspicuous features of all the marshes and swamps. 
 
 In a former life-history I called the Bobolink the beauty and poetry of our grassy, 
 flower-adorned northern meadows. In the same sense the Red- winged Blackbird is an 
 almost ideal feathered inhabitant of our swamps and marshy lake borders. There would 
 be little charm about such localities were they not inhabited by these beautiful and 
 conspicuous birds. Since my earliest childhood this familiar bird is associated in my 
 mind with the typhas, the water-lilies, the blue flags, the reeds and bulrushes, the peat 
 and muck, the sphagnum moss and cranberry patches, and the nests of the muskrats. 
 
 The Red-winged Blackbirds arrive early in their breeding haunts. I have seen 
 them in Sheboygan County, Wis., as early as March 10, and in northern Illinois by the 
 first of that mbnth. Large flocks were observed by me the 29th and 30th of January 
 at Freistatt, Lawrence Co., Mo. Although arriving sometimes in advance of the Robins, 
 they are rather irregular in their appearance, which is entirely dependent on the con- 
 dition of the weather. They appear in flocks from twenty to a hundred, and more, and 
 are frequently seen perching on an isolated tree, where everyone begins to utter its notes 
 at its utmost power. Some are calling out incessantly their characteristic con-^nr-ee, or 
 o-ka-lee, while many utter their whistling tu-tii and the rest their common call-notes tack, 
 
tack. This music seems something betwixt chattering and warbling, and there is so 
 much confusion in this mad concert of spring that its impression is as unique as it is 
 pleasant. There are often other notes heard, reminding one of saw-filing or the sound of a 
 rusty hinge. The whole constitutes, as Mr. Nuttall says, a novel and grand chorus of 
 discord and harmony, in which the performers seem in good earnest, and bristle up 
 their feathers, as if inclined at least, to make up in quantity what their show of music 
 may lack in quality. This concert can sometimes be heard for an hour or more if the 
 weather be fair and is noticed at a distance of more than a mile. The birds look like dark 
 clouds when they settle on a tree, and they present in their spring dress a very grand 
 and imposing appearance, besides their filling the air with the matchless charm of their 
 unique spring music. The first flocks which appear from the South consist of males; the 
 females arrive from eight to ten days later. 
 
 I have observed them throughout the winter in vast swarms from Florida to 
 south-eastern Texas. They frequent chiefly the sugar-cane and corn-fields, where they 
 move about like black clouds, rising suddenly when disturbed with a thunder-like noise 
 "and exhibiting amidst the broad shadows of their dark plumage, the bright flashing 
 of the Vermillion with which their wings are so singularly decorated. After whirling a 
 little distance, they descend as a torrent, and darkening the branches of the trees by 
 their numbers, they commence a general concert that may be heard for more than two 
 miles" and which is quite similar to that of their spring arrival to which I have alluded. 
 During the evening they retreat to their roosts in swamps, .thickly covered with trees 
 and shrubs, or to the dense woods in the low-lands. In the morning they leave their 
 roosts at day -break ; the immense swarms separate into smaller ones, which fly in ali 
 directions to forage. Near Houston, Texas, I often observed Yellow-headed Blackbir^ff 
 and Cowbirds among the sw^arms of Redwings. 
 
 On the Atlantic coast they are found wintering firom Virginia southward, ^/par 
 the sea coast they frequent old fields of rice and com. "Wilson, passing in Jaj^i^ary 
 through the lower regions of Virginia, firequently witnessed the aerial evolutj^ps ' of 
 great bodies of these birds. Sometimes they appeared as if driven about ^ke an 
 enormous black cloud carried before the wind, varying every moment in shape, Some- 
 times they rose up suddenly from the fields with a noise like thunder. At times the 
 whole congregated multitude would suddenly alight in some detached grov© and com- 
 mence one general concert, that he could plainly distinguish at a distance of more than 
 two miles, and when listened to at a distance of a quarter of a mile, the flow of its 
 cadences was grand, and even sublime. The whole winter season seems one continued 
 carnival. They find abundant food in the old fields, and much of their time is spent in 
 aerial movements, or in grand vocal peribrmances. 
 
 The breeding range of this Blackbird is a very large one, exteiiding from Florida 
 and south-eastern Texas northward to the Great Slave Lake and from the Atlantic 
 west to the Pacific. In winter it is found south to Costa Rica. In southern Florida 
 and the Gulf coast of Louisiana it is represented by the very similar Bahama Redwing. 
 
 After their arrival in the North small flocks are roving around in the country until 
 May, when they separate in pairs and each pair moves into its own quarters. They 
 are found in almost every marsh and small swamp covered with a few bushes and a 
 
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 255 
 
 rank growth of marsh grasses, rashes, and sedges. The marshy edges of lakes and 
 rivers are also chosen for a home. Marsh Wrens are often nesting close to the Red- 
 wing's domicile, and the latter are sometimes found in the colonies of the Yellowheads. 
 At quite a distance we hear the sweet con-cur-ee or their whistling tU-tU, besides their 
 common call-note. Their bodies of jetty black, with a broad patch of vermillion on the 
 shoulder, which sparkle in the sun's rays with pleasing effect, and their activity combine 
 to make the Red-wing one of our most beautiful and interesting familiar birds. The 
 June landscape, especially the swamp, would seem incomplete without the Red-wing. I 
 can scarcely imagine how its notes would sound in the dense woods or on the mountain 
 side. They belong to the swamp like the water, the sedges, and rushes. So much 
 depends on association of familiar sounds with the season, or with circumstances under 
 which they occur. As soon as the birds have settled in their haunts, the male is seen 
 perched upon the summit of a bush standing in the water, where he utters almost 
 incessantly his charming con-cur-ee and his whistling tu-tii, or he flies around in short 
 and graceful circles, and sometimes also hovers in the air for seconds. This circular 
 flying and hovering, which is always accompanied by its loud and peculiar notes, is 
 usually observed when the nest is approached ; doubtless the ever watchful and attentive 
 male tries by these excited manoeuvres to attract the attention of the enemy to some 
 other spot. If the nest is pillaged, for several days the pair evince great distress, and make 
 frequent lamentations, but they soon prepare to remedy the disaster. They are so 
 tenacious of the selected locality, that they often build a second and even a third nest 
 within close proximity of the first one. Often only a few bushes are found in the Red- 
 wing's haunts, and frequently the swamps are covered with an open growth of alders, 
 button-bushes, and spiraea. In all the small sloughs of the prairies of Illinois it is a 
 common bird, and I found it equally abundant in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, 
 and Florida. Wherever found it is a familiar bird, owing to its charming beauty, its 
 noisy disposition, and its abundance. In small swamps only one pair occurs, while in 
 larger ones often a dozen or more may be observed. It has been recorded by Prof. R. 
 Ridgw^ay, that "the males are polygamous, each having under his protection from two 
 to three or four demure looking females, hardly half his size, and dressed in homely garb, 
 who attend quietly and assiduously to their domestic duties, while their lord and master 
 mounts guard upon some prominent perch near by and cheers them with his song." 
 
 The nest I have alw^ays found in clumps of sedges and marsh grasses, but other 
 ornithologists have often detected it also in bushes five to seven feet, and even 
 higher, from the ground. Outwardly it is composed of dry slender pieces of sedges and 
 grass-stems which are securely fastened into a bunch of rushes or other swamp grasses. 
 These materials appear to be used only when wet, and they are well woven together, 
 forming a very compact and substantial structure w^hen dry. The interior of the nest 
 is made of a little rotten wood, roots, a few pieces of muck and the cavity is lined with 
 finer grasses. Usually the nest is so well hidden among the slender stems of a bunch of 
 marsh grasses that it is not readily found. The eggs, usually four, rarely five in num 
 ber, are light blue, marbled, lined, blotched, and clouded with dark purple and black 
 markings, almost entirely about the larger end, but vary considerably in this respect. 
 
 The eggs hatch in thirteen or fourteen days and the young are cared for by their 
 
parents with great devotion. The old male is now especially watchful and when an 
 intruder approaches, he tries to direct his attention to some other point quite a distance 
 from the n^st. The young are fed almost entirely with noxious insects, of which they 
 consume incalculable numbers. In the northern parts of the country they have but one 
 brood each season, and I think there are only in rare cases two broods reared annually 
 in the South. In August young and old birds begin to collect in small flocks, visiting 
 the fields of com ; they are said to commit sometimes great depredations upon this cereal 
 farther south. They attack the Indian com only when in the milk ; as soon as it hardens, 
 they desist from these attacks, and seek other food. In Wisconsin they do little harm 
 to the com crop, but in southern Illinois and in the rice-fields of the South, where they 
 gather in large swarms, they commit great havoc. These scenes of pillage are, however, 
 for the most part confined to the lowlands of the Mississippi and the sea coast, and 
 only last during a short period, when the com is soft and milky. 
 
 On the other hand I have to state that the Red-wings "more than compensate the 
 farmer for the mischief, by the immense benefits they confer in the destruction of grub- 
 worms, eater-pillars, and various kinds of larvae, the secret and deadly enemies of 
 vegetation." Every farmer knows that the fresh spring ploughing turns up an army of 
 grubs and the larvae of myriads of noxious insects, which, if left to themselves, would 
 be sufficient to destroy a large portion of the crop w^hich the ground would produce. 
 But just at this time come the immense flocks of Red-wings, the objects of the farmer's 
 aversion, and as they subsist almost exclusively on this kind of food, they resort at 
 once to the open fields and cultivated grounds, and in this way compensate the cultivator 
 of the soil doubly for all the damage they may do. During the months from March to 
 July and August their food consists almost entirely of insects, and during that period 
 "the amount of their insect food, all of it of the most noxious kinds, is perfectly enormous. 
 These they both consume themselves and feed to their young. Wilson estimated the 
 number of insects destroyed by these birds at a single season, in the United States, at 
 twelve thousand millions." (Brewer.) 
 
 A variety, the Sonoran Red-wing, Agelaius phceniceus sonoriensis Ridgw., inhabits 
 northern Mexico and contiguous borders of the United States, from the lower Rio Grande 
 valley and southern Arizona north to the lower Colorado valley, California, and 
 Chilli wack, British Columbia. 
 
 A second variety, the Bahaman Red-wing, Agelaius phceniceus bryanti Ridgw., is 
 found in the Bahamas, southern Florida, west to the Gulf coast of Louisiana (Lake 
 Borgne), south to Yucatan and Nicaragua. Both varieties are in almost every respect 
 identical with the common species. 
 
 NAMES: Red-winged Blackbird, Red-wing, Common Red-wing, Swamp Blackbird, Slough Blackbird, Red- 
 winged Starling. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Orio/us pJicen/ceas Linn. (1766). AGELAIUS PHCENICEUS '^mvLl.. (\.%\G). Icterus 
 pbcenicetfs Licht. (1823). Sturnus predatorius Wils. (1811). 
 
 DESCRIPTION : Adult wale: Uniform lustrous velvety black, with greenish reflection ; shoulders and lesser 
 wing-coverts of a bright crimson or vermillion-red ; middle coverts, brownish-yellow or buflf, and 
 usually paler towards the tips. Female: Brown above, the feathers edged or streaked with rufous- 
 brown and yellowish; beneath, whitish, streaked with brown; fore-part of throat, superciliary, and 
 median stripe strongly tinged with brownish-yellow. — Length of male, 9.00 to 10.00 inches; wing, 
 4.88 ; tail, 3.84 inches. Female, 8.00 inches ; wing, 3.99 ; tail, 3.12 inches. 
 
5ICOLORED BLACKBIRD. 
 
 Agelaius gubernator Bonaparte. 
 
 In California we find, besides the common Red-wing, two other similar species. 
 One is the Tricolored Blackbird and the other the Bicolored Blackbird, the subject of 
 this sketch. It is also known as the Red-and-black-shouldered Blackbird and the Crimson- 
 shouldered Blackbird. It occurs abundantly along the Pacific coast fi-om British Columbia 
 south throughout California. According to the observations of several ornithologists, 
 among whom may be mentioned Prof. Robert Ridgway, Dr. Heermann, Dr. Kennedy, 
 and Dr. Cooper, this Blackbird is chiefly found in the warmer interior of California. It 
 is found in scattered pairs throughout the Coast Range, even to the summits, where 
 there are small marshes full of rushes, in which it builds. In its habits it much resembles 
 the Redwing, and these birds are said to emit a variety of sweet and liquid notes, 
 delivered from some tree near their favorite marsh. Large flocks can be seen in California 
 whirling around in graceftil curves, like dark clouds, chattering joyfully as they move 
 along, or they are settling as a black veil on the topmost branches of some tree, indulging 
 loudly in their harsh and jingling music. 
 
 Its nest has been found in willow bushes and tussocks of grass above the level of 
 the water, in the marshes. It is composed of slender stems of reeds, mud, and fine 
 roots, and is lined with fine grasses. 
 
 The eggs, usually four in number, are light blue or bluish-white, marked around 
 the larger end w^ith waving lines and streaks of dark brown. These markings are lighter 
 than those on the eggs of the common Redwing. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Psarocolius gubernator Wagler (1832). AGELAIUS GUBERNATOR Bonaparte 
 (1837). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Adult male, deep lustrous velvety black with faint greenish gloss; the lesser coverts, rich 
 crimson; the middle coverts, brownish-yellow at base, but the exposed portion black. — Length, 9.00 
 to 10.00 inches; wing, 5.17; tail, 3.83 inches. Adult temale, nearly uniform dark slaty-brown; lower 
 parts, brownish dusky, more or less distinctly streaked with dull brownish-gray ; chin and throat, pale 
 buffy or pinkish.— Length, 8,00 inches; wing, 4.21; tail, 3.04 inches. 
 
 TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD. 
 
 Agelaius tricolor Bonaparte. 
 
 This beautifiil species, which is also known as the Red-and-white-shouldered Black- 
 bird, occurs in great abundance in California and Oregon. Mr. Ridgway observed it 
 among the tul6 in the neighborhood of Sacramento, where it was very abundant, 
 associating with the common Redwing, the Bicolored Blackbird, and the Yellow-headed 
 Blackbird. By its conspicuous white stripe on the wing it may be easily distinguished 
 from the other species, where they are all seen together. In his opinion the notes of the 
 Tricolored Blackbird differ considerably from those of the two other Red-winged 
 Blackbirds. 
 
 Dr. Heermann, when hunting in the w^inter of 1852 in the marshes of Suisan 
 Valley, Cal., often found, on hearing a dull, rushing, roaring noise, that the same was 
 produced by a single flock of this species, numbering so many thousands as to darken 
 
 33 
 
258 TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD. 
 
 the sky for some distance by their masses. In the northern part of California he met 
 with a breeding place of this species that occupied several acres, covered with alder- 
 bushes and willows, in the immediate neighborhood of water. The nests, often four or 
 five in the same bush, were composed of mud and straw, and lined with fine grasses. 
 The birds are very abundant near San Diego and Los Angelos, and not rare at Santa 
 Barbara. 
 
 "The Tricolor," says Dr. Elliott Coues, "is extremely abundant and resident in the 
 fertile portions of southern California. It very rarely crosses the intermediate desert to 
 the Colorado River ; this arid tract forming a barrier to the eastward progress of many 
 species, of gi-eat efficacy in distinguishing the littoral fauna from that of the Colorado 
 valley. One who has traveled this region will not be surprised that birds with any 
 fancy for green, watery places, decline the same journey. At Wilmington and Drumm 
 Barracks I found the Tricolors flocking in vast numbers, in November. They thronged 
 the streets of the town, and covered the military parade-ground; alone, so far as their 
 congeners were concerned, but on intimate association with hundreds of Brewer's Black- 
 birds. Both species were almost as tame as poultry. . . . Often, as I sat in my quarters 
 on a bright sunny day, the light would be suddenly obscured, just as by a quickly passing 
 cloud, and a rushing noise ensued as the compact flock swirled past the window. They 
 often alighted by hundreds on the roofs of the barracks, almost hiding the shingles, 
 and every picket of a long paling fence near by would sometimes be capped by its bird. 
 They were very noisy, chattering from daylight till dark — all the time they could see to 
 fly about. Nobody troubled them much; but Hawks of various kinds — the Harrier, the 
 Western Red-breast, and the Lanier — were continually dashing in among them, with 
 terrible swooping, bringing death to not a few, and dismay everywhere. At this season 
 the sexes kept mostly apart ; the flocks of males seemed to largely outnumber the females. 
 Very few of those I examined were in perfect plumage, much of the black being varied 
 with different shades of brown and yellowish, and the white wing-bar being imperfect. 
 In spring the birds resort together to marshy spots, breeding in loose communities. The 
 nests and eggs do not differ appreciably from those of the common Red-wing." 
 
 The eggs, four to five in number, are light blue, spotted, marbled, and blotched, 
 chiefly on the larger end, with ashy-brown, sometimes blackish. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Icterus tricolor "Nutt." Aud. (1839). AGBLAWS TRICOLOR Bonap. (1838). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male, glossy blue-black, the plumage with soft silky texture, the lesser wing-coverts 
 deep crimson or burnt carmine, the middle coverts white (tinged with bufF in winter plumage). 
 Adult female with plumage very soft and silky in texture. Similar in color to female of A. gubernator, 
 but decidedly grayer in general cast of plumage. 
 
 "Male: Length, 8.50 to 9.00 inches; wing, 4.83; tail, 3.67 inches. 
 
 "Female: Length, 7.00 to 7.50 inches; wing, 4.23; tail, 3.16." (Ridgway.) 
 
MEADOWLARK, 
 
 Sturnella magna Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXIX. Pig. 5. 
 
 Go try the charm that Nature's presence yields ; 
 Go seek the balm and fragrance of the garden, 
 And all the soothing influence of the fields. 
 
 * 
 Haunt leafy woods, with verdurous lights and shadows ; 
 
 By bank of gurgling brook repose awhile ; 
 Learn all the varying sweetness of the meadows, 
 
 The nod of grass, the wild-flower's heavenly smile. 
 
 J. K. Stayman. 
 
 li^O THE true lover of Nature nothing has so many attractions than country Ufe, 
 especially if he is the happy owner of a few or many acres of ground. For in 
 whatever part of the country he may chance to be, he will see, understand, and love 
 every part and phase of its beauty. This does, of course, not exclude the desire to see 
 as much of the earth as possible, and to learn how many kinds of beauty it can 
 show. He may visit countries heretofore unknown to him in the s<ame way he likes to 
 make new acquaintances, but comes back as gladly to the familiar spot as to the familiar 
 face. The shrubs, the trees, and flowers, which he has planted with his own hands, and 
 the birds which are familiar to him, delight him more than those about which no memories 
 and anticipations cluster. This I found especially true while spending the month of 
 November, 1895, on my place in Florida. Indeed, these days belong to the happiest and 
 most charming of my life, and all this joy and pleasure was doubled by a similar interest 
 in which a dear friend of mine so lovingly and enthusiastically participated. The woods 
 through wljich I had to pass to and from the place, were in themselves a veritable flower 
 garden. Never before had I beheld congregations of social flowers half so extensive or half 
 so glorious. Golden and white and purple compositae covered all the ground around the 
 garden, and w^hen I entered the latter I gazed upon a bewildering splendor of color and 
 form. Most of the shrubs and trees had been raised by me from seed, and now, after a few 
 years' growth in this congenial climate, I beheld them as beautiful specimens. About a 
 dozen v£irieties of the large flowering ervergv&en. Magnolia grandiEora with their magnificent 
 glossy leaves, from different parts of the Southern States, imparted the place with a rare 
 beauty. Dense specimens of abelias^, banana shrubs^, bamboos, American and sweet olives', 
 laurel cherry and Eugenia bushes S oleanders, sweet myrtles, grevilleas or silk oaks, and a 
 host of other broad-leaved evergreen shrubs, mostly from Japan and China, which had 
 been planted four years ago, were growing singly and in groups. Fresh beauty appeared 
 at every step. The bush tecoma or yellow elder°, only three years from the seed, had 
 attained a height of fully twelve feet, the central shoots standing upright, while the 
 others were arching to all sides and even to the ground, each termina!ted by a glorious 
 cluster of trumpet-like fragrant yellow flowers. A similar species of the same genus' 
 
 t Abelia rupestris. * Michelia fascata. a Osmantbus americanus and O. fragrans. * Eugenia aiistralis, E. Micheli, 
 B. Ugni. s Tecoma stans, e Tecoma velutina. 
 
and the bush allaraanda* almost vied in splendor with the foregoing. The Cape tecoma' 
 also flowered in great profusion, and its orange-sCarlet flower trusses could be seen from 
 quite a distance. Now the gorgeous blossoms of the Chinese hibiscus came to view, 
 now the large fragrant trumpets of the datura." Never fell the rays of the sun on 
 brighter spangles, never kissed the light of the moon more delicately fragrant blooms. 
 Some of the cestrums* reached above my head and were covered with trusses of orange- 
 colored aromatic flowers. The hamelia", a beautiful native shrub of southern Florida, 
 which ultimately attains a height of from ten to twelve feet, was covered with dark 
 purple berries and vermillion-red flowers, which contrasted charmingly with the dense 
 dark green foliage. The white flowers of the gigantic St. John's lily* and of the scarcely 
 less imposing, red flowering Crinutn amabile and Crinum augastum, the powerfully 
 fragrant sweet olive and the rare vanilla shrub' perfumed the air of the whole place. 
 Under a lg,ttice-roofed arbor, covered with passion flowers' and star jasmine', exquisite 
 specimens of the noble Chinese daphne" and the dark evergreen laurustinus" commenced 
 to blossom. Yuccas in great variety and in splendid specimens, and graceful araucarias, 
 cypresses, arbor-vitaes, and retinisporas were interspersed among the other plants. A 
 really tropical aspect is imparted to the plantation by the many noble palms, mostly 
 cocos and date palms. The shining green leaves of the grand sago palms" reflected the 
 sun with dazzling effect. On the lake's edge transplanted specimens of the fetter-bush" 
 were flowering for the second time. 
 
 The pine-woods are delightful sauntering grounds at any time of the year, but 
 more so in autumn. I found the much despised "poor sand" of these woods in a high 
 state of natural cultivation. The whole ground w^as covered with patches of w^ild 
 flowers. Some places were transformed into a sheet of white by the masses of pure w^hite 
 thoroughworts '^, and others were brightened by the beautiful yellow blossoms of the 
 golden sneezewort*' This was especially true of the border of the woods near the 
 garden, and the combination of pure white and bright yellow was very striking. Near 
 by quite a number of different species of plants were growing and flowering together 
 as in a mixed border. The prevailing plant was the white Petalastetnon corymbosuta, 
 a singularly elegant and highly ornamental flower. The bush liatris or blazing star^* 
 and the grassy knot- weed" were also flowering profusely. A gigantic species of 
 thoroughwort*', six to eight feet high, with immense plume-like flower-stems, was every- 
 where met with, and in the evening the flowers exhaled a delicate fragrance. Many of 
 the lakes were fringed by dense masses of golden yellow coreopsis'', like central gems 
 girdled with sparkling brilliants. These are only a few of the most common wild 
 November flowers of central Florida. The vegetation in the poor looking white sandy 
 soil was something marvellous. When I set forth in the exhilerating freshness of the 
 new day, rejoicing in the salubrious air, in the fragrance and beauty of the flowers, and 
 in the pure wildness so close about me, I only regretted that so few birds were seen. 
 I was, indeed, surprised to find such a dearth of small feathered inhabitants. When I 
 
 ) AUamanda neriifolia. 2 Tccoma Capensis. o Datura arborea and £>. Knigbtii. * Oestrum Bondouxi and C. 
 La Martola. o Hamelia patens. ^ Crinum pedunculatum. 7 Artabotrys odoratissitnus. s PassiHora ceerulea, 
 » Tracbelospernum jasminoides. J" Daphne Indica. *i Viburnum tiaus. u Cycas rcvoluta, la Andromeda aitida. 
 i< Bupatorium serotinum. 1 o Helenium tenuifolium. 10 Liatris fruticosa, 1' Tbysanella Smbriata, >» Eupatorium 
 coronopifolium. *» Coreopsis aurea. 
 
walked through the high grass around Lake Audubon, I now and then flushed a few 
 Savanna Sparrows. In the long-leaved pines Blue Jays were screaming all day long. 
 A pair of Shrikes was always near me while planting or walking around. When I sat 
 down underneath a dense oak in the twilight of evening to observe the fiery and golden 
 hues of the western sky, or when my eyes to the east fell on the quiet waters of the 
 lake and the floral beauty around me, these birds, rather curious than confiding, uttered 
 a number of peculiar notes, many of them imitations of the song of other birds. A few 
 Mockingbirds were seen in the dense oaks and in the ornamental shrubs, but they were 
 perfectly quiet. Ground Doves {Colambigallina passerina) were common among the 
 grass of the orange grove and in the garden, and flocks of Mourning Doves {Zenaida 
 zenaida) and Florida Bobwhites {Colinus virginianus Aoridanus) wei-e abundant also. 
 The plaintive pe-wee of the Phoebe was almost constantly heard throughout the day 
 in the ornamental trees. On the place, which consists of thirty-five acres, of which 
 fifteen are planted in orange trees, ten consist of water, and ten are reserved for a wild 
 garden and ornamental purposes, shooting and hunting is not allowed. All the birds 
 feel perfectly safe, but I am unable to account for their scarcity. 
 
 The most abundant and conspicuous bird during the entire month of November 
 was our familiar and beautiful Meadowlark, Meadow Starling, Fieldlark or Old Field- 
 lark, an old favorite of mine. It was seen in troops of from five to twenty and more, 
 and its song was heard almost incessantly. They frequently visited the garden, but 
 were most numerous in the grass of the orange plantation. They often perched near 
 me on a tree or on the latticed sheds, uttering their sweetest notes. Without the pre- 
 sence of these birds the place would have been well-nigh dead and desolate. They were 
 all the time busily searching for food, which consists almost entirely of insects and of 
 the seeds of all kinds of weeds. I observed them frequently in the act of catching the 
 very large, awkward and exceedingly noxious lubber grasshoppers {Romalea microptera) , 
 and they also relish the very nutritious seeds of the sand-spur, one of the vilest weeds of 
 the orange groves. I w^as informed that these birds are common summer residents in 
 this part of Florida, though not so numerous as in winter. 
 
 The Meadowlark has a very extensive range of distribution, breeding from Florida 
 and Texas to Nova Scotia and the Saskatchewan region and from the Atlantic to 
 the Plains. 
 
 In the far West it is replaced by the Western Meadowlark, and in the Sbuth-west 
 by the Mexican Meadowlark, both local varieties and very similar to the true species. 
 I have found it a numerous summer sojourner from Wisconsin to Texas and Florida, 
 being everywhere a common summer resident where it is protected and cherished. While 
 it is a very familiar and confiding bird in many regions of the Central and Western 
 States, east of the Plains, it is said to be shy, of retiring habits, and rarely seen in the 
 vicinity of houses in New England and other parts of the East. This is doubtless due 
 to the senseless and merciless slaughtering of these beautiful and extremely beneficial 
 birds in the neighborhood of cities and towns, where so-called "hunters" are loafing 
 through all the fields and woodlands to deprive our landscapes of their charming bird- 
 life. In many places in the West the Meadowlark is highly appreciated for its beauty, 
 familiarity, and song, and for its pleasant manners and its utility. 
 
 J 
 
As its name implies, this bird has a predilection for meadows, and also for old and 
 fallow fields and prairies. It takes up its abode also in clover, corn, and grain-fields, in 
 grassy orchards and open woodland borders. In Texas and Louisiana it is abundantly 
 found in the cotton and sugar plantations, and in Florida in the orange groves. 
 
 The Meadowlark is a true harbinger of spring, arriving in eastern Wisconsin often 
 by the latter part of March or early in April. Indeed I have seen single individuals as 
 early as March 20 in Sheboygan County. It announces its presence at once by its loud 
 and exhilerating call-note, which sounds like he-ah-be-bere, or, according to Nuttall, like 
 et-see-dee-ab. When arriving they are usually assembled in flocks of ten to twenty or 
 more, which frequently alight on an isolated tree, where all are singing their sweetest 
 notes. This is an exquisite spring concert, full of hilarity and anticipation, but it is 
 heard only when the weather is really mild and spring-like. If we observe closely we 
 find that they are not only singing, but that almost every one preens its feathers and 
 brings its plumage in order. All this reminds us of the Redwings and Yellowheads, 
 and it really denotes their close connection with these and other Blackbirds. All 
 their motions, with the exception of the flight, their walking on the ground, their 
 positions while standing or perching, show that the Meadowlark is a true American 
 Starling. With the true Larks it has nothing in common except its rather inap- 
 propriate name. 
 
 Soon after their arrival the flocks separate into pairs and each pair takes possession 
 of its old haunts. In localities where these birds are numerous, they live close together. 
 In Wisconsin I have counted six breeding pairs in a meadow, scarcely five acres in 
 extent. Its breeding haunts in the Northern States are invariably meadows, clover, 
 corn, and grain-fields and sometimes the grassy orchard, often in close proximity to 
 farm-houses. I found them most abundant in cultivated regions, but while riding 
 through the almost endless flower-adorned prairies of Texas, I observed them in large 
 numbers also. This was in the salubrious days of April, when their hilarious song 
 sounded from far and near. At this time the first brood followed their parents through 
 the grass and the female was preparing for a second one. 
 
 The winter home of the Meadowlark extends from Arkansas, southern Illinois, etc. 
 southward, but they are most numerous in the Gulf States. At Freistatt, in souths 
 western Missouri, they were always met with in winter ; there they found refuge against 
 the inclemencies of the weather in the corn-shocks or in dense tufts of perennial plants 
 and prairie grasses. The majority, however, moved farther south. In Wisconsin these 
 lively and home-like birds are scarcely seen after October 1, and by October 10 all have 
 left northern Illinois- I have met with the Meadbwlarks in large numbers in the sugar 
 cane, corn, and cotton plantations of south-eastern Texas and southern Louisiana 
 from early November to the last days of February. 
 
 They migrate always in loose flocks, mostly during day-time. They do not move 
 rapidly, but tarry here in a meadow or prairie, or there in a field or pasture, searching 
 for food, or resting and singing, for the Meadowlarks are scarcely ever out of song, and 
 I have heard their merry call-note uttered with equal fervency in the almost lifeless 
 prairies of Texas and Louisiana during winter as in their more beautiful and varied 
 summer haunts at the North. Their flight much resembles that of the Quail. Although 
 
MEADOWLARK. 263 
 
 short and quick, it is rather heavy and jerky. When the bird first rises from the ground, 
 it flutters like a young bird until it has ascended twenty or thirty feet, when it pursues 
 a bee-line course, with alternate saiHngs, and flutters until ready to alight, which is 
 usually not at any great distance. When assembled in flocks shortly after their arrival 
 or when ready to leave in the fall, they also never fly very far. They may start earnestly, 
 but finding a favorable locality usually one after another is flying down to the ground, 
 where they walk about in a very graceful attitude. In the height of the migration the 
 flocks ascend high into the air and then they fly with great speed. 
 
 In Wisconsin the birds begin to build their nests early in May, in south-western 
 Missouri fully a month earlier, and in south-eastern Texas full sets of eggs are found 
 by the middle of March. The female constructs the nest alone, Tvhile the male is singing 
 to her his sweetest notes. The structure is always placed on the ground, usually in the 
 shelter of a thick tuft of grass, on the side of a few corn-stalks, a bunch of clover, etc. 
 Often a covered passage is built to their hidden nest. This entrance is usually formed 
 of withered grass, and so well conceals the nest that it can only be detected by flushing 
 the female from it, or by the anxiety of her mate, who will frequently fly round the 
 spot in so narrow a circuit as to betray its location. In many cases the nest is arched 
 over on one side. These arched nests I have only found when nothing else was present 
 to give the structure privacy. Usually it is placed in a slight depression of the soil. It 
 is constructed of coarse grasses and lined with finer ones. The eggs, usually four in 
 number, have a white ground-color and are marked irregularly with reddish-brown spots 
 and lilac shell-marks. When the young have left the nest a second brood usually follows, 
 and in the South often a third one. The parents are so much attached to their young 
 that they utter the saddest notes if some accident befalls them. They fly around in 
 great distress, for several days bemoaning their young in the most lamenting and 
 mournful tones. "The saddest and most reproachful strains which birds have ever 
 poured into my ear w^ere uttered for days in succession from a Meadowlark whom I 
 had deprived of his mate and his home during his brief absence. Not knowing what 
 had become of them, he called so incessantly, with such sad surprise at no answer, such 
 mournful beseeching and lamentation, that it made my heart ache."* 
 
 The Meadowlark is almost an ideal bird, one of our most valuable songsters. 
 How^ beautifully contrasts the bright yellow^ with the deep black crescent on the breast 
 in the sunshine of a lovely spring day's morning! And how impressive are the loud 
 and exhilerating notes ! When the farmer in the early morning follows his team to the 
 field, his ear catches the finest and most delightful strains. Usually the bird is perched 
 at this time on a feflce-post or a rail while singing, and in performing its song it assumes 
 an upright, proud position. Almost all day long it is the plougher's companion, follow- 
 ing the fresh furrows to pick up grubs and all kinds of noxious insects, singing at the 
 same time almost incessantly. 
 
 The song is exceedingly sweet and very charming. Any suitable stretch of grass 
 land, every clover and grain-field may have its pair or its colony of Meadowlarks, 
 "making very sweet idyllic music during the season of exultation. Great tenderness, 
 almost pathos, is expressed in the liquid, sympathetic voice of these faithful creatures 
 
 • Stearns & Coues, New England Bird-life. Vol. I, p. 302. 
 
and devoted parents." Their usual call-note, which is very melodious, sounds like 
 be-ah-be-bere, or et-see-dee-ab. It is very striking and almost constantly heard. The 
 real song always expresses the same sweetness, plaintiveness, and almost wildness. It 
 is uttered usually from a fence-post or tree-top, but also from the ground, and often 
 w^hen the bird is on the wing. 
 
 "Suffice it to say, therefore," writes Prof. Robert Ridgway in his interesting and 
 valuable work, "The Ornithology of Illinois," "that while not a single charge has been 
 laid at his door, so far as the author is aware, the Meadowlark is a very general 
 favorite among lovers of birds, on account of his pleasant song, bright plumage, and 
 pretty ways. His sweet, tender song is one of the finest to be heard in our rural 
 districts, and is characterized by a delicacy of tone remarkable in so large a bird. It is 
 usually interpreted by the country folks as imitating that laziness will kill you (accent 
 on the penultimate syllable), while others imagine it to say: peek-you can't see me, — 
 a very appropriate translation, we think, in the case of a bird which, like the present, 
 plays at 'hide and seek' with us in the meadows." 
 
 There is something enchantingly striking in the song, a charm, a liquid flow, a 
 hilarity and sweetness, which must attract the attention of every one, especially on a 
 beautiful May or June day, when everything around us celebrates its spring jubilee, and 
 when the Meadowlark will be roused to unwonted animation, singing far beyond the 
 usual score of half a dozen notes. 
 
 The Meadowlark is one of the most valuable and beneficial birds to the farmer 
 and fruit-grower. The quantities of noxious insects devoured in its summer haunts and 
 the incalculable numbers of seeds of w^eeds which are consumed by it, should place this 
 bird under the protection of man wherever it occurs and at all times. Grubs, w^orms, 
 grasshoppers, crickets, etc., are especially relished. 
 
 Though an invaluable ally to the farmer and a favorite of all friends of the beau- 
 tiful in Nature, the Meadowlark is hunted in many parts of the country as a game-bird. 
 "That numerous class of men," says Wilson Flagg, "who would be more enraptured at 
 the sight of 'four-and-twenty Blackbirds baked in a pie' than at the sound of their 
 notes, though they equalled those of the Nightingale, — men who never look upon a bird 
 save with the eyes and the disposition of a prowling cat, and who display their know- 
 ledge of the feathered race chiefly at the gun-shops, — martial heroes among innocent 
 songsters, — have not overlooked a bird so plump as the Meadowlark. Vain is its lisping 
 and plaintive song; vain is the beauty displayed in its hovering and graceful flight, in 
 its variegated plumage and its interesting ways ! All these things serve but to render 
 its species the more conspicuous mark for gunners, who have hunted them so incessantly 
 that they are now as shy as the persecuted Crow, and as elusive a mark for the sports- 
 man as a Loon." 
 
 This bird should receive the special attention of our law-makers, as it is one of the 
 most beneficial birds we have. Suitable laws in all parts of the country for the pro- 
 tection of this and other small birds are a great necessity, and these laws should be 
 stringently enforced. 
 
 NAMES : Meadowlark, Old Fieldlark, Fieldlark, "Marsh Quail," Common Meadowlark, Eastern Meadowlark. 
 ' SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Alauda magna. Linn. (1758). Sturnella magna Swains. (1827). 
 
DESCRIPTION: "Plumage variegated. Feathers of back, blackish, each with a terminal reddish-brown area 
 and sharp brownish edgings; crown streaked with black and brown, with pale median and supra- 
 ciliary stripes, a blackish line behind the eye ; lateral tail-feathers, white ; the rest, and the inner quills 
 and wing-coverts, black, scalloped with brown or gray ; under-parts and edge of wing, bright yellow ; 
 the breast with a black crescent ; the sides and flanks flaxen-brown with blackish streaks ; bill, horn 
 color; feet, light brown. Sexes, alike; but female less richly colored. 
 
 "Length of male: 10.00 to 11.00 inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 3.50; bill, 1.25 inches. 
 Female smaller: Length, 9.00 to 9.50 inches; wing, 4 25 to 4.50 inches." 
 
 (S. & C, "New England Bird-life," Vol. I, p. 301.) 
 
 The Mexican Meadowlark, Stumella magna mexicana B. B. & R., a little smaller 
 variety of the common Meadowlark, inhabits southern Texas and Arizona, especially 
 the Rio Grande valley, and extends from there south tp Costa Rica. 
 
 The Western Meadowlark, Stumella magna neglecta Allen, which replaces the 
 common species from the Plains westward to the Pacific, is very similar to our common 
 Meadowlark. Its color on the back is a little paler and grayer, but its song is totally 
 different. 
 
 Dr. J. A. Allen writes on this point as follows: "At the little village of Denison, 
 in low^a, w^here I first noticed it in song, it was particularly common, and half-domestic 
 in its habits, prefening, apparently, the streets and grassy lanes, and the immediate 
 vicinity of the village, to the remoter prairie. Here, wholly unmolested and unsuspicious, 
 it collected its food ; and the males, from their accustomed perches on the house-tops, 
 daily w^arbled their wild song for hours together. . . . The song, however, was so new 
 to me that I did not at first have the slightest suspicion its author was the Western 
 Meadowlark, as I found it to be, the time being between daylight and sunrise, and the 
 individual in question singing from the top of the court-house. It differs from that of 
 the Meadowlark in the Eastern States in the notes being louder and wilder, and at the 
 same time more liquid, mellower, and far sweeter. They have a pensiveness and a 
 general character remarkably in harmony with the half-dreary wildness of the primitive 
 prairie, as though the bird had received from its surroundings their peculiar impress; 
 w^hile if less loud their songs w^ould hardly reach their mates above the strong winds 
 that almost constantly sweep over the pxairies in the hot months. It differs, too, in 
 the less frequency of the harsh, complaining chatter so conspicuous in the Eastern birds, 
 so much so that at first I suspected this to be wholly w^anting." 
 
 This difference in the song has been "attested by all observers from Lewis and 
 Clarke down to the present day." (Coues.) 
 
 The late Col. N. S. Goss, in his "History of the Birds of Kansas," writes as follows: 
 "This western form is similar in habits and actions to the eastern bird, and differs so 
 slightly in markings and color that were it not for its widely different song — rather 
 bugle-like — it would have a doubtful standing as a race. It is thought by some writers 
 to be less suspicious and more at home about our dwellings; this I account for on the 
 ground that they are seldom disturbed or shot at, as it is too often the case in the 
 Eastern States." 
 
 34 
 
TRUPIAL. 
 
 Icterus icterus Ridgway. 
 
 Few of our North American birds are so strikingly beautiful as the Orioles. 
 Although belonging to the Blackbird family, they are not gregarious, and they also 
 depart from their relatives in the habit of being strictly arboricole. While the other 
 members of the family, a;lmost without exception, pick up their food from the ground, 
 the Orioles mainly subsist on food found by them in the trees and bushes. The bill of 
 the Orioles is slenderer and more acute, and the feet are weaker, exclusively fitted for 
 perching, not for walking. The Orioles are mostly distributed over tropical America. 
 Only three species reach the interior of our country and among these the Baltimore Oriole 
 is the most familiar. Another species, the Orchard Oriole, is abundant in the Central 
 and Southern States, while Bullock's Oriole is a common summer sojourner in CaUfomia. 
 Nelson's Oriole penetrates into the interior of Arizona and California, while the rest 
 merely reach our southern border from tropical America. On the lower Rio Grande the 
 following species are found more or less abundantly: Bullock's Oriole, Orchard and 
 Hooded Oriole, Audubon's and Scott's Oriole. No other birds of the lower Rio Grande 
 are such beautiful features of the landscape. Quite recently a new Oriole has been dis- 
 covered in southern Louisiana and Mississippi. As this variety has, as yet, no common 
 name, I propose to call it Bendire's Oriole, in commemoration of the distinguished orni- 
 thologist, who first made the facts about its occurrence in our territory known. Every- 
 where in this country I have found one or the other Oriole during the breeding season, 
 with the exception of central and southern Florida, where even the Orchard Oriole does 
 not occur. 
 
 The Orioles do not move in large conspicuous flocks like their congeners, the Black- 
 birds, and they are mostly seen in small assemblages during the season of migration. 
 At other times they live in pairs only. The plumage of most of the species is very 
 beautifiil, the prevailing color being a bright orange or yellow, which is relieved by a 
 deep black. The Orchard Oriole shows a combination of a rich chestnut-brown and 
 black. Wherever these birds occur they make themselves prominent by a very loud, 
 liquid, and mellow song. All excel by their architectural assiduity, each species building 
 exquisite pensile nests, which usually hang down fi"om the horizontal branches of large 
 trees. All members of the genus are denizens of trees, isolated or in groups, avoiding low 
 thickets and the deep interior of woodlands entirely. Many of them have a predilection 
 for ornamental trees and orchards near the habitations of man. Although eating fruits 
 of all kinds, they are of great value to the farmer and horticulturist, as their main diet 
 consists of incalculable numbers of noxious insects, which infest the trees. Their 
 Eesthetical value should also find the appreciation of every intelligent person : They are 
 not only exceedingly beautiful birds, but they are also very lively, delightful, and happy 
 denizens of our groves and woodlands. The pair is so tenderly attached to each other, 
 that great sorrow and distress is expressed in their notes and manners if an accident 
 has happened to one or the other. Their flight is quick and graceful — in a word, they 
 are almost ideal birds in every respect. 
 
 The Trupial, the subject of this sketch, is a common bird in all the northern 
 
AUDUBON'S ORIOLE. 267 
 
 countries of South America, but in the West Indies its occurrence seems to be only 
 accidental. It is much kept in confinement, where it becomes very easily tamed, and is 
 very fond of its keeper if treated kindly. It has been enumerated by Audubon among 
 our birds on the ground that it has been observed repeatedly at Charleston, S. C. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Head and upper part of neck all round and beneath from tail to upper part of breast, 
 interscapular region of back, wings and tail, black. Rest of under-parts, a collar and the lower hind 
 neck, rump, and upper tail-coverts, yellow-orange. A broad baud on the wing and outer edges of 
 secondaries, white. — Length, 10.00 inches." 
 
 AUDUBON'S ORIOLE. 
 
 Icterus audubonii Giraud. 
 
 EXICO with its grand mountain regions, its variety of hot, temperate, and 
 cool chmates, its wonderfully developed flora and rich tropical gardens, has 
 also an exquisite bird-life. During the winter multitudes of our native birds there find 
 a congenial winter home, and in summer gorgeous Tanagers, Callistes, Euphonias, 
 Hummingbirds, Trogons, and especially flame-colored Orioles are abundant. Many of 
 these birds are distributed northward to the Rio Grande. In the vicinity of Brownsville 
 four species of Orioles are regular summer sojourners, among which Audubon's Oriole 
 is the largest. It is known in Mexico by the name of "Calandrina," an appellation 
 equally applied to four or five other species of Orioles. 
 
 It was first observed by Mr. John H. Clark, near Ringgold Barracks, Texas, 
 feeding on the fruit of the hackberry. Lieutenant Couch met with a pair of these bir«is 
 at Charco Escondido, Tamaulipas. Having brought down the male bird with his gun, 
 the female flew to a neighboring tree, apparently unaware of her loss. She soon, how- 
 ever, missed her mate, and endeavored to recall him to her side with notes uttered in a 
 strain of such exquisite sadness that Mr. Couch could scarcely believe them uttered by a 
 bird ; and so greatly did they excite his sympathy, that he almost resolved to desist from 
 further ornithological collections. He adds that he never heard the lay of any songster 
 of the feathered tribe expressed more sweetly than that of the species under consideration. 
 At Monterey he found it a favorite cage bird. The female also sings, but her notes are 
 less powerful than those of the male. Generally the flight of this bird was low and rapid, 
 and it seemed to prefer the shade of trees. It was observed almost invariably in pairs, 
 and the male and female showed for each other great tenderness and solicitude. 
 
 Mr. Geo. B. Sennett, the distinguished ornithologist of the lower Rio Grande, gives 
 the following account of this bird : 
 
 "This large Oriole cannot be said to be very abundant on the Rio Grande, although 
 it is by no means rare. I think it by far more retiring in its habits than any other of 
 the family. If I were to go in search of it, I should seek dense woods, near an opening, 
 with plenty of undergrowth, where also the Rio Grande Jay loves to dwell. It is a 
 sweet singer, never very geilerous with its music, and only singing when undisturbed. 
 
I remember once sitting in the edge of a woods, watching the movements of some 
 Wrens, just outside, the only sounds to be heard in the woods being the discordant 
 notes of the Rio Grande Jay, when suddenly, from over my head, there burst upon my 
 ear a melody so sweet and enchanting that I sat entranced, and, listening, forgot all 
 else. I soon discovered the whereabouts of the singer, and watching him as he flitted 
 about from branch to branch, singing his wonderful song. I have no power to describe 
 a bird's song, least of all this Oriole's." 
 
 These observations were made in spring 1878 at Hidalgo, Texas. In the following 
 year we find Mr. Sennett at Lomita, seven miles .above Hidalgo. "This year," he writes, 
 "I was fortunate in obtaining, within our limits, nests and eggs of this large Oriole. . . . 
 Three nests were found in heavy timber, some ten or twelve feet from the ground ; they 
 are half-pensile, somewhat like those of the Orchard and Bullock's Orioles, and attached 
 to upright terminal branches. They are composed of dried grasses woven among the 
 growing twigs and leaves, so as to form a matting light and firm. They measure on 
 the inside some three inches in depth and rather more in width. 
 
 "The eggs are peculiar, resembling those of no other species found in that region. 
 The ground-color is white, covered with fine flecks of brown, giving the egg the appear- 
 ance of being covered with dust. Over these flecks, and principally at the larger end, 
 are irregular stains and splashes of deeper brown, sometimes mixed with lilac, on which 
 are coarse brown or black hieroglyphics." 
 
 Dr. J. C. Merrill, Surgeon of the U. S. Army, found Audubon's Oriole a resident 
 throughout the year near Brownsville, Texas. "This fine Oriole," he writes, "is found 
 in moderate abundance, and is the only species that is resident. During the summer 
 months it is usually found in deep woods at some distance from houses, but during the 
 winter it is less shy and retiring. They are fi"equently captured and offered for sale by 
 Mexicans in this vicinity, but several I have kept would not sing at all in captivity. 
 When free, their usual song is a prolonged and repeated whistle of extraordinary mellow- 
 ness and sweetness, each note varying in pitch firom the preceding. If once heard, it can 
 never be forgotten." 
 
 Mr. Sennett reports the proportions of the occurrence of the Orioles at Lomita, 
 Texas, as follows: Twenty Hooded Orioles, twelve Orchard Orioles, five Bullock's 
 Orioles, to three Audubon's Orioles. 
 
 NAMES: Audubon's Oriole, Black-headed Oriole. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: ICTERUS AUDUBONII Giraud (1841). Icterus melanocepbalua Hahn & Kiister. 
 Icterus melanocephalus audubonii B. B. & R. (1875). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Above, yellow, slightly tinged with olive; whole head and neck, wings and tail, black; 
 greater wing-coverts and secondaries, sometimes with narrow white edgings ; lesser wing-coverts, 
 bright yellow; below, throat and middle of breast, black; abdomen, yfeUow like the back, but rather 
 brighter.— Length, 9.25 inches; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.65 inches. 
 
SCOTT'S ORIOLE, 
 
 Icterus parisorum Bonaparte. 
 
 Plate XXXI. Fig. 2. 
 
 pHE BLACKBIRDS, Wood Warblers, Tyrant Flycatchers, Hummingbirds, Thrashers, 
 J Tanagers, and Trogons are birds characteristic to America, as they are not found 
 on any other continent. In the same sense the grotesque forms of the cacti, the very 
 ornamental yuccas, the agaves, dasylirions, nolinas, etc., are to be regarded as 
 characteristic American plants. These plants are found in great numbers and many 
 species in our dry regions of the South-west, especially in southern and south-western 
 Texas, southern Arizona and California, and all through Mexico. In these exceedingly 
 dry and barren regions they grow singly as well as in groups and masses, and where- 
 ever they are found they are very conspicuous features of the landscape. The most 
 beautiful of all these plants are the yuccas, or "palm lilies," as they are often called. 
 Their stiff leaves, which stand out in every direction, terminate into a very sharp point, 
 and, in allusion to this sharp, needle-like weapon, they have received quite a number of 
 popular names, such as "Adam's needles," "Spanish daggers," "Spanish bayonets," etc. 
 The most beautiful and imposing of all the yuccas is a tree-like species with immense 
 pendulous flower-stems. This is the palm yucca*, an abundant species of northern 
 Mexico. Another beautiful species is Trecul's yucca ^, which also attains tree-like pro- 
 portions. Of smaller growth are the very spiny common Spanish dagger", and the much 
 more graceful dragon yucca ^, the two last species occurring abundantly also in the 
 South Atlantic and Gulf States. 
 
 In California and southern Arizona we find a number of other tree-like yuccas, not 
 to be met elsewhere. Among these I shall only make mention of the Arizona yucca*, 
 bearing edible fruit and comparatively short spiny leaves. Almost all the tree-like yuccas 
 have the old dry leaves hanging down on the stem for many years, and, though not 
 ornamental, they lend to the tree a very unique picturesqueness. This is especially true 
 of Yucca baccata, which shows always under the crown of green leaves, masses of dry 
 ones hanging down around the stem. Usually it grows in groups, and the dry hanging 
 leaves form excellent nesting sites for the beautiful Scott's Oriole, or Yucca Oriole, a 
 rather abundant bird, where these plants are common. : 
 
 This exquisite bird is distributed from central Mexico northward to the s6uthern 
 border of the United States, occurring from Texas westward to southern California. 
 It is met with where tree-like yuccas grow abundantly. In Mexico, where it occurs in 
 the temperate as well as in the alpine mountain regions, it is called "Calandrina indio." 
 Xantus met with it at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California, and he discovered a nest 
 built in a bunch of moss hanging down from an old cactus; another was made in 
 a bunch of climbing plants, suspended fi-om a cactus. We are especially indebted to 
 Mr. W. E. D. Scott for his accurate and very interesting description of the home and 
 haunts and of the nesting habits of this beautiful' Oriole. Mr. Scott writes as follows ; 
 
 1 Yucca etifera. J Y. Treculeaaa. s Y. aloifolia. * Y. dracoais. b Y, baccata. 
 
270 SCOTT'S ORIOLE. 
 
 "During the spring and summer of 1884 it was my good fortune to make the 
 acquaintance of a number of birds whose breeding habits are at best but little known, 
 and the following data give some of the results of such observations. Most of the notes 
 on the species in question were made at a point, to be more fully described presently, on 
 the San Pedro slope of the Santa Catalina Mountains, in Pinal County, Arizona. 
 
 "Here Scott's Oriole arrives about the middle of April, and is at once among the 
 more conspicuous iDirds, both for its brilliant plumage and rich song. Few birds sing 
 more incessantly, and in fact I do not recall a species in the Eastern or Middle States 
 that is to be heard as frequently. The males are of course the chief performers, but now 
 and again, near a nest, while watching the birds, I would detect a female singing the 
 same glad song, only more softly. At the earliest day-break and all day long, even 
 when the sun is at its highest, and during the great heat of the afternoon, its very 
 musical whistle is one of the few bird songs that are ever present. 
 
 "From the time of its arrival until July 29 I heard the song daily, even hourly, 
 and during the height of the breeding season often many were singing within hearing 
 at the same time. 
 
 "This has been called 'a desert species,' and most Arizona birds might fall under 
 the same grouping, at times, I suppose, but my experience with it is so very directly 
 to the contrary that a word as to the surroundings of the home of this Oriole, as found 
 by me, will perhaps give a better idea to the reader. 
 
 "There is a canon that begins high up in the Santa Catalinas, and, dividing the 
 hills and table lands on either side of it by its deep furrow, it extends for two miles or 
 more, where it joins the valley of the San Pedro River. It is the upper or more elevated 
 part of this canon with which we have to do, at an altitude varying from four thousand 
 to five thousand feet. The hills on either side are high, the canon generally quite narrow. 
 Live oaks are the trees of the hills and hill-sides, and reach in places to the bed of the 
 canon. Here in parts are groves of cotton-woods and sycamores, and some cedars, 
 and, with the exception of the very bed of the canon, where for a part of the year is a 
 brook, the grass covers the surface of the ground. The brook begins to dry up in its 
 exposed parts early in May, but all summer long there is running water for at least 
 a mile in the cotton-w^ood grove, and in a number of places, even during the driest part 
 of the year, the water rises to the surface, making 'tanks,' as they are called. Along 
 this running water and about the 'tanks,' bird-life is very abundant, and here, surely 
 no desert, is the summer home of many Scott's Orioles. There is very little cactus, and 
 none of the 'chollas' that are so very characteristic of the deserts of the neigh- 
 boring region. 
 
 "After August 7 I missed the song, although the birds were abundant until the 
 10th of that month, and I saw a single bird or so for the following three days. Then 
 I supposed they were all gone, but on the l4th of September, about dusk, I startled 
 one, an adult male, from a yucca where he had evidently gone to roost. He scolded 
 angrily at me from the dead limb of a cedar near by for a few moments, when I left 
 him to go to bed. Again, on the 18th of September, I heard a male in full song, and 
 going closer found a party of four together, three old males and a young one of the 
 year. This is my last note of their occurrence at this point. 
 
SCOTT'S ORIOLE. 271 
 
 "There are many yuccas (Yucca baccata) in the canon and on the hill-side, none 
 of them exceeding ten feet in height, and it was in one of these, only a few feet from a 
 wood near where some one passed daily, and close to a 'tank' of water, that on May 
 24 I found the first nest. It was carefully concealed under the half dead and dry leaves 
 that hung downward close to the trunk of the plant. Two of the long pointed blades 
 had still been green enough to allow the pulp to be picked away, and the tough fibers 
 had then been frayed and used as a sort of starting point or foundation for the structure 
 which was thus 'sewed' — I know no more appropriate word — fast to the edges of the 
 leaf. I only caught a glimpse of the female and was not sure of the bird till later, when 
 both parents were identified to my satisfaction. 
 
 "The nest contained three fresh eggs, though four is the usual number, as three 
 nests found during the next few days proved. These nests were all built in yuccas, none 
 were far from water, and, strangely, for a rather shy and suspicious bird, all were 
 within ten feet of the road. The last, that of May 30, to be spoken of in detail pre- 
 sently, was so near a much used trail, that the passer by might have touched it with 
 the hand. The following descriptions of the nests in detail are copied fronj my notes : 
 
 "Nest of May 24. Built in a yucca, four feet from the ground. Sewed to the edges 
 of five dead leaves which, hanging down parallel to trunk of the plant, entirely concealed 
 the nest. Semi-pensile. Composed externally of fibers of the yucca and fine grasses. 
 Lined with soft grasses and threads of cotton-waste throughout. The walls are very 
 thin, at bottom not more than half an inch, and on the sides from one-eight to a quarter 
 of an inch thick. The whole nest was rather closely woven and very strong. Inside 
 depth, three and a half inches. Inside diameter, four inches. The whole cup-shaped. 
 Contains three fresh eggs ; bluish-white in color, with a cluster of chocolate-brown spots, 
 and others of lighter lilac-brown at the larger end, spotted yery sparsely all over, mainly 
 with a still lighter shade of the latter color, though a very few of these dispersed mark- 
 ings are also dark chocolate-brown. I have called this nest semi-pensile, as the edges 
 of the yucca leaves are not simply attached to the rim or top edge of the nest, but are 
 'sewed' to the sides of the structure — one blade for three inches, three for four inches, 
 and the other two for more than two inches and a half The nest is sewed to the 
 blades or leaves about seven inches from where they join the trunk of the plant, and 
 the blades are about twenty-two inches long. 
 
 "Nest of May 27. Built in yucca, about four feet from ground. Nest sewed to the 
 edges of three leaves, all on one side of the structure and close together, being about 
 three-quarters of an inch apart. Other leaves project downward at an angle of about 
 45°, and the nest rests on them, as it would on the slanting roof of a house. It is 
 therefore not at all pensile. Is built of grasses, yucca fiber, and has cotton twine woven 
 into its walls. Inside it is lined to within half an inch of the rim with small pieces of 
 cotton batting, some cotton twine, and a little very soft grass. It is sewed to the 
 edges of each of the three leaves it rests on for six inches. The walls on the sides are 
 an inch, and at the bottom an inch and a half thick. The general inside shape is oval, 
 the greatest diameter being four and the least three and a half inches. The greatest 
 depth inside is three and a half inches. The walls on sides sewed to leaves are about 
 six inches in depth, and on the side rising from the leaves four inches. It contains four 
 
fresh eggs, that recall those of the Red-winged Blackbird in general appearance. The 
 nest is sewed to the leaves about ten inches from where they join the trunk of the plant, 
 and the leaves are about eighteen inches long. Other leaves hanging downward above 
 those on which the nest rests almost conceal it." 
 
 "Nest of May 30. Built in yucca, four feet from the ground. Composed of yucca 
 fiber and fine grasses, and is very similar to that of May 24 in general appearance. 
 The bottom of the structure inside is lined with a soft mat of cotton-waste. Semi- 
 pensile, being sewed to six leaves of the plant, three of which almost conceal the nest 
 from view. The nest measures: depth inside, four inches; depth outside, five and a half 
 inches ; inside diameter at top, four inches. The general shape of the interior is that of 
 a rather large and shallow cup. Contains four eggs, partially incubated. Ground-color, 
 bluish-white, with much the same colored markings as those of the nest of May 24. 
 Their general shape differs, however, as they are much more pointed at one end and 
 flattened a.% the other, the shape reminding one of the eggs of. some of the Plovers. The 
 sewing of the nest reaches on two of the leaves four inches; on one, five inches; on 
 one, three inches; and on the other two, an inch and a half. The nest is fastened to 
 the leaves about five inches from where they join the stem or trunk of the plant, and 
 the leaves to which it is fastened are rather more than twenty inches long. 
 
 "Second nest of May 30. Similar in location to the first nest of same date and 
 built in same kind of plant. Composed of grasses and yucca fiber, the latter mainly, and 
 has in the inside at bottom a very thick luiing of cotton-waste. Is semi-pensile, and is 
 sewed to four green leaves — to one for six inches, the entire wall of the nest for its 
 whole length being fastened. A second is sewed only for half an inch to the wall very 
 close to the bottom of the nest. A third is very similar in its point of attachment, only 
 that it is fastened for a little more than an inch, and the last is fastened for three 
 inches in the ordinary way. The nest is very uneven in shape externally, being frilly 
 six inches deep on one side and not more than two inches deep on the other. The nest 
 has an interior diameter of four and a quarter inches, and is very shallow and cup- 
 shaped, being only two and a quarter inches deep at its deepest part. Four fresh eggs 
 are the contents, and they vary only in not being so pointed as the other set of May 
 30. They are rather larger than any others measured. The general shape of the nest 
 is an uneven, one-sided cup, with its greatest external diameter four and three-quarters 
 inches. It is attached to the leaves about seven inches from the trunk of the plant, and 
 the leaves to which it is attached are twenty-six inches long. It is built but little more 
 than three feet from the ground, and partially concealed by overhanging leaves. 
 
 "The cotton and cotton- waste were doubtless picked up by the birds about the 
 house and near a mill but a little distance away, where the waste is used in polishing 
 machinery, etc. 
 
 "Some pairs of the birds, at least, raise two broods during the season. A fifth nest, 
 completing my series, was found just finished on June 26, and all the eggs, three in 
 number, were deposited by July 1, when the nest was taken. It was built in a sycamore 
 overhanging the wood-road before mentioned, and about forty yards from water. It 
 diflfers greatly from any of the others. 
 
 "Nest of July 1. Built in a sycamore tree, about eighteen feet from the ground. 
 
Pensile, being attached to the ends of the twigs. It is composed externally entirely of 
 the fibers of dead yucca leaves, and there are hanging to and built into the walls four 
 rather small dead leaves of this plant, that are partly frayed, so that the fiber is used 
 in weaving them into the structure. The interior is lined with soft fine grasses, and 
 only two or three shreds of cotton-waste appear here and there in the lining. The viralls 
 vary from a quarter to half an inch in thickness. The whole structure is very sym- 
 metrical and is a half sphere in shape. Inside the greatest depth is two and a half and 
 the greatest diameter four inches. The entire set of eggs was laid, as the nest had been 
 w^atched for a number of days. Three eggs compose the set, and differ from those 
 already described only in being of a deeper bluish-white ground-color. This nest is 
 attached to the twigs from which it hangs very much like that of a Baltimore Oriole. 
 
 "Ten minutes' walk from the house would have reached any of these five nests, 
 and three of them were within a hundred and fifty yards of one another. 
 
 "The first young that I met with, that had left the nest, were seen on July 2, and 
 on July 4 I saw many fully fledged, and apparently shifting for themselves. The follow- 
 ing note is dated July 24 : 'Young males, fully fledged, evidently of the first brood, were 
 singing very softly.' 'A young male taken, beginning to moult from Srst plumage; the 
 first noted in this condition.' 
 
 "The species here is a very common one, and it seems possible that after a few 
 years' association with houses and people it may no longer be the shy, suspicious bird 
 of the present, but become as familiar as others of the genus have. On their first arrival 
 they were constantly in the oaks overhanging the house, and only seemed alarmed if 
 too closely observed. 
 
 "That they do not always build in the yuccas, though doubtless that is the favorite 
 nesting place, the nest of July 1 proves, and I feel confident that certain Orioles' nests 
 that I have seen in the misseltoe of the oaks, and others pendant from the oak boughs 
 themselves, are, from their general character, those of the species in question." 
 
 A few years later, Mr. Scott made some additional remarks. Since writing the 
 
 above he found that the time of arrival is somewhat earlier, the bird having first been 
 
 noted March 22, and became common within a week. On March 25 he heard a number 
 
 of males in full song at an altitude of 4,500 feet, and on May 1 he found a nest at the 
 
 same altitude. "I must so far modify n;y former views," says Mr. Scott, "as to state 
 
 that I find fully as many of the birds breed on the arid plains and mesas, at an altitude 
 
 between 3,000 and 8,000 feet, as seek a nesting site near water. I have found them 
 
 w^ith nests at least six miles from the nearest water that I know of." 
 
 NAMES: Scott's Oriole, Yucca Oriole. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: ICTERUS PARISORUM Bonap. (1837). Icterus scotti CovsAi (1854). 
 
 DESCRIPTION. Above, black; lesser wing-coverts and lower back, bright sulphur-yellow; wings, black, 
 tipped with white; below down to the middle of breast, black; belly and basal half of tail, bright 
 sulphur-yellow; apical half of tail, black, the black extending farther up on central tail-feathers; bill 
 and feet, black. Female above, olivacious, slightly varied with black on the interscapulars; wings, 
 blackish, wing-coverts, terminated with white; below, yellowish. 
 Length, 8.25 inches; wing, 4.00; tail, 3.75 inches. 
 
 35 
 
HOODED ORIOLE, 
 
 Icterus cucullatus Swainson. 
 
 ^HE Hooded Oriole is one of the most beautiful and interesting of all the birds 
 of the lower Rio Grande region. It is common in all the wooded localities 
 as well as in orchards and near the habitations of man. How far it penetrates into 
 the interior of Texas I cannot say, but I have never found it near Houston or in 
 the region of Corpus Christi. Lieutenant Couch found it in the Mexican States of 
 Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, where it usually nested in tree-like yuccas. Dr. J. C. Merrill, 
 who observed it near Brownsville, Texas, gives the following interesting account: 
 
 "This is perhaps the most common Oriole in this vicinity during the summer, 
 arriving about the last week in March. It is less familiar than Bullock's Oriole, and, 
 like the preceding species, is usually found in the woods. The nests of this bird found 
 here are perfectly characteristic, and cannot be confounded with those of any allied 
 species ; they are usually fo'und in one of the two following situations :. the first and 
 most frequent is in a bunch of hanging moss, usually at no great height from the 
 ground ; when so placed the nests are formed almost entirely by hollow^ing out and 
 matting the moss, with a few filaments of a dark hair-like moss as lining; the second 
 situation is in a bush (the name of which I do not know), growing to a height of 
 about six feet, a nearly bare stem throwing out two or three irregular masses of leaves 
 at the top ; these bunches of dark green leaves conceal the nest admirably ; it is con- 
 structed of filaments of the hair-like moss just referred to, with a little Spanish moss, 
 wool, or a few feathers for the lining; they are rather wide and shallow for Orioles' 
 nests, and, though strong, they appear thin and delicate. A few pairs built in Spanish 
 bayonets (yucca), growing on sand ridges in the salt prairies; here the nests are built 
 chiefly of the dry, tough fibers of the plant, with a little wool or thistle-down aS lining ; 
 they are placed among the dead and depressed leaves, two or three of which are used 
 as supports. The eggs .... can readily be distinguished from those of our other Orioles 
 by the absence of irregular blotches and pen-marks and by the white or very slightly 
 bluish ground-color. The markings are chiefly at the larger end in an irregular ring of 
 spots of varying shades of brown and lilac. Some sets are precisely like large Vireos' 
 eggs. The average size is .82 by .59, with comparatively little variation." 
 
 "Very common in this vicinity (Hidalgo, Tex.)," writes Mr. Geo. B. Sennett, "and 
 among timber of any respectable growth. I found it more plentiful than all the rest of 
 the genus combined. Like all the Orioles, its colors vary greatly with age and season. 
 But even in its best plumage, I think it looks better at a little distance, when its 
 buttercup-colored hood contrasts well with its velvet-black mask. The birds are very 
 active, and so full of song that the woods are filled with their music iall day long. The 
 bills of these birds are more curved and pointed than the others, and admirably adapted 
 for weaving the hair-like moss. Their usual nesting places are the hanging trusses of 
 Spanish moss, everywhere provokingly abundant on the larger growth of trees. I have 
 also found their nests on the lower limbs of trees and the drooping outer branches of 
 
ARIZONA HOODED ORIOLE. 275 
 
 undergrowth ; but wherever found, the inevitable Spanish moss enters largely or wholly 
 into their composition. So durable is this moss that it lasts for years, and as a con- 
 sequence there are everywhere ten old ne^ts to one new one. The heart of the moss, 
 when separated from its white covering, becomes the "curled hair' of commerce. The 
 Hooded Oriole takes this dry vegetable hair, and ingeniously weaves it into the heart 
 of a living truss of moss, making a secure and handsome home. I found one no higher 
 than my head, and others thirty feet or moi-e from the ground. They make a great 
 ado when their home is invaded. Their complement of eggs is four, but sometimes five 
 are found." 
 
 These observations were made at Hidalgo in 1877. In the following year 
 Mr. Sennett again visited the lower Rio Grande and made his headquarters at Lomita 
 Ranch, a little further up the rive;r. "At Lomita Ranch," he writes, "the edges of forests 
 and groves, hung with pendant trusses of Spanish moss, afford excellent places for 
 nesting. They were continually peering about the thatched roof of our house and the 
 arbors adjoining for insects. They were more familiar than any of the other Orioles 
 about the ranch. There is little to add to my former observations. One nest was dis- 
 covered in a corn-field, ma4e of Spanish moss, which was interwoven with a couple of 
 leaves of two corn-stalks^ which it thus bound together ; another was found in a truss 
 of Spanish moss, having dried grasses for lining, instead of the usual dead and black 
 hair-like moss. In several nests w^ere horse hair and tufts of goats' wool." Nests were 
 found by Mr. Sennett from April 25 to May 25. 
 
 Eggs three to five in number, white, speckled, chiefly on the larger end, with hair- 
 brow^n, usually m^ed w^ith a few small, black specks or lines. 
 
 NAMES: Hooded Qriolg. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: ICTERUS CUCULLATUS SwAmsoa (1827). Pendalinus cucullatus Bona.p. (1850). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Tail, much graduated. Adult male: "Wings, a rather narrow band across the back, tail 
 and a patch starting as a narrow frontal baud, involving the eyes, anterior half of cheek, chin, and 
 throat, and ending as a rounded patch on the upper part of breast, black." Hood and "rest of body, 
 oraijge-yellow. Two bands on the wing and the edges of the quills, white. Female without the black 
 patch of the throat; the upper parts generally yellowish-green, brown on the back, beneath, 
 yellowish." (B. B. & R.) 
 
 Length, 6.50 to 8.50 inches; wing, 3.30 to 3.60; tail, 3.50 to 4.20 inches. 
 
 ARIZONA HOODED ORIOLE. 
 
 Icterus cucullatus nelsoni Ridgway. 
 Plate XXXI. Pig. 3. 
 
 One of the most conspicuous and beautiful birds of southern Arizona and California 
 is this variety of the Hooded Oriole, which is known by ornithologists as the Arizona 
 Hooded OrioijE or Nelson's Oriole. In southern California, where it breeds abundantly 
 in the California fan palms (Wasbingtonia Blifera) and gum trees {Bucarlyptus) , it is 
 known as the "Tailor Oriole," "Tailor-bird," and "California Tailor-bird," in allusion 
 to its beautifiil hanging nest, which often appears as if it had been sewed to the leaves 
 of the palms and yuccas. The beautiM orange color of the Hooded Oriole is replaced 
 in this variety by a less striking saffron-yellow. As this bird is not only common in its 
 native haunts in the uncultivated regions of Arizona, but begins to take up its abode 
 
in gardens even in towns and cities of southern California, I shall deal more fully with 
 its life-history, especially with its nesting habits. 
 
 The collector, Mr. W. E. D. Scott, found this bird common in the same canon, where 
 he found. Scott's Oriole such a conspicuous bird. 
 
 "The individual taste of birds," says Mr. Scott, "in the matter of their nests is 
 so well exemplified by the great differentiation in the nests of the Hooded Oriole, which 
 is a very common breeding bird in the canon described on page 270,. ff., that I propose 
 to give a detailed description of a few nests taken here during the past summer, and 
 incidentally to call attention to other nests of the same species taken in regions close 
 at hand. 
 
 "The birds arrive here about the middle of April, and are to be found until the 
 last of September, and a few even well into October. Such, at least, was my experience 
 during' the season of 1884. They are not great songsters, but are very conspicuous, 
 both by their plumage and by their pecuKar call or rattle, which is very similar to that 
 of the Baltimore Oriole, only it is more prolonged. Two broods are raised, and not 
 infrequently three, during their stay here, and a new home is built for each brood. The 
 old birds are great workers when building their nests, and the rapidity with which so 
 elaborate a structure is completed is astonishing. Three or four days at most generally 
 sufiice to complete the structure. . . . 
 
 "The nests which I found were all taken from three kinds of trees, cottonwood, 
 sycamore, and a kind of ash; and, considering that the location of all were not a mile 
 apart, it would seem that taste or fancy had much to do with producing in the same 
 locality, where the materials used by all of the builders are abundant and easily obtained, 
 structures varying so widely in general appearance, in the materials of which they are 
 built, and in their method of building, as well as in mode of attachment to the tree. 
 
 "Some of the nests, it will be seen, are as truly pensile as those of the Baltimore 
 Oriole; others are more like those of the Orchard Oriole; while one at least rests on a 
 stout twig and is hardly to be regarded as a hanging nest at all. 
 
 "The following data are taken from the nests before me and from notes made 
 when the nests were collected. 
 
 "No. 1. Nest of May 28. In a cottonwood, forty-five feet from the ground. Con- 
 tained a full set of three eggs, which were fresh and of the usual coloration. The nest 
 is a rather bulky structure, and is built externally of coarse green grasses, rather loosely 
 woven, but so knitted and tied together as to form a very strong wall. The general 
 appearance of the surface is smooth, though the contour of the whole is unsymmetrical. 
 There is a distinct lining, which is of fine dried grasses very compactly laid together, 
 but not woven, in parallel circles, one above the other, reaching to the rim of the nest. 
 Just in the bottom there is one large feather of a Hawk and a little down. 
 
 "The nest is attached to three main twigs at the extremity of a branch, and one 
 of these twigs is again divided into three smaller twigs. One of the main twigs has 
 many leaves, and is fastened to the wall of the nest for five inches, and some of the 
 leaves are woven into the structure. A second twig is attached at a point about an 
 inch and a half from the first to the wall of the nest for four inches, and has three 
 leaves, all of which are fastened to the nest. The twig spoken of as being divided into 
 
three branches has a very strong band and reeving of grasses joining it to the nest just 
 where it forks, and one branch is attached to the side of the nest for four inches, one 
 for two, and one for one inch. Outside the greatest depth is six inches, while inside the 
 greatest depth is three inches and a half, so that the bottom of the nest is very thick ; 
 in fact the walls are thick throughout, being fully half an inch at the rim of the nest 
 where they are thinnest. The diameter of the inside of the nest at the top, where it is 
 largest, is four inches, and the shape inside is that of a shallow cup. 
 
 "No. 2. A nest taken the same day, and in the same kind of tree, about forty 
 feet distant from that just described, is almost identical with it in structure. It is 
 attached on its sides to four twigs, the attachments varying from three to five inches. 
 It was about twelve feet from the ground and contained three fresh eggs. 
 
 "No. 3. Nest of May 29. Ash tree. Thirty feet from ground. Three eggs slightly 
 incubated. A typical and rather bulky, purse-shaped structure, with a very wide 
 opening. The w^alls are not thick, except at the bottom of the nest, and are composed 
 of dry yucca fibre rather loosely woven. The lining is of the same material, only finer 
 and softer. The nest is fastened to two twigs and the clusters of leaves belonging to 
 them. One twig is attached to the side of the nest for four inches, the other only slightly 
 to the rim. The exterior depth is six and the interior depth four inches, and the diameter 
 of the opening is three inches. 
 
 "No. 4. Nest of the 17th of June; in an ash tree, about twenty-five feet from the 
 gi-ound, and contained four eggs. It is a true pensile nest and is built of yucca fibre 
 and grasses externally, the whole very loosely put together and but slightly woven. 
 There is a very slight lining of a few horse hairs and a little cotton-waste. The walls 
 are thick and the opening small. The general shape is that of a purse or pouch. The 
 exterior depth is seven and the interior depth five inches. The opening, which is covered 
 by leaves hanging over it, is oval, with a greater diameter of two and a half and a 
 lesser diameter of two inches. The eggs are typical. There are a number of bits of long 
 grasses and yucca fibers pendant from the w^alls outside, not having been w^oven into 
 the structure. 
 
 No. 5. Nest of June 18. In a sycamore tree, twenty feet from the ground. Four 
 typical eggs. Kresh. Closely resembles the ordinary structure of the Baltimore Oriole, 
 but is rather shallower and the opening larger. Is attached to the tree only at three 
 points on the rim of the nest, and truly pensile. Built of same material inside and out, 
 i. e. fine dried grasses. The w^alls are about the same thickness throughout — about a 
 quarter of an inch. It is very compactly woven and is symmetrical. The depth outside 
 is three inches and inside two and three-quarter inches, and the opening has a diameter 
 of three inches." 
 
 After having described a number of nests elaborately, Mr. Scott concludes his 
 interesting sketch as follows: "This completes the description of five of the nests taken 
 in the canon proper; a word as to some other nests of this species, found at but a 
 short distance away, will complete the record of nests observed. At a point on a cactus 
 desert, about a mile from where most of the nests enumerated were taken, I found a 
 nest of this species built on the trunk or stem of a yucca about eight feet from the 
 ground. It contained young birds almost ready to leave the nest. The trunks of many 
 
278 ARIZONA HOODED ORIOLE. 
 
 of the yuccas are covered with dead leaves hanging downward, and this nest, which is 
 a cup-like structure, built of green grasses closely woven, is placed on the outside of 
 the dried leaves and is only attached to one of them. It is rather more than three 
 inches deep, and is attached to a single leaf for this distance. No leaves cover it or 
 conceal it, and the general appearance is that of a cup resting against the trunk of a 
 tree with no apparent attachment to it. 
 
 "In the mesquite regions about Tucson the nests are frequently built in the mistletoe 
 that grows plentifully on that tree. These nests are generally symmetrical, shallow 
 cups in shape, and are almost alWays semi-pensile." 
 
 During the last week of March, 1884, Mr. F. Stephens found nests of this Oriole 
 in the Colorado Desert in a palm {Wasbingtonia ffU&ra) grove, w^hich is situated in 
 a canon six miles south of Agua Caliente. "This grove of palms was tenanted mainly 
 by the California House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanas 6-ontalis). Among the masses of 
 dead palm leaves, clustered below the living ones, were many Oriole nests. I climbed 
 several trunks to inspect the nests, finding that they were composed exclusively of the 
 strong hemp-like palm fibres, making a beautiful warm nest. All seen, except one, 
 were attached to the under sides of the masses of dead leaves, among the wind-frayed 
 filaments composing the ends of the old leaves. The exception was one apparently 
 sewed on the under side of a large green leaf. I much wanted to get it, as it vvras a 
 very pretty nest, but it was impossible to climb past the mass of old leaves which 
 surrounded the trunk some thirty feet from the ground, and was eight or ten feet in 
 diameter and pressed almost solid by the storms of years. I fired several shots at the 
 leaf stem, trying to cut it off, but the tough fibres were too much for my small shot. 
 Nearly all w^ere the shallow, cup-like nests of the Hooded Oriole, but one was larger 
 and wider than this species is likely to make, and probably belonged to Scott's Oriole. 
 None were the more purse-like nests of Bullock's Oriole. Some nests taken were filled 
 with sound seeds of the palm, evidently placed there by a small species of mouse, of 
 which I saw one. No Orioles were seen in the canon, but the following day I saw 
 several Bullock's Orioles in the cotton-woods around Agua Caliente." 
 
 That this beautiful Oriole has obtained a foothold in the fine gardens of southern 
 California is shown by the observations of Mr. Theo. D. Hurd, of Riverside, Cal., who 
 reports as follows: 
 
 "As all the accounts of the nesting of the Arizona Hooded Oriole that I have seen 
 are the results of observations in uncultivated regions, or where native vegetation 
 abounds, I thought a few notes from this locality might be of interest. Therefore, in 
 this article I will give my experience with this bird in the settled district (under culti- 
 vation) of Riverside; extending as it does over an area of about twenty square miles, 
 and as this land twenty years ago was a dry plain, no stately sycamore nor live oak 
 stands to offer the usual favorite nesting place. The past season of 1889 was a most 
 favorable one for the study of this bird, as they were exceedingly abundant compared 
 with previous years, even outnumbering our common Bullock's Oriole, which before 
 has been by far the more common of the two. The Arizona Hooded Oriole arrives here 
 about the middle of March, and probably commences building the first week in April, 
 as my first nest found contained a full set on April 23, and I heard of others being found a 
 
few days before. The nesting extends through May and June, the latest date being 
 July 1. The nest is almost always instantly distinguished from that of Bullock's 
 Oriole by its light color— a peculiarity which is noticed in other localities, I believe— 
 and it is invariably composed of fresh fibres of the fan palm, which has been planted 
 here to a large extent. I have never seen the bulk of a nest made of anything else. 
 Many nests contain no lining whatever, and none are very elaborately finished. The 
 majority merely have a small amount of a cottony substance (also obtained from the 
 palm), and a few will contain two or three feathers, or a long horse hair. For the 
 rearing of the first brood the nests are usually suspended in overhanging branches of 
 the blue gum {Eucalyptus globulus), but it is a noticeable fact that the second nests 
 are more commonly attached to the leaves of the palm tree. Why this is I do not 
 know, unless they want to begin laying as soon as possible, and therefore build where 
 material is most easily obtained. When in the palms the nests are fastened directly to 
 the under side of a large leaf, leaving a small opening on one, or more often on either 
 side, for the bird to enter. A nest composed of fresh, pale yellowish material, thus 
 suspended is a beautiful contrast against the green leaf, and is the handsomest of 
 anything in the way of nests that I have seen, especially when four nests are in one 
 small palm not over fifteen feet high. While the eucalyptus and palm are the two great 
 favorite trees for nests, yet occasionally they build in others, chiefly the cotton-wood, 
 poplar, willow, and English walnut, and in one instance a nest was suspended in a 
 climbing vine on a porch, but these are exceptional cases. As a rule they do not built 
 high, the highest being not over twenty or twenty-five feet from the ground, while from 
 six to fifteen feet is the usual height. In size and shape the nests vary considerably, but 
 probably no more than those of other birds, and not so much as some. The general 
 shape is cup-like, the greatest diameter being at the top. Purse-shaped nests are very 
 rare. When placed in palms, the tendency is to spread out more, often assuming the 
 appearance of a hammock, and on several occasions I have known them so shallow 
 that the eggs have rolled out during a strong breeze. A typical nest will measure about 
 2.75X3.25 inches, inside and outside diametet, and 3.00 X 3.50 inches in depth." 
 
 Prof. W. B. Evermann found it nesting quite numerously in Ventura County, Cal. 
 The nests were usually suspended in sycamores, often in live-oaks, ranging from five to 
 fifteen feet above the ground. They were composed of grass picked while green, so 
 that the structure usually showed a bright straw^-color. 
 
 Mr. Hurd describes fifteen nests, of which seven w^ere built in palms. The eggs 
 have a beautiful white ground, sometimes w^ith a bluish tint, marbled, blotched, and 
 dotted with large dashes and irregular zigzag lines of purple, brown, and black, chiefly 
 at the larger end. 
 
 This Oriole is distributed over south-western New Mexico and southern Arizona, 
 west to Santa Barbara, Cal., and south to Mazatlan and Cape St. Lucas. 
 
 NAMES: Arizona Hooded Oriole. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: ICTERUS CUCULLATUS NELSONI Ridgway. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Like the Hooded Oriole, "with breast, etc., saflFron-yellow, varying to gamboge (never 
 orange)." (Ridgway.) 
 
ORCHARD ORIOLE. 
 
 Icterus spurius Bonaparte. 
 
 Plate XXX. Fig. 4. 
 
 May, thou month of rosy beauty. 
 Month when pleasure is a duty; 
 Month of maids that milk the kine, 
 Bosom rich, and health divine; 
 Month of bees and month of flowers, 
 Month of blossom-laden bowers. 
 Month of little hands with daisies. 
 Lovers' love, and poets' praises; 
 O thou merry month complete, 
 - May, thy very name is sweet ! 
 May was Maid in olden times, 
 And is still in Scottish rhymes — 
 May's the month that's laughing now. 
 
 Leigh Humt. 
 
 "HILE in the northern parts of our great country May is an extremely change- 
 able month, a month of sunshine and cold spells, a month of hilarity and 
 sufferings for our delicate insectivorous birds, in southern Missouri, in Arkansas and 
 Texas it is the most exhilerating and beautiful time of the year. In the South the first 
 days of May see the queen of our American forest, the grand evergreen magnolia, in 
 full bloom. What a charm to the eye is this glorious tree, and how delicious is the 
 fragrance of its incomparably beautiful flowers ! Near it stands the noble, broad, ever- 
 green live oak, densely covered with festoons of gray Spanish moss. In the gardens the 
 wealth of roses in ftiU bloom is almost overwhelming. Arbors are covered with Banksia 
 roses, Japan honey-suckles, and Carolina jasmine, and wistarias climb high up on the 
 mulberry trees, covering them with a sheet of fragrant blue flower trusses. Dense ever- 
 green hedges of Cherokee roses often line the roads for miles. The gardenias or Cape 
 jasmines, frequently eight to ten feet in height and diameter, have opened their waxy- 
 white, deliciously scented blossoms among the abundant deep glossy green foliage. 
 The crinums and the amaryllis- {Hippeastrutn Jobnsonii) are flowering in gorgeous 
 masses, vieing in beauty with the lilies of the northern gardens. Woodlands and orna- 
 mental plantations, orchard hedges and swampy thickets are replete with bird-life. 
 Indeed, there is scarcely a moment that we do not see or hear birds in this "month of 
 rosy beauty." In south-western Missouri this time of the year is distinguished by a 
 very salubrious, pure, and mild air, and, though we do not find here the semi-tropical 
 plants alluded to above, the grassy prairies are covered with countless numbers of wild 
 flowers, and the woodlands and dells are exceedingly rich in flowering shrubs and trees. 
 How desolate and dreary would these gardens, woodlands, and prairies be without the 
 poetry and life imbued to them by frolicking and singing birds ! 
 
 In the southern parts of our country bird-life is at its best in the "poets' month 
 of May," when "every rose-bush has a nest and every thorn a flower." At this time 
 the most delicate and beautiful songsters arrive from their winter-quarters among a 
 wealth of foliage and blossoms, sunshine and salubrious air. Many of the earlier 
 
 V_ 
 
XXX 
 
 1. ICTERUS GALBULA Coues.a - BALTI^/10RE-0R10L.■ 
 2. ICTERUS GALBULA Coues. ? - „ „ - 
 3. TYRANi\US TYRANNUS Jordan.- KONIGSVOGEL. 
 4^. ICT'5:RUS SPURIUS Bonau. - GARTENORIOL. 
 
 Baltimore Oriole (male ). 
 
 ( female ). 
 Kingbird. 
 Orchard Oriole, 
 
ORCHARD ORIOLE. 281 
 
 arrivals, like the Robin and Bluebird, have raised their first brood of young. The air 
 is vocal with the sweetest music of innumerable birds. The inimitable feong of the 
 Mockingbird, once heard from one of the grand magnolias or from an arbor covered 
 with flowering "Marechal Niel" or "cloth of gold" roses, makes the heart long for the 
 sunny South and its untold attractions through all our life-time. Not to speak of the 
 Cardinals in the Cherokee rose hedges, the Painted Buntings in the orange trees, and 
 the Blue Grosbeaks in the banana shrubs, abelias, myrtles, and laurustinus ! 
 
 Among the choristers of the southern gardens, from Texas and northern Florida 
 to southern Illinois and Missouri, the Orchard Oriole, Garden Oriole, and Orchard 
 Hangnest, is one of the most abundant and conspicuous. When I first beheld this bird, 
 clad in a robe of deep black and rich chestnut, I was strongly impressed by its extremely 
 sweet, hilarious, and flowing strains, and by its confiding and attractive manners. Its 
 song, which is always accompanied by fluttering motions and by swingings up and 
 down, to and fro, is usually uttered from the top of a small tree or a large bush. I 
 have observed this sprightly songster, which is rather a more southerly bird than its 
 brilliant relative, the Baltimore Oriole, equally abundant from Texas and northern 
 Florida to south-western Missouri. Although a common bird in the Rio Grande valley 
 of Texas, T have never found it in the orange groves of the peninsula of Florida. In 
 Wisconsin as w^ell as in northern Illinois it is a very rare bird, seldom seen or heard. 
 In New England it is said to be most numerous in the Connecticut valley, but rare in 
 Massachusetts. According to Mr. R. Ridgway it is much more abundant in southern 
 Illinois than the Baltimore Oriole and the same can be said in regard to its distribution 
 in Kansas. In southern Missouri, where the Orchard Oriole is one of the most common 
 birds, I have never seen the Baltimore Oriole during the breeding season. The Orchard 
 Oriole is found east to the Atlantic Ocean and west to the base of the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Although a numerous bird in the mesquit prairies of Texas, the Orchard Oriole is 
 pre-eminently a garden and orchard bird, being one of the most familiar and beloved 
 birds of the South. In Texas it is scarcely absent from any peach orchard, and in 
 Louisiana it is abundantly met with in the orange groves. In northern Florida and 
 southern Georgia it is a regular tenant of the pear plantations, and in south-western 
 Missouri apple orchards constitute its favorite haunts. In Houston, Texas, it often 
 nests in a magnolia in close proximity of a house, and in New Orleans the structure is 
 often found in one of the dense evergreen tree-like privets {Ligustrum Japonicum) , so 
 common in the streets of the "Crescent City." In south-western Missouri it builds its 
 nests in quite a number of different shade trees, even in the coarse branches of Scotch 
 pines. In Pennsylvania these Orioles have been observed building in willows along 
 creeks, and the only pair which I have met with in northern Illinois was observed in 
 willows near the Desplaines River. In south-eastern Texas these birds usually make 
 their appearance by the middle of April. The first arrivals are old males. A few days 
 later the young males, which are easily distinguished by their incomplete coloration, 
 follow, and about five or six days later the females make their appearance. 
 
 Prof. Wm. Brewster found this Oriole abundant in St. Mary's, Ga. "Another 
 frequenter of the village shrubbery," hp writes, "was the Orchard Oriole. His flute-Hke 
 voice, which bears some resemblance to that of the Fox Sparrow, could be heard almost 
 
 36 
 
282 ORCHARD ORIOLE. 
 
 any time after April 10. Our garden offered especial attractions to these Orioles, for 
 the hedge of wild olive trees that bordered it on two sides was overrun with Cherokee 
 roses and trumpet-vines artiong which they found a congenial shelter. They were fond, 
 too, of sipping the honey from the trumpet-flowers, and it was no uncommon thing to 
 see half-a-dozen collected about a single cluster. In this occupation they were almost 
 invariably joined by numerous Hummingbirds; — and such a group, with a setting of 
 green leaves and scarlet and white blossoms, formed the prettiest picture imaginable.'* 
 
 In south-western Missouri the first old males arrive by the 28th of April. As these 
 delightful and conspicuous songsters are very abundant, th^y can scarcely escape 
 observation. They are, however, very partial to certain favorite localities, and ate 
 often absent in places where we would with certainty expect them. The following is 
 from my journal : 
 
 "Freistatt, Mo., April 28, 1885. Spring in all its glory is here at last. Every- 
 where the eye meets flowering trees and shrubs, and from all sides the sweet music of 
 birds falls on our ear. The air is remarkably clear and refreshing on this plateau of 
 the Ozark Mountains. Just now the southwind is blowing so strongly during day-time 
 that all the apple trees bend northward. By the middle of May this strong wind will 
 have ceased to blow. Now is the time when the most beautiful of our vocal summer 
 sojourners arrive. While sauntering through the woodlands and the adjoining orchard 
 this morning I was saluted by the loud rattling tamrrrr and the sprightly song of the 
 Orchard Oriole. While singing its gushing strain, it was perched in the upper slender 
 branchlets of an apple tree, almost hidden among the dense foliage, and its notes were 
 accompanied by fluttering and swinging motions. This is one of the characteristic traits 
 of all the Orioles, but especially of this species. The song always reminds me of the 
 Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The notes are rapidly enunciated, and so hurried and gushing 
 that the ear can scarcely follow them, but they are extremely harmonious, loud, and 
 varied. I agree with Dr. T. M. Brewer, who describes the performance as consisting 'of 
 shrill and lively notes, uttered with an apparent air of great agitation, and that they 
 are quite distinct and agreeable, though neither so full nor so rich, as are those of the 
 more celebrated Golden Robin.' 
 
 "The exquisite and varied strain of the Orchard Oriole, its loudness and rapidity, 
 its gushing liveliness and hilarity is a true picture of the now absolutely reigning spring. 
 The white erythronium', the common blue violet", as well as the arrow-leaved' and the 
 bird's-foot violet* are blooming abundantly in the fence corners and in the borders of 
 the woods. The prairies are covered with a carpet of shooting stars {Dodecatheoa 
 Meadia), varying in color from pure white to deep rosy. In the trellises covered by 
 Japan honey-suckles {Lonicera Halliana) the Catbird, just arrived from its winter home, 
 inspects its old nesting-quarters. Bluebirds are busily engaged in feeding their young 
 in the nesting-box fastened to a small oak. From the thickets of the adjoining wood- 
 lands the enchanting song of the Cardinal and the screaming of the very abundant 
 highway robbers, the Blue Jays, falls on the ear. Mockingbirds and Thrashers sing, and 
 Flickers and Red-headed Woodpeckers announce their presence by their incessant 
 drumming and loud call-notes. The air, which is characterized by its pureness, and 
 
 > Erythronlum ulbidum. J Viola cuciillata. 3 V. sagittate, t V. pedata. 
 
ORCHARD ORIOLE. 283 
 
 tranquility, is, indeed, vocal with the music of numerous birds, and a more beautiful 
 spring day can scarcely be imagined. 
 
 "May 9. The red clover is in full bloom. The Orchard Orioles are very abundant. 
 The females have arrived this morning or during the night, arid the very ecstatic and 
 vocal males are wooing them in their sweetest songs. All are very fearless coming into 
 close proximity of the house. The Bluebirds breeding for the second time have to keep 
 up a constant fight against the extremely numerous and half-domesticated Blue Jays. 
 In the early morning these nest plunderers and murderers approach the nesting-box in 
 a very quiet and sneaking way, usually in numbers from four to five, and the lovely 
 Bluebirds scarcely succeed in defending their home. 
 
 "May 11. The Orchard Orioles have settled now, each female having selected her 
 mate. The Bluebirds in the nesting-box are now comparatively safe, and their enemies, 
 the Blue Jays, dare scarcely show^ themselves. The guardian, protector, and ally of the 
 small birds is the ever w^atchful and courageous Kingbird, w^ho drives away all the 
 robbers, from the size of a Blue Jay to that of an Eagle. 
 
 "May 21. Six pairs of Orchard Orioles are nesting neat my house. Their song 
 can be heard almost incessantly in the grand concert of Nature. With an almost 
 thousand- voiced song of jubilee the plumed choir greets the rising sun. Cardinals, Blue- 
 birds, Bewick's Wrens, Kingbirds, Wood Pewees, Great-crested Flycatchers, Carolina 
 Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Flickers, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Robins, Catbirds, 
 Thrashers, Wood Thrushes, Indigo Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, 
 Field Sparrows, Yellow Warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, Bell's and White-eyed Yireos, Lark 
 Sparrows, Martins, Barn Swallows, Orchard Orioles, and even Blue Jays sing and call 
 as loud as they can. How rich and varied is bird-life here yet! But it will not take 
 long before man has destroyed this beautiful idyll. With Argiis eyes I have to watch 
 the nest of the Mockingbird built in a prairie rose clambering over a fence on the country 
 road. These inimitable songsters have already become very scarce, as every nest obtain- 
 able is robbed of its young. 
 
 "To-day I found the first Oriole nest. It is built in a young mulberry about six 
 feet above the ground. It is a pensile structure, and so well hidden among the foliage, 
 that only a trained eye can detect it. Like all the nests of this bird, it is built of long 
 slender grasses, which are cut with the bill and used green and fresh. The Oriole's 
 assiduity in w^eaving the long slender grasses into such a beautiful basket-like structure 
 is really astonishing. The color of the grasses, even when dry, shows a greenish hue, 
 preventing the nest among the branches and leaves from being seen. Dry grasses 
 and other material are nevet used in the external construction, but the inside is usually 
 lined with fine plant wool and feathers. Like almost all the nests which I have meas- 
 ured, this is three inches in diameter and three inches long. The birds usually work 
 from three to four days to complete the structure. 
 
 "With one exception all the nests found by me in Texas were similar. All were 
 built in horizontal or half upright branches, and while some were hanging nests, most 
 of them were half pensile. All were lined with cotton or feathers. May 8, 3881, I dis- 
 covered a very peculiar nest, not quite finished, near Spring Creek, Texas, only a few 
 yards from a dwelling. For several days I had observed a pair of these birds carrying 
 
284 ORCHARD ORIOLE. 
 
 fresh green grasses to a laurel oak {Quercus imbricaria) , that was densely covered with 
 large hanging festoons of Spanish moss ; they disappeared always in a certain bunch of 
 moss, yet I could see no nest. At last, on taking down the branch, I was surprised 
 to find a beautiful structure in my hands. The grasses and threads of moss were all 
 firmly woven together with grass ; the entrance was on the side. There is no doubt 
 that the birds make frequently use of these festoons of dense moss, as I have often seen 
 them climbing around in them. They could not be better protected, it being exceedingly 
 difficult to find the nest among the bunches of moss. 
 
 "June 11. Orchard Oriole nests are found almost daily. I even discovered one in 
 a top of a dense Scotch pine only a few steps from a much frequented veranda. Another 
 one was built close by in an apple tree, and a third one in an Osage orange. A fourth 
 nest stood in a black jack oak not far from the nest of a Robin; in the top of the same 
 tree a Kingbird had its nest. Not quite six feet from it, in a neighboring tree, a pair of 
 Bluebirds were nesting. In another oak tree near the house, about fifteen feet from the 
 grounS, a fifth nest was discovered. Under this tree the children play and chatter all 
 day long and a hammock i^ constantly swinging to and fro. The gushing, sprightly, 
 and melodious song of the Orchard Orioles as well as their rattling notes, sounding like 
 terrrrrrr, are frequently heard. Their flight is quick and graceful, and their motions 
 among the branches of the trees are very adroit. They rarely come down to the ground. 
 Almost all the nests found by me contained four, several five, and a few three eggs. 
 They have a pale bluish- white ground-color, and are blotched with purplish and spotted 
 on the larger end with a few deep markings of dark purphsh-brown." 
 
 The sociability of this Oriole is one of its most marked characteristics, and has 
 been noticed by all observers who have had an opportunity to study its habits. Audu- 
 bon says that he has known no less than nine nests in the same enclosure, and that all 
 the birds were living together in great harmony. I have found five and six nests in one 
 orchard and garden, and two even in one tree. 
 
 The Orchard Oriole is a more restless bird than the Golden Robin. This sprightly 
 bird is ever in motion, flying, hopping, and climbing about in the trees, often swinging 
 head downward in its search for food. Now and then we may see it flying down to 
 the ground after some fallen bug or worm, but in the next instant it is again fluttering 
 amidst the foliage, prying for lurking prey. All the time its search is accompanied by 
 its hurried and sprightly notes. Prof. Robert Ridgway, an excellent connoisseur of bird 
 song, says, that the male is an excellent songster, his notes having an ecstatic character, 
 quite the reverse of the mournful lament of his larger and more brilliantly colored 
 cousin. 
 
 The Orchard Oriole is a highly beneficial bird, as its food consists almost exclu- 
 sively of insects, which are captured mostly in trees and shrubs, especially among the 
 flowers and leaves. In pursuing its prey it is exceedingly active, fluttering amidst the 
 foliage, climbing among the branches, or flying and springing after bugs and moths 
 on the escape. Of insects "it consumes," according to Dr. T. M. Brewer, "a large 
 number, and with them it also feeds its young. Most of these are of the kinds most 
 obnoxious to the husbandman, preying upon the foliage, destroying the fruit, and other- 
 wise injuring the trees, and their destroyers render an incalculable amount of benefit to 
 
ORCHARD ORIOLE. 285 
 
 the gardens they favor with their presence. At the same time they are entirely innocent 
 of injury to crops of any description, and I cannot find that any accusations or 
 expressions of suspicion have been raised against them. They seem to be, therefore, 
 general favorites, and, wherever protected, evince their appreciation of this good-will by 
 their familiarity and numbers." 
 
 I have observed that the parents returned to the nest, during one hour, thirty-seven 
 times with insects, .carrying from one to four at a time. These were mostly eater-pillars 
 and moths. When the young are very small, they are fed exclusively with plant lice and 
 other diminutive insects, and when they are fully grown, grasshoppers and beetles are 
 carried to them in large numbers. The smaller insects are collected from the foliage and 
 the flowers, and the sharp and pointed bill is also well adapted to draw lurking insects 
 from the crevices of the bark. In Texas they also relish ripe figs, which are cracked 
 or stung and nibbled by insects. I have never seen that these and other birds, who 
 .visited the fig trees, took perfect and not over ripe fruit. They consumed only those 
 figs which were cracked, very juicy, and full of insects. 
 
 The Orchard Oriole leaves south-western Missouri early in September, and in 
 south-eastern Texas I have seen none after the second week in October. From the time 
 of their moulting, when the young are able to shift for themselves, until their departure 
 these birds are perfectly silent, live very retired, and are scarcely seen in their spring 
 haunts. "With joyfiil song and in great activity and hilarity they arrived, silently and 
 unnoticed they depart for their winter-quarters. 
 
 Their winter home is found from southern Mexico to Panama. 
 
 NAMES: Orchard Oriole, Orchard Hangnest, Brown Hangnest. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Oriolas spurius Linn. (1766). ICTERUS SPURIUS Bonap. (1825), Aud., Nutt. 
 Oriolus varius Gmel. (1766). Oriolus castaneus Lath. (1790). Pendalinus affinis Cass. (1867). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Bill, slender; tail, moderately graduated. ''Adult male: Head, neck, middle of chest, back, 
 scapulars, wings (except lesser and middle coverts) and tail, deep black, the greater wing-coverts, 
 quills and secondaries edged, more or less distinctly, with pale chestnut or whitish; rest of plumage, 
 uniform rich dark chestnut or bay, deepest on breast. Adult female: Upper parts, yellowish-olive, 
 much duller and grayer on back and scapulars; wings, grayish-dusky, with two white bands, all the 
 feathers with paler brownish-gray edgings; tail, yellowish-olive, like rump, etc.; lower parts, entirely 
 light olive-yellow. Young male, second year: Similar to adult female, but lores, chin, and throat, 
 black. (The chestnut and rest of the black appearing in patches, increasing in extent, during successive 
 seasons.) Young of the year: Similar to adult female, but suffused with brownish, especially on 
 
 upper parts. 
 
 "Length, 6.00 to 7.35 inches; wing, 2.90 to 3.25; tail, 2.65 to 3.20 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 
 
 Icterus galbula CouES. 
 
 Plate XXX. Fig. 1 and 2. 
 
 The sun is on the waters, and the air 
 
 Breathes with a. stirring energy; the plants 
 
 Expand their leayes, and swell their buds, and blow. 
 
 Wooing the eye, and stealing on the soul 
 
 With perfume and with beauty. Life awakes ; 
 
 Its wings are waving, and its fins at play 
 
 Glancing from out the streamlets, and the voice 
 
 Of love and joy is warbled in the grove. 
 
 Percival. 
 
 IS^HE SPLENDOR of our North American autumn landscape has always been a 
 |y favorite theme with the writers on the beauties of Nature. More exhilerating 
 and anticipating, however, is the beauty of the woodlands in spring. Although little 
 notice has been taken by our writers of this beauty, the true lover of Nature, who 
 is accustomed to w^orship in her inner temple, recognizes the subtle charm of our 
 woods at this season, and realizes the variety and harmony of the apparel w^hich oiir 
 trees put on to celebrate the return of the vernal season. No other time of the year 
 exhibits so striking a contrast in the appearance of different species of forest trees. Nature 
 alone knows how to blend various distinct forms and many distinct shades of colors 
 in one harmonious whole. The forests of Europe, composed of a few species only, are 
 far inferior to the woodlands of our own country, composed, as they are, of a very 
 large variety of magnificent species. In May from, the top of a northern hill, or better, 
 from one of the high summits of the southern AUeghanies, "over which is spread the 
 most varied, luxuriant, and magnificent collection of deciduous trees in the world," may 
 be seen the American forest in its most charming aspect, the outlines of individual trees 
 veiled but not hidden, by the opening leaves, which vary on each species in form and 
 color. The opening of the buds is a sensation of indescribable beauty to the cultivated 
 mind. This first flush of woodland beauty lasts only a few days, but they are precipes 
 days to the lover of Nature. How exquisitely charming are the horse chestnuts, the 
 maples, and especially the wild plums, cherries, hawthorns, oaks, and hickories in their 
 misty spring apparel ! The constrast in the mixed woods, where white pines are inter- 
 spersed among a large number of species of deciduous trees, is beautiful beyond 
 description.* 
 
 At this time the brilliant flowers of the red maple celebrate the coming of spring. 
 This tree is certainly one of the most beautiful objects to be seen in our woods, when 
 covered with fruit, which varies in different individuals in brilliancy. In the Southern 
 States, where this tree grows with particularly large and brilliant fruit, among the most 
 magnificent trees of our country, the evergreen magnolias, the dense hollies and finely 
 formed laurel cherries and other broad-leaved evergreens, it makes a note of color in the 
 landscape and a sensation on the mind which time does not dull. Among this variety 
 of budding trees almost all colors can be observed, but the shades of red, bronze, green, 
 
 " Compare "Garden and Forest," Vol. V, 1872, p. 266. 
 
BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 287 
 
 and white are particularly noticeable. No system of color language can accurately 
 describe the varied shades of the early dresses of our trees and shrubs. Many of the hues 
 are softened and subdued, in contrast to the gaudy colors of autumn. How lovely is 
 the shadbush {Amelanchier canadensis), in full flower, among this variety of budding 
 trees, and what charm adds the sheep-berry {Viburnum Lentago) with its deep bronze- 
 green unfolding leaves to the road-sides and forest copses! And how beautiful is the 
 tender green young fohage of the beech ! 
 
 When the army of Juncos, White-throats, White-crowns, and Fox Sparrows in their 
 migration have flown further north, and the Chippies have become more abundant; 
 w^hen a few Thrashers and Towhees are heard introducing themselves to the passers-by, 
 just before the Catbirds, Bobolinks, and Orioles arrive, this time may be called the 
 misty season of the year. Now the leaves prepare to unfold and the bud-scales grow 
 to their largest size. You can name no special date' when this season is in its 
 height. When the new leaves begin to unfold, the misty season vanishes, and color is 
 added to the landscape. Now the host of Warblers, the most elegant and attractive of 
 our birds, appear in great numbers. At the same time, in Wisconsin about May 9, the 
 Scarlet Tanager gleams in the bronzy colored and green unfolding foliage. The Rose- 
 breasted Grosbeak announces its presence by its enchantingly sweet song in the mixed 
 wo\^ds, where the oaks now appear as if decked with scraps of maroon velvet. And 
 what is this flash of fire in yonder drooping fresh green branches of the stately elm? 
 Surely,, the Baltimore Oriole has arrived, making the air vocal with its flute-like, 
 extremely touching notes, and by its rattling tarrtrrrrr. It imbues the vernal trees with 
 an indescribable charm and poetry, and in its fiery orange plumage it really seems like an 
 arrival from the tropics. We see these birds flash through the blossoming trees, and all 
 the time hear their warbling and wooing notes. Although observed in many different 
 " trees, the Baltimore Oriole has a predilection for the broad spreading elms standing near 
 the stateliest mansion as w^ell as by the humblest farm house. 
 
 The elm is the most picturesque, the most beautiful of all our northern trees. 
 Though not donned in broad, shining evergreen foliage, and not bespangled with large 
 fragrant flow^ers like the noble magnolia of the South, the broad head of light 
 pendulous branches, supported by a strong stem, is unsurpassed for picturesqueness and 
 beauty. No other northern tree is associated in the mind of the people to an equal 
 extent with the idea of home. It forms the most remarkable feature of the northern 
 domestic landscape, and the bright-colored, sprightly and famiKar Baltimore Oriole is 
 always associated with this stately tree, especially in New England. Indeed, it is one 
 of our best known and most beloved birds, "famous alike for its flash of color, its assi- 
 duity in singing, and its architectural ability." 
 
 There ai-e few of our birds combining so many of the gifts and graces of their 
 class as the Baltimore Oriole, in showy array of orange, black, and white, and an ex- 
 cellent entertainer in song and manners. That it is a highly esteemed and familiar bird 
 is shown by its variety of popular names. In allusion to its bright orange plumage it 
 is called "Golden Robin," and "Fire-bird," and from its exquisite pensile nest it received 
 the name "Hangnest." Its more common name of Baltimore Oriole is not derived from 
 the city of that name, but from the Earl of Baltimore, who became the lord of Balti- 
 
more in colonial days. The correspondence of yellow and black on his heraldic livery 
 with the coloring of this bird, which w^as abundant in his new estates, sufficed to make 
 this Oriole known as the "Baltimore Bird." 
 
 These brilliant and extremely lively birds are hailed as the true harbingers of the 
 approaching warm and flowery season. Coming from their winter home in Central 
 America, southern Mexico, and the West Indies, they make their appearance in southern 
 New England in the first week of May, in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois 
 rarely before the 9th and 10th of that month, always when the plum and cherry trees 
 are white with blossoms. They announce their arrival by their loud and liquid song 
 and by their rattling call-notes. There can he scarcely a more enchanting and beautiful 
 picture imagined than these fiery, exceedingly active and vocal birds in the masses of 
 white blossoms and tender green foliage ! It seems as if they were trying to induce us 
 to take part in their jubilee and pleasure. Indeed, they fill the soul of every lover of 
 Nature with enthusiasm and ideal thoughts, and even the indolent listen to the song 
 and enjoy it. In south-western Missouri I have never seen this Oriole, and in southern 
 Louisiana I have seen the males pass through rapidly by the 20th of April. About 
 a week later I observed small flocks of migrating females in the flowering magnolias. 
 At the North the males precede the females about six or eight days. The latter always 
 arrive when the apple trees are in full bloom, and there can be no more beautiful sight 
 than the gorgeously colored wooing male on the side of his humbler mate amid the 
 wealth of white and rosy blossoms. They are extremely regular in the time of their 
 arrival, and year after year they appear at any point about the same day. 
 
 The Baltimore Oriole has a very extensive range of distribution, being found at 
 various seasons throughout eastern North America south to the West Indies and 
 Central America. Its breeding range extends from the Atlantic to the Plains, and from 
 Texas and Florida to the interior of British America, having been traced north to the* 
 55th parallel of latitude. Dr. J. A. Allen met with it at the base of the Rocky Mount- 
 ains, in Colorado, and in Kansas he found it, as well as the Orchard Oriole, abundant. 
 I have never observed it during the breeding season in Texas and south-western 
 Missouri, and never in Florida, though Dr. T. M. Brewer has received nest and eggs 
 from Monticello, in northern Florida. According to Audubon it breeds in Louisiana 
 and Texas, and this is probably true to some extent in some localities, for we know 
 that the Baltimore Oriole, even in the North, is abundant in one locality and exceedingly 
 scarce or not at all found in another. In Wisconsin and northern Illinois it was once 
 a very numerous bird, but its very beauty has led to its destruction. Its brilliant 
 plumage made it desirable to the hat-bird collector as well as to the pseudo-ornithologist. 
 "Women's heartlessness," as Celia Thaxter calls it, is to a great extent responsible for 
 the depopulation of our groves, orchards, meadows, and woodlands. It has been often 
 the case in New England as well as in other parts of the country, that all the male 
 birds in one district were exterminated within a short time after their arrival from 
 the South. 
 
 The favorite haunts of this brilliant bird are cultivated districts, well watered, and 
 where large trees are scattered around. In Wisconsin I have found them especially in 
 the scattered elms of the cleared lowlands and even in Lombardy poplars near houses, 
 
and in Illinois in large oaks and maples. Further south, on the Mississippi and Ohio, 
 the beautiful tulip trees are its favorite haunts. Wherever it occurs it prefers the 
 society of man, breeding in large trees in gardens, orchards, pleasure grounds, pastures, 
 and oil the outskirts of woodlands. It even enters towns and larger cities. For a 
 number of years a pair nested regularly in one of the large elms standing in a street in 
 the city of Milwaukee. Wherever it feels safe it soon becomes very much attached to 
 man, singing and nesting frequently in close proximity of dwellings. It is a peculiar 
 fact that we find these Orioles common in one locality and not at all in another 
 apparently just as well suited to its tastes. It is partial to particular sections, 
 especially to hilly and well-watered regions, w^hile several miles away none may be 
 found. With most of our country people these birds are great favorites, and they do 
 not allow that these fiery plumed tenants of their domain be in any way molested. 
 Gay and brilliant in plumage, lively and pleasant in its manners, a quick and graceful 
 flyer, and a vocalist of rare power, "with pathos, beauty and variety in its notes," the 
 Baltimore Oriole must be a great favorite w^ith everyone who is not indolent and without 
 feeling. 
 
 The Baltimore Oriole is one of our most conspicuous and melodious vocalists, 
 announcing its presence from the time of its arrival until the young are hatched. No bird 
 song of our gardens is so impressive, so loud and full of hilarity. The Golden Robin is 
 indeed the herald of the blossoming season. At all events, the blossoms of the fruit trees 
 and the Orioles come together. We hear their first notes when the cherry and apple trees 
 wear their full spring array. Then they are in high spirits, "gaily flashing from one 
 tree to another, and sounding forth their golden-toned trumpets from the fragrant clouds 
 of white bloom, amid which they spend many an hour while the blossoms remain." The 
 few notes of which the song of this Oriole consists are uttered frequently, with great 
 force and fine modulations. It also possesses a considerable power of imitation, and its 
 attempts of uttering a few notes of such birds as the Cardinal, the Scarlet Tanager, 
 and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, are no failure. Its sweet whistling is especially heard 
 in the early morning. If we look for the songster we are likely to find it among the 
 swaying branches of an elm or in the blossoming orchard trees, where it is busily 
 engaged in searching for insect food. Peering into every crevice, under each leaf, into 
 every flower cup for its prey, it warbles at the same time incessantly its flute-like notes. 
 When flying from one tree to another, it also sings or utters its rattling call-notes trrrr 
 to assure its mate of its presence and whereabouts. 
 
 At its arrival and until the time of the appearance of the females the notes are 
 loud and rather shrill, and the noisy rattle is more frequently heard than later. At 
 this time the males are also more restless, very active and jDUgnacious. "When, a few 
 days after their arrival," says Dr. T. M. Brewer, "they are joined by the females, the 
 whole character of their song changes, which becomes a lower-toned, richer, and more 
 pleasing refrain. During their love season their resonant and peculiarly mellow whistle 
 resounds in every garden and orchard, along the highway of our villages, and in the 
 parks and public squares of our cities. Nuttall, generally very felicitous in expressing 
 by verbal equivalents the notes of various species of our songbirds, describes the notes 
 of its song as running thus, Tshippe-tshayia-too-too-tsbippe-tshippe-too-too, with 
 
 37 
 
several other very similar modifications and variations. But these characters give a 
 very inadequate idea of their song. It must be heard to be appreciated, and no 
 description can do justice to its beauties. The notes are of an almost endless variety, 
 and each individual has its own special variations. The female, too, has her own 
 peculiar and pretty notes, which she incessantly warbles as she weaves her curiously 
 elaborate nest." 
 
 The movements of the Oriole among the branches are very quick and graceful. 
 On the ground it is not at home and it rarely alights on it, except when gathering 
 nesting material or when pursuing an escaping insect. The flight is extremely elegant 
 and quick, usually from tree to tree. When flying far, it ascends high into the air above 
 the trees, and then speeding on rapidly. 
 
 Though so bright and beautiful birds, such exquisite songsters and hilarious tenants 
 of our groves, the interest which the Baltimore Oriole never fails to excite, centers, after 
 all, in the masterpiece of its pouch-like nest, "which its clever bill, like a needle with 
 the eye at the point," suspends for our admiration from the drooping bough of an elm 
 or other tree, under a canopy of tremulous foliage. It is woven in the most wonderfol 
 manner and of quite characteristic substances. Both birds participate in building this 
 beautiful structure. Sometimes the female does most of the weaving, while the male 
 supplies the material, and again the male seems to be mainly the architect. Other 
 birds are mostly engaged in the early morning hours in the construction of their 
 domiciles; the Orioles, however, do not confine themselves to special hours of the 
 day, but are diligently working all day long, until the nest is complete. Where they 
 are protected, and, in consequence, feel safe, they are easily observed at their work, 
 and we may even assist them in supplying them with nesting material. As may be 
 supposed, so elaborate a structure is not the work of a few days, but may require 
 a week or more. It is always purse-like or deeply pouched, and one of the most per- 
 fectly pensile nests imaginable. It is usually six to eight inches long, about four inches 
 in breadth, and somewhat contracted at the opening, and pouched out below. It is 
 suspended fi-om a horizontal branch, usually at a great distance from the trunk, where 
 it is out of the reach for almost all climbing animals. The nests which I found in Wis- 
 consin and Illinois, were placed from twelve to forty feet, and in the lowlands even 
 higher, from the ground. There are usually three classes of nests. Those built in the 
 elms in the meadows are mainly constructed of the tough silky fiber of asclepias, 
 mixed with horse hair and lined with plant down. These are the most beautiful of 
 all the nests. A second kind of nests is usually found in gardens. These ate mainly 
 built of strings, twine, grasses, and a few horse hairs which give the structure 
 shape and substance. The interior is lined with feathers and cotton. A third class of 
 nests is mostly constructed of horse hair and a few strings, and lined with cottony 
 substances. This last is the most substantial and lasting structure, hanging on the 
 trees often for years. I frequently supplied these birds with all kinds of strings, ranging in 
 color from pure white to orange, scarlet, green, blue, brown, and black, but I have 
 never observed that they made use of bright-colored material ; they invariably selected 
 the white, black, and dark brown strings. The same observation has been made by 
 Miss Hedwig Schlichting, who, during her long residence in Howard's Grove, has 
 
BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 291 
 
 frequently furnished nesting material for these birds. Never were red, yellow, blue, or 
 green strings accepted. 
 
 In building the nest, the Orioles usually begin with a string and a few asclepias 
 or hemp fibers, which they skilfully wind around the twigs; then they take horse hair, 
 which they interweave with the other material until the rough skeleton of the nest is 
 formed. So well is the work of weaving performed that we must be surprised by 
 the close texture of the finished fabric. In weaving and forming the nest not only the 
 bill is used, but also the whole body. The female usually sits in the nest turning her 
 body to all sides and working with her bill, while the male climbs around on the out- 
 side, working diligently with his bill. 
 
 Audubon tells us that he has found nests in Louisiana made entirely of the soft 
 Spanish moss, and such a nest, built in a flowering tulip tree, is figured in his magni- 
 ficent work, "The Birds of America." A nest which Dr. T. M. Brewer received from 
 Monticello, Fla., was constructed of the same material. The eggs, four to five in 
 number, are white, marked with dots and curving lines and streaks, appearing as if 
 made with a pen and black ink. 
 
 While the female is hatching, her mate sings his most caressing notes, carries food 
 to her and keeps a sharp lookout for all enemies who may penetrate his haunts. At 
 this time he is extremely suspicious, and the presence of a cat, a dog, a squirrel, or a 
 snake brings him down to the lowermost branches. Birds of prey are vehemently 
 attacked and boldly driven off". When the nest is approached they utter notes of such 
 deep sadness that the kind hearted observer retires immediately. I have seen the male 
 driving away Crows and Crackles, and a writer in the "Audubon Magazine" says, that 
 he has seen one administer such a severe thrashing to a marauding Blue Jay, who 
 w^as prowling about his home, that the rascal went off" quite crest-fallen and hid himself 
 in a cedar tree, where hie stayed half an hour before he dared to venture out from its 
 sheltering branches. 
 
 When the young are hatched both parents are busily engaged providing them with 
 food, and as they grow larger and hungrier the old birds are all day long busily engaged 
 in collecting innumerable noxious insects, the sole diet of their off"spring. When the 
 young are pretty well feathered, but before they are able to fly, they climb around over 
 the edge of the nest, extending finally their excursions to the surrounding twigs, until 
 they are able to use their wings. 
 
 I know no bird that shows such an intense love and attachment to its mate or 
 young as the Baltimore Oriole. When an accident has befallen one of the parents or 
 the young, the surviving cry for days in the most pitiful and mournful tones. When I 
 one day caught a female in a trap and kept her in a cage, the male uttered notes of such 
 extreme sadness and showed such great tenderness and solicitude that it even came in 
 the room and alighted on the cage, where the mate w^as kept. This attachment and 
 love impressed me so deeply that on the next morning I set both firee. 
 
 The Baltimore Oriole is a bird of great value in the household of Nature. To 
 the agriculturist and horticulturist "it renders immense service in the destruction 
 of highly injurious insects; among the most noteworthy of these are the common 
 canker-worm and the tent eater-pillar, both great pests to orchards." (Brewer.) The 
 
292 BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 
 
 "Audubon Magazine" gives the following truthful description of the Oriole's excellent 
 services : 
 
 "The first notice we have of the Baltimore's presence is his sweet whistle heard 
 in the early morning. If we look for him we shall find him high up among the branches 
 of an elm or oak, or sycamore or cherry tree, busily looking for food, and if we take a 
 little time to watch him, may see how systematically he goes to work to secure his 
 breakfast. He will very likely alight on some large branch near the trunk of the tree, 
 and thence work outward toward the smaller branches, going carefully over almost 
 every twig, and always flying back to the main branch to begin his examination of a 
 smaller one. He peers into each crevice of the bark ; looks under each leaf; and 'takes 
 out from each blossom the insects which have gathered there to feed on the sweet 
 honey. The little bunches of eggs hidden last autumn in the crannies and nooks where 
 the mother beetle or moth thought they would be safe, do not escape his keen sight 
 and his strong, sharp-pointed bill ; the eater-pillar, just hatched out and beginning to 
 feed on the tender leaves, is far too slow to get away if the Oriole once espies him ; 
 and the insect which is Etbout to lay its eggs in the fruit which is just now forming, 
 will have to be very quick and cunning if it is to avoid the sharp eyes of Lord Balti- 
 more. All through the spring and summer this is the Oriole's work, performed day after 
 day, constantly, carefully, faithfully. No one can know how much good he does by his 
 unceasing warfare against the insects ; no one can know how many trees he saves, how^ 
 many barrels of fruit he gives to the farmer, fruit \\rhich but for him would be eaten up 
 by the grubs, or having been stung by insects would drop off from the trees before 
 ripening. 
 
 "But there are some people who believe that the Oriole does a great deal of harm. 
 They say that he eats the peas in spring and destroys grapes in great numbers in the 
 autumn. 
 
 "Perhaps the Baltimore Oriole is not altogether perfect. He does visit the pea 
 vines, but it is probably more to get the insects which gather about the sweet white 
 blossoms than to eat the peas. But even if he should take a few of them, what a trifle 
 in money value this loss would be when compared with the great good that he does 
 by destroying the insects ; and the same is true with regard to the few grapes he may eat. 
 
 "Without the Oriole, and other birds who do such work as he, we might not have 
 any vines at all on which to grow grapes. There are many learned people who believe 
 that the terrible disease, due to a small insect, which has destroyed so many of the 
 finest vine-yards in France, is caused by the wholesale killing of birds which takes place 
 in that country. The Oriole may do some little harm in the waj' indicated, but his 
 services to man are very great and far outweigh the value of a few small fruits." 
 
 Like all the Orioles the Golden Robin is an excellent cage bird. If fed and cared 
 for in the same way as the Mockingbird is treated in confinement, it thrives very well. 
 
 It leaves its summer home in small scattered flocks late in August and early in 
 September. 
 
 NAMES: Baltimobe Oriole, Golden Robin, Hangnest, Firebird, Baltimore Bird, Hangingbird, Golden Oriole. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Coracias galbula Linn. (1758). ICTERUS GALBULA Coues (1880). Oriolus 
 baltimore Linn. (1766). Icterus baltimore Daud. (1810). Hyphantes baltimore Cass. (1867). 
 
XXXI 
 
 
 1. ICTERUS BULLOCKI Bonap, 2. ICTERUS PARIS ORUM Boneip. 
 
 3. ICTERUS CUCULLATUS NliLSONl Ridow. 4 . P^'ROCEPHALUS RUBINEUS MEXICANUS Cones. 
 
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. 293 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Tail, slightly graduated. Male, adult: Bright orange; whole head, throat, and upper parts, 
 black; wings, black, edged with white; lesser wing-coverts, orange; tail, black; the ijases of all the 
 feathers, yellow ; tips of outer tail-feathers, orange ; two white bands on the wings. Female: Paler 
 and duller; black replaced by grayish-yellow; wings, brownish-black; orange replaced by olive-yellow. 
 Males do not attain their full beauty of plumage until third year. Bill, bluish-black; feet, lead-colored. 
 Length, 7.50 to 8.15 inches; wing, 3.70; tail, 3.10 inches. 
 
 BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. 
 
 Icterus buUocki Bonaparte. 
 
 Plate XXXI. Fig. 1. 
 
 J^HE friend of Nature who for the first time enters California is surprised and 
 astonished by the singular aspect of the landscape, by the many peculiar plants, 
 trees, and shrubs, and by the many rare birds. Everywhere he notices new and 
 entirely different features in the landscape, and the ear listens to strange songs and 
 call-notes. With the exception of the Himalayas, where bush and tree-like rhododendrons 
 in many species and magnificent magnolias abound, no mountain range in the world 
 can show^ such a floral beauty as the Sierras of California, and they are unsurpassed in 
 their magnificent forests of coniferous trees, in their beautiful canons, cascades, and 
 mountain lakes and streams. The foaming and thundering waterfalls are always found 
 amidst a magnificent growth of conifers, the grandest and most gigantic in the world. 
 Here we find the sugar pine*, the noblest of its genus, the beautiful silver pine^, the 
 grand Douglas spruce', the .finely formed incense cedar*, the magnificent red fir*, and 
 above all the groves of big trees*, single trunks of these giants often measuring thirty- 
 five feet in diameter. Some of them, having attained a height of 325 feet, are certainly 
 from 2000 to 3000 years old. They are always found in groves by themselves, and 
 sauntering about among these giants "in the Indian summer is one of the most delightful 
 diversions imaginable. The woods are calm and the ripe colors are blazing in all their 
 glory; these cone-laden trees stand motionless in the warm, hazy air, and you may see 
 the Crimson-crested Woodcock, the prince of the Sierra Woodpeckers, drilling some dead 
 limb or fallen trunk with his bill, and ever and anon filling the glens with his happy 
 cackle. The Hummingbird, too, dwells in these noble woods, and may oftentimes be 
 seen glancing among the flowers or resting wing-weary in some leafless twig; here also 
 are the familiar Robin of the orchards, and the brown and grizzly bears so obviously 
 fitted for these majestic solitudes, and the Douglas squirrel, making more hilarious, 
 exuberant, vital stir than all the bears, birds, and humming wings together."* 
 
 In the coniferous regions of these mountains we find a noble assemblage of flowers 
 of noble families. The mountain streams are fringed with strange shrubs, and in the 
 mountain meadows as well as in the rich soil of the woodland openings Humboldt, 
 
 1 Piaus Lambertina. 2 P. ponderosa. 3 Pseudotsuga. Douglasii. * Libocedrus dccurrens. » A/jie.s magnWca. 
 
 « Sequoia gigantca. 
 
 ♦ The Mountains of California. By John Muir. New Yorlc. 1804. 
 
294 BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. 
 
 Washington, leopard, and red lilies' abound and flourish luxuriantly, attaining often a 
 height of eight to ten feet and more. Further down in the valleys the exquisite broad- 
 leaved madroiia^ and the lovely mazanita' beautify the landscape together with 
 California lilacs*, garryas, oso berry®, and other shrubs. The most beautiful of the 
 evergreen trees of this region is the California laurel", its dense growth and symmetry 
 commanding attention wherever found. Another charming evergreen tree is the islay^ 
 with its abundant lustrous leaves, its racemes of white flowers, and its handsome fruit. 
 The tollon or California Christmas berry* is a common tree of the coast region. In 
 winter, "when its branches are covered with great clusters of scarlet fruit, whose effect- 
 iveness is increased by the contrasting color of the ample lustrous dark green fdliage, 
 the tollon is more beautiful perhaps than any other North American tree." Few countries 
 can vie in beauty w^ith the California spring flora. I can only mention the gorgeous 
 mariposa or butterfly tulips®, and the yellow California poppy'". Near many rural 
 homes groves or single specimens of the evergreen oaks" form an exquisite feature. 
 
 The birds occurring in gardens and woodlands are different from those of our 
 eastern groves. Instead of one Bluebird we find here two species. The eastern King- 
 bird is represented by the Arkansas Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis), and the Ruby- 
 throated Hummingbird, the only species of the entire Eastern North America, is repre- 
 sented west of the Rocky Mountains by at least eight species. The Bush-tit, Townsend's 
 Solitaire, the Phainopepla, the Cactus Wren, etc., find no representatives in the East. 
 The fiery-colored Baltimore Oriole is represented in the California gardens by the less 
 gorgeously colored Bullock's Oriole, California Oriole, California Hangnest, California 
 Firebird, or California Golden Robin. 
 
 It is found throughout the Pacific shore, from western Kansas and Texas to the 
 Ocean and from Mexico northward to Washington. In the California gardens, especially 
 in the evergreen oaks, it is as confiding and familiar as its eastern congener. Mrs. Sophia 
 Zimmermann, now of Santa Barbara, Cal., has sent me the following description: 
 
 "The beautiful spring flowers have vanished. The waving grain-fields fill the heart 
 of the farmer with hope for a rich harvest. Now, at last, our Orioles and Kingbirds 
 arrive. They are late comers, rarely arriving at San Miguel before the 15th of April. 
 The first brood of the House Finches are ready to leave the nest, but I am unable to 
 detect the Orioles at their work of building. Not before April 23 I notice high in an 
 oak, close to our dwelling, a pouch-like nest; it is built very near their old domicile. 
 The nest is always an exquisite piece of workmanship, and the birds usually complete 
 it in a few days. The eggs, four to five in number, are bluish-white, marked with 
 blotches and zigzag lines of dark brown. 
 
 "All the nests I have found, hung in the extremity of horizontal branches. Some 
 could be reached by hand, others were placed high up in the trees, while the majority 
 stood in half-height. Only now and then two nests were found in one tree. The nesting 
 material differs with the locality. Grasses, horse hair, moss, hemp-hke fibers, wool- 
 strings, and twine are usually employed in the construction of the nest. From the many 
 
 ' IJHum Humbolrltli, L. Waabingtoaianium , L,. pardalittum, L. rubescens. s Arbutus Meiitiesii. 3 Arclostaphylos 
 glauca. •< Ccanothas. o Niittallia ccraslformls. » I'lnbcllulaHa valironiica. 1 Ptuuus iliclfolia, » Heteromelcs arbutifolia. 
 9 Calochortus. i" liacbscholU/a California, n Quercus deaslBora, Q. agritolla. 
 
nests which I found near our home I infer that quite a number of new pairs have 
 settled. This I attribute to the excellent nesting material with which the birds are 
 provided, and to the fresh water which is always placed conveniently for their use. I 
 usually deposit all kinds of strings, especially the soft white threads of unraveled cotton 
 cloth, on the branches of the oaks. All the nests are works of art, and those constructed 
 of the unraveled cotton threads appear on the outside like a Turkish bathing towel. 
 It seems as if such a nest had been woven by skilful hands. Most of the nests are 
 purse-shaped, the longest I measured was eleven inches in length. The young are 
 fed exclusively with insects. Our trees around the house are entirely free from insects, 
 which is due to the many birds we have here, while near and in San Francisco, where 
 these and other birds are absent, often already in June the trees are bereft of their leaves 
 by all kinds of insects. — The song of Bullock's Oriole is exceedingly melodious, tender, and 
 touching, reminding us of the tones of a violin tpuched by a master hand. They leave us 
 in July, and we often wish we could depart with them, for now the days appear, which do 
 not please us. No beneficial and refreshing rain falls throughout the summer. Brooks and 
 ponds dry up. The mercury shows 110 to 115° F. in the shade during the afternoon, 
 and everybody who is able to leave, spends several months on the sea shore, which is 
 only thirty miles away. Everywhere we see the tents of a happy and nonchalant 
 people, enjoying the cool sea breeze and the magnificent landscape in a manner, which, 
 in this proportion, is not found in any other part of the country." 
 
 A nest which Mrs. Zimmermann has sent me, is built entirely of the unraveled 
 threads of cotton ; it is about eight inches long, by five in width. Its outside appearance 
 reminds one of a rough bathing towel. 
 
 Dr. Elliott Coues has given us the following classic life-history of this Oriole: 
 
 "In the pine-clad mountains of Arizona and New Mexico, I never saw it until 
 about the middle of April ; then, and until the cool weather of September, I was almost 
 daily gratified with the sight of the gaily-hued birds gleaming through the sombre 
 foliage like tiny meteors, and with the sound of their musical voices awakening echoes 
 along the deepening aisles of the woodland. 
 
 "In the countries just mentioned, the belts of thick cotton-wood and willows that 
 generally fringe the streams are favorite resorts, perhaps because the pliant twigs are 
 best suited to their wants in constructing their nests. All the Orioles are wonderful 
 architects, weaving pensile nests of soft, pliable, fibrous substances, with a nicety and 
 beauty of finish that human art would vainly attempt to rival. These elegant fabrics 
 are hung at the end of slender twigs, out of reach of ordinary enemies; and though 
 they may swing with every breath of wind, this is but cradle-rocking for the callow 
 young, and it is a rude blast indeed that endangers the safety of their leafy home. 
 
 "Little time passes after their arrival before the modestly-attired females, rambling 
 silently through the verdure, are singled out and attended each by her impetuous con- 
 sort, who sings his choicest songs, and displays the prowess she admires most. His 
 song is an elegant paraphrase of the Baltimore's, with all its richness and variety, though 
 an ear well skilled in distinguishing birds' notes can readily detect a difference. Their 
 courtship happily settled, the pair may be seen fluttering through the thicket they have 
 chosen, in eager searfch for a building place; and when a suitable one is found, no time 
 
is lost in beginning to weave their future home. It is a great mistake to suppose that 
 birds of the same species always build in the same way. Though their nests have a 
 general resemblance in style of architecture, they differ greatly according to their situa- 
 tion, to the time the birds have before the nest must be used for the reception of the 
 eggs, and often, we are tempted to think, according to the taste and skill of the 
 builders. In their work of this sort, birds show a remarkable power of selection, as 
 well as of adapting themselves to circumstances; in proof of which we have only to 
 examine the three beautiful specimens now lying before us. Each is differently con- 
 structed; and while all three evince wonderful powers of weaving, one of them in 
 particular is astonishingly ingenious, displaying the united accomplishments of weaving 
 and basket-making. Before proceeding, we may premise that the idea of the nest is a 
 sort of bag or purse, closely w^oven of slender pliant substances, like strips of fibrous 
 bark, grass, hair, twine, etc., open at the top, and hung by its rim in the fork of a 
 twig or at the very end of a floating spray. 
 
 "The first nest was built in a pine tree; and if the reader will call to mind the 
 stiff nature of the terminal branchlets, each bearing a thick bunch of long, straight, 
 needle-like leaves, he will see that the birds must have been put to their wits' end, 
 thotigh very likely he will not be able to guess how they made shift with such un- 
 promising materials. They made up their minds to use the leaves themselves in the 
 nest, and with this idea they commenced by bending down a dozen or twenty of the 
 stiff, slender filaments, and tying their ends together at the bottom. If you have ever 
 seen a basket-maker at work, with his upright pieces already in place, but not yet fixed 
 together with the circular ones, you will understand exactly what the birds had thus 
 accomplished. They had a secure frame-work of nearly parallel and upright leaves 
 naturally attached to the bough above, and tied together below by the bird's art. 
 This skeleton of the nest was about nine inches long, and four across the top, running 
 to a point below ; and the subsequent weaving of the nest upon this basis was an easy 
 matter to the birds, though, if one were to examine a piece of the fabric cut away from 
 the nest, he could hardly believe that the thin yet tough and strong felting had not 
 been made by some shoddy contractor for the supply of army clothing. Yet it was all 
 designed in a bird's little brain, and executed with skilfuU bill and feet. 
 
 "Perhaps the young birds that were raised in the second nest did not appreciate 
 their romantic surroundings, but their parents were evidently a sentimental pair. If 
 they did not do their courting 'under the mistletoe,' at any rate they built a cosy home 
 there, tinting the sober reality of married life with the rosy hue of their earlier dreams. 
 The nest was hung in a bunch of the Arceuthobium oxycedri, an abundant epiphytic 
 plant, that on the western wilds represents the mistletoe, and recalls the cherished 
 memories of holiday gatherings. The nest was a cylindrical purse, some six inches deep 
 and four broad, hanging to several sprays of the mistletoe, which were partly inter- 
 woven with the nest to form a graceful drapery. The felting material was long, soft, 
 vegetable fibre of a glistening silvery lustre, in artistic contrast with the dark-hued 
 foliage. A few hairs were sewn through and through, for gi-eater security, and the 
 pretty fabric was lined with a matting of the softest possible plant-down, like that of 
 a button-wood or an Asckpias. 
 
"The general shape and the material of the third nest were njuch the same as 
 those of the last; it was, however, suspended from the forked twig of an oak, and 
 draped, almost to concealment, with leaves. But it had a remarkable peculiarity, being 
 arched over and roofed in at the top with a dome of the same material as the rest, 
 and had a little round hole in one side just large enough to let the birds pass in. Such 
 a globular nest as this is probably exceptional; but now it will not do to say that 
 Orioles always build pensile pouches open at the top. 
 
 "The eggs of this species are four or five in number, and rather elongated in form, 
 being much pointed at the smaller end. They measure, on an average, just an inch in 
 length by about two-thirds as much in greatest diameter, which is much nearer the 
 larger than the smaller end. In color they are very pale bluish, or rather whitish, with 
 a faint, dull blue shade, and are everywhere irregularly overrun with fine, sharp hair 
 lines of blackish-brown, or blackish with a slight tinge of purplish. These curious zigzag 
 markings are characteristic of the eggs of a majority of the birds of the family (Icteridse) . 
 They have no definite style, but wander at random over the surface, and in no two 
 specimens are they alike. Thus, in one specimen, the lines, fine as hairs, are wound 
 round and round the butt, with such regularity that they hardly ever interfere; in 
 others they are snarled up in different places, and sometimes, particularly at a sharp 
 turning-point, the lines spread into little spots; and there are often a few^ such isolated 
 markings in various places over the egg." 
 
 Further accounts of the nidification of this beautiful species are given. Dr. Merriam, 
 who found it very abundant in Utah, says: "They build a beautiful hanging nest, often 
 ten and a half inches deep, and composed of fibres of grass, flax, and the inner bark of 
 vines, which is generally lined with wqol. The first lot were deep and solid ; were com- 
 posed chiefly of the fibres of flax and dry grass, and had a grayish appearance, while the 
 second lot — which were built by the sapie birds after their first had been taken — were not 
 very deep, had evidently been made in haste, and were principally composed of the inner 
 bark of small bushes and vines, giving them a brownish look. They generally conceal 
 their nests among the leaves on the top of a willow, from eight to ten feet above the 
 ground, in such a position that it rocks to and fro whenever there is a little wind." 
 
 In all the fertile portions west of the Rocky Mountains, Prof. Robert Ridgway 
 found this Oriole. In May, when he visited the valley of the Truckee, near Pyramid 
 Lake, he observed them in great numbers in company with Louisiana Tanagers and 
 Black-headed Grosbeaks, feeding on the buds of the grease-wood. In certain localities 
 there was scarcely a tree that did not contain one or more nests of the Bullock's Oriole, 
 and as many as five have been found in a single tree. The notes of this species, 
 according to Mr. Ridgway, who has a fine ear for bird-song, are neither so distinct, so 
 mellow, nor so strong, and their effect is quite different from that produced by the 
 splendid mellow whistling of the eastern species. On the Shasta plains Mr. Lord noticed, 
 "in the nesting habits of this Oriole, a singular instance of the readiness with which 
 birds alter their habits under difiiculties. A solitary oak stood by a little patch of 
 water, both removed by many miles from other objects of the kind. Every available 
 branch and spray of this tree had one of the woven nests of this brilliant bird hanging 
 
 from it, though hardly known to colonize in this manner." 
 
 38 
 
298 RUSTY BLACKBIRD. 
 
 NAMES: Bullock's Oriole, California Oriole, California Hangnest, California Firebird, California Golden 
 Robin, Orange-bird. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Xantbornus huWocAu Swains. (1827). ICTERUS BULLOCKI Bonap. (1838). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Tail very slightly graduated. Upper part of the head and neck, back, wings, two central 
 tail-feathers, line from base of bill through the eye to the black of the nape, and a line from the base 
 of the bill running to a point on the throat, black. Under-parts generally, sides of head and neck, 
 forehead and line over the eye, rest of tail-feathers, rump, and upper tail-coverts, yellow-orange. A 
 broad band on the wings, involving the greater and middle coverts, and the outer edges of the quills, 
 white. Young- male with the black replaced by greenish-yellow, that on the throat persistent ; female 
 without this." (B. B. & R. II, p. 199.) 
 
 Length, 7.50 to 8.00 inches; wing, 3.80 to 4.15; tail, 3.10 to 3.70 inches. 
 
 Bendire's Oriole, Icterus gularis yucatanensis yon Berlepsch. This handsome 
 bird has been found by Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny on Avery's Island, New Iberia Parish, 
 Louisiana, June 3, 1893. His attention was first called to a flock of four by their un- 
 familiar w^histle, which is a soft flute-like note; this is repeated from time to time as 
 the birds move from limb to limb in search of food. On dissecting a specimen Mr. 
 Mcllhenny found a number of small green eater-pillars and several spiders, but the 
 principal food seemed to consist of the small purple figs, which w^ere just ripe. While in 
 search of food they move about exactly as the Baltimore Oriole does, swinging fi-om 
 slender, twigs head downward, looking under limbs for insects, and moving continually 
 about. He observed the remaining three birds again on June 5 in some fig trees in 
 the plantation garden. 
 
 Several years previously this Oriole had been observed by several persons in 
 Louisiana as well as in Mississippi and from this we may infer that this beautiful 
 Oriole breeds there. Mr. Allen Mehle asserts that he has seen a flock of about two 
 hundred on his place at Mississippi City, Miss., in July 1892. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Head, breast, under and upper tail-coverts, orange; wings, black, with orange markings at 
 their base ; back, black from base to neck to upper tail-coverts. It is much larger than the Baltimore 
 Oriole. 
 
 RUSTY BLACKBIRD. 
 
 Scolecophagus carolinits Ridgway. 
 
 The Rusty Blackbird inhabits eastern Nort^ America, west to the Plains. It 
 breeds from northern New England and northern Michigan northward, and winters in 
 large numbers in the Southern States, usually in company with Redwings, Yellow-heads, 
 and Covvbirds, remaining associated with them until the spring migration is over. I 
 have noticed in their winter home that they are fond of the company of cattle, 
 being frequently seen among the herds in the pastures. The birds are not at all shy, 
 but they never come in the towns and cities in such immense numbers as Brewer's 
 Blackbird. 
 
 In Texas I observed them from late in November to the end of February, and in 
 Wisconsin they usually make their appearance early in April. Without lingering long 
 they pass northward. Like other Blackbirds, they often gather on an isolated tree and 
 sing. Their notes are quite agreeable and much more melodious than those of other 
 
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD. 299 
 
 species. They are usually seen in moist and marshy places, where thej' are walking 
 around in search of all kinds of aquatic insects, snails, and seeds. 
 
 Nests of these birds have been found at Calais, Me., and thence northward through 
 Nova Scotia and Labrador to Alaska. A nest found June 12 by Mr. MacFarlane, 
 near Fort Anderson, was placed on a branch of a spruce, next to the trunk, eight feet 
 from the ground. Another one was placed in the midst of a branch of a pine, five feet 
 from the ground. Whenever the nest is approached, both parents evince great un- 
 easiness, they do all in their power by flying from tree to tree in its vicinity, to 
 withdraw the attention of the invader from the spot. The breeding range of this 
 Blackbird has been traced to the 69° north latitude. Mr. Dall found them about 
 May 20 at Nulato, and their nests were discovered at Fort Yukon and at Sitka. In 
 Alaska the nest is usually built in bushes standing in water. It is made of plant- 
 stems, grasses, and moss, lined with finer grasses. 
 
 The eggs, four to five in number, are light green, and are only sparingly covered 
 with blotches and shades of purplish-brown. 
 
 NAMES: Rusty Blaci^bird, Rusty Grackle, Ferrugineons Blackbird. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Oriolus ferrngineus Gmel. SCOLECOPHAGUS CARQLINUS Ridgw. (1885). Scole- 
 copbagtts Arragineus Sw. (1831). Gracala. ferruginca Wilson (1811). 
 
 DESCRIPTION : General color, black, with purple reflections ; the wings, under tail-coverts, and hinder part 
 of belly, glossed with green. In autumn the feathers are largely edged with ferruginous or brownish, 
 so as to change the appearance entirely. "Spring, female dull, opaque-plumbeous or ashy-black; the 
 wings and tail sometimes with a green lustre. . . . 
 
 Length of male, 9.50 inches; wing, 4.75; tail, 4.00 inches. — Female, smaller. 
 
 BREWER'S BLACKBIRD. 
 
 Scolecophagus cyanocephalus Cabanis. 
 
 Plate XVII. Fig. 3. 
 
 ^ROM early November to the beginning of April all the thickets in the sheltered 
 IP^ ravines and on the woodland border near Houston, Texas, swarm with northern 
 birds. Consisting partly of evergreens, these thickets oifer them not only an excellent 
 shelter against the cold northers, they also furnish an abundant supply of food. In the 
 gardens of the city, among the thickets of roses, in the magnolias, loquats, cedars, 
 and other evergreen trees and shrubs a large number of northern birds take up their 
 abode during the winter. Goldfinches, Juncos, Phoebes, Cedarbirds, White-crowned and 
 White-throated Sparrows, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Nuthatches and 
 Woodpeckers are the most common winter sojourners in the larger gardens. The most 
 conspicuous and abundant winter-bird, however, is the exceedingly gregarious Brewer's 
 Blackbird. 
 
 During several winters I had the good fortune to observe these Blackbirds in 
 large swarms in south-eastern Texas. They usually appeared in the streets of the 
 
300 BREWER'S BLACKBIRD. 
 
 city early in Npvember, generally in the quiet and sultry weather which oftentimes 
 precedes a very cold norther. Early in April they depart for their northern home. I 
 have never seen more audacious and bold birds. Without fear they run about in large 
 flocks in the most crowded streets, among wagons and horses, and they also enter 
 fearlessly the door yards. The inhabitants are so accustomed to these birds that no 
 one seems to think of disturbing them. In their fearlessness and tameness I can only 
 compare them to the European Sparrows, with whom they also share the peculiar 
 caution and sagacity. Being well acquainted w^ith man, they w^ell distinguish betw^een 
 friend and foe. They always move together in flocks of fifty to a hundred and more. 
 Especially in the forenoon, but also during the rest of the day, we may see them M^aDaing 
 about on the streets, on the commons, and in the gardens in the manner of Pigeons, 
 picking up all kinds of seeds and insects. If too closely approached they all fly to the 
 nearest water oaks, which are so abundant in the streets of the city. In these broad- 
 headed and dense trees they also rest and sing when in the proper mood. When one flies 
 doAvn to the ground, the w^hole flock soon follows, spreading over a large space. One is 
 always trying to get ahead of the others, and the last flies over the heads of the fore- 
 most in order to get in front of the flock. Although the majority leaves for the North, 
 a few remain to breed in suitable localities. I found several nests May 5, 1881, in 
 thickets of small post oaks about twenty feet high, near Rose Hill, Harris Co., Texas. 
 They were built in the tops of the oaks, about: twelve to fifteen feet from the ground, 
 and contained from two to five eggs each. The ground-color is a dull greenish- white, 
 marked with a fdw blotches of very dark brown and many irregular spots of lighter 
 brown. The nests were composed exteriorly of strong slender plant-stems and coarse 
 grasses, and werfe lined with finer grasses. 
 
 The range of distribution of this species extends from the Great Plains to California 
 and during the breeding season from Texas and Arizona north to the Saskatchewan. 
 In winter it migrates south to the table lands of Mexico. Although I have enjoyed 
 excellent opportunities of studying the habits of Brewer's Blackbird, I deem it my duty 
 to quote from the classical life-history which Dr. Elliott Coues presents in his excellent 
 book, "Birds of the North-west": 
 
 "Several kinds of Blackbirds are abundant in Arizona, but the present surpasses 
 them all in numbers, and in its general diffusion plays the part that the Cowbird takes 
 in the farms of the East, and that the Yellow-headed Blackbird fulfills in the settlements 
 on the plains. They are eminently gregarious when not breeding. Yet I never saw such 
 countless numbers as those of. the Red-winged Blackbird during its migrations. Troops 
 of twenty, fifty, or a hundred are commonly seen ; they have no special fondness for 
 watery places, but scour the open, dry ground, and scatter among straggling pines and 
 oaks ; they come fearlessly into the clearings about houses, the traveler's camp, and the 
 stock-yards, gleaning plentiful subsistence from man's bounty or wastfulness. Much ot 
 their time is spent on the ground, rambling in hurried, eager search for grain and insects ; 
 they generally run with nimble steps, hopping being the exception, when they have 
 satisfied their hunger, and are moving leisurely with no particular object in view. The 
 movements are all easy and graceful, the bird's trim form and glossy color setting it 
 off" to great advantage. At full speed the head is lowered and fixed ; in slower progress 
 
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD. 301 
 
 it is held upright, bobbing in time with each step. When a flock is feeding, they pass 
 over a good deal of ground, without seeming to examine it very closely ; every one tries 
 to keep ahead of the next, and thus they scurry on, taking short flights over each other's 
 head. At the least alarm, the timid birds betake themselves to the nearest tree, perching 
 in various attitudes. A favorite posture, so easy as to appear negligent, is with the 
 body held nearly upright, the tail hanging loosely straight down, while the head turns 
 in various ways, with the whim of the moment. When excited, the bird often sits low 
 down, firmly on its legs, with elevated and wide-spread tail, constantly flirted, while 
 its watchfiil eye peers down through the foliage. However compactly a flock may fly 
 up into a tree, they generally scatter as they alight all over the branches, so that it is 
 rarely that more than two or three can be brought down at a shot. On the ground 
 the case is quite difierent ; there they often huddle so close together that the whole flock 
 may be decimated. Their behavior in the presence of man is a curious mixture of 
 timidity and heedlessness ; they come to the very door-step, and yet a sudden movement, 
 or a shout, sends them affrighted into the nearest trees. The next moment they begin 
 to straggle back again, at first singly or in little squads, till the more timid ones are 
 reassured and come streaming down together, when the busy search for food is resumed. 
 
 "Their hunger satisfied for the time, the birds betake themselves to the trees, often 
 passing the whole period of digestion snugly ensconced in the thick foliage. Then their 
 concert opens; and if the music is neither sweet nor soft, it is sprightly, and not dis- 
 agreeable, for.it suggests the careless joviality and lazy good humor of Blackbirds with 
 their stomachs full, and satisfactory prospect of future supply. The notes aire energetic, 
 rapid, and varied, with a peculiar delivery, which, like the yelping of the prairie wolves, 
 gives the hearer a very exaggerated idea of the number of the performers. The usual 
 note is like the sound of pebbles smartly struck together, rapidly repeated an indefinite 
 number of times; it is varied at irregular intervals by a long-drawn liquid whistle, 
 which has a peculiarly pleasing effect in breaking the monotony of the other notes, and 
 mellowing the whole performance. The ordinary call-note is exactly between the rough 
 guttural chuck of the Redwing and the clear metallic chink of the Reedbird. 
 
 ". . . . In the fall the lustre of the plumage is obscured, and its uniformity inter- 
 rupted by dull gray edging of the feathers. But even in autumn some males are 
 found nearly as richly clad as in the spring time, and I do not think that even the 
 dullest colored females and young are ever so decidedly rusty-brown as the Rusty 
 Grackle. The sexes may be known by their disparity in size, aside from the difference 
 in plumage ; moreover, the eye of the male is clear lemon-yellow, that of the female brown. 
 The perfect male is lustrous greenish-black, changing abruptly to purplish and violet on 
 the head." 
 NAMES: Brewer's Blackbird, Blue-headed Blackbird, Corral Bird, Brewer's Grackle. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Psarocolim cy anocepbalas Wa.gl. (1829). SCOLBCOPHAGUS CYANOCEPHALUS 
 Cab. (1851). Quiscalus breweri Aud. (1841). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Old male in suminer uniform glossy greenish-black, the head and neck glossy violet-black. 
 Old iewale uniform brownish-slate, with soft silky gloss. 
 Length, 9.50 inches; wing, 4.95; tail, 4.17 inches. 
 
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. 
 
 Quiscalus tnacrourus Swainson. 
 
 "HEN I think of this bird," writes Mr. Geo. B. Sennett, "it is always with a 
 smile. It is everywhere as abundant on the Rio Grande as is the English 
 Sparrow in our northern cities, and, when about the habitations, equally as tame. 
 This bird is as much a part of the life of Brownsville as the barrelero rolling along his 
 cask of water or the mounted beggar going his daily rounds. In the towns or about 
 the ranches, he knows no fear; is always noisy, never at rest, and in all places and 
 positions; now making friends with the horses in the bams or the cattle in the fields, 
 then in some tree pouring forth his notes, w^hich I can liken only to the scrapings of a 
 "cornstalk fiddle" ; now stealling fi-om porch or open window some ribbon for his nest, 
 then following close behind the planter, quick to see the dropping corn. With all his 
 boldness and curiosity, the boys of the streets say they cannot trap or catch him in a 
 snare. He will take every bait or grain but the right one; he will put his feet among 
 all sorts of rags but the right ones: and the boys are completely outwitted by a bird. 
 He performs all sorts of ailtics. The most curious and laughable performance is a 
 common one with him. Two males will take position facing each other on the ground 
 or upon some shed, then together begin slowly raising their heads and tw^istiflg them 
 most comically from side to side, all the time steadily eyeing each other, until their 
 bills not only stand perpendicular to their bodies, but sometimes are thrown over nearly 
 to their bdcks. After maintaining this awkward position for a time, they will gradually 
 bring back their bills to their natural position, and the performance ends. It is some- 
 what after the fashion of clbwn's doings in a circus, who slowly bend backward until 
 their heads touch their heels, then proceed to straighten up again. It is a most amusing 
 thing to see, and seems to be mere fun for the bird, for nothing serious grows out of it. 
 
 "With all their familiarity, I have seen these birds in the open chaparral as wild 
 and wary as other birds, knowing very well when out of gunshot range. Their flight 
 is rather slow, and when they make an ascent it is labored; but once up, with their 
 great tails and expanse of wing they make graceful descents. 
 
 "As a general thing, they are gregarious in all their habits. Great numbers breed 
 all along the. river, usually in scattered colonies, similar to Redwings, but their nests 
 are higher, and not often near the water. The ebony is a favorite tree for them to 
 breed in; and wherever these trees exist in towns or about ranches they are always 
 occupied with nests of these birds, sometimes in great numbers. My first eggs were 
 taken fiiom an ebony tree near our room, in which were six or eight nests. They were 
 found in great numbers in the young willows and rank undergrowth of the resacas; 
 and in the great 'heronry' in the salt marshes, half-way between Brownsville and the 
 coast. We found their nests about two feet above the water in the rushes, and from 
 four to thirty feet above the ground when in trees. They are shaped like those of our 
 familiar Purple Grackle, and not much larger. They are composed of grasses principally; 
 but, when convenient, paper, rags, feathers, anything, are woven in, and not infrequently 
 
mud is thrown in, as if to weight it down. Just how far north of the Rio Grande 
 this species reaches, I cannot tell. On the northern end of Padre Island, at Corpus 
 Christi Pass, I saw them in abundance, and about Corpus Christi also. The first 
 eggs were found April 25. In shape they are very oblong, rounded at one end and 
 pointed at the other, with the greatest diameter much nearer one end. The ground- 
 color is usually of a greenish- white, clouded with purplish-brown from the small end as 
 far as the centre, and sometimes over the whole egg. The markings are of a very dark 
 brown, chiefly at the small end, and consist of pencillings, drops, and splashes irre-. 
 gularly and grotesquely put on." 
 
 This bird inhabits eastern Mexico, north to southern Texas, south to Nicaragua. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Adult male, deep black, with metallic violet gloss. Female, above dusky brown, with 
 greenish gloss, less glossy and more brown on head and neck. 
 
 Male, 17.00 to 18.00 inches long; wing, 7.59; tail, 8.80. Female, 12.50 inches; wing, 4.94; 
 tail, 5.98. 
 
 BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE, 
 
 Quiscalus major Vieillot. 
 
 WHILE roaming about in the low, marshy prairie districts of south-eastern 
 Texas, no birds attracted my attention more than the large number of 
 water-birds. Pelicans and Anhingas were met with everywhere. The Florida Gallinule 
 (Gallinula aculeata) I found most common in such swamps where the fragrant 
 water-lily and the beautiful yellow water chinquepin^ sedges, and reed grass grew 
 luxuriantly. In the shallow w^ater of the prairie ponds I often observed the beautiful 
 Roseate Spoonbills (Ajaja ajaja) among the large numbers of Snowy Herons {Ardea 
 candidissima) and Little Blue Herons (A. cserulea). Early in the morning they leave 
 their roosts in the dense forests and towards evening they return. In order to become 
 acquainted w^ith the different Herons and their breeding habits, it is necessary to visit 
 the deep swampy woods. At first we pass places overgrown with immense oaks, 
 elms, sweet gum, pecan trees, and magnolias. Hollies, laurel cherry, and American 
 olive trees form the underwood. Many of the smaller trees are covered from the 
 ground to the top with grape-vines, smilax, and bignonias or cross-vine^. More in the 
 interior we find larger and smaller ponds, densely overgrown with button bushes". 
 Surrounded by a dense forest of large trees, far away from the abodes of man, almost 
 continually in a quiet semi-darkness, these ponds are the very paradise for many 
 water-birds. On our way through the dense forest we start a family of w^ild Turkeys. 
 Quick as thought they disperse and none can be found. If we remain perfectly quiet, 
 we may hear after a while the persuasive call-notes of the mother. It is very quiet in 
 this part of the forest, although the Spring Creek offers excellent abiding places among 
 the dense hollies, the moss-covered magnolias, and the vine-entangled thickets on its 
 borders. Most of the birds are found on the woodland's edge. We penetrate farther 
 
 1 Neluatbivm Juteuoi, z Bignottia capreolata. ^ Cepbalantbus occidentalis. 
 
304 BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE. 
 
 and farther, without finding anything of special interest. We proceed a few steps more. 
 With a thunder-lite noise, as if by magic, hundreds of birds rise and fly to all directions. 
 We see their white and blue plumage and hear their cries. We disturbed a colony of 
 breeding Snowy and Little Blue Herons. Everywhere around the pond on the branches 
 of the trees we notice the frightened birds. , Almost every button bush contains a nest of 
 these birds and there are hundreds of the loose structures built of sticks and stems. 
 The bushes all around are covered with their white excrements, and the moist, w^arm 
 air is filled with the strong and unpleasant smell of fishes. The nests in the bushes 
 belong to the Little Blue Herons, while those in the trees around the pond are Snowy 
 Herons' nests. The Great Blue Heron {Ardea herodias), the American Egret {Ardea 
 egretta), and the Green Heron {A. virescens) are common, but not so numerous as the 
 two first named species. Now and then we may also have the good fortune of 
 meeting the Yellow-crowned Night Heron {Nycticorax violacens) and the very interesting 
 and rare Wood Ibis {Tantalus loculator). 
 
 In the colony of the Little Blue Herons I observed for the first time the breeding 
 habits of the very conspicuous and beautiful Boat-tailed Grackle, or Jackdaw. When 
 the Herons took wing, large numbers of these birds followed them and the noise they 
 made far superseded that of their neighbors. When examining the button bushes I found 
 in every one not occupied by the Herons a Jackdaw's nest. From the nearest trees they 
 uttered their peculiar call-notes sounding like cree-cree-cree. They seemed to live in 
 perfect harmony with their neighbors. A few days later I found another colony of these 
 birds in a very dense grove of small oaks in the open prairie near Spring Creek. Being 
 eminently gregarious at all seasons, the nests were found close together, sometimes two 
 and three in one small tree. These birds resemble the Bronzed Grackle very much, but 
 they are more pleasant in all their manners, and their song and call-notes are much more 
 musical and higher in pitch. They appear in south-eastern Texas rarely before the middle 
 of March firom their winter home, and always in large swarms. They announce their 
 arrival by a mad and grand chorus of singular notes, w^hich is performed in some 
 isolated tree. Just before the time of mating, the flocks of these Grackles "execute 
 sudden and unaccountable evolutions, as if guided by some single commanding spirit; 
 now hovering uncertain, then dashing impulsive, now veering in an instant, and at last 
 taking a long, steady flight towards some distant point." The nests which I found 
 were large but well constructed. The materials used were coarse plant-stems, grasses, 
 and bark-strips, and the lining consisted of finer grasses. The eggs, from three to five 
 in number, are greenish, tinged with olive and brownish, and marked with irregular 
 blotches of deep brown and black. 
 
 The Boat-tailed Grackle inhabits during summer the maritime districts from Texas 
 north to Virginia. Its foods consists of all kinds of insects and seeds, and it has the 
 bad reputation of stealing eggs and young of other birds. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : "Adult male with a metallic gloss greenish, changing through steel-blue on back, scapulars, 
 lesser -vving-coverts, and lower breast to violet on head, neck, chest, and upper breast ; length about 
 15.00 to 17.50 inches ; wing, 7.22 ; tail, 7.14 inches. Adult female: Similar in color to same se.t of 
 Q. macrourus, but lighter and more dawny beneath^ and much browner above, the head and neck of 
 an amber tint; length about 11.50 to 13.00 inches; wing, 5.61; tail, 5.31 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
PURPLE GRACKLE. 
 
 Quiscalus quiscula Jordan. 
 
 Plate XVII. Fig. 6.* 
 
 MOiJG the Blackbirds the Gra(Skles are the most abundant and conspicuous. 
 '^^^ They are eminently gregarious, exceedingly noisy, and always in a happy and 
 cheerful mood. Wherever they occur they soon attract attention by their beautiful 
 glossy black color, by their long, boat-shaped tail, and by their noisy disposition. We 
 rarely see one alone. They migrate in large flocks, and the swarms visiting the corn- 
 fields look like black clouds as they move on in an undulating course. Even during 
 the breeding season they are gregarious. Being exceedingly tame and breeding frequently 
 in gardens, even in villages and towns, the Grackles are well-known and familiar birds. 
 There are three different forms or varieties of Grackles scouring our country. The 
 typical form, inhabiting the country east of the AUeghanies, from Georgia northward 
 to Massachusetts, is the Purple Grackle. The Florida Gracklb, Q. quiscula aglseus 
 Stejn., is a little smaller thap the type and has a rather restricted range of distribu- 
 tion, being only found in Florida and in the southern part of the Gulf States west to 
 Texas. The most abundant and best known of the three varieties is the Bronzed 
 Grackle, Quiscalus quiscula anseus Stejneger, of the Mississippi valjey. Its range is 
 very extensive, breeding from Louisiana and Texas northward to Great Slave Lake, 
 east to the AUeghanies, southern New England, and New Foundland, west to the 
 eastern h^se of the Rocky Mountains. West of the Rocky Mountains the Grackles are 
 entirely absent from the landscape. All these forms are so alike in their habits, that 
 it will suffice to treat more i\>\\j of the most common variety, the Bronzed Grackle, 
 also known as the Crow Blackbird, Boat-tailed Blackbird, Common Grackle, Corn-thief, 
 and Com Blackbird. 
 
 When in Wisconsin the harbingers of spring, the Robins, Bluebirds, Song Sparrows, 
 and Meadowlarks, arrive, we may also look for the Grackles. They are first seen in the 
 last week of March or early in April. Moving in large, noisy swarms, their arrival 
 cannot be overlooked in the rural districts by all those who have open eyes and ears. 
 The males appear first, the females follow a few days later. Shortly after their arrival 
 the large swarms dissolve into smaller ones which remain together, until after the breed- 
 ing season old and young again congregate into immense swarms. They then move 
 about in large hordes like lilack clouds, creating great havoc in the corn-fields. By 
 the middle of April till nesting time begins, they follow the furrows of the plough, picking 
 up all kinds of insects. During the evening hours they fly in scattered flocks to their 
 roosts in the woods of the lowlands and swamps. In the prairie regions they often 
 roost in large numbers in the ornamental evergreens near farm-houses, and they even 
 enter villages and towns, where they spend the night in the willows and orchard trees. 
 
 Their flight is rather heavy, and the long boat-like tail appeap to be of dis- 
 advantage as they proceed onward. Having reached a certain height they fly easily 
 
 * The bird figured is the Bronzed Grackle. 
 
 39 
 
and quickly. Their call-note, a -very loud and peculiar tack, tack, is constantly heard 
 at intervals while they are flying, but when walking on the ground they are perfectly 
 silent. They are equally well at home on the ground, among the branches of trees, and 
 in the air. Cultivated, well-watered, and wooded localities are always selected as a 
 home, while the vast dry prairies, arid mountainous regions, and the deep interior of 
 large forests are avoided. Being rarely molested by man in theif breeding haunts, they 
 fearlessly enter gardens and orchards even in villages and towns. 
 
 Early in June the nest is completed and a full complement of eggs found. Usually 
 they build in large bushes and in trees, of all sizes, but I have often discovered nests in 
 the upturned roots of large trees and in Woodpecker's holes. In trees the nest is placed 
 from five to twenty-five and sometimes fifty feet from the ground. In the neighborhood 
 of dwelHngs it is preferably built in Lombardy poplars, but I have found it also in 
 pines and firs, in willows and orchard trees. These birds can be induced to breed in 
 ■ gardens- if suitable nesting-boxes are provided. Although a bulky structure, the nest 
 is very compact and well built. In cavities only soft, slender grasses are used, but in 
 trees and bushes plant-stems, grasses, and mud are employed, and the interior is lined 
 with, finer grasses. Often several nests are built in one tree. The eggs, four to six in 
 number, are light greenish or smoky-blue, with irregular marbelings, dots, blotches,- and 
 scrawls of blackish distributed over the entire surface. 
 
 The young are fed exclusively with all kinds of insects. When they have left the 
 nest, the loud carack-acju-ack of the hungry bobtails is almost constantly heard, but 
 they are instantly silent when they hear the warning notes of the old birds. 
 
 This Blackbird has a bad reputation as a destroyer pf corn. "Their depredations 
 on the maize crop or Indian com," says Nuttall, "commence almost with the planting. 
 The infant blades no sooner appear than they are hailed by the greedy Blackbird as the 
 signal for a feasti; and, without hesitation, they descend on the fields, and regale them- 
 selves with the sweet and sprouted seed, rejecting and scattering the blades around as 
 an evidence of their mischief and audacity. Again, about the beginning of August, while 
 the grain is in the milky state, their attacks are renewed with the most destructive 
 effect, as they now assemble as it were in clouds, and pillage the fields to such a degree 
 that in some low and sheltered situations, in the vicinity of rivers, where they delight 
 to roam, one fourth of the crop is devoured by these vexatious visitors. The gun, also, 
 notwithstanding the havoc it produces, has little more effect than to chase them from 
 one part of the field to the other. In the Southern States, in winter, they hover round 
 the corn-cribs in swarms, and boldly peck the hard grain from the cob through the air 
 openings 'of the magazine. In consequence of these reiterated depredations they are 
 detested by the farmer as a pest to his industry; though, on their arrival, their food 
 for a long time consists wholly of those insects which are calculated to dp the most 
 essential injury to the crops. Thfey, at this season, frequent swamps and meadows, 
 and familiarly following the furrows of the plow, sweep up all the gi-ub-worms, and 
 other noxious animals, as soon as they appear, even scratching up the loose soil, that 
 nothing of this kind may escape them. Up to the time of harvest, I have uniformly, on 
 dissection, found their food to consist of these larvae, caterpillars, moths, and beetles, "of 
 which they devour such numbers, that but for this providential economy, the whole 
 
BRONZED GRACKLE. 307 
 
 crop of gi-ain, in many places, would probably be destroyed by the time it began to 
 germinate. In winter they collect the mast of the beech and oak for food, and may be 
 seen assembled in large bodies in the woods for this purpose. In the spring season the 
 Blackbirds roost in the cedars and pine trees, to which in the evening they retire with 
 friendly and mutual chatter." 
 
 Crow Blackbirds are, indeed, no desirable acquisitions for a garden or park, as 
 they plunder every nest, which they find. All our "small birds seem to have a standing 
 grudge against this Blackbird and rarely let pass an opportiinity to pursue and harass 
 it. It would seem that this hatred is not without just cause." (Wm, Breyirster.) 
 
 NAMES: Bronzed 'Grackle, Common Blackbird, Common Grackle, Crow Blackbird, Corn-thief, Corn 
 Blackbird. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Quisdalus xneus Ridgw. (1869). QUISCALUS QUISCULA MNEUS Stejn. (1885J. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Deep glossy black, "perfectly uniform brassy-olive or bronze" above and below, ''never with 
 mixed tints, and always very abruptly defined against the color (steel-blue, violet, purple, or brassy- 
 green) of neck; wing-coverts never with mixed metallic tints; wings and tail always purplish or 
 violet-purplish, never bluish." 
 
 "Length, 12.75 inches; wing, 5.65; tail, 5.02 inches. — Female, smaller. 
 
 The typical form, the Purple Crackle, is deep black with mixed metallic tints ; wings and tail 
 bluish-violet or bluish. . P 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Gracula quiscala Linn. (1758). Quiscalus versicolor Vieill. (1819). QUISCALUS 
 QUISCULA Jordan (1884). 
 
 The Florida Grackle is smaller, with larger bill. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: QaiscaJus aglteus Brd. (1866). QUISCALUS QUISCULA AGLJBUS Stejn. (1885). 
 
RAVENS, Crows, Jays, and 
 
 MAGPIES. 
 
 Corvidse. 
 
 f AVENS, Crows, Jays, and Magpies form a group of birds known as 
 
 the Crow family. All its members are strong, robust, often large 
 
 birds. Ravens and Crows are nearly all entirely black, while in the 
 
 Jays the blue color prevails. Magpies show much white and black 
 
 ^ in the coloration of their plumage. Almost w^ithout exception the 
 
 members occurring in the United States are resident species, only moving from 
 
 one plate to another in quest of food. 
 
 None of the species can be called songsters, although many understand 
 exceedingly w^ell to attract attention by their loud and far sounding cries. 
 The Jays are able to imitate certain notes of different birds very well. 
 All are exceedingly cunning and sly, sagacious and prudent, excelling in this 
 respect all other birds. They well understand to avoid danger, and therefor 
 it is often very difficult to approach them. In the w^oods they warn other 
 birds and even mammals, and for this' reason they are often a great terror to 
 the hunter. They have a sharp eye and a fine ear, walk well, fly easily and continuously, 
 and move about among the branches of shrubs and trees with great dexterity. Being 
 omnivorous in the true sense of the word, they lead a rather easy life, as they find 
 always and everywhere something to satisfy their appetite. In their haunts they are 
 always conspicuous. Carrion is to many of them a feast. The eggs and young of 
 other birds are robbed wherever opportunity offers. They are all ferocious, murderous 
 highway robbers, not deserving our good will and protection. Beautiful as the Jays 
 are in the forests, in the gardens and parks, they are a nuisance owing to their nest- 
 robbing propensities. If allowed to multiply they soon exterminate most other birds in 
 their neighborhood. 
 
COMMON CROW. 309 
 
 The family is divided into the following genera: 
 
 1, Corvus LiNNfi. Ravens and Crows. Five species. 
 
 2, Pkicorvus Bonaparte. Nutcrackers. One species. 
 
 3, Cyanocepbalus Bonaparte. Pinon Jays. One species. 
 
 4, Pica Brisson. Magpies. Two species. 
 
 5, Cyanocitta Strickland. Blue Jays. Two species. 
 
 6, Apbelocoma Cabanis. Mountain Jays. Four species. 
 
 7, Xantboura Bonaparte. Green Jays. One species. 
 
 8, Perisoreus Bonaparte. Canada Jays. Two species. 
 
 The American Raven, Corvus corax sinuatas Ridgway, is only a variety of thie 
 European species, and exceedingly rare in all the localities where I have made my 
 observations. It is distributed over the western parts of the country from the Rocky 
 Mountains to the Pacific, and south to Guatemala. Dr. Elliott Coues found hundreds, 
 if not thousands of them at Fort Whipple, Ariz. "Throughout the western wilds they 
 hang on the footsteps of man, needy adventurers, claiming their share of his spoils, 
 disputing with the wolves and vultures for the refuse of his camp." 
 
 Its main food is carrion. Color entirely black. Length, 24 to 25 inches. 
 
 The Northern Raven, Corvus corax principalis Ridgway, another variety, inhabits 
 northern North America, south to British Columbia, etc. 
 
 The Whijte-necked Raven, Corvus cryptoleucus Couch, inhabits the valley of the 
 Rio Grande and Gila, south into Mexico. Major Chas. Bendire found this Raven to be 
 common at Tucson, Ariz. 
 
 COMMON CROW. 
 
 Corvus americanus Audubon. 
 
 O wild, free rover of the ttpper sky, 
 
 How small from that clear height must man appear. 
 
 Creeping., ou earth — his grave forever near — 
 With clouds and tears diitnming his earth-bent eye. 
 Though lifted far above the earth, gocst by, 
 
 Companioned by the friendly atmosphere, 
 
 Scanning the large horizon, blue and clear, 
 And sfeeing far, pine forests darkly lie 
 
 A cloud of green moveless upon the hill. 
 There in the shelter of the sombre trees 
 
 With numberless companions thou wilt rest; 
 No sound to fright, but only the slow breeze 
 
 To sing and rock to sleep the forest's guest, 
 And with content his quiet hours to fill. 
 
 B- J. L.OOMXS. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the constant persecutions to which the Crow, has been 
 subjected from the beginning of the settlement of our country to the present 
 time, it is still a well-known and abundant bird in most localities from Florida and 
 Texas to the Arctic regions and from the Atlantic to the Great Plains. Though numerous 
 
310 COMMON CROW. 
 
 in the East, it appears to be most abundant in the Mississippi valley. I found the 
 Crow breeding from Wisconsin to Texas in all well wooded localities. In the prairies 
 of Illinois it is a rare bird during the breeding season. Its true home is the forest or 
 localities where woods and cultivated lands alternate. The deep interior of extensive 
 woods is usually chosen for its nesting haunts. From its headquarters in the forest 
 foraging excursions to all the adjoining cultivated lands are undertaken. Pastures 
 and fields are usually the places where the Crows congregate, and here they also search 
 for food. When not molested the Crows become very tame, breeding fearlessly in the 
 edges of the forest or even in isolated large pines near dwelliUgs. 
 
 Duriiig my five years' residence at Freistatt, Lawrence Co., Mo., a pair nested 
 each year in the dense oak forest behind my house. As early as the beginning of March 
 the pair was seen in its haunts. Very early in the morning they flew to the neighboring 
 fields in quest of food. When they left the forest their loud caw, caw was a very 
 familiar sound. All the Crows in the neighborhood congregated in the pastures among 
 the cattle and in fireshly ploughed fields, where they walked about in search of food. 
 They only utter their peculiar caw, caw while flying or when perched on the trees; 
 when walking on the ground they are perfectly silent. Their food consists of all kinds 
 of insects, seeds, snakes, firogs, mice, and young birds. At this time they commit 
 great havoc in the fields, where they pull up the sprouting com. 
 
 Originally a very tame and unsuspicious bird, it is rtow exceedingly cunning, 
 sagacious, and prudent. Its life being constantly threatened, it is always on the lookout 
 for danger, and it knows well to distinguish between friend and foe. Whenever any- 
 thing is seen that causes alarm, the sentinels of the flock give their signal and the 
 warning is passed from bird to bird. 
 
 The pair above mentioned began nest-building in the second half of March. The 
 bulky structure was always placed in the top of a dense oak, about forty feet above 
 the ground, among the thick foliage where it could not be seen from below. It was 
 built of sticks, corn-stalks, plant-vStems, leaves, and grasses, and was lined with grasses. 
 The eggs, five to six in number, are pale bluish-green, often with a tinge of olive; they 
 vary from almost unmarked specimens to those thickly spotted with dark brown. 
 When I climbed the tree on the 9th of May, the young were almost fully fledged. The 
 parents were very wild and wary^ and furiously flew over my head and around me, 
 uttering their wild cries. When the young are hatched the old birds become exceedingly 
 pernicious. Insects, small snakes, and frogs do not suffice any longer. They now 
 plunder every bird's nest they are able to find ; they even came into my poultry yard to 
 carry off eggs and young chickens. They do this very slyly and quietly. With the 
 exception of Cooper's Hawk, I do not know such a bold robber as the Crow. One day 
 in April one of these birds perched on the fence, only a few steps from my house. An 
 old hen with about a dozen chickens, only a few days old, was in the yard. Suddenly 
 the Crow swooped down, caught a chicken with its bill, and went off, flying away near 
 the ground. In a few weeks the Crows carried off about twenty chickens varying in 
 age from one day to four weeks. Notwithstanding a constant watchfulness chickens 
 and eggs disappeared. Not before a pair of Kingbirds had taken up their abode on 
 the premises, the depredations stopped. As soon as a Crow made its appearance it 
 
was courageously attacked and driven away. Since the Kingbird's arrival not only 
 the chickens were safe, but also all the songbirds of the garden. 
 
 While residing in a small cabin in the woods near the West Yegua, Lee Co., Texas, 
 quite a colony nested in the high oaks and pecans in the rich bottom woods. The 
 nests were placed fifty to sixty feet above the ground, and most of them were inaccessible. 
 They were constructed of twigs and bunches of Spanish moss. In Texas I never saw 
 such large flocks as farther north. 
 
 In Wisconsin the Crow is a common bird in all favorable localities. Late in fall 
 they move in large swarms southward, being observed in immense numbers on' the 
 Mississippi throughout the cold season. In the forest behind my house at Freistatt, 
 Mo., thousands spent the nights from late in November to late in February. Very early 
 in the .morning they left their roosts and flew in scattered flocks in all directions. At 
 this time they are very watchful. Before they left the forest in the morning or returned 
 to it in the evening, their leaders or scouts, usually two old and exceedingly sagacious 
 birds, investigated the territory. They flew to and fro several times, and when every- 
 thing was found to be in good order, they uttered peculiar sounds and the rest followed 
 immediately. — Without doubt the Crow devours countless numbers of noxious insects, 
 but on the other hand the depredations which it commits, especially in the corn-fields, 
 and its nest-robbing propensities, do not entitle this bird to our protection. 
 
 The Florida Crow, Corvus americanus fforidanus Baird, inhabits the peninsula of 
 Florida. It has a larger bill and shorter wings and tail than the type. 
 NAMES: Common Crow, American Crow. — Krahe (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Corvus corone Wils. (1811). CORVUS AMERICANUS Audubon (1834). 
 BESCRIPTION: Glossy black, with violet reflections. 
 
 Length, 19.00 to 20.00 inches; wing, 13.25; tail, 8.00 inches. 
 
 FISH CROW. 
 Corvus ossifragus Wilson. 
 
 This bird ranges from southern Connecticut to Louisiana, being confined either to 
 the maritime districts or to the banks of rivers branching from them. Being smaller 
 and quicker in its motions than the Common Crow, this species is even more injurious. 
 It plunders countless numbers of birds' nests and commits great depredations upon the 
 fruit in the gardens, especially upon figs and grapes. Their favorite haunts are the banks 
 of. the rivers. They soar up and down over the water, and in a very dexterous manner 
 "snatch up with their claws dead fish, or other garbage found floating on the surface.*' 
 I have -seen them in large numbers in early November soaring over the St. Johns, in 
 northern Florida, and quite a number of them were feasting on the carcass of a large 
 dead ,rattle-snake. I saw them even in the large trees in Riverside Park, near the city 
 of Jacksonville. They usually build their nests in the tops of lofty pines. They are 
 smaller than those of the Common Crow, being constructed of twigs and plant-stems<, 
 lined. , with grasses and Spanish moss. The light blue or greenish eggs are blotched 
 with light brown, ' ■ 
 
 DESCRIPTION: The color of the bird is a deep glossy black.— Length, 15.50 inches; wing, 10.50 ;'tkil, 7.00. 
 
CLARKE'S NUTCRACKER. 
 
 Nuclfraga columbiana Audubon. 
 
 I^HE range of this species," says Dr. Elliott Coues, "is nearly coincident with the 
 zone of coniferous vegetation in the West. It rarely descends below an altitude 
 of 3,000 fe^t, and has been observed on peaks 10,000 feet high. A hardy bird, finding 
 its food at all seasons, Clarke's Nutcracker is not a true migrant; that is to say, it 
 does not move north and south at regular periods. But the individuals are never 
 thoroughly localized; they are restless birds, scurrying continually among the mount- 
 ains. The nearest approach to a regular movement appears to be their flying down 
 mountains in severe weather, and returning to the more elevated situations to breed. 
 This seems to be the case, at any rate, in latitudes from 45° southward, although they 
 nest quite low down in more northern situations; . . . 
 
 "Like others of this omnivorous family, Clarke's Crow is an indiscriminate feeder 
 upon vegetable substances, giving preference, however, to the seeds of the pine, berries 
 of the cedar, and acorns. Prying into a pine-cone with its long and peculiarly shaped 
 beak, it gouges out the seeds, often hanging, while thus engaged, head downward, like 
 a Thistle-bird swing under the globular ament of a button-wood. It also eats insects 
 of various kinds, and has been observed pecking at dead bark to obtain them, and 
 making short sallies in the air for the same purpose, like a Woodpecker. It sometimes 
 descends to the ground in search of food, walking easily and firmly, like a true Crow ; 
 but we may infer, fi-om the length and sharpness of its claws, that it does not spend 
 much of its time on the ground. ..." 
 
 My fidend, the late Capt. B. F. Goss, of Pewaukee, Wis., gives the following 
 account on the nesting habits of Clarke's Nutcracker: "Clark's Crow is a common 
 resident of the region described (Fort Garland, Colorado), but has a higher range than 
 Maximilian's Jay. I found it most abundant in the mountain valleys, above the foot 
 hills. In that dry climate the trees on the sunny exposure of the valleys are dwarfed, 
 scattering, and interspersed with thick bunches of bushes, while the opposite side, look- 
 ing northward, is covered with a heavy growth of timber. It was in and around such 
 timber that I found these birds, and there I looked diligently for their nests. Many 
 times they showed gi-eat concern and watched me closely, peering down and scolding 
 from the thick foliage overhead. I thought their nest must be near, and searched every- 
 where in the neighborhood, even climbing to the tops of high trees ; but I have no doubt 
 now that their nests were across the valley, half a mile away. I spent more than two 
 weeks in tjiis fi-uitless search, returning every night to camp, tired arid disappointed. 
 Any one who has tramped over mountains, in the light air of 9,000 feet elevation, will 
 understand, how exhausting such labor is ; but I particularly wished to get the eggs of 
 this bird, was sure they were nesting in the neighborhood, and did not like to give it 
 tJp. One evening, after a particularly hard day's work, as I sat by my camp-fire, looking 
 
CLARKE'S NUTCRACKER. 313 
 
 up the valley, one of these birds left the high timber and flew across to the other side. 
 Its direct and silent flight suggested that it might be going to its nest, and that I had 
 been looking in the wrong locality. Accordingly, with renewed hope, I started early 
 next morning to the hill where I had seen it go. After climbing over the rocks and 
 through the bushes for some time I sat down to rest, when I noticed something on a 
 tree about thirty feet away that looked more like a squirrel's nest than anything else. 
 On closer inspection, however, I saw that it was a bird's nest, and climbing up a short 
 distance, was delighted to find a Clarke's Crow sitting on its nest. She sat very close, 
 only leaving w^hen touched by my hand. The nest was built near the end of a hori- 
 zontal limb, about ten feet from the ground, in an open, conspicuous situation. It w^as 
 bulky, coarsely constructed, and very deeply hollowed, the bird when on it showing only 
 part of her bill and tail, pointing almost directly upward. She was soon joined by her 
 mate, when, after hopping about in a listless manner for a few minutes, both disappeared. 
 They were silent when near their nest, but noisy enough elsewhere. On further search 
 I found several old nests and one new one, apparently abandoned. AH were similar in 
 construction and situation to the one described, and evidently belonged to the same 
 species. The nest with young was found May 21. From finding these nests, and from 
 other observations made, I am satisfied that Clarke's Crow breeds in open, warm situa- 
 tions, preferring steep hill-sides ; had I known this earlier I believe tl»at I should have 
 found more of their nests." 
 
 The color of the eggs is light grayish-green, irregularly spotted and blotched with 
 a deeper shade of gray, chiefly at the larger end. 
 
 I{AMES: Clarke's Nutcracker, Clarke's Crow. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Corvus columbianus Wilson (1811). NUCIFRAGA COLUMBIANA Acd. (1838). 
 PicicoTvus columbianus Bonap. (1850). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: General color, bluish-ash; forehead, chin, sides of the head, especially round the eye, white; 
 wings, greenish-black; tail, white, upper tail-coverts, greenish-black. 
 Length, 12.00 inches; wing, 7.00; tail, 4.30 inches. 
 
 40 
 
PINON JAY. 
 
 Cyanocepbalus cyanocephalus Stejneger. 
 
 ^HIS bird inhabits the Rocky Mountains, west to the Cascade Range and the 
 Sierra Nevada, and from Mexico north to British America. It was discovered in 
 1840 by Prince Maximilian zu Wied, and was formerly known by omithologisis ak 
 Maximilian's Jay. 
 
 According to the observations of Dr. Elliott Coues, who found the Pmok Jay a 
 permanent resident at Fort Whipple, Arizona, it feeds "principally upon Juniper-berrieb 
 and pine seeds ; also upon acorns, and probably other small, hard fruit. Notwithstanding 
 its essentially corvine form, the habits of this bird like its colors, are rather those of 
 the Jays. It is a garrulous and vociferous creature, of various and curiously modulated 
 chattering notes when at ease, and of extremely loud, harsh cries when in fear or angef . 
 The former are somewhat guttural, but the latter possess a resonance different both 
 from the hoarse screams of the Long-crested Jay, and the sharp, wiry voice of the Blue 
 Jay. Like Jaj%, it is a restless, impetuous bird, as it were of an unbalanced, eveh 
 frivolous, mind; its turbulent presence contrasting strongly with the poised and some- 
 what sedate demeanor of the larger black Crows. With these last, however, it shares' a 
 strpng character — its attitudes when on the ground, to which it habitually descends, 
 being Crow-like, and its gait, an easy walk or run, dififering entirely from the leaping 
 progression of the Jays. It shares a shy and watchful disposition. ... It is highly 
 gregarious, in the strict sense of the term. Immense as the gatherings of the CrOws 
 frequently are, these birds seem to associate rather in community of interest tiian in 
 obedience to a true social instinct ; each individual looks out for himself, and the cotki- 
 pany disperses for causes as readily as it assembles. It is different with these small. 
 Blue Jay Crows ; they flock, sometimes in surprising numbers, keep as close together as 
 Blackbirds, and move as if by a common impulse. As usual, their dispersion is marked, 
 if not complete, at the breeding season ; but the flocks reassemble as soon as the year- 
 lings are well on the wing, from which time until the following spring hundreds are 
 usually seen together. On one occasion at least, I witnessed a gathering of probably a 
 thousand individuals." 
 
 Capt. B. F. Goss was the first naturalist who found the nest and eggs of this 
 bird. "In May 1879," writes Mr. Goss7 "I T;bok nine sets of the eggs of Maximilian's 
 Jay in Colorado. Their nests were all found within from five to nine miles east and 
 south-east of Fort Garland. This region lies along the western base of the Sangre 
 de Christo Mountains, is broken by hills and spurs from the main range, and has an 
 elevation of about 9,000 feet. The nests were all in high, open situations, two of them 
 well up the steep mountain sides, and none in valleys or thick timber. All were in small 
 pinon pines from five to ten feet up, out some distance from the body of the tree, and 
 not particularly well concealed. They are large, coarse, and deeply hollowed structures, 
 much alike, being made mostly of grayish shreds of some fibrous plant, or bark, which 
 breaks up into a mass of hair-like fibres, these forming the 'lining, while some weeds and 
 
AMERICAN MAGPIE. 315 
 
 grass are worked into the general fabric. I did not measure any of them before removal, 
 and afterwards accurate measurement could not be made, as, being loosely constructed, 
 they spread and flattened. They must have been about as deep as wide, deep enough 
 to receive the whole body of the bird, only part of the head £tnd tail showing above the 
 edge. The birds are close sitters, several not leaving till the nest was shaken, and I 
 could have caught some of them with my hand. On being driven from the nest, they 
 would alight on an adjoining limb, and, with lowered head and half-extended wings, 
 utter their peculiar querulous cry. One nest contained five eggs, six contained four each, 
 and two three each; both sets of three were partly incubated. Two nests were taken 
 May 5, five on the 10th, and two on the 11th, 1879. The eggs are quite pointed at 
 the small end. The ground-color is bluish-white, splashed all over with small spots of 
 dark brown, thickest at the large end. 
 
 "The nest is easily seen, and I am surprised that so few have been found. The bird 
 is a restless wanderer, choosing the most unfrequented places. It often changes its 
 haunts, and may be plenty one year where it is scarcely found in another. Probably 
 the food supply has something to do with its movements. It is gregarious, and. partly 
 so even in the breeding sleason. It is locally, and very appropriately, called the "Pinon 
 Bird," for its home is in the pinon pines, and it is rarely seen far from them." 
 NAMES : Pinon Jay, Maximilian's Jay. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Gymnorbinus cyanocephalus Pr. Max Wied (1841). Gymaocitta cyanocephala 
 . Bonap. (1850). CYANOCEPHALUS CYANOCEPHALUS Stejn. (1684). 
 
 ■IJBSCRIPTION : "General color, dull blue, paler on the abdomen, the middle of which is tinged with ash; 
 the head and neck of a much deeper and more intense blue, darker on the crown. Chin and forepart 
 of throat, whitish, streaked with blue. 
 
 "Length, 10.00 inches; wing, 5.90; tail, 4.50 inches." (B. B. & R. II, p. 260.) 
 
 AMERICAN MAGPIE. 
 
 Pica pica budsonica Jordan. 
 
 T|v, IKE all the mer&bersj of this family, the Magpie is a bird of bad reputation, a 
 . ,11^^ rascal, a thief, a murderer, a robber, and a rogue in general. It is distributed 
 over Western North America north to Alaska, south to New Mexico and Arizona, east 
 to the base of the Rocky Mountains. "Magpies," says Dr. Elliott Coues, "are very 
 common at Fort Randall through the winter, as at other points higher up the river. 
 They keep mostly in troops in the wooded river-bottom, and, notwithstanding the 
 severity of the weather, they are not familiar and impudent, as they are represented to 
 be in times of scarcity. In fact I have always found them wary and watchful, on the 
 .alert for suspicious approach, and rather difficult to shoot. When a flock is feeding, as 
 they habitually do, down among the bushes, one or more are perched, apparently as 
 sentinels, on the high trees overhead, and the hidden birds below are instantly warned 
 of danger by their discordant screams. I have more than once succeeded in getting 
 
316 AMERICAN MAGPIE. 
 
 within range of one of these picket-guards, and at the report of fny gun, scores of birds, 
 of whose presence I was entirely unaware, have sprung up from the bushes all around, 
 where they had been feeding in perfect silence, t once procured several specimens unex- 
 pectedly and unintentionally, the birds having come to feed upon the carcass of a horse 
 I had poisoned to secure wolves. Six or eight Magpies were found dead next morning, 
 besides several coyotes and a skunk. It is stated. that this method has also been success- 
 folly employed to destroy the birds, when, from their numbers and under stress of 
 hunger, they proved a nuisance by alighting oa the sore backs of horses and mules to 
 pick at the raw flesh. An Indian boy at Fort Randall succeeded in capturing a number 
 alive with a common 'figure-of-four' trap, showing that their native cunning is some- 
 times at fault. During the whole season of 18t3 I did not see a single Magpie along 
 the northern border of Dakota." 
 
 The following observations, made by Mr. M. Trippe in Colorado, will be read 
 with interest: 
 
 "Common; resident; breeds. The Magpie abounds from the plains up to 10,000 
 feet, rarely venturing higher than that limit, while it is most numerous below 8,500. 
 It is a social bird, although not gregarious, being usually found in pairs or small parties 
 of from three to six or eight, but quite often goes alone. It is very "voracious, living 
 upon seeds, carrion, insects, etc., and being especially fond of the eggs and young of 
 other birds, of which it destroys very great quantities. It is easily caught and tamed, 
 even when old, and soon becomes very cunning and mischievous, exhibiting the same 
 traits as the Crow, and, like that bird, is said to imitate the human voice with some 
 aptitude. It has almost an infinite variety of notes, some low, gurgling, arid musical, 
 some harsh and discordant, others squeaky and grating. It is very noisy at times, and 
 quite silent at others, when engaged in robbing birds' nests or foraging near dwellings 
 or bams. It has a loud, rapid chatter, uttered as an alarm cry, and, with its extensive 
 vocabulary, seems at no loss to convey its iddas to its fellows. It prefers, as a rule, 
 the vicinity of streams, and the brushy valleys, but often wanders among the pine 
 groves on the hill-sides, and pays frequent visits to the vicinity of slaughter houses. It 
 is common along road-sides, where its bright plumage and harsh cries attract the 
 attention of the traveler. The Magpie is not a shy bird, but if frequently shot at soon 
 learns to keep out of range. Among the foot-hills, the Magpie begins building in April; 
 the nest is quite an elaborate affair, and occupies several days in its construction. It 
 is placed in the fork of a small, bushy tree— vfhich is never a pine— from six to fifteen 
 feet from the ground, and composed externally of stout sticks, ingeniously placed and 
 wedged together. Upon this is a layer of smaller twigs, and then a layer of fine clay 
 one-half or three-quarters of an inch in thickness, which, being applied soft and well 
 worked in, becomes very hard, and binds the whole structure firmly together. On this 
 again is a soft lining of fine twigs, hair, feathers, and any proper material which they 
 can find. Over the whole, rising from the walls of the nest, is a dome of twigs and 
 sticks, very ingeniously and securely woven together, and framing a shelter for the bird 
 while setting. There are two openings, opposite each other, evidently to make room 
 for the long tail of the bird, which could never be brought within the nest. The eggs 
 are five, of a pale greenish, very thickly obscured with spots and dashes of pale purplish- 
 
BLUE JAY. 317 
 
 brown, varying somewhat in intensity and being somewhat thicker at the larger end. 
 In the foot-hills, the young are hatched about the first of June, at Idado Springs nearly 
 three weeks later, or not for two months after the appearance of the broods of Clarke's 
 Nutcracker— a singular fact, considering the intimate relations of the two birds, and 
 their similar habits, range, and food." 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Corvus hudsonkus Sab. (1823). Pica bndsonica Bonap. (1838). PICA PICA 
 HUDSONICA Jordan (1884). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "General color, black. The belly, scapulars, and inner webs of the primaries, white; hind 
 part of back, grayish ; exposed part of the tail-feathers, glossy green, tinged with purple and violet 
 near the end; wings, glossed with green; the cecondaries and tertials with blue; tbroat-feathers 
 spotted with white in younger specimens. 
 
 "Length, 19.00 inches; wing, 8.50; tail, 13.00 inches." (B. B. & R. II, p. 266.) 
 
 The Yellow-billed Magpie, Pica nuttalli Audubon, is confined exclusively to 
 California, where it is an abundant bird in many localities. It is the true counterpart 
 of the foregoing species. 
 DESCRIPTION: "Bill, and naked skin behind the eye, bright yellow; otherwise similar to the former." 
 
 BLUE JAY. 
 
 Cyanocitta cristata Strickland. 
 
 Plate XVIIj Fig. 1. 
 
 ^HE life <Jf all our small birds is a constant struggle for existence. They are always 
 surrounded by danger, and even the quiet darkness of the night does not afford 
 them perfect safety against nocturnal robbers. The number of their enemies is an 
 exceedingly large one. These are facts verified by all observers w^ho study the life of 
 our birds in the freedom of Nature. Even in gardens and orchards, where the presence 
 of man should serve as a protection, they are not as safe as could be desired. Having 
 arrived in their breeding haunts fi-om the South, they now act as if all sorrow and 
 danger w^as over. They are in ah ecstasy of song and happiness, filling the soul of every 
 cultivated and feeling mind with rapture and anticipation. Yet even in the most favor- 
 able localities they have to be on a constant lookout for enemies. In the woods no 
 nest is safe from the depredations of squirrels, raccoons, and opossums. In the low^er 
 thickets and on the ground numerous nests fall a prey to snakes and mice. Owls, flying 
 squirrels, skunks, and other robbers destroy under the cover of darkness what has 
 escaped the attention of the day robbers. In the gardens cats kill countless numbers of 
 old birds and destroy their nests. The English Sparrow- deprives our native songsters 
 of their nesting sites, and, where numerous enough, drives them away. Near villages 
 and towns tbe small "bad boy" with his sling-shot, air gun, etc., is the terror of all 
 our songsters. 
 
 Among the smaller native birds there are also quite a number of robbers and 
 
 .J 
 
murderers. The Butcher-bird kills many an innocent songster. Countless broods of our 
 small insectivorous birds are doomed to an early death by the Cowbird's parasitical 
 propensities. The Grackles plunder many nests. None of these, however, can compare 
 with the Blue Jay in robbing the smaller birds of their eggs and young. Notwith- 
 standing its great beauty, this bird is a villain, a rowdy, thief, and murderer of the 
 very lowest character. 
 
 Being one of the most beautiful birds of our woods, nobody would imagine this 
 fine dude to be such a rascal, coward, and marauder. Its prevailing colot is a glossy 
 sky-blue; wings and tail are crossed with black bars and tipped with pure w^hite, and 
 around the neck runs a deep black collar ; the Underside is grayish. The very conspfcuous 
 crest, which gives the bird a proud, selfish, and gallant appearance, is always carried 
 erect w^hile roving through the w^oods, but w^hen silently sneaking around and when 
 pursued by an enemy, little is to be seen of it. Notwithstanding its brave appearance, 
 the Blue JeLy is the greatest coward of all our familiar birds. Among small birds he 
 really accepts the countenance of a lord, tries to impose by his superiority and bravery, 
 and annoys by his noisy and saucy disposition. But he is only a braggart. In the face 
 of danger, or when attacked by a bird of his size or by a company of smaller ones, his 
 courage is gone, and he proves himself to be the most ridiculous and wretched coward 
 imaginable. When real danger threatens he sneaks away silently, and when attacked 
 by a Robin, or Kingbird, he screams in the most terrible manner. 
 
 While living at Freistatt, Lawrence Co., Mo., I resided for several years on the 
 edge of an extensive forest, consisting of a dense growth of mostly middle-sized oaks 
 and some hickories. In front of the house there was the ornamental garden on one side 
 and a large orchard on the other. Everywhere among the shade and orchard trees 
 I had placed nesting-boxes for Bluebirds, Bewick's Wrens, Titmice, and Great-crested 
 Flycatchers. Although the Blue Jays had nested in considerable numbers around my 
 «abin in Texas, I found them here much more abundant and presumptuous. Their loud 
 and vehement jay, jay was constantly heard, especially in sultry and rainy weather. As 
 they were exceedingly numerous, their cries resounded from far and near. With great 
 regularity they were roving about in the forest, usually in small scattered troops of 
 "from ten to twenty. This thfey kept up from late summer to early spring, when the 
 flocks separated into pairs. They frequently came down to the ground, but rarely left 
 the woods. During the cold season they mostly subsist on acorns, stored by them in 
 crannies of trees and knot-holes. Frequently they also visit the corn cribs, where through 
 the crevices they pick the com from the cobs. Having never been molested, they have 
 become half domesticated, and fearlessly approach the door-yard in search of food. 
 They are hardy birds, and in their choice of food are not at all particular. I saw them 
 eat all kinds of refuse from the kitchen, even cooked potatoes and the frozen apples on 
 the trees. When deep snow covered the ground they obtained their share of food in the 
 poultry yard, which they featlessly entered. Were we not convinced, that the Blue Jay 
 is a villain and murderer during the breeding season, we would be obliged to admire 
 him for his tameness and beauty, his proud, lively, and exceedingly cunning manners, 
 and his gift of mimicry. In fall and winter the life of the Blue Jay doubtlessly 
 affords much pleasure to the friend of Nature, but in spring and summer, as we will 
 
BLUE JAY. 319 
 
 presently see, he is the disturber of the general peace and creates only excitement and 
 trouble. 
 
 Among the branches of trees the Blue Jay is perfectly at home, but on the ground 
 his movements are less adroit. His flight from tree to tree is quick and graceful, but 
 over large treeless tracts it is rather heavy and lingering. This inferiority the sly bird 
 well knows, and therefore he does not venture to leave without compulsion the pro- 
 tection of the woods. Most birds of prey are not able to capture him in the woods, 
 but they easily catch him while flying. 
 
 Admirable is the Blue Jay's imitative power. As soon as the warm rays of the 
 spring sun fill the woodlands with new life, he shows a great difference in his demeanor-. 
 The soft mild air, the flowers of early spring, the echoing song of the Cardinal appear 
 to inspire him also with poetical feelings, if a rascal like him is at all capable of higheif 
 emotions ! We now hear not only his loud and penetrating jay, jay, but also many 
 other well imitated notes, like the common cry of the Catbird, the caw, caw of the 
 Crow, the mewing of the house cat, the barking and whining of a young dog, etc: The 
 nearer the breeding time approaches, the greater the development of the Jay's faculty bf 
 imitation. An exceedingly comical effect it produces when he mimics the call of the Spari- 
 row^ Hawk, and immediately after the frightful notes of his victim, or when he utters the 
 be-a.y, be-ay of the Red-shouldered Hawk and a moment later the anxious cries of a hen 
 dicing in his talons. The first imitations drive all the small birds to the bushes or otheir 
 hiding places, w^hile the second notes create terror and anxiety among the poultry. Every 
 fow^l tries to escape in the quickest way possible, while the gallant rooster turns his 
 head into the air to espy the supposed enemy. In such apparently malicious way he 
 often scoffs the small birds and the hens. He likewise imitates the crowing of a rooster 
 and the cackling of a hen. One day, while sitting on a log in the w^oods, to observe a 
 pair of Cooper's Hawks on and near their nest, I was startled by the persuasive call- 
 note of a hen leading her young ; an anxious cackling, as if an enemy was approaching; 
 followed immediately. When, a few moments later, I heard the painful cty of a chicken, 
 I at once rushed into the thicket whence these notes came, to scare away the robber, 
 but I only found the Blue Jay who flirted his tail in a most contemptible manner and 
 sneaked away apparently well satisfied with his mockery. 
 
 Early in April a pair of Bluebirds began to build in a nesting box made of a piece 
 of a hoUow^ bough, and another pair selected one made of boards. In flocks of five and 
 six the Blue Jays roamed through the garden and committed all kinds of mischief. They 
 were quite a terror to the Bluebirds whom they frequently chased about. In the early 
 morning hours they visited in a sneaking manner the nesting boxes, attempting con- 
 tinuously to get into the interior. The Bluebirds fought bravely, but they were unable 
 to resist these villains. Several broods were destroyed before they succeeded to rais^ a 
 few young. When on their piratical excursions., the Blue Jays are perfectly silent, and 
 my attention was only attracted to the spot by the anxious cries of the Bluebirds. In 
 the spring following I took special precautions to protect my favorites from the murderou^ 
 attacks of these birds. I made the entrance holes of the nesting boxes smaller and 
 kept always on the watch for these rascals. Yet all care seemed to be in vain, as only 
 one brood left the nest, w^hile the other was killed w^hen first trying its ^ngs, In 
 
320 BLUE JAY. 
 
 the same way they destroyed the broods of the Tufted Titmouse and Bewick's Wren. 
 I caught them in the act of sucking the eggs of the Mourning Dove, the Yellow Warbler, 
 the Red-eyed Vireo, and the Catbird. I saw them kill old Bewick's Wrens and the young 
 of the Yellow-breasted Chat, the Cardinal, and the Field Sparrow. As soon as the 
 gallant Kingbird arrived in the orchard, the Blue Jays did not dare to leave the pro- 
 tection of the woods. 
 
 By the third week of April the flocks separate and the pairs commence at once to 
 construct the nest. For this purpose usually a secluded part in the forest or a very 
 dense tree is selected. The male now exhibits a variety in his notes which is sometimes 
 astonishing. The common call-note is now less often heard. A low^, deep persuasive 
 chatter is most frequently uttered during the season of love, and also a musical w^histle, 
 sounding like Frederica. These last notes are usually accompanied by dancing motions 
 and by low^ering and raising the head. The birds w^ere so abundant in this tract qf 
 forest near my home, that I counted eleven pairs breeding on an area of about one 
 acre, and during the months of May, June, and July I found not less than forty-one 
 nests. In southern Missouri as w^ell as in Texas two broods are annually raised. There 
 is scarcely a more sagacious, sly, and cunning bird conceivable than the Blue Jay. In 
 Missouri it often nests near houses, but it approaches its domicile so quietly ,and 
 stealthily that most people are not aware of its breeding near the dwelling. One pair 
 had built its nest near my kitchen door in a dense black jack oak, but I did not find it 
 before the young were almost fully fledged. 
 
 All the nests I found were built from twelve to forty feet from the ground, and 
 though bulky, w^ere always firmly placed among dense twigs. The materials used in 
 their construction are various. The exterior is usually made of twigs, rootlets, strips 
 of bark, paper, rags, strings, etc., and thfe cavity is lined with w^ool, cotton, grasses, 
 and feathers. The eggs, four to six in number, are dull olive-green, thickly spotted with 
 dark brown. When the young are hatched, the parent birds become exceedingly injurious 
 by robbing the nests of our small insectivorous birds of their eggs and young. These 
 depredations are performed very stealthily and often in the absence of the mother bird 
 from her nest. Sometimes the marauder is caught by the rightful owners in the act of 
 robbery. They furiously attack him, and even their neighbors come to their assistance. 
 Like every coward he tries to sneak off silently, seeking refuge in the densest thickets. 
 But his assailants follow him closely, attack him from all sides and pounce down upon 
 him; he screams in the most frightful manner until he has reached the safe interior of 
 the forest. 
 
 His food consists at this time almost entirely of animal substances and some fruit. 
 In winter he visits the corn cribs and the barn yards. In fall he also stores acorns and 
 beech nuts in crevices of bark and tree holes for winter's use. The acorn is held between 
 the toes and the branch and the shell is broken by repeated blows of the bill. 
 
 The Blue Jay is a very hardy bird, finding his food at all seasons. For this reason 
 he is not a true migrant, that is to say, he does not move north and south at regular 
 periods, but is a constant resident even in the severe climate of Wisconsin. 
 
 From the preceding it will be seen that the Blue Jay is an exceedingly injurious 
 bird, creating great havoc among our small insectivorous songsters. Where not molested 
 
he multiplies so rapidly that in many localities steps should be taken to check his becoming 
 too numerous, or many of the very beneficial small birds will become exceedingly rare. 
 In gardens, parks, and orchards the Blue Jay is decidedly out of place and should never 
 be tolerated. In many parts of the West this bird is almost as tame, but more sagacious 
 and sly and much more dangerous than the European Sparrow. A few pairs in the 
 woods are a great ornament, but they should nowhere be allowed to become abundant. 
 Disagreable as it is to witness the extermination of any feathered creature, I should not 
 hesitate to sign a death-warrant of every Blue Jay roaming about near human dwellings, 
 in parks and orchards. 
 
 When pursued these birds become very shy and wary, shunning, as much as possible, 
 man's society. This is especially the case in many localities in the East, where nowhere 
 this robber has been allowed to become very abundant. No other bird annoys the 
 hunter more than the Blue Jay, as he seems to give the alarm to all dwellers of the 
 woods that their foe is approaching. 
 
 The Blue Jay is one of the best cage birds, especially when reared from the nest. 
 He becomes very tame and reconciled to confinement, learns to imitate the human voice 
 and easily learns to whistle whole songs or parts of such. Bird fanciers almost all agree 
 in the statement that the "Blue Jay is more ingenious, cunning, and teachable than any 
 other species." 
 
 The geographical distribution of this Jay extends over all eastern North America, 
 west to the Plains, and from the fur countries south to Florida and eastern Texas. 
 
 A variety, the Florida Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata Horincola CouES, is found 
 in Florida and the Gulf coast of south-eastern Texas. It does not differ in its habits 
 from the common species. 
 
 NAMES: Blub Jay, Jay, Jay Bird, Rain Jay, Rain-bird. — Blauhaher (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Corvus cristatus Linn. (1758). Garrulas cristatas Vieill. (1824). Cyanura cristata 
 Swains. (1831). Cyanocorax cristatus Bonap. (1838). CYANOCITTA CRISTATA Strickl. (1845). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes almost alike. "Crest about one-third longer than the bill. Tail, much graduated. 
 General color above, light purplish-blue; wings and tail-feathers, ultramarine-blue; the secondaries 
 and tertials, the greater wing-coverts, and the exposed surface of the tail, sharply banded with black 
 and broadly tipped with white, except on the central tail-feathers. Beneath, white; tinged with 
 purplish-blue on the throat, and with bluish-brown on the sides. A black crescent on the forepart of 
 the breast, the horns passing forward and connecting with a half-collar on the back of the neck. A 
 narrow frontal line and loral region, black; feathers on the base of the bill, blue, like the crown." 
 Length, 12.25 inches; wing, 5.65; tail, 5.75 inches. (B. B. & R.) 
 
 STELLER'S JAY. 
 
 Cyanocitta steUeri Cabanis. 
 
 Steller's Jay and its varieties inhabit particularly the mountain regions of the 
 West. They are all similar to each other and are the same cunning, bold, and noisy 
 fellows as their eastern cousin, the Blue Jay. 
 
 Steller's Jay inhabits the Pacific coast of North America, from Sitka south through 
 the Cascade and Coast Range to Monterey Bay, Cal. 
 
 41 
 
322 STELLER'S JAY. 
 
 The Blue-fronted Jay, C. stelleri frontalis Boucard, is found in the southern 
 coast ranges and the Sierra Nevada of California and western Nevada, from Fort Crook 
 south to Lower California. 
 
 The Black-headed Jay, C. stelleri annectens Ridgway, is an inhabitant of the 
 northern Rocky Mountains, south to the Wahsatch Range, west to eastern Oregon and 
 Washington. 
 
 The Long-crested Jay, C. stelleri marcrolopha Codes, represents the foregoing in 
 the southern Rocky Mountains, especially in southern Arizona and north-western Mexico.- 
 
 It may suffice to treat more fully of this last variety, as all the others agree with 
 it in every respect. 
 
 "Having enjoyed excellent facilities," writes Dr. Elliott Coues in his classical way, 
 "for studying the habits and manners of the Long-crested Jay in the pine-clad mountains 
 of Arizona, I offered, on a previous occasion, an account substantially as follows : When 
 I w^as traveling westward, in the spring of 1864, 1 saw some of these Jays in the Raton 
 Mountains, in New Mexico, which I believe to be about their eastern limit, at least in 
 this latitude, for they were strongly attached to pine-clad mountains, and are found as 
 high up as timber grows. In crossing the Rocky Mountains, through Whipple's Pass, 
 I did not happen to meet with any; to the westward still, in the lofty forests of the 
 San Francisco Mountains, they were abundant, and at that time (July) had just reared 
 their families, and were rambling through the tops of the trees together. The old birds 
 were in sorry plight, literally with a 'crest-fallen' air, and ftiU of pin-feathers. But wheri 
 I came across them the third time, in the pineries about Fort Whipple, they were in 
 good trim once more, and saucy as ever. They live in the mountainous parts of Arizona 
 all the year, for they are able to endure severe cold, being of hardy nature, and well 
 clothed with soft, thick plumage, while their food is such as can be procured at any 
 season. Thus being non-migratory, their permanent habitat may be given with some 
 accuracy ; it includes the wooded Rocky Mountain region at large. . . . 
 
 "All Jays make their share of noise in the world; they fret and scold about trifles,- 
 quarrel over anything, and keep everything in a ferment when they are about. The 
 particular kind we are now talking about is nowise behind his fellows in these respects — 
 a stranger to modesty and forbearance, and the many gentle quaUties that charm us 
 in some little birds and endear them to us; he is a regular filibuster, ready for any 
 sort of adventure that promises sport or spoil, even if spiced with danger. Sometimes 
 he prowls about alone, but oftener has a band of choice spirits with him, who keep 
 each other in countenance (for our Jay is a coward at heart, like other bullies) and 
 share the plunder on the usual terms in such cases, of each one taking all he can get. 
 Once I had a chance of seeing a band of these guerrillas on a raid ; they went at it in 
 good style, but came off very badly indeed. A vagabond troop made a descent upon 
 a bush clump, where, probably, they expected to find eggs to suck, or at any rate a 
 chance for mischief and amusement. To their intense joy, they surprised a littlfe Owl 
 quietly digesting his grasshoppers, with both eyes shut. Here was a lark ! and a charid^ 
 to wipe out a part of the score that the Jays keep against Owls for injuries received- 
 time out of mind. In the tumult that ensued, the little birds scurried off, the Wood- 
 peckers overhead stopped tapping to look on, and a snake that was basking in a sunfl^' 
 
STELLBR 'S JA Y. 323 
 
 spot concluded to crawl into his hole. The Jays lunged furiously at their enemy, who 
 sat helpless, bewildered by the sudden onslaught, trying to look as big as possible, with 
 his wings set for bucklers and his bill snapping; meanwhile twisting his head till I 
 thought he would wring it off, trying to look all ways at once. The Jays, emboldened 
 by partial success, grew more impudent, till their victim made a break through their 
 ranks and flapped into the heart of a neighboring juniper, hoping to be protected by the 
 tough, thick foliage. The Jays went trooping after, and I hardly know how the fight 
 would have ended had I not thought it time to take a hand in the game myself I 
 secured the Owl first, it being the interesting Pygmy Owl, and then shot four of the 
 Jays before they made up their minds to be off. The collector has no better chance to 
 •enrich his cabinet than when the birds are quarreling, and so it has been with the third 
 party in a difficulty, ever since the monkey divided cheese for the two cats. 
 
 "It is difficult to describe the notes of this Jay, he is such a garrulous creature, 
 and has such a variety of outcries. He ordinarily screams at the top of his voice, until 
 he is tired or something attracts his attention. This cry is something like that of a 
 Blue Jay, but hoarser and heavier ; its base quality distinguishes it in a moment from 
 the harsh outcry of either Woodhouse's or Maximilian's Jay, both of which birds run 
 higher up the scale. He has also a call sounding like the rataplan of a Flicker ; and 
 again, when greedily regaling on acorns, or hopping aimlessly about, or peering curiously 
 down through the pine fronds to watch a suspicious character, he talks to himself in 
 a queer way, as if thinking aloud, and chuckling over some comical notions of his own. 
 Such loquacit3'^ has given a good name (Garralinas) to the whole tribe of Jays. 
 
 "The Long-crested Jay will eat anything eatable. It is said Jays kill and devour 
 small birds, and doubtless they do so on occasion, though I do not think it is habitual 
 with them. They suck eggs, despoiling many a pretty nest; and if they cannot Catch 
 winged insects, fat larvae and beetles do not come amiss ; but after all, they are prin- 
 cipally vegetarians, feeding mainly upon seeds, hard fruits, and berries. In the mountains 
 where the Long-crested Jay lives, pine-seeds afford most of its fare. I have often watched 
 the bird hammering away at a pine-cone, which he would sometimes wedge in A crotch, 
 and sometimes hold under his feet. Though most at home in the pineries, where this 
 particular source of supply is unfailing, he often strays into the adjoining oak openings, 
 and into juniper patches, after acorns or berries, or to pick a quarrel with Woodhouse's 
 Jay and frighten the Sparrows. Wherever he goes he has it pretty much his own way, 
 hated and feared by the other birds, whom he silences with a scream and subdues by a 
 show of authority. But who of his kind has not enemies ? Cassin's Flycatcher, almost 
 as noisy and audacious, has many a set-to with him, and even the nimble little Wood 
 Pewees pester him sometimes. The Woodpeckers tease him persistently ; they can scramble 
 about faster than he can follow, and laugh at him from the other side of a bough, till 
 he quite loses his temper. But after all our Jay has his good points, and I confess to a 
 sneaking sort of regard for him. An elegant, dashing fellow, of good presence if not 
 good manners ; a tough, wiry, independent creature, Avith sense enough to take precious 
 good care of himself, as any one who wants his skin will discover. As one approaches 
 the tall pine where he is rollicking, his restless, bright brown eye marks the suspicious 
 object. Nqw 9n th? ^lert, he leaps like a sc|uirrel frQm bough to bough, till he reaches 
 
324 FLORIDA JAY. 
 
 the top, when he is off with a scream that makes the woods echo his triumph and 
 disdain. It is of no use to follow when he is thorougly alarmed. But on some other 
 occasion he may be inclined to take another peep, for his curiosity is great, and thus 
 expose himself through a rift in the foliage. . . . 
 
 "The egg of Steller's Jay is pale, dull bluish-green, more or less thickly, but usually 
 quite uniformly, sprinkled all over with small olive-brown and clearer brown spots. 
 Size, 1.25 by 0.85, to 1.35 by 0.90." 
 
 NAMES OP TYPE: Steller's Jay, Mountain Jaj-. 
 
 SCIENTIPIC NAMES: Corvus stelleri Gmelin (1788). GArrulus stclleri Yieill. (1817). Cyanurus stelleri 
 Swains. (1831). CYANOCITTA STELLERI Cab. (1851). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Head and neck all round, and forepart of breast, dark brownish-black. Back and lesser 
 wing-coverts, blackish-brown, the scapulars glossed with blue. Uudcr-parts, rump, tail-coverts, and 
 wings, greenish-blue ; exposed surfaces of lesser quills, dark . indigo-blue ; tertials and ends of tail- 
 feathers, rather obsoletely banded with black. Feathers of the forehead, streaked with greenish-blue. 
 
 "Length, about 13.06 inches; wing, 5.85; tail, 5.85 inches." (B. B. & R. II, p. 277.) 
 
 The varieties vary more or less in color. 
 
 FLORIDA JAY. 
 
 Apbelocoma Soridana Cabanis. 
 
 The Florida Jay is a bird of the scrub composed of dwarf and willow oaks. It is 
 a bird quite local in distribution. Mr. C. J. Maynard found it common at Blue Springs, 
 where it occupied a belt of country some forty -five miles wide. He also met with it on 
 the east side of Ifadian River, as far south at least as Merritt's Island, "but the strong- 
 hold of these birds is in the high scrub lands of the western coast, w^here they fairly 
 swarm." 
 
 This Jay breeds in communities in the scrub. They lay quite late in the season 
 and at that time are very assiduous in guarding the locality which they have chosen as 
 a home. At times they are said to become very familiar, approaching the houses on 
 the edges of settlements in order to pick up bones, which are thrown about or will even 
 venture to eat the meat hung close to the hunter's camp. The nest is a rather flat 
 structure, composed of small dry sticks, leaves and rootlets, lined with moss and fibers 
 and often with wool and feathers. The eggs, usually four to five in number, are of a 
 light blue or greenish ground-color, speckled sparinglj"^ with rufous or black ; the spots 
 are most numerous on the larger end. 
 
 Like all its congenei's the Florida Jay is a great robber and freebooter, diminishing 
 
 the exceedingly poor avi-fauna of Florida by its robbery still more. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Above, blue, including scapulars; interscapular region and back, brownish-ash, the former 
 lighter. Forehead and sides of crown, hoary white. Sides of head and neck, blue ; the former tinged 
 with blackish, the latter sending a streaked collar of the same entirely across the breast; region 
 anterior to this collar, dirty white, streaked on the edges of the feathers with blue; rest of under-parts, 
 dirty whitish-brown ; under tail-coverts, blue, the tibia tinged with the same. ' 
 "Length, 11.00 inches; wing, 4.50; tail, 5.70 inches." (B. B. & R. II, p. 285.) 
 
WOODHOUSE'S JAY. 
 
 Aphelocotaa woodbousei Ridgway. 
 
 This species is distributed over the mountainous regions of the West, from New 
 Mexico and Arizona north to Colorado, Utah. Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, and eastern 
 Arizona. 
 
 "It is very abundant in the upper parts of Arizona," writes Dr. Elliott Coues, 
 "where I saw it almost daily for two years. It may be called the characteristic species 
 of the subfamily in this region; for, although Maximilian's and Steller's Jays are equally 
 abundant, Woodhouse's is the more widely and equally distributed in all sorts of places, 
 with the exception, perhaps, of the recesses of pine woods, which are generally relin- 
 quished in favor of the crested species. Its preference, however, is for oak openings, 
 rough, broken hill-sides, covered with patches of juniper, manzaiiita, arid yuccas, brushy 
 ravines and w^ooded creek-bottoms. The ordinary note is a harsh scream, indefinitely 
 repeated with varying tone and measure; it is quite noticeably different from that of 
 either Maximilian's or Steller's, having a sharp, w^iry quality lacking in these. It is 
 always uttered when the bird is angry or alarmed, and consequently is oftener heard 
 by the naturalist ; but there are several other notes. If the bird is disporting w^ith his 
 fellows, or leisurely picking acorns, he has a variety of odd chuckling or chattering 
 syllables, corresponding to the absurd talk of our Blue Jay under the same circumstances. 
 Sometimes again, in the spring time, when snugly hidden in the heart of a cedar bush 
 with his mate, w^hom he has coaxed to keep him company, he modulates his harsh voice 
 with surprising softness to express his gallant intention; and if one is standing quite 
 near, unobserved, he will hear the blandishments whispered and cooed almost as softly 
 as a Dove's. The change, w^hen the busy pair find they are discovered, to the ordinary 
 scream, uttered by w^ooer and w^ooed together, is startling." 
 
 Mr. Aiken, who found the bird a common resident in south-eastern Wyoming, 
 
 says: "Nest composed outwardly of dead twigs, then of fine roots, and lined with fine 
 
 rootlets or horse hair. The eggs, four or five in number, are laid about May 1. They 
 
 are of a light bluish-green color, and with the reddish-brown specks thickest at the 
 
 large end." 
 
 DESCRIPTION : "Forehead and nasal tnfts, bright blue like crown. Lower tail-coverts, bright blue, markedly 
 diJBFerent from color of belly. Back and scapulars, dull slaty-grayish, tinged with blue; breast, sides, 
 and flanks, light ash-gray ; blue of upper parts, etc., a light dull azure-blue. 
 
 "Length, 11.50 to 13.75 inches; wing, 5.02; tail, 5.68 inches." (Ridgway, "Manual," p. 355.) 
 
 CALIFORNIA JAY. 
 
 Apbelocowa californica Cabanis. 
 
 This Jay ranges from southern California to Oregon and western Nevada. yProf. 
 Robert Ridgway speaks of it as the Valley Jay of California, having been observed by 
 him in abundance only among the oaks of the Sacramento valley, the brushwood of the 
 ravines, and the scattered pines of the foot-hills along the western base of the Sierra 
 Nevada. It was quite common, in April, in the vicinity of Carson City, where he found 
 it breeding. Its notes and manners, he adds, are very similar to those of Woodhouse's 
 
Jay, belonging to the wooded regions of the interior, but the shrill cries of this species 
 are even more piercing." 
 
 Nests and eggs are not different from those of the foregoing. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Lower tail-coverts, white, or else very slightly tinged with blue. Sides of head, blackish, 
 with little, if any, blue tinge; breast, grayish- white or very pale grayish, like belly; back and sca- 
 pulars, brownish-gray, without blue tinge. Sides of chest, bright blue, the middle portion streaked 
 with blue; white superciliary stripe very distinct." (Ridgway, "Manual," p. 356.) 
 
 GREEN JAY. 
 
 Xanthoura laxuosa Bonaparte. 
 Plate XXXII. Pig 5. 
 
 Like all its congeners, the Green Jay is an exceedingly cunning marauder, thief 
 and murderer. It is an inhabitant of the lower Rio Grande region and thence south- 
 w^ard to Vera Cruz and Puebla, Mexico. Mr. Geo. B. Sennett met with it abundantly 
 near Hidalgo, Texas. "They are most frequently seen," he says, "during the breeding 
 season in the densest woods and thickets, but at other times they are common visitors 
 of the camp, the ranche, and the huts in the outskirts of towns, to the annoyance of 
 all on account of their thieving propensities." 
 
 The first nest was found by Mr. Sennett on April 28, in a mesquit tree in a 
 thicket not far from the river bank. It was placed in a fork about fifteen feet from the 
 ground, and "was composed of sticks lined with fine stems, and a rather bulky affair." 
 The bird is known by the Mexicans as the Pdjaro verde. On April 30 he flushed a 
 Red-billed Pigeon {Columba Eavirostris) from its nest, and a Green Jay also flew from 
 its nest. "The nest of the Jay was some nine feet from the ground on the outer 
 branches of a small tree, and composed wholly of sticks and fine twigs. The sticks 
 were so full of thorns that when they were crossed about among the lining branches 
 more firmness -was given to the nest than usual, and by cutting off the branches I could 
 readily take it entire." The ground-color of the eggs is "light drab, tinged faintly with 
 green. . . . The markings are brown," and sometimes the egg is "distinctly spotted or 
 speckled or streaked, and sometimes quite indistinct and clouded. The larger end has 
 generally the heaviest markings." 
 
 NAMES: Green Jay, Rio Grande Jay. — Pdjaro verde (Mexicans). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Gamilus laxuosa Lesson (1839). Cyaaocorax luxuosa Du Bus (1848). XAN- 
 THOURA LUXUOSA Bonaparte (1850). Xantboura incas r&r. laxuosa Bonap. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Above, green; beneath, yellow, glossed continuously with green; inside of wings and outer 
 four tail-feathers, straw-yellow; rest of tail-feathers, green, glossed with blue. Sides of head, and 
 beneath from the bill to the forepart of breast, velvet-black. Crown, nape, and a short maxillary 
 stripe running up to the eye and involving the upper eyelid, brilliant blue; the nostril-feathers rather 
 darker; the .sides of the forehead, whitish. Bill, black; legs, lead-color. 
 . "Length, 11.00 inches; wing, 4.75; tail, 5.40 inches." (B. B. & R. II, p. 295.) 
 
CANADA JAY. 
 
 Perisoreus canadensis Bonaparte. 
 
 lg»HE Canada Jay is one of the most abundant birds of the Canadian and Hudsonian 
 1U faunas. It is also known as Moose-bird and Whiskey Jack, the latter name not 
 being derived "from any supposed predilection for that beverage, but probably, as 
 Mr. Kennicott has suggested, from a corruption of the Indian name for these birds,, 
 Wis-ka-chon, which has been contorted into Whiskey John and thence into Whiskey Jack." 
 Its breeding range extends from noi-thern New England, northern New York, and 
 northern Wisconsin, northward to Arctic America, and in all the wooded portions of 
 this territory, especially in the coniferous forests, it is exceedingly abundant. According 
 to Richardson, it is a constant attendant at the fur-posts and fishing stations, and 
 becomes so tame in the winter as to feed from the hand. Yet it is impatient to con- 
 finement, and soon pines away if deprived of its liberty. Its voice is plaintive and 
 squeaking, though it occasionally makes a low chattering. It hoards berries, pieces of 
 meat, etc., in hollow trees, or between layers of bark, by which it is enabled to feed its 
 young while the ground is still covered with snow. 
 
 In northern Michigan and Wisconsin it is exceedingly numerous during winter 
 near the lumbermen's camps, where it feeds on all kinds of refuse from the kitchen. It 
 will always venture into close proximity of man. In the region of Lake Gogebic, Mich., 
 it is a great annoyance to the hunter by its warning the game that the enemy approaches. 
 Fish and all kinds of meat are certain to attract numbers of them, and it even eats the 
 bait placed in the traps used for capturing fishers, otters, foxes, and other animals. 
 "While moose-hunting on December 6," writes Mr. Ernest E. Thompson, "we had 
 crawled close to a herd, when suddenly the loud screaming of the Whiskey Jack was 
 heard, and before we could get a glimpse of them the moose had sought safety in flight. 
 "During the niunberless times that I have camped in the winter woods of the 
 North-west, I have hardly ever failed to have the Wis-ka-chon for a companion. Some- 
 times I have been awakened in the morning by the melancholy wailing of the bird a 
 few inches from my head. Many a time I have fed it with scraps placed in such situa- 
 tions that its courage would be sorely tried before it could secure the dainties. Once I 
 laid a piece of meat on the snow between myself and my companion. After one or two 
 approaches the bird rushed in and seized the morsel. Then I laid a piece between myself 
 and the fire some six feet away ; this also was taken. Finally I stuck a piece on the 
 end of the pot-stick, which is a stout stick propped up so that it affords support to a, 
 kettle over the fire; and although by so doing the bird had to fly down within six 
 inches of a hot clear fire, without hesitation it dashed in and secured the prize. Long 
 experience has taught it that a camp is a sure place for a feast, and as soon as the ax 
 is brought into play to prepare the fire-wood it is usual to hear the responsive tay tay 
 of the Wis-ka-chon approaching from some distant part of the timber. This call-note 
 of the species is much like the ordinary cry of the Blue Jay, but it has several others^ 
 that are distinctively its own; this includes the melancholy sobs and wails which. 
 
328 CANADA JAY. 
 
 sounding so uncanny among the gloomy evergreens, have surrounded the iDird with an 
 atmosphere of mythic interest. According to Archbishop Tache, AYesakedjan is the name 
 of the coot and of the fabulous being who takes part in all Indian legends. Almost the 
 only musical sound that I have heard it utter is a metallic chuck chuck, not unlike that 
 produced by the Robin. The unmusical notes are so numerous that one is almost safe 
 to attribute to the AVis-ka-chon any imaccountable screams that may be heard within 
 the presence of a spruce woods." 
 
 These birds prefer to place their nests in evergreens, fi'om five to thirty feet from 
 the ground. They are built of twigs, strips of bark, needles of the white pine, g^-asses, 
 etc., and are lined with fine bark-strips and especially with feathers. In the Gogebic 
 region they nest as early as March 20, but most of the nests are found in April. The 
 eggs, four to five in number, are yellowish-gray, finely spotted and dotted with slate 
 and dark brown and faint cloudings of lilac. The markings are most abundant on the 
 largest end. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Corvus canadensis Unn. (17GG). Garrulas canadensis Bonap. (182S). PBRISOREUS 
 CANADENSIS Bonap. (1838). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Head and neck and forepart of breast, white. A rather sooty plumbeous nuchal patch> 
 becoming darker behind, froxn the middle of the cap to the back, from which it is separated by an 
 interrupted whitish collar. Rest of upper parts, dark ashy-plnmheous ; the outer primaries margined, 
 the secondaries, tertials, and tail-feathers obscurely tipped with white. Beneath, smoky-gray. Crissum, 
 whitish. Bill and feet, black. 
 
 "Length, 10.70 inches; .wing. 4.75; tail, 6.00 inches." (B. B. & R. II, p. 299.) 
 
 There are some veiy similar local forms: 
 
 The Rocky Mountain Jay, Perisoreus canadensis capitalis Ridgway, inhabits the 
 mountain range which its name implies, especially Colorado and the northern part of 
 New Mexico. In the breeding season it is found in the spruces and other conifers, from 
 8,000 feet up to timber line. It is said to be "as big a thief as ever wore feathers." 
 This sub-species is also known as the White-headed Jay. 
 
 The Alaskan Jay, P. canadensis fumifrons Ridow., is an inhabitant of Alaska, 
 except the southern coast district. 
 
 The Labrador Jay, P. canadensis nigricapillus Ridgw., a third variety of the 
 Canada Jay, is found in the coast district of Labrador, north to Ungava Bay. 
 
 The Oregon Jay, P. obscurus Sharpe, is a good species, inhabiting the coast 
 region from Humboldt Bay, in California, north to British Columbia. According to 
 Mr. A. W. Anthony this species is a common winter resident of Washington Co., Ore. 
 In March it departs to the mountains to breed. He characterizes this Jay as a bird 
 utterly devoid of fear. While dressing deer in the thick forest, he has been almost 
 covered with these birds. They would alight on his back, head, and shoulders, and 
 there tug and pull at each loose shred of his coat as if assisting him in all ways possible. 
 A nest found by him March 31, 1884, was placed about eight3'-five feet from the ground, 
 in a fir, and was well concealed. It was placed close against the trunk, and was built 
 of sticks, twigs, and moss, rather loosely put together, lined with cow-hair, wool, and 
 one or two Goose feathers. The eggs Avere light blue, with a grayish cast, thickly 
 covered with spots of brown and lilac, chiefly on the larger end. 
 
LARKS 
 
 Alaudidee. 
 
 ARKS are characteristic birds of the old world. Only one species, 
 the Shore Lark, diyided up into a number of local forms, inhabits 
 our territory. They are all attached to open cultivated lands, 
 meadows, fields and the heather being their favorite haunts. Some 
 of the species even haunt the deserts of Asia and Africa. Quite 
 a number of them are celebrated for their exquisite song. The 
 most celebrated of the family is the Sky Lark {Alauda arvensis L.) of Europe. 
 Frequent attempts have been made to add this "bird of poetry" to our 
 avi-fauna. It has been introduced into New York, New^ Jersey, Ohio, 
 Missouri, etc., but it evidently does not readily accomodate itself to our 
 changeable climate, as most of those introduced have perished. Only on 
 Long Island the bird seems to have gained a foothold, and near Portland, 
 Ore., where many European birds thrive in the mild and equable climate, 
 the Sky Lark bids fair to become very numerous in a few years. The song 
 is indeed enchantingly beautiful, but to my ear the rollicking and happy strain of 
 our own Bobolink is more impressive and hilarious. 
 
 HORNED LARK. 
 
 Otocoris alpestris Bonaparte. 
 
 ^PEAKING in a general way, the Horned Lark or Shore Lark is one of the most 
 abundant birds of Wisconsin and Illinois, and 1 found it equally numerous in 
 south-western Missouri and iii many parts of Texas. In Wisconsin it was a rather rare 
 bird forty years ago, but after the forests had been transformed into fields, it became 
 
 42 
 
soon a familiar bird. On the dry westei-n prairies it is everywhere met with, especially 
 in winter. Being residents wherever they occur, the Shore Larks do not migrate like 
 most other birds, but they move over a considerable territory in quest of food regardless 
 of the condition of weather. Heavy snowfalls have the effect of driving them to regions 
 where the ground can be searched for food, which consists mainly of all kinds, of weed 
 and grass seeds. Fields, pastures, and upland meadows are the favorite haunts of 
 these Larks, but they are nowhere more abundant than on and near the country roads. 
 In summer we may see them running along the wagon tracks or taking their dust 
 baths, and in winter there is scarcely a better place to search for food, than the much 
 frequented country road. During winter they are seen in flocks of from ten to fifty and 
 more, but during the breeding season they only live in pairs. When disturbed they run 
 along in the road for quite a considerable distance, and then disappear suddenly among 
 the grass and weeds on the road-side, or they perch on a fence. They are pre-eminently 
 ground birds, scarcely ever alighting on trees or bushes. 
 
 Of all our smaller birds the Horned Lark is the first bird to breed. As early as 
 April 4, when many places are still covered with snow and the ground is frozen hard, 
 full complements of eggs have been found in Wisconsin, and by the middle of that month 
 I have met young in northern Illinois able to leave the nest. In south-western Missoiiri 
 they breed by the middle of March. The nest is always placed in a slight depression 
 of the ground, usually under a tuft of grass. It is built of grasses and pieces of corn- 
 leaves, and is often lined with hair and feathers. When a second or third brood follows 
 later in the season, these warm materials are not employed so extensively in the con- 
 struction of the domicile. The rim of the nest is usually flush with the surface of the 
 ground. It is not an easy matter to find the nest, but it is often discovered accidentally 
 while sauntering about in fields, meadows, pastures, and the prairie. The eggs, four to 
 five in number, vary in their ground-color from pale olive or light greenish to dull olive- 
 buff, and are always thickly spotted and sprinkled with brown and drab. The eggs of 
 six different varieties of Shore Larks in the "Goss Collection of North American Birds' 
 Eggs," in the Public Museum of Milwaukee, are all more or less similar to each other. 
 The young leave the nest long before they are able to use their wings, running along 
 on the ground like small chickens just hatched. 
 
 The song is frequently uttered in May and June from early morning until evening,, 
 both on the ground and high up in the air. It sounds exceedingly sweet and would be 
 very beautiful were it not so weak. It is scarcely audible in a distance of a hundred 
 yards, and it always sounds very ventriloquous, so that it is difficult to say whether the 
 bird is on the ground or in the air. 
 
 Those desirous to know more about the different varieties of these birds and 
 their geographical distribution, I refer to Mr. Jonathan Dwight's valuable paper on 
 "The Horned Larks of North America" in "The Auk" for 1890 (p. 138—160). 
 
 The true Horned Lark, Otocoris alpestris Bon ap., is distributed over north-eastern 
 North America, Greenland, and the northern parts of the old world. It winters south 
 to Wisconsin, Illinois, and the Carolinas. 
 
 The Pallid Horned Lark, 0. alpestris leucolsema Stejn., inhabits the interior of 
 British America and Alaska, and is found in the western United States in winter. 
 
HORNED LARK. 331 
 
 The Prairie HoKned Lark, O. alpestris praticola Henshaw, occurs in the upper 
 Misvsissippi valley, from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario south to Kansas, 
 Missouri, Illinois, Indiana to Vermont, etc. It winters south to South Carolina and 
 Texas. This is the Homed Lark which I found breeding from Wisconsin to south- 
 westeni Missouri. 
 
 The Desert Horned Lark, O. alpestris arenicoln Henshaw, is a resident of the 
 Great Plains and the Great Basin. 
 
 The Texas Horned Lark, O. alpestris g-iraudi Henshaw, is found in eastern and 
 south-eastern Texas, 
 
 The Mexican Horned Lark, O. alpestris chrysolaema Stejn., represents the type 
 in the coast district of California and in different parts of Mexico. 
 
 The Ruddy Horned" Lark, O. alpestris rabea Henshaw, inhabits the Sacramento 
 and San Joaquin valleys of California, while the Streaked Horned Lark, O. alpestris 
 strigata Henshaw^, is found in the coast regions of British Columbia, Washington, and 
 Oregon, and the islands off the coast of southern Californifl. 
 
 The Scorched Horned Lark, O. alpestris adasta Dwight, is distributed over 
 southern Arizona and New Mexico, western Texas and southward into Mexico. 
 
 The Dusky Horned Lark, O. alpestris merrilli Dwight, is a bird of eastern Oregon, 
 Washington, and British Columbia, between the Cascade and the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 The SoNORAN HofeNED Lark, O. alpestris pallida Townsend, is a bird of Low^ef 
 California and Sonpra. 
 
 DESCRIPTION of the most common form, the Prairie Horned Lark: Above, ashy-drab, vaguely strealsed 
 with dusky brown ; outer tail-feathers, black, outermost edged With white ; throat and superciliary 
 line, pale yellow; large black crescent on the breast and a smaller one under the eye; underneath, 
 whitish. The lengthened feathers above the ear form two slight "horns." 
 Length, 7.12 inches; wing, 4.16; tail, 2.99 inches. 
 
Tyrant Flycatchers, 
 
 Tyrannidse. 
 
 MONG our native iDirds there are few who play such an important 
 part in the landscape as the Tyrant Flycatchers. Some of them 
 belong to our most beautiful and familiar species. Few birds are 
 more conspicuous in the neighborhood of man than the Scissor- 
 tailed Flycatcher, the Kingbird, and Phoebe, and to some extent, 
 at least, the Great-crested Flycatcher and the Wood Pewee. All 
 these birds are of immense service to man, as they subsist entirel}' on all 
 kinds of insects which are invariably captured in the air. The structure of 
 the bill is admirably adapted for this purpose; "the broad and deeply fissured 
 ■ mandibles form a capacious mouth, while the long bristles are of service in 
 entangling the creatures in a trap and restraining their struggles to escape. 
 - The shape of the wings and tail confers the power of rapid and varied aerial 
 evolutions necessary for the successful pursuit of active flying insects. A little practice in 
 field ornithology will enable one to recognize the Flycatchers from their habit of perching 
 in wait for their prey upon some prominent outpost, in a peculiar attitude, with the 
 wings and tail drooped and vibrating in readiness for instant action; and of dashing 
 into the air, seizing the passing insect with a quick movement and a click of the bill, 
 and then returning to their stand. . . . Depending entirely upon insect food, the Fly- 
 catchers are necessarily migratory in our latitudes; ihey appear with great regularity 
 in spring, and depart on the approach of cold weather in the fall. . . . The voice, 
 susceptible of little modulation, is usually harsh and strident, though some species have 
 no unmusical whistle or twitter. The sexes ai'c not ordinarily distinguishable, and the 
 changes of plumage with age and season are not ordinarily great. The modes of nesting 
 are too various to be collectively noted. The large kinds of Flycatchers are tmmistakable, 
 but several of the smaller species, of the genera Sayoriiis, Contopus, and especially 
 Empidonax, look much alike, and their discrimination becomes a matter of much tact 
 and diligence." (Dr. Elliott Coucs, "Key to North American Birds.") 
 
XXXII 
 
 J. MILVITLUS J-'OKIMCATU.S Svva.no, 
 
 2. CARDKLLINA RIJRRIFRON.S Sclal. 
 
 3. EMRERNAGRA RUFIVIRUATA l.av^iv 
 k AURIPARUS FLAVU'KP8 Rtd. 
 5. XANTHOURA LUXl'OSA Bp, 
 
 SCHLERLNTYRANN. 
 MASKENSANGER . 
 
 TEXASFINK . 
 
 GOLDM El SE. 
 
 GR iJNH EHER. 
 
 Si_ibSor-lai led Flycalcher. 
 Red- faced Warbler. 
 Texas Sparrow 
 Verd i n . 
 Green Jay. 
 
"^ 
 
 SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 333 
 
 The family comprises the following genera : 
 
 1, Milvulus SwAiNSON. Fork-tailed Flycatchers. Two species. 
 
 2, Tyrannus Cuvier. Kingbirds. Five species. 
 
 3, Pitangus Swainson. Derby Flycatchers. One species. 
 
 4, Myiozetetes Sclater. One species. 
 
 5, Myiodynastes Bonaparte. One species. 
 
 6, Myiarchus Cabanis. Crested Flycatchers. Four species. 
 
 7, Sayornis Bonaparte. Phoebe Birds. Three species. 
 
 8, Contopus Cabanis. Wood Pewees. Four species. 
 
 9, Bmpidonax Cabanis. Small Flycatchers. Ten species. 
 
 10, Pyrocephalus Gould. Vermillion Flycatchers. One species. 
 
 11, Omithion Hartlaub. Beardless Flycatchers. One species. 
 
 SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 
 
 Milvulus for£catus Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXXII. Fig. 1. 
 
 [^HE fourth of March, 1879, was the first of many delightful days spent in Lee Co., 
 Texas. Although rather dry and often oppressively warm in summer, the climate 
 of this locality is very beautiful in autumn and winter, and especially in spring. Words 
 are not able to give a definite idea of the soft and mild air and of the exquisite carpet 
 of showy flowers, Avhich cover the ground of the prairies and post oak woods in March, 
 April, and May. The topography is rather varied. The upland woods consist mostly 
 of post oaks of medium size, while in the bottoms of creeks giant forest trees abound. 
 These bottom woods, where the trees are densely festooned with Spanish moss, are the 
 chosen home of the very numerous and beautiful Swallow^-tailed Kite. In the post oak 
 woods adjoining these bottom lands most of the trees are covered with "old man's 
 beard" {Usnea barbata), a long light green lichen with fine hair-like filaments. In these 
 lichens Parula Warblers breed abundantly, and Acadian Flycatchers are also found 
 nesting in them. Forests alternate with rolling live-oak prairies, often edged and inter- 
 i-upted by a dense growth of small mesquit trees, w^hich, like the live-oak bosquets, form 
 quite a feature in the laindscape. Thickets abound everywhere in the lowlands, along 
 fences, and on the banks of the creeks, forming most congenial haunts for White-eyed- 
 Vireos and Chats, which I have nowhere found so abundant. l^^|r'^*^e smaller trees 
 on the woodland border are densely covered with mtistaatig grape-vines. On the edges 
 of fields and in pastures the grotesque supple Jack', srailax and other climbers, vibur- 
 nums, buck-thorns ^ persimmons, white-thorn^te., form tangled masses of green difficult 
 to penetrate. In spring and summer theset^ltets are the favorite haunts of Cardinals 
 and other bush-loving species, and in Avin|^r they are excellent abiding places for Tow- 
 
 ) Percliemia rolvbilis, ^ Bumelia lanagiaosa. 
 
334 SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 
 
 liees, White-throated and White-crowned . Sparrows, and other winter-sojoumers. In 
 rocky places mountain cedars (Juaiperus occidentalis) form dense and often very extensive 
 thickets. It is here where the rare Golden-cheeked Warbler and the Black-capped Vireo 
 find their true home. The farm-houses are not situated on straight-lined roads, being 
 promiscuously scattered over the prairies and woodlands, usually in places where the 
 soil Is particularly well fitted for tillage. Peach orchards are common near farm-houses. 
 A few fig and pear trees and pomegranate bushes close the list of fruits. The China tree or 
 "pride of India" is the most common shade tree. The mulbeny, the honey-locust, armed 
 on trunk and branches with terrible spines, and the paper mulberry are also planted 
 for shade. Roses, the climbing Noisettes as ■well as the deliciously scented tea rose^, and 
 less often the hybrid perpetuals or June roses, are the most common ornamental shrubs. 
 In some gardens we may find a few^ dense mountain cedars, several species of arborescent 
 yuccas and cacti, a few Cape jasmines, crape myrtles {hagerstroetnia Indica), pittos- 
 porums, and privets. 
 
 In no part of our country have I found bird-life more abundant and beautiful than 
 in Texas, and especially in the locality alluded to in the foregoing. In winter the thickets 
 of the woodlands, the w^eeds and grass in the fields, and even the larger gardens sw^arm 
 with northern birds, who find here a congenial winter home. Nowhere have I found so 
 ► many interesting migrants, and nowhere the woodlands and gardens were so replete 
 with songbirds. From January to July the loud and melodious wee-do, wee-do of the 
 Cardinal is almost constaiitly heard. The far-famed Mockingbird, the "king of song," 
 chants its inimitable notes day and night in the heyday of spring. The elegant 
 Blue Grosbeak, the richly colored Painted Bunting, the cheerful Orchard Oriole, the 
 amiable Bluebird, the playful and brave Martin, the ever active and gay Carolina and 
 Bewick's Wren, the noisy Tufted Titmouse, the vocal Lark Sparrow are the chief per^ 
 formers in the spring concert of garden-loving species. The Kingbird, usually seen in 
 some topmost bough of its favorite tree, the honey-locust, is acting as a guardian and 
 sentinel. Woe to every robber who dares to enter its domain! Wherever the country 
 house is surrounded by large oaks, we are sure to find also the Crested Flycatcher and 
 Wood Pewee, the Brown-headed Nuthatch and quite a number of Woodpeckers. 
 
 The most interesting and conspicuous bird, however, the most graceful and attract- 
 ive of all, is the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, an abundant summer sojourner in all parts 
 of Texas, being particularly common in the region described. I found it eveiywhei'e 
 abundant from Houston to New Braunfels and San Antonio, its favorite haunts being 
 the mesquit prairies, live-oak bosquets, cultivated lands in the post-oak woods and even 
 door-yards and peach orchards. It is a glorious bird of singular beauty. The deep 
 impression this Flycatcher made on the mind of the rather rough and weather-beaten 
 early settlers is signified by the names which they have bestowed upon it. They called 
 it the "Texan Bird of Paradise," or simply the "Bird of Paradise," and sometimes we 
 hear appellations like "Paradise Flycatcher," "Paradise Bee Martin," and "Paradise 
 Forktail." All these names were given to it in consequence of its great beauty and graceful 
 flight. And, indeed, it is one of the most characteristic and beautiful birds of Texas, 
 many bird-lovers even asserting that it is not rivalled by any other North American 
 bird in beauty, grace, and elegance, Jt js itjE^de especially conspicuous by its long, forked 
 
SCISSOR-TAILBD FLYCATCHER. 335 
 
 tail, the external feathers of which are twice as long as its body. The prevailing color 
 of its upper parts is a soft light ash, and the back is faintly streaked with brick-red. 
 The under-parts are whitish, slightly tinged towards the tail with vermilion, which 
 changes into rosy-red tinder the wings. The sides of the breast iind the fore-arm are 
 dark vermilion. The long rosy-white tail-feathers are broadly tipped with black. The effect 
 of this peculiar coloration is increased by its great activity and its phiyful disposition, 
 its gyrations and evolutions in the air. Moreover it is a very familiiir and abundant 
 bird, as bold and courageous as the Kingbird, and very confident, never seeking to hide, 
 but always ready to display its full beauty. 
 
 The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is one of the characteristic birds of Texas, but it is 
 not confined to that State, being found northward to Oklahoma, the Indian Territory, 
 and Kansas, and south through eastern Mexico to Costa Rica. In the northern part 
 of its habitat it is not very numerous. It is said to occur also in south-western Mis- 
 souri, but during a five years' residence in the Ozark region I have never observed it. 
 
 The Texan Bird of Paradise arrives in Lee County and at Houston rarely before 
 the last week of March, and at Caddo, Indian Territory, Prof W. W. Cooke observed 
 its arrival on April 11. In 1879, when the season was rather late, I noticed the first 
 one on the 2nd of April. It was a beautiful day, and the song of the Mockingbird 
 and numerous Cardinals fell constantly on my ear while I was sauntering through 
 £1 cotton-field. Everything was new to me and attracted my attention. While 
 listening to a bird concert as never heard before, I saw a strange bird entirely new to 
 me. It flew through the air and evidently carried a long straw or a bunch of grass. 
 After the bird had flown a short distance, it descended head downward in a perpen- 
 dicular w^ay, and now I saw that it w^as its long tail which I had mistaken for nesting 
 material. While flying down its long tail expanded and closed in a scissor-like shape. 
 The bird alighted not far from me on a dry cotton-stalk and I was surprised by its 
 unique beauty. It opened and closed its long tail constantly and uttered a few rather 
 harsh twittering notes, not unlike those of the Kingbird. A few moments later a second 
 one appeared, perhaps its mate, and perched on a dry cotton-stalk near b3'. Both uttered 
 their chattering notes, and I could admire the great elegance and gracefulness of these 
 charming birds at pleasure. After they had rested for a few minutes, the one took wing-, 
 whereupon the other followed immediately. Now they began such a beautiful play in the 
 air as I never had seen before of any other bird. Evidently one was in pitrsuit of the other. 
 They flew up and down, to and fro, and always the long tail played an important part 
 in these eccentric gyrations. Both made the same motions, both were in the same happy 
 mood, and both descended again almost to the ground, over which they glided in a 
 rapid manner until they alighted on some dry cotton-stalks. This playing in the air 
 and resting on dry branches or stalks is continued throughout the day from their arrival 
 until they depart in fall. In beauty and conspicuousness they surpass all other birds found 
 in Texas, but their superiority is not owing so much to the brilliancy of their plumage 
 (for in this respect they are excelled by the Cardinal and Painted Bunting), but to the 
 inimitable grace and charm of their flight. This flight always attracts our attention and 
 arouses our enthusiasm. Often we see one fly, or rather float, in pursuit of insects, and 
 then descending perpendicularly it alights on some object from which it has a good view in 
 
336 SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 
 
 all directions. The chattering notes are tittered when flying as well as when perched on 
 some projecting dry branch. They are higher in pitch as the Kingbird's, and though 
 not harmonious, they are not at all unpleasant. Such was my first acquaintance with 
 the Scissor-tajled Flycatcher. 
 
 This strange and beautiful bird is a great charm of the landscape wherever it 
 occurs. This holds true especially of the small mesquit prairies alternating with j)Ost 
 oak woods and of the cultivated lands where isolated ti'ces are found promiscuously. 
 In such localities it is an abundant inhabitant. I do not know another bird that 
 imbues its haunts with such peculiar chann as the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. Owing to 
 its beautj', liveliness, elegance, and confidence in man it is one of the familiar birds of 
 Texas and an especial favorite with the counti-y jjeople. 
 
 This Flycatcher likes to associate with members of its own si^ecies, and where- 
 ever one pair has chosen its haunts we may be sure to find others in the vicinity. 
 Although the males are rather pugnacious on their arrival from the South, Jind fire often 
 seen chasing each other, they all live in good neighborly peace when they have paired. 
 They never attack each other like many other birds do. Frequently we see two or 
 three and four males chasing each other through the air, but this is done in a rather 
 playful manner, the birds exhibiting at such times their greatest elegance and graceful- 
 ness. When descending they execute this performance very rapidly and in a perpendicular 
 flight. Having almost reached the ground, they often circle around in wild flight. 
 Sometimes they flj- one above the other, and then again side by side, iintil alighting 
 on dry cotton stalks or on the top of some isolated tree. While resting, the long 
 tail-feathers, Avhich plaj' such an impoi'tant and striking part in the life of this bird, 
 are constanth' in motion. At the same time the bird often cleans the feathers with its 
 bill, especially under the wings, or it is on the alert for insects which are invariably 
 captured Avliile flying. Constantly the positions are changed, for the bird rarely sits 
 long on one place, like its relative, the Kingbird, and it seldom returns to its old perch. 
 We may observe the happy bird for hours as it plaj's in the air, or cii-cles around near 
 the ground, or rests and preens its feathers. I never Ijccame tired of the ever graceful, 
 ever elegant and beautiful, and ever happy and playful Flycatcher, though I have often 
 observed it for hours. 
 
 On the ground the motions of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher are very awkward and 
 slow, and it onlj' ventures to alight on it when collecting nesting material. T never 
 saw it drink or taking a bath, although I always placed a trough with water in my 
 garden during the warm and dry summer months, so that the birds could quench their 
 tliirst. Most of the fejithered garden inhabitants, and also those of the adjoining wood- 
 lands, came to drink and they also took their bath, but never the Scissor-tailed Fly- 
 catcher. Though an expert flyer, it avoids, if possible, to ci-oss large treeless tracts. 
 Evidently its flight is heavy and not very rapid when proceeding in a straight line. In 
 the branches of trees it is not at home, extensive Avoods and thickets also being 
 avoided. It preferably perches on dry cotton stalks, fence and telegraph posts, and on 
 di-y branches or in the lops of small trees. 
 
 About four weeks after their arrival the birds begin to build their nests. Near 
 Houston (Tex.) I found it in the exterior branches of hve-oaks and on isolated trees on 
 
SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 337 
 
 the pfairie as well as on the borders of woods and in orchards and gardens. In this 
 part of the State it is usually placed in trees densely festooned with Spanish moss, where 
 it is almost impossible to discover. I also found it in broad evergreen magnolias and 
 in honey-locusts planted for ornament near the houses of the country people. In some 
 cases Orchard Orioles, Painted Buntings, and Mockingbirds had their nests in the same 
 trees, and all lived in perfect harmony. In Lee County I found this bird much 
 more numerous than farther east. How abundant these beautiful birds were in that 
 locality, is shown by the fact that I discovered in one year fifty nests on an area 
 not more than four miles in diameter. Preferably the nests are placed in middle size 
 mesquit trees, which are thorny and not very densely leaved. The structure is, however, 
 also found in honey-locusts and mulberry trees, and in orchards they often choose peach 
 and pear trees for this purpose. All the nests were placed from six to twelve feet from 
 the ground, but sometimes they are placed from twenty to thirty feet high. I found 
 the birds as familiar and confident as the Kingbird at the North. Male and female are 
 mutually employed in the construction of their domicile. In south-eastern Texas the soft, 
 gray Spanish moss forms the main part of the structure, the cavity being lined with 
 grasses and cotton. Farther west all the nests examined by me were built of a soft, 
 wooly plant (Evax prolifera), w^hich grows abundantly on the edges of the forest 
 and on the dry prairie. This white, wooly material forms the foundation and gives the 
 whole structure a firmness and substantiality not found in nests built of other material. 
 The interior is made of fine plant-stems and grasses, and the lining consists of cotton, 
 hair, or feathers, or sometimes of w^ool. The nest is never hidden, and I think the birds 
 do not even make the attempt of concealing it. It is always easily discovered. The first 
 nest w^as found by me early in May and the last set of fresh eggs as late as July 4. 
 Two broods are raised annually by most pairs. The eggs, usually five, sometimes four 
 and six in number, are creamy-white, marked with a few dark brown spots, and 
 occasionally a purple dot, chiefly near the larger end. They reminded me, when I first 
 saw them, of the eggs of the Kingbird. 
 
 The female hatches the eggs alone, the male keeping watch near by, playing in 
 the air alone or with a neighbor, or securing food for his mate. Being as brave and 
 bold as the Kingbird, he drives away every flying robber who approaches his domain. 
 When I inspected the nest the old birds circled around, uttering rather anxious notes 
 and showing great distress, but they never tried to attack me. The young are fed 
 exclusively with flying insects, such as moths, all kinds of diptera, grasshoppers, beetles, 
 and locusts, and these insects constitute the food of the old ones also. Bees, wasps, and 
 bumble bees are rarely captured. Berries and small firuits are not eaten. A more bene- 
 ficial bird than the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is scarcely imaginable, and it therefore 
 should find the protection of man always and everywhere. 
 
 After the young are able to shift for themselves they congregate into large flocks 
 and are at that time until their departure by the middle of October mostly found in 
 the cotton-fields, where they create a great havoc among the moths of the very 
 destructive boll- worm {Heliothis armigera) and cotton eater-pillar {Aletia argilliacea). 
 
 NAMES : Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Texan Bird of Paradise, Bird of Paradise, Paradise Bird, Paradise Fly^ 
 catcher, Paradise Fork-tail, Fork-tail, Scissor-tailed Bee Martin, Mesquit Bird, Swallow-tailed Flycatcher. 
 
 43 
 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Mascicapa forBcata Gmel. (1788). Tyramms for£catas Say (1823). MILVULUS 
 FORFICATUS Swainson (1827). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Adult male: "Tail-feathers, chiefly white; top of head, ash-gray; axillars, red or orange. 
 Above, light bluish-gray, the back tinged with red ; lower parts, white, faintly tinged with bluish-gray 
 anteriorly, the sides, flanks, under tail-coverts strongly washed with salmon-pink; axillars and con- 
 cealed spot in middle of crown, scarlet; length about 12.00 to 15.00 inches; wing, 4.40 to 5.15; 
 tail, 7.00 to 10.00 inches. — Adult female: Similar to male, but rather smaller, the tail shorter, axillars 
 less intensely red, the flanks, etc., paler salmon-color, and crown-spot indistinct." (R. Ridgway, 
 "Manual of North American Birds.") 
 
 The Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Milvulus tyrannus Bp., an inhabitant of tropical 
 America, has been found as an accidental visitor in our country. 
 
 KINGBIRD. 
 
 Tyrannus tyrannus Jordan. 
 
 Plate XXX. Fig. 3. 
 
 kUR way leads us through the orange region of peninsular Florida. It is a 
 ^/ beautiful April day. Near the borders of the lowlands the flowering magnolias 
 are very conspicuous, and in marshy soil dense masses of andromedas are covered with 
 their exquisite waxy -white, honey-scented blossoms. This region has been settled scarcely 
 ten years ago, and most of the land is still covered with long-leaved pines, stunted 
 oaks, and thickets of saw palmettos, gopher root*, huckle-berry bushes, erythrinas, 
 yuccas ^ etc. Where the pine and hardwood forest has been cleared, the golden orange 
 glows among the dense dark green foliage. Bananas and pine-apples, cassava and 
 guaves grow now, where once wild flowers of great beauty carpeted the white, sandy 
 soil. Nothing, however, is likely to attract our attention more than the many large 
 and small lakes found everywhere. Fed by, subterranean springs, these lakes have 
 neither an inlet nor an outlet. The water is clear and pure, and in the immediate 
 vicinity of many of these lakes the vegetation is more luxuriant, owing to the better 
 condition of the soil and the constant moisture. Sweet and red bays, live and water 
 oaks, black and sweet gums, the holly and Dahoon, as well as magnolias and palmettos 
 congregate in such places, constituting the so-called hammock woods. Many of the 
 trees are covered on the trunks and larger boughs with air-plants', orchids ^ and ferns ^ 
 Climbers are common and very troublesome if we attempt to explore the interior of 
 these woodlands. The cabbage palmettos', growing singly or in groups, often show 
 underneath their beautiful crown of leaves a wreath of parasitical ferns'. These 
 palmettos impart a decidedly tropical aspect to the landscape. As yet we find most 
 of the houses of the settlers enclosed with orange and pomelo trees. Of late years 
 ornamental and shade trees have been planted extensively in some gardens. Mag- 
 nificent palms of different species are swaying their enormous fan-like or plume- 
 
 t Cbrysohalanua oblongifoUua. » Yucca Blamentosa. s Tillandsla bracteata, T. utrlculata, T.Juacea, T. BartramI, 
 T. ceespitoaa. * Epidendrum conopaeum and E. venosum. b Polypodium iacanum, Vittarla lineata. « Sabat palmetto. 
 ' Polypodium aureum. 
 
KINGBIRD. 339 
 
 shaped fronds in the air. Magnolias, cypresses, r^tinisporas, cedars, and araucarias, 
 oleanders, grevilleas, banana shrubs, jacarandas, tecomas, allamandas, tea shrubs, 
 camellias, and camphor trees have been planted largely, besides climbers and bamboos. 
 A few years hence these trees and shrubs will make the gardens of this region the finest 
 of the country. Durihg the day crinums, spider-lilies, and hedychiums perfume the air, 
 and at night the night jasmine {Cestram Parqui) exhales a strong and delicious fragrance. 
 
 Birds are not found in this part of the country in such abundance as in Texas 
 and farther north. The reason for this peculiar fact is not clear to me. The Mocking- 
 bird is a regular tenant of all the orange groves, and so is the Loggerhead Shrike. 
 One of the most common birds near the houses in Florida is the Kingbird, also known 
 as the Bee Martin and Tyrant Flycatcher. It is the sentinel and guardian of all the 
 small birds and the poultry here as in the North and East, being as conspicuous in the 
 orange trees and magnolias of the South as it is in the apple trees and locusts in the 
 North. Though having observed this familiar bird since ray earliest childhood in "Wis- 
 consin, and later in Illinois and thence southward to Texas, I have never noticed it 
 display such a courage and pugnacity as in Florida. The audacious boldness with 
 which it attacks birds of prey and other robbers far superior to it in strength, the 
 pertinacity with which it continues its assaults, its reckless and unequalled bravery with 
 which it maintains the unequal struggle, and its singular confidence in man, have always 
 commanded the admiration of even the indolent and indifferent observer. I have often 
 seen it attack Crows and Hawks in the North, but in Florida I noticed its struggles 
 with the majestic and royal Bald Eagle, a very common bird in Florida, often com- 
 mitting great havoc among the poultry. Wherever the Kingbird has settled, no robber 
 ventures to enter its domain. In boldness and bravery no other bird equals it. It is 
 the hero, the king among birds, and its common name is therefore well founded. 
 Cowardice is unknown to this characteristic bird. In its combats with the largest 
 Eagle and the most furious Hawk it always returns victorious. 
 
 In order to assure us of the Kingbird's bravery and pugnacity, we shall watch 
 more closely the pair breeding in the top of an orange tree near the house. There, on 
 yonder top of a miagnoKa, or on a dry branch of a mulberry tree near by, the male is 
 on his guard. His shrill twittering notes are almost constantly heard. The feathers of 
 his crest stand erect. The sharp eye as well as his proud attitude convince us that the 
 bird is ready to meet an enemy at any time. His rapid flight, his quivering and sailing 
 from one tree top to another, and his sallying up and down in the air signifies his 
 superiority on the wing. A few twittering notes are uttered, and the female is on his 
 side. The bird trembles from excitement. Far in the distance, only noticeable as an 
 obscure spot, a Bald Eagle approaches. Slowly he comes near and nearer. With 
 exquisite majesty the "king among birds" overlooks his domain. Long before our eyes 
 discover the robber the Kingbird has perceived him. The latter is perfectly silent, but 
 we notice his excitement. In powerful flight the enemy circles through the air, soon 
 coming within the range of the Kingbird, whose time has now come. He rushes out 
 to meet the giant. In a few moments he is near him. Nothing can be more striking 
 than the intrepidity with which he pounces down upon the Eagle. Mounting in the 
 air high above, he pounces dowm upon his back and head, furiously pecking and striking 
 
the exposed parts of the robber. The victim turns his head from one side to the other 
 to escape the blows, he flies up and down in powerful motions in order to get rid of 
 his little tormentor; he darts down like an arrow; but all in vain. The Kingbird only 
 leaves him for a moment to descend again and again with the same unrelenting ani- 
 mosity. He often drives him for miles, and in these encounters always returns con- 
 queror. With far-sounding, triumphant cries of victory, in proud and audacious attitude, 
 and quivering incessantly with his wings, he returns to his old spot. The female also 
 frequently takes part in these encounters. 
 
 The Kingbird is a valuable guardian of the farm-yard. None of the Hawks or 
 other flying robbers dare to venture into the domain of this bird without being severely 
 punished. Nothing in the air escapes its attention. The large birds of prey do not utter 
 a sound when assaulted, but the Blue Jay screams in the most pitiable manner. The 
 coward does not know where to seek refuge, and it scarcely has the courage to leave 
 the safety of the thickets, when the Kingbird is near. The pilfering Crow also seems to 
 be in great fright when attacked by a Kingbird. Being a very sagacious and bold 
 robber, the Crow plunders the nests of the hens in the barn-yard and captures the young 
 chickens, when unmolested by this guardian. The latter is really the sentinel and pro- 
 tector of the farm-yard, and its services are highly appreciated by the country people. 
 Being always victorious in its combats and fights in the air, it is not well equipped to 
 assault its enemies in dense trees or bushes. The injurious birds of prey are well 
 distinguished from those of a harmless nature, the Turkey Buzzards, for instance, being 
 never molested. 
 
 Writers of natural history have frequently accused the Kingbird of a quarrelsome 
 disposition towards all other birds. It is a fact, however, that it is entirely harmless 
 as far as our small songbirds are concerned. Although by no means a large bird, it is 
 gifted with a degree of courage that would do justice to the largest of Our feathered 
 tribes. Being remarkably quick upon the wing, it becomes a formidable enemy to such 
 of its neighbors as have the temerity to encroach upon its domain. During the nesting 
 time its jealous disposition is most apparent. While the female is occupied with her 
 domestic affairs, the male is ever watchful for the appearance of intruders and robbers, 
 and any attempt by birds of the latter group to enter his nesting range, is repelled 
 wth much bitterness. In all cases, however, robbers and thieves are the only objects of 
 his animosity. Whenever they make their appearance, he sallies forth to give them 
 battle. Small and harmless birds are never harassed and therefore his names Tyrant 
 and Tyrant Flycatcher are very unjust. I have repeatedly found other birds nesting in 
 the same tree with the Kingbird, and all were in pei-fect harmony. Near my house 
 in south-western Missouri a pair of Kingbirds nested in the top of a small black jack 
 oak. A Robin had its nest in the same tree, and scarcely six feet from the Kingbird's 
 nest the cozy cradle of the Orchard Oriole was suspended. The twittering of the King- 
 bird was heard all day long in fine weather, and in delightful excitement the male 
 was flying in a quivering way from one tree-top to another. Catbirds, Thrashers, 
 and Bluebirds nested near by and even a colony of Martins was present, though it 
 is said that with them the Kingbirds are usually not on good terms. In this case all 
 were evidently united by amity and mutual good- will. All seemed to have the feeling 
 
of perfect safety under tlie special guardianship of the Kingbird. In northern Illinois I 
 found the nests of the Robin and the Baltimore Oriole, and in another case that of the 
 Red-eyed Yireo and the Yellow Warbler on the same tree which had been selected by the 
 Kingbird as its nesting quarters. 
 
 The Kingbird arrives in northern Illinois and Wisconsin rarely before May 10. 
 In south-western Missouri I noticed its appearance from the 15th to 20th of April, and 
 in south-eastern Texas usually by the end of March or the beginning of April. During 
 the first few days after its arrival it is silent, but as soon as it has become accustomed 
 to its old haunts its twittering is heard on all sides. Subsisting on flying insects almost 
 exclusively,, it does not appear until the weather has become warm. Its range of distri- 
 bution is very large, being found as a summer sojourner from Texas and Florida north 
 to the Saskatchewan, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and even, though 
 rather sparingly, to the Salt Lake Basin, the Truckee, and Puget Sound. In winter it is 
 found in Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and in South America. 
 
 Owing to its abundance and to its confidence in man it is everywhere in our rural 
 districts a familiar bird. One of our characteristic garden birds, a typical American, as 
 it has no family relations elsewhere, it is as common in the North and East as it- is 
 in the South. Its favorite haunts are always gardeiis and orchards, but it may also be 
 found in isolated trees ^ in fields and pastures and in Osage orange hedges. In the 
 interior of the woods it is never found, and on the prairies it has only settled since 
 orchards and shade trees have been planted. In the North the common locust {Robinia 
 pseudacacia) is given preferance as a nesting site, but we may also find the structure in 
 oaks, sugar maples, Lombardy poplars, apple and pear trees, etc.; farther south the 
 honey locust and the Osage orange are favorite nesting sites. In Florida the orange 
 trees afford excellent opportunities to build the nest, and it is sometimes even found in 
 the top of a palm, the upper fronds of which are excellently adapted to watch for enemies 
 and insects. The structure is composed of various materials, grasses, and slender plant- 
 stems, intermixed with wool, plant-down, moss, bits of old leaves forming the founda- 
 tion, while the interior is lined with cotton, horse-hair, feathers, etc. In Texas a wooly, 
 gnaphalium-like plant enters largely into the composition of the structure, also Spanish 
 moss and cotton. The eggs, usually five in number, are creamy-white, sparingly marked 
 with large spots of rich madder-brown or chestnut, and lilac-gray. At the North only 
 one brood is reared annually, but farther south two broods are often made. 
 
 The Kingbird feeds almost exclusively upon winged insects, such as moths, butter- 
 flies, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, etc. Smaller insects are swallowed at once, beetles 
 and grasshoppers are pounded by a few strokes against its perch. The Kingbird is 
 accused by many of feeding to some extent on bees, hence the name of Bee Martin or 
 Bee-bird has been applied to it. Close observers-, however, deny the justice of this 
 accusation. I am not able to vouch for the Kingbird's harmlessness in this respect, but 
 having kept bees myself I am prepared to say that the injuries done in this line cannot 
 be large. I have never seen the bird near the bee hives. A boyhood friend of mine, a 
 close observer, who makes bee-keeping his specialty, wrote me that he has always King- 
 birds around his home, but that he never noticed any injury done by them. He asserts 
 that only drones are captured and that the workers, provided with a formidable 
 
342 GRAY KINGBIRD. 
 
 weapon, are not molested. .This assertion may prove true after all. The Kingbird's 
 alleged injuries in this respect can certainly not be regarded as serious, especially when 
 we consider the fact, that it destroys daily a vast number of noxious insects. Almost 
 all its prey is caught in the air. A dry branch or the top of a scantily foliaged tree 
 are selected as a watch-pogt. With a jerk it flies up or down, or it dives about -with. 
 great rapidity. Often it flies slowly from one tree to another with rapid vibrations of 
 the wings, or it soars in a floating way over the orchard trees in pursuit of insects. 
 According to all observers the Kingbirds render a most important service to man by 
 driving away the predatory birds, and moreover by destroying countless numbers of 
 noxious insects. They are said to feed also on various wild fruits, such as blackbAries, 
 raspberries, and pokeberries, and those of the cedar, dogwood, sassafras, etc. 
 
 Few observers make mention of the concealed, beautifully orange-colored spot on 
 the top of the head. When the feathers of the crest are erected, this color becomes 
 exceedingly vivid and striking, and the whole appears like a showy flower. The purpose 
 of this peculiar color-mark seems clear. Doubtless many insects mistake it for a flower, 
 and are captured by the bird while coming near. A large number of butterflies and the 
 small diptera and other insects looking for sweet nectar of flowers are the victims. I 
 have often observed a Hummingbird buzzing around the head of the Kingbird, but- 
 whether in a quarrelsome disposition or whether mistaking the showy crown-spot for 
 a flower I am not able to say. 
 
 The migration to the South takes place early in September. By the fifth or sixth 
 of that month all have left Wisconsin. By the beginning of October they have left 
 southern Missouri. As the birds are very silent after August 15, it is not an easy 
 matter to notice their southward journey. They move in loose flocks consisting of from 
 ten to twenty-five individuals. 
 
 The Kingbird is easily kept in the cage if attended with care. Its main food should 
 consist of a diet of Mockingbird-food and crated carrot, hard-boiled egg cut in small 
 pieces, meal-worms, grass-hoppers, ant's-eggs, etc. 
 
 NAMES: Kingbird, Tyrant, Tyrant Flycatcher, Bee-bird, Bee Martin.— Konigsvogel, Konigstyrann (German). 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Lanius tyrannas Linn. (1858). Muscicapa tyrannus Wils. (1808). Tyraanus intre- 
 pidus Yieill. (1824). Tyrannus carolinensis Brd, (1858). TYRANNUS TYRANNUS Jordan. (1884-). 
 DESCRIPTION: Tail, slightly rounded, bordered white. A concealed spot on the crown, orange or ver- 
 milion-red. Upper parts, dark bluish-ash. Lower parts, pure white, tinged on the sides of the throat 
 and across the breast with bluish-ash. Wings, dark brown ; the greater coverts and quills edged with 
 pale rusty. Upper tail-coverts and upper surface of tail, as well as upper part of head, glossy-black. 
 Length, 8.50 inches; wings, 3.70; tail, 3.70 inches. 
 
 GRAY KINGBIRD. 
 
 Tyrannus dominicensis Richardson. 
 
 This species is especially common in the West Indies, but it also occurs in Florida, 
 where it inhabits preferably the mangroves of the coast region. According to Mr. W. 
 E. D. Scott it arrives at Tarpon Springs, Fla., April 23, and the birds are common 
 until late in September. It breeds in great numbers on the Keys off" the coast, choosing 
 particularly localities covered with mangrove. 
 
ARKANSAS KINGBIRD. 343 
 
 On May 28, 1885, Mr. Arthur T. Wayne found a nest of this species near Fort 
 Moultrie, Sullivan's Island, S. C. It was built in a silver-leaf poplar, only a few feet 
 from a dwelling house. On May 30, 1894, Mr. Wayne succeeded in finding another 
 nest in the same locality. It w^as built in the top of a small live oak about twenty 
 feet high. The frail structure was composed of sticks, jasmine vines, and was lined 
 apparently with oleander roots. One article in its composition which is quite curious was 
 a long piece of fishing cord. The nest contained two eggs. All specimens observed in- 
 South Carolina were found on this famous island — a favorite summer resort for the 
 people of Charleston. 
 
 This is the Gray Petchary described so vividly in Mr. Philipp Gosse's "Birds of 
 Jamaica." In the West Indies it seems to have a predilection for large palms near dwellings. 
 Probably it will become more abundant in the gardens of Florida, when the many palms 
 planted for ornament have attained larger size. In all its habits it closely resembles the 
 common Kingbird. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: The upper parts of this Kingbird, including the top of the head, plumlieous-gray ; wing- 
 coverts and upper tail-coverts without rusty or buffy margins. 
 
 ARKANSAS KINGBIRD. 
 
 Tyrannus verticalis Say. 
 
 According to the observations of Mrs. Sophia Zimmermann, this Kingbird is the 
 exact counterpart of the eastern species, w^hich it represents in California. It is a very 
 common inhabitant of orchards and ornamental plantations, and is as familiar in that 
 State as is the common Kingbird in the East. Its notes are more varied and noisy, 
 the bird uttering them almost constantly when flying and fighting. 
 
 Prof. R. Ridgway narrates that these Kingbirds are among the most common and 
 familiar birds of the Sacramento valley and the fertile portions of the Great Basin. They 
 show an excessively quarrelsome disposition, w^hich far exceeds that of the eastern species, 
 for fighting among themselves seems to be their chief amusement. Half a dozen of these 
 birds were sometimes noticed pitching at one another promiscuously, in their playful 
 combats ; and when a nest was disturbed, the cries of the parents invariably brought 
 to the vicinity all the birds of this species in the neighborhood, which, as soon as 
 gathered together, began their aerial battles by attacking each other apparently without 
 regard to individuals, accompanying the fight by a shrill twitter, very different from 
 the loud rattling notes of the Eastern Kingbird. The nesting habits, the construction 
 of the nest, and appearance of eggs, are, however, almost perfectly identical. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Head, neck, and breast, light ashy-gray, paler on chin and throat; wings, dusky, with 
 indistinct paler border; tail, deep black. 
 
 Cassin's Kingbird, Tyrannus vociferans Swains., inhabits Mexico, being common 
 north to Los Angeles, Cal. According to Dr. Elliott Coucs it is an abundant summer 
 resident in Arizona, having also been found on the Pecos, in Texas. It is said to be 
 a constant resident in southern California as far north as Los Angeles, and to be more 
 noisj' than its congenei's. It does not differ materially in habits and nesting from the 
 
344 CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 
 
 common species. This can be said also of Couch's Kingbird, Tyraimus melancholicus 
 coitchi CouES, which has been found by Major Chas. Bendire near Tucson, Ariz., and 
 by Mr. Geo. B. Sennett on the lower Rio Grande, in Texas. 
 
 The Derby Flycatcher, Pitangus derbianus Sclater, is a bird of Mexico, crossing 
 our border on the lower Rio Grande, where it has been observed bj' Mr. Geo. B. Sennett. 
 .This beautiful and interesting bird in flight resembles the Kingfisher. The nest is very 
 bulky, dome or oven-shaped, with the entrance on the side. It is composed of coarse 
 straws, lichens, etc., lined with finer materials, and is placed in thorny trees. The eggs 
 are buffy-white, speckled and spotted, chiefly on the larger end, with madder-brown 
 and purplish-gray. 
 
 Giraud's Flycatcher, Myiozetetes texensis Sclat., a bird of Central America 
 south to Colombia, and north to northern Mexico, is said to occur sometimes in 
 southern Texas. 
 
 The Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Myiodynastes luteiventris Sclater, is a rare 
 bird of southern Arizona, its real home being Mexico, south to Panama. 
 
 CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 
 
 Myiarchus crinitus Cabanis. 
 
 Plate XXXIII. Fig. 1. 
 
 ^HE post oak woods of Texas cannot compare in beauty with the forests of 
 Wisconsin and Michigan. Consisting almost exclusively of medium-sized post 
 oaks, they show a rather monotonous appearance. Gurgling springs and rippling brooks 
 are nowhere found. The character of these woodlands is open, and the soil is not very 
 productive. These localities, however, have one advantage over those of more northern 
 regions. They display a wonderful variety of showy flowers in spring and summer. 
 Indeed, the ground often seems to be transformed into a veritable flower garden. Many 
 of the high-prized flowers of the present Atiy, adorning the gardens of all civilized nations, 
 have originally been found wild in the post oak woods. The most striking of them all 
 is the common phlox {Phlox Drummondii), which covers in spring large tracts of land. 
 It is a sight ever to be remembered when you see hundreds of acres covered with these 
 gorgeous red flowers. This phlox grows most luxuriantly and flowers most profusely 
 where the ground is of a sandy nature. In places where the soil is of a deeper black color 
 and moister, we may find the less showy, though very beautiful common coreopsis {Core- 
 opsis tinctoria). The graceful Gaura Lindheimeri, another garden favorite, with its slender 
 arching wands scattered over with light airy blush or white blossoms, also grows 
 luxuriantly in these woods. The standing cypress {Gilia coronopifolia) , a flower of striking 
 beauty, grows often together in groups. The plant attains a height of from two to four 
 feet, its plume-like stem closely beset with delicate fringe-like leaves, and bearing at the 
 
top a long thyrse of orange-scarlet, very showy blossoms. The woods are enamelled w^ith 
 flowers, and though most of them are not so well known as the foregoing, they are 
 no less beautiful. A dwarf spiderwort', with tuberous roots and rosy-red flowers, 
 exhaling the fragrance of the heliotrope, grows abundantly in the sandy soil. The yellow 
 zephyr flower^ and several species of "rain flowers'" spring up as if by magic after a 
 heavy rain. Cacti of diflerent species are common plants of the post oak region. 
 
 Bird-life is more conspicuous and abundant in these v^roodlands than farther north. 
 The neighborhood of my cabin, near West Yegua Creek, was fairly swarming with 
 birds, and I shall never forget the inimitable bird concerts heard day and night in the 
 beautiful days of spring, in 1881 and 1882. It would be a long list should I attempt 
 to mention the names of the diiferent performers. All the birds seemed to strike happy 
 chords, save the Wood Pewee, whose plaintive call-note never ceased, and the still more 
 characteristic Crested Flycatcher, an exceedingly melancholic member of the wood- 
 land choir. Nowhei-e have 1 found this bird more numerous than in the post oak region 
 of Texas. Being naturally a shy and suspicious bird, it appeared to look upon me as a 
 protector, coming fearlessly near my cabin and accepting trustfully one of the bird-boxes 
 placed in an oak. 
 
 Its occurrence, however, is not confined to the post oak woods of Texas, being 
 found as far north as the 40° of latitude. It is rare in the North. In Wisconsin as well 
 as in the northern parts of Illinois I have observed it only now and then, and according 
 to our leading ornithologists it is by no means numerous in New England. In south- 
 w^estem Missouri it is rather common, though exceedingly retired in its habits. Near 
 the Chattahoochee, in Klorida, I noticed the Crested Flycatcher to be almost as abundant 
 as in Texas. It ranges from the Atlantic west to Kansas and the Indian Territory. 
 In Lee Co., Texas, I have never seen it before April 1. At Freistatt, Mo., I observed 
 its arrival May 2 in 1883; April 28 in 1884; May 2 in 1885, and April 29 in 1886. 
 In Sheboygan Co., Wis., it scarcely ever arrives before May 20. Wherever the bird 
 occurs it cannot be overlooked by those acquainted with our feathered friends, as its 
 unique plaintive whistling call-note sounds loudly through the forest. Whoever has once 
 become acquainted w^ith these notes, can never forget them. They are as peculiar to 
 this Flycatcher as the mewing sounds to the Catbird, the bob-white to the Quail, and 
 the djay to the Blue Jay. These conspicuous notes sound through the forest throughout 
 the day when the weather is fair. Were it not for its call-notes, the shy and retired bird 
 w^ould scarcely attract our attention, but its loud, long-draw^n, and plaintive whistle, 
 sounding like hay-beed, bay-heed, soon betrays its whereabouts. None of our birds 
 utters similar sounds, and therefore they are not likely to be mistaken for any other. 
 Often v^'^e hear another whistling call, not quite as plaintive as those described above, 
 reminding us of the Bob-white's familiar sound. Though these notes resound so frequently, 
 we rarely have an opportunity of seeing the bird. It is almost every w^here a shy 
 woodland inhabitant, understanding perfectly w^ell to escape observation, its brownish 
 neutral color being of great advantage in this respect. When perched on a dry branch 
 near dry leaves, it is not readily detected. When approached too closely, it takes wing 
 and swiftly disappears. In this respiect it is quite different from the Scissor-tailed 
 
 1 Tradescantia rosea(?). 2 Zephyranthes tcxensis. 3 Cooperia Dramwondii and C. pedunculata. 
 
 44 
 
346 CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 
 
 Flycatcher, the Kingbird, Phoebe, and Wood Pewee, who are all familiar birds and 
 very conspicuous near the abodes of man. In the North I never found this Flycatcher 
 near dwellings, but in the South it gradually loses its shyness, and though not yet 
 seeking man's society, it neither shuns it. I have already mentioned a pair breeding in 
 a nesting box near my cabin in Texas. Others had selected abandoned Woodpeckers' 
 holes in the vicinity. I found not less than five pairs nesting in the neighborhood of 
 my house in spring 1882. In south-western Missouri, where among the black jack oaks 
 few cavities were found, they soon made use of the nesting boxes provided for them. 
 Here the birds were at first exceedingly wild and suspicious. Courage, however, soon 
 gave place to timidity, and confidence to distrust. I am convinced from the fact's above 
 stated that these exceedingly useful birds would soon seek man's society if they were 
 protected, and especiallj' if convenient nesting boxes were provided. I never have 
 seen the Crested Flycatcher out of their native forests in orchards and ornamental trees, 
 and I doubt whether the bird ever will exchange the former for the latter. 
 
 The Crested Flycatcher makes the impression of being a very melancholic bird. 
 In its notes as well as in its ways and habits this peculiarly sad trait is apparent. 
 Rarely the pair flies in a playful manner through the air. Never does it associate 
 with its kindred. Its mood seems to be distinctly gloomy and lonesome, as if con- 
 stantly living under a shadow of sorrow. During most of the time each individual 
 leads a very solitary life, having no interest or sympathy with others of the same 
 species. When paired, however, they are very attentive and considerate, and are very 
 devoted to their young. In his haunts, however limited they may be, the male pre- 
 dominates, and no other individual of his own species dares to encroach upon his 
 domain. Other birds are not molested, unless they are reputed robbers, and then they 
 are driven away mercilessly. 
 
 Its flight is elegant and swift, being often somewhat prolonged when in pursuit 
 of insects. In this respect it is scarcely surpassed by any other member of the family. 
 When its prey haiDpens to be a large insect, it returns to its perch and beats it against 
 the limb. This I have frequently seen when large moths, butterflies, grasshoppers, and 
 locusts had been captured. While waiting for passing insects, its crown-feathers are kept 
 in an erect position and its notes are often repeated. The elegance of its attitude and 
 the swiftness of its motions, while darting for an insect, are really remarkable. 
 
 The food of the Crested Flycatcher consists chiefly of insects of many kinds, -which 
 are caught in the air with great facility, skill, and assiduity. It is said that it also 
 consumes hemes of various kinds of shrubs and plants, among which those of the poke- 
 weed and the huckle-berry are especiallj'^ mentioned. Ip damp and cool weather, when 
 the insects are hidden among and beneath the leaves, it often makes the attempt to 
 force them to leave their hiding-places by touching the branches in their rapid flight. 
 
 The nesting habits of this species are very interesting. Being a hole breeder, it 
 usually selects for the construction of its nest old abandoned Woodpeckers' cavities, 
 especially those of the Flicker, the Red-headed and Pileated Woodpecker. In the post 
 oak woods there is no want of such holes. As mentioned already, it also accepts con- 
 venient nesting boxes if fastened to forest trees. Near my house in Texas as well as in 
 Missouri I had an excellent opportunity to observe the nesting habits of this peculiar 
 
bird. Male and female, both engage in the work of nest-building. Feathers, a few grasses 
 and bark-strips form the foundation of the structure. The main material, however, which 
 enters into the composition of the nest, is snake-skin. I have examined many nests, but 
 this peculiar substance was always present. Sometimes only a few pieces are found, and 
 in such cases they are mixed with the other material. Sometimes a whole skin is 
 arranged in a circular way around the rim. When the whole skin has been used, 
 few other substances are employed. The birds are very intent upon this material. 
 One morning I found a small snake in one of my Canary cages. The hideous reptile 
 had swallowed both inmates, but after its meal there was no possibility to escape 
 through the wires. The next morning I found the snake coiled up in one corner. It 
 was easily killed, and I threw it a short distance from the house in the garden. Ants 
 soon began their work, and in a few hours nothing was left but the skin and skeleton. 
 Several Crested Flycatchers were anxiously waiting for the skin. They often flew^ down, 
 trying to carry the Snake away; then they alighted on the fence until the ants had 
 finished their work, when they carried off the whole skin". Other ornithologists also have 
 found this material in the nests of the Crested Flycatcher. Probably the skin is used 
 as a protection against the depredations of snakes, who are only too apt to plunder 
 birds' nests within their reach. I have never observed that snakes enter the nests of 
 the Crested Flycatcher, while they destroy those of other birds, where such substances 
 are not employed. The eggs, usually four or five, show a very peculiar coloration. 
 Their ground-color is creamy-white or light buff, "over which are waving lines, marblings, 
 markings, and dots of a brilliant purple, and others of more obscure shading. The lines 
 are variously distributed, generally running from one pole of the egg to the other with 
 striking effect, as if laid on with the delicate brush of an artist. In some eggs the whole 
 surface is so closely covered with these intercrossing and w^aving lines, blending with 
 the obscure cloudings of lilac, as nearly to conceal the ground. Usually the buff color 
 is conspicuously apparent, and sets off the purple lines with great effect." (Brewer.) 
 
 These birds evince great uneasiness if their nest is examined, especially after the 
 young are hatched. The latter are fed with all kinds of flying insects, and they leave 
 the nest when they are about two weeks old. They have a very peculiar and rather 
 unpleasant smell. In early September these birds are seen in large numbers on the edges of 
 woods, especially near cotton-fields, where they are all busily engaged in capturing the 
 moths of the injurious cotton and boll-worms. In Texas they leave late in September 
 or early in October, and in the North none are seen after the first week of September. 
 They always migrate singly, and never assemble into flocks. Their winter home is found 
 in Central America, the "West Indies, and, probably, the northern parts of South America. 
 NAMES: Crested Flycatcher, Great-crested Flycatcher.— Haubentyrann (German). 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Muscwapa crinita Linn. (1766). Tyrannus crinitus Swains. (1826). MYIARCHUS 
 
 CRINITUS Cabanis (1855). Musckapa ladoviciana GvaeX. (1788). Tyrannus ludovicianusY\eS{. (1807). 
 DESCRIPTION: Above, dull grayish-olive; beneath on throat and chest, deep ashy-gray; belly, bright 
 
 sulphur-yellow. Tail-feathers, mostly chestnut; primaries, edged with the same; outer tail-feathers, edged 
 
 with yellow ; crown-feathers, erectile, often forming a loose crest. 
 Length, 8.75 inches; wing, 4.15; tail, 3.85 inches. 
 
 The Mexican Crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus mexicanus Lawr., is the true 
 counterpart of the foregoing species. It is common in the valley of the lower Rio Grande 
 
and thence southward to Guatemala. A somewhat larger variety, M. mexicanus tnagister 
 RiDGW., is a summer sojourner of southern Arizona. Another species, the Ash-throated 
 Flycatcher, M. cinerascens Lawr., is found from the eastern base of the Rocky 
 Mountains west to California, south to the highlands of Mexico. It does not differ in 
 its habits from the common eastern species. Lawrence's Flycatcher, M. lawrencei 
 Baird, is found in the lower Rio Grande vallfey, south to Guatemala, and a variety, 
 M. lawrencei olivasceas Ridgw., in southern Arizona. This genus is particularly abun- 
 dant in tropical America ; in Mexico alone six or seven species are found. 
 
 PHCEBE. 
 
 Sayornis pboebe StkjneGER. 
 
 Plate V. Fig. 3. 
 
 Hark, near by a bird is singluig; 
 Look, a flower is in bloom ; 
 New hope in my heart is ringing: 
 Spring will soon break winter's gloom. 
 
 Can it be that spring is coming 
 Owing to the bird's sweet lay? 
 Does a single fto-wer blooming 
 Haste the snow and ice away ? 
 
 Winter's fetters are -unbroken, 
 
 Chill the air and sunbeams few ; * 
 
 Yet the flower is a token 
 
 And the bird a herald true. 
 
 From the German of Fr. Riickert, translated by Prank S11.1.BR. 
 
 OST of our familiar northern birds are exceedingly shy and retired in their 
 southern winter home. Robin, Bluebird, and Goldfinch rarely visit gardens, 
 and the Catbird, Thrasher, House Wren, and Song Sparrow do not leave the underwood 
 of the forest without urgent cause. The friend of Nature, who for the first time spends 
 the winter in Florida, is surprised to find his favorites from the North so timid and retired. 
 They scarcely dare to show themselves, being always very suspicious. Although the 
 dense thickets swarm with northern birds, most of them avoid the immediate vicinity 
 of man. There is only one of the familiar northern birds, who does not loose its con- 
 fidence in man. This is the Phcebe, also known as the Pewee, Pewit, Pewee Flycatcher, 
 Phoebe-bird, and Bridge-bird, a very abundant visitor of the gardens of the Gulf region. 
 The breeding range of this Flycatcher extends over the eastern part of North 
 America, west to the Rocky Mountains, and from South Carolina northward to the 
 British Provinces. It is much more frequent and conspicuous, however, in the gardens 
 of the Gulf region in winter, than it is in its northern home during summer. While in 
 its breeding range one pair is confined to a certain locality, quite a number of individuals 
 may be found in one garden in winter. Being very unsuspicious and uttering its peculiar 
 notes for hours, it can scarcely be overlooked by even the casual observer. This holds 
 true especially of the semi-tropical gardens of Florida and south-eastern Texas, where 
 the Phoebes make their appearance late in October or early in November, remaining 
 until the first days of March, when they depart again for their northern home. No 
 other inhabitant of these localities makes itself so conspicuous by its notes as this 
 
 v_ 
 
 J 
 
Pewee. I have never found it in the forest during my stay in Texas and Florida. It 
 always shows a predilection for large gardens, in which palms and broad-leaved ever- 
 greens abound. I have in view a special garden in Florida where these birds were 
 exceedingly frequent winter-sojourners. Glorious evergreen trees and shrubs of the native 
 flora predominate. The Magnolia grandiHora, unrivalled by any other tree, its con- 
 gener, the sweet bayS the loblolly bay'^ the red bay', the holly, laurel cherry'', American 
 olive', different species of andromedas, live and water oaks, saw and cabbage palmettos, 
 climbing smilax*, Carolina jasmine, and other treasures of the native flora convince us 
 that charming ornamental plantations can be formed without the aid of exotic material. 
 In addition to the above named native trees and shrubs the flora of China and Japan 
 is particularly well represented in this garden. Camellias, the common -species' as well 
 as the fragrant and more graceful sasanqua*, the noble banana shrub", exquisite ever- 
 green viburnums'", fragrant cleyeras", ternstroemias'^ sweet and holly-leaved olives", 
 Damnacanthus Indicus, Daphniphyllum glaucescens, Enkianthus quinguefforas, nandinas, 
 camphor trees, charming specimens of the fragrant Chinese daphne", large specimens of 
 Cape jasmines, pittosporums, Japanese euonymus, rhaphiolepis, euryas'^, otheras'^, 
 Japanese evergreen oaks" of great beauty, tea shrubs, and many others impart these 
 southern gardens with a charm peculiarly their own. Being very dense, of fine form, 
 and often adorned with deliciously scented flowers and beautiful foliage, they are a 
 w^onder to the northern traveller, and a revelation to the friend of Nature. Bamboos 
 and sago palms" as well as loquat trees form quite a feature in these ornamental 
 plantations. Palms are the crowning glory of this particular garden. They are repre- 
 sented in many species and in magnificent specimens. Pampas grass forms gigantic 
 clumps, and tree-like oleanders, dense myrtles'", and spicy laurels'"', often of a large size, 
 are beautiful objects. At all times of the year many strictly tropical plants embellish 
 this garden. I can only mention a few, the allamandas, tecomas^', pleromas^, yellow 
 "oleanders"", meyenias", hibiscus^"*, royal poincianas ^°, jacarandas^', passion flowers, 
 and bignonias are the most common, but liable to be cut down by a strong frost. 
 
 In this garden the Phoebe is a common and familiar bird from the last days of 
 October to the first days in March. It always seems to" prefer poetical spots, in the 
 North as well as in the South. Its primitive haunts, before the country was settled, 
 were rocks and cliffs near a creek or spring, and even now we may find it in such 
 places in, the wilds of the mountain regions. In Wisconsin I have always met with 
 it near the habitations of man, and while it originally prefers to build its nest on over- 
 hanging, moss-covered cliffs, near the abodes of man it selects old bridges, picturesque 
 block-houses, barns and sheds, verandas and piazzas for this purpose. Everywhere it is 
 a familiar and well-known bird, dear to all lovers of Nature. If usefulness, a cheerful 
 disposition, familiarity, and charm of manners deserve our regard, few birds are better 
 entitled to man's friendship. Scarcely any other bird is more familiar than the Phoebe, 
 
 1 Magnolia gtauca. * Gordonxa Lasiaotbus. » Persea Carolinensis. * Praaus Carotiniana. b Oswanthus Ameri- 
 caaiis. e Smilax lanceolata, S. laurifolla. 1 Camellia Japonica. » C. Sasanqua. » Magnolia fascata. i<> Viburnum 
 awafuki, V. odoratissimum. " Cleyera Japonica. fi Ternstrosmia Japonica. •> Osmanthus fragrans, O. aquifolium. 
 »4 Daphne odorata. 's Burya latifolia. is Otbera Japonica. 17 Quercua cuspidata. 18 Cycas revoluta. 19 Myrtus 
 communis. 2" Lautus nohitis. 2' Tecoma stans, T. velutina, T. Smitliii, T. Capcnsis. 2 2 Pleroma niacrantba. 
 2» Thevctia neiiit'ulia. "* Meyenia erecta. as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. 26 Poinciana regia. ^t Jacaranda mimoseefolia. 
 
who often builds its nest in our out-houses, under verandas and porticos, etc., returning 
 year after year to the same old spot, announcing as one of the first harbingers of 
 spring the arrival of the vernal season. In the days of my youth it was always one of 
 the first birds, who cheered my heart at the approach of spring, its characteristic 
 plaintive notes sounding through the lifeless landscape long before the last traces of 
 winter had vanished. These sweet and rather melancholic sounds are a sure sign of the 
 approach of the most hilarious and charming season of the year. In my native State 
 I have always noticed the arrival of the Phcebe shortly after Robin, Bluebird, and 
 Song Sparrow had returned from the South, usually in the last days of March or early 
 in April. Cold weather and heavy snowfalls are not infrequent at this time of the»year. 
 Being almost exclusively an insectivorous bird, it often sufFei's severely during continuous 
 cold and w^intry w^eather. 
 
 Soon after its arrival we observe the bird perched on the top of a bam or 
 stable, on a telegraph or fence post or on a dry projecting branch, uttering at short 
 intervals almost incessantly its rather loud and peculiar notes. The common note, 
 rather loud and plaintive and sounding like phebe, pbebe, or pewee, pewee, sometimes 
 more plaintive like pe-wait, pe-wait, is most frequently heard. These sounds vary not 
 unfi-equently and are often less energetic, being soft and twittering and, though very 
 pleasant, have a slightly melancholy touch. We may often hear a somewhat subdued 
 pe-way-ee, and a song-like phe-be, phe-bee-ee. All these notes are very impressive, and 
 once heard, cannot be forgotten. They are uttered with more force and frequency in 
 early spring, though they are heard throughout the bird's residence north. It usually 
 has a favorite perch, often the top of a bam, "in which it remains all moming', watching 
 for insects and continually repeating its simple song." As it sits, it occasionally flirts 
 its tail, and darts out after each passing insect, always returning to the same projecting 
 branch or post. When the young are hatched, the Phoebes become more silent, as they 
 rarely find time to repeat their own names, and later, in the time of moulting, they are 
 almost perfectly songless. While spending the winter in the southern gardens, their 
 plaintive phe-be and pe-wait is almost constantly heard during fine weather. They prefer 
 to perch in the top of a magnolia or a large bush, and often in the arching firond of a 
 palm, where they are watching for insects. 
 
 Originally breeding on faces of perpendicular rocks, the Phoebe has changed its 
 mode of nesting entirely in regions where the land has been settled. We i-arely find it 
 at present far from human habitations. The social and familiar habits of this plainly 
 colored, modest, and gentle little bird, as well as its confiding trust in man must ever 
 secure for it our affections, and entitle it and its beautiful little nest to our earnest and 
 jealous protection. This bird is always found where flying insects abound. We therefore 
 find it either near water or in the vicinity of man. It preferably selects its haunts near 
 or in the barn-yard, where in the neighborhood of cattle there is always an abundant 
 supply of flying insects. 
 
 The beautiful moss-covered nest of the Phoebe is familiar to me since my early 
 boyhood. The first one I found under a bridge in the country road. Ever since that 
 time I have been a friend and admirer of this common and half-domesticated bird. 
 Other nests were found in old block-houses and burns, in stables, under piazzas and 
 
verandas, etc. Sometimes it builds under the roofs in barns in the same way as the 
 Barn Swallows do. Dr. Brewer has known these birds to build on a small shelf in the 
 porch of a dwelling; against the wall of a railroad station within reach of the passengers, 
 and under a projecting window-sill, in full view of the family, entirely unmoved by the 
 presence of the latter at meal-time. From its habit of building under old wooden bridges 
 it has been called "Bridge-bird." In unsettled places its nest has been found in the roots 
 of upturned trees, in caves, and on the face of moss-covered upright rocks. Though not 
 of a pugnacious disposition, the Phoebe does not allow another pair of the same species 
 to locate in its immediate vicinity. With other birds it rarely quarrels, but resists all 
 attempts to encroach upon its domain. Only towards one bird all its courage and 
 bravery proves in vain. This is the plebejan English Sparrow, who has a special fond- 
 ness for its beautiful mossy nest. Where numerous enough, these tramps drive the 
 rightful owner away, and take possession of its domicile. 
 
 The nest, if built on a flat surface, like a beam or pillar, is constructed of a few 
 pellets of mud, intermixed with grasses, bark-strips, the lining consisting almost entirely 
 of fine bark-strips. The whole structure is covered with soft green moss {Hypnum)^ 
 gathered from the bark of trees. This moss imparts the nest with a striking appearance. 
 When built on a perpendicular surface, it is constructed of small pellets of mud, placed 
 in layers and mixed with flexible fibers and grasses. These layers are placed one above 
 the other, in a semi-circular form, and the outside is covered with moss. The lining 
 consists of fine straws, bark-strips, horse-hair, and sometimes a few feathers. On flat 
 surfaces the nest is circular in form and mud is often not made use of. The eggs, four 
 to five in number, are pure white and generally unspotted. Sometimes a set, sparsely 
 speckled with a dark brownish color, is found. The young are exclusively fed with 
 insects. In many cases two broods annually seem to be reared. 
 
 During the last week of September most of the Phoebes leave Wisconsin, moving 
 slowly southward. By the 10th of October I saw them already in south-western Mis- 
 souri, and by the end of the same month they have reached south-eastern Texas. 
 I conclude this life-history with the following beautiful w^ords of Prof Robert Ridgway : 
 
 "The Pewee or Phoebe is one of that charming coterie of the feathered tribe who 
 cheer the abode of man with their presence. Less numerous than the Chipping Sparrow, 
 the Catbird, the Barn Swallow, or even the Bluebird, there are still few farm-yai-ds 
 without a pair of Pewees, who do the farmer much service by lessening the number of flies 
 about the bam, and by calling him to his work in the morning with their cheery notes." 
 
 NAMES: Phcebb, Pewee, Common Pewee, Pewit, Pewee Flycatcher, Phoebe-bird, Bridge-bird, Bridge Pewee, 
 Barn Pewee. — Hauspiwi (Germ.). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Muscicapa phaebe Lath. (1790). SAYORNIS PHOEBE Stejn. (1885), Musckapa 
 fusca Gmel. (1788). Tyrannus fascus Nutt. (1840). Sayornia fuscus Baird (1858). Muscicapa 
 nunicola Wils. (1810). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. "Sides of breast and upper parts, dull olive-brown, fading slightly towards 
 the tail. Top and sides of head, dark brown. A few dull white feathers on the eyelids. Lower parts, 
 dull yellowish-white, mixed with brown on the chin, and in some individuals across the breast. 
 Quills, brown, the outer primaries, secondaries, and tertials, edged with dull white. In some indi- 
 viduals the greater coverts faintly edged with dull white. Tail, brown ; outer edge of lateral feathers, 
 dull white; outer edges of the rest, like the back. Tibise, brown. Bill and feet, black. Bill, slender, 
 edges nearly straight. Tail, rather broad and slightly forked. . . 
 
 "Length, 7.00 inches; wing, 3.42; tail, 3.30 inches." (R. Ridgway, "Ornithology of Illinois.") 
 
Say's Phoebe, Sayornis saya Baird. This is a bird of the western part of the 
 country, from the Great Plains to the Pacific, and from the Saskatchewan south into 
 Mexico. Being the exact counterpart of the eastern Phoebe, I shall only say a few words 
 about it. It was met with by Mr. Robert Ridgway in the arid portions of the Great 
 Basin. In its natural state it prefers rocky shores of lakes and rivers, or similar places 
 in the canons of the mountains, where it attaches its bulky, down-lined nests to the inside 
 of small caves or recesses in the rocks, usually building them upon a small projecting shelf 
 Wherever man has erected a building in those desert wastes, — as on the stage-stations 
 along the road, or in the mining towns, — it immediately assumes the familiarity of our 
 eastern Phcebe, at once taking possession of any out-building or any abandoned dwell- 
 ing. Its .notes are said to differ widely from those of the eastern species, the common 
 one consisting of a wailing peer, varied by a tremulous twitter, and more resembling 
 certain tones of the Wood Pewee. — Dr. Elhott Coues found this Flycatcher common 
 throughout Arizona, and Dr. Heermann mentions it as abundant in southern California. 
 Dr. P. R. Hoy detected a specimen near Racine, Wis. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : The color of the belly of this species is light cinnamon ; above, brownish-gray ; tail, black. 
 Length, about 8.00 inches. 
 
 Black Phcebe, Sayornis nigricans Bonap. This is an inhabitant of Mexico, 
 northward along Pacific coast to Oregon. 
 DESCRIPTION: Color above, slate-black; belly and lower tail-coverts, white. 
 
 Olive-sided Flycatcher, Contopus borealis Baird. This rather rare species 
 inhabits the higher mountain regions of our country, and coniferous forests of the low- 
 lands from the northern border of the United States northward, and south through 
 higher mountains to Colombia, South America. Nests have been found repeatedly in 
 Massachusetts, and it is said to breed in northern Wisconsin. Mr. Brewster found five 
 or six nests in the neighborhood of Cambridge, Mass., all of which were placed in the 
 extremity of some long horizontal branch, usually that of a pitch pine, but on one 
 occasion in that of an apple tree. 
 DESCRIPTION: The bird resembles the Wood Pewee, but on each side of the rump, generally concealed by 
 
 the wings, is an elongated bunch of white, silky feathers. 
 
 CouEs' Flycatcher, Contopus pertinax Cab., inhabits the highlands of Guatemala 
 and Mexico, north to southern Arizona. 
 
 WOOD PEWEE, 
 
 Contopus virens Cabanis. 
 
 Plate XXXIII. Fig. 5. 
 
 kPPOSITE my house in this city the grounds of the Milwaukee Hospital extend to 
 ' the westward. The building stands on a slightly sloping hill, and the ground 
 in front of my house had to be excavated in order to make a level street. Tht latter 
 lies about eight feet lower than my house, and the hospital grounds on the other side 
 
XXXIII. 
 
 4.5. 
 
 1. MYIARCHUS CRINITUS Liclit. 
 
 2. CERYLE ALCYON Boujip 
 
 8. CHORDEILES VIRGINIANUS Swains. - 
 -t. COCCYZUS AMERICAN US Bonap. - 
 
 5. CONTOPUS VIRENS Cab. 
 
 6. EMPIDONAX ACADICUS Baird. - 
 
 7. ANTROSTOMUS VOCIFERUS Bonap. - 
 
 HAUBENTYRANN 
 
 KONIGSFISCHER 
 
 NACHTSCHWALBE 
 
 REGENKUKUK 
 
 WALDPIWI 
 
 AKADIATYRANN 
 
 WHIPPOORWILL 
 
 Crested Flycatcher 
 Belted Kin^fishier. 
 Ni_ghithawk. 
 Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 
 Wood Pewee. 
 Acadian Flycatcher. 
 Whip -poor - will . 
 
WOOD PBWEE. 353 
 
 show a steep slope from six to twenty-five feet in height. This slope is covered 
 almost to the level of the street with thickets of the common locust, large trees of 
 which crest the hill above. There are also other trees of medium size and quite a 
 numher of ornamental shrubs. Apple trees of rather large size occupy the ground where 
 it fronts to the south-east. Several Lombardj- poplars are also present. This compara- 
 tively quiet place forms an oasis in the centre of the crowded city for many birds. 
 Goldfinches nest in the apple trees and Baltimore Orioles in the Lombard3'^ poplars or 
 in a noble elm behind my house. Yellow Warblers, Chipping Sparrows, and Indigo 
 Buntings find the dense upright honey -suckles and mock-orange bushes excellent places 
 in which to build their nests. In the large locust trees the beautiful Red-headed Wood- 
 pecker has taken up its abode. Its characteristic notes, really poetical in the sweet and 
 flowery days of late spring and early summer, are frequently heard. Thej-^ sound like 
 hurrrrr, hurrrrr, and are unmistakable. In the maple trees the Warbling Vireo chants 
 its peculiarly sweet lay. When the apple trees are in full bloom, there is hardly a moi-e 
 beautiful and lively spot in the city, and the view from the open Avindowof my study, 
 w^ith all this glory of blossoms and birds before my eyes, is truh' magnificent. The 
 sprightly ditty of numerous Wood Warblers on their way to the North, and now busily 
 engaged in capturing insects among this wealth of blossoms, falls constantly on my 
 ear. The loud and mellow whistle of the Baltimore Oriole, the charming song of the 
 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, the proud and flute-like carol of the Scarlet Tanager, the happy 
 strain of the Robin, as well as the far-sounding hurrrrr of the Red-headed Woodpecker, 
 combine to make this May day of mild air and sweet blossoms an especially beautiful 
 one to the friend of Nature. Higher emotions inspire us. We rise early in the morning 
 in order to enjoy all the pleasure now in store for us. In the second week of May the 
 bird-concert in the early morning hours, before sunrise, is so enchantingh' beautiful that 
 only the early riser can imagine and appreciate its entrancing power on the mind of the 
 listener. Almost all the birds have returned from their winter-quarters, as insect-food 
 now is abundant. In the third w^eek of May even the most delicate summer sojourners 
 make their appearance. 
 
 One morning in the third week of May, w^hile standing at the open w^indow^ of my 
 room, absorbed in listening to the many-voiced spring concert that falls on my ear from 
 across the street, I hear the sweet and plaintive notes of the Wood Pewee. These 
 sounds are so characteristic that they are distinctly heard among the other voices. The 
 burden of sorrow^ which seems to be never lifted from this ever-lamenting bird, is again 
 brought back from the tropics as in all the former j'ears. Although exceedingly sad 
 and sorrow^ful, these notes have to me a ver3'^ pleasing and home-like eflect, and I should 
 consider it a great loss should I fail to hear this bird in the concert of the warbling 
 minstrels of the grove. I have listened to the sweet pe-ay, pay-ee, and pe-u-ee in the 
 primeval forest of Wisconsin since my earliest childhood. Later these sounds were heard 
 frequently in the oak-woods of northern Illinois. When I roamed about among the 
 magnolias, laurel and live-oaks, loblolly bays and sweet gums of the coast region of 
 Texas and in southern Louisiana, the familiar Wood Pewee everywhere greeted me as 
 an old acquaintance, and when I took up mj' abode in the post-oak woods of Texas, 
 this bird was my constant neighbor for at least five months of the year. In the 
 
 45 
 
mountain woods of the Ozarks and southern Alleghanies, in the gloomy forests on the 
 banks of the Chattahoochee and Suwanee, I always heard the Wood Pewec's sorrowful 
 strain. In the dense shade trees and apple orchards of Milwaukee the odd and pleasant 
 notes of this Fh'catcher are familiar to all who are accustomed to listen to the song of 
 birds. Its voice is one of the most characteristic and unique that we can hear in the 
 realms of Nature, and once heard it is always remembered. 
 
 In the above described grounds, opposite my house, the Wood Pcwee is a regular 
 summer sojourner. Its notes have been heard duiing five successive seasons. In this 
 part of Wisconsin it rarely arrives before May 20, and in south-western Missouri not 
 before May 15. In Lee County, Texas, it usually appears during the last week. of April. 
 This late arrival is a sure sign that warm weather will follow, and it also shows that 
 the Wood Pewee is one of our most delicate birds. When in early September the Virginia 
 creeper and the sugar maple begin to assume their bright autumn hues, this Flj-catcher 
 leaves Wisconsin for the South, and after October 1 I have seen none in Texas. It 
 winters in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and other parts of Central America. 
 
 Its breeding range is a large one, extending from Texas, and probably from Florida, 
 northward to southern Canada, and from the Atlantic to the great central Plains. It 
 takes up its abode preferabl}' in gloomy forests, but it is also found in more open woods, 
 in old apple orchards and shade trees near houses, even in large cities. Woodlands 
 covered with a dense undergrowth of bushes and small trees are avoided. The bird is 
 of solitary habits, and is usually seen on some dry projecting bough in the deep shadow 
 of overhanging branches. Its perch is usually twenty to thirt3' feet from the ground, 
 but in orchards it sits much lower.' The semi-darkness of the woods it is particularly 
 fond of It is constanth' on the alert for flj'ing insects, and we see it frequently sweep 
 at intervals amidst the shade, and hear the occasional snapping or clicking of the bill, 
 which announces the success of its flight. Though it is often on the wing, flying in 
 zigzag lines up and down, to and fro, it is not easily observed in the gloom of the 
 forest, and when it returns to its perch, its sombre and plain color fully protects it 
 from view. The plaintive pe-ay, pe-u-ee, which is constantly heard from early morning 
 till late in the evening, soon betrays its whereabouts, however, and the close observer 
 has not much trouble in studying its habits. I have heard the notes in the darkest 
 woods, as well as in orchards very early in the morning and late in the evening, when it 
 was quite dark. This shows that the Wood Pewee is capable of capturing insects in the 
 feeblest light. In the dimness of the morning and evening hours and in the gloom of the 
 forest many insects, especially all kinds of moths, its favorite food, are very abundant. 
 Its eye is sharp and glaring, perceiving the smallest insect at a considerable distance, and 
 its motions in the air are exceedingly dexterous. While watching for its insect prey, its 
 eyes appear almost as wild as those of the rapacious birds. It only seizes flying insects. 
 I quote the following interesting notes from the writings of Mr. Thomas Nuttall : 
 
 "The Pewee is a very expert and cautious Flycatcher, and, as if aware of the 
 drowsiness of insects in the absence of the sun's broad light, he is on the alert at day- 
 dawn after his prey. At this early period, and often in the dusk of evening, for the 
 most part of summer till the middle of August, he serenades the neighborhood of his 
 mansion from three to four or five o'clock in the moniihg, with an almost uninterrupted 
 
WOOD PEWEE. 355 
 
 chanting ditty, sweet, but monotonous, like pS-ay pay-wee, p6-ay pay-wee, then in a 
 little higher and less sing-song tone, his usual and more serious pee-a-wee. On dark 
 and daipp mornings, this curious warble is sometimes continued nearly to eight o'clock; 
 and the effect of this tender, lulling lay, in the gray dawn, before the awakening of other 
 birds, {ind their mingling chorus, is singular, and peculiarly pleasing. It is a gratulatory 
 feeling of unmixed and placid delight, concomitant with the mild reviving light of the 
 opening day, and the perfect joy of the mated male, satisfied in every reasonable desire; 
 in short, a hymn of praise to the benevolent Author and Supporter of existence!" 
 
 "This species," says Dr. T. M. Brewer, "like all its family, is a very expert catcher 
 of insects, even the most minute, and has a wonderfully quick perception of their near 
 presence, even when the light of day has nearly gone and in the deep gloom of thick 
 woods. It takes its station on the end of a low dead limb, from which it darts out in 
 quest of insects, sometimes for a single individual, which it seizes with a peculiar snap 
 of its bill; and, frequently meeting insect after insect, it keeps up a constant snapping 
 sound as it passes on, and finally returns to its post to resume its w^atch. During this 
 w^atch it occasionally is heard to utter a low twitter, vsrith a quivering movement of 
 the wings and tail, and more rarely to enunciate a louder but still feeble call-note, 
 sounding like pee-e. These notes are continued until dark, and are also uttered throughout 
 the season." 
 
 In Wisconsin and Illinois as well as in Missouri and Texas I have found the 
 Wood Pewee a very numerous bird. It may be found at present in any open woods 
 or large orchard of old spreading apple trees, often very near a dwelling. The peculiar 
 notes are heard from mom till night, but being not an ostetisible bird, it is much oftener 
 heard than seen ; and yet it is not diflicult to observe, as it remains almost for hours 
 at the same spot, repeating at intervals its sigh. When approached it does not take 
 wing at once, like many other birds, when their foe is near. 
 
 "There is a delicious sadness in these notes of the Pewee," says Mr. H. E. Park- 
 hurst, "like a minor chord interposed in the predominating jubilant major strains of 
 the forest choir. It voices the spirit of silent and gloomy woods. A plaintive effect is 
 very rare among the songbirds, which are so generally keyed to merriment. The Gold- 
 finch has an evident touch of it, recurring now and then in a song that is otherwise 
 joyous and like a rippling laughter. One of the charms of the Fox Sparrow, too, is a 
 subtle quality of mournfulness tingeing a melody that is cheerful, if not joyous. But 
 the Pewee's note is like a faint, despairing cry, not so desperate as to agonize the 
 listener, and yet appealing strongly to his sympathies. It appears to be the most dis- 
 consolate of all the family, the victim of chronic melancholia. What a contrast to the 
 hilarious disposition of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet," and the House Wren, that bubbles 
 over with songful laughter. 
 
 The nest of the Wood Pewee is a model of bird-architecture. It is always built 
 or rather "saddled" on a stout lichen-covered, dry limb, and resembles a mossy pro- 
 tuberance or knot. If not actually betrayed by the birds themselves, it is rarely dis- 
 covered, and, indeed, with the exception of the ornithologist, few are acquainted with 
 it. It is an elegant structure, rather flat and saucer-shaped, with thick walls, made 
 of bark-strips and grasses and lined with the same material. The exterior is a beau- 
 
356 GREEN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 
 
 tiful mosaic of gray, green, and glaucuous crustaceous lichens, so common on the trunks 
 of old trees and fence-rails. Usually the branch to which it is securely attached is also 
 covered with the same kinds of lichens, so that scarcely the trained eye of the close 
 observer can detect it from below. It is three inches in diameter, and one and a half 
 inches high. The cavity is two and a half inches wide and one inch deep. "The eggs 
 themselves are extremely handsome, having a rich but delicate cream-colored ground, 
 and ornamented by a wreath round the larger end of rich madder-brown, purple, and 
 lilac spots." (Ridgway.) The nest is usually pl£|,ced from fifteen to twenty feet from 
 the ground, but I have found one scarcely higher than six feet. Many are placed as 
 high as forty and fifty feet. All the nests found by me were built on horizontal limbs, 
 but a few were "saddled" on green boughs of apple trees. Often the domicile is placed in 
 a tree very near a dwelling, but it is rarely discovered by those that are passing to and 
 fro underneath the tree. 
 
 NAMES: Wood Pewee, Pewee, Pewee Flycatcher. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Muscicapa virens Linn. (1766). Tyranaus rirens Nutt. (1S40). CONTOPUS 
 
 VIRENS Cab. (1855). Muscicapa querala Tieill. (\887). Afuscicapa rapax Wils. (1810). 
 DESCRIPTION : "Upper parts, sides of head, neck and breast, dark olivaceous-brown, the latter rather paler, 
 the head darker. A narrow white ring round the eye. The lower parts, pale yellowish, deepest on 
 the abdomen; across the breast tinged with ash. This pale ash sometimes occupies the whole of the 
 breast, and even occasionally extends up to the chin. It is also sometimes glossed with olivaceous. 
 The wings and tail, dark brown ; generally deeper than in Sayornis pbcebe. Two narrow bands across 
 the wings, the outer edge of first primary and of the secondaries and tertials, dull white. The edges 
 of the tail-feathers like the back ; the outer one scarcely lighter. Upper mandible, black ; the lower, 
 yellow, but brown at the tip.— Length, 6.15 inches; wing, 3.50; tail, 3.05." (B. B. & R., II, p. 357.) 
 
 Western Wood Pewee, Contopus richardsonii Baird. This species is numerous 
 in Arizona and other western States, being found from the Plains to the Pacific coast 
 and north to the Saskatchewan. "Though generally distinguishable from the Eastern 
 Wood Pewee," says Dr. J. A. Allen, "on comparison of dried skins, it is more easily 
 recognized by the diiference in its notes and breeding habits. The nest is built in the 
 forks of a small branch, instead of being 'saddled' on a horizontal limb, like that of the 
 eastern bird. It is neat and compact, resembling both in position and general form, 
 that of the Least Flycatcher of the Atlantic States. Its notes are harsh and less varied 
 than those of its eastern relative, lacking almost entirely the plaintive character so 
 distinctive of the latter." 
 
 Green-crested Flycatcher. 
 
 Empidonax virescens Brewster. 
 
 Plate XXXIII. Fig. 6.* 
 
 I^HE small Flycatchers or Empidonaces of this country are exceedingly difficult to 
 distinguish, and even the expert ornithologist m sometimes puzzled while examin- ■ 
 ing a large series of dry skins. Wilson, Audubon, and Nuttall, the founders of American 
 ornithology, were not aware of the existence of four different species in the Eastern 
 
 • Thia bird was formerly known as Empldoaax. avadicas. 
 
States, and even now these birds are often confounded one with the other by experienced 
 observers. Their size, coloration, and the habit of seizing insects is very much alike, 
 but each species has a very distinct note which is alone sufficient to discriminate among 
 the four species. In their mode of nesting as well as in the selection of their haunts 
 they also show characteristic features. The Yellow-bellied and the Least Flycatcher 
 inhabit the northern part of the country, the first named the swampy dark forest, the 
 latter species the border of these forests and gardens. The Green-crested and Traill's 
 Flycatcher are mainly found in the central region of eastern North America, the former 
 being an inhabitant of the forest region, the latter selecting particularly the borders of 
 prairie woodlands as well as parks, gardens, and orchards, even in the centre of crowded 
 cities. The two last species are so similar that they can only be distinguished by their 
 very characteristic call-notes and nesting habits. 
 
 No other birds have puzzled, me more than these Flycatchers. One day late in 
 April, while observing numerous migrating birds in a broad Magnolia grandiHora in 
 full blossom in the city of Houston, Tex., I also saw quite a number of small Flycatchers 
 entirely unfamiliar to me. Although similar in coloration, they uttered very different notes, 
 which convinced me that at least two or three species w^ere represented among the w^axy 
 fragrant blossoms and beautiful foliage of the magnolia. A closer examination of a 
 number of birds in the hand did not reveal much light, and when looking over the 
 scientific descriptions at home, I w^as still more undecided. A few weeks later, while saun- 
 tering about in the post oak woods near the West Yegua Creek (Lee Co., Tex.), I came 
 into a piece of woodland where all the trees were densely festooned with hanging lichens 
 (Usnea barbata). Hackberi-y trees and elms grew near the border, but these trees had 
 only a few bunches of the long, beard-like moss on their branches. Here I met again 
 with these birds. There were certainly five or six pairs in this piece of woodland, which 
 occupied an area of about ten acres. They constantly uttered notes sounding like a 
 short e-the-ah or e-chee-ab, rather loud, quick, and emphatic. These sounds are so very 
 peculiar, and peculiar only to this, bird, that they can never be confounded with those 
 of any other species. A few days later I discovered a nest in the extremity of a hori- 
 zontal branch of an elm which was constructed entirely of Usnea lichens. It was 
 an exquisite piece of bird-architecture, shallow, but very soft. It contained three eggs. 
 I was at once convinced that I had discovered the domicile of the Green-crested Fly- 
 catcher, better known, however, as the Acadian Flycatcher. Other nests, all similar 
 to this one, were discovered from that time until the last day of May. They w^ere always 
 placed in the extremity of slender horizontal branches, from six to twenty-five feet from 
 the ground and far from the trunk. No snake or squirrel could reach them. All the nests 
 contained three eggs, and only one four. The ground-color was a light buff or cream- 
 color, and the markings, which were mostly grouped round the larger end, were of a 
 light rusty-brown or chestnut. They are not distinguishable from those of Traill's 
 Flycatcher. Nests, also built of Usnea lichens, found by Mr. C. J. Ma,ynard at Williams- 
 port, Penn., agree in every particular with those examined by me in Texas. 
 
 At Freistatt, Mo., where the Acadian Flycatchers were common in the extensive 
 forest behind my house, their nests were usually found along an old shady wagon-track 
 leading through the woods. They were built also in the extremity of slender horizontal 
 
358 TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER. 
 
 branches, but were constructed invariably of the flower catkins of oaks and hickory 
 trees, and fastened to the branches with spider-webs. Some of the catkins always hang 
 down on the sides of the nest in a fringe-like manner. Such a nest is a pretty, but rather 
 shallow and thin structure, so thin that the light can be seen shining through. It is 
 easily distinguished from the thick-walled cup-shaped nest of Traill's Flycatcher, which 
 is always placed in an upright crotch. The nest of the Acadian is always saucer-shaped. 
 
 I have yet to see a nest that was not constructed either of Usnea lichens or of the 
 flower catkins of oaks and hickories. The birds always love to penetrate the shadowy 
 depths of the forest, delighting to sing and to rear their young in the most quiet and 
 gloomy spots. From above the nest is always protected by overhanging branches: The 
 birds rarely betray their domicile, as they are exceedingly cautious while near it, trying 
 to mislead the observer in flying to and fro. Having thus tired their enemy, the female 
 suddenly flies from below directly into the nest. 
 
 Mr. Otto Widmann, to whom I am obliged for a valuable contribution* regarding 
 the small Flycatchers, has studied the life-histories of these birds in and around St. Louis, 
 Mo., with great care. He found the Acadian Flycatcher in the forest only, and there 
 very abundant, — that is to say, one pair to every few acres. The nests which he found 
 were also built of the flower catkins of hickories. 
 
 This species is always a tenant of the forest, where large trees commingle with 
 bushes, smaller trees, tangled thickets of vines, weeds, etc. In these quiet retreats the 
 observer is often startled by the bird's notes, which sound like e-chee-ah. Usually the 
 notes are uttered while the bird is perched in a shady place watching for flying insects, 
 its main food. 
 
 This Flycatcher is distributed in summer from Texas and Florida northward to 
 Long Island and southern Michigan and west to the Plains. In its northern habitat it 
 is rare. In the valley of the Ohio, in southern Illinois, Indiana, and in Missouri this 
 southern species is a common summer resident. 
 
 NAMES: Green-crested Flycatcher, Acadian Flycatcher. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Platyrbyncbns vitesccasWieiW. (181S). EMPIDONAX VIRESCENS Brbmhster (1895). 
 Empidoiiax acadicus Baird (1858). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Above, varying from greenish-gray to olive-green; the top of the head, similar to back; wing- 
 bands, buflF; lower parts, white, more or less strongly tinged with sulphur-yellow laterally and posteri- 
 orly, and shaded across breast with olive or grayish. — Length, about 6.00 inches; wing, 2.83; tail, 2.49. 
 
 TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER. 
 
 Empidonax traillii Baird. 
 
 IJS'RAiLL's Flycatcher is an abundant inhabitant of the Mississippi valley, being 
 especially common in Missouri, southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. It is found 
 noi-thward to the Fur Countries and west to the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Otto Widmann 
 has observed this species foi* many years in St. Louis and vicinity, where it abounds 
 
 * See "Die Nordamcrikanische Vogelwelt." Von H. Nehrling. Die Tier ustlicheQ Empidonan-Arten, Von Otto Wid- 
 mann, p. 553—556. 
 
TRAILL'S FLYCATCHER. 359 
 
 on the borders of woodlands, in orchards and gardens, and in the parks. In that 
 locality it arrives usually in the first week of May, and is easily observed, as it is 
 not at all timid and retired in its habits, like its congener, the Acadian Flycatcher. 
 Very similar to the latter in coloration, there is a great difference betw^een the two 
 species in the call-notes and nesting habits. The notes of Traill's Flycatcher are very 
 characteristic, but difficult to describe. According to Mr. Widmann they sound like 
 wit-tit-che, wit-ti-go, and are uttered when the bird is perched in the top of a shrub 
 or low tree, on a telegraph post or on a fence stake. It is such a loud and conspicuous 
 sound that it can be heard at a distance of a quarter of a mile. At present this Fly- 
 catcher is one of the most abundant birds in the parks of St. Louis. In Ohio it breeds 
 in large numbers in the elder thickets fringing creeks and streams. It has also been 
 found nesting in sumach bushes. 
 
 The nest is alw^ays placed in an upright crotch of a bush or tree, usually from four 
 to ten and often twenty to twenty-five feet firom the ground. Nests found by myself in 
 Wisconsin agree in size and shape with those found by Mr. Widmann in St. Louis. All 
 were placed in upright crotches formed by several twigs springing up fi-om the main 
 stem, and all are compactly built, thick-walled, and deeply cujDped structures, let firmly 
 down into the crotch, the twigs either grooving the walls or imbedded in the sub- 
 stance of the nest. The outside diameter is about 3.00 inches, depth also about 3.00 
 inches. The cavity is about 2.00 inches in diameter, and from 1.50 to 2.00 inches deep. 
 The opening is often a little contracted, so that it is well-nigh impossible that the eggs 
 can roll out. A nest found in this vicinity June 20 was built in a shrub about six feet 
 above the ground, near the border of the woods. It is very similar to the domicile of 
 the Redstart, but it is larger and more deeply cupped. Being mainly built of silvery- 
 gray fibers of asclepias, a few slender grasses and horse hair also enter into the com- 
 position. The lining consists of soft bark-strips, fine grasses, and a few horse hairs. 
 Nests found in St. Louis are of the same shape, but constructed of coarser material, 
 consisting of slender grasses, rootlets, hemp-like fibers, bits of twine, feathers, etc., the 
 lining being made of fine grasses and bark-strips. The walls are always thick and 
 compact, the brim is firm, and the lining smooth. 
 
 The eggs, usually four in number, show a creamy-white or buff ground-color. They 
 are marked, chiefly at the larger end, with spots of reddish-brown. Some of the eggs 
 are often so slightly marked that they appear almost immaculate. The difference 
 between these eggs and those of the Green-crested Flycatcher is so slight that no one 
 can distinguish them with certainty. Wherever found Traill's Flycatcher is more 
 abundant than is generally supposed, but only the close observer,! who is familiar with 
 its call-note, can easily find the bird. Its food consists almost exclusively of flying 
 insects. Late in August and early in September these Flycatchers leave for the South. 
 
 The Alder Flycatcher, Empidonax traillii alnorum Brewster, inhabits eastern 
 North America, from New England westward at least to northern Michigan, etc., breed- 
 ing from the southern edge of the Canadian Fauna northward. Its favorite haunts 
 appear to be alder thickets near water. 
 NAMES: Traill's Flycatcher, "Widmaim's Flycatcher." 
 
360 LEAST FLYCATCHER. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Muscicapa trailUi Aud. (1832). EMPIDONAX TRAILLII Baird (1858). Empi- 
 
 donax pusillus traillii B. B. & R. (1874). 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. "Above, olive, iisually decidedly grayer on head; wing-bands varying from 
 
 dull brownish-gfray, or grayish-brown to nearly white; lower parts, white, tinged more or less with 
 
 sulphttr-yellow posteriorly, and shaded with olive-grayish on sides of breast; under wing-coverts very 
 
 pale buffy-yellow. 
 
 "Length, 6.00 inches; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.51 inches." (Ridgway.) 
 
 LEAST FLYCATCHER. 
 
 Empidonax minimus Baird. 
 
 This is the most common species of the small Flycatchers, inhabiting the Northern 
 States and New England, breeding from the 40° of latitude northward, west to eastern 
 Colorado and central Montana. It is an abundant summer resident in Manitoba. 
 I noticed the first arrivals in central Wisconsin usually in the first week of May, the 
 van making their appearance during the second week of the month. Their call-note is 
 unmistakable, sounding very distinctly like cbe-bec. Hence its common name "Chebec." 
 Dr. T. M. Brewer gives the following interesting account of this species: 
 
 "In Massachusetts this Flycatcher is one of the most abundant and familiar species, 
 arriving from about the 20th of April to the 1st of May. It is found most frequently 
 in orchards, gardens, and open grounds, and very largely on the edges of woods, 
 remaining until October. They are much addicted to particular localities, and return to 
 the same spot year after year, if undisturbed. A pair that had established their hunting- 
 grounds in an open area north of a dwelling in Roxbury returned to the same spot for 
 several successive years, and would come regularly to the piazza of the house, where bits 
 of cotton were exposed for the benefit of such of the whole feathered tribe as chose to 
 avail themselves of it. Each year they drew nearer and nearer the house, until at last 
 the nest was made in a clump of honey-suckle on the corner of the piazza, from which 
 they would sally forth in quest of insects, entirely unmindful of the near presence of 
 the family." 
 
 In Wisconsin it is a rather common bird. In the time of my boyhood I observed it 
 in tamarack and white-cedar swamps, where it nested in slender trees, usually tamaracks, 
 twenty to twenty-five feet above the ground. Since that time the species "has been 
 gradually undergoing certain modifications of habits and manners in consequence of its 
 contact with civilization, and is now becoming familiarized to the society of man." 
 
 The nest is usually placed in an upright crotch of a large shrub or small tree. It 
 is rather small and thin-walled when compared with the domicile of Traill's Flycatcher, 
 being felted of fine bark-strips, hempen fibers, feathers and horse hair, fragments of 
 cocoons and spider nests, etc.; the lining consists of grasses, shreds of bark, and a few 
 feathers. In swamps the nest is usually made of asclepias fibers, bark-strips, fine grasses, 
 and vegetable wool, and the lining consists of black rootlets, plant-down, and feathers. 
 The eggs are white, unspotted. Their number varies from three to four. 
 
 NAMES: Least Flycatcher, Chebec. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Tyrannula minima Brd. (1843). Muscicapa minima Aud. (1844). EMPWON.AX 
 
 MINIMUS Brd. (1858). 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. Hardly distinguishable in color from B. traillii. Wing-bands, usually whiter. 
 
YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER. 
 
 Empidonax Haviventris Baird. 
 
 This is not at all a scarce bird in the Northern and New England States, bging 
 found from the Atlantic to the Plains and breeding from the Northern States north- 
 ward. It is the most easily distinguished of all the small Flycatchers, by its decidedly 
 yellow color on the underside. Its call-note also betrays its presence, being often uttered 
 and very distinct, sounding like a soft and melodious pe-ub, pre-peah. In the Sheboygan 
 Marsh, in Wisconsin, it is not uncommon, selecting for its haunts places where the ground 
 is covered w^ith white-cedar, tamarack. Ledum palustre, pitcher plants, cranberry bushes, 
 ladies' slippers, wintergreen {Gaultheria procumbetis) , and dense mats of sphagnum moss. 
 
 Nests of this species have been found by Mr. H. A. Purdy, Mr. R. Deane, S. D. 
 Osborne, etc., in Maine and other parts of New England. Two nests were found by 
 Mr. Chas. F. Batchelder ^nd Jonathan Dwight, Jr., at Fort Fairfield, Maine. Mr. 
 Batchelder writes about his finds": 
 
 "My first nest, containing four fresh eggs, which was taken on June 14, 1 found in 
 rather w^et mixed w^oods of small spruces and arbor-vitaes, with a few larger hemlocks, 
 — also a few yellow^ birches and maples.- It was on the edge of a bank formed by a 
 decayed tree trunk, and over a pool in a small brook that was flowing beneath the 
 moss-covered trunks of fallen trees. The nest was protected above and hidden from 
 sight by some green moss growing upon a projecting root. A small vine {Ribes lacustre) 
 growing past the entrance of the nest gave additional concealment. The bird flew^ from 
 the nest when I was within a few feet of it. After a short time she returned to the 
 nest, and I again flushed her. . . . 
 
 "The nest, which was partly sunk in the surrounding moss, is made of fine brown 
 roots, bits of rotten wood, and the scaly coverings of buds, apparently of the arbor-vitae, 
 together with a few sticks and withered leaves, and one or two bits of arbor-vitae and 
 green moss. It is scantily lined with very fine black roots and stalks of withered grass, 
 the latter contrasting strongly in color with the rest of the nest. Its external diameter 
 is four inches, its depth two and a quarter inches ; internally its diameter is two and 
 three eights inches, its depth one and a quarter inches. The ground-color of the eggs is 
 white, with a slight creamy tinge. They are spotted and blotched with two shades of 
 light reddish-brown, mostly about the larger end. Two of the eggs have also a few fine 
 dashes and specks of black over the other markings. 
 
 "I did not find the second set until June 27. It was in a small piece of damp 
 woods, consisting of scattered arbor-vitaes and hemlocks growing in the valley of a small 
 brook. The nest was not far fi-om a clearing, and was among a tangled mass of fallen 
 trees. It was situated about two feet from the ground, on the side of the moss-covered 
 stump of a fallen tree. It was deeply sunk in the soft green moss, which covered and 
 protected it above, though the eggs could be seen from the outside. . . . 
 
 "The nest, which is very bulky for the size of the bird, is a compact mass of the 
 
 soft green moss that is so abundant in such places, with a few bits of arbor-vitae and 
 
 one or two sticks. It is thinly lined with slender stalks of grass and a few very fine 
 
 roots. . . ." 
 
 46 
 
362 VERMILION FLYCATCHER. 
 
 NAMES: Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Tyrannula Uariventris Bid. (184:3). Muscicapa Saviventris Brd. (184:8). Empidonax 
 
 Baviventris Brd. (1848). 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes, alike. "Above, dull olive-green, the wing-bands pale olive-yellowish; beneath, pale 
 
 dull sulphur-yellow, shaded with olive across the breast." (Ridgway). 
 Length, 5.15 inches; wing, 2.83; tail, 2.45 inches. 
 
 Western Flycatcher, Empidonax di&cilis Baird. This species inhabits the 
 western part of the country from the Plains to the Pacific, being especially abundant 
 and a familiar bird in California. Reminding the observer of the foregoing species in its 
 habits, mode of nesting, and coloration of eggs, it is a much more familiar species. 
 According to Mr. Emerson of Haywards, Cal., it nests in hollows in banks and along 
 creeks, in natural cavities of trees and among the roots of fallen ones. In tall Australian 
 gum trees {Eucalyptus) and in comers of rail-fences it has also been found nesting. The 
 structure is composed of rootlets, dead leaves, bits of grasses, etc., and the lining con- 
 sists of finer grasses and a few feathers. The eggs resemble those of the Yellow-bellied 
 Flycatcher closely, being creamy-white, finely spotted and speckled with cinnamon or 
 reddish-brown, these markings often forming a wreath around the larger end. 
 DESCRIPTION: Upper parts of this species, greenish-olive or greenish-gray; uriderneath, yellowish. 
 
 Hammond's Flycatcher, Empidonax bammondii Baird, also called the Dirty Little 
 Flycatcher, is the western representative of the Least Flycatcher, occurring from the 
 Plains to the Pacific and thence northward to the Lesser Slave Lake and Alaska. 
 
 Wright's Flycatcher, Empidonax wrightii Baird, inhabits the western United 
 States north to Oregon and Montana, south to southern Mexico. Dr. J. C. Men-ill 
 found its nest about Fort Klamath, Oregon. The nests, resembling those *of the Yellow 
 Warbler, were frequently built in young aspens. They were built against the main 
 trunk, while all the Warblers' were placed in upright branches, generally higher from 
 the ground. The Flycatcher's nest was constructed of light gray bark-strips and the 
 lining was sometimes a smooth-felted mass of fiir and horse hairs, in others feathers 
 were used and the nest was deeply cupped. The eggs were dull, buffy-white. 
 
 The Gray Flycatcher, E. griseus Brewster, and the St. Lucas Flycatcher, 
 E. cineritius Brewster, inhabit Lower California, while the Buff-breasted Fly- 
 catcher, E. fulvifrons pygmseus Ridgw., has been observed in southern Arizona and 
 western New Mexico, south into western Texas. 
 
 VERMILION FLYCATCHER, 
 
 Pyrocepbalus rubineus mexicanus CouES. 
 
 Plate XXXI. Fig. 4. 
 
 ^NE of the most striking birds of our southern border, from the lower Rio Grande 
 to southern Cahfomia, is the beautiful Vermilion Flycatcher, its brilliant 
 plumage and flaring crest being seen at quite a distance among the green foliage of the 
 trees and bushes. It is particularly abundant in southern and central Arizona, but has 
 
VERMILION FLYCATCHER. 363 
 
 also been found in south-western Utah and in California as far north as Ventura 
 County. 
 
 Dr. J. C. Merrill found this exquisite bird breeding in the vicinity of Fort Brown, 
 on the lower Rio Grande of Texas. He writes as follows : "Resident, but more abundant 
 in summer than in winter. During the breeding season, the male frequentlj"^ utters a 
 peculiar twittering song while poised in the air about thirty feet from the ground. 
 During the song it frequently snaps its bill as if catching insects. Its note of anger and 
 alarm is a mew. Except during the breeding season, the birds are decidedly shy. The 
 nests are usually placed upon horizontal forks of ratama-trees, growing upon the edge 
 of the prairie, and rarely more than six feet from the ground. They bear considerable 
 resemblance to nests of the "Wood Pewee in appearance and in the manner in which they 
 are saddled to the limb ; the bottoms are made of small twigs, over which are various 
 soft materials felted together ; a few hairs or a little wool form the lining ; the rims are 
 covered with lichens; the cavity is slight, varying from .8 to 1.25 inch in depth by 
 2.00 in width, and the whole structure is easily overlooked. The usual number of eggs 
 is three; the ground-color is a rich creamy-white, with a ring of large brown and lilac 
 blotches at the larger end. ..." The birds nest usually in May. In southern Arizona, 
 near Tucson, a nest was found by Mr. F. Stephens on April 25. It was placed in the hori- 
 zontal fork of a stout mesquit branch, to which it was attached in such a manner that 
 its upper surface was flush with that of the embracing supports. It was composed 
 outwardly of small twigs, lined with horse and cow hair and a few feathers. It 
 entirely lacks the exterior coating of lichens, spoken of by Dr. Merrill, but in other 
 respects it agrees well with his description given above. Mr. Stephens found other nests, 
 similar in construction to the one described. He considers three eggs the full complement. 
 
 Mr. H. P. Attwater found this bird nesting in a locality ten miles south and 
 south-w^est of San Antonio, Tex., but noticed it nowhere else in the surrounding country. 
 They were observed as early as the first week of February, and a nest was found by 
 this collector on April 15, 1889. It was placed on a horizontal limb of a mesquit tree, 
 seven feet from the ground, and was similar in appearance to the nest of the Wood Pewee. 
 
 The Vermilion Flycatcher is found south to Guatemala. 
 
 NAMES: Vermilion Flycatcher, Red Flycatcher, Ruby Flycatcher. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Pyrocephalus rabineus Lawr. (1851). Pyrocepbalus mexicanus Sclat. (1859). 
 PYROCEPHALUS SUBINBUS MEXICANUS CouES (1872). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Head with a full rounded or globular crest. Tail, even. Crown and whole under-parts, 
 bright carmine-red; rest of upper parts, including the cheeks as far as the bill, and the lining of the 
 wing, dull grayish-brown ; the upper tail-coverts, darker ; the tail almost black ; greater and middle 
 wing-coverts and edges of secondaries and tertials, dull white towards the edges. Female, similar, 
 without the crest; the crown, brown, like the back; under-parts, whitish anteriorly, streaked with 
 brown; behind, white, tinged with red or ochraceous. 
 
 "Length, 5.50 inches; wing, 3.25; tail, 2.75 inches." (B. B. & R. II, p. 387). 
 
 The Beardless Flycatcher, Ornithion imberbe Lawr., was detected by Mr. Geo. 
 B. Sennett at Lomita, Tex., but this little bird seems to be -very rare in that locality. 
 
 A variety, Ridgway's Flycatcher, Ornitbion imberbe ridgwayi Brewster, was 
 discovered by Mr. Stephens near Tucson, Ariz. 
 
~\ 
 
 HUMMINGBIRDS. 
 
 Trochilidse. 
 
 LOWERS and gems cannot be compared in beauty with the Humming- 
 birds. Since the discovery of America these brilliant creatures have 
 been a source of admiration and wonder to the man of science as 
 well as to the simple tiller of the soil. In allusion to their exquisite 
 beauty, and their constant connection with gorgeous flowers they 
 have been called Honey-birds, Flower Nymphs, Flower Fairies, and 
 Flower Elfs. The Brazilians have given them the name Flower Kissers (Beija 
 Flores). They are the most admirable, the most gorgeously colored, the 
 loveliest and most graceful, and the smallest and most delicate of all birds. 
 They are so unique that no other birds can bear comparison. They are 
 the true birds of paradise, as all the colors of the rainbow, the lustre of 
 precious stones, the brilliancy of the flowers, the glow of the setting sun, 
 the hues of the early morning sky, the silvery light of the moon, the sparkle of the stars, 
 the glitter of gold and silver appears to reflect from their exquisite plumage. All the 
 poetry of Nature is combined in these fairies flitting from flower to flower. Buffbn con- 
 siders-the Hummingbird "of all animated beings the most elegant in form and most 
 splendid in coloring. Precious stones and metals artificially polished, can never be 
 compared to this jewel of Nature, which has placed it in the order of birds at the 
 bottom of the scale of magnitude — maximd miranda in m/rt/rais— while all the gifts 
 which are only shared among others — nimbleness, rapidity, sprightliness, grace, and 
 rich decoration — have been profusely bestowed upon this little favorite. The emerald, 
 the ruby, the topaz, sparkle in its plumage, which is never soiled by the dust of the 
 ground, for its whole life being aerial, it rarely lights on the turf It dwells in the air, 
 and flitting from flower to flower, it seems to be itself a flower in freshness and splendor; 
 it feeds on their nectar, and resides in climates where they glow in perpetual succession; 
 for the few which migrate out of the tropics during the summer make but a transitory 
 
stay in the temperate zones. They follow the course of the sun, advancing or retiring 
 with him, and flying on the wings of the zephyrs, wanton in eternal spring." 
 
 This characterization, however, is somewhat overdraw^n, as my friend Prof. Robert 
 Ridgway, in his excellent little work, "The Hummingbirds," correctly states, "since Nature 
 has not endowed Hummingbirds 'with all the gifts of which she has only given other 
 birds a share,' the absence of melodious voice being, as a rule, a conspicuous deficiency 
 of the tribe, while the statement, that they are ^always in the air,' is very inaccurate. 
 Hummingbirds requiring the same repose which other kinds find necessary." 
 
 Audubon calls the Hummingbird "a glittering fragmeht of the rainbow," and asks: 
 "Who, on seeing this lovely little creature moving on humming winglets through the air, 
 suspended as if by magic in it, flitting from one flower to another, with motions as 
 graceful as they are light and airy, pursuing its course and yielding new delights 
 wherever seen .... would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with reverence toward 
 the Almighty Creator, the wonders of whose hand we at every step discover, and of 
 whose sublime conception we everywhere observe the manifestations in his admirable 
 system of creation?" 
 
 "The Hummingbirds," says Mr. Robert Ridgway, "more than any other family, 
 constitute the most remarkable feature of the New World bird-life. They have absolutely 
 no representatives in any other part of the world. ... Of all the many families of birds 
 which are entirely peculiar to the rich bird-fauna of America, the Hummingbirds probably 
 constitute the most numerous assemblage, about five hundred distinct species being now 
 known. They abound most in mountainous countries, where the configuration of the 
 surface and productions of the soil are most diversified within small areas. Their centre 
 of abundance is among the northern Andes, between the parallels of ten degrees north 
 and south of the equator, firom which region they gradually diminish in numbers both 
 to the northward and southward, but much more rapidly toward the extensive low- 
 lands of the eastern portion of the continent." 
 
 They are found from Alaska to Patagonia, and from Ocean to Ocean. 
 
 Of the five hundred known species of Hummingbirds about seventeen species occur 
 in the United States, of which all but eight barely come across the boundary from 
 Mexico, and therefore should hardly be counted. Only one species, the Ruby-throated 
 Hummingbird, abounds in the eastern part of our country, while all the rest inhabit 
 the West. The Hummingbirds found in our territory are divided into the following 
 genera : 
 
 1, Eugenes Gould. One species. 
 
 2, Coaligena Lesson. One species. 
 
 3, Trochilus Linn^us. Three species. 
 
 4, Calypte Gould. Two species. 
 
 5, Selasphonis Swainson. Four species. 
 
 6, Stellula Gould. One species. 
 
 7, Calothorax Gray. One species. 
 
 8, Amazilia Reichenbach. One species. 
 
 9, Basilinna Boie. Two species. 
 10, lacbe Elliot. One species. 
 
RivoLi Hummingbird, Eugenes falgens Gould. This is decidedly the most beautifiil 
 species of all the Hummingbirds occurring within the limits of the United States. It is 
 an inhabitant of the table lands of Mexico, south to Nicaragua, but is found also in 
 southern Arizona. About six inches long, "the male has the top of the head rich metallic- 
 violet, the throat brilliant emerald-green, contrasted very abruptly with the deep black 
 of the breast, while the upper parts are dark bronzy-green. These various hues are so 
 arranged or contrasted that only one of them can be seen at once, every change in the 
 bird's position bringing a different color in view." 
 
 Mr. H. W. Henshaw found this species a summer inhabitant of the mountain 
 districts of southern Arizona. "A very beautiful nest," Mr. Henshaw writes, "was dis- 
 covered, which save its large size resembles in its construction the best efforts of the 
 little eastern Ruby Throat. It is composed of mosses nicely woven into' an almost 
 circular cup, the interior possessing a lining of the softest and downiest feathers, while 
 the exterior is elaborately covered with lichens, which are securely bound on by a net- 
 work of the finest silk from spiders' webs. It was saddled on a horizontal limb of an 
 alder, about twenty feet above the bed of a running mountain stream, in a glen which 
 w^as overarched and shadowed by several huge spruces, making it one of the most 
 shady and retired nooks that could be imagined. . . . The dimensions of the nest are as 
 follows: Depth, externally, 1.50; internally, 0.75; greatest external diameter, 2.25; 
 internal diameter, 1.15." 
 
 Blue-throated Hummingbird, Coeligena clemencise Less., a bird of the tablelands 
 of Mexico to Guerrero and Oaxaca, has been detected also in southern Arizona, by 
 Mr. F. Stephens. 
 
 Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 
 
 Trochilus colubtis LiNNfi. 
 
 Plate XXVI. Fig. 1 and 2. 
 
 When morning dawns, and the bless'd sun again 
 Lifts his red glories from the eastern main, 
 Then round our -woodbines, wet with glittering dews, 
 The flower-fed Hummingbird his round pursues ; 
 Sips with inserted tube the honeyed blooms, 
 And chirps his gratitude as round he roams; 
 While richest roses, though in crimson dress'd. 
 Shrink from the splendor of his gorgeous breast. 
 
 The purple amethyst, the emerald's green. 
 Contrasted mingle with the ruby's sheen. 
 While over all a tissue is put on 
 Of golden gauze, by fairy fingers spun. 
 What heavenly tints in mingled radiance fly! 
 Bach rapid movement gives a different dye; 
 Like scales of burnish'd gold they dazzling show, 
 Now sink to shade, now like a furnace glow. 
 
 Alexander Wilson. 
 
 'ONE of all our feathered summer sojourners have excited so much admiration 
 as the Hummingbirds. They are the "fairies and jewels of ornithology," and 
 have animated Europeans who first saw them flitting from flower to flower, with a 
 feeling of bewildering enchantment. "During the first twenty years of my acquaintance 
 with these wonderful works of creation," says Mr. John Gould, the celebrated author 
 of the most magnificent books on birds in existence, "my thoughts were often directed 
 
RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. 367 
 
 to them in the day, and my night dreams have not unfrequently carried me to their 
 native forests in the distant country of America." Their diminutive size, the dazzling 
 splendor of their plumage, their unique and enchantingly beautiftil flight, and their con- 
 stant encompassment by the most strikingly colored flowers cannot fail to excite the 
 admiration of all who see these "fairy flower birds." Being a very common summer 
 sojourner wherever flowers abound, on the woodland border and in the meadow as well 
 as in the garden, the Ruby-3"hroated Hummingbird is familiar everywhere. 
 
 Like all the birds of its family, it unites the beauty and delicacy of a resplendent 
 insect with the organization and intelligence of a bird. None of our feathered favorites 
 will compare with it in the smallness of its size, and in the peculiarity and rapidity of its 
 flight. The dazzling beauty and variety of its color, and especially the changeableness of 
 its hues when flitting from flower to flower, are no less striking and admirable than its 
 small size. The golden-green back and ruby-colored throat of the male surpass the hues 
 of the most beautiful gems. A brilliant metallic lustre greatly enhances the splendor of 
 the colors. As in the other species, only one color is seen at a time, but every change 
 in the bird's position brings a different hue of the ruby-colored throat in view. It is • 
 really a bird of sunshine and flowers. In dark weather the colors are not very refulgent ; 
 only when the beams of the sun strike them, they show their indescribable brilliancy. 
 
 The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only representative of this large family in 
 eastern North America, being found from Florida and Texas northward to the 57th 
 degree of latitude, and from the Atlantic Ocean west to the Plains. In this immense 
 territory it is everywhere a well-known and in many places an abundant bird. It does 
 not arrive in its summer quarters until the season is well advanced and flowers are 
 abundant. In south-eastern Texas it is common by the middle of April; at Freistatt, 
 south-western Missouri, it rarely appears before May 2. By May 15 it is first seen at 
 Milwaukee, Wis., usually becoming abundant when the horse chestnut trees are in full 
 bloom. When this fairy among our birds arrives, the days are alw^ays mild and sunny; 
 gardens, woodlands, and meadows are adorned with numberless flowers, the air swarms 
 with insects, and bird song resounds on all sides. At this time we usually see it first 
 among the arbors of honey-suckles and beds of flowers, poising itself in the air for 
 several seconds, with a humming noise made by the rapid motion of the wings, thrusting 
 its bill and long tongue into the flowers in search of food, and then suddenly darting 
 off" with a rapidity so great that the eye can not follow it. 
 
 Only those perfectly familiar with this lovely creature can form an adequate idea 
 of its surpassing loveliness. Yet all its beauty cannot arrest our attention in such a 
 degree as its incomparable flight, a flight that is in every respect different from that of 
 any other bird. It has a slight resemblance to the flight of the hawk-moths or 
 sphinxes, and it is often confounded by the superficial observer with these insects. 
 As these moths are of a crepuscular habit, only seiarching the flowers in the twilight 
 of evening, while the Hummingbird is a child of the sun, rarely being seen after sunset, 
 it is easily distinguished from these insects. While soaring from flower to flower, the 
 tremulous motions of the wings are so rapid that the eye is unable to follow them. 
 This rapid vibration produces a humming sound, like the spinning of a top, and has 
 given these birds the name by which they are designated. The bird flies forward and 
 
368 RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. 
 
 backward and to the side with equal ease and dexterity. It "may be said to live in 
 the air — an element in which it performs every kind of evolution with the utmost ease, 
 frequently rising perperdicularly, flying backward, pirouetting or dancing off, as it 
 were." This backward motion of flying, to which the words of Mr. Gould, just cited, 
 refer, is peculiar to the Hummingbirds. 
 
 Prof. Robert Ridgway has noticed "that the backward motion is greatly assisted 
 by a forward flirt of the expanded tail as the bird shifts from place to place, or from 
 one part of a tree to another, sometimes descending, at others ascending. It often 
 towers up above the trees, and then shoots off like a little meteor at a right angle ; at 
 other times it quietly buzzes away among the flowers near the ground ; at one moment 
 it is poised over a diminutive weed, at the next it is seen at a distance of forty yards, 
 whither it has vanished with the quickness of thought. During the heat of the day the 
 shady retreats beneath the trees are frequently visited; in the morning and evening the 
 sunny banks, the verandas, and other exposed situations are more frequently resorted to." 
 
 Dr. T. M. Brewer gives the following excellent account of its motions on the 
 ■ w^ing: "The Hummingbird is entirely aerial. They pass with the rapidity of an 
 arrow, stop, rest for a few seconds on some small branch, and then suddenly depart 
 with so much rapidity that we cannot trace its flight. They disappear as if by 
 enchantment. Their life is one of feverish excitement. They seem to live more intensely 
 than any other being on our globe. From morning to night they traverse the air in 
 quest of honeyed flow^ers. They come like a flash of light, assume a vertical position 
 without any support, throw their tail forward, expanding it like a fan, vibrating their 
 wings with such rapidity that they become absolutely invisible, plunging, at the same 
 time, their thread-like tongues to the bottom of some long corolla, and then they have 
 gone as suddenly as they came. They are never known to rest on a branch in order 
 more at their leisure to plunge their tongue into the flower. Their life is too short for 
 this delay ; they are in too great haste ; they can only stop long enough to beat their 
 wings before each flower for a few seconds, but long enough to reach its bottom and 
 to devour its inhabitants. When w^e take into consideration how entirely aerial is their 
 life, and the prodigious relative force requisite to enable them to keep suspended in the 
 air during the entire day, almost incessantly, either in rapid motion or accomplishing 
 the most violent vibrations, we can but be amazed at the extraordinary powers of 
 flight and endurance they manifest." 
 
 The Ruby-throat does not remain long on the wing at a time, taking frequently 
 a short rest, choosing for this purpose usually a small twig at the extremity of a tree 
 or shrub. I have also noticed it perched on a wash-line, and on flower stalks. At such 
 times it is busily engaged in trimpiing its plumage, or it cleans its long bill and stretches 
 and preens the feathers of its long wings. The bird thus affords a variety of graceful 
 attitudes, displaying particular parts of its plumage to advantage. 
 
 Although the Hummingbird explores a great variety of flowers for diminutive 
 insects and sweet nectar, those with tubular blossoms are particularly its favorites. 
 Thus twining honey-suckles, the vase-like flowers of the red clematis {Clematis coccinea), 
 the pretty flowers of the pentstemons, various Labiates (such as Monarda, Salvia, etc.), 
 and especially the gorgeous flower-trusses of the trumpet-creeper {Tecoma radicans) are 
 
RUBY-THROAtED HUMMINGBIRD. 369 
 
 especially sought for. In the South the latter plant is often called Hummingbird-vine 
 in consideration of the fact that its flowers are constantly visited by numbers of these 
 birds. In Audubon's unrivalled work, "Birds of America," this feathered gem is portrayed 
 in the position of feeding among these flowers. I have found Hummingbirds nowhere 
 more abundant than at places where the trumpet creeper grows most luxuriantly, as 
 for instance in southern Illinois and adjacent parts of Missouri, where it is seen in its 
 greatest beauty in the alluvial soils along rivers and creeks, and along fences and 
 woodland borders. Often it forms almost tropical scenes, its garlands of gay blossoms 
 festooning trees and shrubs, and swinging from the loftiest heights from tree to tree. 
 In such places the Ruby-throats are exceedingly numerous. 
 
 In my garden in Milwaukee these jewelled bands are most abundant in August 
 when the gladiolus and canna beds are in full bloom. Often five or six are noticed at 
 a time. In my garden in Orange County, Florida, I noticed them in large numbers early 
 in November. The large bushes of the yellow elder or bush tecoma (Tecoma stans and 
 T. veltttina), covered with magnificent trusses of fragrant yellow flowers, were fairly 
 swarming with these birds. They also searched the glorious bush allaniandas {AUa- 
 manda neriifolia and A. Williamsii), the beautiful datura {Brugmansia suareolens) with 
 its masses of pendent large fragrant flowers, and the petunia beds. Many of them 
 remain- in this locality until the first days of December, by which time even the last has 
 departed for more southern regions. When flying they skim over the bushes and waste 
 grounds, rifle the flowers, and are always mingling with the insects, such as butterflies, 
 bees, wasps, bumble bees, etc., so common where blossoms are found in abundance. 
 During their stay with us they may be found regularly at a certain place at a certain 
 time each day. In some seasons the gardens and the festoons of trumpet flowers seem 
 to be wholly alive with them, while in other years they are much rarer. They always 
 haunt open flowery fields and meadows and especially gardens, delighting to glitter in 
 the sun's rays. Rarely, if ever, they enter shady woods or localities poor in flowers. 
 
 The food of the Hummingbird consists chiefly of minute insects which are captured 
 in the tube of the flower with its long, thread-like tongue. While this is at present 
 a well-known and well-established fact, it is equally true that all the Hummingbirds 
 are very fond of the sweet nectar of the flowers, and that this, to a certain extent, 
 constitutes their nourishment. They are able to live for weeks on this substance alone. 
 My friend. Dr. Sigmund Graenicher of this city, an enthusiastic friend of Nature and a 
 distinguished scientist, kept a Hummingbiird for several weeks in his room. During some 
 cold and rainy days in September the bird had been captured, and my friend did every- 
 thing to keep it alive. It searched the flower bouquets on the table and rested invariably 
 on a leave stalk of a Cyperus alternifolias, kept in the corner of the room. When the 
 Doctor entered the room with honey in a tea-spoon or on his fingers, the bird came at 
 once at a certain call and sipped it with its long tongue. This was always done in the 
 usual flying position, and the hum of its vibrating wings could be distinctly heard. The 
 bird was exceedingly tame and fearless. After having satisfied its appetite, it returned 
 to its perch, where it at once began to trim its plumage and to clean its bill by rubbing 
 it against its perch. As soon as the weather became again warmer, early in October, 
 the bird was «et free. As a rule, however, these birds are not able to subsist on nectar 
 
 47 
 
alone for any length of time. They all die soon, and even the more robust species which 
 were brought over successfully to Europe, died shortly after their arrival. 
 
 The Hummingbird has a charming confidence in man and can easily be observed. 
 "In their disposition," writes my friend. Prof Robert Ridgway, "Hummingbirds are not 
 only very tame, but highly curious or inquisitive, and exhibit a special propensity to 
 closely inspect a human intruder to their domains. One of these little feathered fairies 
 will at such times approach like a flash and poise directly before one's face, its wings 
 vibrating so rapidly as to appear as a mere haze on each side of its body, which itself 
 remains so stationary that the inquiring expression of its bright black eyes and the 
 outline of nearly every feather of its compact little figure can be seen; then- it shifts 
 rapidly to one side, then to the other, and approaches so near as to be easily within 
 reach of the hand ; but the slightest demonstration causes it to vanish so swiftly that 
 the eye can scarcely trace the line of its flight." 
 
 The nidification of these feathered flower fairies is another very interesting point. 
 The nest is invariably built on a horizontal branch usually covered with crustaceous 
 lichens. Those found by me in Texas were firmly saddled on the horizontal branches of 
 the magnolia and on different oaks. The limbs on which they were placed were of the 
 thickness of a finger, and the nests were saddled on the bare branch, with no smaller 
 twigs in the walls or near the structure. Other nests, found in Wisconsin and Illinois, 
 w^ere placed on larger sized limbs, and the nests were also larger. The domicile is very 
 frequently placed in an old and rather dense apple tree, but in such a position where 
 the sun's rays can strike it. Sometimes a nest is discovered on a limb that is slightly 
 slanting, and the structure rests in a small fork. Such a nest has been figured by 
 Mr. Ridgway in his interesting little work, "The Hummingbirds." (Plate XXXVII.) 
 The beautiful nest of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a miniature of the Blue-gray 
 Gnatcatcher's. It is exceedingly difficult to find, being so very small and looking like a 
 moss-covered knot or protuberance. It is usually placed from eight to twelve feet above 
 the ground, but sometimes it is as low as four or five feet, and sometimes as high as 
 twenty to twenty-five feet from the ground. Usually the nests found in Texas were 
 scarcely larger than a large black walnut, measuring from 1.65 to 1 .75 in external diameter 
 by 1.50 to 1.60 in height. The cavity is about 1.00 inch deep, and 1.25 inch wide. It 
 is cup-like in shape, and of very homogeneous construction. It is made of various kinds 
 of vegetable wool, especially the down of the mullein and ferns. The whole is strengthened 
 on the outside by a few plant fibers. All the external portion of the small domicile is 
 covered with flat crustaceous lichens of a greenish or glaucous color, mostly a species 
 of Parmelia. These bluish-gray lichens, which show the color of the branch on which 
 the nest is saddled, appear to be agglutinated by the saliva of the bird. The cavity is 
 warmly lined with fern down and in other cases with very soft plant wool. The two 
 eggs are rather elliptical than oval, and of a pure white color. If we happen to approach 
 the nest too closely, the birds dart around us, often almost touching our face. Birds 
 and mammals approaching the nest are often furiously attacked and driven away. 
 
 "Notwithstanding its small size," writes Miss Hedwig Schlichting, "our little Ruby- 
 throat is a very agressive fellow, attacking with great fury everything that excites its 
 animosity. How often have I observed these midgets driving away such large birds as 
 
RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. 371 
 
 Robins are, but they are among themselves by no means peaceful and gentle creatures. 
 On the contrary, they are always fighting if one encroaches upon the domain of the 
 other. They resent every such attempt with a furious assault. In the fall, when the 
 young are able to fly and a number of Hummingbirds often sojourn in a locality rich in 
 flowers, they are constantly quarreling. One cold and gloomy Sunday afternoon, Sept. 9, 
 1894, while my sister and myself were sitting at the window engaged in reading and 
 observing numerous migrating birds in the garden, two Hummingbirds were noticed on 
 a Clematis coccinea growing on a veranda scarcely twenty feet away. They frequently 
 perched on overhanging shoots, stretching their long wings and trimming their feathers. 
 The one was engaged near the top of the clematis, often taking a rest of ten to fifteen 
 minutes before it resumed its soaring from flower to flower. The other began to search 
 for insects near the ground. Often it perched near a flower. or hung on one, without 
 using its wings, thrusting its long bill into the vase-like tube. Then again it resumed 
 its search in the usual manner. When it came too near its comrade sitting and search- 
 ing near the top of the vine, a fierce fight always began, so that both repeatedly tumbled 
 down into the grass. Finally the intruder always had to leave, but it returned again 
 and again, and again and again the encounter was repeated. This I observed the whole 
 afternoon. When I at last approached the bird that rested in the top of the clematis, 
 it turned its head to me, but it did not fly away until I touched the vine. Then it took 
 wing and I did not see another Hummingbird during that year." 
 
 By the middle of September most of these birds have left southern Wisconsin, 
 even those coming from the Fur Countries in the far North have passed south. These 
 lovely and diminutive creatures traverse a distance in their migrations which appears 
 almost impossible to birds of such smallness and delicacy, many individuals moving as 
 far south as Veragua, U. S. of Colombia, immediately north of the Isthmus of Panama. 
 A considerable number pass the winter as far north as southern Florida. "It is thus 
 evident," says Prof. Ridgway, "that, notwithstandia£tJ>hsjr diminutive size, some indi- 
 viduals of this species perform an annual migration of at least twenty-eight degrees of 
 latitude, equivalent to nearly 2,000 statute miles." 
 
 NAMES: Ruby-throated Hummingbiru, Flower-bird. — Rubinkolibri (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: TROCHILUS COLUBRIS Linne (1758). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Tail ih the male deeply forked; the feathers all narrow lanceolate-acute. In the female 
 slightly rounded and emarginate; the feathers broader, though pointed. Male, uniform metallic-green 
 above; a ruby-red gorget (blackish near the bill) with no conspicuous ruflf; a white color on the 
 jugulum; sides of body, greenish; tail-feathers, uniformly brownish-violet. Female, without the red on 
 the throat; the tail rounded and emarginate ; the inner feathers shorter than the outer; the tail-feathers 
 banded with black; the outer tipped with white; no rufous or cinnamon on the tail in either sex. 
 "Length, 3.25 inches; wing, 1.60; tail, 1.25; bill, .65 inches." (B. B. & R., II, p. 448.) 
 
Black-chinned Hummingbird. 
 
 Trochilus alexandri Bourcier & Mulsant. 
 
 Y FRIEND, Mr. T. B. Gault, has sent me the following excellent account of 
 'CQ^ the Black-chinned Hummingbird. 
 
 "To the ornithologist who may be so fortunate as to visit southern California in 
 the spring, when Nature has put on her holiday attire, and everything appear* at its 
 best, our friends, the feathered midgets, will contribute not a little to the pleasure of 
 his stay. 
 
 "In no other section of our country, perhaps, can we boast of having such num- 
 bers, if not species, of that interesting family Trochilidse. Although not as plentiful as 
 we might expect to find them in the more favored climes of South and Central America^ 
 where they are said to be found in the greatest abundance, both as regards individuals 
 and species represented, nor 'as thick as flies,' as the writer was informed on the train 
 going west, they are sufficiently numerous enough, however, to make themselves inter- 
 esting, even to the casual observer, forming, as they do, one of the characteristic 
 features of bird-life wherever flowers are to be found ; for every 'cactus-patch,' orange 
 orchard and flowered mesa may justly lay claim to numbers of these beautiful and dainty 
 creatures. They are, in fact, almost everywhere, and my experience, was that 1 met 
 with them in the most unlocked for and out-of-the-way places. The entrances to some 
 of the small ravines, or canons, running back into the foot-hills, seemed to offer favorite 
 retreats, as flowers were usually abundant in such localities; and, later on, when the 
 time for nest-building had arrived, several pairs would take up their residence, for the 
 time being, in the trees and bushes found farther up the canon, but more often in the 
 case of running'-water, however, as in selecting their nesting-sites they appear to have 
 a preference for mountain brooks and therefore entertain a peculiar hobby in the con- 
 struction of their nests on shrubbery overhanging the water. 
 
 "But without treating further the subject in a general way, it may be better, per- 
 haps, to go more into details and deal with each species separately, with the view of 
 presenting my observations in a way that is more methodical. 
 
 "As these notes relate principally to the breeding habits of the birds in question, 
 all others can be regarded as merely incidental. 
 
 "Next to the Anna, the Black-chinned Hummer is the most conspicuous species in 
 southern California. It frequents the orange groves in greatly augmented numbers, 
 especially at twilight, when the shadows begin to creep up the mountain-sides, and 
 other birds are commencing to retire for the night. Flitting in and out among the 
 fragrant blossoms, and golden fruit, they seem the embodiment of all that is bright, 
 energetic and industrious ; for very often three or four may be seen at once around the 
 same tree, and should two males chance to meet, a combat is sure to follow, and, 
 although no serious damage may result to either, one or other looses courage and darts 
 off like an arrow with the other in hot pursuit, scolding him in a mantKr more excitable 
 
BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD. 373 
 
 than dangerous. — About the last week in April the males appear to become cognizant 
 of the fact that the mating season is near at hand, and commence to look about them 
 with the ultimate view of securing a help-meet with whom they may share the labors 
 of the most important period. 
 
 "Between the seventh and tenth of May nest-building has begun in good earnest, 
 but not until they have become fully convinced that the location selected for their domi- 
 cile is all that could be desired, w^hich fact very often requires no ; small amount of 
 argument on the part of males to satisfy their more willful better halves. And if we 
 look carefully among the outermost branches of the lemon, pear, and English walnut 
 trees in the orchard, we may see some evidences of their intentions in the shape of small 
 bits of woven webs and down saddled upon or placed in the forks of a small spray. 
 But this is a very tedious undertaking and one that is apt to exhaust one's patience. 
 A better way to do is to surprise the birds while at work, an occupation that both 
 take part in cheerfully ; besides, they are fearless and confiding little fellows and, should 
 you keep quiet, will give you an opportunity to observe them. By the 10th of May 
 the nest is completed and ready for the eggs, which are deposited by the 14th ; in some 
 cases incubation begins a week earlier. These nests are of a light buff in color, bearing 
 a close resemblance to sponge in their consistency, and are composed almost wholly of 
 the down of a certain willow that grows along the water-courses. This cotton, or 
 catkin down, is woven together with a silky substance resembling the silk of coccoons. 
 Their average measurements are: 1.40 inches, external diameter; .95 inches, internal 
 diameter ; and .50 inches deep, inside measurement. Nests from several localities have a 
 general resemblance to each other. Two from the Sweetwater valley, San Diego County, 
 are of a lighter buff color than those found at Craft's Ranch, San Bernardino County. 
 
 "A nest found at the latter place. May 15, 1883, was built on a lemon tree about 
 five feet from the ground, the measurements being: 1.25 inches, external diameter; 
 .95 inches, internal diameter ; and .45 inches, inside depth. Several dried leaves were inter- 
 woven into the main body of the nest, thus serving as braces to support it more firmly; 
 it was saddled upon a branch. Small bits of leaf-bud scales and remains of insects 
 (Icerya, or cotton-cushion scale) embellish the exterior. Another nest of this bird, found 
 May 19, 1883, near National City, San Diego Co., was situated on one of the lower 
 outer branches of a willow. This nest was built, as were several others of the same kind 
 also, over the dry bed of the Sweetwater river and about seven feet above the sand. 
 In this connection it may be of interest to relate a pleasant experience that happened 
 to the writer while visiting that locality. I had discovered a nest of the Black-chinned 
 Hummingbird and was obliged to cut the branch upon which it was placed, before 
 inspecting its contents owing to its very pecuHar situation. Examination proved that 
 the eggs were so far advanced they would have hatched in a day or two, and what to 
 do with them was a perplexity, as for cabinet display they were beyond redemption, 
 and yet the nest was worthy of preservation. Putting them into the box, which I had 
 brought with me for that purpose, I sauntered along, keeping watch for any additional 
 Hummer's nests. The next nest found contained but one egg. Shortly afterwards 
 another nest of this species, containing two fresh eggs, was discovered upon a willow 
 about three feet from the ground. It was nicely situated, in order that one could easily 
 
374 COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD. 
 
 examine its contents without necessarily disturbing the branch upon which it was 
 placed. A happy thought then and there occurred to me, and that was to exchange 
 these for the incubated eggs taken from the first nest. This was done, the female watching 
 the operation from a little branch about a foot above my head with all the composure 
 possible, and more, perhaps, than most birds would have submitted to under the circum- 
 stances. However, as it was done more in the light of an experiment — having carried 
 the eggs with me for more than a half hour — that they would hatch seemed to be 
 contrary to reason. But a surprise was in store for me, for when going to the nest, 
 just five days later, I found in it two little naked black things, which upon first inspec- 
 tion bore a strong resemblance to worms; these were the young and nicely they* were 
 doing, judging from their actions. 
 
 "The old bird seemed to be well pleased too as she watched me from a neighboring 
 branch, while arranging her feathers, evidently wondering why I should take such a 
 deep interest in her treasures. And well she might have been pleased ; for incubation 
 had been robbed of all its tediousness in this case and the pair acting upon this assump- 
 tion undoubtedly hatched another brood, but not in such haste I venture to say. 
 
 "In size and shape the eggs of this species resemble those of our eastern Hum- 
 mingbird, but, in color, they are more of a yellowish- white." 
 
 This species ranges from Mexico to British Columbia, east to Utah and Arizona, 
 
 being especially common in the coast region of California. 
 
 NAMES: Black-chinned Hummingbird, Black-chinned Hummer. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: TROCHILUS ALBXANDRI Bourcier & Mulsant (1846). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Very similar to T. colubris. "Chin and upper part of throat, opaque velvety-black, without 
 metallic reflections, which are confined to the posterior border of the gorget, and are violet, sometimes 
 changing to steel-blue or green, instead of coppery-red. Female without the metallic scales; the tail- 
 feathers tipped with white; the tail, graduated, not emarginated; the innermost feather among the 
 longest. -7 Length of male, 3.30 inches; wing, 1.70; tail, 1.26; bill, .75." (B. B. & R., II, p. 450.) 
 
 The Violet-throated Hummingbird, Trochilas violajugulum Jeffries, is only 
 known from the type specimen, taken in 1883 in Santa Barbara, Cal., by Mr. J. A. Jeffries. 
 
 COSTA'S HUMAMNGBIRD. 
 
 Caljpte castas Gould. 
 
 I^HIS species is an inhabitant of southern California, southern Nevada and Arizona, 
 Lower California and Mexico. The beautiful bird was named by Bourcier ii\. 
 honor of the Marquis Costa de Beauregard. Mr. T. B. Gault, of Glen Ellyn, 111., sends 
 me the following very interesting communication on Costa's Hummingbird : 
 
 "Arrow-head Hot Springs are distant about five miles from the city of San Ber- 
 nardino and situated a mile or more up the side of the San Bernardino Mountains. 
 The springs have acquired considerable notoriety from their medicinal properties, 
 
"Formerly a complete arrow-head appeared on the side of the mountain, a little 
 above where the springs are located, which was formed by the sage brush growing 
 between two ravines that converge towards a certain point; these, with the rocks at 
 the base of the brush, form the outline of a perfect 'arrow-head,' and of a shape such 
 as we often find among the flint implements of a former age. The sage brush, being 
 lighter in color than the surrounding vegetation, makes it visible for miles around. 
 "Whence the springs derive their name ; but its shape was somewhat obliterated at the 
 time of our visit, caused by portions of the sage being burnt. In the neighborhood of 
 these springs, and running back into the .mountains, are several small caiions, among 
 them one that is designated by the name of 'Cold Water Caiion,' called so, no doubt, 
 by the presence of a beautiful stream of ice cold water, which wound its way down 
 between the almost perpendicular sides and over the mighty boulders. The locality was 
 extremely picturesque. There are other caiions which were said to be equally interesting, 
 but this was the only one explored by us. In company with Mr. W. A. Caldwell, of 
 Crafton, I visited this locality, May 15, 1883, but more out of a curiosity to see the 
 springs than for what observations I might make concerning its bird-life. But, even 
 from an ornithological standpoint, I have never regretted that we made that trip. 
 Although we found the sides of the canon usually very abrupt a:nd perpendicular, there 
 were places where a few trees and bushes managed to make a foothold, the most con- 
 spicuous trees among them being alder, sycamore, and mountain-laurel. Among these 
 the Black-chinned Hummer, as well as the Costa, were breeding quite abundantly; these 
 Hummers constituted about all of the bird-life of the canon. Three nests of the latter 
 bird were discovered; but unfortunately but one set of eggs was secured. One set was 
 accidentally shaken from the nest, and the other nest was out of reach. Most of the 
 nests found were on trees and bushes overhanging the water. 
 
 "On looking over my notes for that day I find the following enti-y, viz: 'We had 
 been noting how persistent the females were in occupying their nests, even after they 
 had been frightened away from them several times. In one case I held my hand about 
 a foot from one while she w^as on the nest, without any fear being evinced on her part, 
 until an attempt w^as made to catch her. This manoeuvre was repeated a number of 
 times, when she would always return to the nest and sit there as unconcernedly as 
 possible. Finally mj-^ companion struck at her with his hat and hit her, at the same 
 time striking the bough that the nest was on, precipitating her and the eggs into the 
 stream below.' A most tragic end, indeed, to such a peaceful existence! Incubation 
 was very far advanced in this set, as was proven by one of the eggs dropping upon a 
 flat Stone near the water's edge, on which a well-formed chick was deposited, which 
 would have hatched in a day or two. And as the other set, preserved, was quite well 
 along in the stages of incubation, it would seem that Costa's Hummer deposits its eggs 
 somewhat earlier than the Black-chinned. The nest of this bird, which is now before 
 me, measures 1.60 inches in diameter, outsides; 1.00 inch in diameter, inside, and 
 .60 inches in depth on the inside. It is altogether different in make-up from any of the 
 preceding nests described, having the appearance of a mass of spider's webs, small bits 
 of dried leaves and leaf-bud scales, interwoven in a compact mass. By examination I 
 also find that the birds have utilized the remains of an old nest in forming the founda- 
 
376 ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD. 
 
 tion for this one, which was built partly in the fork of one of the lower branches of an 
 alder tree, and situated between five and six feet from tl^e ground. A few feathers line 
 its interior. The eggs, as I have previouslj' stated, were somewhat advanced. They are 
 a trifle smaller than those of T. alexandri. As the male bird was not observed in the 
 neighborhood of the nest, and in order to dispel any doubt that may arise in respecting 
 this find, I will say that the female was taken and afterwards identiified, through the 
 kindness of Mr. Ridgway." 
 
 A nest in the B. P. Goss Collection, now in the Public Museum of Milwaukee, found' 
 May 29, 1883, in San Diego Co., Cal., was placed in a sage bush overhanging a gulch. 
 It agrees with the description Mr. Gault has given in the foregoing. Compared with 
 the domiciles of Anna's and the Black-chinned Kingbird the nest is very small. 
 
 NAMES: Costa's Hummingbird, Costa's Calypte (Gould), Costa's Hummer. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Ornismya costx Bourc. (1839). CALYPTE COST^ Gould (1856). .4«li/s costee 
 Reichenb. (1853). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Tail very slightly emarginated and rounded; exterior feathers very narrow, and linear. 
 A very long ruff on each side of the throat. Head above and below, with the ruff, covered with 
 metallic-red, purple and violet (sometimes steel-green). Remaining upper parts and sides of the body, 
 green. Throat under and between the ruffs, side of head behind the eye, anal region, and under tail- 
 coverts, whitish. Female with the tail rounded, scarcely emarginate; barred with black, and tipped 
 with white. The metallic colors of the head wanting. 
 
 "Length, 3.20 inches; wing, 1.75; tail, 1.10; bill, .68." (B. B. & R., II, p. 457.) 
 
 ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, 
 
 Calypte anna Gould. 
 
 Plate XXXIV. 
 
 ^HE mountains of California exhibit a grand displaj' of beautiful flowers almost 
 throughout the year. Different species of lilies, attaining in the pure mountain 
 air gigantic proportions, are found in great numbers along creeks and springs. The 
 wealth of cassiope, manzanita, ceanothus, adenostoma, etc., must be seen in order to 
 obtain an idea of the charming beauty of the mountain flora. In the sheltered and 
 mild valleys some flowers are found all the year round. Numerous bubbling brooks 
 intersect the magnificent forests with moss-covered stones and fern-clad nooks. Anna's 
 Hummingbird is a characteristic feature of these flowery wilds. Like an arrow it darts 
 along among the lilies and other flowers, poised on wings moving with almost invisible 
 velocit}', clothed in jDurple, silvery, or emerald glorj'. With startled look it is seen 
 gazing at the intruder, then with a sudden jerk, turning round first one eye, then the 
 other, disappears like a flash of light. 
 
 This species is perhaps the most beautiful of all our North American Humming- 
 birds. It was named by Lesson after Anna, Duchesse de Rivoli, and is one of the most 
 abundant of the Hummingbirds occui'ring in California, where it remains throughout 
 
XXXIV 
 
 S 
 
 TROCHILUS ANNA JARD. 
 
 SILBERCOLI BRI. 
 Anna's Hummingbird. 
 
 ? 
 
the year. "Its distribution within that State," says Prof. Ridgway, "is pretty general, 
 though it is said to be much less frequent in the low valleys than in the mountains in 
 summer, probably on account of the comparative scarcity of flowers. At San Diego it 
 is said to be more numerous in winter than in summer, as is probably the case in other 
 parts of southern California." The bird also occurs in Arizona and in Mexico. 
 
 The beautiful little nest is built preferably in low horizontal branches of the Cali- 
 fornia live-oak {Quercus agrifolia), and such a domicile has been beautifully portrayed 
 by the masterhand of my friend, Mr. Robert Ridgway. It also builds in the branches 
 of the photinia or tollon {Heteromeles arbuti folia) , one of the most beautiful evergreen 
 trees of this country. A typical nest now before me was constructed in the same manner 
 as the one figured by Mr. Ridgway. Placed on a horizontal branch of Quercus agrifolia, 
 it is made of a commingUng of mosses and plant-down, covered externally with a lace- 
 like yellow lichen {Ramalina Menziesii). It is about two inches in diameter and one 
 inch high. 
 
 Mr. W. Otto Emerson describes a nest that was found near San "Francisco, Cal., 
 on Feb. 22. It was built in the top of a branch of a cypress tree in a church yard, 
 seven feet above the ground, and was made of "bits of bark, moss, and stamens from 
 the blue gum tree blossoms, with bits of lichens fastened on with spider's webs ; inside 
 of thistle-down with a few bird feathers. It measures across the top 1.75 inches; depth 
 inside .75; outside 1.90 inches; across the bottom, 1.25 inches." Another nest of which 
 Mr. Emerson speaks, was found March 24. 
 
 Mr. H. R. Taylor of Alameda, Cal., gives the foUow-ing interesting description of 
 the nidification of this species: "Anna's Hummingbird is not very particular as to 
 location when it begins to think of a home for its young. I have found their nests in 
 orchards, in cactus and in fine cypress, eucalyptus, and many other trees. I have seen 
 them forty feet from the ground, and again so low that the cozy structure was dis- 
 covered by the angry buzzing of the female, as she flew from her eggs close by my head. 
 I once saw a nest in a rather odd situation; it was in a locust tree where there were 
 only bare limbs and twigs. Another example of a bird's idiosyncrasy was a nest built 
 about fifteen feet up in a eucalyptus. A dry twig had fallen among some green leaves 
 and shoots next the trunk of the big tree, and on this precarious foundation the Hum- 
 mingbird had built its nest.— Anna's Hummingbird doubtless raises several broods 
 yearly, for nests are found early and late in the season. My earliest date is February 
 13, incubation far advanced. Mr. A. M. IngersoU found a nest with eggs nearly hatched 
 on January i4. 
 
 "It is not the easiest thing to find a Hummingbird's nest, the birds are such 
 deceivers. Often I have twisted my head about in a surprising manner to follow a swift- 
 speeding Humnier which stopped a moment about some tree to buzz and then suddenly 
 darted down to settle on the nest. Sometimes they appear to fly directly past the tree 
 containing the nest, but turn in the air with wonderful rapidity and go like a flash to 
 cover their eggs. In size and construction the nest of Anna's Hummingbird varies 
 greatly. Very often they are quite large for the size of the bird and decked with beau- 
 tifiil lichens and moss, and I remember one which was exceedingly shatUow and built of 
 nothing but willow cotton." 
 
 48 
 
378 BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD. 
 
 NAMES: Anna's Hummingbird, Anna's Hummer.— Silberkolibri (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Ornismya anna Lesson (1831). Trocbilus anna Jard., And. CALYPTB ANN^ 
 
 Gould (1856). 
 DESCRIPTION: One of the largest of our Hummingbirds. "Tail, deeply forked; external feather narrow, 
 
 linear. Top of head, throat, and a moderate ruif, metallic crimson-red, with purple reflections. Rest 
 
 of upper parts and a band across the breast, green. Tail-feathers, purplish-brown, darkest centrally. 
 
 In the female the tail is slightly rounded, not emarginate; the scales of the head and throat are 
 
 wanting. Tail, barred with black, and tipped with white., 
 
 "Length about 3.60 inches; wing, 2.00; tail, 1.45 inches." (B. B. & R., II, p. 454.) 
 
 BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD. 
 
 Selasphorus platycercus Bonaparte. 
 
 ^HE Broad-tailed Hummingbird is the most common, or at least most conspicuous, 
 species of the family in the Rocky Mountain district, although it seems to be 
 more particularly characteristic of the eastern portions, gradually diminishing in num- 
 bers, or at least in the coiitinuity of the areas which it inhabits, to the westward. I 
 am unable to find any authentic record of its occurrence west of the one hundred and 
 sixty-first meridian, where in the East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada, I found it fairly 
 common in August, 1868. 
 
 "In the Rocky Mountain district proper, as in Colorado, for example, it breeds at 
 an elevation of from 4,000 to 11,000 feet, and I found it having about the same vertical 
 range in the East Humboldt Mountains. In the San Francisco Mountains, Arizona, 
 according to Dr. Meams, it is an abundant summer resident of the spruce belt. At Fort 
 Garland, Colorado, Mr. Henshaw found it most numerous along the mountain streams, 
 at an altitude of about 7,000 feet. It breeds abundantly in the mountains of northern 
 New Mexico, but in those of southern Arizona it is said to be comparatively rare during 
 the breeding season. On the Upper Pecos River, New Mexico, Mr. Henshaw found the 
 Broad-tailed Hummingbirds 'exti-emely numerous'; young birds were noticed August 1, 
 and by the 10th they became common. By August 1, the males of this species began 
 to get less numerous, and by the 10th there were none; in fact, I saw very few after 
 that date. This is an extremely interesting fact. Wherever I have been in the West, 
 and for that matter in the East also, I have always been led to wonder at the apparent 
 absence of males early in fall in localities where the females and young were very 
 numerous. The observations I was able to make here solved the problem to my satis- 
 faction. The truth appears to be that immediately upon the young leaving the nest the 
 males abandon their summer limits and at once set out for their winter-quarters, leaving 
 the females and young to follow at their convenience. 
 
 " 'In this locality at least there is an evident reason for this. Just about this date 
 the Scrophttlaria, which is the favorite food plant of the Hummers, begins to lose its 
 blossoms, and in a comparatively short time the flowers give place to the seed pods. 
 
BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD. 379 
 
 Though there are other flowers which are resorted to by the Hummers, particularly 
 several species of Pentstemon, they by no means afford the luxurious living the former 
 plant does. It seems evident, therefore, that the moment its progeny is on the wing, 
 and its home ties severed, warned of the approach of fall alike by the frosty nights and 
 the decreasing supply of food, off go the males to their inviting winter haunts, to be 
 followed not long after by the females and young. The latter — probably because they 
 have less strength ^linger last, and may be seen even after every adult bird has departed.' 
 
 "In the San Francisco Mountains, Arizona, Dr. Merriam found them 'very abundant 
 in the balsam belt and the upper part of the pine belt. A nest containing two nearly 
 fledged young was found on the limb of a Douglas fir, about four feet from the ground, 
 July 31. The principal food plant of this Hummingbird is the beautiful scarlet trumpet 
 flower of Pentstemon barbatus Torreyi. During the latter part of August and early 
 September, after it had ceased flowering, these birds were fnost often seen in the beds 
 of the large blue larkspur {Delphinium scopulorum). They wake up very early in the 
 morning and go to water at daylight, no matter how cold the weather is. During the 
 month of August, and particularly the first half of the month, when the mornings were 
 often frosty, hundreds of them came to the spring to drink and bathe at break of day. 
 They were like a swarm of bees, buzzing about one's head and darting to and fro in 
 every direction. The air was full of them. They would drop down to the water, dip 
 their feet and bellies, and rise and shoot away as if propelled by an unseen power. 
 They would often dart at the face of an intruder as if bent on piercing the eye with 
 their needle-like bill, and then poise for a moment almost within reach before turning, 
 when they were again lost in the busy throng. Whether this act was prompted by 
 curiosity or resentment I was not able to ascertain. Several were seen at the summit 
 of the mountain during the latter part of August. They were found also at the Grand 
 Canon of the Colorado, September 12 to 15. They began to leave the mountain during 
 the first w^eek in September, and none were seen after the middle of the month. 
 
 "Mr. Henshaw mentions the marked hostility existing between this Hummingbird 
 and the Rufous-backed species, but adds that, 'in the fall, . when migrating, they are 
 brought by the similarity of tastes and habits into the same localities, and their com- 
 bined numbers are in some favored spots in Arizona simply surprising. The beds of 
 bright flowers about Willow Spring, in the White Mountains, Arizona, were alive with 
 them in August, and as they moved swiftly to and fro, now surfeiting themselves on 
 the sweets they here found so abundant, now fighting with each other for possession of 
 some such tempting prize as a cluster of flowers, their rapid motions, and the beauty 
 of their colors, intensified by the bright sunlight— the gorgets of gold and purple con- 
 trasting against their emferald and bright-red bodies — conspired to an effect not soon 
 to be forgotten.' " 
 
 The foregoing I have quoted from Prdf. Robert Ridgway's excellent work, "The 
 Hummingbirds" (Report of the National Museum for 1890). 
 
 This species is said to be the noisiest of all our Hummingbirds, uttering in its 
 flight almost constantly a sharp screeching or chattering note. It nests in large numbers 
 in thickets of dwarf willows along streams. Like almost all the nests of these, flower 
 fairies, the domicile of this species is very beautiful, being composed of soft plant-down. 
 
380 
 
 RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. 
 
 and covered externally with lichens and bark-fiber, resembling the twigs to which it is 
 attached. It is usually placed from three to ten feet from the ground. A nest in the 
 B. F. Goss Collection in the Public Museum of Milwaukee is almost entirely made of 
 buif-colored plant-down, and the whole looks much like a sponge. 
 
 NAMES: Broad-t ailed Hummingbird. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Trocbilus platycercus- Swains. (1827). SELASPHORUS PLATYCERCUS Bonap. 
 (1850). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Male above and on the sides, metallic-green; chin and throat, light reddish-purple; behind 
 which, and along the belly to the tail is a good deal of white. Wings and tail, dusky purplish; the 
 tail-feathers, excepting the internal and external ones, edged towards the base with light cinnamon. 
 Female without the metallic gorget; the throat-feathers with dusky centres. The tail somewhat 
 cuneate, as in the male, etc., etc. 
 
 "Length, 3.50 inches; wing, 1.92; tail, 1.40; bill, .80." (B. B. R., II, p. 463.) 
 
 RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. 
 
 Selaspborus rufus Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXXV. 
 
 Minutest of the feathered kind, 
 Fossessiiig^ every charm combin'd, 
 Nature, in forming: thee, design'd 
 
 That thou shouldpt be 
 
 A proof within how little space 
 She can comprise such perfect grace. 
 Rendering thy lovely fairy race 
 
 Beauty's epitome. 
 
 Thou burnished colors to bestow, 
 Her pencil in the heavenly bow 
 She dipp'd, and made thy plumes to glow 
 With every hue. 
 
 CHARLOTTS SMITHi 
 
 ^F ALL our western Hummingbirds," says Prof R. Ridgway, "the Roufous-backed 
 has the, widest distribution, its breeding range extending from the mountains of 
 Arizona to latitude 61° on the coast of Alaska, and from the Pacific coast to New 
 Mexico and Colorado. It mtfet not be inferred from this general statement, however, 
 that the species breeds everywhere within the wide extent of territory thus defined, for, 
 on the cotltrary, certain conditions of climate and vegetation, dependent on altitude as 
 well as latitude, are necessary for its existence. In Colorado, for example, it is said to 
 breed only above an elevation of 6,500 feet, ranging thence up to 10,500 feet, although 
 in the Santa Catalina Mountains of southern Arizona, so much farther south, its breed- 
 ing range is said to be between 4,000 and 6,000 feet elevation. 
 
 "In Ventura County, California, it is said to be the most abundant species of the 
 family during summer; but Mr. fielding says that in the Sierra Nevada it is a rare 
 summer resident above 4,000 feet. It seems not to occur at all in Lower California, 
 except possibly as a casual visitant or straggler, since Mr. fielding never met with 
 it during his several explorations of that peninsula." 
 
Tafel XXXV 
 
 ^-^^ 
 
 TROCHILUS RIJFUS GMEL 
 
 GOLDCOLIBRl. 
 Rufous Hummingbird. 
 
Mr. H. W. Henshaw, who observed this Hummingbird in great abundance on the 
 upper Pecos River, New Mexico, gives the following interesting account: 
 
 "The number of reprfesentatives of this and the preceding species that make their 
 summer homes in these mountains is simply beyond calculation. No one whose experience 
 is limited to the Eastern United States can form any adequate idea of their abundance. 
 They occur from an altitude of about 7,500 feet far up on the mountain sides, as high 
 up, in fact, as suitable flowers afford them the means of subsistence. They are most 
 numerous at an altitude of from 8,000 to 9,000 feet. During the entire summer they 
 frequent almost exclusively a species of Scrophularia which grows in clumps in the 
 sunnier spots of the valleys. From early dawn till dusk the Hummingbirds throng 
 around these plants, intent in surfeiting themselves on honey and the minute insects 
 that the honey attracts. The scene presented in one of these flowering areas is a most 
 attractive one. Males and females, all flock to the common feeding ground, and as the 
 Hummers, especially of the Rufous-backed species, are pugnacious and hot tempered in 
 the extreme, the field becomes a constant battle-ground whereon favorite flowers and 
 favorite perching grounds are contested for with all the ardor that attaches to more 
 important conquests. The fiery red throat of the Rufous-backed Hummer is an index 
 of its impetuous, aggressive disposition, and w^hen brought into conflict with the other 
 species, it invariably asserts its supremacy and drives its rival in utter rout from the 
 fields. Nor do the males of this species confine their warfare to their own sex. Gallantry 
 has no place apparently in their breasts,. and when conquest has put them iti possession 
 of a perch near a clump of flowers, they wage war on all comers, females as well 
 as males. 
 
 "Nor is the pugnacity of this Hummingbird limited to attacks on other species. 
 The presence of a male of its own kind is sufficient to arouse it to the highest pitch of 
 fury, and should the contestants be equally matched, they will seize each other by the 
 bill and, using their wings as offensive weapons, fall to the ground, roll over and over 
 in fierce strife until exhausted, or until one is worsted, when he is off like a bullet for 
 less dangerous hunting grounds, followed by the exulting victor, who, however, soon 
 gives over pursuit and returns to the perch he has so well won, to preen his disordered 
 plumage and make ready for a fresh contest. 
 
 "When the attack is urged against the males of the Broad-tailed species, the con- 
 test is less fierce, the latter species usually abandoning the ground in hot haste. The 
 latter result always follows the assault of a male upon the females who, if less valiant 
 in battle, are scarcely less backward when it comes to the assertion of their .rights 
 against intruders of their own sex. The rivalry the females display is not less marked 
 if the battles it prompts are less fierce than when the males are engaged ; occasionally 
 the females will fight with all the ardor displayed by the males. The mimic contests 
 thus hinted at rather than described— for the fury and spirit displayed in their battles 
 must be seen to be appreciated— are continued all day long, and were the strength of 
 the combatants at all proportionate to their fury, the problem of Hummingbird Hfe 
 would simply resolve itself down to a question of the survival of the strongest. But 
 the tiny strength of these pygmies, though backed by never so much warUke spirit, is 
 scarcely sufficient to detach a feather from each other's gleaming bodies ; and even at 
 
 J 
 
382 RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. 
 
 the close of the season the male birds show little wear and tear, and are in prime con- 
 dition as regards their plumage. 
 
 "If they have occasion to fear each other— and sometimes I have thought they 
 fight merely for the pure fun of it — they fear nothing else. About our camp, where were 
 a few clumps of the Scropbalaria, they were especially fearless, and provided one 
 remained reasonably quiet, they would approach within two or three feet. When in 
 such proximity, their sharp eyes were constantly on the watch, and a hostile movement 
 sent them away like streaks of flame. By gradual approach, however, I was able oti 
 several occasions to strike one down with my hat and secure it uninjured before it 
 recovered either presence of mind or strength to get on wing, 
 
 "Some idea of the number of Hummingbirds in this locality— and in this respect 
 this whole mountain area is alike — may be gained from the statement that in a single 
 clump of the Scrophularia I have counted eighteen Hummers, all within reach of a 
 ordinary fishing rod. There was scarcely a moment in the day when upwards of fifty 
 could not be counted within the area of a few yards in any of the patches of this 
 common plant. 
 
 "As to their nesting, it is a curious and almost unaccountable fact that, notwith- 
 standing their great numbers, we found but a single nest, and this after it was deserted. 
 Inquiry among the settlers showed that they had never chanced upon their nests, and 
 I judge that the greater part nest, as I found to be the case in Arizona, in the upper 
 limbs of the pines ; occasionally they nest lower. The one I found was on a dead aspen, 
 not more than ten feet from the ground. At the time when they are building, their 
 nests may be readily found. One has only to follow the birds straight to their nesting- 
 sites as they bear away material in the shape of conspicuous tufts of cottony down 
 from the willows." 
 
 The favorite nesting site of the Rufous Hummingbird is along the banks of creeks 
 and mountain streams, on the overhanging branches of trees and bushes. Mr. A. W. 
 Anthony, who found the bird very numerous in Washington Co., Oregon, found nests 
 in ferns, in bushes and trees, and in vines overhanging embankments. The latter, he 
 says, seems to be the favorite locality, as he found six nests in an old railroad cut, in 
 May and June. The materials used are willow-floss and soft plant-down. Almost all 
 the nests are covered with lichens, which resemble the small branches of moss in the 
 trees where they are built. Mr. Ridgway's portrait on Plate XXXV of the nest is an 
 excellent reproduction, and gives a good idea of the typical structure. 
 
 NAMES: Rufous Hummingbird, Nootka Sound Hummingbird, Ruff-necked Hummingbird, Cinnamon, or 
 Nootka Hummingbird, Rufous-backed Hummingbird, Rufous Flame-bearer (Gould). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Trocbilus rufus Gmel. (1788J. Trochilus (SBLASPHORUS) RUFUS Swains. (1831). 
 Selasphorus rufus Aud. (1839). Selaspborus hensbawi Elliot (1877). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Tail, strongly cuneate and wedge-shaped. Upper parts, lower tail-coverts, and breast, 
 cinnamon. A trace of metallic-green on the crown, which sometimes extends over the back, never on 
 the belly. Throat, coppery-red, with a well-developed ruff of the same; below this a white collar. 
 Tail-feathers,- cinnamon, edged or streaked with purplish-brown. Female with the rufous of the back 
 covered or* replaced with green ; less cinnamon on the breast. Traces only of metallic feathers on 
 the throat. Tail, rufous, banded with black and tipped with white ; middle feathers glossed with green 
 at the end. Tail still cuneate. 
 
 "Length of male, 3.50 inches; wing, 1.55; tail, 1.30 inches." (B. B. & R., II, p. 450.) 
 
ALLEN'S HUM/vviNGBIRD. 
 
 Selasphorus alleni Henshaw. 
 
 This Species so closely resembles the Rufous Hummingbird in gener9,I appearance 
 that only the observer, well acquainted with both birds, can distinguish them. Its range 
 is far more restricted than that of its congener, being essentially confined to the coast 
 distiicts of California, but occurs as far rtorth as British Columbia. It arrives at San 
 Diego, Cal., at the same time when the Rufous Hummingbird makes its appearance. In 
 Nicasio County, Cal., it seems to be most abundant, it having been discovered thereby 
 Mr. C. A. Allen, of Nicasio. The latter observer reports that the "Greenbacks," as he 
 calls them, "are much the livelier and more active of the two, keeping constantly in 
 the open and always perching on the most prominent dead twigs they can find. 
 Their extreme shyness, as contrasted with the unsuspicious nature of the Rufous-backs, 
 is quite remarkable. They seem to possess a larger share than usual of the courage 
 and pugnacity which is constantly displayed in birds of this family." He has often seen 
 the little fellows in hot chase after the Sparrow Hawks, who only seemed to care to 
 get out of the way as soon as possible of foes so determined. 
 
 Mr. W. Otto Emerson, of Haywards, Cal., speaks of a pair building their nest in 
 
 a climbing rose under his porch. It was made of the cotton of willows and the flower 
 
 stamens of the Australian gum trees. A nest found on May 2, 1883, by Mr. A. M. 
 
 IngersoU at Santa Cruz, Cal., and now in the B. F. Goss Collection, was built in a 
 
 blackberry bush, two and a half feet from the ground. Externally it is made of pieces of 
 
 lichens, moss, fliower-stamens and bits of leaves, and the cavity is lined w^ith fine 
 
 plant down. 
 
 NAMES: Allen's Huumingbird, Green-backed Hummingbird, Green-back. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: SELASPHORUS ALLENI Henshaw (1877). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male with top of head, hind neck, back, scapulars and wing-coverts, metallic-green; 
 rump, upper tail-coverts, tail, lores, orbital region, ear-coverts, sides, and flanks, cinnamon-rufous; 
 gorget, intensely brilliant metallic-scarlet (exactly as in S. rafts); chest, white; tail-feathers, next to 
 niiddle pair, tapering gradually etc. 
 
 "Length, 3.40 inches; wing, 1.50; tail, 1.15 inches." (R. Ridgway.) 
 
 Floresi's Hummingbird, Selasphorus Horesii Gould, a native of Mexico, has been 
 detected in one specimen by Mr. Bryant at San Francisco. 
 
 CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD. 
 
 Stellala calliope Gould. 
 
 "This is the smallest of our North American Hummingbirds," says Prof. R. 
 Ridgway, "but, notwithstanding its diminutive size, has a very extensive distribution, 
 ranging farther north than any other of the western species except Selasphorus rufus, 
 and extending from the Pacific coast nearly, if not quite, to the main chain of the Rocky 
 Mountains. Like the Rufous Hummingbird, however, it does not inhabit every portion 
 of the extensive region indicated, but only such parts as are suited to it by topo- 
 graphical or climatic conditions. In California, according to Mr. Stephens, it breeds as 
 far south as the San Bernardino Mountains, where it inhabits the pine region, but in 
 
most parts of that State it is, according to Mr. Belding, rare and chiefly a migrant, 
 though breeding in the Sierra Nevada above 4,000 feet. Mr. Townsend found it breed- 
 ing abundantly on the McCloud River, in the northern part of the State, as did 
 Dr. Merrill at Fort Klamath, Oregon. Dr. Merriam obtained a female on the 3rd of 
 July at Fort Ellis, Montana, where the species was doubtless breeding, and Mr. John 
 Fannin records it as a common summer resident at Buzzard Inlet, British Columbia. 
 It has not yet been taken in Colorado ; but it may be expected to occur in the western 
 portion of that State, since the present writer found it to be not uncommon in the 
 Wasatch Mountains of Utah, where in fact it was almost as numerous as w&s Selas- 
 pborus platycercus. Mr. Henshaw found it rather numerous in summer along the Upper 
 Pecos River, in New Mexico." 
 
 Some points in the breeding habits of the Calliope Hummingbird are thus 
 described by Dr. J. C. Merrill, the locality being Fort Klamath, Oregon : 
 
 "First taken May 17. A few Hummers, apparently of this species, had been seen 
 for ten days before this date, but they were not abundant until the 16th, after which 
 the males were common about the blossoms of wild currant and gooseberry bushes. 
 During the breeding season they are generally distributed, and are to be found in deep 
 pine woods as well as in more open places, the constant sharp, shrill notes of the males 
 indicating their presence and abundance. When pairing soon after their arrival, and 
 with less frequency during the period of incubation, the males have a habit of poising 
 themselves for some seconds at a height of thirty or forty feet above the ground, and 
 then dashing down nearly to the earth, rising as quickly to poise again, and repeating 
 the manoeuvre often ; at such times their notes are particularly loud and attract atten- 
 tion from a considerable distance. 
 
 "A nest brought to me about the middle of July, and which the young had just 
 
 left, was placed upon a dead flattened cone of Pinus contorta. It was composed of thin 
 
 strips of gray bark, with a few spiders' webs on the outside ; the lining was similar, 
 
 but with a few small tufts of a cottony blossom from some tree ; the nest was just the 
 
 color of the cone and was admirably adapted to escape notice. Another nest containing 
 
 two nearly fledged young was found at about the same time, but was quite unlike the 
 
 one just described in construction and situation, being of the common Hummingbird 
 
 type and saddled upon a dead willow twig. One of the young birds lived for about a 
 
 week, becoming very tame and feeding greedily upon sirup." 
 
 NAMES: Calliope Hummingbird, Mexican Satellite, Star-throated Hummingbird, Satellite Hummingbird. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Trocbilus (Calotborax) calliope Gould (1847), STELLULA CALLIOPE Gould 
 (1861). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male with the narrow and distinctly outlined feathers of the gorget, pure white 
 basally, metallic reddish-purple terminally; middle tail-feathers somewhat spatulate, purplish back, 
 edged with rufous toward base and broadly tipped with dull brownish-gray, etc. Under-parts, white, 
 the sides and flanks, metallic-green, mixed or washed with pale rusty. Adult female, metallic bronze- 
 green above ; under-parts, white ; the sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts, pale rusty or cinnamon-buff, 
 the throat more or less spotted with brownish." (R. Ridgway.) 
 
 Lucifer Hummingbird, Calotborax lucifer Gray. This beautiful species has been 
 added to our avifauna by Mr. H. W. Henshaw, who found a specimen near Camp Bowie, 
 Arizona. It is a numerous bird in Mexico. A nest in the B. F. Goss Collection, said to be 
 
 -J 
 
collected in southern Arizona, is made entirely of a mixture of plant-down, spiders' webs, 
 
 and covers of leaf and flower buds. It is a beautiful, firmly felted domicile. This species 
 
 is also known as the Mexican Star. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Adult male with gorget rich metallic-violet, varying to purplish-blue; upper parts, metallic 
 bronze-green, the three outer tail-feathers, purplish-black; chest, bufty-white, belly and under tail- 
 coverts, purer white; sides and flanks, dull greenish-bronze, tinged with rusty." 
 
 Rieffer's Hummingbird, Amazilia fuscicaudata Ridgw. Like the allied Bufi"-bellied 
 Hummingbird, this species was discovered by Dr. J. C. Merrill at Fort Brown, Texas. 
 The specimen was brought alive to him by a soldier, but subsequently escaped. It is 
 an inhabitant of a large territory, ranging from the lower Rio Grande, south through 
 eastern Mexico to Central America and northern South America. 
 
 Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Amazilia cerviniventris Gould. This is the plainest 
 species of all the Hummingbirds occurring in the United States. It was first obtained 
 within our border by Dr. J. C. Merrill, U. S. Army, at Fort Brown, Texas, in 1876. 
 It was there an abundant summer visitor, being particularly numerous on the military 
 reservation. It seemed to be perfectly at home among the dense tangled thickets, darting 
 rapidly among the bushes and creeping vines. It was rather a noisy bird, its shrill cries 
 usually first attracting attention to its presence. 
 
 A nest in the B. F. Goss Collection in the Public Museum of Milwaukee, obtained 
 on May 12, 1891, near Brownsville, Tex., "in the thick woods," is made of fine hemp- 
 like fibers, plant-wool, and spiders' webs, and the exterior is decorated only with a few 
 lichens. The lining consists of plant down. According to Mr. Geo. K. Cherrie this is 
 the most abundant species about San Jos6, Costa Rica. He believes that it nests there 
 in every month of the year. Nests are usually placed about fifteen feet from the ground 
 either in orange or lemon trees. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Above, metallic-green, tinged with bronze, the top of the head much duller; upper tail- 
 coverts, bronze-green; tail, clear chestnut; sides of head, metallic-green; chin, throat, and chest, 
 brilliant metallic Paris-green; breast, metallic bronze-green; belly and flanks, light bufly-cinnamon ; 
 downy femoral tufts, white, etc. 
 
 "Length, 4.00 inches; wing, 2.25; tail, 1.50; bill, 0.80." Female, similar. (After R. Ridgway.) 
 
 Xantus' Hummingbird, Basilinna xantusi Elliot. This species inhabits Lower 
 California north to latitude 29°. Its congener, the White-eared Hummingbird, Basilinna 
 leiicotis BoiE, has been found from Nicaragua and Mexico north to the Chiricahua 
 Mountains, Arizona. 
 
 Broad-billed Hummingbird, lache latirostris Elliot. This species, which is also 
 called Circe Hummingbird and Circe, appears to be rather numerous in southern Arizona, 
 From here it is abundant south to the valley of Mexico. A nest in the B. F. Goss Collec- 
 tion was found May 19, 1890, in the Huachuca Mountains, at an elevation of 7,500 feet. 
 It was placed in a maple tree, seven feet from the ground, and is constructed of buff 
 plant-down and spiders' nests, well felted; the exterior is decorated with a few pieces of 
 leaves. It is a deeply cupped structure. 
 
 DESCRIPTION : "The color of this species is above metallic grass-green, some feathers tinged with bluish- 
 green in certain lights, the fore-head much duller ; tail, glossy blue-black ; chin and throat, rich metallic 
 cobalt-blue, gradually changing posteriorly to metallic bluish grass-green, which color covers uniformly 
 the chest, breast, belly, sides, and flanks ; thigh-tufts, pure white. 
 
 "Length, about 3.50 inches; wing, 2.05; tail, 1.30 inches." (After Ridgway.) 
 
 49 
 
SWIFTS. 
 
 Micropodidse. 
 
 VIEW of their external appearance the Swifts have been called 
 Swallows from times immemorial, and even to-day they are 
 regarded as such by the people. There is, however, a great differ- 
 between the Swallows and the Swifts. In their internal 
 
 ence 
 
 structure and in their habits they are so dissimilar that they 
 must at once be recognized by close observers, as quite different birds. The 
 Swifts show ;nothing of the happy congenial nature of the Swallows. 
 They are entirely songless, and in their ways they appear rather mysterious. 
 The family is found all over the globe, except in the extreme cold regions 
 and in New Zealand, being most abundant in the tropics. The Swifts are 
 represented in this country by the following genera : 
 
 1, Cypseloides Streubel. Black Swifts. One species. 
 
 2, Cbeetura Stephens. Chimney Swifts. Two species. 
 
 3, Aeronautes Hartert. Typical Swifts. One species. 
 
 Black Swift, Cypseloides niger Sclat. This graceful Swift is an inhabitant of 
 the Rocky Mountain Region, north to British Columbia and west to the Pacific coast. 
 It is found south to Lower California, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the West Indies. 
 
 Though the Black Swift seems to be a rather scarce bird in the various regions, 
 
 above mentioned, Mr. M. H. Gonnley reports in "The Auk," that it is somewhat abundant 
 
 at Seattle, Wash., where he found it nesting in the cornices of buildings near the water 
 
 front, in the business part of the city. The nests are usually placed in galvanized iron 
 
 cornices, where they are safe from all kinds of depredations. A nest found June 6, 
 
 1888, Mr. Gormley describes more in detail. It was built in the interior of a cornice of 
 
 a small frame building. The entrance to the nest was at one end of the cornice. The 
 
 deck or top was sprung up so as to leave an opening. The compartment was about 
 
 twenty inches square. The structure was composed of leaves, which were j'ct green, bits 
 
 of paper, chips from a planing mill near by, a few horse hairs, and straw, and was 
 
 surrounded by a large quantity of loose straw. The leaves and paper formed the lining 
 
 of the nest. The eggs were pure white. Another set of four eggs was found on June 28. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Uniform dusUy or blackish, becoming itiore sooty-grayish on head and neck, the forehead 
 more hoary.'' (Ridgway.) — Length about 7.25 inches; wing, 7.00; tail, 2.65 inches. 
 
CHIMNEY SWIFT. 
 
 Cheetura pelagica Stephens. 
 
 I'late XVIII. Fig. 5. 
 
 ^HE Chimney Swift, or, as it is often erroneously called, the Chimney Swallow, 
 is one of our most familiar birds during the breeding season, occurring from 
 Florida and Texas northward to Labrador and the Fur Countries, and from the Atlantic 
 to the Plains. It is supposed to winter in such places in the tropics, where flying insects 
 are most abundant. 
 
 In Wisconsin the Chimney Swifts usually arrive between May 9, and May 15; 
 in south-western Missouri I have noticed them rarely before April 15. In Orange Co., 
 Fla., I observed them in the first week of April, and in south-eastern Texas they appeared 
 in large numbers in the last days of March. The swift-flying, sooty little bird, with its 
 long pointed wings and short tail, is seen constantly skimming over the fields and 
 meadows, now high up in the air during fine weather, and now low down when the 
 atmosphere is w^arm and damp, or early in the morning and after sunset. It is often 
 seen in company with the Swallows, hunting for small flying insects, its only food. 
 Being rather crepuscular in its habits, it prefers to hunt for its insect prey in cloudy 
 w^eather, or very early in the morning, shortly after dawn, and in the dusk of evening. 
 "In this it is probably influenced by the abundance or scarcity of insects, as it is not 
 unfrequently to be seen hawking for insects in the bright glare of noon. When they 
 have young, they often continue to feed them until quite late at flight." (Brewer.) 
 
 In its habits the Chimney Swift presents many remarkable differences from 
 most other species, especially those of Europe. "While the latter," according to 
 Dr. T. M. Brewer, "are shy and retiring, shunning the places frequented by man, and 
 breeding chiefly in caves or ruined and deserted habitations, their representatives in 
 eastern North America, like all the Swallow family here, have, immediately upon erection 
 of the dwellings of civilized life, manifested their appreciation of the protection they 
 afford, by an entire change in their habits in regard to the location of their nests. 
 When the country was first settled, these birds were known to breed only in the hollow 
 trunks of forest trees. The chimneys of the dwellings of civilized communities presented 
 sufficient inducements, in their greater convenience, to tempt these birds to forsake their 
 primitive breeding places. The change in this respect has been nearly complete. And 
 now, in the older portions of the country, they are not known to resort to hollow trees 
 for any other purpose than as an occasional roosting place." 
 
 In Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri I have always found the nests of these birds 
 in buildings. Even in Milwaukee and Chicago they are known to nest numerously in 
 chimneys. The first nest of the Chimney Swift which I ever saw, was glued to the 
 rough boards in the inner gable of our bam. This was in the days of my boyhood. 
 For several successive years the paiir glued their nest to the rough boards. It was a 
 very peculiar structure, quite different from all other birds' nests, semi-circular, saucer- 
 ghaped, flat, made of small sticks which were firmly glued together, and there was no 
 
lining. Although the Swifts are exceedingly gregarious, they do not show this trait 
 during the breeding season, as usually only one pair is found nesting in one chimney. 
 The usual site of the nest is a chimney not in use. They exercise superior care and 
 foresight in the selection of the chimney. The nest is usually placed far down and is 
 always glued to the walls by means of a gummy saliva which the birds secrete. The 
 small sticks, of which it is composed, are of a uniform size, wrought and interwoven 
 into a neat semi-circular basket. All the twigs are glued together. "In selecting the twigs, 
 with which they are to construct their nests," says Dr. Brewer, "the Swifts break from 
 the tree the ends of living branches, which they gather with great skill and adroitness 
 while on the wing. . . . This is a well attested fact, familiar to all who have ever 
 watched these birds in the early morning as they are at work constructing their nests." 
 
 My friend, Mr. Otto Widmann, of Old Orchard, Mo., constructed an artificial 
 chimney of boards, which he placed on his house, in order to induce the Chimney Swifts 
 to nest in his place. A pair of these birds select it year after year for their nesting 
 site. In Texas, where no chimneys are found on the country houses, these birds still 
 nest in hollow trees in the bottom woods. They invariably select such trees of which 
 the tops have been broken off by a heavj-^ storm. Such hollow stumps of considerable 
 height are frequent, and they also harbor great numbers of Swifts during the nights 
 after and before the breeding season. The eggs, four to six in number, are pure white. 
 
 About the roosting of the Chimney Swift, Mr. Otto Widmann sends me the follow- 
 ing account: 
 
 "Though each pair choose their own chimney for nesting purposes, they prefer to 
 remain together as long as possible before nesting time, and to congregate again as 
 soon as possible after the breeding season. When the young are able to fly, all the 
 Swifts of one locality assemble in the evening near their mutual roosting place, enlivening 
 for a short time the whole neighborhood in a very pleasant manner. When the time of 
 their southward migration approaches, small communities congregate with other assem- 
 blages, flying often very far in order to reach their common roost, a large and wide 
 chimney of a large building. Such a place often harbors thousands of these birds. To 
 the friend of Nature it is an imposing and impressive sight to observe the assembling of 
 these wonderful birds in the evening near the chimney in which they all take up their 
 abode during the night. In fine weather, when food is abundant, the first Swifts make 
 their appearance at sunset. At first only a few are to be seen. They are skimming 
 through the air in all directions, disappearing for a few moments to re-appear accom- 
 panied by other birds. Shortly their numbers increase, but they are scattered over a large 
 territory. It grows dusky. The swarm is now very large, coming nearer and nearer, 
 and forming a ring of chattering and apparently very excited birds, which fly now 
 higher, now lower over the building, all moving in one direction. New arrivals are at 
 once drawn into the whirl. In the meantime several have approached the opening of 
 the chimney, but they stop in a loitering way, apparently examining if it is safe to 
 enter. About a hundred times they have circled round the chimney, before one enters 
 in a perpendicular position, and unsteadily flying from one side to the other. Several 
 others follow. Then a few seconds, often minutes, elapse, until, after a thorough 
 examination of the chimney, others conclude to follow. Now it has become quite dusky. 
 
CHIMNEY SWIFT. 389 
 
 Suddenly the entire mass begins to dive down into the chimney, as quick and as close 
 together as possible, and soon almost all have disappeared. A small number continues 
 to circle around and to chatter, and after a few minutes have passed, another swarm 
 has formed, almost as large, as wild, and as noisy as the first one, which finally also 
 disappears in the opening of the chimney. Now^ only a few are circling around, but 
 still small companies (or, in spring, single pairs) are arriving in great huiTy. They all 
 circle around first before they venture to dive down. Soon darkness sets in. Only a few 
 fly around like 'will o'the whisps,' finally also going to roost, and over the locality 
 so noisy a short time ago, now reigns the quietness of the night. When leaving the 
 chimney in the morning, they at once scatter over the whole region and in all directions, 
 provided the weather is fair. On windy and cool mornings they fly around rather 
 undecidedly, and one after the other again seeks the protection of the chimney." 
 
 In Milwaukee I have seen them by the thousands roosting in a huge and high 
 chimney of a brewery. This roost I have visited several times in the evening as well 
 as early in the morning. In the evening they acted in the same way as Mr. Widmann 
 so vividly describes, but in the morning they left the chimney in a somewhat difierent 
 manner. As soon as the day dawned a few left their roost and circled around for a 
 few minutes, then they returned. In cold and rainy weather none were to be seen 
 before sunrise, but in warm and fine weather the whole swarm poured out over the 
 opening of the chimney like a cataract, flying down for a distance, and then all dis- 
 persed. This always happened before the first few, who evidently examined the condition 
 of the weather, had returned from their excursion in the air. This chimney formed the 
 roosting place for many thousands. 
 
 In Wisconsin their fall migration begins early in September. I have seen none 
 after Sept. 15 in Milwaukee, while Mr. Otto Widmann has observed the last, in St. Louis, 
 Oct. 17. In Texas I have seen them throughout the month of October, and many were 
 observed by me in Orange Co., Fla., until Nov. 20. 
 NAMES: Chimney Swift, Chimney Swallow, Common Swift, Swift. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Hirando pelagka Unn. (1858). CHMTURA PBLAGICA Stuvh. (1825). 
 DESCRIPTION : "Tail, slightly rounded. Sooty-brown all over, except on the throat, which becomes con- 
 siderably lighter from the breast to the bill. Above with a greenish tinge; the rump a little paler. 
 "Length, 5.25 inches; wing, 5.10; tail, 2.15 inches." (B. B. & K., II, p. 4.32.) 
 
 Vaux's Swift, Chsetura vauxH DeKay, represents the common Swift in t'he Pacific 
 coast, north to British Columbia. It is said to nest in hollow trees and to form a nest 
 in similar manner as its congener. 
 
 White-throated Swift, Aeronautes melanoleucus Hartert. This species inhabits 
 the mountain regions of the West, from the Black Hills, northern Wyoming, and southern 
 Montana to the Pacific. Winters south to Guatemala. It seems to breed in the fissures 
 of high perpendicular rocks. 
 
GOATSUCKERS, ETC. 
 
 Caprim ulgidse. 
 
 ^IGHTHAWKS, Whip-poor-wills, etc., form the very interesting family 
 of GoATSUCKEBS. They are nocturnal birds, playing, like the Owls, 
 a great rSle in the superstitions of all human races, be they black 
 or white, yellow oi; red. They always have been in disgrace with 
 man. It has been handed down from generation to generation, 
 that these nocturnal birds subsist by milking the cows and goats. 
 "Poor injured little bird of night," says Waterton, "how sadly hast thou 
 suifered, and how foul a stain has inattention to facts put upon thy 
 character! Thou hast never robbed man of any part of his property, 
 nor deprived the kid of a drop of milk. When the moon shines bright 
 you may have a fair opportunity of examining the Goatsucker. You w^ill 
 see it close by the cows, goats, and sheep, jumping up every now^ and 
 then under their bellies. Approach a little nearer. See how the nocturnal 
 flies are tormenting the herd, and with what dexterity he springs up and 
 catches them as fast as they alight on the bellies, legs, and udders of 
 the animals. Were you to dissect him and inspect his stomach, you would find no milk 
 there. It is full of flies which have been annoying the herd." 
 
 "The plumage of all these birds is soft and lax, much as in the Owls; the birds 
 have the same noiseless flight, as well as, in most cases, nocturnal or crepuscular habits; 
 and some of them bear an odd resemblance to Owls. Besides this fluffiness and laxity 
 of the plumage, the skin is very thin and tender ; it is difficult to make good specimens 
 of the Whippoorwills, and the curiously variegated blended shades, of exquisite beauty, 
 like the powdery coloration of a moth's wings, are at best not easy to describe. An 
 evident design of the capacious mouth is the capture of insects ; the active birds quarter 
 the air with wide open mouth, and their minute prey is readily taken in, Bvit they also 
 
WHIPPOORWILL. 
 
 391 
 
 secure larger insects in other ways ; and to this end the rictus is frequently strongly 
 bristled, as in the Tyraanidse. . . . The feet are so extremely short that the birds cannot 
 perch in the usual way, but sit lengthwise on a large branch, or crouch on the ground. 
 They lay two lengthened, white or thickly spotted eggs, on or near the ground, in 
 stumps, etc. The sexes are distinguishable, but nearly alike. The voice is peculiar, and 
 has given several of the species their fanciful onomatopoetic names." (Dr. Elliott Coues.) 
 The family is represented in North America by the following genera : 
 
 1, Antrostomus Gould. Whippoorwills. Two species. 
 
 2, Phalsenoptilus Ridgway. Poorwills. One species. 
 
 3, Nyctidtomus Gould. Parauques. One species. 
 
 5, Cbordeiks Swainson. Nighthawks. Two species. 
 
 WHIPPOORWILL. 
 
 Antrostomus vociferus Bonaparte. 
 
 Plate XXXIII. Fig. 7. 
 
 The last dim rays of sunset slowly die, 
 
 And creeping shadows hide the grassy hill. 
 As fades the light the bird-songs cease to trill 
 
 As TCSper-bats through the dim twilight fly. 
 
 Pale stars begin to twinkle in the sky, 
 
 While, like a spirit voice, the hidden rill 
 
 Speaks to the night; and all things else are still. 
 
 Then sudden through the dark, afar or nigh, 
 
 I know not, come the sweet notes vrbip-poor-will, 
 
 Voicing sad feelings that I deemed forgot: 
 And ever from the forest dark and chill 
 Conies the soft song that stirs old memories, till 
 
 I see again the wood, the field, the cot 
 
 Where youth was spent; brought back by wrbip-poor-will. 
 
 On the dark canvas of the quiet night 
 
 Memory paints pictures of the long past days. 
 
 Showing again to my delighted gaze 
 Scenes long forgotten. Time stops in his flight 
 And brings once more ray golden youth to sight. 
 
 I look far backward through the year's soft haze. 
 
 When pain itself was spanned by rainbow rays, 
 And every cloud shone with a mystic light. 
 Young life returns. I feel my pulses thrill 
 
 To the strong rythm of youth unworn and sweet; 
 
 I tread again old paths with bounding feet. 
 And life and joy and love "my being fill 
 
 What magic brings these scenes my heart to greet ? 
 And from the wood comes answer •whip-poor-will! 
 
 B. J. LooMis. 
 
 ^pNDESCRIBABLY sweet memories are called to my mind when I hear the name 
 (a Whippoorwill. I think of my old Wisconsin home, of the happiness and hardships 
 of the first settlers, of the glorious primeval forests, of the browsing half wild cattle in 
 the woods, of the millions of Passenger Pigeons moving in immense swarms over fielids 
 and forests, and of the spring time when new life pervaded all Nature. How many 
 hours have I spent in the woods when I was sent for the cattle to drive them home, 
 and how often have I listened to the charming night concerts of nocturnal songsters! 
 Time and again have I sauntered through the budding and flowering forest in spring 
 and early summer ! None could tell me the names of the pretty flowers which I brought 
 home, and no one was able to give me the desired information about the birds, whose 
 voices I had heard and whose beauty and brilliancy I had admired. I frequently roamed 
 about in the woods, until the notes of the Whippoorwill reminded me that it was time 
 to return home. 
 
 The time after sunset late in May, in June, and July in a Wisconsin forest of white 
 
392 WHIPPOORWILL. 
 
 pines, hemlocks, and a great variety of deciduous trees and shrubs is the most charming 
 period of the day. The fragrance of flowering shrubs and the aromatic and strengthening 
 odor of the white pines fill the air. Not far distant the low murmur of a cool spring 
 hurrying to the nearest brook is heard. We see the glowing red and purple, yellow and 
 orange of the setting sun shining through the trees. The diversified tinkling of cow-bells 
 falls on our ear. The twilight of evening is of considerable duration in this northern lati- 
 tude. The birds which in the late afternoon were all very lively and in full song, become 
 silent. Most of them retire to their roosting places. The Towhee bids farewell to the 
 parting day with a subdued and prolonged che-we-wink-wink. With the beginning of 
 dusk a deep silence seems predominant everywhere. This stillness, however, is not of 
 long duration. From a densely wooded glen the enchantingly sweet and mellow song 
 of the Yeery begins to resound, at first in a low and persuasive tone, then gradually 
 louder, fuller, and more reverberating until the whole woodland re-echos with the sweetest 
 music. The somewhat plaintive and yet so melodious and charming strain of the Rose- 
 breasted Grosbeak also resounds from far and near. Resting on a soft carpet of moss 
 and lycopodiura {Lycopodium dendroideum) , or of wintergreen {Gaultberia procumbens), 
 and partridge-berry {Mitchella repens), we listen and listen until darkness overtakes us. 
 Although in swampy localities the discordant croaking or bellowing sounds of the 
 bull-frog, and the hooting cries of the Owls somewhat mar the serenity and glory of 
 these night-concerts, 'on the other hand, their beauty and effectiveness is enhanced by 
 the call of the Whippoorwill. Suddenly, quite near our resting place, the strange and 
 yet so poetical sounds of this bird are uttered. Incessantly they are poured forth, being 
 now heard quite at a distance, and then again in our immediate neighborhood. Whip- 
 poor-will, whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will is called four and even six 
 times quickly in succession. Loudly these intonations sound through the dark forest, 
 blending admirably with the notes of the Veery and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. To the 
 superstitious among the early settlers these nocturnal calls had something mystical, dis- 
 mal, and frightful. Having heard them from earliest childhood, they were to me always 
 exceedingly poetical and home-like, and had an extremely soothing effect. In my fancy 
 these sounds are the true accompaniment of beautiful days, warm evenings, delicate and 
 rare flowers, in a word, of spring in all its glory. Indeed, the Whippoorwill is one of our 
 most characteristic and familiar birds, and many of our poets have sung its praise. 
 Where it occurs it cannot be overlooked, and its voice cannot be missed in the concert, 
 of Nature. If we observe closely in a bright moonlight night, we will see it circle around 
 constantly, flying up and down and from one tree to another, alighting now and then 
 on the ground or on a fallen forest giant. 
 
 The woodlands in which I have observed the Whippoorwill since my earliest boy- 
 hood, are to be considered its favorite haunts. Small lakes abound everywhere. Tamarack 
 and white cedar swamps, often of large size, make an agreeable change in the landscape. 
 Murmuring springs and rapid brooks flow into the lakes. Shady glens and dreamy 
 glades are frequently met with.. Scarcely anywhere the variety of trees and shrubs 
 is greater. Birches and beeches, lindens and larches, maples and moose-wood, ashes and 
 oaks, white-pines and hemlocks, white-cedars and junipers, iron and hop trees, etc., are 
 the most common trees. On the ground old forest giants are found in all states of 
 
decomposition. A carpet of ferns, terrestrial orchids, lycopodiums, trilliums, trailing 
 arbutus, wintergreen, partridge-berry, blood-root, liepaticas, dog's tooth violets, and 
 many others, cover the floor of the forest. 
 
 The Whippoorwill is a true forest bird- In many places, where the land has been 
 cleared and only few remnants of poor woodlands are left, the bird has become scarce. 
 It has vanished with the Indians and the primeval forest. Near Milwaukee the sounds 
 of the "Whippoorwill are at present seldom heard. In this era of forest destruction 
 we have, even in the more northern parts of the State, often to wander far before we 
 hear its call-notes. But whenever we hear the song of the Veery and the drumming of 
 the Ruffed Grouse, we may be sure also to meet the Whippoorwill. Where farm-yards 
 are closely connected with woods, these birds often are seen around cattle in pursuit of 
 flying insects. 
 
 In the above mentioned locality I do not remember to have heard the Whippoor- 
 •will before the third week of May. Though of rather large size, it is an exceedingly 
 delicate bird, arriving always when the woods are perfectly green, when the air is mild 
 and insects, especially moths, its main food, abundant. A few may come five or even 
 ten days earlier, but the bulk never arrives in Sheboygan Co., Wis., before the 20th of 
 May. At Freistatt, Lawrence Co., Mo., where it is a rather numerous summer sojourner, 
 I have heard its first call-notes in the last week of April and the ■ first week of May. 
 It has quite a large range- of distribution, being found during the breeding season over 
 all the eastern parts of the Union west to the Plains, and from the southern Alleghanies 
 and the Ozark region north to Manitoba and Nova Scotia. When the first Whippoor- 
 will is heard, its tones seem like the voice of an old friend, who has again returned from a 
 long journey. They are listened to by young and old with great pleasure and as a sure 
 sign of warm and beautiful spring w^eather. Though the notes of the bird are so well 
 known, few people are really acquainted with the Whippoorwill, confounding it with 
 the very different Nighthawk. On Plate XXXIII the differences in their external appear- 
 ance are well pointed out. There is also a great diversity in flight. The Whippoorwill 
 is an inhabitant of sylvan retreats, and never skims around in such a continuous way as 
 the Nighthawk, its flight being, on the contrary, rather short and low, without any 
 perceptible sailing, and more in the manner of Flycatchers. It is a shy bird, and easily 
 startled if approached. "At night," says Dr. T. M. Brewer, "as soon as the twilight 
 disappears, these birds issue from their retreats, and fly out into more open spaces in 
 quest of their favorite food. As many of the nocturnal insects, moths, beetles, and others, 
 are attracted about dwellings by lights, the Whippoorwill is frequently enticed, in pursuit, 
 in the same vicinity. For several successive seasons these birds have appeared nearly 
 every summer evening within my grounds, often within a few feet of the house. They 
 never suffer a very near approach, but fly as soon as they notice any movement." 
 
 Like the Chuck-will's-widow, the Whippoorwill constructs no nest. The eggs are 
 
 laid on the bare ground in the thickest and most shady portion of the woods. Usually 
 
 a few old leaves, in a slight depression of the ground, form the foundation. The eggs, 
 
 two in number, are always found on high ground, never in low and marshy places. 
 
 They have a creamy-white ground-color, and are irregularly spotted, marbled, and 
 
 clouded with purplish-lavender and brown. "The former are fainter and as if partially 
 
 50 
 
394 CHUCK-WILVS-WIDOW. 
 
 obscured, the brown usually much more distinct." Like the Chuck-will's-widow, this 
 species also carries away its eggs and young in its capacious mouth, when the approach 
 of danger is anticipated' 
 
 With the American people the Whippoorwill, who has also received its common 
 name from its very distinct nocturnal call-note, is a great favorite, a very familiar and 
 popular bird. Its notes, having a wild, romantic, and mysterious touch like its forest 
 haunts, belong to the woodland scenery. In a prairie they would be out of place. That 
 even other birds are inspired by the Whippoorwill's call-note, is proven by the Mocking- 
 bird and Catbird. Both frequently imitate these nocturnal sounds, blending, them so 
 charmingly w^ith their own exquisite song, that the whole forms a striking and unique 
 piece of musical performance. 
 
 Stephen's Whippoorwili;, A. vociferus macromystax A. O. U., inhabits Arizona, 
 New Mexico, and the table lands of Mexico south to Guatemala. 
 
 NAMES: Whippoorwill. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Caprimulgus vociferus Wi\s. (1812). ANTROSTOMUS VOCIFERUS Bonap. (1838). 
 Caprimalgns rirginiatius Yieill. (1807). Caprimulgus clamator Vieill. (1817). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Bristles without lateral filaments. Wing about 6.50 inches long. Top of head, ashy- 
 brown, longitudinally streaked with black. Terminal half of the tail-feathers (except the four central), 
 dirty white on both outer and inner webs. 
 
 "Length, 10.00 inches; wing, 6.50; tail, 5.30 inches. Female without white on tail." 
 
 (B. B. & R., II, p. 413.) 
 
 CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW, 
 
 Antrostomus carolitiensis Gould. 
 
 ^O THE friend of Nature no other State of our great country affords so many 
 pleasures and displays such a variety of tropical scenery as Florida. Bounded 
 on one side by the Atlantic and on the other by the warm blue waters of the Gulf of 
 Mexico, dotted by an almost countless number of fresh water lakes, traversed by mighty 
 streams, and above all, blessed with a climate unequalled in delight and salubrity by any 
 other, Florida is considered a true paradise of the tourists. The Indian River region with 
 its orange groves, pine-apple fields, charming cocoa-nut plantations, and beautiful gardens 
 is an almost ideal winter home. The flame-tree or royal poinciana, the jacaranda and 
 a host of other strictly tropical plants have made the gardens of Lake Worth famous 
 all over the country. In the region of Miami, in the Everglades around Lake Okee- 
 chobee, and on the Caloosahatchee tropical trees and shrubs abound in a wealth and 
 luxuriance not found anywhere else in this country. The large lakes and the great 
 streams, particularly the St. Johns, Suwanee, Chattahoochee, and Ocklawaha, are 
 bordered by almost impenetrable hammock woods. The innumerable small and large 
 lakes add a special charm to the landscape, as also do the many palmetto groups and 
 broad-leaved evergreen trees, which are often covered from summit to base with pretty 
 
CHUCK- WILL'S- WIDO W. 395 
 
 ferns, air plants, and orchids. The sandy pine woods, appearing rather barren to the 
 casual observer, are replete with beautiful flowers in great variety throughout the year. 
 
 Of particular interest is a trip by steamer on the narrow Ocklawaha and the 
 St. Johns. The various excursions made by me on the last named river are always 
 remembered with much delight, especially a particular one made in the latter part of 
 April, 1886. Late in the afternoon I took one of those comfortable steamers running 
 between Sanford and Jacksonville. The air was exquisitely mild and refreshing, and the 
 silvery light of the moon imbued the landscape with an indescribable charm. The starry 
 sky in Florida is always enchantingly beautiful, but I had never enjoyed its magnificence 
 in such high spirit. The groups of palmettos, and the bushes and smaller trees over- 
 grown and festooned with moonflowers {Ipomasa Boiia-Nox), growing on the banks of 
 the narrow and constantly winding stream, had a charming appearance. For hours I 
 remained on deck, enjoying the wonderful night and the enchantingly beautiful pictures 
 appearing and vanishing before my eyes. Now a group of magnolias was passed, their 
 glossy evergreen foliage relieving the large, starry, white flowers with an almost weird- 
 like effect. A most delicious fragrance, exhaled by these blossoms, filled the air. Now 
 an orange grove came in view, from whence the inimitable song of the Mockingbird 
 resounded, and now a cypress swamp was passed, the home of numerous alligators. 
 
 Soon after dusk my attention was constantly called to the motions and circular 
 flights of a bird, whose characteristic sounds came from far and near. This was the 
 Chuck-will 's-wiDOW, or, as it is often called by northern settlers, the "Spanish Whip- 
 poorwill." The whole forest on both sides of the river appeared to be alive with these 
 birds. They circled around and over the palmetto groups and thickets festooned with 
 moonflowers, and w^ere equally numerous among the orange trees. Frequently they were 
 skimming over and around the steamer, passing and re-passing only a few feet firom 
 where I observed their gyrations. They were not at all shy and uttered their notes 
 frequently while circling around in rapid flight. Often they alighted on old prostrated 
 logs, and apparently also on palm fronds. The call-notes of these nocturnal, swift-flying 
 birds resounded so often and so rapidly and with such pathos, that the whole woods 
 seemed to be alive with them. It was a singularly harmonious and impressive living 
 picture, filling the soul with delight and higher emotions. The glorious moonlight night, 
 the soft pure air, filled with the odor of magnolia and orange blossoms, the loud call- 
 notes of the Chuck-will's-widow, and at a distance the song of the Mockingbird and 
 Cardinal! When the steamer entered Lake George, the picture vanished and the last 
 notes of an exquisite concert faded away. An extensive and smooth stretch of water 
 lay before us, and it remained silent throughout the rest of the night. 
 
 Scarcely anyone is better acquainted with the habits of this poetical night bird 
 than the orange growers in the woods. The evenings in the orange groves and orna- 
 mental plantations of Florida are almost always charmingly beautiful. I am not able 
 to describe such nights of bird-song and flower perfume. Only a man of ideal thoughts 
 and higher emotions is capable to appreciate this kind of natural beauty. It must be 
 experienced in order to convey an adequate idea. As the bird not unfrequently alights 
 on the roof of a cottage during the night, uttering its notes rather suddenly and unex- 
 pectedly, those not accustomed to these unique nocturnal sounds often become startled 
 
396 CHVCK-WILUS -WIDOW. 
 
 and the superstitious even scared. I have heard their call-notes near my open bed-room 
 window, where a large night jasmine wafted its fragrance through the invigorating air, 
 but to me they always had a very pleasing effect. When the short twilight of Florida is 
 fading into night, these birds emerge from the secluded retreats, which the dense and" 
 gloomy forests afford them and in which they invariably pass the day, appearing frequently 
 in the neighborhood of man. In such places, especially in the cow yard and around the 
 stable, it is sure to find a profuse supply of all kinds of flying insects, its sole food. 
 The true home of the Chuck-will's-widow are the States bordering the Gulf and 
 south Atlantic, north to the Indian Territory, southern Illinois, and the St. James River. 
 In its most northern habitat it is seldom met with, being scarce even in the vicinity of 
 Charleston, S. C. I have observed the bird regularly in Texas, but not in such abun- 
 dance as in Florida. Its favorite haunts are the deep, dark forests near water, where 
 it inhabits shady glades perfectly safe from intruders. During day-time it is usually 
 found on the ground among old leaves, or it sits lengthwise on an old log. When 
 flushed, it flies noiselessly in a straight course through the forest. Its peculiar color 
 harmonizes admirably with the old leaves on the ground or with the partly decayed 
 wood of postrate forest "giants. 
 
 Although the peculiar chuck-will's-widow is usually uttered while the bird rests 
 on the ground or on an old stump or log, there is no doubt that it also resounds while 
 it is circling around in quest of fljring insects. The notes are somewhat ventriloquial, 
 often appearing as if they come from above, from behind, or from a great distance. 
 During all the time while we are listening the bird sits, perhaps, on an old log or on 
 the ground just in front of us. When heard in a short distance, the call is given with 
 startling energy and is repeatfed and poured forth in a very hurried manner. When 
 mellowed by distance, it has a soft, dreamy cadence which has an extremely soothing 
 effect. To my ear the notes sound rather like cbuck-a-ra-we, or like whip-poor-a-will, 
 and according to Mr. Maynard, the Seminoles of the Everglades, the remnants of a 
 once powerful Indian nation, in allusion to its sounds call the bird Chic-co-bil-lar. 
 
 In the forest regions of Texas the call of the Chuck-will's-widow^ is familiar to 
 every country Ijoy. While occupying a small cabin in the woods on the West Yegua 
 creek, the bird often alighted on the roof, interrupting my slumber by its constant call- 
 notes. It was everywhere common in the thickly wooded dells near my house, w^here 
 I also found its eggs repeatedly. These are deposited on the bare ground, usually 
 among some old leaves. When I looked a second time for the eggs, they had invariably 
 disappeared. It is a well-known fact, that the old birds carry the eggs as well as the 
 very small young away to a safer place in their capacious mouths. The eggs are two 
 in number, and the spot chosen for them is in the darkest and most secluded part of 
 the forest. Their ground-color is a pinkish-buff, being spotted and marked over the 
 entire surface with dark purplish-brown, and cloudings of a grayish-lavender color. 
 They closely resemble those of the Whippoorwill, 
 
 The food of these rather large nocturnal birds consists of large flying insects, such 
 as moths and beetles, etc., for which purpose their mouths are admirably adapted, 
 "opening with a prodigious expansion, and assisted by numerous long bristles, which 
 prevent the escape of an insect once within their enclosure." It does not fly around in 
 
the manner of the Night-hawk, or the Swallows, as it frequently aUghts on the ground. 
 The flight is swift and exceedingly gracefiil. "It is performed by easy flappings of the 
 wings, with occasional sailings and curving sweeps." It flies, usually not v£ry high, 
 over open fields and over small trees, ascending or descending, or sailing with graceful 
 motions, all the time in pursuit of flying insects. Often it passes and repasses over the 
 same area, occasionally alighting on the ground or on a fence rail, where it utters its 
 peculiar refrain, "and then resumes its search for insects. And thus it passes pleasant 
 summer nights." In Lee Co., Texas, I have observed the birds in spring usually about 
 April 15, and when the weather was exceptionally warm, a few days earlier. In Orange 
 Co., Fla., they make their appearance in the first week of April, and on the Chatta- 
 hoochee I have heard them utter their call-notes on April 17. As the birds are very 
 silent after the young are hatched, it is no easy matter to ascertain when they are 
 moving southward. In the latter part of September I caught one of these birds in a 
 hollow stump. It was exceedingly fat, and snapped its bill and opeiled and closed its 
 eyes constantly when I held it in my hands. 
 
 NAMES: Chuck-will 's-widow, Southern Whippoorwill, Spanish Whippoorwill. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Caprimulgus carolinensis Gmel. (1788). ANTSOSTOMUS CASOLINENSIS Gould 
 
 (1838). 
 DESCRIPTION : "Bristles of the bill with lateral filaments. Wing nearly nine inches lohg. Top of the head, 
 
 finely mottled reddish-brown, longitudinally streaked with black. The prevailing shade above and 
 
 below, pale rufous. Terminal two-thirds of the tail-feathers (except the four central), rufous- white ; 
 
 outer webs of all mottled, however, nearly to the tips. Female without the white patch of the tail." 
 Length, 11.50 inches; wiiig, 8.80; tail, 6.28 inches. (B. B. & R., II, p. 410.) 
 
 The PooRWiLL, Phalaenoptilus auttalli Ridgway, inhabits the western part of the 
 country, from the Sierra Nevada eastward to eastern Nebraska and eastern Kansas, 
 north to Idaho and Montana, and south to southern Mexico. According to the late 
 Col. N. S. Goss, it is a common summer resident of Kansas, where it may be looked for 
 on the high prairies and rocky grounds along the banks of streams. The eggs, two in 
 number, are pure white, unspotted, and are found upon the bare ground. This bird is 
 also known as Nuttall's Whippoorwill. 
 
 The Frosted Poorwill, P nuttalli nitidus Brewst., inhabits Texas west to 
 Arizona, north to western Kansas. The Dusky PoorwilL, P. nuttalli califomicus 
 RiDGW., is found along the coast of California. 
 
 PArauque, Nyctidromus albicollis tnerrilli Sennett. This peculiar bird occurs in 
 the valley of the lower Rio Grande in Texas north to the Nueces River, south into 
 north-eastern Mexico. Dr. J. C. Merrill first added this species to oilr fauna in 1876. 
 In the vicinity of Fort Brown it was a regular summer resident, arriving early in 
 March and leaving by the middle of November. It frequents shady thickets and copses, 
 and, when flushed, dodges rapidly and silently among the bushes, but soon alights. The 
 notes are among the most characteristic night sounds of the lower Rio Grande, and are 
 constantly heard every evening during the summer months. They consist of a repeated 
 whistle, resembling the syllables whew, whew, whew, whew, whe-e-e-e-e-w, much stress 
 being laid upon the last, which is prolonged. The whole is soft and mellow, but can be 
 heard at a great distance. The eggs, two in number, are of a rich creamy-buff, sparingly 
 marked with a deeper shade of the same and with lilac. 
 
NIGHTHAWK, 
 
 Chordeiles virgitiianus Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXXIII. Fig. 3. 
 
 pN THE northern and central parts of our country the summer heat is much more 
 a_ oppressive and disagreeable than in the Gulf region. The nights in July and August 
 are extremely vsrarm, ■while in the South even the hottest days are followed by cool and 
 pleasant nights. The most beautiful month in the northern parts of our country is 
 June. In June the birds are almost all breeding, and their songs awaken the dreamy 
 woods with their reverberating echoes. The Bobolink makes the meadows ring with 
 its tinkling song, and the Redwing charmingly enlivens the marshes and sloughs with 
 its loud notes. ^ 
 
 The most suggestive and poetical part of the day in June is vesper ^time. We are 
 sitting on one of the many moss-covered stones, so common in the pastures of Wisconsin. 
 The sun has just disappeared on the horizon, and the air is exceedingly soft and mild. 
 This time of the day affords a rare opportunity for observing the aerial play of the 
 NiGHTHAWKS, also knOwn in some parts of the country as the Bull-bats, Mosquito Hawks, 
 and Goatsuckers. How abundant they are and how^ they cross and recross each other's 
 paths high up in the air! How gracefully they soar and dart up and dow^n, to the 
 right and left! There is probably no other bird with the excepftion of the Swallows 
 and Swifts, w^hich can rival these birds in the beauty and ease of their aerial motions, 
 abounding as they do in feats of the most wonderful agility. Sometimes they rise 
 several hundred feet in the most careless manner, crying louder and louder their brirrrr, 
 brirrrr, as they ascend, then instantly one or the other glides obliquely downward with 
 astonishing gracefulness and rapidity "almost to the ground, then darting off in a hori- 
 zontal way with wonderful swiftness, again ascending perpendicularly. The friend of 
 Nature can scarcely find a better entertainment and a greater source of pleasure than 
 to observe the gamboling and the gyrations and evolutions of these birds. They arc 
 not nightbirds as their name would imply. They dxe revellers of the late afternoon and 
 the evening twilight, being never found on the wing after dark. As soon as the shades 
 of the night creep over the landscape, all retire and none are seen again until the day 
 begins to dawn in the morning. 
 
 Regularly every afternoon, usually between four o'clock and sunset, the Night- 
 hawks awake from their day dozing, arid one by one joins the "revellers aloft— now 
 climbing the heavens with rapid spiral flight, whence with a sudden dip and folded 
 wings they plunge headlong down, down, as though to dive in the glossy mill-pond in 
 the valley below ; and now, with a sweeping curve of magnificent grace and proportions, 
 skimming the tree-tops in buoyant upward glide, while we catch the vibrant twining 
 of the cleaving wings." (W. Hamilton Gibson.) 
 
 In the days of my boyhood I have often enjoyed myself in throwing my hat or a 
 piece of wood in the air where the Nighthawks were sailing around. One or the other 
 of these birds darted down after the falling object in a wonderfully rapid manner, then 
 
NIGHTHAWK. 399 
 
 suddenly spreading its wings and tail, a very peculiar booming sound was heard, which 
 may be compared to the noise caused by "blowing strongly- into the bung-hole of an 
 empty hogshead." This exceedingly peculiar noise, which is most frequently heard when 
 the birds are in a playful mood, shortly before and during the bfeeding season, is 
 undoubtedly produced by the wings. 
 
 Even in broad day-light, when the sun shines most brightly, we may often see 
 large numbers of Nighthawks high up in the air. In the most densely populated cities 
 they fly over steeples and tall chimneys, apparently not at all minding the smoke and 
 noise. In Texas I have seen countless numbers late in April and again in September. 
 These multitudes of birds were either on their way to the North or South. They are 
 late arrivals in spring, appearing in Texas usually in the latter part of April, and in 
 south-western Missouri in the first week of May. In the vicinity of Milwaukee they are 
 rarely seen before May 15, and are not common before the last week of that month. 
 Their arrival cannot be overlooked by the careful observer, as they are exceedingly 
 numerous and very conspicuous while flying. All over the eastem.part of North America, 
 west to the Plains, and from the Fur Countries and Labrador south to Florida and 
 Texas, the Nighthawk is an abundant summer sojourner. It is found south through 
 tropical America to the Argentine Republic. 
 
 Not being a woodland bird like the Whippoorwill and Chuck-will's-widow, the 
 Nighthawk's favorite haunts are open localities, where fields, meadows, and swamps 
 alternate with remnants of forest. While its two relatives prefer the dense shade of the 
 forest during day-time, the Nighthawk revels in the full glare of the sun. Although we 
 may often see these birds fly over the forest in quest of their insect prey, they are most 
 frequently seen over fields, meadows, and prairies, where they are gamboling wildly 
 throughout the summer in the late afternoon. The great abundance of flying insects in 
 our large cities has had such an influence on the habits of the birds, that they at present 
 breed abundantly on the flat Mansard roofs of the large ware-houses in the most crowded 
 parts of our large towns. These roofs afford them safe and convenient shelter during 
 the day-time as well as in the night. Scarcely can there be found better protected places 
 for the deposition of their eggs than these flat roofs. Man, the greatest enemy of bird- 
 life, rarely invades the seclusion of the Mansard roofs, and birds of prey as well as 
 mammals probably never molest the Nighthawks in the heart of the large cities. I have 
 found these birds breeding abundantly in such places in Milwaukee and Chicago. Origin- 
 ally they nest in fields, on rocks and in stony pastures, on the prairie and on hill-sides, 
 always in spots open to the sun. The eggs are placed on the bare ground or on a flat, 
 moss-covered rock, usually in a slight depression. The breeding bird and its eggs are 
 so similar in coloration to the surroundings of the nest, that they are not likely to be 
 discovered, except by accident or by the actions of the parent bird. On the flat roofs 
 of the large ware-houses they often breed in small communities. It has always been a 
 wonder to me how the eggs can be kept from rolling away under the breeding female, as 
 there is not a straw and no depression on the roof that can hold the eggs in their position. 
 ■ The eggs, two in number, resemble the stones among -which they are found, the 
 soil, or the color of the roof to such a degree, that they are rarely found, except by 
 the expert field ornithologist, who knows exactly where to look for them. "Their ground 
 
400 NIGHTHAWK. 
 
 is of various shades of stone-color, in some of a dirty white, in others with a tinge of 
 yellow or blue, and in yet others of clay-color. The markings are more or less diffused 
 over the entire egg, and differ more or less w^ith each specimen, the prevailing colors 
 being varying shades of slate and of yellowish-brown. 
 
 "If approached when sitting on her eggs, the female will suffer herself to be almost 
 trodden on before she will leave them, and when she does, it is only to tumble at the 
 feet of the intruder and endeavor to draw him away from her treasures by well-feigned 
 lameness and pretended disability. Her imitation of a wounded bird is so perfect as to 
 deceive almost any one not aware of her cunning devices." (Dr. T. M. Brewer.) 
 
 The food of the Nighthawk consists wholly of insects. It swallows great numbers 
 of moths, beetles, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, crickets, etc., and for this reason alone it 
 is an extremely useful bird. All who have the wellfare of our country, and the more 
 ideal life of our people at heart, should do all in their power to protect our beautiful 
 native birds, and among them the Nighthawk. Notwithstanding its beauty and utility, 
 great numbers of these birds are shot annually in mere wantonness, their swift flight 
 making them an attractive target for heartless and senseless gunners. May it be 
 remarked here that these birds are of far greater value to mankind than the worthless 
 idler who kills them. — The term Nighthawk is not an appropriate one, as the bird never 
 hunts for insects in the darkness, and as it has nothing in common with the Hawks. 
 The early settlers called it Goatsucker because of its resemblance to the European Night- 
 jar, which from time immemorial has been supposed by the ignorant to rob the goats 
 of their milk at night. In the South it is known in many localities under the name of 
 Bullbat. This ^.Uudes to its booming sound to which I have referred in the foregoing. 
 There are several well established varieties of this bird. The Western Night- 
 hawk, Cbordeiles virginianus benryi CouES, inhabits the western part of the United 
 States, from the Great Plains to the Pacific coast, and from British Columbia south to 
 •northern South America. The Florida Nighthawk, C virginianus cbapmani Scott, is 
 confined to Florida and the Gulf coast of Texas. 
 NAMES: Nighthawk, Nightjar, Goatsucker, Mosquito-hawk, Pisk, Bullbat. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Caprimulgus virginianus Gmel. (1788). CHOSDEILES VIRGINIANUS Swainson 
 (1831). Caprimulgus americanus Wils. (1813). Caprimulgus popetue Vieill. (1807). Cbordeiles 
 popetue Baird (1858). 
 DESCRIPTION: "Male, above greenish-black, but with little mottling on the head and back. Wing-coverts 
 varied with grayish ; scapulars with yellowish-rufous. A nuchal band with fine gray mottling, behind 
 which is another coarser one of rufous spots. A white V-shaped mark on the throat ; behind this is 
 a collar of .pale rufous blotches, and another on the breast ol grayish mottling. Under-parts banded 
 transversely with dull yellowi-sh or reddish-white and brown. Wing-quills quite uniformly brown. 
 The five outer primaries with a white blotch (about half an inch long) midway between the tip and 
 carpal joint, not extending on the outer web of the outer quill. Tail with a terminal white patch, 
 which docs not reach the outer edge of the feathers. Female without the caudal white patch, the white 
 tail-bands more mottled, the white of the throat mixed with reddish." 
 
 Length, 9.50 inches; wing, 8.20; tail, 5.00 inches. (B. B. & R., 11, p. 401). 
 
 Texan Nighthawk, Cbordeiles acutipennis texensis Ridgw. This species inhabits 
 the southern border of the United States, from Texas to southern California, north 
 to southern Utah. Dr. J. C. Merrill found it most plentiful just outside of Browns- 
 ville, and several sets of eggs were discovered within the fort. These are usually 
 deposited in exposed situations, among sparse chaparral, on the ground baked almost 
 as hard as brick by the intense heat of the sun. 
 
WOODPECKERS 
 
 Picidee. 
 
 ^OODPECKERS, the guardians and protectors of our forests, are common 
 
 birds all over the country where woods abound. They are easily 
 
 distinguished from other birds by their stiff, elastic, pointed, and 
 
 graduated tail-feathers, which are used as a support in climbing* 
 
 up the tree trunks, their ends being pressed against the bark, 
 
 to prevent retrogression. The bill is angular and wedgeshaped, 
 
 forming a powerful hammer or axe, with which to cut off chips of bark or 
 
 wood in search of insects, or to dig holes into the w^ood for nesting and 
 
 roosting purposes. 
 
 Peing solitary birds, the Woodpeckers rarely associate with others of their 
 own kind. Some of the smaller species, like the Downy and Hairy Wood- 
 pecker, etc., seem to be fond of the society of Titmice, Creepers, Nuthatches, 
 Chickadees, Kinglets, etc., during their rambles through the woods in autumn 
 and winter. "During the breeding season some species are known to produce a remark- 
 able whirring sound, the so-called 'drumming,' by rapidly striking a dry branch, which 
 can be heard to a great distance. This seems to be the male's love-song." 
 
 The flight is generally powerful, but undulating if kept up for some distance and 
 not very far. During their search for food, they fly from trunk to trunk, ascending 
 them by starts from the lower part until they reach the top, whence, in a single curve, 
 they descend to the base of the next. The eggs are glossy white. 
 
 The Woodpeckers inhabiting our country are divided into the following genera: 
 
 1, Campephilus Gray. Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. One species. 
 
 2, Dryobates BoiE. Hairy Woodpeckers. Six species. 
 
 3, Xenopicus Baird. White-headed Woodpeckers. One species. 
 
 4, Picoides Lacepede. Three-toed Woodpeckers. Two species. 
 
 5, Sphyrapicus Baird. Sapsuckers. Three species. 
 
 6, Ceophlceus Cabanis. Pileated Woodpeckers. One species. 
 
 7, Melanerpes Swainson. Red-headed Woodpeckers. Six species. 
 
 8, Colaptes Swainson. Flickers. Four species. 
 
 51 
 
IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. 
 
 Campepbilus principalis Gray. 
 
 Majestic bird ! the broad Ohio knows 
 
 Its presence well. Here and along the banks 
 
 Of Mississippi, -whence luxuriant rise 
 
 Towering to heaven the tall and graceful pines, 
 
 And cypress trees from black and gloomy swamps 
 
 Prodigious of extent : here are its favorite haunts ; 
 
 Among these trees — some in maturity. 
 
 And others overgrown with verdant moss, 
 
 Of every leaf dismantled, standing forth, 
 
 By time's impartial hand memorialized, 
 
 As emblems apt of that unwished decay 
 
 Which all that lives, alas ! must undergo. 
 
 Alexander Wilson. 
 
 ^HIS beautiful inhabitant of the vsouthern forest is almost extinct in most localities 
 where it formerly occurred. Erewhile it was found in all the South Atlantic and 
 Gulf States, from North Carolina to Texas, and in the Mississippi valley as far north 
 as southern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southern Indiana. According to the obser- 
 vations of my friend, Mr. Otto Widmann, it still inhabits, though sparingly, the vast 
 forests of the lowlands in southern Missouri. I have several times met with the bird in 
 the extensive forest lands of Harris and Montgomery Co., Texas. In the wilds of the 
 Okeefinokee swamps in southern Georgia the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has been found 
 by Mr. Maurice Thompson a few years ago. Mr. W. E. D. Scott found it breeding in 
 Hillsborough Co., Fla. The nest, w^hich was dug in a large cypress tree in the midst of 
 a dense swamp, was forty-one feet from the ground, and contained one young. The depth 
 of the cavity was fourteen inches. Old residents told Mr. Scott that the bird was once 
 very common in that region. On the day the nest was found, eleven of the birds were 
 counted in the swamp, occasionally four or five were seen at one time. The eggs of the 
 Ivory-billed Woodpecker are very rare in collections. The Public Museum, in Milwaukee, 
 Wis., contains a set of three, presented by the late Capt. B. F. Goss, who told me that 
 they were collected in the Neches River bottom, Jaspei" Co., Texas, on May 3, 1885. 
 The cavity was about twenty-four inches deep, situated forty feet from the ground, and 
 the entrance was large enough to admit Mr. Goss' hand. 
 
 Audubon describes the favorite haunts of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the follow- 
 ing vivid language: 
 
 "I wish, kind reader, it were in my power to present to your mind's eye the 
 favorite resort of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Would that I could describe the extent 
 of those deep morasses, overshadowed by millions of dark, gigantic cypresses, spreading 
 their sturdy, moss-covered branches as if to admonish man to pause and reflect on the 
 many difficulties which he must encounter, should he persist in venturing farther into 
 their almost inaccessible recesses, extending for miles before him, where he would be 
 interrupted by huge projecting branches, here and there the mossy trunk of a fallen and 
 decaying tree, and thousands of creeping and twining plants of numberless species ! 
 Would that I could represent to you the dangerous nature of the ground, its oozing, 
 spongy, and miry disposition, although covered with a beautiful but treacherous carpeting. 
 
HAIRY WOODPECKER. 403 
 
 composed of the richest mosses, flags, and water-UUes, no sooner receiving the pressure 
 of the foot than it yields, and endangers the very Ufe of the adventurer; whilst here 
 and there, as he approaches an opening, that proves merely a lake of black, muddy 
 water, his ear is assailed by the dismal croaking of innumerable frogs, the hissing of 
 serpents, or the bellowing of alligators ! Would that I could give you an idea of the 
 sultry, pestiferous atmosphere that nearly suffocates the intruder during the meridian 
 heat of our dog-days in those gloomy and horrible swamps ! But the attempt to picture 
 these scenes would be vain: nothing short of ocular demonstration can impress any 
 adequate idea of them." 
 
 DESCRIPTION : Bill, horn-white. Body, glossy bluish-black ; a white stripe beginning behind the eye, and 
 passing down the sides of the neck, and extending down each side of the back. Under wingi-coverts, 
 and entire exposed portion of the secondary quills, with ends of the inner primaries, bristles, and a 
 short stripe at base of bill, white. Crest, scarlet, upper surface, black. Female, similar, without any 
 red on the head. — Length, 21.00 inches; wings, 10.00; tail, 6.50 inches. 
 
 HAIRY WOODPECKER. 
 
 Dryobates villosus Cabanis. 
 
 The Hairy Woodpecker, though only occurring in the northern and middle portion 
 of the Eastei'n States, west to the Great Plains, is represented in other portions of the 
 country by closely related varieties. Everywhere, in the East and West, North or South, 
 where forests exist, one or the other variety of this Woodpecker may be found. 
 
 The Hairy Woodpecker is a resident species, only roving about in the country 
 during winter in quest of food. In fall, winter, and spring it even visits our large cities, 
 where it is seen busily engaged in cleaning the fruit and shade trees of all kinds of insect 
 pests. Its favorite haunts at this time of the year are orchards and the border of 
 woodlands, and during the breeding season it inhabits preferably the deep interior of 
 extensive forests. About forty years ago it was a very abundant bird in Wisconsin, but 
 the constant decrease of the woods has caused it in a great measure to desert this region. 
 
 It is a very noisy bird in the woods, the loud call-notes, sounding like pips, pips, 
 being almost constantly heard during the beautiful days of May and June. In large old 
 apple orchards, where it often breeds at present, it utters its sounds not as frequently, 
 being altogether more suspicious and shyer than in the woods. -The nest is alv\rays 
 found in a dry old limb of a large tree or in the partially dead top of a smaller one, 
 from twelve to thirty feet from the ground, the depth of the cavity varying from 
 eight to fifteen inches. No material is used for lining the nest except a few chips. The 
 eggs, usually four, but sometimes five in number, are pure glossy white. 
 
 The Hairy Woodpecker as well as the Downy, seem to be fond of the company of 
 other birds while roving about in the southern forests. "A motley troop," writes Prof. 
 Wm. Brewster in his fascinating way, "consisting of numerous Warblers, Titmice, Blue- 
 birds, Woodpeckers, rambled through the woods (in south-eastern Georgia) , continuously 
 chasing each other from tree to tree or from bush to bush, chirping, calling, and singing 
 as their various moods dictated. I usually noticed that the Bluebird led the van, while 
 the Woodpeckers invariably brought up the rear," 
 
404 DOWNY WOODPECKER. 
 
 The following varieties of this species are known to science : The Northern Hairy 
 Woodpecker, Dry abates villosus kucomelas Ridgway, inhabits northern North America, 
 south to about the northern border of the United States. The Southern Hairy Wood- 
 pecker, D. rillosus audubonii Ridgway, represents the typical form in the South 
 Atlantic and Gulf States, north to North Carolina and Tennessee. Harris' Woodpecker, 
 D. villosus harrisii RiDGW., is found on the Pacific coast, from northern California to 
 Alaska. Cabanis' Woodpecker, D. villosus hyloscopus Brewst., inhabits the western 
 United States, except north-west coast. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Picus villosus Linn. (1766). DRYOBATES VILLOSUS Cab. (1863). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Above, black, with a white band down the middle of the back. All the middle and large 
 wing-coverts and all the quills with conspicuous spots of white. Two white stripes on each side of 
 the head ; the upper scarcely confluent behitid, the lower not at all so ; two blapk stripes confluent 
 with the black of the nape. Beneath, white. Three outer tail-feathers with the exposed portions, 
 white. Male, with a nuchal scarlet crescent on the hind-head. 
 Length, 8.75 inches; wing, 4.70; tail, 3.37; bill, 1.12. 
 
 DOWNY WOODPECKER. 
 
 Dryobates pubescens Cabanis. 
 
 This is the most familiar and most social bf all our Woodpeckers, frequently enter- 
 ing gardens and orchards, even in villages and larger cities. In fall and winter, and 
 also early in spring, it seems to enjoy the company of other small birds, especially Nut- 
 hatches, Titmice, Kinglets, and Brown Creepers, in whose company it roves about in 
 the forests and orchards, and even in the parks of densely populated cities. It searches 
 the branches of the trees, saplings, hedges, fence-posts for insects and their larvas. In 
 spring, the love-season, it is fond of drumming on some dead bough whose center is 
 hollow, and whose shell is hard and resonant. In such places it will often drum for an 
 hour at a time, now and then stopping to listen for a response from its mate or some 
 rival. This is one of our most interesting and lively Woodpeckers, and like all its con- 
 geners, it is exceedingly valuable as an insect destroyer, feeding as it does, almost 
 exclusively of worms that infest the trees. It is a very unsuspecting bird, and when 
 engaged in excavating a hole for its nest, it continues its busy chiseling, not heeding our 
 near approach. The nest is usually found in the trunk of a small dead tree, often in a 
 dead Umb of an old apple tree. The eggs, four to six, are glossy white. 
 
 The Downy Woodpecker inhabits the Eastern United States, west to the Great 
 Plains and south to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 Gairdner's Woodpecker, Dryobates pubescens gairdnerii Ridgw., a variety of the 
 foregoing, is found on the Pacific coast, north to British Columbia ; while Batchelder's 
 Woodpecker, D. pubescens oresecus Batch., is found in the Rocky Mountain region of 
 the United States. 
 
 NAMES: Downy Woodpecker, Lesser Sapsucker, Small Sapsucker. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: P/cus pubescens Linn. (1766). DRYOBATES PUBESCENS Ck^. {\m^). 
 DESCRIPTION: A miniature oi Dryobates villosus. — Length, 6.50 inches; wing, 3.72; tail, 2.51 inches. 
 
'~\ 
 
 WOODPECKERS. 405 
 
 Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Dryobates borealis Ridgw. I found this species 
 
 rather abundantly in the flat pine woods from eastern Texas to Florida. It is a very 
 
 lively species and quick in its motions, gliding upwards on the trees and sideways along 
 
 the trunks and branches with great agility, uttering occasionally its loud and shrill 
 
 call-notes, which can be heard at a considerable distance. The nest I usually found in 
 
 a half decayed hmb of an oak tree or in an old stump. The bird is also said to 
 
 excavate a nesting cavity in tall pine trees, living or dead, but I have never found it in 
 
 such. As the wood of the southern pines is exceedingly hard, I do not believe that any 
 
 Woodpecker excavates a nesting-site in these trees. It ranges from the Gulf of Mexico 
 
 north to North Carolina, Tennessee, and the Indian Territory. 
 
 DESCRIP'riON : A narrow red stripe on each side of the black hood of the head distinguishes this loud and 
 noisy soutljern species. 
 
 Texan Woodpecker, Dryobates scalaris bairdi Ridgw., also known as the Ladder- 
 backed Woodpecker, inhabits the southern border of the United States, west to California, 
 north to southern Nevada and southern Utah. This beautiful and lively little bird 
 is an abundant inhabitant of the post Oak woods of central Texas. It is very similar 
 in all particulars to our common Downy Woodpecker. In winter it frequently visits 
 the ornamental plantations and orchards in company of Titmice, Nuthatches, Brown 
 Creepers, and Kinglets. The Saint LuCas Woodpecker, Dr. scalaris lucasanus Ridgw., 
 occurs in Lower California. 
 
 Nuttall's Woodpecker, Dryobates nuttallii Ridgw., is found in southern Oregon 
 and California, and the Arizona Woodpecker, Dryobates arizonse Ridgw., in southern 
 Arizona and northern Mexico. All these small species agree with each other in their 
 habits and mode of living. 
 
 The White-headed Woodpecker, Xenopicus albolarvatus Malherbe, is a very 
 beautiful species, deep bluish-black with a pure white head and pure white spot on the 
 primaries. It inhabits the mountains of the Pacific coast, from southern British Colum- 
 bia to southern California, east to central Idaho. It is said to haunt the groups of 
 big trees, the red-wood forest, and the woods of the Pinus ponderosa. 
 
 The Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides arcticus Gray, is a common species 
 in winter in northern Minnesota and Michigan, north to the Arctic regions. It is a 
 beautiful bird, on the upper parts mostly black, lower parts mostly white, with a bright 
 yellow forehead. 
 
 Another species of this genus, the American Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides 
 americanus Brehm, inhabits British America, east of the Rocky Mountains, from the 
 Arctic regions southward to the Northern United States(Maine, Massachusetts, New York). 
 Its variety, the Alaskan Three-toed Woodpecker, P. americanus alascensis Ridgw., 
 inhabits Alaska, south to northern Washington. The Alpine Three-toed Woodpecker, 
 P. americanus dorsalis Baird, is an inhabitant of the Rocky Mountain region, from 
 British Columbia and Idaho south into Mexico. 
 
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, 
 
 Sphyrapicus varius Baird. 
 
 ]'i.ATH XXXVI. Fig. 1. 
 
 "ONE of our Woodpeckers is so common ditring the migration and so well-known 
 in the northern parts of the country as the Yellow-beli-ied Sapsucker, and 
 none is so much hated and abused. I can assure my readers, however, that tMs beau- 
 tiful bird is comparatively innocent in spite of the many holes which it drills in the . 
 maples, mountain ash trees, and conifers during its northward migration in early April. 
 The well-known "tree-butcher" with his saw and axe does much more harm to our fine 
 ornamental trees by his mostly very injudicious pruning than an army of Sapsuckers. 
 
 Although I have seen these Woodpeckers in Milwaukee every spring in large num- 
 bers, they vi'^ere never so abundant as on the 11th of April, 1896. The trees in the 
 streets, small and large ones, fairly swarmed with Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. On a large 
 silver-leaved poplar I counted forty-four individuals. This was in the heart of the 
 residence part of the cit}', w^here people and vehicles constantly passed.* Wherever I 
 turned my eyes I noticed these birds in great numbers. A few days later all had migrated 
 northward. They were perfectly silent during their stay. As they punctured the maple 
 trees in such a way that the sap w^as flowing freely, many were killed by people who 
 supposed them to be injurious to the trees. In spite of this tapping the trees made a 
 very satisfactory growth during the summer. Indeed, they grew more luxurious than in 
 any of the previous seasons, since I made Milwaukee my home. During the past five or 
 six years I have given the subject my special attention, but I have never found a tree 
 that was destroyed by this Woodpecker's manner of drilling holes in the bark. I have 
 examined many hundreds of maples and apple trees that had been girdled by the Sap- 
 sucker, but none had suffered severely. It is true that many of the fine mountain ashes 
 died during the last few years, but closer examination revealed the fact that this is 
 caused by a borer, who does its destructive work just above the ground. A large num- 
 ber of holes running into the heart wood of the tree and a dust-like brownish substance 
 on the ground showed plainly why the trees were suffering and finally dying. 
 
 When the Sapsuckers arrive in their breeding range early in April, they at once 
 drill small holes in the sugar maples, the sweet sap of which they highly relish. For 
 this purpose and not for the inner bark {cambium) these holes are drilled. Many other 
 birds are also very fond of the sweet drink, especially English Sparrows, who soon find 
 out how delicious the sweet sap of the sugar maple really is. In the woods Nuthatches, 
 Titmice, Kinglets, Palm and Myrtle Warblers, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are 
 frequently observed while drinking the sweet sap. The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker has 
 much trouble in keeping away the smaller birds, and in localities where English Sparrows 
 are abundant, it often has to leave the place entirely. 
 
 • Mra. A. C. WWtcomb, a very accurate and painstaking observer, writes me: "After n severe thunder storm on the 
 night of April 10, the Sapsuckers appeared in large flocks Saturday, April 11. They were abundant In Milwaukee for some 
 days, but not so numerous as on April 11." 
 
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. 407 
 
 Regarding the habits of this Woodpecker in northern New York, Dr. C. Hart 
 Merriam, of the Department of Agriculture, "Washington, D. C, writes : 
 
 "The motive which induces this species to operate thus upon young and healthy 
 trees is, I think, but partly understood. It is unquestionably true that they feed, to a 
 certaiu extent, both upon the inner bark and the fresh sap from these trees, but that 
 the procurement of these two elements of sustenance, gratifying as they doubtless are, 
 is their chief aim in making the punctures I am inclined to dispute. As the sap exudes 
 from the newly-made punctures, thousands of flies, yellow jackets, and other insects 
 congregate about the place, till the hum of their wings suggests a swarm of bees. If, 
 now, the tree be watched, the Woodpecker will soon be seen to return and alight over 
 the part of the girdle which he has most recently punctured. Here he remains, with 
 motionless body, and feasts upon the choicest species from the host of insects within 
 easy reach. ... In making each girdle they work around the trunk, and from below 
 upwards, but they may begin a new girdle below an old one. They make but few holes 
 each day, and after completing two or three remain over the spot for some little time, 
 and as the clear fresh sap exudes and trickles down the bark, they place their bill against 
 the dependent drop and suck it in with evident relish — a habit which has doubtless 
 given rise to the more appropriate than elegant term Sapsucker, by w^hich they are 
 commonly known in some parts of the country. I have several times watched this 
 performance at a distance of less than ten feet, and all the details of the process w^ere 
 distinctly seen, the bird looking at me, meanwhile, 'out of the comer of his eye.' When 
 his thirst is satisfied, he silently disappears, and as silently returns again, after a few 
 hours, to feast upon the insects that have been attracted to the spot by the escaping 
 sap. This bird, then, by a few strokes of its bill, is enabled to secui-e both food (animal 
 and vegetable) and drink in abundance for an entire day; and a single tree, favorably 
 situated, may suffice for a whole season." 
 
 The Sapsucker rarely breeds south of the 42° of latitude. In Wisconsin it is 
 invariably found in the extensive forests of white pines and other conifers, ranging 
 northward to Fort Simpson. Unlike most other members of its family, it is a strictly 
 migrating species, like the Flicker and the Red-head. It arrives and leaves with great 
 regularity. Although not a gregarious bird, it is fond of company, and it is not unusual 
 to find quite a number of its own species or other members of the family in the same 
 locality. Thus flocks of Woodpeckers are not uncommon during migration. The 
 majority spends the winter in the South Atlantic and Gulf States, where they are found 
 in great abundance in the dense iind extensive woods bordering streams and lakes. 
 Many also wander to the West Indies, Mexico, and even to Costa Rica. Thus the 
 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker occurs during certain parts of the year all over eastern North 
 America. 
 
 Though exceedingly familiar and unsuspicious during the migration, this Woodpecker 
 always selects its haunts in the deep evergreen forests which still cover a large portion 
 of New England, northern New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. In the days 
 of my boyhood this w^as one of the most abundant birds in the immense pine forests of 
 Sheboygan County, Wis. At that time, so full of pleasant reminiscences of birds and 
 wild wood life, the Pileated Woodpecker was also common, and the woods swarmed at 
 
408 YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. 
 
 times with Passenger Pigeons. Though not as abundant as formerly, one can scarcely 
 enter the woods after the 10th of April, without being greeted by their querulous call- 
 notes. They are found everywhere in the mixed woods, but they are most numerous In 
 the vicinity of water, for they prefer to construct their nest in portions of dead trees 
 standing on the borders of lakes and swamps. The nest is usually irom twenty-five to 
 forty feet from the ground, always in a tree or limb partly decayed. I have found it in 
 beeches, sugar maples, ashes, and especially in white birches {Betula papyracea) and 
 also in black birches {Betula lenta). The bird never selects a cavity already made and 
 never excavates hard and sound wood, or such that is decayed and rotten. "A tree," 
 says Mr. John Burroughs, "with a natural cavity is never selected, but one which has 
 been dead just long enough to have become soft and brittle throughout. The bird goes 
 in horizontally for a few inches, making a hole perfectly round and smooth and adapted 
 to his size, then turn downward, gradually enlarging the hole, as he proceeds, to the 
 depth of ten, fifteen, or twenty inches, according to the softness of the tree and the 
 urgency of the mother-bird to deposit her eggs. While excavating, male and female 
 work alternately. After one has been engaged fifteen or twenty minutes, drilling and 
 carrying out chips, it ascends to an upper limb, utters a loud call or two, when its 
 mate soon appears, and, alightling near it on the branch, the pair chatter and caress a 
 moment, then the fresh one enters the cavity and the other flies away." The eggs, five 
 to seven in number, are pure white. They are deposited on the fine fragments of wood 
 at the bottom of the cavity. The eggs and young of few other birds are so completely 
 housed from the elements, or protected from their natural enemies— the Crows, Jays, 
 Hawks, Owls, raccoons, squirrels, etc. These beautiful birds are a great attraction of 
 the woods and cannot be missed among the feathered choir. Like other species, they 
 serve as carpenters for other birds, as their old holes are usually occupied during the 
 breeding time by White-bellied Swallows, Crested Flycatchers, Titmice, Wrens, and other 
 hole-breeders. 
 
 In the Rocky Mountain region, fi-om British Columbia to the Sierra Bolaiios, 
 Mexico, and the Cape region of Lower California, westward across the Great Basin to 
 the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada in northern Cahfomia, the common Sapsucker is 
 represented by the Red-naped Sapsucker, Sphyrapicus varius nucbalis Baird. 
 
 NAMES: Yellow-bellikd Sapsucker, Sapsucker, Common Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Picas rarius Linn. (1766). SPHYRAPICUS VARIUS Baird (1858). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Above,. black, much variegated with white. Crown, crimson, bordered by black and the 
 sides of the head and nape. A streak above the eye, and a broad stripe from the base of bill, passing 
 below the eye, and into the yellowish of the belly, enclosing a black crescent on the breast, and a 
 stripe on the edges of wing-coverts, white. A triangular broad patch of scarlet on the chin, bordered 
 on each side by black stripes from the lower mandible, which meet behind, and extend into a large 
 quadrate spot on the breast. Rest of underparts, yellow, streaked and banded on sides with black. 
 Female, no red on throat, which, is replaced by white. 
 
 Length, 8.25 inches; wing, about 4.76; tail, 3.30 inches. (After B. B. & R., II, p. 539). 
 
 Red-breasted Sapsucker, Sphyrapicm ruber Baird. This is a bird of the mount- 
 ains and foot-hills of CaUfornia, especially in the coast region, where it occurs north to 
 British Columbia. Major Charles Bendire, the eminent ornithologist and oologist of 
 the National Museum, found this species breeding in the neighborhood of Fort Klamath 
 
PILEATED WOODPECKER. 409 
 
 Ore. There it breeds in healthy live aspen trees, making a good-shaped nest, which is 
 
 situated fifteen to twenty feet from the ground, 
 
 DESCRIPTION: The head and neck all round, and breast carmine-red. Above, black, central line of back 
 from nape to rump, spotted with whitish ; rump, wing-coverts, and inner webs of the inner tail-feathers, 
 white. Belly, sulphur-yellow, streaked with brown on the sides. 
 
 Williamson's Woodpecker, Sphyrapicus thyroideus Baird, inhabits the Rocky 
 
 Mountain region, west to the Sierra Nevada, south on the table lands of Mexico to the 
 
 Sierra Bolanos, Jalisco. The male and female of this species are so different in coloration 
 
 that they were considered for a long time as two different species. Its favorite haunts 
 
 are the coniferous mountain forests, where it leads a rather retired life. In the vicinity 
 
 of Fort Klamath, Ore., where it has been found breeding by Major Charles Bendire, it 
 
 is shy and very suspicious. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Male: General color, glossy black, relieved by two white stripes on the side of the head; a 
 large white patch on middle and greater wing-coverts; throat with a median stripe of bright red. 
 Female: Head nearly uniform light brown ; sides, flanks, upper parts, regularly barred with black and 
 white; no white patch on wings; chest, usually with more or less of a black patch. 
 
 PILEATED WOODPECKER. 
 
 Ceophloeus pil^atns Cabanis. 
 
 I'latk XXXVI. Fig. 6. 
 
 S^HE magnificent primeval forests of our childhood days have vanished, and fields, 
 J meadow^s, and pastures have taken their place. The gigantic white pines and 
 hemlocks, the majestic old oaks, the picturesque elms, and the stately sugar maples 
 found their way to the saw mill or were felled and burned. The erstwhile so romantic 
 woodland brooks and cool springs have lost most of their charm, being denuded of their 
 border of trees and shrubs. During a large portion of the year they are dry. We may 
 assert that with the destruction of the forests in the coniferous region of Wisconsin their 
 beauty and poetry has also been destroyed. The farm-houses, once surrounded by beau- 
 tiful w^oods, are scattered around in a rather desolate manner, and the few fruit and 
 ornamental trees offer no compensation for the destroyed forest. Many of the woodland 
 flow^ers have also vanished, especially those which w^ere our childhood favorites and of 
 which we culled beautiful bouquets. The lovely moccasin flower {Cypripedium spectabile), 
 the stemless and the yellow lady's slipper {Cypripedium acanle and C. puhescens), the aro- 
 matic w^intergreen {Gaultberia procumbens) , the variegated pla.iitam{G oodyera puhescens) , 
 and other delicate woodland species are scarcely met with at present. Other flowers, 
 like the trilliums, hepaticas, dog's tooth violets, blood-root, Canada lilies, etc., have 
 often found abiding places in the fence comers. White-thorns, June-berr3'' and plum trees, 
 viburnum bushes, wild crab trees, and dogwood are also found along fences and on the 
 borders of the w^oods. When I, in late years, sauntered through the remnants of the 
 once so magnificent w^oods near my home at Howard's Grove (Sheboygan Co., Wis.), 
 a feeling of sadness and loneliness overcame me. Many of the birds, too, have become 
 
410 PILBATED WOODPECKER. 
 
 quite rare. The Yeery and the Towhee, the elegant Rose-breasted Grosbeak and the 
 brilliant Scarlet Tanager are now rarely met with. The 'Bush-hen' (or Ruffed Grouse), 
 whose thunder-like noise sounded through the forest, and whose young, when accidentally 
 met, rushed to all sides, is w^ell-nigh extirpated. Even the familiar notes of the Whip- 
 poorwill, so full of poetry and anticipation, are not so often heard of late as formerly. 
 One inhabitant of the extensive forest, the beautiful Pileated Woodpecker, also known 
 as the 'King of the woods,' 'Log-cock' and 'Black Woodcock,' I have not seen for many 
 years in this locality. It seems to have vanished with the grand forests and with the 
 Indiaris, who roamed about in great numbers in these woods during our childhood days." 
 
 These words, from the pen of Miss Hedwig Schlichting, about the presenf condition 
 of the woods and the bird-life in the southern part of the coniferous region of Wisconsin, 
 are doubtless true. When I left the locality in 1869, a large portion of the pine woods 
 were quite undisturbed, and the large and conspicuous, though rather shy and never verj' 
 abundant Pileated Woodpecker was a regular inhabitant in all secluded localities of the 
 dense forests. It had a predilection for mixed woods, consisting of white pines, maples, 
 birches, oaks, hickories, elms, lindens, etc. The many dead trees, fall of large black ants 
 and worms, its main food, offered all the subsistence necessary. But the country became 
 densely settled, the forests vanished, and with them these birds. It was once a common 
 bird from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and south of Latitude 63° to the Gulf of Mexico 
 and southern Texas (except in the southern Rocky Mountains). In the East it seems to 
 be extirpated except in the remote forests of the Adirondacks and Alleghanies, and in 
 the well-wooded mountains of New England. 
 
 In the years of 1879 to 1882 I had excellent opportunities to observe this large 
 and beautiful Woodpecker in Texas. It was everywhere a common bird, particularly in 
 the post-oak woods and in the extensive bottom forests on the Colorado and Brazos 
 Rivers. I also observed it in the region of the Acadians in southern Louisiana*, and in 
 the hammock woods on the Chattahoochee and Lake Apopka in Florida. In the two 
 latter States it is particularly numerous in the low woods consisting of live, water, and 
 pin oaks, pecan trees, sweet gums, magnolias, gordonias, and cabbage palmettos, and 
 in extensive cypress swamps, where it is a near neighbor of the rare Ivory-billed Wood- 
 pecker. During my residence in the post-oak woods of Texas I observed them through- 
 out the year near my house. The following is quoted from my diary : 
 
 "West Yegua, Tex., July 22, 1881. This beautiful species is one of our common 
 Woodpeckers. Without fear it visits the large post-oaks in my yard. This morning 
 four, evidently young ones, came in the large oak only a few feet from my house. They 
 perched on the rough bark at the base of the tree, but before they commenced to climb 
 upwards they carefully and inquisitively looked around. The strong and stiff tail-feathers 
 serve in an excellent way as a support, and with a vigorous jerk they move forward on the 
 trunk. These beautiful birds with their powerful bills and their glowing red crests form 
 a most interesting picture. They are not shy and can be easily observed. Their loud 
 hammering sounds through the forest, but their call-notes are still louder. As soon as 
 the leader, probably the old male, took wing, it uttered its pecuhar and far-sounding 
 call-notes, a clear a~wick, a-wick, a-wick, and the three others folloAved immediately." 
 
 * This locality has become famous all over the world through Longiellow's beautiful poem "Evangeline " 
 
XXXVI 
 
 1 SPHYRAPICUSVARIUS Baird. 
 
 2. COLAPTESAURATUS Vig. 
 
 3. MELANERPES CAROLINUS Ridgw. 
 
 4. MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS Sw. 
 
 -WURMSPECHT 
 -GOLDSPECHT 
 -CAROLINASPECHT 
 -ROTHKOPHSPECHT 
 
 5 MELANERPES FORMICIVORUS BAIRDIRid^w.-SAMMELSPECHT 
 6.CE0PHLCEUS PILEATUS Cab. -HAUBENSPECHT 
 
 -Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. 
 - Flicker. 
 
 Red-bellied Woodpecker. 
 ■Red-headed Woodpecker. 
 
 California Woodpecker. 
 
 Pileated Woodpecker. 
 
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 411 
 
 As nobody disturbed these birds, they became very confiding. Many of the large 
 post-oaks near my house were cut down in the fall. The trunks were used for fence-rails, 
 and the tops remained on the ground. Underneath the bark of these large limbs innu- 
 merable wood worms and other insects had begun their work, and the Pileated Wood- 
 peckers were constantly at work. With powerful strokes they hammered off the bark' 
 and captured their insect prey. Their beauty, activity, and docility excited my admira- 
 tion. When I approached one of them too closely, it uttered a loud and laughing ha-he, 
 ha-he, and then took wing. It is very noisy during the mating season, and indulges a 
 good deal of its time in drumming on a dry hollow limb. Its call-note sounds like 
 a-wickj a-wick, but it also utters a loud taok-tack-tack, which is several times repeated. 
 The nest I have found from ten to fifty feet from the ground, usually in post-oaks, 
 but also in elms, cypresses, cotton-wood trees, and sycamores, and in Wisconsin in 
 birches, oaks, tamaracks, and hemlocks. In Florida it is said to excavate a hole for its 
 nest also in cabbage palmettos. The cavity is from ten to twenty inches deep, and the 
 entrance is so large that I could easily put my hand into it. The eggs, usually from 
 three to five, but sometimes six, are pure glossy white. Only one brood is raised in a 
 season. I found the first nest with a full complement of eggs near the West Yegua in 
 Texas on the first day of April. 
 
 Though a very beneficial bird, the Pileated Woodpecker is much persecuted. In the 
 French Market of New Orleans I saw large bunches of these birds offered for sale, and 
 they are by the Negroes of that city evidently considered as game birds, though they 
 have a very offensive smell. This peculiar odor is imparted to them by the large black 
 ants on which they greed,ily feed. In the days of my boyhood I often saw Indians who 
 were decorated with the beautiful red crests of these Woodpeckers. 
 
 NAMES: Pileated Woodpecker, King of the Woods, Log-cock, Black Wood-cock, Cock of the Woods. 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Picus pileatus Linn. (1766). Hylotomus pileatus Baird (1858). CEOPHLCEUS 
 
 PILBATUS Cab. (1S62). 
 DESCRIPTION: Long red crest. Bill, black. General color of body, wings, and tail, dull greenish-black. A 
 narrow white streak from just above the eye to the occiput; a wider one from the nostril feathers, 
 under the eye and along the side of the head ,and neck; sides of breast (concealed by the wing), 
 axillaries, and under wing-coverts, and concealed bases of all the quills, wth chin and beneath the 
 head, ■white, tinged with sulphur-yellow. Entire crown from the base of the bill to a well-developed 
 occipital crest, as also a patch on the ramus of the lower jaw, scarlet-red. Long primaries tipped 
 with white. — Length, 18.00 inches; wing, 9.50; tail, 6.50 inches. 
 
 RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 
 
 Melanerpes erythrocephalus Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXXVI. Pig. 4. 
 
 li^HE MEXICANS call the Woodpeckers 'Carpenteros,' and most appropriately, for 
 the chisel-shaped bill not only serves the bird in procuring its daily food, but is 
 also the sole agent employed in digging the wonderful cavities in which the eggs are 
 laid and the young reared. It is probable that, putting aside the universal enemy, 
 
man, the eggs and young of this family enjoy a more complete immunity from danger 
 than those of any other. The cunning Crdw and noisy Jay, both ever on the alert for 
 a frolic after bird's eggs, are here balked ; while rain cannot enter, and the mink, weazel, 
 and other noxious animals find their keen noses of little avail. Snakes may, and doubt- 
 less do sometimes enter the holes of the larger species, but even they probably bestow 
 more of their attentions on ground and bush building birds. All the endless little artistic 
 contrivances for concealment so artfully enlployed by other birds in the construction of 
 their nests are here needless, and consequently ignored. In view^ of the manifest advan- 
 tages attendant upon this mode of nidification, it is a matter of no little surprise that 
 Woodpeckers are not more numerous, especially when it is taken into consideration that 
 the habit of roosting in holes at all seasons of the year must protect the adults, as well 
 as young, from many nocturnal dangers. Lack of suitable opportunities for nesting, or 
 obtaining food, may doubtless be taken as explanatory of the comparative fewness of 
 these birds in the older settled sections. In fact, the wilderness is the true home of the 
 Woodpeckers, and in all primitive forest regions they abound. There Nature reigns 
 supreme, and in defiance of artificial laws and cultivated ideas of sylvan beauty, allows 
 her woods to fill with the decaying forms of her dead subjects, — huge moss-clad trunks, 
 picturesque in shape, and by their grim, gaunt aspect adding wildness to an already 
 picturesque scene. In such congenial haunts these birds find all their wants supplied, 
 food being plenty and easily obtained, and the selection of a nesting site a matter of no 
 difficulty." The foregoing excellent account of the Woodpeckers in general, by Prof. Wm. 
 Brewster, well applies also to our most beautiful and familiar Red-headed Woodpecker, 
 once a common and well-known bird in all the wooded regions of eastern North America, 
 west to the Rocky Mountains (and casually westward to Salt Lake valley and Arizona), 
 and fi-om Florida and Texas north to about latitude 50°. In many parts of New 
 England and of the densely populated districts in the Northern States it has become a 
 rare bird of late owingtothe constant persecutions of indiscriminate and senseless gunners. 
 Common in the days of my boyJiood in Wisconsin, it is now rare in many districts, except 
 in some favorable localities where the bird has been protected. In Milwaukee it is a 
 rather common summer sojourner in the remnants of maple woods which are still found 
 in the residence part of the city. Opposite my home in Milwaukee it regularly breeds in 
 the small group of trees on the grounds of the Milwaukee Hospital. 
 
 In the northern part of the country the Red-headed Woodpecker is a regular 
 migrant, leaving late in September and usually returning in the first week of May, 
 when its loud and melodious call-notes, sounding like hurr-hurr, are heard from all sides, 
 adding a peculiar charm to the budding and blossoming spring landscape. Many of 
 these birds are said to winter in the Northern States in certain years when they can 
 find an abundant supply of food. Even in northern New York it is numerous, according 
 to Dr. C. Hart Merriam, during such winters when the beech nuts are abundant, while 
 they are altogether absent when the harvest of these nuts has been scarce. In Wisconsin 
 and northern Illinois I have never found them in winter, and even in south-western 
 Missouri, where they are very numerous in summer, only a few spend the cold season in 
 the bottom woods, the majority moving farther south. According to Prof. R. Ridgway, 
 they are abundant in the bottom woods of northern Illinois during the inclement season 
 
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 413 
 
 of the year. In south-eastern Texas I found this conspicuous Woodpecker exceedingly 
 abundant from November to April, and very numerous in summer. In Houston I found 
 it nesting in the water and swamp oaks in the streets, and in the sycamores and maples 
 along the picturesque Buffalo Bayou. It was very confiding and tame, hammering 
 frequently on houses and stables, and especially on the steeples of churches and on tele- 
 graph posts. I discovered a nest in a sycamore in a street, about fifteen feet from the 
 ground, and only a few yards from a house. In Florida, particularly on the Chatta- 
 hoochee and in the woods fringing Lake Apopka, as well as on the St. Johns and Ockla- 
 waha, I have seen this beautiful bird at all times of the year. 
 
 Its favorite resorts are the borders of woods, forests along streams and around 
 lakes, groups of trees in pastures and fields, solitary lindens, sugar maples, beeches, and 
 ashes along highways, parks and small groups of trees in the cities, etc. I have nowhere 
 observed these birds so numerous as in newly cleared fields in the South. The dense 
 bottom woods in this section of the country are not cut down. Only the underwood 
 is cleared away, but the large trees are invariably girdled. They soon die; the smaller 
 branches soon drop off and only the larger limbs and the trunks remain. Often they 
 stand in the fields for many years, until one by one has been destroyed by insects and 
 storms. Wood-worms, beetles, ants, and other insects are constantly w^orking, and 
 finally nothing is left of the former forest giant as a small heap of dust-like matter. 
 When the trees are girdled, the Red-heads and other Woodpeckers find a rich supply of 
 insects "first under the decomposing bark and then in the soft and brittle wood. These 
 fields with their girdled and dead trees present a deplorable appearance, but they are 
 the very paradise of the Woodpeckers. 
 
 Insects of all kinds, principally those infesting the trees, form the main diet of the 
 Red-head. Grasshoppers, beetles, and ants are also captured, and it makes frequent 
 sallies in the air after passing moths and butterflies, w^hich it seizes with much dexterity. 
 When the young have left the nest, it is very intent on all kinds of firuit, particularly 
 mulberries, poke and elder berries. It frequently enters the orchard and the garden of 
 small fruits to take its share. In the days of my childhood it claimed the first ripe 
 apples for itself. With powerful strokes it pecked deep holes in the finest and ripest 
 fruit, and when disturbed it speared it with its long bill and flew off. In the South 
 they frequently visited the fig trees near my house, committing great havoc among the 
 sweet ripe fruit. They are also said to eat Indian corn in the milk. In fall and winter 
 nuts and wild berries form the main diet of these Woodpeckers. This bird is also a 
 hoarder. Beech nuts are often driven into cracks of fence rails, posts, and tree trunks, 
 and sometimes a knot-hole is entirely filled up with nuts. "In several instances," says 
 Dr. O. P. Hay, "the space formed by a board springing away from a fence was nearly 
 filled with nuts, and afterwards pieces of bark and wood were brought and driven 
 over the nuts as if to hide them from poachers." 
 
 "Last spring," writes Dr. G. S. Agersborg, of Vermillion, S. Dak., "in opening a 
 good many birds of this species with the object of ascertaining their principal food, I 
 found in their stomachs nothing but young grasshoppers. One of them, which had its 
 headquarters near my house, was observed making frequent visits to an old oak post, 
 and on examining it I found a large crack where the Woodpecker had inserted about 
 
414 RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 
 
 a hundred grasshoppers of all sizes (for future use, as later observation proved), which 
 were put in without killing them, but they were so firmly wedged in the crack that 
 they in vain tried to get Iree. I told this to a couple of farmers, and found that they 
 had also seen the same thing, and showed me posts which were used for the same pur- 
 pose. Later in the season the Woodpecker whose station was near my house, commenced 
 to use his stores, and to-day (Feb. 10), there are only a few shriveled-up grasshoppers left." 
 
 Many of our close and conscientious observers have seen this Woodpecker rob, the 
 nests of other birds of their eggs and young. Famous ornithologists, like Mr. Otto 
 Widmann, Major Chas. Bendire, Dr. Wm. L. Ralph, etc., report of the Red-heacJ's canni- 
 balism. There can be no doubt that this accusation is true, but I infer that it is only 
 an individual trait and that not all these birds can be charged with robbery and murder. 
 I have never caught the Red-heads in the act of doing piischief in this way, although I 
 have observed them abundantly since my childhood days. To me this exquisitely beau- 
 tiful bird has always appeared highly poetical, and I would not place it on the same 
 line with such scoundrels and robbers as the Blue Jay, the Magpie, etc. 
 
 How anticipating and suggestive of the beautiful spring time are its melodious 
 and far-sounding call-notes ! Incessantly the loud burrr-harrr is heard during the fine 
 days of May and June, when the male plays hide and seek with his equally beautiful 
 mate on an old stump. His drumming on some resonant dry limb is frequently heard 
 when frolicking and playing with his mate. Often the pair are chasing each other in a 
 playful mood from tree to tree, and at such times they utter a rather noisy cbarr-charr. 
 The alarm is expressed by a harsh rattling note. Mr. Otto Widmann says that they 
 also utter a note that is so similar to that of the tree-frog {Hyla arborea) , that it is 
 undistinguishable from it, and that both bird and frog sometimes answer each other. 
 The coloration of this Woodpecker is exceptionally beautiful, the deep red of the head 
 is harmonizing perfectly with the bluish-black mantle and the white vest. When spread- 
 ing its wings and flying in an undulating way over a small treeless area, its colors are 
 very striking. I have often stopped with admiration when a pair of these birds had 
 alighted on the top of an old stump, and both were calling their loud and melodious 
 notes. It is indeed one of our most beautiful birds, as it is also one of the most familiar 
 where it feels safe. In spite of its pilfering propensities it ought to be protected where- 
 ever found. As it is nowhere occurring in great numbers, the injuries it commits cannot 
 be very serious. 
 
 The Red-headed Woodpecker habitually nestH in dead tops of deciduous trees or in 
 old stumps from ten to fifty feet from the ground. It usually selects sugar maples, 
 beeches, elms, ashes, etc., and I have also found it in red cedars, tamaracks, and white 
 cedars. On the prairies it is said to excavate often a nesting hole in telegraph or 
 fence posts. The eggs, five to six in number, are of a glossy white color. 
 NAMES: Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-head. — Rotkopfspecht (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Picus erytbrocephalusUtm. (1766). MBLANERPES ERYTHROCBPHALVS Siw\ms. 
 (1831). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes alike. "Head and neck all round crimson-red, margined by a narrow crescent of 
 black on the upper part of breast. Back, primary quills, and tail, bluish-black. Under-parts generally, 
 a broad band across the middle of the wing, and the rump, white," (B. B. & R., II, p. 564.) 
 Length about 9.75 inches ; wing, 5.50 ; tail, 3.68 inches. 
 
CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER. 
 
 Melanerpes forwicivorus bairdi Ridgway. 
 
 Plate XXXVI. Fig. 5. 
 
 "pN SUITABLE localities," says Major Charles Bendire in "his monumental work, 
 ^ "Life-histories of North American Birds," "the California Woodpecker is one of 
 the most abundant and familiar species along our southern border, and it is also rather 
 common in many portions of California and western Oregon. Being essentially a bird 
 of the oak belt, this handsome Woodpecker need only be looked for where these trees 
 are abundant. ... It is by far the most sociable representative of this family found 
 within the United States, and it is no unusual occurrence to see half a dozen or more 
 in a single tree. It is also a well-disposed bird, and seldom quarrels or fights with its 
 ow^n kind or with smaller species; but it most emphatically resents the thieving pro- 
 pensities of the different Jays, Magpies, and squirrels, when caught trespassing on its 
 winter stores, attacking these intruders with such vigor and persistency that they are 
 compelled to vacate the premises in a hurry. Its manner of flight and call-notes closely 
 resemble those of the Red-headed Woodpecker, and, like it, it loves to cling to some 
 convenient dead limb near the top of a tree and drum for hours at a time. It is one of 
 the most restless Woodpeckers I know of, and never appears to be at a loss for amuse- 
 ment or work of some kind, and no other bird belonging to this family could possibly 
 be more industrious. During the spring and summer its food consists, to a great extent, 
 of insects, including grasshoppers, ants, beetles, and different species of flies, varied 
 occasionally with fruit, such as cherries, which are carried off whole, apples, figs, and 
 also berries and green corn ; but acorns always form its principal food supply during 
 the greater portion of the year, and large numbers are stored away by it in the thick 
 bark of pines, as well as in dry and partly rotten limbs df oak and other trees, also in 
 telegraph poles and fence posts. This peculiar habit of storing acorns in receptacles 
 especially made for this purpose, and not under loose bark or similar hiding places, 
 seems, however, to be principally confined to the birds found in California and south- 
 w^estern Oregon, v\rhile it has not as yet been noted, to the same extent at least, in the 
 somewhat smaller birds found in Arizona and New^ Mexico; and this habit is far too 
 noticeable to have been overlooked by the many careful ornithologists who have visited 
 Arizona since I was there in 1872 and 1873, and have had far better opportunities for 
 observing its habits than I enjoyed. Although I traveled over considerable areas in both 
 years where these birds were fairly common in places, I saw no evidence of their storing 
 acorns in the way they do in the more northern parts of their range, though I must 
 confess that I was then generally far more on the lookout for hostile Indians thaii 
 ornithological matters. ..." 
 
 "The supposition, that they store only wormy acorns, and allow the inhabitant 
 to get fat before eating it, is nonsense ; the meat of the acorn is the attraction, not the 
 w^orm in it, and there is no doubt that it furnishes their principal food in winter, and 
 more or less during the remainder of the year as well." 
 
416 LEWIS' WOODPECKER. 
 
 In Mexico these Woodpeckers store acorns in the dry flower stalks of the maguay 
 or "century plant" {Agave americana) and also in dead trunks of arborescent yuccas. 
 The nidification does not differ from that of the Red-headed Woodpecker. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Above and on anterior half of the body, glossy bluish or greenish-black; top of head and 
 short occipital crest, red. A white patch on the forehead, connecting with a broad crescentic collar 
 on the upper part of the neck by a narrow isthmus, white tinged with sulphur-yellow. Belly, rump, 
 bases of primaries, and inner edges of the outer quills, white. Tail-feathers, uniform black. Female 
 with the red confined to the occipital crest, the rest replaced by greenish-black." 
 
 Length about 9.50 inches; wing, 6.00; tail, 3.75 inches. (B. B. & R., II, p. 566.) 
 
 The Narrow-fronted Woodpecker, M. formicivorus angttstifrons Baird, inhabits 
 the southern portion of Lower California. 
 
 LEWIS' WOODPECKER. 
 
 Melanerpes torquatus Bonap. 
 
 This is one of our most beautiful and peculiar birds, whose rich dark crimson and 
 bristle-like breast feathers distinguish it at the first glance. It inhabits the western part 
 of the country, from the Black Hills and the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific and from 
 southern British Columbia and southern Alberta south to Arizona, and (in winter) to 
 western Texas, being especially abundant along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada 
 in California and Nevada, as well as in those of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington, 
 and on both sides of the Blue Mountains and connecting ranges in Oregon, Washington, 
 and Idaho. "I have met with Lewis' Woodpecker," says Major Chas. Bendire, "in the 
 vicinity of all the Military Posts I have been stationed at in the West, but found it 
 nowhere so abundant as along the southern slopes of the Blue Mountains, in the vicinity 
 of Catnp Harney, Oregon, during the year 1875 to 1878. Here it was only a summer 
 resident, usually arriving about the 20th of April, and in some seasons from seven to 
 ten days later. It. is by far the most silent Woodpecker I have met, and, aside from a 
 low twittering, it rarely utters a loud note. Even when suddenly alarmed, and when 
 it seeks safety in flight, the shrill huit, huit, given on such occasions by nearly all our 
 Woodpeckers is seldom uttered by it. Only when moving about in flocks, on their first 
 arrival in the spring and during the mating season, which follows shortly afterwards, 
 does it indulge in a few rattling call-notes, resembling those of the Red-shafted Flicker, 
 and it drums more or less in a lazy sort of way, on the dead top of a tall pine, or a 
 suitable limb of a Cottonwood or willow." 
 
 It does not frequent the deep interior of the forest but rather the outskirts of the 
 pines, cedar groves on the table lands bordering the pines, as well as deciduous woods 
 on the streams and in lowlands. Its food consists mainly of all kinds of insects, such 
 as grasshoppers, large black crickets, ants, beetles, wood worms, but it also relishes all 
 kinds of small fruits, especially the berries of the juniper, and the service tree, and in 
 cultivated districts it has acquired a liking for cherries, strawberries, etc. In winter 
 acorns and seed of conifers form a considerable part of its food. 
 
 The eggs, five to nine in number, are pure glossy-white. The cedars or "junipers 
 which are often selected for nesting sites, were invariably decayed inside, and after the 
 
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 417 
 
 birds had chiseled through the live wood, which was usually only from one to two 
 
 inches thick, the remainder of the work w^as comparatively easy." 
 
 DESCRIPTION: Sexes alike. "Feathers on the under parts bristle-like. Above, dark glossy-green. Breast, 
 lower part of neck, and a narrow collar all round, hoary grayish-white. Around the base of the bill 
 and sides of the head to behind the eye dark criihson. Belly blood-red, streaked finely with hoary- 
 whitish. Wings and tail entirely uniform glossy-green. Female similar," (B. B. & R. II, p. 561.) 
 Length 10.00 inches; wing, 6.65; tail, 4.55 inches. 
 
 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 
 
 Melanerpes carolinus Ridgway. 
 
 Plate XXXVI. Fig. 3. 
 
 pN THE sylvan retreats, far from the noise and bustle of man, many of our most 
 (a beautiful birds find quiet and happy homes. A large number of them have been so 
 much persecuted, that they only feel safe in the remotest parts of extensive forests. The 
 large and unique Ivory-billed Woodpecker as well as the "King of the Woods" {Ceophlceus 
 pileatus) , the Carolina Parrot and several other birds are in many places of their habitat 
 confined to vast forests and swamps in thinly settled regions. The latter two birds 
 will soon be extirpated, if steps are not taken to stop the senseless killing of these beau- 
 tiful inhabitants of our woods. In densely populated districts most of the Woodpeckers 
 are constantly pursued malignantly in the false supposition that they damage the trees. 
 This is all erroneous. The Woodpeckers are true benefactors to man, never doing any 
 serious harm. They fully earn all the Berries and fruits they may take, and therefore 
 deserve the protection of every horticulturist and agriculturist. They are exceedingly 
 beautiful, enlivening the woods all the year round by their loud call-notes and their 
 drumming on dry "resonant branches. The lover of Nature as well as the farmer and 
 fruit grower cannot miss these birds in the concert of the woodland choir. 
 
 Ope of our most beautiful species is the Red-bellied Woodpecker, of the Southern 
 States. It is the predominating species in the post oak woods of Texas, where it is a 
 constant resident, and I found it equally numerous in Louisiana and Florida. It is also 
 known as the "Carolina Woodpecker," and in Texas it is frequently called the "Checkered 
 Woodpecker," and the "Zebrabird" and "Zebra Woodpecker," in allusion to its peculiar 
 black and white checkered coloring of the back. In Florida, where it relishes the sweet 
 juice of the orange, it is sometimes called the "Orange Woodpecker," and "Orange Sap- 
 sucker." 
 
 Although. accidentally found as far nprth as Massachusetts, New York, and north- 
 ern Illinois, etc., it is not a numerous bird north of Arkansas and southern Illinois. In 
 the Ozark region of south-western Missouri I found it only fairly common. I have never 
 seen it in Wisconsin, and I know only of one pair that nested in Lincoln Park, Chicago, 
 many years ago. It is pre-eminently a bird of the Gulf region, occurring from the 
 Atlantic west to the eastern half of Texas, the Indian Territory, and Kansas. 
 
 ■53 
 
From Maryland southward it prefers the heavily wooded bottom lands and 
 swamps to the hilly and dry forest, while in Texas I met with it mostly in the post- 
 oak woods, often in close proximity to farm-houses. In Florida it is found as 
 numerous in the flat pine woods as in the hammocks bordering streams and lakes. 
 Where the land has been cleared, and the girdled and dead trees are still found in all 
 states of decomposition, it has taken up its abode in great numbers. Usually it is a rather 
 shy and retired bird, but in the post oak woods near my cabin in Lee Co., Texas, it 
 was a very tame and familiar species, breeding close to the house. Its ordinary call-note 
 is entirely different from that of all other Woodpeckers, sounding like tarrruirrurrrurrr; 
 another sound, resembling the syllables cbow-cbow, is also frequently heard during the 
 breeding season. From this call-note it has received the name "Chow-chow" by the 
 boys of the Texas backwoods. These sounds are "occasionally varied with a disagree- 
 able creaking note, w^hile during the mating season peculiar low^, mournful cooing sounds 
 are sometimes uttered, which somewhat resemble those of the Mourning Dove." 
 
 In its northern habitat it is a migrating species, arriving in spring usually in the 
 
 first days of April. It nests in Texas preferably in dry limbs and dead tops of post 
 
 oaks, in old stumps, etc., from fifteen to forty feet from the ground. In other parts of 
 
 the South I have found the nest mostly in soft wooded trees, such as elms, red-buds, 
 
 sycamores, cotton-woodg, and mulberry trees. Nest and eggs do not differ from those 
 
 of other species. 
 
 NAMES: Ked-bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Woodpecker, "Chow-chow," Checkered Woodpecker, Zebrabird, 
 Zebra Woodpecker, Wood Chuck, Orange Woodpecker, Orange Sapsucker. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Picas carolinas Linn. (1766). Centurus carolinas Swains. (1838). MELANERPES 
 CAROLINUS RiDGw. (1874). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Top of head and nape, crimson-red. Forehead, whitish, strongly tinged with light-red, a 
 shade of which is also seen on the cheek, still stronger on the middle of the belly. Under-parts, 
 brownish-white, with a faint wash of yellowish on the belly. Back, rump, and wing-covertB banded 
 black and white; upper tail-coverts, white, with occasional blotches. Tail-feathers, black; first trans- 
 versely banded with white ; second less so ; all the rest with whitish tips. Inner feathers banded with 
 white on the inner web; the outer web with a stripe of white along the middle. Female with the 
 crown, ashy; forehead, pale red; nape, light red." (B. B. & R., II, p. 554.) 
 Length, 9.75 inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 3.50 inches. 
 
 Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Melanerpes aurifrons Ridgway. This species is 
 mainly an inhabitant of eastern Mexico, north to the southern portion of central Texas. 
 
 The Gila Woodpecker, Melanerpes uropygialis Ridgwav, ranges fi-om south-eastern 
 California, southern Arizona, south-western New Mexico south to Lower California, 
 Jalisco and Aguas Calientes, Mexico. 
 
FLICKER. 
 
 Colaptes auratus Swainson. 
 
 Plate XXXVI. Fig. 2. 
 
 IS^HE last days of May in a Wisconsin forest of deciduous trees and white pines are 
 full of hilarity and pleasant anticipation. Even the indifferent is inspired by 
 the beauty of the budding trees and the song of the birds. Many of the trees and 
 shrubs are in full flower and particularly the rosy-white fragrant blossoms of the 
 wild crab trees arrest our attention. The sombre green of the single specimens and 
 dense groups of white pines contrasts strikingly with the surrounding fresh light green 
 of the deciduous trees and with the brownish-purple of the opening leaf-buds of the 
 oaks. How beautiful and suggestive of spring is the fragrance of the woods ! Under- 
 neath a carpet of delicate woodland flowers, on all sides the various green tints of the 
 new leaves, the wealth of blossoms, and above the deep azure of the sky! Bird-life 
 reigns supreme in the woods, especially around their outskirts, w^here many familiar 
 songs resound throughout the day. Almost all members of the woodland choir have 
 once more returned from their dangerous and fatigueing journey in the far South. Many 
 even come from the tropics of Central and South America, where they sojourned among 
 a wealth of palms, beautiful orchids and other tropical plants. The northern w^ood- 
 lands, how^ever, are their true home. Here they were raised, here they sing, w^oo, and 
 construct their domiciles. The days at this time of the year are the most beautiful. 
 A spirit of restfulness and peace pervades the landscape. 
 
 Among the denizens of the northern woodland borders the Flicker or Golden- 
 winged Woodpecker is one of the most attractive and conspicious. It is an exceptionally 
 noisy bird during this time of the year, its far-sounding drumming on old resonant limbs 
 and its loud melodious call-notes being heard in all directions. Its common notes, 
 resembling the syllables garuck-garuck-gairuck, and garuha-tnha-ruba are most fre- 
 quently heard. During the love season a quickly given tschuck-tschuck-tschuck, a clear 
 wick-ab, wick-ah, wick-ah or wick-up, wick-up, and a soft persuasive quit-tu, quit-tu, 
 qait-tu, are famiUar sounds in the concert of Nature. A rapidly uttered laughing the-he- 
 he-he-be and a low tack-tack-tack and many othet sounds are heard when several 
 rivals are in pursuit of a female. "Another call," says Major Chas. Bendire, "when 
 courting its mate sounds like oait-ouit, and ends with a soft puir-puir, or a cooing 
 yu-cab, yu-cab. Low chuckling sounds are also frequently uttered during their love 
 making ; another common call-note sounds like zee-ab, zee-ab, and during the summer a 
 clear pi^ack, pi-ack, or pi~aby is also frequently heard ; in fact no other of our Wood- 
 peckers utters such a variety of sounds." 
 
 It is very interesting to watch several males wooing a female. The latter appears 
 very coy and coquettish, favoring now one, and a few moments later another male. 
 This playing among the trees, this drumming, calling, and wooing lasts often for several 
 days. The mates do not attack each other like other birds under similar circumstances, 
 they do not fight and scream, they simply pay their addresses to the female, play hide 
 
and seek around the tree trunks, approach the subject of their love, retreat again, drum 
 loudly and powerfully on old dry limbs and call in the most melodious and persuasive 
 notes. I have rarely seen more amusing and pleasing performances than the courtship 
 among these birds. It takes often several days before the female decides whom of the 
 several males she will follow. As soon as this is done the other males leave the scene 
 of their cotirtship, trying their luck somewhere else. The loud drumming, frolicking, and 
 calling is, however, not confined to this time only, but is observed throughout the 
 breeding season. Near their nest they are perfectly silent, their drumming and calling 
 being heard quite a distance from it. Male and female are much attached to each other 
 and are mostly seen together. When it happens that one or the other is absent, the 
 sweetest and most caressing notes are uttered in order to call it back. 
 
 With the exception of the still more beautiful Red-headed Woodpecker, the Flicker 
 is the best known of the whole family. Though not so strikingly colored as its congener, 
 it is much raore endeared to the heart of the friend of Nature, and more valuable 
 than the former. It is a favorite wherever known, ranking in the estimation of the 
 bird lover with such birds as the Robin, Catbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Towhee, 
 Baltimore Oriole, Mockingbird, and others. Its breeding range seems to be more exten- 
 sive than that of any other species of the family, being found from Florida and the: 
 Rio Grande of Texas to the Yukon in Alaska, and from the Atlantic west to the Rocky 
 Mountains. I found it most numerous in the mixed woods of Wisconsin and less common 
 in the oak woods of northern Illinois. In the Ozark region of south-western Missouri 
 it was only fairly common, while in Texas and Florida I found it sparingly during the 
 breeding season, but very abundant in winter. Owing to its beauty, confidence, and 
 familiarity the Flicker is in all localities of its wide range a favorite with all bird lovers 
 and all friends of Nature. Few birds are better known and possess more local names 
 than this species. In allusion to its common note Sick, Sick, it has been called "Flicker," 
 and its names "Wake-up," "Wick-up," and "Wicket" have also been derived from its 
 notes. "Golden- winged Woodpecker" and "Yellow-hammer" designate its prevaiKng 
 color of the wings. In reference to its favorite food, which consists of ants, it has been 
 called "Ant-eater" and "Ant-pecker." Other vernacular names are "High-hole," "High- 
 holder," and "Pigeon Woodpecker." 
 
 In the northern parts of its habitat the Flicker is a regular migrant, though a few 
 may remain in the breeding range throughout the year. From southern Illinois, Tennessee, 
 and southern Missouri southward it is a constant resident throughout the year. I have 
 observed its arrival from the North in south-eastern Texas early in November, and it 
 is a peculiar fact that it moves, unlike other species of the family, in flocks, from ten 
 to thirty; even a hundred being sometimes seen together. Many winter in southern 
 Illinois and in Arkansas, but the majority find their true winter home in the Gulf States. 
 In Wisconsin they are Uttle behind the Robins in their spring migration, appearing 
 usually in the first week of April, though the bulk of young males and the females do 
 not arrive until a fortnight later. Probably the first arrivals are birds who breed in 
 high northern latitudes. By the middle of May they again occupy their old haunts. 
 The breeding range of each pair extends over several acres, and its limits are jealously 
 guarded against intrusion by the old male. 
 
FLICKER. 421 
 
 "Another April comer," says John Burroughs, the poet-oniithologist, "who arrives 
 shortly after Robin Red-breast, with whom he associates both at this season and in 
 autumn, is the Gold-winged Woodpecker, alias 'High-hole,' alias 'Flicker,' alias 'Yarup.' 
 He is an old favorite of my boyhood, and his note to me means very much. He announces 
 his arrival by a long, loud call, repeated from the dry branch of some tree, or a stake in 
 the fence — a thoroughly melodious April sound. I think how Solomon finished that 
 beautiful description of spring, 'And the voice of the Turtle is heard in the land,' and see 
 that a description of spring in this farming country, to be equally characteristic, should 
 culminate in like manner, — 'And the call of the High-hole comes up from the wood.'" 
 
 The Flicker is not an inhabitant of the deep interior of the forest. Its favorite 
 haunts are cultivated localities, where woods alternate with pastures, fields, orchards, 
 and meadows. The outskirts of mixed woods, consisting of a variety of deciduous 
 trees and white pines are particularly favored, and in such places often one pair dwells 
 near the other. Old stumps and partly decayed limbs on the borders of woods or on 
 the banks of creeks and lakes, near the roadside, in a pasture or meadow, as well as 
 old apple orchards will answer the purpose of choosing its nesting-site. Most numerous 
 it is on the woodland border near pastui-es and fields. From here it undertakes excur- 
 sions in quest of food to all directions of its territory. As it procures its food largely 
 on the ground the deep interior of the forest is rarely visited. Few other birds are more 
 conspicuous in their breeding haunts than the Flicker. Being very noisy, large, of 
 striking colors, rather tame and unsuspicious where it feels safe, and always in a happy 
 mood, it pervades its haunts with the peculiarity of its presence. It is always a feature 
 in the landscape, that cannot be overlooked. The stumps in pastures and fields, and 
 especially the ant nests are constantly visited and even the bam yards and orchards are 
 often searched for insects. 
 
 Usually by the end of May a suitable place is selected for a. nesting-site. Old 
 stumps and partly decayed limbs of beeches, lindens, elms, sugar maples, birches, and 
 oaks answer the purpose particularly. I have found the nest also in white cedars and 
 in tamaracks, usually at a distance from the ground varying from three to fifty feet, 
 but as a rule it is situated from ten to twenty feet from the ground. A fresh cavity is 
 constructed every year, but where suitable stumps and limbs are not readily available it 
 sometimes occupies one cavity for several years. In some cases the Flicker selects rather 
 abnormal places for its nest. During two seasons I found a pair breeding on the gable 
 end of a barn, where the eggs were placed on a few chips on a beam. The entrance hole 
 was drilled through the boards near the nest. When chiseling its nest the greatest i)re- 
 caution is taken not to betray its whereabouts. While working only a low subdued 
 hammering is heard. They approach very stealthily, and the main work is done early 
 in the morning and late in the evening. Scarcely any chips are found underneath the 
 nest, as they are carefully carried away that the site of the domicile may not be betrayed. 
 The male and female alternately relieve and encourage each other by mutual caresses, 
 renewing their labors for several days till the nest is, finished. The cavity is from ten 
 to twenty inches deep and a masterpiece of workmanship. There is no soft lining present, 
 and the eggs rest only on a few soft chips. These, varying in number from five to 
 nine, are pure glossy-white. 
 
422 FLICKER. 
 
 Now and then I found a pair of Flickers in places where they were scarcely 
 expected. In June 1867 I discovered a nest in an old solitary linden stump only a few 
 feet from the ground. This stump was about five feet high and was quite a distance 
 from the woods. The entrance hole was so large that I could easily reach the eggs 
 with my hand. The six eggs were hatched in fourteen days and the young were black 
 and very ugly. When the feathers began to grow they diffused a very strong and 
 exceedingly offensive smell. As I have made the same observations in subsequent j^ears, I 
 believe that this is due to their food which consists mainly of ants and all kinds of 
 insects and larvae which are hidden under the decayed bark and in rotten wood. The 
 nest was kept clean, as the, excrements of the young were carried away by the parents. 
 The bird has also been found nesting in a haystack that had been cut through the middle, 
 also in gate-posts, church-towers, in an old wagon hub, in dwellings and outbuildings, etc. 
 In south-western Missouri a pair regularly nested in the trees of an old apple orchard. 
 Though usually exceedingly noisy and unsuspicious, the pair was perfectly quiet in their 
 nesting haunts, and the owner of the place had no knowledge of the birds breeding so 
 near his house. The young just hatched are nourished with the soft white larvas of 
 ants. Later they are fed with all kinds of larger insects. Before they are fully fledged 
 they leave the nest, climbing around the trunk or perching on the top of the stump. 
 When danger threatens and during the night they retreat to the nest. Only one brood 
 is raised annually, even in the South. 
 
 Prof. Wm. Brewster, in his excellent article on "A brood of young Flickers and 
 how they were fed" (Auk, Vol. X, 1893, p. 231 ff.), observed that the parent bird 
 swallowed all the food obtained during its foraging trips and afterwards supplied it to 
 its young by a process of regurgitation. 
 
 The Woodpeckers have justly been called the carpenters among birds, as they con- 
 struct quite a number of cavities for other birds. , The Flicker also works diligenty among 
 the old stumps and dry limbs, finishing partially often quite a number of hollows before 
 it finally makes one ready for itself. After it has abandoned these different cavities, 
 the Nuthatches, Titmice, Wrens, Bluebirds, White-bellied Swallows and Crested Fly- 
 catchers fall heir to them. 
 
 Without any doubt the Flicker is one of our most beneficial birds, deserving always 
 and everywhere the protection of man. I quote the following from Bulletin No. 7 of the 
 U. S. Department of Agriculture "On the Food of Woodpeckers" from the pen of Mr. 
 F. E. L. Beal: "Under one or the other of its various titles of Flicker, Golden-winged 
 Woodpecker, High-holder, Yellow-hammer, Pigeon Woodpecker, and Hairy Wicket, it is 
 known to every farmer and schoolboy, and, unfortunately, to certain so-called Sports- 
 men also, for this is the one Woodpecker that is often seen in city markets. In most 
 places it is a much shyer bird than either of the preceding, and while it frequents the 
 farm and approaches buildings freely it keeps more in the tops of trees and does not 
 allow so near an approach of its greatest enemy, man. This is particularly true in the 
 north-eastern part of the country, where large bags of Pigeon Woodpeckers are annually 
 made among the wild cherry trees in which the birds feed. The Flickers soon learn 
 whom they have to fear, and such knowledge seems to be hereditary. They are very 
 prolific, raising from six to ten young at a brood, and so keep reasonably abundant in 
 
FLICKER. 423 
 
 most parts of the country. The Flicker is the most terrestrial of all the Woodpeckers, 
 ill spite of his high-perching and high-nesting proclivities, and may often be seen walking 
 about in the grass like a Meadowlark. . . . 
 
 "As a large part of the food studied consists of ants, the question may be asked 
 whether the birds are doing good or harm in destroying them. There are so many 
 different species of these insects, and they have such widely different habits, that it is 
 difficult to make any assertion that will apply to all, but it is safe to say that many 
 kinds are decidedly harmful, because they attend, protect, and help to spread plant, root, 
 and bark lice of various species. These lice are among the worst enemies of plant life, 
 and everything which tends to prevent their destruction is prejudicial to the interests of 
 agriculture. Other species of ants destroying timber by burrowing in it ; still other, in 
 warmer climates (especially the Southern States, N.), do much harm to fruit trees by 
 cutting off the leaves and undermining the ground. Many species infest houses and other 
 buildings. Apparently, then, birds do not harm in desstroying ants, but on the contrary 
 do much good by keeping within bounds these insect pests, whose greater abundance 
 would be a serious injury to man. The Flicker takes the lead in this work, eating ants 
 to the extent of nearly half of his whole food." 
 
 In his investigations of the stomachs of these Woodpeckers, Prof. Beal also found 
 a great number of all kinds of beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and two stomachs con- 
 tained each a single bed bug. The berries of the dogwood, blackberry, elder, mulberry, 
 sour gum, smilax, poke- weed, wild grape, wild cherry etc., were found in the stomachs 
 of these birds. 
 
 Among the enemies of this beneficial and beautiful bird man takes the lead. Very 
 often it is a target for such sportsmen, who are low^-minded and churlish enough to fire 
 at every bird they see. The Negroes in the South most especially are to be classed 
 among the enemies of these and all our small migrating songbirds. There ought to be a 
 high tax on all guns in the hands of the lower class in the South as well as in the 
 North. I have seen masses of dead Flickers piled up on the stands in the French Market 
 of New Orleans, and also in Houston, Texas. Nowhere this Woodpecker should be 
 considered a game bird, its meat being as unpalatable to the cultivated taste as that 
 of the Turkey Buzzard. Its main food consists of ants, which impart to it a very 
 peculiar and rather nauseous flavor, which any amount of seasoning and cooking does 
 not disguise. Tree-climbing snakes, raccoons, and opossums also must be ranked among 
 its enemies, as they destroy many broods. 
 
 The Flicker does not climb so much as other Woodpeckers do, obtaining the main 
 part of its food on the ground, probing it for ants, crickets, and beetles. When perching 
 on trees and sttimps, it is mostly not done in the clinging way of other Woodpeckers, 
 but in the manner of the Robin and Thrasher. Its flight, although appearing heavy 
 and laborious, is strong and swift. When flying over large treeless areas, it is undulat- 
 ing or wave-like, but when it proceeds only from tree to tree, it is rather jerky. 
 
 The Flicker is admirably adapted to the cage, becoming easily accustomed to con- 
 finement, and is often kept in good health for many years, provided its keeper satisfies 
 its wants carefully and kindly. I kept several in the cage and all were very pleasant 
 pets. One I kept for more than five years. I fed it with a mixture of Mockingbird-food, 
 
424 FLICKER. 
 
 grated carrots, and ants' eggs, and now and then -with grated hard-boiled cgs^ meal- 
 worms, and small fruits. For the latter it showed no liking whatever in its cage-life, 
 but was very intent on meal-worms, grasshoppers, and crickets. It became so much 
 attached to me that it took its food from my hand. It did not eat in the manner of 
 other birds. The food was not picked up with the bill, but with the tongue, which 
 was thrust forward and in a sinuous or curving w^av made all kinds of motions. 
 With the slimy tongue it took meal-worms and other food from my hand, and in the 
 same way the ants' eggs were first singled out of the mixture of food, before the rest 
 was eaten. When I came near its cage, it at once perched on the bars and thrust its 
 long tongue forward in all directions. When it did not get its food at the usual time 
 in the morning, it was very impatient, hammering vigorously on the floor of the cage 
 and uttering very peculiar smacking sounds, somewhat like young Mockingbirds. It 
 spent most of its time on the floor of the rather roomy cage, but also alighted fre- 
 quently on the perches in the way other birds do. It always came confidingly and 
 with raised head and intelligent looks on the bars of the cage when I entered the 
 room. Usually it slept in a lying position in one comer of the cage, with its bill under 
 the wings, sometimes also in a hanging position on the bars of its cage. This one as 
 well as all the other Flickers, which I have kept in confinement, were very interesting 
 and amiable pets. 
 
 NAMES: Fucker, Golden-winged Woodpecker, Yellow-shafted Woodpecker, Gar-«p, Yar-up, Wake-up, 
 Wick-up, Wicket, Yellow-hammer, Ant-eater, Ant-pecker, High-hole, High-holder, Pigeon Woodpecker, 
 Cuckoo Woodpecker, Eastern Flicker. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Caculus auratas Linn. (1758). Picus auratus Linn. (1772). COLAPTES AURATUS 
 Swains. (1827). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Shafts and under surfaces of wing and tail-feathers, gamboge-yellow. Male with a black 
 patch on each side of the cheek. A red crescent on the nape. Throat and stripe beneath the eye, pale 
 lilac-brown. Back, glossed with olivaceous-green. Female without the black cheek-patch. A crescentic 
 patch on the breast and rounded spots on the belly, black. Back and wing-coverts with interrupted 
 transverse bands of black. Neck above and on the sides, ashy. Beneath, pale pinkish-brown, tinged 
 with yellow on the abdomen, each feather with a heart-shaped spot of black near the end. Rump, 
 white." (B. B. & R., II, p. 575.). 
 
 Length, 13.35 inches; wing, 6.66; tail, 4.86 inches. 
 
 Red-shafted Flicker, Colaptes cafer Stejn. This beautiful species is found in the 
 Rocky Mountain region from British Columbia southward to southern Mexico, and 
 west to the Coast Ranges in Oregon and Washington, and to the Pacific coast from 
 northern California southward. It is the true counterpart of the Eastern Flicker in its 
 general habits, food, call-notes, etc., and it is therefore not necessary to go into details. 
 The shafts and under-surfaces of the wing and tail-feathers are of a beautiful and con- 
 spicuous red color. The sub-species, Colaptes cafer saturatior Ridgw. (North-western 
 Flicker), inhabits the north-western coast region, from Alaska south to northern Cali- 
 fornia. The Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides Reich., is an inhabitant of central 
 and southern Arizona, to southern Sonora, and Lower California. The Guadelupe 
 Flicker, Colaptes ruSpileus Ridgw., is confined to Guadelupe Island, Lower California. 
 
KINGFISHERS. 
 
 Alcedinidae. 
 
 LCEDINID^ or Kingfishers form a very natural family of the great 
 Picarian order, and are alike remarkable for their brilliant coloration 
 and for the variety of curious and aberrant forms which are included 
 
 /^ within their number; They are very characteristic birds, sitting 
 motionless on an overhanging dead branch or on a tree stump 
 
 watching for their prey, to dart after it, seize it on the wing, and return to 
 their original position to swallow it. They nest in holes and lay white 
 eggs. "It is, however, to be remarked that, in accordance with a modifica- 
 tion of the habits of the various genera, a corresponding modification has 
 taken place in the mode of nidification, the piscivorous section of the family 
 nesting for the most part in holes in the banks of streams, while the insec- 
 tivorous section of the family generally nest in the holes of trees, not 
 necessarily in the vicinity of water." (Sharpe.) 
 
 According to Mr. Sharpe's splendid monograph of this family there are in all about 
 one hundred and twenty-five species, the bulk of which occurs in the eastern half of 
 the Malayan Archipelago from Celebes to New Guinea. 
 
 The family is represented in North America by only one geniis. 
 Genus Ceryle Boie. Three species. 
 
 BELTED KINGFISHER, 
 
 Ceryle alcyon BoiE. 
 
 Plate XXXIII. Fig. 2. 
 
 kN picturesque mill-ponds, near small inland lakes, on rivers and creeks, especially 
 those bordered by woods, the Belted Kingfisher is a very conspicuous and 
 familiar bird. In such places it forms quite a feature in the landscape and its vehement 
 call-notes, sounding sharply like sre-sre-sre, are heard throughout the day and even 
 
 54 
 
^ 
 
 426 BELTED KINGFISHER. 
 
 during the night in late spring and eariy summer. It is one of our best known birds 
 as it is found in all suitable localities throughout North America, but it is nowhere 
 really common. Its breeding range extends from Texas and Florida north to the Arctic 
 regions, and in winter it is found south to Panama. Where open w^aters occur it some- 
 times braves the severe- winter's cold of the northern States. These winter sojourners 
 are doubtless birds from the high North being more robust and therefore better adapted 
 to withstand the vicissitudes of a northern winter, than those breeding in the locality. 
 In south-western Missouri it was not common in winter, but in Texas it was found on 
 all strea^ms and rivers during the cold season. I observed the bird throughout the year 
 on the Comal, Guadeloupe and the upper Colorado and on the Brazos in Texas, and in 
 winter it w^as not at all rare on the picturesque banks of the Buffalo Bayou near 
 Houston. I saw the bird in April on the Chattahoochee and Suwanee and on the upper 
 St. Johns in Florida. It is a regular summer sojourner on the Spring River and Center 
 Creek in Lawrence Co. Mo., and about twenty years ago it was a familiar summer 
 sojourner on the Deplaines and Calumet River in the northern part of Illinois. In Wis- 
 consin I observed it in the days of my youth on the beautiful pituresque banks of the 
 Sheboygan and Pigeon Rivers. Clear streams and brooks, bordered with perpendicular 
 banks, and low shores edged with bushes and trees, are the Kingfisher's favorite haunts. 
 Where the water is muddy and dark it does not settle. I found it most frequently near 
 mill-ponds and rapidly flowing brooks, where shallow places alternated with quiet and 
 deep spots. 
 
 As the Kingfisher is found on all creeks, rivers and ponds in suitable localities, it 
 is often asserted to be a common bird. This is, however, not the case.. Being a large, 
 noisy and very conspicuous inhabitant near clear water, and occurring often in the 
 immediate neighborhood of man, it is familiar to almost everyone, but its hunting 
 grounds are very large, and we may often go for miles to find another individual and this 
 is usually the female. Being exceedingly unsocial it never tolerates another individual of 
 its own kind in its hunting grounds. Only during the nesting time both sexes congre- 
 gate, but as soon as the young are able to shift for themselves they are mercilessly driven 
 away. In spite of its very jealous and quarrelsome disposition the Kingfisher is a great 
 ornament of its haunts. It is always found where large dry limbs hang over the water, 
 or where snags or rocks project from the wet element. Often the banks are edged with 
 the beautiful red cardinal flower {Lobelia carditialis), the blue lobelia {Lobelia syphilitica), 
 the fringed and closed gentians {Gentiana crinita and G. Andrewsii), the spotted balsam 
 or touch-me-not {Impatiens fulva), the shell flower {Chelone barbata), ferns, etc. 
 "Every bird," writes Major Chas. Bendire, "seems to have several favorite perches along 
 its range, each perhaps quite a distance away from the next, to which it flies from time 
 to time, generally uttering its well-known shrill rattle in doing so. It is a sedentarj' 
 bird, but ever watchful and rather shy, sitting frequently for an hour at a time in the 
 same position, occasionally moving its head back and forward, watching for its prey 
 as a cat does for a mouse. In such a posture the Kingfisher is one of the most charm- 
 ing features of brook and pool. Should an unfortunate fish come within sight at such 
 times, our lone fisher is at once alert enough, craning its neck and looking into the 
 water, until the proper moment arrives for it to plunge downward, head first, com- 
 
BELTED KINGFISHER. 427 
 
 pletely disappearing out of sight, and usually emerging with a wriggling captive firmly 
 grasped in its bill, for it rarely misses its victim. It generally rises some feet into the 
 air before dashing perpendicularly into the water. . . . By far the larger number of fish 
 caught by the Kingfisher consist of species not considered worth much as food fishes, 
 and they rarely average three inches in length." It also eats all kinds of water beetles, 
 various species of Crustacea, grasshoppers, crickets to a greater or less extent. Frogs 
 and lizards are also acceptable prey. But the main part of its food is obtained firom 
 the clear water. The very dense, smooth and satin-like plumage feels to the touch as if 
 oiled and the water never wets it. It is a peculiar fact that the Kingfisher is making 
 frequent nocturnal rambles especially when it has to care for its young, and its loud 
 sre-sre-sre convince us that it is fully as active during the night as in the daytime. 
 The favorite nesting sites of the Kingfisher are the perpendicular banks of creeks, 
 and rivers directly over the water and also the walls of railroad cuts, usually in places 
 where the soil is a mixture of clay and sand. A nearly circular tunnel is dug into these 
 banks, averaging about four inches in diameter. According to Major Chas. Bendire, 
 "the entrance hole is usually from two to three feet below the top of the bank, but some- 
 times fully twenty feet from the top. The burrows vary in length from four to fifteen 
 feet, according to the nature of the soil, and sometimes run in perfectly straight for the 
 entire distance; again they diverge at different angles, at various distances from the 
 entrance. The nesting-chamber is dome-shaped, usually from eight to ten inches in 
 diameter, and always at a slightly higher level than the entrance hole." The eggs, six 
 to eight in number, are pure white in color, and placed in a nest usually made of fish 
 scales and bones, arranged in a saucer-shaped way. Sometimes the lining consists of 
 coarse grasses, and in new cavities the eggs are usually deposited on the bare ground. 
 The male does not assist in incubation, but he supplies his mate with food while she 
 is hatching. 
 
 This bird, a great ornament of our river and mill-pond scenery and not at all 
 injurious to man, oiight to be protected wherever found. 
 NAMES: Belted Kingfisher, Kingfisher, Fisher. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Alcedo alcyon Linn. (1766). CBRYLB ALCYON Bow. (1826). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Head with a long crest. Above ashy-blue, without metallic lustre. Beneath, with a con- 
 cealed band across the occiput, and a spot anterior to the eye, pure white. A band across the breast, 
 and the sides of the body under the wings, like the back. Primaries white on the basal half, the 
 terminal unspotted. Tail with transverse bands and spots of white. Female and young with sides 
 of body and a band across the belly below the pectoral one light chestnut; the pectoral band more 
 or less tinged with the same." (B. B. & R., II, p. 393). 
 
 Length 12.75 inches; wing, 6.00; tail, 3.50; bill, 2.00 inches. 
 
 Texan Kingfisher, Ceryle americana septentrionalis Sharpe. This beautiful little 
 bird inhabits southern Texas south to the Isthmus of Panama. In general habits, food 
 and nesting it is similiar to the Belted Kingfisher. I saw it several times on the Comal 
 and Guadeloupe near New Braunfels. The Ringed Kingfisher, Ceryle torquata BbiE, 
 is found from the lower Rio Grande southward to southern South America. 
 
TROGONS 
 
 Trogonidse. 
 
 ^F THE magnificently plumaged family of Trogonidse (Trogons) only 
 one species penetrates into our territory from the tropics. This is 
 the Coppery-tailed Trogox, Trogon ambiguus Goux-d, an inhabitant 
 of Mexico, north to the valley of the lower Rio Grande and the 
 mountains of south-western New Mexico and Arizona. Though it 
 must be considered an exceedingly rare summer resident within our borders, 
 there is no doubt that it breeds in some of the mountain ranges of southern 
 Arizona, especially in the Huachuca Mountains. Dr. A K. Fisher writes: 
 "Arriving at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., I learned that the Trogon was not 
 uncommon among the pines in the neighboring mountains. . . . On June 9, 
 I made a trip toward the head of Tanner and Garden Canon, as it is more 
 commonly designated in the vicinity. While riding up the shady trail 
 among the pines a beautiful male Trogon flew across the path and alighted among the 
 trees on the opposite side of the narrow c^non. It was impossible to follow it and to 
 pass through the thick underbrush and loose rocks without making considerable noise, 
 which startled the bird, and it was finally lost among the thick foliage. Higher up in 
 the mountains I heard its peculiar note, which was uttered at regular intervals, and 
 closely resembles that of a hen Turkey. Later in the afternoon another was heard, and 
 by carefully approaching along the hillside a male was discovered sitting on the lower 
 limb of a pine. It sat straight upright, with the tail hanging perpendicular to the 
 body, and while uttering its note the head was thrown backward and the bill extended 
 nearly upward. . . . The stomach contained a few caterpillars." 
 
 All the Trogons, as far as their nesting habits are known, breed iii natural cavities 
 of trees or in Woodpecker's holes. The eggs of the inimitable Quezal {Pbormocras mo- 
 cinnus) are said to be of a uniform pale bluish-green color, while those of the Mexican 
 Trogon {Trogon mexicanus) are very pale greenish. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: The color of the Coppery-tailed Trogon is metallic bronze-green on the crown, hind-neck, 
 back, rump, and upper tail ; wings delicately undulated with white and black ; fore-head, lores, sides 
 of head, chin and throat dull opaque-black; chest, metallic-greenish or coppery-bronze, like back; a 
 pure white band across breast ; behind this, all the lower parts pure scarlet verxnillion, etc. 
 
CUCKOOS. 
 
 Cuculidse. 
 
 UCKOOS play an important part in the bird-life of the Old World as 
 
 p^ well as of our own continent. "There are about two hundred 
 
 current species of the family. Many of them .... lay their eggs in 
 
 other birds' nests. The American Cuckoos have been declared free 
 
 of suspicion of such domestic irregularities ; but, though pretty 
 
 well-behaved, their record is not quite clean : they do sometimes slip into the 
 
 wrong nest. The curious infelicity seems to be connected in some way with 
 
 the inability of the female to complete her clutch of eggs with the rapidity 
 
 and regularity usual among birds, and so incubate them in one batch. The 
 
 nests of our species of Coccyzus Commonly contain young by the time the 
 
 last egg of the lot is laid." (Dr. Elliot Coues.) 
 
 Three very different genera inhabit our country : 
 
 1, Geococcyx Wagler. Running Cuckoos. One species. 
 
 2, Coccyzus Yieillot. Rain Cuckoos. Three species. 
 
 3, Crotophaga Linne;. Anis. Two species. 
 
 ROAD-RUNNER, 
 
 Geococcyx californianns Baird. 
 
 ^HIS very interesting bird is an inhabitant of our south-western border, being com- 
 mon in the western part of Texas, southern New Mexico, Arizona and California, 
 and in northern and central Mexico. It has been traced as far south as the Indian 
 Territory, and even Kansas, southern Colorado, and the southern parts of Utah and 
 Nevada. 
 
"Its general habits," says Major Chas. Bendire, "are far more terrestrial 
 than arboreal, spending much of its time on the ground in search of food, and 
 frequenting the drier desert tracts, adjacent to river valleys, and the lower foot- 
 hills, covered by cactus, yuccas, and thorny undergrowth." It is rarely met in the 
 mountains. 
 
 In southern Texas it is called by the people the Chaparral Cock, as it invariably 
 frequents places where dense thorny bushes, cacti, yuccas, agaves, dasylirions, nolinas 
 etc. abound and where rattle-snakes are numerous. It is not a sociable bird, and usually 
 only the pair, or later in the season, the old and young ones are seen togethers "The 
 food consists almost entirely of animal matter, such as grasshoppers, beetles, lizards, 
 small snakes, land sliails, the smaller rodents, and not unfrequently of young birds. On 
 the whole these birds do far more good than harm. When the fig-like fruit of the giant 
 cactus is ripe, they also feed on this. ... It is astonishing how large an animal can be 
 swallowed by one of these birds. I have found a species of garter snake fully twenty 
 inches long in the crop of one." 
 
 "Road-runners are ordinarily rather shy and suspicious birds, and not as often 
 seen as one would think, even where comparatively common. Within the United States 
 they are most abundant along the southern borders of Texas and Arizona, and in 
 southern California. I found them quite common in the vicinity of my Camp on Rillito 
 Creek, near Tucson, Arizona, and also near Annaheim, Orange Co. Cal., and I have 
 examined about twenty of their nests. Notwithstanding their natural shyness, they are 
 inquisitive birds, and where they are not constantly chased and molested w^ill soon 
 become used to man. One of these birds paid frequent visits to my camp, often perch- 
 ing on a mesquite stump for half an hour at a time, within twenty yards of my tent. 
 While so perched it would usually keep up a continuous cooing, not unlike that of the 
 Mourning Dove, varied now and then by a cackle resembling that of a domestic hen 
 when calling her brood's attention to some choice morsel of food. This call sounded 
 like 'duck, dock, duck', a number of times repeated. Another peculiar sound was some- 
 times produced by snapping its mandibles rapidly together. While uttering these notes 
 its long tail was almost constantly in motion and partly expanded, and its short wings 
 slightly drooped. In walking about at ease, the tail is somewhat raised and the neck 
 partly contracted. When suddenly alarmed the feathers of the body are compressed and 
 it trusts almost entirely to its legs for escape, running surprisingly fast. While running 
 it can readily keep out of the way of a horse on fair gallop on comparatively open 
 ground, and should the pursuer gain too much on the bird, it suddenly doubles on its 
 course and takes advantage of any thickets or broken ground in the vicinity, and is 
 soon lost to sight. Its flight is comparatively easy and, considering its short wings, is 
 rather swift." (Bendire). 
 
 It begins nesting as early as the middle of March. The nest is usually placed in 
 low mesquite trees, thick bushes, and in different species of cacti, such as the prickly 
 pear, cholla and others. It is a flat and shallow structure made of sticks and lined with 
 dry grasses. Sometimes dry cow and horse dung, a few feathers, pieces of snake skin, 
 rootels are found in the lining. The number of eggs varies between two and nine and 
 occasionally as many as twelve have been found. They are white in color and unspotted, 
 
This characteristic Cuckoo is usually called Road-runner and Chaparral Cock, but 
 it is also known as the "Snake-killer," "Ground Cuckoo," "Lizard Bird," while the 
 Mexicans call it the "Paisano" and "Correcamico." 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Saurothera californica Less. (1829). Geococcyx Yariegata Wagler (1831). Lepto- 
 stoma longicauda Swains. (1837). Geococcyx mexicanus Gambel (1849). GEOCOCCYX CALIFOR- 
 NIANUS Baird (1858). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Tail very long; the lateral feathers much shorter. An erectile crest on the head. A bare 
 skin around and behind the eye. Legs very long and stout. All the feathers of the upper parts and 
 wings of a dull metallic olivaceous-green, broadly edged with white near the end. There is, however, 
 a tinge of black in the green along the line of white, which itself is suffused with brown. On the neck 
 the black preponderates. The sides and under-surfaces of the neck have the white feathers streaked 
 centrally with black, next to which is a brownish suffusion, The remaining under-parts are whitish, 
 immaculate. Primary quills tipped with white, and with a median band across the outer webs. Cen- 
 tral tail-feathers olive-brown; the others clear dark green, all edged and (except the central two) 
 broadly tipped with white. Top of the head, dark blackish-blue. 
 
 "Length 20.00 to 23.00 inches; wing, about 6.50; tail, 12.00 to 13.00 inches." (B.B.&R.II,p.472.) 
 
 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 
 
 Coccyzus americanus BoNAPART:e. 
 
 Plate XXXIII. Fig. 4. 
 
 >CARCELY any other bird of my boyhood days aroused my curiosity more than 
 the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Though its very peculiar and characteristic notes 
 w^ere familiar to my ear, the bird itself remained for a long while a mystery to me. 
 Often I saw it gliding swiftly and noiselessly through the thickets, but this was only for 
 a moment, giving me no chance to see it plainly. As its notes w^ere uttered most clearly 
 and most frequently just before a warm summer rain, this Cuckoo was known among 
 the country people as the Rain-bird or Rain Crow. 
 
 In a large meadow in the lowlands of our farm there was an area of about two 
 acres entirely covered with dense thickets, which had been designated by my grandfather 
 as an asylum for the small birds. After the grass had been mown, this meadow was 
 used as a pasture for the cows, who found among the dense thickets during the hottest 
 part of the day a shady and cool retreat. In May and June the whole meadow was 
 alive with frolicking and singing Bobolinks. Meadowlarks were also numerous and 
 Goldfinches nested preferably in the ash saplings. Consisting mostly of different species 
 of willows, and also a few small elms, ash saplings, elder, dogwood and viburnum 
 bushes, these thickets really formed a favorite abode for many birds. On the border 
 many a bush and small tree was overgrown with grape-vines and virgin's bower 
 {Clematis virginiana) , but more in the interior many of the willows had attained the 
 size of small trees. Nowhere else have I found the Catbirds so abundant. At least seven 
 pairs were nesting each year in the tangled bushes on the border of this domain. The 
 Thrasher was also present, and Cedarbirds were still more numerous than the Catbirds. 
 
432 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 
 
 Their very compact and warm nests, in the construction of which a considerable quantity 
 of wool was used, were also found around the border. The nests of the Philadelphia 
 Vireo, the Yellow Warbler, the Redstart and the Least Flycatcher were all found in this 
 locality. A pair of Kingbirds had taken up their abode in a small elm standing in the 
 centre. They were the guardians of all the small birds nesting around them. Mourning 
 Doves and Wood Thrushes had also chosen their haunts in the interior of these thickets, 
 it was in this locality that I found the first nest of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. During 
 June, July and August the very peculiar and striking sounds of this bird were heard 
 almost incessantly. Its common call-note sounding like coobk-cook-cook-cook-cook 
 was daily heard. Another familiar call, given in a rather low tone, was similar to the 
 syllables coo-coo-coo-coo and cow-cow-cow. The long-tailed conspicuous bird with its 
 white underside and grayish-brow^n back, always vanishing before my eyes when I came 
 near its hiding places, was at last detected. After many hours of patient waiting, I 
 saw it plainly and heard its notes close by. It was such a characteristic and mysterious 
 bird that it appeared in my dreams, and its notes haunted me wherever I went. Several 
 days later, in the second week of June, while rambling about in the thickets, I found 
 the bird on its nest, a very slovenly and comparatively small structure w^ith an exceed- 
 ingly small cavity. It was built of sticks and lined w^ith a dense felting of the wool of 
 willow catkins. The bird glided off swiftly and did not show^ any uneasiness w^hile I 
 examined its domicile. The nest contained three greenish-blue or glaucous-blue eggs. 
 Later in the season, and also in the succeeding years, I found other nests, all built in 
 the same manner. The birds were rather common, and their voices were heard until 
 late in August, when they ceased. By the middle of September they left for the South. 
 I found that these Cuckoos in this part of Wisconsin never arrived before the last day« 
 of May. 
 
 Several years later I found the Yellow-billed Cuckoo a rather numerous summer 
 sojourner on the Desplaines and in many other parts of northern Illinois. It was also 
 a rather familiar bird in the Ozark region of south-western Missouri, where it rarely 
 arrived before May 15. There it nested frequently in the apple orchards and Osage 
 orange hedges. In south-eastern Texas, near Houston, and farther west on the West 
 Yegua Creek in Lee Co., I found it more abundant than anywhere else. I discovered its 
 nests usually in thickets overgrown with wild grape-vines, smilax, and trumpet creepers. 
 It made its appearance always when the trees were in full foliage and when eater-pillars, 
 its main food, were abundant, usually about April^ 20. Thus it will be seen that the 
 Yellow-billed Cuckoo has a very extensive range in summer, breeding from the Gulf 
 coast north to the Dominion of Canada, New Brunswick, and Minnesota, and from the 
 Atlantic west to the eastern border of the Plains. In winter it is found abundant in 
 the West Indies, where it is known as the "May Bird," and through eastern Mexico to 
 Costa Rica. Some even winter in southern Florida. 
 
 The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a well-known bird throughout its summer range, and 
 though comparatively few people know the bird when they chance to see it, many are 
 well acquainted with its characteristic notes. Besides the names already mentioned it 
 is also called "Cow-cow," "Rain Pigeon," "Wood Pigeon," "Indian Hen," and "American 
 Cuckoo." Of late years it has made its appearance even in the city of Milwaukee where 
 
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 433 
 
 apple orchards occur. On account of its shy and retired habits, it is much more frequently 
 heard than seen. Being decidedly a bird of the trees and bushes, it rarely comes down 
 to the ground, where its motions are very awkward. On the wing it is an expert, its 
 flight being exceedingly swift, noiseless, and graceful, "and it moves or rather glides 
 through the densest foliage with the greatest ease, now flying sidewise, and again 
 twisting and doubling at right angles through the thickest shrubbery almost as easily 
 as if passing through unobstructed space, its long tail assisting it very materially in all 
 its complicated movements. Few of our birds show to better advantage on the wing 
 than the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. It rarely indulges in protracted flights on its breeding 
 grounds, but keeps mostly in the shadiest trees, in dense thickets, along water courses, 
 or on small islands, shrubbery bdrderirig country roads, the outskirts of forests, and 
 were it not for its peculiar call-notes, which draw attention to its whereabouts at once, 
 it would be much less frequently seen than it usually is, even where fairly common; on 
 the whole, it must be considered a rather shy, retiring, and suspicious bird." (Bendire.) 
 
 While the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a timid, shy, and retired bird in most localities, 
 it becomes very confident and conspicuous in gardens and in hedge-rows where it feels 
 safe and where it has been convinced that man is its friend and not its enemy. In Texas 
 I found the nest always in thickets and small trees overrun with climbers, and often also 
 in Cherokee rose hedges, and the characteristic structure was always very frail. Com- 
 posed exteriorly of small sticks, rootlets, a few dry leaves, and a little Spanish moss, 
 the lining was usually made of dry blossoms of hickories and oaks, a few grasses, pine 
 needles, and bits of cotton. Often I found the soft, grayish, w^ooly stems of a gnaphalium- 
 like plant {Evax prolifera and Evax tnulticaulis, the former growing in the dry post-oak 
 w^ood, the latter in somewhat low^er ground; the first one is especially a favorite nesting 
 material with all the birds of the post-oak region) among the material, and sometimes 
 also a piece of paper or calico is found. The lining materials "are loosely placed on the 
 top of the little platform," writes Major Charles Bendire, "which is frequently so small 
 that the extremities of the bird project on both sides, and there is scarcely any depres- 
 sion to keep the eggs from rolling out even in only a moderate windstorm, unless one 
 of the parents sits on the nest, and it is, therefore, not a rare occurrence to find broken 
 eggs lying under the trees and bushes in which the nests are placed. Some of these are 
 so slightly built that the eggs can be readily seen through the bottom. An average 
 nest measures about 5.00 inches in outer diameter by 1.50 inches in depth. They are 
 rarely placed over twenty feet from the ground, generally from four to eight feet upon 
 horizontal limbs of oaks, beech, gum, dogwood, hawthorn, mulberry, pine, cedar, fir, 
 apple, orange, fig, and other trees. Thick bushes, particularly such as are overrun with 
 wild grape and other vines, as well as hedge-rows, especially those of Osage orange, are 
 also frequently selected for nesting sites. The nests are ordinarily well concealed by the 
 overhanging and surrounding foliage, and while usually shy and timid at other times, 
 the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is generally courageous and bold in defense of its chosen home; 
 the bird on the nest not unfrequently will raise its feathers at right angles from the 
 body and occasionally even fly at the intruder." 
 
 The number of eggs vary from two to six, but sets of three are most common. 
 The eggs follow usually at such long intervals, that one or the other hatches before the 
 
 55 
 
434 YBLLOW-BILLBD CUCKOO. 
 
 last one is dropped. Thus fresh eggs, and young may be found in a nest at the same 
 time. Though an orderly member of a disreputable family, it now and then piractices 
 "the vice which disgraces so many of its relatives" and lays its eggs in the nests of 
 other birds. The egg has been found in the nest of the Wood Thrush, ^pbin, Catbird, 
 Cedarbird, Cardinal, Mourning Dove, etc. Such instances, however, are exceedingly rare 
 and have never come under my observation. The color of the eggs is a peculiar glaucouS- 
 green, which fades upon exposure to the light. Though usually somewhat larger, they 
 cannot with any certainty be distinguished from the eggs of the Black-billed Cuckoo. 
 
 Though rather a solitary bird, I have often seen, in Texas as well as in jVIissouri, 
 five or six individuals in one thicket, where they uttered quite a variety of notes, the 
 most common call being the ordinary coobk-cook-cook-cook, which changed into a low 
 cow-cow-cow-cow, and a somewhat plaintive coo-coo-coo-coo; others called ock-ock- 
 ock-ock, and kee-uh, kee-uh, kee-uh, kee-uh. In their notes they resemble closely the 
 Black-billed Cuckoo. 
 
 There is scarcely another bird which does more good than this bird. It sfibsists 
 almost entirely of eater-pillars, and even the large and ugly hairy ones and those with 
 formidable spines are eaten. "Among the most important ones so destroyed are the 
 canker-worm, the tent eater-pillar {Clisiocampa americana), and that of the Vanessa 
 antiopa, as well as of numerous other butterflies, also grasshoppers, beetles, cicadas, 
 small snails, etc., and different kinds of fruits, as berries, mulberries, grapes, and others. . . . 
 All of our Cuckoos deserve the utmost protection ; it is simply astonishing how quickly 
 a pair of these birds will exterminate the thousands of eater-pillars infesting orchard 
 and other trees in certain seasons ; it makes no difference how hairy and spiny these may 
 be, none are rejected by them, although no other birds will touch them, and the walls 
 of their stomachs are sometimes completely pierced by the sharp, stiletto-like hairs, 
 without injury, and apparently not incommoding these birds in the least. Their benefit 
 to the horticulturist is immense, and he has certainly no better friends among our birds." 
 
 In the West the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is represented by the California Cuckoo, 
 Coccyzus americanus occidentalis Ridgw., which is found from the northern part of 
 Lower California north to British Columbia, east to the Rocky Mountains and south- 
 western Texas. Its habits are like those of the type. 
 
 NAMES: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Rain Cuckoo, Rain Crow, Rain Pigeon, Cow-cow, Wood Pigeon, Indian- 
 hen.— Regenkuckwck (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Cuculus americanus Bonap. (1766). COCCYZUS AMERICANUS Bonap. (1824). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Upper mandible and tip of the lower, black; rest of lower mandible and cutting edges of 
 
 the upper, yellow. Upper parts of a metallic greenish-olive, slightly tinged with ash towards the bill; 
 
 beneath, white. Tail-feathers (except the median, which are like the back), black, tipped with white 
 
 for about an inch on the outer feathers, the external one with the outer edge almost entirely white. 
 
 Quills, orange-cinnamon; the terminal portion and a gloss on the outer webs, olive; iris, brown. 
 Length, 12.00 inches; wing, 5.95; tail, 6.35 inches." (B. B. & R., II, p. 477.) 
 
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. 
 
 Coccyzus erythrophthaltnus Bonap. 
 
 The Black-billed Cuckoo is a rather numerous bird in eastern North America 
 west to the Rocky Mountains. It breeds from' about the 35° of latitude north to Mani- 
 toba and Assiniboia, having been found as far north as latitude 51°. In Wisconsin it 
 is at least as abundant as the foregoing species, but it is still more shy and retired in 
 its habits, preferring for its haunts thickets near creeks and lakes. It is known by the 
 same local names as the congener, which shows that the birds are often confounded. 
 Its notes are similar, but I always could distinguish both species by their voices, though 
 the diiference can not be, described. Its strange voice is frequently heard, but the bird 
 itself is rarely seen, being very shy and furtive in its manners and winging its swift, 
 arrowy course through the densest foliage. Especially during the breeding season it 
 is very secretive, when it has much of the sneaky, skulking ways of the parasitic Euro- 
 pean Cuckoo {Cuculus canorus). Later in the season it is more likely to be seen when 
 its lithe form enlarges by the spreading of its wings and tail as the agile creature glides 
 noiselessly through the bushes and trees. 
 
 In its habits, notes, plumage, in its manner of flight and nesting, and in its food 
 
 habits it is so similar to the Yellow-billed Cuckoo that it can scarcely be distinguished 
 
 by the field ornithologist, unless close by. The nest is a little better built than that of 
 
 the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, being constructed externally of fine twigs, rootlets, the soft 
 
 bark of the cedar, bark strips of the linden and iron wood, and, generally, there is also 
 
 a better lining which consists of plant-wool, leaf-skeletons, and similar material. The 
 
 eggs vary in number from two to seven, but sets of three and four are most common. 
 
 They show^ a deeper color of bluish-green than those of the congener and are also smaller. 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Bill, entirely black. Upper parts generally of a metallic . greenish-olive, ashy towards the 
 base of the bill ; beneath, pure white, with a brownish-yellow tinge on the throat. Inner webs of the 
 quills tinged with cinnamon. Under surface of all the tail-feathers, hoary ash-gray. All, except the 
 central on either side, suffused with darker to the short, bluish-white, and not well-defined tip. A 
 naked red skin round the eye. 
 
 Length about 12.00 inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 6.50 inches. (B. B. & R., II, p. 484.) 
 
 Mangrove Cuckoo, Coccyzus minor Cabanis. This bird, also known as the Black- 
 eared Cuckoo, and in Jamaica as the "Young Old-man Bird," is an inhabitant of the 
 West Indies, Central and South America, but in the United States its range is a very 
 restricted one, being confined to the Keys and the west coast of Florida and the Gulf 
 coast of Louisiana. A variety, Maynard's Cuckoo, C. minor maynardi Ridgw., is found 
 in the Bahama Islands and southern Florida. The habits of these birds are apparently 
 the same as those of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 
 
 Ani, Crotophaga ani Linn. This peculiar species of Cuckoo, which is also known 
 as the Tick-bird, the Black Witch, Black Ani, Savanna Blackbird, etc., is common in the 
 West Indies and eastern South America, east of the Andes, and south to the northern 
 part of the Argentine Republic. It can only be considered as a straggler within our 
 borders, having been found on the Florida Keys and at Charlotte Harbor, Fla. According 
 to Major Chas. Bendire, a flock of five of thes^ birds was seen in July, 1893, at Diamond, 
 Louisiana, opposite Point la Hache. 
 
GROOVE-BILLED AN I. 
 Crotopbaga sulcirostris Swains. 
 
 The Groove-billed Ani was discovered in our territory by Mr. Geo. B. Sennett, 
 near Lomita, Tex., on the lower Rio Grande, in May 1878, and since that time it has 
 been found nesting in small numbers in the Chaparral near Brownsville. Stragglers 
 have also been observed in Louisiana and Florida. From southern Texas it is distributed 
 through Mexico and Central America, and along the western slope of the Andes, in 
 South America, to Peru. 
 
 This Ani is a social bird, being found in small companies of from six to fifteen; it 
 is half-domesticated in its habits, frequenting haciendas, fields, and pastures, and is con- 
 sidered as very useful because of its habit of destroying large numbers of parasites, 
 especially ticks, infesting the cattle. It is known in Mexico as the "Pijon" and "Garra- 
 patero" (Tick-eater), and another local name is "Chicuya." According to Dr. Anastasio 
 Alfaro, Director of the National Museum of Costa Rica, at San Jos^, it is known there 
 as the "Zopilotillo" {so-pee-lo-t§e-yo) , and as the "Tijo-tijo" (tee-bo-tee-bo) . Mr. Charles 
 W. Richmond, who collected quite a number of these birds at Bluefields, Nicaragua, for 
 the Public Museum of Milwaukee, writes: "A very abundant resident. It appears to 
 breed at various times during the year, as I have found fresh eggs July 6, 1892, and 
 young birds, recently firom the nest, November 29, the breeding season spreading over 
 seven months of the year at least. . . . Nests are firequently built in the heart of a thick, 
 thorny orange or lemon tree, and this appears to be a favorite situation. In this case 
 the nest is from four to seven feet from the ground, and, besides being difiicult to get 
 at, is somewhat protected from invasion by the wasps which invariably take up their 
 abode in the same tree." All the nests found by Mr. Richmond were composed of dead 
 black twigs, loosely put together, and lined with green leaves. The eggs are glaucous- 
 blue and often spotted with a chalky matter. "An orange tree near the house was a 
 favorite place where thirty or forty birds came to pass the night, flying in from the 
 surrounding pasture about dusk, and after a few short flights from one tree to another, 
 passed into the roost one or two at a time, hopping about as if seeking a favorable 
 perch, uttering their peculiar note meanwhile." (Richmond^) 
 
 DESCRIPTION : Plumage entirely dull black, feathers on head, neck, and body edged with metallic bluish, 
 greenish, or bronzy tints; wings and tail faintly glossed with metallic bluish or violet. Upper mandible 
 with several distinct longitudinal groves. 
 
 Length, 13.27 inches; wing, 6.00; tail, 7.80 inches. 
 
PARROTS. 
 
 Psittacidse. 
 
 m . 
 
 lORE THAN four hundred species (430) of Parrots are known to 
 science. These have been arranged by ornithologists in nine families 
 and forty-five genera. In Dr. Anton Reichenow's exquisite work, 
 -» "Vogelbilder aus femen Zonen,"* two hundred and fifty species are 
 figured on thirty-three plates, all painted by the late artist Gustav 
 Miitzel, after live specimens kept in confinement. The Parrots are mostly 
 inhabitants of the tropics, though many extend beyond the torrid zone. 
 Our Carolina Paroquet reaches farthest north, while in the Australasian 
 region some species extend to New Zealand, Aukland, and the Macquarie 
 Islands (55° S.). It has been stated that the American continent is richest 
 in species, but, according to Dr. Reichenow's list, America contains one 
 hundred and twenty-six species, while the Australasian region (south and 
 east of Wallace's line) afibrds a home for nearly one hundred and fifty 
 forms. Most of the Parrots have a brilliant and strikingly beautiful plumage. In size 
 they show a considerable variation, some (for instance the Inseparables) being scarcely 
 larger than a Sparrow, while the Macaws of South America are three feet long. Parrots, 
 as a rule, are very sociable birds, living together in large flocks in forests, others in 
 grassy plains. Their food consists mostly of seeds and fruits. Their voice is loud, harsh, 
 and discordant, but many species possess a great imitative power, learning not only to 
 repeat human words and sentences, but also songs, and other voices. Most of the species 
 are highly valued as cage birds. 
 
 The Carolina Paroquet belongs to the 
 
 Genus Conoras Kuhl. 
 
 • Vogelbilder aus fernen Zonen. Die Papageien. Von Anton Keicbenow. Cassel. Theodor Fischer. 
 
CAROLINA PAROQUET, 
 
 Conurus carolinensis Lesson. 
 
 Plate XXVI. Fig. 5. 
 
 [^HE Carolina Paroquet, also known as the Parakeet, Carolina Parrot, and 
 Illinois Parrot, was once an exceedingly abundant bird in the United Sta,tes east 
 of the Rocky Mountains, particularly in the Southern States and in the entire valley of 
 the Mississippi north to the Great Lakes. It even occurred in Michigan and New York. 
 In Wilson's and Audubon's time it was a conspicuous bird on the Ohio and Mississippi, 
 where it was seen in very large flocks. At present, however, its range is very restricted, 
 being only found in moderate numbers in southern Florida, and perhaps: in some remote 
 places of Louisiana, Texas, and the Indian Territory. With the exceedingly rapid settle- 
 ment of all the fertile portions inhabited by these birds their number gradually diminished, 
 until they w^ere entirely exterminated in most places. Their total extermination is only 
 a question of time, and by the beginning of the twentieth century probably the last one 
 will have disappeared even from the extensive tropical forests of the Everglades. 
 
 When I visited Florida in April, 1886, I saw small flocks in th^woods near Lake 
 Apopka. In Orlando and Sanford freshly caught Parakeets were offered for sale in large 
 numbers. In March, 1891, a pair of these birds were obtained for the Public Museum 
 of Milwaukee, near Gotha, Orange Co., Fla. The small flocks which I saw proceeded 
 with an astonishing rapidity and swiftness through the air. Their flight was very 
 graceful and somewhat undulating, reminding me strongly of that of the Passenger 
 Pigeon. I saw the birds only in the extensive hammock woods and cypress swamps. 
 
 The food of the Parakeet, before the country was extensively settled, consisted of 
 tne seeds of the cocklebur {Xanthium strumarium) , of the seed contained in the round 
 balls of the sycamore, pecan and beech nuts, seeds of the magnolia and tulip tree, fruits 
 of the popaw {Asimia triloba), wild cherry, mulberry, etc. It has also been observed 
 that they consumed the seeds of the sand-spur or burr-grass {Cencbras echinatus), one 
 of the vilest and most troublesome weeds in existence. They have also been known to 
 visit the corn-fields, where they indulged in eating the sweet milky seeds. According to 
 Mr, Frank M. Chapman, they eat the milky seeds of a species of thistle (Cirsium Lecontei). 
 He saw them feeding among the thistles in March, 1890, on the Sebastian River in 
 Florida. 
 
 "Although clumsy looking birds on the ground," writes Major Chas. Bendire, "it 
 is astonishing how readily they move about on the slenderest limbs in trees, frequently 
 hanging head down, like Crossbills and Redpolls, nipping off the seed bulbs of the syca- 
 mores, etc., and swinging themselves, with the assistance of their powerful beaks, from 
 the extremity of one branch to another. 
 
 "Their flight, which is more or less undulating, resembles both that of the Passenger 
 Pigeon and then again that of the Falcons ; it is extremely swift and graceful, enabling 
 them, even when flying in rather compact flocks, to dart in and out of the densest 
 
CAROLINA PAROQUET. 439 
 
 timber with perfect ease. Their call-notes are shrill and disagreeable, a kind of grating, 
 metallic shriek, and they are especially noisy while on the wing. Among the calls is 
 one resembling the shrill cries of a Goose, which is frequently uttered for minutes at a 
 time. Formerly they moved about in good-sized and compact flocks, often numbering 
 hundreds, while now it is a rare occurrence to see more than twenty together, more 
 often small companies of from six to twelve. When at rest in the middle of the day on 
 some favorite -tree, they sometimes utter low notes, as if talking to each other, but 
 more often they remain entirely silent, and are then extremely difficult to discover, as 
 their plumage harmonizes and blends thoroughly with the surrounding foliage. 
 
 "They are most active in the early morning and again in the evening, while the 
 hotter parts of the day are spent in thick-foliaged and shady trees. They are partial 
 to heavily timbered bottom lands bordering the larger streams and the extensive cypress 
 swamps, which are such a common feature of many of our Southern States. Social 
 birds as they are, they are rarely seen alone, and if one is accidentally wounded, the 
 others hover around the injured one until sometimes the whole flock is exterminated. 
 This devotion to one another has cost them dearly, and many thousands have been 
 destroyed in this way. 
 
 "Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny has kindly furnished me with the following notes on their 
 habits as observed by him in southern Louisiana, where the species was still compara- 
 tively abundant a few years ago, but has now nearly disappeared: 
 
 '"The Carolina Paroquet may be looked for in this section about April 25, or 
 when the black mulberries begin to ripen. This fruit seemed to be their favorite food, 
 and in the morning, from sunrise to about seven o'clock, and in the evening, from five 
 o'clock to sunset, at which hours they feed, they were to be found in the mulberry 
 groves. They spent the rest of the day and roosted at night in the live-oak timber. 
 In the morning, just before sunrise, they mounted the tallest trees, congregating in small 
 bands, all the while talking at a great rate. As the sun rises they take flight for the 
 nearest mulberry grove, where they partake of their morning meal amidst a great 
 amount of noise. After they have eaten their fill, they generally go to the nearest 
 stream, where they drink and bathe; they then go to some dense oak timber, where 
 they pass the heat of the day. After they get in the oaks they rarely utter a sound. 
 In the afternoon they go through the same performance, with the exception of going to 
 the water.' 
 
 "The flight of the Carolina Paroquet, once seen, is never to be forgotten; it is 
 undulating, something like the Woodpecker's, but very swift. While on the wing they 
 chatter and cry continually ; this cry sounds like qui, with the rising inflection on the i; 
 this is repeated several times, the last one being drawn out like qui-i-i-i. These birds 
 are rarely met with in the summer, and I do not think they nest here. They are most 
 plentiful in May and September. In the fall they feed on the fmit of the honey locust, 
 and are then more often seen on the ground." 
 
 About the nesting habits of the Carolina Paroquet nothing definite is known. 
 None of our great and well-known ornithologists of the past and the present have ever 
 found the nest. Neither Wilspn, Audubon, and Nuttall, nor Allen, Coues, Ridgway, 
 Brewster, Bendire, Chapman, Scott, B. F. Goss, etc., who visited the home of this beau- 
 
tiful bird, have been able to enlighten us on this subject. In winter 1892 my friend, the 
 late Capt. B. F. Goss, went to Florida with the special purpose of collecting, if possible, 
 the eggs of this Parrot. He spent much of his time at Kissimmee, and up on the 
 Manatee and Caloosahatchee Rivers, but all his efforts were in vain. He found the 
 birds, but no one could give him information where they nested. He penetrated the 
 deep interior of the cypress swamps and the tropical forests in the vicinity of the Ever- 
 glades. His guide, an old hunter, had observed the birds for more than a quarter of a 
 century, but he could tell him nothing about the nesting habits. Mr. Goss came back 
 from his very painstaking and expensive excursion quite disappointed. Thus the once 
 so abundant bird will in all probability soon be exterminated, and we have no know- 
 ledge about its nesting habits. Most ornithologists infer that it breeds in cavities of 
 tall trees, while Prof Wm. Brewster was told by a very reliable gentleman that the 
 Carolina Parrot builds a nest made of sticks placed on the branches of cypress trees. 
 
 NAMES: Carolina Paroquet, Carolina Parakeet, Parakeet, Carolina Parrot, Illinois Parrot, Orange-headed 
 Parrot. — Karolina-Sittich (German). 
 
 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Psittacus caroliaensis Linn. (1758). CONURVS CAROLINBNSIS Lesson (1831). 
 
 DESCRIPTION: "Head and neck all round, gamboge-yellow; the forehead, from above the eyes, with the 
 sides of the head, pale brick-red. Body generally with tail, green, with a yellowish tinge beneath. 
 Outer webs of primaries, bluish-gi-een, yellow at the base; secondary coverts edged with yellowish. 
 Edge of wing, j'ellow, tinged with red ; tibia, yellow. Bill, white ; legs, flesh-color. 
 Length about 13.00 inches; wing, 7.50; tail, 7.10 inches." 
 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 PLATE XIX. R. RIDGWAY. 
 
 Page 
 
 Summer Tanager. Piranga rubra Vieill. Male 
 and female 12 
 
 PLATE XX. G. MUETZEL. 
 
 No. 1. California Bluebird. Sialia mexicana Sw. 
 
 Vol. 1 83 
 
 2. Mountain Bluebird. Sialia arctica Nutt. 
 Vol.1 83 
 
 3. Louisiana Tanager. Piranga ludoviciana 
 Rich 8 
 
 4. Townsend's Solitaire. Myiodestes towns- 
 endii Cab. Vol. I 84 
 
 5. Black-headed Grosbeak. Habia melano- 
 cephala Stejn 207 
 
 6. House Finch. Carpodacus mexicanus fron- 
 talis Ridgw 35 
 
 7. Green-tailed Towhee. Pipilo chlorurus 
 
 Baird 179 
 
 PLATE XXI. G. MUETZEL. 
 
 No. 1. Evening Grosbeak. Coccothranstes vesper- 
 
 tina Swains 21 
 
 " 2. Chickadee. Parus atricapillus Linn. Vol. I 114 
 
 " 3. Redpoll. Acauthis linaria Bonap 50 
 
 " 4. White-winged Crossbill. Loxia leucoptera 
 
 Gmel 43 
 
 " 5. White-breasted Nuthatch. Sitta carolinen- 
 
 sis Lath. Vol. 1 125 
 
 •• 6. Pine Grosbeak. Pinicola enucleator Cab... 25 
 
 PLATE XXII. R. RIDGWAY. 
 
 Black Leucosticte. Leucosticte atrata Ridgw. 
 Male and female 45 
 
 PLATE XXIII. G. MUETZEL. 
 
 No. 1. Junco. Junco hyemalis Sclat 135 
 
 " 2. Chipping Sparrow. Spizella socialis Bonap. 123 
 
 " 3. Field Sparrow. Spizella pusilla Bonap 127 
 
 " 4. Black-throated Sparrow. Amphispiza bili- 
 
 neata Coues 142 
 
 " 5. Vesper Sparrow. Poocsetes gramineus Brd. 94 
 " 6. Grasshopper Sparrow. Ammodramus sa- 
 
 vannarum passerinus Ridgw 86 
 
 " 7. Savanna Sparrow. Ammodramus sand- 
 
 wichensis savanna Ridgw 83 
 
 PLATE XXIV. A. GCERING. P»ee 
 
 No. 1. Lark Sparrow. Chondestes grammacus Bp. 98 
 " 2. Harris' Sparrow. Zdnotrichia querula 
 
 Gamb 105 
 
 " 3. White-throated Sparrow. Zonotrichia al- 
 
 bicoUis Sw 115 
 
 " 4. White-crowned Sparrow^. Zonotrichia leu- 
 
 cophrys Sw 108 
 
 " 5. Pine-woods Sparrow. Peucaea aestivalis 
 
 Cab 145 
 
 " 6. Fox Sparrow. Passerella iliaca Sw 16.4 
 
 PLATE XXV. A. GCERING. 
 
 No. 1. Scarlet Tanager. Piranga erj-thromelas 
 
 Vieill 2 
 
 " 2. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Habia ludovi- 
 ciana Stejn. Male 199 
 
 " 3. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Habia ludovi- 
 ciana Stejn. Female 199 
 
 " 4. Chewink or Towhee. Pipilo erythrophthal- 
 
 mus Vieill. Male 170 
 
 " 5. Chewink or Towhee. Pipilo erythrophthal- 
 
 mus Vieill. Female 170 
 
 PLATE XXVI. A. GCERING. 
 
 No. 1. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Trochilus 
 
 colubris Linn. Male 366 
 
 " 2. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Trochilus 
 
 colubris Linn. Female 366 
 
 " 3. Cardinal. Cardinalis cardinalis Licht. 
 
 Female 185 
 
 " 4. Cardinal. Cardinalis cardinalis Licht. 
 
 Male 185 
 
 " 5. Carolina Parakeet. Conurus carolinensis 
 
 Less 438 
 
 " 6. Carolina Wren. Thryothorus ludovicianus 
 
 Bp. Vol. 1 141 
 
 PLATE XXVII. R. RIDGWAY. 
 Dickcissel. Spiza americana Ridgw 229 
 
 PLATE XXVIII. G. MUETZEL. 
 
 No. 1. Painted Bunting. Passerina ciris Vieill 220 
 
 " 2. Indigo Bunting. Passerina cyanea Vieill. 
 
 Male 214 
 
 " 3. Indigo Bunting. Passerina cyanea Vieill. 
 
 Female 214 
 
 " 4. Lazuli Bunting. Passerina amoena Gray. 219 
 " 5. Blue Grosbeak. Guiraca casrulea Swains. 209 
 
 56 
 
442 
 
 LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 No 
 
 1 
 
 (1 
 
 2 
 
 " 
 
 3 
 
 l( 
 
 4 
 
 (1 
 
 5 
 
 No 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 3. 
 
 tt 
 
 3. 
 
 ** 
 
 4. 
 
 No. 
 
 1. 
 
 (4 
 
 2. 
 
 tl 
 
 3. 
 
 No 
 
 1. 
 
 ■' 
 
 2. 
 
 11 
 
 3. 
 
 IC 
 
 4. 
 
 It 
 
 5. 
 
 PLATE XXIX. A. GCERING. Page 
 
 Bobolink. Dolichonyx oryzivorus Swains. 
 
 Male 335 
 
 Bobolink. Dolichonyx oryzivorus Swains. 
 
 Female 235 
 
 Yellow-headed Blackbird. Xanthocephalus 
 
 xanthocephalus Jordan 248 
 
 Red-winged Blackbird. Agelaius phoeniceus 
 
 Swains 252 
 
 Meadowlark. Sturnella magna Swains 259 
 
 PLATE XXX. A. GCERING. 
 Baltimore Oriole. Icterus galbula Coues. 
 
 Male 386 
 
 Baltimore Oriole. Icterus galbula Coues. 
 
 Female 286 
 
 Kingbird. Tyrannus tyrannus Jordan 338 
 
 Orchard Oriole. Icterus spurius Bp 280 
 
 PLATE XXXI. A. GCERING. 
 
 Bullock's Oriole. Icterus bullocki Bp 293 
 
 Scott's Oriole. Icterus parisorum Bp 269 
 
 Nelson's Oriole. Icterus cucullatus nelsoni 
 
 Ridgw 275 
 
 Vermilion Flycatcher. Pyrocephalus rubi- 
 
 neus mexicanus Coues 362 
 
 PLATE XXXII. A. GCERING. 
 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. Milvulus forfica- 
 
 tus Sw 333 
 
 Red-faced Warbler. Cardellina rubrifrons 
 
 Sclat. Vol. 1 280 
 
 Texas Sparrow. Embemagra rufivirgata 
 
 Lawr 169 
 
 Verdin. Auriparus flaviceps Brd. Vol. I... 122 
 Green Jay. Xanthonra luxuosa Bp 336 
 
 PLATE XXXIII. A. GCERING. Page 
 
 No. 1. Crested Flycatcher. Myiarchus crinitns 
 
 Licht 344 
 
 " 2. Belted Kingfisher. Ceryle alcyon Bp 425 
 
 " 3. Nighthawk. Chordeiles virginianus Sw 398 
 
 " 4. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Coccyzus america- 
 
 nus Bp 431 
 
 " 5. Wood Pewee. Contopus virens Cab 352 
 
 " 6. Acadian Flycatcher. Empidonax acadicus 
 
 Brd _ 356 
 
 " 7. Whippoorwill. Antrostomus vociferus Bp. 391 
 
 PLATE XXXIV. R. RIDGWAY. 
 
 Anna's Hummingbird. Trochilus anna Jard. Male, 
 female, and nest 376 
 
 PLATE XXXV. R. RIDGWAY. 
 
 Rufous Hummingbird. Trochilus rufus Gmel. Male, 
 female, and nest 380 
 
 PLATE XXXVI. G. MUETZEL. 
 
 No. 1. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus 
 
 varius Brd 406 
 
 " 3. Flicker. Colaptes auratus Vig 419 
 
 " 3. Red-bellied Woodpecker. Melanerpes caro- 
 
 linus Ridgw 417 
 
 " 4. Red-headed Woodpecker. Melanerpes ery- 
 
 throcephalus Sw 411 
 
 " 5. California Woodpecker. Melanerpes 'formi- 
 
 civorus bairdi Ridgw 415 
 
 " 6. Pileated Woodpecker. Ceophloeus pileatus 
 
 Cab 409 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 A. 
 
 Abendfink (German) 98 
 
 Abendkernbeisser (German) 25 
 
 Abert's Towhee 183 
 
 Acadian Flycatcher 358 
 
 Acanthis brewsteri 53 
 
 Acanthis hornemanni 53 
 
 Acanthis hornemanni exilipes.. 53 
 Acanthis linaria, PI. 21, Fig. 3 50 
 
 Acanthis linaria holbcelli 53 
 
 Acanthis linaria rostrata 53 
 
 Agiothus linaria 53 
 
 Aeronautes melanoleucus 389 
 
 Agelaius gubernator 257 
 
 Agelaius phceniceus, Plate 29, 
 
 Fig. 4 252 
 
 Agelaius phceniceus bryanti 256 
 
 Agelaius phceniceus sonoriensis 256 
 
 Agelaius tricolor 257 
 
 Agelaius xanthocephalus 251 
 
 Aiken's Rosy Finch 45 
 
 Alaskan Jay 328 
 
 Alaskan Three-toed Wood- 
 pecker 405 
 
 Alauda amensis 329 
 
 Alauda magna 264 
 
 AlaudidEe 329 
 
 Alcedinidae 425 
 
 Alcedo alcyon 427 
 
 Alder Flycatcher 359 
 
 Aldrich T. B., Poem 74 
 
 Allen's Hummingbird 383 
 
 Aleutian Leucosticte 49 
 
 Aleutian Song Sparrow 160 
 
 Alexander Wilson, Poem 402 
 
 Alpine Three-toed Woodpecker 405 
 
 Amazilia cerviniventris 385 
 
 Amazilia fiiscicaudata 385 
 
 American Crossbill 39 
 
 American Crow 311 
 
 American Cuckoo 432 
 
 American Goldfinch 60 
 
 American House Sparrow 104 
 
 American Magpie 315 
 
 American Pine Grosbeak, Plate 
 
 21, Fig. 6 25 
 
 American Starlings 234 
 
 American Three-toed Wood- 
 pecker 405 
 
 American Tree Sparrow 122 
 
 Ammerfinken (German) 103 
 
 Ammerfink, weisskehliger (Ger- 
 man) 120 
 
 Ammodramus bairdii 82 
 
 Ammodramus beldingi 85 
 
 Ammodramus caudacutus 91 
 
 Ammodramus caudacutus nel- 
 
 soni 92 
 
 Ammodramus henslowi 88 
 
 Ammodramus lecontei 89 
 
 Ammodramus maritimus 93 
 
 Ammodramus maritimus pen- 
 insulae 94 
 
 Page 
 Ammodramus maritimus sen- 
 
 nettii 94 
 
 Ammodramus nigrescens 94 
 
 Ammodramus princeps 86 
 
 Ammodramus rostratus 86 
 
 Ammodramus rostratus gutta- 
 
 tus 86 
 
 Ammodramus sandwichensis... 85 
 Ammodramus sandwichensis 
 
 alaudinus 85 
 
 Ammodramus sandwichensis 
 
 bryanti 85 
 
 Ammodramus sandwichensis 
 
 savanna, Plate 23, Fig. 7.. 83 
 Ammodramus savannarum pas- 
 
 serinus, Plate 23, Fig. 6.... 86 
 Ammodramus savannarum per- 
 
 pallidus 87 
 
 Amphispiza belli 143 
 
 Amphispiza belli nevadensis 144 
 
 Amphispiza bilineata, Plate 23, 
 
 Fig. 4 142 
 
 Anna's Hummingbird, Plate 34 376 
 
 Anon, Poem by 209 
 
 Ant-eater 420 
 
 Ant-pecker 420 
 
 Antrostomus carolinensis 394 
 
 Antrostomus vociferus, Plate 
 
 33, Fig. 7 391 
 
 Antrostomus vociferus macro- 
 
 nystax 394 
 
 Ani 435 
 
 Groove-billed 436 
 
 Aphelocoma California 325 
 
 Aphelocoma floridana 324 
 
 Aphelocoma woodhousi 324 
 
 Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker 405 
 
 Arctic Towhee 178 
 
 Arizona Cardinal 197 
 
 Arizona Goldfinch 61 
 
 Arizona Hooded Oriole, Plate 
 
 31, Fig. 3 275 
 
 Arizona Junco 141 
 
 Arkansas Goldfinch 60 
 
 Arkansas Kingbird 343 
 
 Ash-throated Flycatcher 348 
 
 Astragalinus tristis 60 
 
 Atthis costEE 376 
 
 Audubon's Oriole 267 
 
 B. 
 
 Bachmann's Sparrow 148 
 
 Bahaman Kedwing 256 
 
 Baird's Bunting 83 
 
 Baird's Junco 142 
 
 Baird's Sparrow 82 
 
 Baltimore Bird 292 
 
 Baltimore Oriole, Plate 30, Fig. 
 
 1 and 2 '. 286 
 
 Barn Pewee 351 
 
 Basilinna leucotis , 385 
 
 Basilinna xantusi 385 
 
 Batchelder's Woodpecker 404 
 
 Page 
 
 Baumfink (German) 122 
 
 Bay-winged Bunting 98 
 
 Beardless Flycatcher 363 
 
 Beebird 342 
 
 Red 17 
 
 Bee Martin 342 
 
 Belding's Marsh Sparrow 85 
 
 Bell's Sparrow 143 
 
 Belted Kingfisher, PI. 33, Fig. 2 425 
 
 Bendire,'s Oriole 298 
 
 Bicolored Blackbird 257 
 
 Bird of Paradise, Texan 337 
 
 Bird, Palmetto 148 
 
 Birkenzeisig (German) 53 
 
 Bischof (German) 214 
 
 Blackbirds, etc 234 
 
 Blackbird, Bicolored 257 
 
 Blue-headed 301 
 
 Brewer's, Plate 17, Fig. 3 299 
 
 Cow 245 
 
 Common 307 
 
 Corn 307 
 
 Crow 307 
 
 Ferrugineous 299 
 
 Red-winged,Plate29,Fig.4 252 
 
 Rusty 298 
 
 Slough 256 
 
 Swamp 256 
 
 Tricolored 257 
 
 White-winged 233 
 
 Yellow-headed, Plate 29, 
 
 Fig. 3 248 
 
 Black-bellied Longspur 81 
 
 Black-billed Cuckoo 435 
 
 Black-capped Yellow-bird 60 
 
 Black-chinned Chippy 135 
 
 Black-chinned Hummingbird.... 372 
 
 Black-chinned Sparrow 135 
 
 Black Gray-crowned Leuco- 
 sticte 45 
 
 Black-headed Grosbeak, Plate 
 
 20, Fig. 5 207 
 
 Black-headed Jay 322 
 
 Black-headed Oriole 268 
 
 Black-hood Sparrow 108 
 
 Black Leucosticte, Plate 22 45 
 
 Black Phoebe 352 
 
 Black Rosy Finch, Plate 22 45 
 
 Black Snowbird 139 
 
 Black Swift 386 
 
 Black-throated Bunting 232 
 
 Black-throated Finch 143 
 
 Black-throated Sparrow, Plate 
 
 23, Fig. 4 142 
 
 Black-winged Redbird 8 
 
 Black-winged Yellow-bird 60 
 
 Black Woodcock 410 
 
 Blauer Kernbeisser (German) .. 214 
 
 Blauhaher (German) 321 
 
 Blue-fronted Jay 322 
 
 Blue-headed Blackbird 301 
 
 Blue-headed Buphonia 18 
 
 Blue Grosbeak, Plate 28, Fig. 5 209 
 
Page 
 
 Blue Grosbeak, Western 214 
 
 Blue Jay, Plate 17, Fig. 1 317 
 
 Blue Linnet 218 
 
 Blue Nonpareil 218 
 
 Blue Pop 214 
 
 Blue-throated Hummingbird.... 366 
 
 Boat-tailed Crackle 303 
 
 "Bob" 240 
 
 Bob Lincoln 240 
 
 Boblincon 240 
 
 Bobolink, Plate 29, Fig. land 2 235 
 
 Boucard's Sparrow 153 
 
 Brewer's Blackbird, Plate 17, 
 
 Fig. 3 299 
 
 Brewer's Grackle 301 
 
 Brewer's Sparrow 134 
 
 Brewster's Linnet 53 
 
 Bridge-bird 351 
 
 Bridge Pewee 351 
 
 Broad-billed Hummingbird 385 
 
 Broad-tailed Hummingbird 378 
 
 Bronzed Cowbird 248 
 
 Bronzed Grackle, Plate 17,Fig.6 305 
 
 Brown-capped Leucosticte 49 
 
 Brown Hangnest 285 
 
 Bryant's Marsh Sparrow 85 
 
 Bryant, William CuUen, Poems 
 
 94, 120, 123, 164 
 
 Buffalo Bird 245 
 
 Buff-bellied Hummingbird 385 
 
 Buff-breasted Flycatcher 362 
 
 Bull-bat 398 
 
 Bullfinch, Cassin's 29 
 
 Pine 29 
 
 Bullock's Oriole, Plate 31, Fig.l 293 
 
 Bunting, Baird's 83 
 
 Bay-winged 98 
 
 Black-throated 232 
 
 Chestnut-collared 81 
 
 Cow 245 
 
 Cow-pen 245 
 
 Green-tailed 180 
 
 Henslow's 89 
 
 Indigo, PI. 28, Fig. 2 and 3 214 
 
 Lark 232 
 
 Lazuli, Plate 28, Fig. 4... 219 
 
 McCown's 82 
 
 Painted 79 
 
 Painted, Plate 28, Pig. 1 220 
 
 Sea-side 94 
 
 Shattuck 134 
 
 Sharp-tailed 92 
 
 ' Snow 76 
 
 Bunting Sparrows 103 
 
 Bunting, Towhee 176 
 
 Varied 226 
 
 White-crowned 113 
 
 Yellow-winged 86 
 
 Burion 38 
 
 Buschfink (German) 120 
 
 Bush Sparrow 120, 132 
 
 Butterbird 240 
 
 c. 
 
 Cabanis' Woodpecker 404 
 
 Cactus Cardinal 199 
 
 Cactus Sparrow 170 
 
 Calamospiza bicolor 233 
 
 Calamospiza melanocorys 232 
 
 Calcarius lapponicus 77 
 
 Calcarius ornatus 80 
 
 Calcarius pictus 79 
 
 California Cuckoo 434 
 
 California Golden Robin 298 
 
 California Goldfinch 61 
 
 California Firebird 298 
 
 Page 
 
 California Hangnest 298 
 
 California House Finch 38 
 
 California Jay 325 
 
 California Linnet 38 
 
 California Oriole 298 
 
 California Purple Finch 34 
 
 California Tailorbird 275 
 
 California Towhee 182 
 
 California Woodpecker, Plate 
 
 36, Fig, 5 415 
 
 Calliope Hummingbird 383 
 
 Callothrus robustus 246 
 
 Calothorax lucifer 384 
 
 Calypte anna, Plate 34 376 
 
 Calypte costs.'. 374 
 
 Campephilus principalis 402 
 
 Canada Jay 327 
 
 Canada Tanager 8 
 
 Canadian Sparrow 122 
 
 Canarienvogel,Wilder( German) 60 
 
 "Canary, Mexican" 226 
 
 Canary, Texan 226 
 
 Wild 60 
 
 Canon Towhee 180 
 
 Caprimulgidae 390 
 
 Caprimulgus americanus 400 
 
 Caprimulgus clamator 394 
 
 Caprimulgus popetue 400 
 
 Caprimulgus virginianus...394, 400 
 
 Caprimulgus vociferus 394 
 
 Cardinal, Plate 26, Fig. 3 and 4 185 
 
 Arizona 197 
 
 Cardinal-bird 197 
 
 Cardinal, Cactus 199 
 
 Colima 197 
 
 Cozumel 197 
 
 Cardinal de Canada 8 
 
 Cardinal Grosbeak 197 
 
 Cardinal, Mexican 197 
 
 Cardinal Redbird 197 
 
 Cardinal, Saint Lucas 197 
 
 Texan 198 
 
 Cardinalis virginianus 197 
 
 Cardinal, Yucatan 197 
 
 Cardinalis cardinalis, Plate 26, 
 
 Fig. 3 and 4 185 
 
 Cardinalis cardinalis coccineus 197 
 
 Cardinalis cardinalis igneus 197 
 
 Cardinalis cardinalis saturatus 197 
 Cardinalis cardinalis superbus 197 
 Cardinalis cardinalis yucatani- 
 
 cus 197 
 
 Cardinalis carneus 197 
 
 Cardinalis phoeniceus 197 
 
 Cardinalis sinuatus 199 
 
 Carduelis carduelis 65 
 
 Carduelis elegans 66 
 
 Carduelis lawrencei 61 
 
 Carduelis tristis 60 
 
 Carolina Junco 139 
 
 Carolina Paroquet, Plate 26, 
 
 Fig. 5 438 
 
 Carolina Parrot 438 
 
 Carolina Woodpecker 418 
 
 Carpodacus cassini 34 
 
 Carpodaeus frontalis rhodo- 
 
 colpus 38 
 
 Carpodacus mexicapus 38 
 
 Carpodacus mexicanus fronta- 
 lis, Plate 20, Fig. 6 35 
 
 Carpodacus purpureus 29 
 
 Carpodacus purpureus califor- 
 
 nicus 34 
 
 Carpodacus rhodocolpus 38 
 
 Cassin's Bullfinch 29 
 
 Cassin's Kingbird ,. 343 
 
 Page 
 
 Cassin's Linnet 35 
 
 Cassin's Purple Finch 34 
 
 Cassin's Sparrow 151 
 
 Centurus carolinus 418 
 
 Ceophloeus pileatus, Plate 36, 
 
 Fig. 6 409 
 
 Ceryle alcyon, Plate 33, Fig. 2 425 
 Ceryle americana septentrio- 
 
 nalis 427 
 
 Ceryle torquata 427 
 
 Chaparral Cock 430 
 
 Chsetura pelagica, Plate 18, 
 
 Fig. 5 387 
 
 Chastura vauxii 389 
 
 Chebec 360 
 
 Checkered Woodpecker 418 
 
 Chestnut-collared Buntihg 81 
 
 Chestnut-collared Longspur 80 
 
 Chestntit-crowned Towhee 180 
 
 Chewink, Plate 25, Fig. 4 and 5 170 
 
 Chewink, Saskatchewan 178 
 
 Chic-co-bil-lar 396 
 
 Chimney Swallow 387 
 
 Chimney Swift, Plate 18, Fig. 5 387 
 
 Chip-bird 127 
 
 Chipping-bird 127 
 
 Prairie 134 
 
 Chipping Sparrow, Plate 23, 
 
 Fig. 2 123 
 
 Chippy... 127 
 
 Black-chinned 135 
 
 Field 132 
 
 Prairie 134 
 
 Red-billed 132 
 
 Winter 122 
 
 Worthen's 135 
 
 Chondestes grammacus, Plate 
 
 24, Fig. 1 98 
 
 Chondestes grammacus striga- 
 
 tus 101, 104 
 
 Chordeiles acutipennis 400 
 
 Chordeiles popetue 400 
 
 Chordeiles virginianus, Plate 
 
 33, Fig. 3 398 
 
 Chordeiles virginianus chap- 
 
 mani 400 
 
 Chordeiles virginianus henryi.. 400 
 
 Chrysomitris lawrencei 61 
 
 Chrysomitris pinus 64 
 
 Chrysomitris tristis 60 
 
 Chuck-will's-widow 394 
 
 Cinnamon Hummingbird 382 
 
 Clarke's Crow 313 
 
 Clarke's Nutcracker 312 
 
 Clav-colored Sparrow 132 
 
 Clodhopper 245 
 
 Coccoborus ludoviciana 206 
 
 Coccothraustes canadensis 29 
 
 Coccothraustes ludoviciana 206 
 
 Coccothraustes melanocephala 208 
 Coccothraustes vespertina, 
 
 Plate 21, Fig. 1 21 
 
 Coccyzus americanus, Plate 33, 
 
 Fig. 4 431 
 
 Coccyzus americanus occiden- 
 
 talis 434 
 
 Coccyzus erythrophthalmus..., 435 
 
 Coccyzus minor 435 
 
 Coccyzus minor maynardi 435 
 
 Coeligena clemenciae 366 
 
 Colaptes auratus, Plate 36, 
 
 Fig. 2 419 
 
 Colaptes cafer 424 
 
 Colaptes cafer saturatior 424 
 
 Colaptes chrysoides 424 
 
 Colaptes rufipileus 424 
 
INDEX. 
 
 445 
 
 Page 
 
 Colima Cardinal 197 
 
 Common Blackbird 307 
 
 Common Crossbill 43 
 
 Common Crow 309 
 
 Common Goldfinch 60 
 
 Common Grackle 307 
 
 Common Pewee 351 
 
 Common Redwing 256 
 
 Common Sapsucker 408 
 
 Common Snowbird 139 
 
 Common Sparrow 72 
 
 Common Swift 389 
 
 Contopus borealis 352 
 
 Contopus pertinax 352 
 
 Contopus ricliardsonii 356 
 
 Contopus virens, PI. 33, Fig. 5 352 
 Conurus carolinensis, Plate 26, 
 
 Fig. 5 , 438 
 
 Coopei's Tanager 17 
 
 Coppery-tailed Trogon 428 
 
 Coracias galbula 292 
 
 Corn Blackbird 307 
 
 Corn-thief. 307 
 
 Correcamico 431 
 
 Corvidse 308 
 
 Corvus americanus 309 
 
 Corvus americanus floridanus. 311 
 
 Corvus canadensis 328 
 
 Corvus solnmbrianus 313 
 
 Corvus cristatus 321 
 
 Corvus corone 311 
 
 Corvus liudsonicus 317 
 
 Corvus ossifragus 311 
 
 Corvus stelleri 324 
 
 Costa's Calypte 376 
 
 Costa's Hummingbird 374 
 
 Cotton-bird 104 
 
 Coturniculus bairdii 83 
 
 Coturniculus henslowi 89 
 
 Coturniculus lecontei 90 
 
 Coturniculus passerinus 88 
 
 Coues' Flycatcher 352 
 
 Cowbird, Plate 17, Fig. 2 and 3 242 
 
 Cow Blackbird 245 
 
 Cowbird, Bronzed 248 
 
 Dwarf. 245 
 
 Red-eyed 246 
 
 Cow Bunting 245 
 
 Cow-cow 432 
 
 Cow-pen Bunting 245 
 
 Cozumel Cardinal 197 
 
 Crested Flycatcher, Plate 33, 
 
 Fig. 1 344 
 
 Crested Redbird 197 
 
 Crimson-fronted House Finch.. 38 
 
 Crimson-headed Tanager 12 
 
 Crossbill, American 39 
 
 Common 43 
 
 Mexican 43 
 
 Red 43 
 
 White-winged, Plate 21, 
 
 Fig. 4 43 
 
 Crotophaga ani 435 
 
 Crotophaga sulcirostris 436 
 
 Crows 308 
 
 Crow Blackbird 307 
 
 Crow, Clark's :... 313 
 
 Common 309 
 
 Fish 311 
 
 Florida 311 
 
 Curvirostra leucoptera 44 
 
 Crucirostra minor 43 
 
 Cuba Finch 228 
 
 Cuckoo, American 432 
 
 Black-billed 435 
 
 California 434 
 
 Page 
 
 Cuckoo, Ground 431 
 
 Mangrove 435 
 
 Maynard's 435 
 
 Cuckoos 429 
 
 Cuckoo, Yellow-billed, Plate 
 
 33, Fig. 4 431 
 
 Cuculidffi 429 
 
 Cuculus americanus 434 
 
 Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus 314 
 Cyanocitta cristata, Plate 17, 
 
 Pig. 1 317 
 
 Cyanocitta stelleri.'. 321 
 
 Cyanocitta stelleri annectens... 322 
 
 Cyanocitta stelleri frontalis 322 
 
 Cyanocitta stelleri macrolopha 322 
 
 Cyanocorax cristatus 321 
 
 Cyanocorax luxuosa 326 
 
 Cyanospiza amoena 219 
 
 Cyanospiza ciris 226 
 
 Cyanospiza cyanea 218 
 
 Cyanura cristata 321 
 
 Cyanurus stelleri 324 
 
 Cypseloides niger 386 
 
 D. 
 
 Derby Flycatcher 344 
 
 Desert Horned Lark 331 
 
 Desert Song Sparrow 160 
 
 Dickcissel, Plate 27 229 
 
 Dirty Little Flycatcher 362 
 
 Distelfink (German) 66 
 
 Dolichonyx bicolor 233 
 
 Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Plate 
 
 29, Fig. 1 and 2 235 
 
 Downy Woodpecker 404 
 
 Dryobates borealis 405 
 
 Dryobates nuttalli 405 
 
 Dryobates pubescens 404 
 
 Dryobates pubescens gairdnerii 404 
 Dryobates pubescens oresecus... 404 
 
 Dryobates scalaris bairdi 405 
 
 Dryobates scalaris lucasanus... 405 
 
 Dryobates villosus 403 
 
 Dryobates -villosus audubonii.. 404 
 
 Dryobates villosus harrisii 404 
 
 Dryobates villosus hyloscopus. 404 
 Dryobates 'villosus leucomelas. 404. 
 
 Dusky Horned Lark 331 
 
 Dusky Poorwill 397 
 
 Dusky Sea-side Finch 94 
 
 Dwarf Cowbird 245 
 
 E. 
 
 Eastern Meadowlark 264 
 
 Eastern Purple Finch 33 
 
 Eastern Snowbird 139 
 
 English Sparrow 66 
 
 Emberiza americana 232 
 
 Emberiza amcena 219 
 
 Emberiza bairdii 83 
 
 Emberiza belli 144 
 
 Emberiza bilineata 143 
 
 Emberiza ciris 226 
 
 Emberiza erythrophthalmus.... 176 
 
 Emberiza grammaca 104 
 
 Emberiza henslowi 89 
 
 Emberiza lapponica 79 
 
 Emberiza lecontei 90 
 
 Emberiza leucophrys 113 
 
 Emberiza nivalis 76 
 
 Emberiza omata 81 
 
 Emberiza oryzivora 240 
 
 Emberiza pallida 134 
 
 Emberiza passerina 88 
 
 Emberiza pecoris 245 
 
 Emberiza pusilla 132 
 
 Page 
 
 Emberiza shattucki 134 
 
 Emberiza socialis 127 
 
 Embernagra rufivirgata, Plate 
 
 32, Fig. 3 169 
 
 Emerson, Poem 252 
 
 Empidonax acadicus 358 
 
 Empidonax cineritius 362 
 
 Empidonax difficilis 362 
 
 Empidonax. flaviventris 361 
 
 Empidonax fulvifronspygmseus 362 
 
 Empidonax griseus 362 
 
 Empidonax hammondii 362 
 
 Empidonax minimus 360 
 
 Empidonax pusillus 360 
 
 Empidonax traillii 358 
 
 Empidonax traillii alnorum 359 
 
 Empidonax virescens, Plate 33, 
 
 Fig. 6 356 
 
 Empidonax wrightii 362 
 
 Erdfink (German) 176 
 
 Erythrospiza purpurea 33 
 
 Eugenes fulgens 336 
 
 Euphonia, Blue-headed 18 
 
 Euphonia elegantissima 18 
 
 European Goldfinch 65 
 
 European Sparrow 66, 72 
 
 European Tree Sparrow 73 
 
 Euspiza americana.. 232 
 
 Euetheia bicolor 227 
 
 Evening Grosbeak, Plate 21, 
 
 Fig. 1 21 
 
 F. 
 
 Peo-Feo 132 
 
 Ferrugineous Blackbird 299 
 
 Fichtenzeisig (German) 64 
 
 Field Chippy 132 
 
 Fieldlark 264 
 
 Old 264 
 
 Field Sparrow, Plate 23, Fig. 
 
 3 127 
 
 Finches, etc 19 
 
 Finch, Black-throated 143 
 
 Cuba 228 
 
 Dusky Sea-side 94 
 
 Gold, Plate 15, Fig. 5 54 
 
 Grass 98 
 
 Gray Shore 94 
 
 Green 170 
 
 Green-tailed 180 
 
 House, Plate 20, Fig. 6... 35 
 
 Lark 104 
 
 Lazuli 219 
 
 Lincoln's 164 
 
 Painted 226 
 
 Paradise 226 
 
 Pine 64 
 
 Purple 29 
 
 Scott's Sea-side 94 
 
 Sea-side 94 
 
 Sharp-tailed 92 
 
 Shore 92 
 
 Summer 148 
 
 Texas 170 
 
 Texas Sea-side 94 
 
 Thistle 66 
 
 Fink, Distel- (German) 66 
 
 Texas- (German) 170 
 
 Firebird 292 
 
 California 298 
 
 Fish Crow 311 
 
 Flagg Wilson, Poem 235 
 
 Flicker, Plate 36, Fig. 2 419 
 
 Gilded 424 
 
 Guadelupe 424 
 
 North-western 424 
 
r 
 
 446 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Flicker, Red-shafted 424 
 
 Floresi's Hummingbird 383 
 
 Florida Crow 311 
 
 Florida Crackle 305 
 
 Florida Jay 324 
 
 Florida Night Hawk 400 
 
 Flower-bird 371 
 
 Flycatcher, Acadian '. 358 
 
 Alder 359 
 
 Ash-throated 348 
 
 Beardless 363 
 
 Buff-breasted 362 
 
 Coues' 352 
 
 Crested, Plate 33, Fig. 1. 344 
 
 Derby 344 
 
 Giraud's 344 
 
 Gray 362 
 
 Great-crested 347 
 
 Green-crested, Plate 33, 
 
 Fig. 6 356 
 
 Hammond's 362 
 
 Lawrence's 348 
 
 Least 360 
 
 Mexican Crested 347 
 
 Olive-sided 352 
 
 Pewee 351 
 
 Red 363 
 
 Kidgway's 363 
 
 R'uby 363 
 
 St. Lucas 362 
 
 Scissor-tailed, Plate 32, 
 
 Fig. 1 333 
 
 Sulphur-bellied 344 
 
 Traill's 358 
 
 Vermillion, Plate 31, Fig. 
 
 4 362 
 
 Western 362 
 
 Widmann's 359 
 
 Wright's 363 
 
 Yellow-bellied. 361 
 
 Fork-tail 337 
 
 Fork-tailed Flycatcher 338 
 
 Fox-colored Sparrow 167 
 
 Fox Sparrow, Plate 24, Fig. 6 164 
 
 Fringilla estiva 148 
 
 Fringilla asstivalis 148 
 
 Fringilla albicollis 120 
 
 Fringilla amcena 219 
 
 Fringilla arborea 122 
 
 Fringilla bachmani 151 
 
 Fringilla bicolor 233 
 
 Fringilla canadensis 122 
 
 Fringilla cardinalis 197 
 
 Fringilla caudacuta 92 
 
 Fringilla ciris 226 
 
 Fringilla comota 108 
 
 Fringilla cyanea 218 
 
 Fringilla domcstica ,. 72 
 
 Fringilla erythrophthalmus 176 
 
 Fringilla fasciata 159 
 
 Fringilla ferruginea 167 
 
 Fringilla georgiana 162 
 
 Fringilla graminea 98 
 
 Fringilla harrisi 108 
 
 Fringilla henslowi 89 
 
 Fringilla hudsonica 139 
 
 Fringilla hyemalis 139 
 
 Fringilla iliaca 167 
 
 Fringilla lapponica 79 
 
 Fringilla leucophrys 113 
 
 Fringilla linaria 53 
 
 Fringilla lincolni 164 
 
 Fringilla littoralis 92 
 
 Fringilla maritima 94 
 
 Fringilla mcgillivrayi 94 
 
 Fringilla melodia 159 
 
 Page 
 
 Fringilla monticola 122 
 
 Fringilla nivalis 139 
 
 Fringilla palustris 162 
 
 Fringilla passerina 88 
 
 Fringilla pecoris 245 
 
 Fringilla pensylvanica 120 
 
 Fringilla pinus 64 
 
 Fringilla purpurea 33 
 
 Fringilla pusilla 132 
 
 Fringilla querula 108 
 
 Fringilla rubra 17 
 
 Fringilla rufa 167 
 
 Fringilla savanna 85 
 
 Fringilla savannarum 88 
 
 Fringilla socialis 127 
 
 Fringilla tristis 60 
 
 Fringilla vespertina 25 
 
 Fringillidae 19 
 
 Frosted Poorwill 397 
 
 Fuchsfink (German) 167 
 
 G. 
 
 Gairdner's Woodpecker 404 
 
 Gambel's Sparrow 113 
 
 Garrulus canadensis 328 
 
 Garrulus cristalus 321 
 
 Garrulus luxuosa 326 
 
 Garrulus stelleri 324 
 
 Gelbkopfstarling (German) 251 
 
 Geococcyx califomianus 429 
 
 Gila Woodpecker 418 
 
 Gilded Flicker 424 
 
 Giraud's Flycatcher 344 
 
 -Goatsucker 400 
 
 Goatsuckers 390 
 
 Golden-crowned Sparrow 114 
 
 Golden-fronted Woodpecker 418 
 
 Golden Oriole 292 
 
 Golden Robin 292 
 
 -: California 298 
 
 Golden-winged Woodpecker 420 
 
 Goldfinch, Plate 15, Fig. 5 54 
 
 American 60 
 
 Arkansas 60 
 
 Arizona 61 
 
 California 61 
 
 Common 60 
 
 European 65 
 
 Lawrence's 61 
 
 Mexican 61 
 
 Goldfink (German) 60 
 
 Goldstieglitz (German) 60 
 
 GoniophsEa carula 214 
 
 Goniopheea ludoviciana 206 
 
 Graclde, Boat-tailed 303 
 
 Brewer's 301 
 
 Bronzed, Plate 17, Fig. 6. 305 
 
 Common..... 307 
 
 Florida 305 
 
 Great-tailed 302 
 
 Purple 305 
 
 Gracula ferruginea 299 
 
 Grass-bird 87 
 
 Grass Finch 98 
 
 Grass Sparrow 87, 98 
 
 Grasshopper-bird 87 
 
 Grasshopper Sparrow, Plate 
 
 23, Fig. 6 86 
 
 Grassquit 227 
 
 Melodious 228 
 
 Gray-crowned Rosy Finch 46 
 
 Gray Flycatcher 362 
 
 Gray-headed Junco 141 
 
 Gray Kingbird 342 
 
 Gray Petchary 343 
 
 Gray Shore Finch 94 
 
 Page 
 
 Gray Towhee 185 
 
 Great-crested Flycatcher 347 
 
 Greater Redpoll 53 
 
 Great-tailed Grackle 302 
 
 Green-back 383 
 
 Green-backed Hummingbird 383 
 
 Green Bird 218 
 
 Green-crested Flycatcher, Plate 
 
 33, Fig. 6 356 
 
 Green Finch 170 
 
 Green Jay, Plate 32, Fig. 5 326 
 
 Greenland Redpoll 53 
 
 Green Linnet 218 
 
 Green-tailed Bunting 180 
 
 Green-tailed Finch „ 180 
 
 Green-tailed Towhee, Plate 20, 
 
 Fig. 7 179 
 
 Groove-billed Ani 436 
 
 Grosbeak, American Pine, Plate 
 
 21, Fig. 6 25 
 
 Black-headed, Plate 20, 
 
 Fig. 5 207 
 
 Blue, Plate 28, Fig. 5 209 
 
 Cardinal 197 
 
 Evening, Plate 21, Fig. 1 21 
 
 Mountain 208 
 
 Pine 29 
 
 Purple 33 
 
 Rose-breasted, Plate 25, 
 
 Fig. 2 and 3 199 
 
 Ground Cuckoo 431 
 
 Ground Robin 176 
 
 Ground Sparrow 85, 87 
 
 Grundrotel (German) 176 
 
 Guadelupe Flicker 424 
 
 Guadelupe Junco 142 
 
 Guadelupe Towhee 179 
 
 Gniraca caerulea, PI. 28, Fig. 5 209 
 
 Guiraca csemlea eurhyucha 214 
 
 Guiraca ludoviciana 206 
 
 Guiraca melanocephala 208 
 
 Gymnocitta cyanocephala 315 
 
 Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus.... 315 
 
 H. 
 
 Haarfink (German) 127 
 
 Haarvogel (German) 127 
 
 Habia ludoviciana, Plate 25, 
 
 Fig. 2 and 3 199 
 
 Habia melanocephala, Plate 
 
 20, Fig. 5 207 
 
 Haemorhous purpurea 33 
 
 Hair-bird 127 
 
 Hairy Woodpecker 403 
 
 Hakengimpel (German) 29 
 
 Hammond's Flycatcher 362 
 
 Hangingbird 292 
 
 Hangnest 292 
 
 Tirown 285 
 
 Calilomia 298 
 
 Orchard 285 
 
 Harris' Sparrow, Plate 24, 
 
 Pig. 2 105 
 
 Harris' Woodpecker 404 
 
 Haubentyrann (German) 347 
 
 Hausfink (German) 38 
 
 Hauspiwi (German) 351 
 
 Hanssperling (German) 72 
 
 Hedymeles ludoviciana 206 
 
 Heermann's Song Sparrow 159 
 
 Hemp-bird 33 
 
 Henslow's Bunting 89 
 
 Henslow's Sparrow 88 
 
 Hepatic Tanager 17 
 
 Hepburn's Leucosticte 48 
 
 Hepburn's Rosy Finch 48 
 
INDEX. 
 
 447 
 
 Page 
 
 Hesperiphona vespertina 25 
 
 Highhole 420 
 
 Higbholder 420 
 
 Hirundo pelagica 389 
 
 Hoary Redpoll 53 
 
 Holboell's Redpoll 53 
 
 Hooded Oriole 274 
 
 Honied Lark 329 
 
 House Finch, Plate 20, Fig. 6. 35 
 
 California 38 
 
 Crimson-fronted 38 
 
 House Sparrow 73 
 
 Hunt, Leigh, Poem 280 
 
 Hummingbird, Allen's 383 
 
 Anna's, Plate 34 376 
 
 Black-chinned 372 
 
 Blue-throated 366 
 
 Broad-billed 385 
 
 Broad-tailed 378 
 
 BufT-bellied 385 
 
 Calliope 383 
 
 Costa's 374 
 
 Floresi's 383 
 
 Green-backed 383 
 
 Lucifer 384 
 
 Nootka Sound 382 
 
 Rieffer's 385 
 
 Rivoli 366 
 
 Ruby-throated, Plate 26, 
 
 Fig. 1 and 2 366 
 
 Ruff-necked 382 
 
 Rufous, Plate 35 380 
 
 Rufous-backed 382 
 
 Star-throated 384 
 
 Violet-throated 374 
 
 White-eared 385 
 
 Xanthus' 385 
 
 Hummingbirds 364 
 
 Hylotomus pileatus 411 
 
 I. 
 
 lache latirostris 385 
 
 Icteridae 234 
 
 Icterus audubonii 267 
 
 Icterus baltimore 292 
 
 Icterus buUocki, Plate 31, Fig. 1 293 
 
 Icterus cucullatus 274 
 
 Icterus cucullatus nelsoni, Plate 
 
 31, Fig. 3 275 
 
 Icterus galbula, Plate 30, Fig. 
 
 1 and 2 286 
 
 Icterus gularis yucatanensis.... 298 
 
 Icterus icterus 266 
 
 Icterus icterocephalus 251 
 
 Icterus melanocephalus 268 
 
 Icterus melanocephalus audu- 
 bonii 268 
 
 Icterus parisorum Plate 31, 
 
 Fig. 2 , 269 
 
 Icterus scotti 273 
 
 Icterus spurius, PI. 30, Fig. 4. 280 
 
 Illinois Parrot 440 
 
 Indian Hen 432 
 
 Indigo Bird 218 
 
 Indigo Bunting, Plate 28, Fig. 
 
 2 and 3 214 
 
 Indigofink (German) 218 
 
 Indigovogel (German) 218 
 
 Intermediate Sparrow 114 
 
 Ipswich Sparrow 86 
 
 Ivory-billed Woodpecker 402 
 
 J. 
 
 Jay 321 
 
 Jay Bird 321 
 
 Jay, Alaskan 328 
 
 Page 
 
 Jay, Black-headed 322 
 
 Blue, Plate 17, Fig. 1 317 
 
 Blue-fronted 322 
 
 California 325 
 
 Canada 327 
 
 Florida 324 
 
 Green Plate 32, Fig. 5.... 326 
 
 Labrador 328 
 
 Lon§-crested 322 
 
 Maximilian's 315 
 
 Oregon 328 
 
 Pinon 314 
 
 Rain 321 
 
 Rio Grande 326 
 
 Rocky Mountain 328 
 
 Steller's 321 
 
 Woodhouse's 325 
 
 Joree 176 
 
 Joreet 176 
 
 Judas Bird 232 
 
 Judas Iscariot 232 
 
 Junco aikeni 141 
 
 Junco annectens 141 
 
 Junco arizona 141 
 
 Junco bairdi 142 
 
 Junco caniceps 141 
 
 Junco cinereus dorsalis 141 
 
 Junco cinereus palliatus 141 
 
 Junco hyemalis, PI. 23, Fig. 1. 135 
 
 Junco hyemalis carolinensis 139 
 
 Junco hyemalis oregonus 140 
 
 Junco hyemalis pinosus 141 
 
 Junco hyemalis shufeldti 141 
 
 Junco hyemalis thurberi 141 
 
 Junco insularis. 142 
 
 Junco 139 
 
 Baird's 142 
 
 Carolina 139 
 
 Gray-headed 141 
 
 Guadelupe 142 
 
 Oregon 140 
 
 Pink-sided 141 
 
 Point Piuos 141 
 
 Red-backed 141 
 
 Shufeldt's 141 
 
 Slate-colored, Plate 23, 
 
 Fig. 1 135 
 
 Thurber's 141 
 
 White-winged 141 
 
 K. 
 
 Kadiak fine Grosbeak 29 
 
 Kernbeisser, Abend- (German) 25 
 
 Blauer, (German) 214 
 
 Kingbird, Plate 30, Fig. 3 338 
 
 Arkansas 343 
 
 Cassin's 343 
 
 Gray 342 
 
 Kingfishers 425 
 
 King of the woods 410 
 
 Kingfisher, Belted, Plate 33, 
 
 Fig. 2 425 
 
 Ringed 427 
 
 Texan ; 427 
 
 Konigstyrann (German) 342 
 
 KonigSYOgel (German) 342 
 
 Krahe (German) 311 
 
 Kronfink (German) 113 
 
 I. 
 
 Labrador Jay 328 
 
 Lanius tyrannus 342 
 
 Lapland Longspur 77 
 
 Lark Bunting 232 
 
 Lark, Desert Homed 331 
 
 Dusky Horned 331 
 
 Page 
 
 Lark Finch 104 
 
 Lark, Horned 329 
 
 Meadow, PI. 29, Fig. 5... 259 
 
 Mexican Horned 331 
 
 Pallid Horned 330 
 
 Prairie Horned 331 
 
 Ruddy Horned 331 
 
 Scroched Horned 331 
 
 Sonoran Horned 331 
 
 Lark Sparrow, PI. 24, Fig. 1.. 98 
 
 Lark, Streaked Horned 331 
 
 Texas Horned 331 
 
 Larks 329 
 
 Lawrence's Flycatcher 348 
 
 Lawrence's Goldfinch 61 
 
 Lazuli Bunting, PI. 28, Fig. 4. 219 
 
 Lazuli Pinch 219 
 
 Lazulifink (German) 219 
 
 Lazy Bird 245 
 
 Least Flycatcher 360 
 
 Leconte's Grasshopper Sparrow 90 
 
 Leconte's Sparrow 89 
 
 Leinfink (German) 53 
 
 Leplosoma longicauda 431 
 
 Lerchenammer (German) 233 
 
 Lesser Sapsucker 404 
 
 Lettuce-bird 60 
 
 Leucosticte atrata, Plate 22... 45 
 
 Leucosticte australis 49 
 
 Leucosticte griseonucha 49 
 
 Leucosticte tephrocotis 45 
 
 Leucosticte tephrocotis litto- 
 
 ralis 48 
 
 Leucosticte, Aleutian 49 
 
 Black, Plate 22 45 
 
 Black gray-crowned 45 
 
 Brown-capped 49 
 
 Hepburn's 48 
 
 I/Cwis' Woodpecker 416 
 
 Linaria pinus 64 
 
 Lincoln's Finch 164 
 
 Lincoln's Song Sparrow 164 
 
 Lincoln's Sparrow 163 
 
 Linnet 33 
 
 Blue 218 
 
 Brewster's 53 
 
 California 38 
 
 Cassin's 35 
 
 Green 218 
 
 Pine 64 
 
 Purple 33 
 
 Red 38 
 
 Redpoll, PI. 21, Fig- 3.... 50 
 
 Rosy 33 
 
 Little Field Lark 232 
 
 Little Meadow Lstrk 232 
 
 Little Seed-eater 227 
 
 Liver-colored Tanager 18 
 
 Lizard Bird , 431 
 
 Log-cock 410 
 
 Long-billed Sparrow 86 
 
 Long-crested Jay 322 
 
 Longfellow, Poem 98 
 
 Longspur, Black-bellied 81 
 
 Chestnut-collared 80 
 
 Lapland 77 
 
 McCown's 81 
 
 Smith's 79 
 
 Loomis, E. J., Poem 309, 391 
 
 Louisiana Tanager, Plate 20, 
 
 Fig. 3 8 
 
 Louisiana Tangara (German). 12 
 
 Lowell, Poem 170, 199, 214 
 
 Loxia cjerulea 214 
 
 Loxia curvirostra minor 39 
 
 Loxia curvirostris stricklandi.. 43 
 
448 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Loxia enucleator kadiaka 29 
 
 Loxia leucoptera, Plate 21, 
 
 Fig. 4 : 43 
 
 Loxia ludoviciana 206 
 
 Loxia rosea 206 
 
 Lucifer Hummingbird 384 
 
 M. 
 
 Magpie, American 315 
 
 Yellow-billed 317 
 
 Mangrove Cuckoo 435 
 
 Mariposa 226 
 
 Marsh "Quail" 264 
 
 Marsh Robin 176 
 
 Marsh Sparrow, Belding's 85 
 
 Bryant's ^. 85 
 
 Maximilian's Jay 315 
 
 May Bird 432 
 
 Maynard's Cuckoo 435 
 
 McCown's Bunting 82 
 
 McCown's Longspur 81 
 
 McKay's Snowflake 76 
 
 Meadowlark, Plate 29, Pig. 5 259 
 
 Eastern 264 
 
 Western 265 
 
 Mexican 265 
 
 Meadowink 240 
 
 Meerfink (German) 94 
 
 Melanerpes aurifrons 418 
 
 Melanerpes carolinus, Plate 36, 
 
 Pig. 3 417 
 
 Melanerpes erythrocephalus, 
 
 Plate 36, Fig. 4 411 
 
 Melanerpes formicivorus an- 
 
 gustifrons 416 
 
 Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi, 
 
 Plate 36, Fig. 5 415 
 
 Melanerpes torquatus 416 
 
 Melanerpes uropygialis 418 
 
 Melodious Grassquit 228 
 
 Melospiza cinerea 160 
 
 Melospiza fasciata, Plate 5, 
 
 Fig. 7 153 
 
 Melospiza fasciata fallax 160 
 
 Melospiza fasciata guttata 160 
 
 Melospiza fasciata heermanni.. 159 
 Melospiza fasciata montana.... 159 
 
 Melospiza fasciata rufina 160 
 
 Melospiza fasciata samuelis 160 
 
 Melospiza georgiana 160 
 
 Melospiza lincolni.: 163 
 
 Melospiza melodia 159 
 
 Melospiza palustris 162 
 
 Merle, Mississippi 17 
 
 Mesquit Bird 337 
 
 Mesciuit Sparrow 152 
 
 Mexican Canary 226 
 
 Mexican Cardinal 197 
 
 Mexican Crested Flycatcher 347 
 
 Mexican Crossbill 43 
 
 Mexican Goldfinch 61 
 
 Mexican Horned Lark 331 
 
 Mexican Meadowlark 265 
 
 Mexican Satellite 384 
 
 Mexican Sparrow 153 
 
 Micropodidee 386 
 
 Milvulus forficatus, Plate 32, 
 
 Fig. 1 333 
 
 Milvulus tyrannus 338 
 
 Mississippi Merle 17 
 
 Mississippi Tanager 17 
 
 Molothrus ater, Plate 17, Fig. 
 
 2 and 3 242 
 
 Molothrus ater obscurus 245 
 
 Molothrus pecoris 245 
 
 Molothrus robustus 248 
 
 Page 
 
 Moose-bird 327 
 
 Mosen, Julius, Poem 39 
 
 Mosquito Hawk 398 
 
 Mountain Grosbeak 208 
 
 Mountain Jay 324 
 
 Mountain Song Sparrow.., 159 
 
 Muscicapa crinita 347 
 
 Muscicapa flaviventris 362 
 
 Muscicapa forficata 338 
 
 Muscicapa fusca 351 
 
 Muscicapa ludoviciana 347 
 
 Muscicapa minima 360 
 
 Muscicapa nunicola 351 
 
 Muscicapa phoebe 351 
 
 Muscicapa querula 356 
 
 Muscicapa rapax 356 
 
 Muscicapa traillii 360 
 
 Muscicapa tyrannus 342 
 
 Muscicapa virens 356 
 
 Myiarchus cinerascens 348 
 
 Myiarchus crinitus, Plate 33, 
 
 Fig. 1 344 
 
 Myiarchus lawrencei 348 
 
 Myiarchus lawrencei olivascens 348 
 
 Myiarchus mexicanus 347 
 
 Myiarchus mexicanus magister 348 
 
 Myiodynastes luteiventris 344 
 
 Myiozetetes texensis 344 
 
 N. 
 
 Narrow-fronted Woodpecker.... 416 
 Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow 92 
 
 Nelson's Sparrow 92 
 
 Nighthawk, Plate 33, Fig. 3.. 398 
 
 Night Hawk, Florida , 400 
 
 Texan 400 
 
 — — Western 400 
 
 Nightingale, Virginia 197 
 
 Nightjar 400 
 
 Niphaea hyemalis 139 
 
 Nonpareil 226 
 
 Blue 218 
 
 Nootka Sound Hummingbird... 382 
 Northern Hairy Woodpecker... 404 
 
 North-western Flicker 424 
 
 Nucifraga columbiana 312 
 
 Nuttall's Woodpecker 405 
 
 Nutcracker, Clarke's 312 
 
 Nyctridromus albicollis merrilli 397 
 
 0. 
 
 Oak-woods Sparrow 151 
 
 Old Fieldlark '. 264 
 
 Olive-sided Flycatcher 352 
 
 Orange Sapsucker 418 
 
 Orange Woodpecker 418 
 
 Orange Bird 298 
 
 Orchard Hangnest... 285 
 
 Orchard Orioife, PI. 30, Fig. 4. 280 
 
 Oregon Jay 328 
 
 Oregon Junco 140 
 
 Oregon Towhee , 178 
 
 Oriole, Audubon's 267 
 
 Arizona Hooded, Plate 
 
 31, Fig. 3 275 
 
 Baltimore, Plate 30, Fig. 
 
 1 and 2 286 
 
 Bendire's 298 
 
 Black-headed 268 
 
 Bullock's, PI. 31, Fig. 1... 293 
 
 California 298 
 
 Golden 292 
 
 Hooded 274 
 
 Orchard, PI. 30, Fig. 4.... 280 
 
 Scott's, Plate 31, Fig. 2.... 269 
 
 Yucca 273 
 
 Page 
 
 Orioles 234 
 
 Oriolus ater 245 
 
 Oriolus baltimore 292 
 
 Oriolus castaneus 285 
 
 Oriolus caudacutus 92 
 
 Oriolus ferrugineus 299 
 
 Oriolus phceniceus 256 
 
 Oriolus spnrius 285 
 
 Oriolus varius 285 
 
 Ornismya anna 378 
 
 Ornismya costee 376 
 
 Ornithion imberbe 363 
 
 Omithion imberbe ridgwayi.... 363 
 
 Ortolan 240 
 
 Otocoris alpestris 329 
 
 Otocpris alpestris andusta 331 
 
 Otocoris alpestris arenicola 331 
 
 Otocoris alpestris chrysdlaema. 331 
 
 Otocoris alpestris giraudi 331 
 
 Otocoris alpestris leucolsma... 330 
 
 Otocoris alpestris merelli 331 
 
 Otocoris alpestris pallida 331 
 
 Otocoris alpestris praticola 331 
 
 Otocoris alpestris rubea 331 
 
 Otocoris alpestris slrigata 331 
 
 P. 
 
 Painted Bunting, Plate 28, 
 
 Fig. 1 220 
 
 Painted Finch 226 
 
 Paisano 431 
 
 Pdjaro verde (Mexican) 326 
 
 Pallid Horned Lark 330 
 
 Palmetto Sparrow 148 
 
 Papstfink (German) 226 
 
 Paradise Bird 337 
 
 Paradise Finch 226 
 
 Paradise Flycatcher 337 
 
 Paradise Fork-tail 337 
 
 Parakeet 440 
 
 Parauque 397 
 
 "Parasite" 245 
 
 Paroquet, Carolina, Plate 26, 
 
 Fig. 5 438 
 
 Parrot, Carolina 440 
 
 Parrots 437 
 
 Passer domesticus 66 
 
 Passer montanus 73 
 
 Passerella iliaca, Plate 24, 
 
 Fig. 6 164 
 
 Passerella iliaca megarhyncha. 168 
 
 Passerella iliaca schistacea 168 
 
 Passerella iliaca unalaschensis. 168 
 
 Passerculus savanna 85 
 
 Passerina amoena Plate 28, 
 
 Fig. 4 219 
 
 Passerma ciris, PI. 28, Fig. 1. 220 
 Passerina cyanea, Plate 28, 
 
 Fig. 2 and 3 214 
 
 Passerina versicolor 226 
 
 Peabody Bird 120 
 
 Pendulinus affinis 285 
 
 Pendulinus cucullatus 275 
 
 Perisoreus canadensis 327 
 
 Perisoreus canadensis capitalis 328 
 Perisoreus canadensis fumi- 
 
 frons 328 
 
 Perisoreus canadensis migrica- 
 
 pillus 328 
 
 Perosireus obscurus 328 
 
 Perry, Nora, Poem 127 
 
 Petchary, Gray 343 
 
 Peucasa sestivalis, Plate 24, 
 
 „ Fig. 5 145 
 
 Peucffia aestivalis bachmani 148 
 
 Peuctea astivalis illiaoiensis.... 151 
 
INDEX. 
 
 449 
 
 Page 
 
 Peucffia bachmani 151 
 
 PeucaEa carpalis 153 
 
 Peucaea cassini 151 
 
 Peucsea illinoiensis 151 
 
 Peucaea mexicana 153 
 
 PeticEea ruficeps 153 
 
 Peucasa ruficeps boucardi 153 
 
 Peucaa ruficeps eremceca 153 
 
 Pewee 351 
 
 Common 351 
 
 Pewee Flycatcher 351 
 
 Pewee, Wood, PI. 33, Fig. 5... 353 
 
 Pewit 351 
 
 Pfaffchen, TexaWsches (Germ.) 227 
 
 Phatenoptilus nuttalH 397 
 
 Phalsenoptilus nuttalli calit'or- 
 
 nicus 397 
 
 Phalasnoptilus nuttalH niti- 
 
 dus 397 
 
 Phoebe, Plate 5, Fig. 3 34-8 
 
 Phoebe-bird 351 
 
 Phoebe, Black 352 
 
 Say's 352 
 
 Phoenicosoma aestiva... 17 
 
 Phoenicosoma hepatica 18 
 
 Phoenicosoma ludovicianum.... 12 
 
 Pica hudsonica 317 
 
 Pica nuttalli 317 
 
 Pica pica, hudsonica 315 
 
 Picicorvus columbianus 313 
 
 Picidas 401 
 
 Pickering, Poem 153 
 
 Picoides americanus 405 
 
 Picoides americanus alascen- 
 
 sis 405 
 
 Picoides americanus dorsalis.... 405 
 
 Picoides arcticus 405 
 
 Picus erythrocephalus 414 
 
 Picus pileatus 411 
 
 Picus pubescens 404 
 
 Picus varius 408 
 
 Picus villosus 404 
 
 Pigeon Woodpecker 420 
 
 Pileated Woodpecker, Plate 36, 
 
 Fig. 6 409 
 
 Pine Bullfinch 29 
 
 'Pine Finch 64 
 
 Pine Grosbeak 29 
 
 Pine Grosbeak, Kadiak 29 
 
 Pine Linnet 64 
 
 Pine Siskin 62 
 
 Pinewoods Sparrow, Plate 24, 
 
 Fig. 5 145 
 
 Pinicola canadensis ~...... 29 
 
 Pinicola enucleator 29 
 
 Pinicola enucleator canadensis, 
 
 Plate 21, Fig. 6 25 
 
 Pinicola enucleator kadiaka.... 29 
 
 Pink-pink 176 
 
 Pink-sided Junco 141 
 
 Pinon Jay 314 
 
 Pipilo 176 
 
 Pipilo aberti 183 
 
 Pipilo chlorurus, PI. 20, Fig. 7. 179 
 
 Pipilo consobrinus 179 
 
 Pipilo ery throphthalmus, Plate 
 
 25, Fig. 4 and 5 170 
 
 Pipilo erythrophthalmus al- 
 
 leni 177 
 
 Pipilo fuscus crissalis 182 
 
 Pipilo fuscus mesoleucus 180 
 
 Pipilo maculatus arcticus 178 
 
 Pipilo maculatus megalonyx... 178 
 
 Pipilo maculatus oregonus 178 
 
 Piranga erythromelas, Plate 
 
 25, Fig. 1 2 
 
 Page 
 
 Piranga hepatica 17 
 
 Piranga ludoviciana, Plate 20, 
 
 Fig. 3 8 
 
 Piranga rubra, Plate 19 12 
 
 Piranga rubra cooperi 17 
 
 Pisk 400 
 
 Pitangus derbianus 344 
 
 Pitylus cardinalis 197 
 
 Platyrhynchus virescens 358 
 
 Plectrophanes lapponicus 79 
 
 Plectrophanes mccownii 82 
 
 Plectrophanes nivalis 76 
 
 Plectrophanes ornatus 81 
 
 Plectrophenax hyperboreus 76 
 
 Plectrophenax nivalis 74 
 
 Plectrophenax nivalis towns- 
 
 endii 76 
 
 Poem, Aldrich, B 74 
 
 Anon 209 
 
 William CuUen Bryant 
 
 94, 120, 123, 164 
 
 R. W. Emerson 252 
 
 Wilson Flagg 235 
 
 Leigh Hunt 280 
 
 Longfellow 98 
 
 B. J. Loomis 309, 391 
 
 J. R. Lowell 170, 199, 214 
 
 Julius Mosen 39 
 
 Percival 286 
 
 Nora Perry 127 
 
 Pickering 153 
 
 F. Rijckert 348 
 
 F. D. Sherman 2 
 
 W: L. Shoemaker 115, 185 
 
 Frank Siller 39 
 
 Charlotte Smith 380 
 
 J. K. Stayman 259 
 
 Whittier 135 
 
 Alexander Wilson 366, 402 
 
 Point Pinos Junco 141 
 
 PoocsBtes gramineus, Plate 23, 
 
 Fig. 5 , 94 
 
 Poocaetes gramineus confinis... 96 
 
 Poorwill 397 
 
 Dusky 397 
 
 Frosted 397 
 
 Poospiza belli 144 
 
 Poospiza bilineata 143 
 
 Pop 226 
 
 Blue 214 
 
 Red 226 
 
 Potato-bug Bird 206 
 
 Prairie Horned Lark , 331 
 
 Prairie Chippy 134 
 
 Prairie Sparrow 104 
 
 Prusiano 226 
 
 Prybilof Snowflake 76 
 
 Psarocolius aeneus 248 
 
 Psarocolius cyanocephalus 301 
 
 Psarocolius gubernator 257 
 
 Psittacidas 437 
 
 Purple Grackle 305 
 
 Purple Grosbeak 33 
 
 Purple Finch .'. 29 
 
 California 34 
 
 Cassin's 34 
 
 Eastern 33 
 
 Purple Linnet 33 
 
 Purpurfink (German) 33 
 
 Purpurgimpel (German) 33 
 
 Pyranga aestiva 17 
 
 Pyranga erythropis 12 
 
 Pyranga mississippensis 17 
 
 Pyranga rouge 17 
 
 Pyranga rubra...... 8, 12 
 
 Pjrrgita domestica 72 
 
 Page 
 
 Pyrocephalus rubineus 363 
 
 Pyrocephalus rubineus mexica- 
 
 nus, Plate 31, Pig. 4 362 
 
 Pyrocephalus mexicanus 363 
 
 Pyrrhula cassini 29 
 
 Pyrrhula enucleator 29 
 
 Pyrrhuloxia sinuata .'. 198 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quail-head 104 
 
 Quiscalus seneus 307 
 
 Quiscalus breweri 301 
 
 Quiscalus macrourus 302 
 
 Quiscalus major 303 
 
 Quiscalus quiscula 305 
 
 Quiscalus quiscula aglaus 305 
 
 Quiscalus quiscula aneeus 305 
 
 Quezal 428 
 
 K. 
 
 Rain-bird 431 
 
 Rain Bird 321 
 
 Rain Crow 431 
 
 Rain Jay 321 
 
 Rain Pigeon 432 
 
 Ravens 308 
 
 Red-backed Junco 141 
 
 Red Beebird 17 
 
 Red-bellied Woodpecker, Plate 
 
 36, Fig. 3 417 
 
 Red-billed Chippy 132 
 
 Redbird 17, 197 
 
 Black-winged 8 
 
 Cardinal 197 
 
 Summer, Plate 19 12 
 
 Top-knot 197 
 
 Redbreast 206 
 
 Red-breasted Grosbeak 206 
 
 Red-breasted Sapsucker 408 
 
 Red-breasted Song Grosbeak... 206 
 
 Red-cockaded Woodpecker 405 
 
 Red Crossbill 43 
 
 Red-eyed Cowbird 246 
 
 Red-eyed Towhee 176 
 
 Red Flycatcher 363 
 
 Red-headed Woodpecker, Plate 
 
 36, Pig. 4 411 
 
 Red Linnet 38 
 
 Red-naped Sapsucker 408 
 
 Redpoll 53 
 
 Common 53 
 
 Greater 53 
 
 Greenland 53 
 
 Hoary 53 
 
 Holboell's 53 
 
 Redpoll Linnet, Plate 21, Fig. 8 50 
 
 Red Pop 226 
 
 Red-shafted Flicker 424 
 
 Red Tanager 8 
 
 Redwing 256 
 
 Bahaman 256 
 
 -^ — Sonoran 256 
 
 Red-winged Blackbird, Plate 
 
 29, Fig. 4 252 
 
 Red-winged Starling 256 
 
 Reedbird : 240 
 
 Rhynchophanes mccownii 81 
 
 Ricebird 240 
 
 Ridgway's Flycatcher 363 
 
 Rieflfer's Hummingbird 385 
 
 Ringed Kingfisher 427 
 
 Rio Grande Jay 326 
 
 Rivoli Hummingbird 366 
 
 Road-bird 104 
 
 Road-runner 429 
 
 Robert 240 
 
 57 
 
450 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Robert of Lincoln 240 
 
 Robin, Golden 292 
 
 Ground 176 
 
 Marsh 176 
 
 Rock Sparrow 153 
 
 Rocky Mountain Jay 328 
 
 Rose-breast 206 
 
 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Plate 
 
 25, Fig. 2 and 3 199 
 
 Rosy Pinch, Aiken's 45 
 
 Black, Plate 22 45 
 
 Gray-crowned 46 
 
 Hepburn's 48 
 
 Rosy Linnet 33 
 
 Rotbraune Tangara (German) 18 
 
 Roter Cardinal (German) 197 
 
 Rotkopfspecht (German) 414 
 
 Rotvogel, Sommer- (German).. 17 
 
 Rubinkolibri (German) 371 
 
 Ruby Flycatcher 363 
 
 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 
 
 Plate 26, Fig. 1 and 2 366 
 
 Riickert, P., Poem 348 
 
 Ruddy Horned Lark 331 
 
 Ruff-necked Hummingbird 382 
 
 Rufous-backed Hummingbird... 382 
 
 Rufous-crowned Sparrow 153 
 
 Rufous Flame-bearer 382 
 
 Rufous Hummingbird, Plate 35 380 
 
 Rufous Sparrow 167 
 
 Rufous-winged Sparrow 153 
 
 Rusty Blackbird 298 
 
 Rusty Grackle 299 
 
 Rusty Song Sparrow 160 
 
 8. 
 
 Sa^e Sparrow 144 
 
 Samt Lucas Cardinal 197 
 
 Saint Lucas Flycatcher 362 
 
 Saint Lucas Sparrow 86 
 
 Saint Lucas Woodpecker 405 
 
 Samuel's Song Sparrow 160 
 
 Sangerfink (German) 159 
 
 Sandwich Sparrow 85 
 
 Sapsucker 408 
 
 Red-breasted 408 
 
 Red-naped 408 
 
 Yellow-bellied, Plate 36, 
 
 Fig. 1 405 
 
 Saurothera califorttica 431 
 
 Savanna Sparrow, Plate 23, 
 
 Fig. 7 83 
 
 Savanna Sparrow, Western 85 
 
 Saskatchewan Chewink 178 
 
 Satellite Hummingbird 384 
 
 Sayornis fuscus 351 
 
 Sayornis nigricans 352 
 
 Sayornis phoebe, PI. 5, Fig. 3.. 348 
 
 Sayornis saya 352 
 
 Say's Phoebe 352 
 
 Scarlet Black-winged Tanager. 8 
 
 Scarlet Sparrow 8 
 
 Scarlet Tanager, PI. 25, Fig. 1. 2 
 Scharlachtangara (German).... 8 
 
 Schildammer (German) 232 
 
 Schneeammer (German) 76 
 
 Schwarzkopfiger Kernbeisser 
 
 (German) 208 
 
 Scissor-tailed Bee Martin 337 
 
 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Plate 
 
 32, Fig. 1 333 
 
 Scolecophagus carolinus 298 
 
 Scolecophagns cyanoeephalus, 
 
 Plate 17, Fig. 3 299 
 
 Scolecophagus ferrugineus 299 
 
 Scott's Oriole, PI. 31, Fig. 2 269 
 
 Page 
 
 Scott's Sea-side Finch 94 
 
 Scroched Horned Lark 331 
 
 Sea-side Finch 94 
 
 Sea-side Bunting 94 
 
 Sea-side Sparrow 93 
 
 Seed-eater, Sharpe's 226 
 
 Selasphorus alleni 383 
 
 Selasphorus floresii 383 
 
 Selasphorus henshawi 382 
 
 Selasphorus platycercus 378 
 
 Selasphorus rufus, Plate 35 380 
 
 Sharpe's Seed-eater 226 
 
 Sharp-tailed Bunting 92 
 
 Sharp-tailed Finch 92 
 
 Sharp-tailed Sparrow 91 
 
 Shattuck Bunting 134 
 
 Sheep-bird 245 
 
 Sherman, F. D., Poem 2 
 
 Shiny-eye 245 
 
 Shoemaker, W. L., Poem, 115, 185 
 
 Shore Finch 92 
 
 Shufeldt's Junco 141 
 
 Silberkolibri (German) 378 
 
 Siller, Frank, Poem 39, 348 
 
 Singsperling (German) 159 
 
 Siskin, Pine 62 
 
 Skunk Blackbird 240 
 
 Skunk-bird 240 
 
 Skylark 329 
 
 Slate-colored Junco, Plate 23, 
 
 Fig. 1 135 
 
 Slate-colored Snowbird 139 
 
 Slate-colored Sparrow 168 
 
 Slough Bl.nckbird 256 
 
 Small Sapsucker 404 
 
 Smith, Charlotte, Poem 380 
 
 Smith's Longspur 79 
 
 Snake-bird 104 
 
 Snake-killer 431 
 
 Snowbird 139 
 
 Black- 139 
 
 Common 139 
 
 Eastern 139 
 
 Slate-colored 139 
 
 Snow Bunting 76 
 
 Snowflake 74 
 
 McKay's 76 
 
 Prybilof. 76 
 
 Sommer-Rotvogel (German).... 17 
 Sommer Tangara (German).... 17 
 Song Sparrow, PI. 5, Fig. 7... 153 
 
 Sonoran Horned Lark 331 
 
 Sonoran Red-wing 256 
 
 Sooty Song Sparrow 160 
 
 Southern Hairy Woodpecker... 404 
 
 Spanish Whippoorwill 395 
 
 Sparrow, Aleutian Song 160 
 
 American House 104 
 
 American Tree 122 
 
 Bachmann's 148 
 
 Baird's 82 
 
 Bell's 143 
 
 Black-chinned 135 
 
 Black-hood 108 
 
 Black-throated, Plate 23, 
 
 Fig. 4 142 
 
 Boucard's 153 
 
 Brewer's 134 
 
 Bunting 103 
 
 Bush 120, 132 
 
 Cactus 170 
 
 Canadian 122 
 
 Cassin's 151 
 
 Chipping, PI. 23, Fig. 2.... 123 
 
 Clay-colored 132 
 
 Common , 72 
 
 Page 
 
 Sparrow, Desert Song 160 
 
 English 66 
 
 European f2 
 
 Field, Plate 23, Fig. 3 127 
 
 Fox, Plate 24, Fig. 6 164 
 
 Fox-colored 167 
 
 Gambel's 113 
 
 Golden<i owned 114 
 
 Grass 87, 98 
 
 Grasshopper, Plate 23, 
 
 Fig. 6...; 86 
 
 Ground 85, 87 
 
 Harris', Plate 24, Fig. 2... 105 
 
 Heermann's Song 159 
 
 Henslow's 88 
 
 House 72 
 
 Intermediate -. 114 
 
 Ipswich 86 
 
 Lark, Plate 24, Fig. 1 98 
 
 Leconte's , 89 
 
 Leconte's Grasshopper 90 
 
 Lincoln's 163 
 
 Lincoln's Song 164 
 
 Long-billed 86 
 
 Mexican 153 
 
 Mesquit 152 
 
 Mountain Song „... 159 
 
 Nelson's 92 
 
 Nelson's Sharp-tailed 92 
 
 Oak-woods 151 
 
 Palmetto 148 
 
 Pine-woods, PI. 24, Fig. 5. 145 
 
 Prairie 104 
 
 Rock 153 
 
 Rufous 167 
 
 Rufous-crowned 153 
 
 Rufous-winged 153 
 
 Rusty Song 160 
 
 Sage 144 
 
 Samuel's Song 160 
 
 Sandwich 85 
 
 Savanna, PI. 23, Fig. 7... 83 
 
 Scarlet 8 
 
 Sea-side 93 
 
 Sharp-tailed 91 
 
 Slate-colored 168 
 
 Song, Plate 5, Fig. 7 153 
 
 Sooty Song 160 
 
 Spotted Swamp 162 
 
 St. Lucas 86 
 
 Swamp 160 
 
 Swamp Song 162 
 
 Texas, Plate 32, Fig. 3... 169 
 
 Texas Song 104 
 
 Thick-billed 168 
 
 Towsend's 168 
 
 Tree 120 
 
 Turkey 176 
 
 Vesper, Plate 23, Fig. 5.... 94 
 
 Western Chipping 127 
 
 Western Grasshopper 87 
 
 Western Lark 101 
 
 Western Tree 122 
 
 Western Vesper 96 
 
 White-crowned, Plate 24, 
 
 Fig. 4 108 
 
 White-throated, Plate 24, 
 
 Fig. 3 115 
 
 Wood 132 
 
 Worthen's I35 
 
 Yellow-browed 120 
 
 Spatz (German) 72 
 
 Sperling (German) 72 
 
 Hans- (German) 72 
 
 Spermophila moreletti 227 
 
 Sphyrapicus ruber ,.., 408 
 
INDEX. 
 
 451 
 
 Page 
 Sphyrapicus varius, Plate 36, 
 
 Fig. 1 406 
 
 Sphyrapicus varius nuchalis.... 408 
 
 Spinites pttsilla 132 
 
 Spinites socialis 127 
 
 Spinus lawrencei 61 
 
 Spitius pinus 62 
 
 Spinus psaltria 60 
 
 Spinus psaltria arizonee 61 
 
 Spinus psaltria mexicana 61 
 
 Spinus tristis, Plate 15, Fig. 5 54 
 
 Spiza americana, Plate 27 229 
 
 Spizella agrestis 132 
 
 Spizella atrigularis 135 
 
 Spizella breweri 134 
 
 Spizella domestica 127 
 
 Spizella monticola 120 
 
 Spizella monticola ochracea 122 
 
 Spizella pallida 132 
 
 Spizella pusilla, Plate 23, Fig. 3 127 
 
 Spizella shattucki 134 
 
 Spizella socialis, Plate 23, Fig. 2 123 
 
 Spizella socialis arizonae 127 
 
 Spizella wortheni 135 
 
 Sporenammer (German) 79 
 
 Sporophila moreletti sharpei... 226 
 
 Spotted Swamp Sparrow 162 
 
 Spurred Towhee 178 
 
 Star-throated Hummingbird.... 384 
 
 Starlings, American 234 
 
 Stayman, J. K., Poem 259 
 
 Steller's Jay 321 
 
 Stellula calliope 383 
 
 Stephen's Whippoorwill 394 
 
 Stieglitz (German) 66 
 
 Strawberry Bird 33 
 
 Streaked Horned Lark 331 
 
 Struthus hyemalis 139 
 
 Sturnella magna, PI. 29, Fig. 5 259 
 
 Sturnella magna mexicana 265 
 
 Sturnella magna neglecta 265 
 
 Sturnus predatorius 256 
 
 Sugar-bird 25 
 
 Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher 344 
 
 Summer Finch 148 
 
 Summer Redbird, Plate 19 12 
 
 Summer Tanager 17 
 
 Sumpfsperling (German) 162 
 
 Sunflower-bird 33 
 
 Swallow, Chimney 387 
 
 Swallow-tailed Flycatcher 337 
 
 Swamp Blackbird 256 
 
 Swamp Song Sparrow 162 
 
 Swamp Sparrow 160 
 
 Swift, Black 386 
 
 Chimney, Plate 18, Fig. 5 387 
 
 Vaux's : 389 
 
 White-throated 389 
 
 Swifts 386 
 
 T. 
 
 Tailor-bird 275 
 
 Tailor Oriole 275 
 
 Tanager, Canada 8 
 
 Crimson-headed 12 
 
 Cooper's 17 
 
 Hepatic 17 
 
 Liver-colored 18 
 
 Louisiana, PI. 20, Fig. 3.. 8 
 
 Mississippi 17 
 
 Red 8 
 
 Scarlet, Plate 25, Fig. 1.... 2 
 
 Scarlet Black-winged 8 
 
 Summer 17 
 
 Variegated 17 
 
 . Vermilion 17 
 
 Page 
 
 Tanagers 1 
 
 Tanagra sestiva 17 
 
 TanagridsE 1 
 
 Tanagra columbiana 12 
 
 Tanagra cyanea 218 
 
 Tanagra ludoviciana 12 
 
 Tanagra mississippensis 17 
 
 Tanagra rubra 8 
 
 Tangara, Louisiana- (German) 12 
 
 Sommerr (German) 17 
 
 Tannenzeisig (German) 64 
 
 Texan Bird of Paradise 337 
 
 "Texan Canary" 226 
 
 Texan Cardinal 180 
 
 Texan Kingfisher 427 
 
 Texan Night Hawk 400 
 
 Texan Woodpecker 405 
 
 TexanischesPfafFchen (German) 227 
 
 Texas Finch 170 
 
 Texas Horned Lark 331 
 
 Texas Sea-side Finch 94 
 
 Texas Sparrow, PI. 32, Fig. 3. 169 
 
 Texas Song Sparrow 104 
 
 Thick-billed Sparrow 168 
 
 Thistle-bird 60 
 
 Thistlefinch 66 
 
 Thurber's Junco 141 
 
 Tick-eater 436 
 
 Tijo-tijo 436 
 
 Tohi (German) 176 
 
 Top-knot Redbird 197 
 
 Towhee, PI. 25, Fig. 4 and 5.. 170 
 
 Abert's 183 
 
 Arctic 178 
 
 Canon 180 
 
 California 182 
 
 Chestnut-crowned 180 
 
 Gray 185 
 
 Green-tailed, PI. 20, Fig. 7 179 
 
 Guadelupe 179 
 
 Oregon 178 
 
 Red-eyed 176 
 
 Spurred 178 
 
 White-eyed , 177 
 
 Towhee Bird 176 
 
 Towhee Bunting 176 
 
 Townsend's Sparrow 168 
 
 Traill's Flycatcher 358 
 
 Trauerfink (German) 108 
 
 Tree Sparrow 120 
 
 European 73 
 
 Tricolored Blackbird 257 
 
 Trochilidas 364 
 
 Trochilus alexandri 372 
 
 Trochilus anna 378 
 
 Trochilus calliope 384 
 
 Trochilus colubris, PI. 26, Fig. 
 
 1 and 2 366 
 
 Trochilus platycercus 380 
 
 Trochilus rufus 382 
 
 Trochilus violajugulum 374 
 
 Trogon ambiguus 428 
 
 Coppery-tailed 428 
 
 Trogonidae 428 
 
 Trogons 428 
 
 Trupial 266 
 
 Turkey Sparrow 176 
 
 Tyrannidae 332 
 
 Tyrannula flaviventris 362 
 
 Tyrannula minima 260 
 
 Tyrannus carolinensis 342 
 
 Tyrannus crinitus 347 
 
 Tyrannus dominicensis 342 
 
 Tyrannus forficatus 338 
 
 Tyrannus fuscus 351 
 
 Tyrannus intrepidug..,,., , 342 
 
 Page 
 
 Tyrannus ludovicianus 347 
 
 Tyrannus tyrannus, Plate 30, 
 
 Fig. 3 338 
 
 Tyrannus verticalis 343 
 
 Tyrannus virens 356 
 
 Tyrannus vociferans 343 
 
 Tyrant 342 
 
 Tyrant Flycatchers 332 
 
 Tyrant Flycatcher 342 
 
 u. 
 
 Uferfink (German) 92 
 
 V. 
 
 Varied Bunting 226 
 
 Variegated Tanager 17 
 
 Vaux's Swift 389 
 
 Venezuelan Cardinal 197 
 
 Vermilion Flycatcher, Plate 31, 
 
 Fig. 4 362 
 
 Vesper Sparrow, PI. 23, Fig. 5 94 
 Violet-throated Hummingbird 374 
 
 Virginia Nightingale... 197 
 
 Virginia Redbird.. 197 
 
 w. 
 
 Wake-up 420 
 
 Weisskehliger Ammerfink (Ger- 
 man) 120 
 
 Weisskronfink (German) 113 
 
 Western Blue Grosbeak 214 
 
 Western Chipping Sparrow 127 
 
 Western Flycatcher 362 
 
 Western Grasshopper Sparrow 87 
 
 Western Lark Sparrow 101 
 
 Western Meadowlark 265 
 
 Western Nighthawk 400 
 
 Western Savanna Sparrow 85 
 
 Western Tree Sparrow 122 
 
 Western Vesper Sparrow 96 
 
 Western Wood Pewee 356 
 
 Whippoorwill, Plate 33, Fig. 7 391 
 
 Spanish 395 
 
 Stephen's 394 
 
 Whiskey Jack 327 
 
 White-bill 139 
 
 White-crown 113 
 
 White-crowned Bunting 105 
 
 White-crowned Sparrow, Plate 
 
 24, Fig. 4 108 
 
 White-eared Hummingbird 385 
 
 White-eyed Towhee 177 
 
 White-headed Woodpecker 405 
 
 White-throat 120 
 
 White-throated Sparrow, Plate 
 
 24, Fig. 3 115 
 
 White-throated Swift 389 
 
 White-winged Blackbird 233 
 
 White- winged Crossbill, Plate 
 
 21, Fig. 4 43 
 
 White-winged Junco 141 
 
 Whittier, Poem 135 
 
 Wicket 420 
 
 Wick-up 420 
 
 Widmann's Flycatcher 359 
 
 Wild Canary 60 
 
 Wilder Canarienvogel( German) 60 
 
 Willow-tweete 90 
 
 Wilson, Alexander, Poem 366 
 
 Wink-wink 176 
 
 Winter Chippy 122 
 
 Winterfink (German) 139 
 
 Wis-ka-chon 327 
 
 Woodhouse's Jay 325 
 
 Woodpecker, Alaskan Three- 
 toed 405 
 
 „y 
 
452 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 Woodpecker, Alpine Three-toed 405 
 
 American Three-toed 4.05 
 
 Arctic Three-toed 405 
 
 Batchelder's 404 
 
 Cabanis' 404 
 
 California, Plate 36, Fig.5 415 
 
 Downy 404 
 
 Gairdner's 404 
 
 Gila 418 
 
 Golden-fronted 418 
 
 Golden-winged 420 
 
 Hairy 403 
 
 Harris' 404 
 
 Ivory-billed 402 
 
 Lewis' 416 
 
 Narrow-fronted 416 
 
 Northern Hairy 404 
 
 Nuttall's 405 
 
 Pileated, Plate 36, Fig. 6 409 
 
 Red Cockaded 405 
 
 Red-headed, Plate 36,Pig.4 411 
 
 Red-bellied, Plate 36, Fig. 3 417 
 
 Southern Hairy 404 
 
 St. Lucas 405 
 
 Texan 405 
 
 White-headed 405 
 
 Yellow-bellied 408 
 
 Woodpeckers 401 
 
 Wood Pewee, Plate 33, Fig. 5 352 
 
 Page 
 
 Wood Pewee, Western 356 
 
 Wood Sparrow 132 
 
 Worthen's Chippy 135 
 
 Worthen's Sparrow 135 
 
 Wright's Flycatcher 362 
 
 Wut-tu-ise-ze (Indians) 143 
 
 X. 
 
 Xanthocephalus xantocepha- 
 
 lus, Plate 29, Fig. 3 248 
 
 Xanthornis buUocki 298 
 
 Xanthoura luxuosa, Plate 32, 
 
 Fig. 5 326 
 
 Xanthoura incas var. luxuosa 326 
 
 Xanthus' Hummingbird 385 
 
 Xenopicus albolarvatus 405 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Plate 33, 
 
 Fig. 4 431 
 
 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 361 
 
 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Plate 
 
 36, Fig. 1 405 
 
 Yellow-bellied Woodpecker 408 
 
 Yellow-billed Magpie 317 
 
 Yellow-bird 60 
 
 Black-capped 60 
 
 Black-winged 60 
 
 YeUow-browed Sparrow 120 
 
 Page 
 
 Yellow-hammer 420 
 
 Yellowhead 251 
 
 Yellow-headed Blackbird, Plate 
 
 29, Fig. 3 248 
 
 Yellow-winged Bunting 86 
 
 Yucatan Cardinal 197 
 
 Yucca Oriole 273 
 
 z. 
 
 Zamelodia ludoylciana 206 
 
 Zebra Woodpecker 418 
 
 Zeisig, Fichten- (German) 64 
 
 Tannen- (Germati) 64 
 
 Zonotrichia albicollis, Plate 24, 
 
 Pig. 3 115 
 
 Zonotrichia cassini ^..... 152 
 
 Zonotrichia chlorura 180 
 
 Zonotrichia comota 108 
 
 Zonotrichia coronata 114 
 
 Zonotrichia gambeli 113 
 
 Zonotrichia graminea 98 
 
 Zonotrichia intermedia 134 
 
 Zonotrichia leucophrys, Plate 
 
 24, Fig. 4 108 
 
 Zonotrichia melodia 159 
 
 Zonotrichia jSlebeja 170 
 
 Zonotrichia querula, Plate 24, 
 
 Fig. 2 105 
 
 Zopilotillo 436 
 
 ♦ « » 
 
im