- -'- .-■ -I^ . 5lBa5^='--.hite patches are streaked with black. Sides of breast streaked with black and white; back and upper surface of wings glossy black, thickly and sharply checked and spotted with white, the spots largest and squarest in the middle of the back, smaller and rounder in front and behind. Eyes red. The male is considerably larger than the female, but the sexes are alike in color. In winter both are plain brownish black or dark brown above, darkest on back of neck and top of head, and grayer on the back; below they are pure white from bill to tail, the lines between the upper and under parts not being very sharp but more or less gray or brown intervening. The downy young are plain brown or gray above and white below. Length, 28 to 36 inches; wing, 13 to 15.25; culmen, 2.75 to 3.50. 5. Red-throated Loon. Gavia stellata (Pontop.). (11) Synonyms: Red-throated Diver. — Colymbus stellatus, Pontoppidan, 1763. — Colymbus lumme, Gunn., 1761. — ^Urinator lumme, Stejn., 1882, A. O. U. Checklist, 1895. — Colymbus septentrionalis of most authors. Likely to be taken for the young of the common Loon, or even for the adult Loon in winter plumage, although it is decidedly smaller. Can hardly be identified except with the bird in the hand. Distribution. — Northern part of Northern Hemisphere, migrating south- ward in winter nearly across the United States. In Michigan found only in winter, or at least from late fall until spring; and it seems to be much more frequently seen in spring than in fall. It frequents the Great Lakes and the larger ponds and streams, but is very much less often seen than the common Loon. Ordinarily it is in the winter plumage and there is no indication of the red throat, but occasionally some of the birds obtain their adult plumage, or something approaching it, before going north in the spring. The late Dr. J. W. Velie, of St. Joseph, wrote: "Eight or ten specimens were brought in by fishermen in May, 1904, taken from nets set in shallow water off shore at this place. Five or six of these were brought in on the same day and among them were two specimens in almost perfect breeding plumage with the red throat fully colored. Although this species is common here every spring, this is the first time I have ever found it with the red throat." There is no reason to suppose that this diver ever nests in Michigan. Its normal nesting grounds are in the far north, and its eggs closely resemble those of the common Loon, but are much smaller, averaging 2.82 by 1.76 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Similar to the preceding species; but decidedly smaller. Adult in summer (never seen in Michigan) with the entire upper parts dark brownish black or slaty black, thickly marked with small, oval white spots; the back of the neck black streaked with white. Front of neck with a large triangular patch of rich chestnut; rest of under parts white. The winter plumage is similar, but the dark upper parts are duller, the red throat-patch mostly or entirely wanting, and the throat, breast and belly white. The wings and back often show traces of the oval white spots, and this, with the smaller size, serves to separate it readily from the common Loon in winter plumage. Measijrements: Length, 24 to 27 inches; wing, 10 to 11.50; culmen, 2.00 to 2.25; tarsus, 2.75. WATER BIRDS. 43 Family 3. ALCID^.— Auks and Murres. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Wing more than 7 inches. — B, BB. B. Gonys less than 1 inch (-av. .83).— Briinnich's Murre. No. 6. BB. Gonys more than 1 inch (av. 1.14).— Common Murre (Appendix). AA. Wmg less than 6 inches.— Little Auk. No. 7. 6. Brunnich's Murre. Uria lomvia lomvia (Linn.). (31) Synonyms: Thick-billed Murre, Thick-billed Guillemot, Brunnich's Guillemot.— Alca lomvia, Linn., 1758.— Uria lomvia, Bryant, 1861, A. O. U. Checklist, 1895. Plate II. A sea-bird of odd appearance with short legs, webbed feet with only three toes, and thick, soft, duck-hke plumage, slate above and white below. Distribution. — Coasts and islands of north Atlantic and eastern Arctic Oceans; south (in winter) to the lakes of northern New York and the coast of New Jersey. Breeding from the Gulf of St. Lawrence northward. This straggler from the north was first recorded from Michigan by the writer (Auk, XII, 387, Oct., 1895), the occasion being the capture of a specimen in a dying condition at Green- ville, Montcalm county, December 13, 1894. The specimen was brought alive to the late Percy Selous, who made a water- color sketch of the bird and sent it to us for identification. Subsequently Mr. Selous presented the nicely mounted speci- ^'S- S. Foot of Brunnich's Murre. men to the Agricultural College, and it is (Original.) now in our museum. Specimens are frequently taken in the fall and winter along the Atlantic coast as far south as New York, and they have been recorded occasionally from inland lakes many miles from salt water. They occurred in large numbers at Quebec, Canada, from November 15, 1893, to January 8, 1894, (Auk, Vol. XI, 175), but the above specimen, so far as known, is the first to be recorded from any part of the Great Lake region. No other specimen was taken during the winter of 1894-95 so far as we can learn, but in December, 1896, a remarkable flight of these birds occurred on lakes Ontario and Erie, and many specimens were taken in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Ontario. Probably a score or more were taken in Michigan waters, but the following are the only ones of which we have record : One taken on Detroit River December 19, 1896, now in the high school collection at Sault Ste. Marie; one adult male shot from a flock near Gibralter, Wayne county, Michigan, December 26, 1896, originally recorded as Uria troile (Bull. M. 0. C. I., p. 10); this specimen now in the museum of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; two specimens killed at St. Clair Flats, and first recorded by W. A. Davidson as "Black Guillemots" (Bull. M. 0. C. I., p. 8 and Ibid. I, 24); in addition to these Mr. Swales states that there are mounted birds at Ecorse and Trenton, Michigan, taken in December, 1896. He also states that during this flight "Some 44 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. ten or twelve birds were taken on the Detroit River." Mr. Purdy, of Plymouth, Michigan, says that one was taken ahve at Walled Lake, Oakland County, by some fishermen and given to William Stark of Northville, who kept it aUve in his store where he (Mr. Purdy) saw and identified it. The bird afterward died and was thrown away. A similar invasion occurred in Dec, 1907, and numerous specimens were taken about Lake St. Clair and in the vicinity of Detroit between Dec. 1st and 10th. The causes for the southward migration of these sea-birds, and especially for their appearance so far inland are entirely unknown. Mr. James H. Fleming of Toronto has been collecting data in regard to the "Great Flight" of 1895-96, and I am informed through Mr. P. A. Taverner that so far as known the stomach of every bird captured was entirely empty and the birds were all much emaciated and enfeebled, so much so that many of the specimens were readily captured by hand. In the vicinity of Toronto scores, perhaps hundreds, were found and there is reason to believe that the birds came south from the Arctic regions by thousands and that they could not, or at least did not, find suitable food to keep them alive. This bird breeds on the Magdalene Islands, Gulf of St. Lawrence and northward, laying a single heavily spotted egg on the bare rock of the cliff. The eggs average 3.21 by 2.01 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. In winter upper parts dusky or slate-colored, the secondaries alone tipped with white. Below, pure white from chin to tail, including most of the sides of the head and neck, but in young birds the white throat is more or less washed with dusky. A distinct groove or furrow in the plumage behind the eye. Length, 14.50 to 18.50; wing, 7.45 to 8.80 inches; culmen, 1.40 to 1.50; tarsus, 1.40 to 1.55. 7. Little Auk. Alle alle (Linn.). (34) Synonyms: Dovekie, Sea-dove. — Alca alle, Linn., 1758. — Alle alle, Stejn., 1885, and most subsequent authors. Smallest of the family and resembling a miniature of Briinnich's Murre, but of decidedly smaller size and proportionately smaller bill. Distribution. — Coasts and islands of the northern Atlantic and eastern Arctic oceans; in North America south in winter to New Jersey; breeds in high northern latitudes. This is an Arctic species confined as a rule to the sea and found inland as a rule only when driven there by severe storms. There seems to be but one record for Michigan, that by the late W. H. Collins of Detroit, whose record (0. & 0. Vol. VII, p. Ill, 1882) is as follows. "I received a finb specimen of the sea dove killed here on Detroit River by one of our market hunters. It was swimming among his decoy ducks. It proved to be a young female." In corroboration of this record Mr. Covert writes me that he saw the specimen and received the full history of its capture from Mr. Collins, and has no reason to doubt the record. The specimen itself may possibly be in existence still, but we have not been able to locate it. The species migrates southward along the Atlantic coast with some regularity every winter and specimens are often taken along the coast of Maine and Massachusetts, not infrequently in fresh water ponds ten to fifty miles from the seashore. There is a record also of a specimen taken on Lake Ontario two miles from Toronto on November 18, 1901 (Auk, Vol. XIX, p. 94). Plate II. Brunnich'3 Murre. From photograph of mounted specimen. WATER BIRDS. 47 This species nests only in high latitudes, mainly or entirely within the Arctic Circle, and its eggs are laid singly on islands and often on the bare rocks of cliffs overhanging the sea. The eggs average 1.90 by 1.29 inches, and are greenish white in color. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. The adult in summer has the head and neck all around, together with upper parts, blue- black, more glossy above, duller and more brownish on the throat, chest and sides of head. Scapulars white-edged and secondaries tipped with white. Under parts, except throat and chest, pure white. In winter the brownish black disappears from the throat and neck leaving the entire under parts pure white, and this color often extends over the sides of the head and along the sides of the neck until it nearly meets on tiie back of neck. Length, 7.25 to 9.15 inches; wing, 4.50 to 4.75; culmen, .50. Order II. LONGIPENNES.— Long-winged Swimmers. KEY TO FAMILIES. A. Covering of upper mandible of three distinct pieces, hook, side-piece, and cere-like piece; two middle tail feathers projecting beyond the rest. — Family 4, Stercorariidse. — Skuas and Jsegers (Gull-chasers), page 47. AA. Covering of upper mandible of a single piece; middle tail-feathers not projecting beyond the rest. — Family 5, Laridse — Gulls and Terns, page 49. Family 4. STERCORARIID^.— Gull-chasers. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Projecting middle tail-feathers broad at tip. — Pomarine Jseger. No. 8. AA. Projecting middle tail-feathers narrow at tip. — Parasitic Ja;ger. No. 9. 8. Pomarine Jseger. Stercorarius pomarinus (Temm.). (36) Synonyms: Jsger Gull, Gull-chaser, Gull-hunter. — Larus pomarinus and Lestris pomarinus, Temm., 1815. — Stercorarius pomarinus of most recent authors. Most likely to be recognized, if at all, through its habit of chasing other sea-birds, somewhat in the manner of a hawk, although it seldom kills the bird it pursues, being content usually to compel it to drop or disgorge the prey which it has just captured. Distribution. — Seas and inland waters of northern portions of the North- ern Hemisphere; south in winter to Africa, AustraUa and probably South America. . . This is another sea-bird of wide distribution, but unhke the Auks it is by no means restricted to salt water. Nevertheless it is seldom seen and still more seldom captured on the Great Lakes. The only record for Mich- igan which we have been able to verify is that of a specimen taken on the Detroit River May 30, 1879, by R. Sanlier, and recorded by the late W. H. Collins in the Oologist for 1879, p. 24. This specimen is now in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., and bears the following label: 48 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. "Female. Detroit River, May 30, 1879. Killed by R. Sanlier. It was chasing Black Terns near Fighting Island." The name appears in several lists of birds of the state, and there can be httle doubt that the species occurs with some regularity on Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron. Mr. E. W. Nelson states that he is "certain that this species is a rare visitant to Lake Michigan during severe winters" (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. I, p. 41). Dr. Brayton (Trans. Ind. Hort. Soc. 1879 p. 150) says "A rare winter visitant to Lake Michigan. October 9, 1876, in company with my friend Mr. E. W. Nelson * * * we saw a fine specimen of this bird flying along the lake shore near the state (Indiana) Hne." As already stated the bird preys upon other birds, robbing their nests of eggs and young or chasing the old birds and compelling them to give up the food they have taken. The above record for Detroit River, May 30, shows that the bird lingers late in these latitudes, but it nests invariably far north, and its nesting habits are but imperfectly known. It lays two or three olive green to olive brown eggs more or less spotted with darker brown and black. The eggs average 2.35 by 1.63 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. A web-footed, gull-like seabird, with bill more strongly hooked than in the ordinary gulls) and with the two middle tail-feathers projecting beyond the rest. These two feathers are nearly as broad as the rest, rounded at tip, and from 7 to 10 inches long. The adult often has the upper parts, except the nape, dark slate, and this color extends over the sides of the head. All the lower parts from bill to tail are white or yellow- ish white, and this is also the color of the nape. Some adults, however, are almost entirely slate-colored above and below, often appearing dull black; the greater number are inter- mediate between these two extremes. Immature birds are similar to adults, but are always thickly barred with dark brown below and rusty or yellowish white above. Length, 20 to 23 inches; wing, 13.50 to 14; culmen, 1.45 to 1.75. 9. Parasitic Jaeger. Stercorarius parasiticus (Linn.). (37) Synonyms: Richardson's Jaeger; Teaser; Boatswain; Marlinspike. — Larus parasiticus, Linn., 1758. — Lestris parasitica. 111., 1811. — ^Lestris richardsoni, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1835. • — Stercorarius parasiticus of most recent authors. This bird is very similar to the Pomarine Jaeger in general appearance but is smaller and has the two middle tail-feathers narrow and pointed, as well as elongated, which is readily seen when the bird is in full chase after a gull or tern which is dodging and twisting in the attempt to escape. Distribution. — Northern part of the Northern Hemisphere, southward to North Africa and South America. Breeds in high northern districts, and winters from New York and California southward to Brazil. Like the preceding species this a decidedly uncommon bird in Michigan. While it probably occurs regularly in spring and fall we know of but two unquestionable records. A specimen was killed at Otter Lake, Lapeer county, Sept. 28, 1897, and mounted by Robert P. Stark of that place, from whom it was obtained for the museum of the Agricultural College, where it now is. This is an immature bird, probably a bird of the year, and the sex was not determined. Another specimen was taken at Point Mouville, Detroit River, Nov. 27, 1903. It was found by Mr. Covert at a tax- idermist's shop in Detroit, and identified by himself and Mr. B. H. Swales. It is now in the collection of the Detroit Museum of Art (Bull. Mich. Orn. WATER BIRDS. 49 Club, Vol. IV. 1903. p. 94). Dr. Gibbs informs us that W. H. Collins of Detroit in a letter which he has, says "Two specimens taken on Detroit River, fall of 1876, and now in collection of Dr. Jasper, Columbus, Ohio. One taken in October, 1883, in dark plumage." We have recently (Nov. 2, 1905) examined a nice specimen of this species in the Barron collection at Niles. It is an immature bird in a plumage intermediate between the light and dark phase and the middle tail-feathers but an inch longer than the rest. Although without any label it was probably taken in that vicinity. In habits this bird does not differ much from the preceding, but is decidedly more common on the Atlantic coast, and is probably more a bird of the coast than of the open sea. It nests far north of our limits, laying eggs similar to those of the Pomarine Jaeger and averaging ,2.30 by 1.64 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Most of the head, neck and imder parts white or yellowish white, the top of head and the lores brown; the rest of the upper parts dark slate. Occasionally an adult is found which is brownish black or very dark slate all over. Young birds (full grown) are mostly brownish, variously streaked and barred with whitish or buff, the streaking most noticeable on head and neck, the barring on back, breast and belly. Length, 16.50 to 21 inches; wing, 11.80 to 13.50; longest tail-feathers 4.90 to 6.25; culmen, 1.15 to 1.40. Family 5. LARID^E.— Gulls and Terns. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Outer tail-feathers longest (tail more or less forked). — C, CC, CCC. C. Large; wing more than 13 inches. — D, DD. D. Largest; bill thick; tail forked less than two inches, hind head not crested. — Caspian Tern. No. 19. DD. Smaller; bill more slender; tail forked 3 inches or more; hind head crested. — Royal Tern. No. 20. CC. Medium; wing 9 to 12 inches.— E, EE. E. Outer tail-feathers much narrowed at tip.— F, FF, FFF. F. Outer web of outer tail-feather darker than inner web. — G, GG. G. Bill red with black tip (in summer). — Common Tern. No. 22. GG. Bill all red (in summer).— Arctic Tern. No. 23. FF. Inner web of outer tail-feather darker than outer web; bill red, black-tipped. — Forster's Tern. No. 21. FFF. Both webs of outer tail-feather white; breast white or rose-tinted. — Roseate Tern. (Appendix.) EE. Outer tail-feathers not narrowed at tip.— Sabine's Gull. No. 18. CCC. Small; wing less than 9 inches. — H, HH. H. Back and upper surface of wings and tail slate-color or dark gray; bill black.— Black Tern. No. 25. HH. Back and upper surface of wings pale pearl-gray; bill yellow, black-tipped.— Least Tern. No. 24. 50 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. AA. Tail feathers all of equal length (tail square or slightly rounded).— I, II. I. Large; wing more than 13 inches. — J, J J. J. Primaries wholly white, or pale gray with white tips.— K, KK. K. Wing over 16^ inches; tail over 7 inches. — Glaucous Gull. No. 11. T 1 J KK. Wing not over 16i inches; tail less than 7 inches.— Iceland Gull. No. 12. JJ. Primaries wholly dark, or boldly marked with black and white. — L, LL. L. Back ("mantle") dark slate; wing over 17* inches.— Black- backed Gull. No. 13. LL. Back ("mantle") pale pearl-gray.— J\I, MM. M. Wing more than 16 inches. — Herring Gull. No. 14. MM. Wing less than 16 inches.— Ring-billed Gull. No. 15. II. Small; wing not more than 13 inches. — N, NN. N. Hind toe rudimentary or wanting. — Kittiwake. No. 10. NN. Hind toe perfect but small. — O, 00. O. Mantle dark (deep plumbeous or slate color). — P, PP. P. Wing 12 to 13 inches. — Laughing Gull. (Appendix.) PP. Wing 11 to 12 inches.— Frankhn's Gull. No. 16. 00. Mantle light (pale pearl gray) wing 10 to 11 inches. — Bonaparte's Gull. No. 17. 10. Kittiwake. Rissa tridactyla tridactyla (Linn.). (40) Synonyms: Common Kittiwake. — Larus tridactylus, Linn., 1758. — Rissa tridactyla, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895, and most authors. A rather small gull readily recognizable by the absence or extremely rudimentary condition of the hind toe, which never bears a nail and is usually altogether lacking. In addition the bird has brown or black feet and a pale yellow or greenish yellow bill and the outer four primaries have the tips entirely black. Distribution. — Arctic regions, south in eastern North America, in winter to the Great Lakes and the middle states. Although the Kittiwake has been included in several of the earlier lists of Michigan birds, there has always been some doubt as to its right to the place. Doubtless the similarity of this bird, particularly when immature, to the young of Bonaparte's Gull is responsible for many of the so-called "records." The Kittiwake is essentially a coast species, and although it occurs regularly along the St. Lawrence, on Lake Ontario, and even on the Niagara River, it certainly is of infrequent occurrence to the west of this point. We have but two records which are at all satisfactory, the first by Mr. Stewart E. White, who states that it is rare on Mackinac Island, but that a few accompany the large gulls in their migrations (Auk, Vol. X, 1893, p. 222); the other by Major A. H. Boies, who says "Occasionally seen about Mud Lake (St. Mary's River) in the fall of 1893-94" (Birds of Neebish Island, Bull. Mich. Orn. Club, Vol. I, p. 18). We have in the college museum a specimen of the Kittiwake (No. 8293) which came to us with Major Boies' collection, and which he says was surely killed on or near Neebish Island, but he is unable to give any additional data. Stockwell says: "Frequent in winter on Lake Huron and common around the Straits of Mackinac" (Forest & Stream, Vol. VIII, p. 38). This WATER BIRDS. 51 is at variance with the experience of recent collectors. The record by Covert of a specimen taken at Ann Arbor April 9, 1875 (Forest & Stream, Vol. VII, p. 164) seems doubtful, the specimen not having been located. According to JMcIlwraith, this species is very common at the approach of winter, around the west end of Lake Ontario (Birds of Ontario, 1894, p. 43), and J. H. Fleming records the capture of several about Toronto, Ont., in November, 1899 (Auk, Vol. 17, 1900, p. 177). It is not included in Kumlien & Hollister's List of the Birds of Wisconsin, since not one un- questionable record for that state can be found. In its habits it does not differ much from Bonaparte's Gull, except that as already noted, it seems partial to salt water, and it appears invariably to select rocky islands or cliffs for nesting purposes. It breeds abundantly on some of the rocky islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and northward, building a somewhat bulky nest of sea weeds, grasses and similar material and laying 3 to 5 eggs which are greenish, grayish or brownish white, spotted with brown and gra}- and average 2.26 by 1.61 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. A medium-sized, nearly white gull, with three toes on each foot (all other gulls have four), and with the tail slightly emarginate or cut out. The adult in summer is pure white except that the mantle is bluisli-gray and the ends of the four outer wing feathers are jet black, the outer feather having most black and the inner least. The fifth feather is wliite at tip, then black for a space, then white again; the remaining primaries white. Legs and feet brownish black, bill pale yellow or greenish yellow. In winter the old birds are similar but have the back of the head and neck gray instead of white. Young birds are like winter adults but with an additional black patch across the back of the neck, and the tip of tail usually with a black band. Length 16 to 16.70 inches; wing about 12.25; culmen 1.40 to ,1.50. 11. Glaucous GuU. Larus hyperboreus Gunn. (42) Synonyms: Burgomaster, Ice Gull. — Larus hyperboreus, Gunnerus, 1767. — Larus glaucus, Brunn., 1764, and most authors. Not to be discriminated with certainty from the Herring Gull under ordinary circumstances; but larger and without any black on the primaries. Distribution. — Arctic regions; south in winter in North America to the Great Lakes and Long Island. This, one of the two largest gulls occurring on the Great Lakes, is by no means common and is rarely taken. In fact, although it undoubtedly occurs regularly during the colder half of the year, we have been unable to find a Michigan specimen in any collection, or even an unimpeachable record. Covert in his manuscript list states that there have been several authentic captures, but does not give any data. KumUen & Holhster (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 9) state that there are in the :Milwaukee Pubhc Museum three specimens procured there January 8, 12, and 14, 1895. In Butler's "Birds of Indiana," 1897, p. 570 it is stated that "Mr. J. W. Byrkit informs me of its occurrence near ilichigan City [close to the ilich- igan line.] ^Ir. F. ^l. Woodruff has a beautiful specimen in whitepl umage that he killed at Millers, Ind., Oct. 8, 1897." If the last statement is correct it proves that the species does not wait for cold weather before coming south, and presumably may be looked for on the Great Lakes at any time except during the actual nesting season. It nests in Iceland, Greenland, and Arctic America, generally laying two heavily spotted eggs which average 3.13 by 2.14 inches. In its habits it resembles the Herring Gull closely, but is said to be more domineering and rapacious, often eating the young of other sea-birds and sometimes even, attacking sitting birds and killing and devouring them. 52 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. One of the largest gulls found within our limits. The tail always even, that is, neither rounded nor forked, the head always white in the siimmer adult. Primaries pale pearl- gray, becoming pure white at tip. Mantle pale pearl-gray. Some specimens are pure white all over. In winter the adult is very similar, but the head and back of neck are marked with more or less light brownish. Immature birds as large as the adiilts never have the pure white plumage, but are more or less mottled with reddish-brown, sometimes almost uniformly dark brown below, and the mantle also dark brown. The bird can usually be told in any plumage by its size and the absence of any clear black in any part of the plumage. Length, 26 to 32 inches; wing, 16.75 to 18.75; tail, 7.40 to 8.50; culmen, 2.30 to 2.70. 12. Iceland Gull. Larus leucopterus Faber. (43) Synonyms: White-winged Gull. — Larus leucopterus of most authors. Not distinguishable from the preceding species except by careful measure- ment. Distribution. — Arctic regions, south in winter to Massachusetts and the Great Lakes, occasionally much farther south. This bird is precisely like the Glaucous Gull in plumage, habits, and dis- tribution, differing only in size, the present species averaging decidedly smaller than the Glaucous Gull. Its nesting habits and eggs are also similar, except that the eggs are smaller, averaging 2.79 by 1.89 inches. The impression seems to prevail that this bird is less rare than the Glaucous Gull on the Great Lakes, and several authorities state this as a fact. Kum- lien and Hollister (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903) call it a regular winter visitant on Lake Michigan, but by no means common, although occurring more frequently than the Glaucous. Nelson (Bull. N. O. G. Vol. I, p. 41) says "A regular winter visitant on Lake Michigan." Dr. Brayton also says it is a "not uncommon winter resident on Lake Michigan." The only absolute record which we have is that of a specimen collected at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich, in 1901, by Mr. John Graham, and now in the High School collection at that place. A photograph and measurements furnished by Mr. W. P. Melville confirm this identification. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Almost exactly like the Glaucous Gull in everything but size; the bill, however, is not as heavy, and particularly not as deep. Its average depth at the deepest part being only about .62 of an inch, while that of the Glaucous Gull at the same point is from .80 to 1.00 inch. Length, 24 to 26 inches; wing, 14.75 to 16.50; tail, 6.00 to 6.70; culmen, 1.60 to 1.70. 13. Black-backed Gull. Larus marinus Linn. (47) Synonyms: Great Black-backed Gull, Saddle-back, Coffin-carrier. — Larus marinus of most authors. — Larus maximus. Leach. Largest of our gulls, or at least one of the two largest, the adult always recognizable by the black back which gives it the name; the immature bird, however, may be confounded easily with the young of the other species and can be identified only by the expert. Distribution. — The coasts of the North Atlantic; south in winter to Long Island and Italy. A rare bird in Michigan waters, but undoubtedly occurs once in a while, although captures must be very rare. " One was shot on the Detroit River in March, 1904, and mounted by C. Campion of Detroit" (B. H. Swales, MS. List of Birds of S. E. Michigan, 1904). Specimens have been recorded from Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana; and it has been reported in Michigan WATER BIRDS. 53 waters by several good observers. S. E. White reports seeing it at Grand Rapids, March 28, 1890, and calls it a very rare migrant at Mackinac Island. Covert reports it at St. Clair Flats April 9, 1875; and the late Dr. J. W. Vehe informed us that he had taken it personally at Chicago, 111., and had seen it at St. Joseph, Berrien county, Mich., " several times in winter and spring within the past ten years. There is no possibihty of mistaking the species when seen near at hand." While within our Hmits its habits are like those of the other large gulls, although it is said to be more wary than any other species. It nests in the far north and its eggs are similar to those of the Glaucous Gull, and average 3.05 by 2.12 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Mantle dark slate; primaries mostly black with white tips or white spots near the tips; rest of the bird pure white. This is the adult in summer plumage. In winter the adult is quite similar, but the head and neck are more or less streaked with dusky brown. The immature bird, as large as the adult, is usually not dark colored all over, sometimes dark brown mottled with rusty or whitish, sometimes much lighter beneath and with the throat nearly unspotted. The primaries and tail are blackish-brown, the primaries tipped with white and the tail with a whitish bar near the end. Length, 28 to 31 inches; wing, 17.60 to 19.50; culmen, 2.40 to 2.60. 14. Herring Gull, Larus argentatus Pont. (51) Synonyms: Common Gull, Harbor Gull, Sea Gull, Lake Gull. — Larus argentatus of most authors until 1862. — Larus smithsonianus, Coues, 1862. — Larus argentatus var. smithsonianus, Coues, 1874, and most subsequent authors. Known commonly by its large size, white plumage with pearl gray mantle, and wing tips largely black. Distribution. — Northern Hemisphere, south in winter to the Azores, Cuba, and lower California; breeding from Maine, northern New York, the Great Lakes and Minne- sota northward. Commonest of the large gulls and the one usually seen about lake ports and harbors everywhere during the colder half of the year. Formerly it nested abund- antly at many places on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, but has been driven from most of its Jsouth- ern nesting grounds and is now restricted to a few favorable locaHties in the northern parts of these lakes and along the shores and islands of Lake Superior. It builds a bulky nest of grasses, weeds, twigs, and other rubbish, often hned with moss, and lays three or four heavily spotted eggs which average 2.85 by 2.01 inches. Its favorite nesting place is some small island remote from the mainland or more or less inaccessible for one reason or another. In regions where it has been much persecuted it has been known to place its nests on the branches or tops of ever-green trees, but we have never known them to be so placed in the Great Lake region. The young leave the nest within a few days after they are hatched, but very likely return to the nest at night. They take to the water long before they can fly, and although they swim beauti- ^'M fully make no attempt to dive. -„. - Foot of Her- ring Gull, reduced. (Original.) 54 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. The first eggs are laid early in June, but often the nests are robbed continuously so that fresh eggs are often found until late in July. Probably not all the individuals nest during the first _ year and this may account for the numbers of dark colored birds which linger about the shores and harbors far south of any known nesting places. The regular southward migration begins by the middle of August,_ and although the greater number spend the winter farther south, many remain all winter in the open water of the southern parts of the lakes. Indeed probably a few linger all winter wherever there is open water, at least as far north as the Straits of ]\Iackinac and the rapids of the Sault Ste. Marie. During migration the birds frequently visit inland lakes and streams and probably there is not a county in the state where they do not appear occasionally wheeling slowly over ponds and streams in search of fish or other food. Formerly the eggs were collected in large numbers by the Indians and fishermen, and were commonly sold for food in the markets of Escanaba and some other large lake ports. Mr. Ed. Van Winkle, Van's Harbor, Mich., states that it still (1905) "Breeds abundantly on middle and south Gull Islands as well as on Gravel Gull Island at the entrance to Green Bay in Delta county, Mich. It is no uncommon thing for the egg poachers on some of their trips to carry away 2,000 to 3,000 of their eggs." It is hoped that this is altogether a thing of the past. The present law protects all gulls, as non-game birds, and a heavy penalty may be imposed for killing them or disturbing their nests or eggs. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult in summer with the head wholly white and the tail even. Mantle delicate pearl- gray; primaries black and white, usually white-tipped with a black sub-terminal space. Lower mandible often with a red or yellow spot but never with a black one. Winter plumage similar, but the head and neck streaked with brownish or gray. Immature very variously marked, sometimes almost uniform chocolate brown all over, sometimes mottled with brown, white and pearl-gray in variable amounts. A black tail-bar frequently occurs, but other specimens lack it altogether. Length, 22.50 to 26.00 inches; wing, 16.25 to 17.50, culmen 1.95 to 2.50. IS. Ring-billed Gull. Lams delawarensis Ord. (54) Synonyms: Common Gull, Lake Gvdl (confused with the Herring Gull). — Larus delawar- ensis, Ord, 1815, and many others. — Larus zonorhynchus. Rich., 1831, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1835, and a few others. In full plumage this bird may be distinguished from any other gull of our waters by its yellowish bill with a distinct band of black encircling it. In any other plumage, however, it is so similar to several others species, particularly to the Herring Gull, that it is not likely to be recognized except by the expert. It is decidedly smaller than the Herring Gull, but unless the two are seen in company this fact is not apparent. Distribution. — North America at large; south in winter to Cuba and Mexico. Next to the Herring Gull this species undoubtedly is the most common of the larger gulls, but it is abundant only during the migrations, or in the southern part of the state during winter. Probably it formerly nested on some of the islands in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, but we have no reason to suppose that it does so at present. Major Boies states that it breeds abundantly on islands to the east of Neebish Island in the St. Mary's River (Bull. Mich. Orn. Club, I, 18), and Mr. Butler informs us that he was WATER BIRDS. 55 told that it nested on the Beaver Islands near Petoskey, Michigan, and abundantly on Gull Island, near Escanaba (Birds of Ind., p. 573). This may have been true at that time (1896, 1897), but in 1904 none were to be found nesting on the Beaver Islands, and careful inquiry failed to reveal any evidence that they had nested there in recent years. It is possible that some still nest on the Gull Islands near Escanaba, but even this is doubtful. Kumlien & HolUster (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 10) state that it formerly bred on Spider and Strawberry Islands, Green Bay, from which locahties eggs were taken in 1879, 1881, and 1882. Mr. J. H. Langille says that it breeds by thousands on one of the Western Islands on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, Ontario, near Parry Sound. He states that the nests are placed on the ground, often so close together as almost to touch each other, and the nests as well as the eggs closely resemble those of the Herring Gull except that thev are much smaller (Our Birds in their Haunts, 1884, p. 428). This species is similar in general habits to the Herring Gull, but appears to be less given to the society of man, since it is not so often seen about our harbors; it also seems to visit the smaller streams and ponds much less frequently than its larger relative. The eggs are similar to those of the Herring Gull, but smaller, averaging 2.39 by 1.71 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Head white and tail square in summer adult. Mantle pale pearl-gray; six outer primaries mostly black, with white tips or white spots near the tip; bill greenish-yellow crossed by a band of black near the tip, the black usually deepest on lower mandible. The winter adult is similar except that the head and neck are commonly streaked with dusky. The immature bird of the first year has the upper parts mottled with dusky brown and pearl-blue; the wing coverts quite dark with lighter margins, the primaries entirely black and the secon- daries mostly so; tail with a broad band of black near the tip, the tip itself white. Length, 18 to 20 inches; wing, 13.60 to 15.75; culmen, 1.55 to 1.75. 16. Franklin's Gull. Larus franklini Rich. (59) Synonyms: Franklin's Rosy Gull. — Larus franklini, Rich., 1831, and most authors. — Chroicocephalus franklini, Lawr., Coues, and some others. A small nearly white gull with a black head; very similar to Bonaparte's Gull, but in adult plumage with the bill bright red instead of black. It is, however, very frequently confused with the latter species. Distribution. — Interior of North America, chiefly west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky ]\lountains; breeds from Iowa northward; south in winter through Mexico and Central America to Peru. Frankhn's Gull, as shown by the above paragraph, is a western bird which should not occur in numbers on Lake j\lichigan, yet there are numer- ous records for the western side of the lake and it has been taken more than once near Chicago. We do not know of a Michigan specimen in any museum, nor is there an unquestionable record, yet it seems proper to include the species here, since it is practically certain that it does occur during migra- tions at least in the western half of the Upper Peninsula. G. A. Stockwell '("Archer", Forest & Stream VIII, No. 23, p. 380) says: "Common m northern Wisconsin and adjoining parts of Michigan; is migratory." Kum- hen & HoUister (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 10) say "Not common, but of regular occurrence in the eastern part of the state as a fall migrant from September until the small lakes and rivers are closed by ice." Butler states (Birds 56 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. of Indiana, 1897, p. 574) that it has been occasionally seen by Mr. J. W. Byrkit at Michigan City, Ind. (less than ten miles from the Michigan line). The bird is so similar in size, pattern of coloration, and general habits to the much more abundant Bonaparte's Gull that it might be easily over- looked, and doubtless this has happened many times. It nests abundantly in parts of Iowa and Minnesota, building substantial nests on rafts of floating vegetation, and lays three or four heavily spotted eggs similar to those of Bonaparte's Gull and averaging 1.95 by 1.34 inches. (See article by Dr. T. S. Roberts, Auk VII, 1890, 272). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Tarsus not longer than the middle toe and claw. Adult in summer with the head leaden- black with a white spot on each eyelid. Mantle deep plumbeous; primaries bluish-gray all broadly tipped with white, and five outer ones with black sub-terminal spaces. Rest of plumage white, or rose-tinted in the breeding season. BiU bright red with a dark sub- terminal band. Winter plumage of the adult similar to the summer plumage, but the head nearly white with only a few dark touches about the eyes and on the nape; bill and feet with little trace of red. The immature young has the under parts white, the mantle mixed gray, brown and blue, and the head similar to that of the winter adult; the outer five primaries commonly wholly black. Length, 13.50 to 15 inches; wing, 11.25; culmen, 1.30. 17. Bonaparte's Gull. Larus Philadelphia (Ord). (60) Synonyms: Bonaparte's Rosy Gull, Black-headed Gull. — Sterna Philadelphia, Ord, 1815. — Larus bonapartei, Rich., 1831, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1839. — Chroeoocephalus Phila- delphia, Lawr., 1858, and many others. A small white gull with pearl blue mantle and head entirely black all over except small white spots one above and one below each eye; the bill black. This is the adult bird in spring and can hardly be confounded with anything else. Distribution. — Whole of North America, breeding mostly north of the United States. Not yet recorded from south of the United States, though reported from the Bermudas. This is the smallest gull, in fact the only small gull which is at all common in Michigan waters. So far as we know at present it is a migrant only, retiring south of our boundaries during winter and passing entirely north of our limits in summer. There seems to be much uncertainty about the nesting of this bird. Several writers state that formerly it nested abundantly in all suitable localities along the lakes (Covert 1894-95); but it seems certain that the species does not breed now at St. Clair Flats, although it is said to have done so formerly, "laying its eggs on old logs with no signs of a nest." (Collins, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, V, 1880, p. 62). Dr. R. H. Wolcott writes that in the summer of 1893 it was very common all summer on Lake St. Clair, and many were shot by members of the Michigan Fish Commis- sion in order to obtain parasites. Major Boies states that it is common on the St. Mary's River in summer and breeds on or near Neebish Island. He found perfectly fresh eggs in June on a small island on the west side of Neebish (Bull. Mich. Orn. Club, I, 18). It has been said also to nest in numbers on some of the islands in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but the record is not entirely satisfactory. In Kumlien & Hollister's "Birds of Wisconsin" p. 10, we read "In 1880 a few were said to breed on Chambers Island, Green Bay, and we saw on some small islands in Big Bay de Noquet, Michigan, a number of nests like pigeons' nests on the flat branches of low coniferous WATER BIRDS. 57 trees that without question had been used by these birds. Many full plum- aged birds were seen and numbers of young, but only one so young as to be still unable to fly." The birds are commonly seen in flocks and usually breed in colonies, many pairs using the same region, commonly an island. The usual nesting place of this bird is in the far north, where it builds its nest early in June, usually on the horizontal branches of spruce trees and from five to twenty feet from the ground. The nests are made of twigs, grasses and evergreen leaves, and the eggs are almost invariably three. These are olive green to olive gray, marked with small brown spots, and average 1.95 by 1.34 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult in summer with the bill deep black, head dark slate, and mantle pale pearl-gray; feet orange red. Three outer primaries mostly white, but with large black tips; rest of primaries pearl-gray tipped with white, the fifth and sixth with subterminal black spaces. Rest of plumage pure white, or rose-tinted in the breeding season. In winter plumage the adiilt has the black of the head mostly replaced by white, only the crown and hind part of head beiag mottled with grayish-black and white, and a slaty patch on the side of the head; the feet flesh colored. Immature bird of the first year similar to the winter adult, but with more dark coloring on the head; first primary with about half the inner web black, second or third with outer webs wholly black, and tail with a broad sub-terminal dark bar. Length, 12 to 14 inches; wing, 10.25; culmen, 1.20. 18. Sabine's Gull. Xema sabini (Sab.). (62) Synonyms: Fork-taUed Gull. — Larus sabini, Sabine, 1819, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1835. — Xema sabini of most recent authors. Likely to be mistaken for Bonaparte's or Franklin's Gull, but the adult always separable by the somewhat forked tail and the slate black head and neck bounded below by a narrow black ring. Distribution. — Arctic regions; in North Ameiica south in winter to New York, the Great Lakes, and Great Salt Lake; casual in Kansas, Bahama, and on coast of Peru. The claim of Sabine's Gull to a place-in the fauna of Michigan rests mainly on the statement of Covert that one specimen, a female, was secured on the Huron River, Ann Arbor, November 17, 1880 (Birds of Washtenaw County, 1881). This specimen is said to have been killed by Mr. James Bowyer, but cannot be located now. A male was taken on Delavan Lake, Wisconsin, October 7, 1900 (Auk, XVIII, 392); two were taken on the Mississippi River near Burhngton, Iowa, October 16, 1891, and October 12, 1894 (Auk, XVI, 86). Mr. E. W. Nelson states that on April 1, 1873 while collecting along the shore of Lake Michigan in Illinois "I shot a specimen in breeding plumage, but it fell just beyond my reach and a gale off shore soon drifted it out of sight." (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 41). These are the only records for Michigan and its vicinity which are known to us. This gull nests in the far north, in Alaska, Siberia, and Greenland, and probably along most of the shores and islands of the Arctic Ocean. Its nest is placed on the ground, commonly in the moss of the tundra, and the eggs are three or four, olive or olive green spotted with dark brown, and averaging 1.78 by 1.26 inches. 58 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFEl. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. "Tail forked; legs and feet black. Summer adult: Head and upper neck uniform plumbeous, bordered below by a black collar; mantle deep bluish-gray; quills (primaries) black, the five innermost ones varied with white and plumbeous; rest of plumage white; bill black tipped with yellowish. Winter adult: Similar, but head and neck white except ear coverts and back of head and neck, which are dull, dusky plumbeous. Young: Mantle brownish gray, each feather darker subterminally, and margined at tip with pale fulvous or buffy; tail white, with a broad black band near end, this again narrowly tipped with white; upper tail coverts and entire lower parts white." (Ridgway). Length, 1.3 to 14 inches; wing, 10.10 to 11.15; tail, 4.50 to 5 (forked for about .60 to 1.00); culmen, 1; tarsus 1.25. 19. Caspian Tern. Sterna caspia (Pall). (64) Synonyms: Imperial Tern. — Sterna caspia. Pall., 1770, Lawr., Baird, Coues, Ridgw. Readily separated from any but the Royal Tern by its large size, and from the Royal Tern by its slightly forked tail. Distribution. — Nearly cosmopolitan; in North America breeding south- ward to Virginia, Lake Michigan, Texas, Nevada, and California. This beautiful tern is far from common in Michigan waters. A few are seen spring and fall on lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan, and colonies of the birds have long been known to nest on certain islands belonging to Delta county, Michigan, lying in the entrance from Lake Michigan to Green Bay, and also on certain of the Beaver Islands, belonging to Charlevoix county, Michigan. At both these places the birds have been persecuted from time immemorial by fishermen and Indians who use their eggs as well as those of other terns and gulls for food, and unless better protection is afforded, the extinction of the colonies cannot be long post- poned. The nests are placed on gravelly or shingly islands, are usually pebble-lined, and the two or three eggs (rarely four) are very variable in ground color, ranging from grayish white to pale olive, and more or less thickly spotted with brown and black, the spots commonly small and distinct. The eggs average 2.66 by 1.77 inches. Doubtless nesting begins in May, but owing to the relentless persecution of the eggers few young are hatched until late in June, and the writer found fresh eggs and newly hatched young on the Beaver Islands July 11, 1904. In Michigan at least the Caspian Tern seems always to nest in com- munities, several hundred pairs nesting on the same island. Its flight is remarkably strong, and it has the appearance of being very short-tailed. Its note is a very harsh "squawk" entirely different from that of any sea- bird of our acquaintance; once heard it can scarcely be mistaken after- ward. Like all other terns this bird feeds mainly, if not entirely, on fish which it secures by plunging headlong into the water in the manner of the Kingfisher and Fish Hawk, oftentimes going completely out of sight beneath the water. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Whole top of head from bill to occiput, extending below the eyes, jet-black; remainder of head and neck, together with breast and entire under parts, snowy-white; mantle pearl- gray. Primaries mostly gray with darker tips, the area extending farther toward the base on the inner web than on the outer, the shafts pure white. Bill coral-red with a more or less dusky tip. Feet and legs black. After the nesting season is over the black of the crown becomes flecked with white and in winter the amount of white increases until the top of the head is streaked black and white. The young in the first winter are pale grayish above with some dusky spots on the back and inner secondaries; the top of head mixed Water birds. 5Q black and white or gray; each tail feather with a dusky spot near the end; under parts entirely white Length, 19 to 23 inches; wing, 15 to 17.50; tail, 5.30 to 6.75 (forked for .75 to 1.60 inches); cuhnen, 2.48 to 3.10. 20. Royal Tern. Sterna maxima Bodd. (65) Synonyms: Cayenne Tern.— Sterna maxima, Boddaert, 1783.— Sterna cayana. Lath.' 1790, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1835.— Sterna regia, Gamb., 1848, Coues, 1872, Baird, 1859. Similar in size and general appearance to the Caspian Tern, but separable at gunshot range by the length of the deeply forked tail. The present species is slightly smaller than the Caspian; it also has an occipital crest, and the inner webs of the primaries are black only next the shaft, the re- mainder being pure white, while in the Caspian Tern these webs are entirely gray or slate colored. Distribution. — Tropical America, and warmer parts of North Anerica, casually northward to Massachusetts, the Great Lakes and California. West coast of Africa north to Tangiers. As shown by the distribution quoted above, this species is much more southern than the Caspian, and we should not expect to find it in Michigan waters except as a straggler. Its right to a place in our fauna rests mainly upon the statement of Mr. Stewart E. White, who says that during his stay on Mackinac Island in the summers of 1889, 1890 and 1891, he examined several specimens, but that it appeared to be more rare than the Caspian Tern (Auk X, 1893, 222). There is a doubtful record of this bird for Milwaukee, Wis., and it has been recorded by one or two observers as seen during migration; but identification under such circumstances is question- able. There is a mounted specimen of an adult in the Barron collection at Niles, without any label, which may have been taken in that vicinity as the present owners claim that all the specimens are local. This species nests only at the south, the best known resorts being the Tortugas, off the coast of Florida, certain islands along the Texas coast, and a few islands along the Atlantic shore even as far north as Virginia. The eggs are very similar to those of the Caspian Tern, and average 2.61 by 1.78 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult in nesting season: Entire top of head, including the occiput, deep black, the occipital feathers lengthened and pointed forming a distinct crest; back and upper surface of wings pale pearl-gray, the upper tail-coverts and tail almost white; under parts pure white. Outer primaries with the inner web slate-colored or black next the shaft, the remainder of the inner web pure white, the line of division very sharp. Bill orange; feet black. Immediately after nesting the forehead and crown become white, only the occipital crest remaining clear black. In winter the plumage is similar, but even the occipital crest becomes mixed with white, and the orange bill becomes paler. Young birds are somewhat like winter adults, but are more or less mottled with brown above, the crest hardly visible, the tail-feathers with grayish brown or dusky tips. Length, 18 to 21 inches; wing, 14 to 15; tail, 6 to 8 (forked about one-half); culmen, 2.40 to 2.75. 21. Forster's Tern. Sterna forsteri Nutt. (69) Synonyms: Havell's Tern (Audubon's name for the immature bird).— Sterna forsteri, Nutt., 1834, and most subsequent writers. — Sterna havelli, Aud., 1839. Not to be distinguished from either the Common Tern or the Arctic Tern except with specimens in hand. 60 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Distribution. — North America generally, breeding from Manitoba southward to Virginia, Illinois, Texas, and California; in winter southward to Brazil. According to several writers this should be one of the common terns of Michigan, but as a matter of fact, there are remarkably few actual records. It was reported by most of the earlier writers to breed commonly at St. Clair Flats, and according to Swales (1904), there is little doubt it does nest there, although he has never taken it. We have a single specimen in the Agricultural College collection which was taken on Long Lake, Kalamazoo county, May 24, 1884, by Dr. Gibbs. B. H. Swales has a spec- imen taken on the lower Detroit River, Sept. 10,1890, by J. Claire Wood, (Auk, XXIV, 1907, 137). In his Birds of Indiana (p. 576) Butler states that it is the most common tern on Lake Michigan during the fall. In KumUen & Hollister's "Birds of Wisconsin," p. 12, it is said to be a common migrant during the first two or three weeks of May and again from September until the middle of August; and still later on Lake Michigan. There is little doubt that the Detroit and St. Clair rivers mark the eastern boundary of the range of this species; while it occurs in much greater abundance in the Mississippi Valley. Unlike the Common and Arctic Terns this species prefers to nest in marshes instead of on sand or gravel, and its nests are often built on floating vegetation or on ridges of refuse washed up by the waves. Its eggs are similar to those of the Common Tern and equally variable in color and markings. They average 1.78 by 1.23 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. So similar to the Common Tern in corresponding seasonal dress as to be separated with difficulty and then only with specimens in hand. The two species have precisely the same measurements except that the tail of Forster's Tern will average about an inch longer. Two points alone can be depended upon for separating them : In Forster's Tern the breast and belly are pure white and the inner web of the outer tail feather is always darker than the outer web, which is entirely white. In the Common Tern the breast and belly are pearl gray and the outer web of the outer tail feather is dark, while the inner web is white. These two differences in coloration are constant summer and winter. In other respects winter specimens of these two terns are almost precisely alike and the same may be said of the young of the year. Length, 14 to 15 inches; wing, 9.50 to 10.30; tail, 5 to 7.70 (forked for 2.30 to 5 inches); culmen, 1.50 to 1.65. 22. Common Tern. Sterna hirundo Linn. (70) Synonyms: Sea Swallow, Mackerel Gull, Wilson's Tern, Lake Erie Gull. — Sterna hirundo, Linn., 1758, Wils., 1813, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1838.— Sterna wilsoni, Bonap., 1838, Baird, 1859. In full plumage may be distinguished by its red bill with the terminal third black, breast and belly light gray, and outer web of outer tail-feather dark, the inner web being white. Distribution. — Greater part of Northern Hemisphere and Africa. In North America chiefly east of the Plains, breeding from the Arctic coast, somewhat irregularly, to Florida, Texas, and Arizona; and wintering northward to Virginia. Also coast of Lower California. The commonest tern in Michigan waters, frequenting the shores and islands of the Great Lakes, as well as all the principal streams and interior lakes, and likely to appear on any pond or pool during migrations. It is absent from our waters only during the severest part of the winter and is one of the attractive features of the water about our summer resorts. Formerly it was much more numerous than at present, but the craze for WATER BIRDS. 61 bird plumage for millinery purposes well nigh exterminated the terns, thousands being killed on their nesting grounds, so that for a time the species was threatened with extinction. During the past ten years some legal protection has been secured for them and the cultivation of popular sentiment by the Audubon societies and their friends has lessened the destruction for such purposes. In common with other birds which nest in colonies the eggs are used as food by fishermen, Indians and other more or less irresponsible persons, and the wasteful methods employed not only prevent increase, but in many instances have driven the birds away from their favorite nesting grounds. Formerly it was not an uncommon thing for parties to visit an island and break every egg which could be found, going thoroughly over the surface and taking pains not to omit a single nest. On a second visit a day or two later any eggs found were sure to be fresh and were collected and carried away. This method, however, so often resulted in the desertion of the island by the terns that it has become customary on the first visit merely to collect all the eggs of the colony into a few large heaps without breaking any eggs or otherwise disturbing the nests. The birds then continue to lay in the same nests and often a supply of fresh eggs is obtained in this way for a month or six weeks. The present law makes such action as this punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, and it is hoped that strict enforcement of the law may be obtained. The terns feed mainly on fish and perhaps are not of any great economic importance, but they are among the most graceful birds in the world and their beauty of plumage, sprightly actions and entire lack of harmful qualities commend them to the public at large, as well as to the bird lover. This species differs much in its nesting habits according to circumstances. It loves to lay its eggs in little hollows in the clear sand, but it frequently lays them among the coarser pebbles without a vestige of nesting material, while in other places it makes a hollow in the sand or gravel and lines it with grass, weed-stalks or "sea-wrack." As a rule it avoids inland marshes and prefers to nest on open sandy islands rather than among the rushes and sedges. At St. Clair Flats Langille states that it most often lays its eggs on the tops of old musk-rat houses. The eggs are commonly three, very variable in ground color, which ranges from buffy-white to greenish- olive, covered sometimes thinly, sometimes very thickly, with dots, spots, and blotches of various shades of brown, sometimes even black. The eggs average 1.57 by 1.17 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult in breeding plumage: Entire upper half of head from bill to occiput black; sides of head and throat pure white; rest of under parts very pale gray, often almost white; mantle pearl gray; primaries deep gray with the inner half of the inner web pure white except near the tips; outer primary with outer web black, other primaries with outer webs like mantle; outer tail feather with outer web dark gray, inner web white; the remaining tail feathers with inner wpb paler gray, the central pair entirely white. Bill red with black tip; feet orange-red. The winter adult is similar except that most of the black of the head is replaced by white or gray; often the crown alone shows black, the forehead and sides of the head being entirely white. Young: So similar to those of several other species that only the expert can separate them, and for this purpose reference should be had to the detailed descriptions of Baird, Ridgway, or Coues. Length, 13 to 16 inches; wing, 9.75 to 11. 75' taU, 6 to 7 inches, so deeply forked that the inner feathers are at least 3 inches shorter than 'the outer; culmen, 1.25 to 1.50. 62 MICPIIGAN BIRD LIFE. 23. Arctic Tern. Sterna paradisaea Brunn. (71) Synonyms: Sea Swallow, Common Tern. — Sterna macroura, Naum., 1819, Lawr., 1858, Baird, 1859, Coues, 1872, etc.— Sterna arctica, Temm., 1820, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1835. Figure 7. The adult in summer may be known Ijy its entirely red bill, but in other respects is so like the Common Tern that it cannot be separated except by careful examination. Distribution. — Northern Hemisphere; in North America breeding from Massachusetts to the Arctic regions, and wintering southward to Virginia and California. This is the most northern member of the genus and is known to nest in the Arctic regions almost as far toward the pole as man has gone. It has been recorded from regions both sides of Michigan, and there is no reason why it should not occur here in some numbers during migrations. It is so similar, however, to the Common Tern that it is very readily overlooked. Fig. 7. Arctic Tern. Natural size. From Coues' Key to North American Birds, 5th ed. Dana Estes & Co. The sole record for the state so far as we know is that of Mr. A. B. Covert of Ann Arbor, who states that he "secured a male bird at Monroe, Mich., April 9, 1875." Kumlien & Hollister in the "Birds of Wisconsin" (page 13) say "A somewhat irregular migrant, at times fairly common, and again quite the opposite. We have taken it nesting in Green Bay, 1879, and in June, 1891 procured a set of eggs, the parent shot over the nest, at Lake Koshkonong." On the New England coast where the bird nests abundantly, it does not differ in habits from the Common Tern except that it seems to be unusually fond of its own society and is seldom found mingling with other species of terns. The nest and eggs are indistinguishable from those of the Common Tern. WATER BIRDS. 63 TiOC^HNICAL DESCRIPTION. Strikingly like For.stor's Tern, except in two respects. Tlie breast and belly are lio-ht gray as in the Common Tern and the outer web of the outer tail feather is darker than the inner web, in this respect also resembling the Common Tern. On the other hand the Arctic Tern has a decidedly longer tail, which averages 7A inches, and the bill is all red with no black on the tip (both the Common and Forster's Tern have dusky tipped bills). The adults and young of the year are with difficulty separable from corresponding plumages of the other three species. Length, 14 to 17 inches; wing, 10 to 10.75: tail, 6.50 to 8.50 (forked for 4 or 5 inches); culmen, 1.08 to 1.40. 24. Least Tern. Sterna antillarum (Lesson). (74) Synonyms: Little Tern, Minute Tern, Sea Swallow.— Sternula antillarum, Less., 1847.— Sterna minuta, Wils., 1813, Aud., 1838, and others.— Sterna frenata, Gamb., 1848, Lawr., 1858, Baird, 1859. — Sterna superciliaris, Coues, 1872. Recognizable by its small size, yellow bill and feet, and deeply forked tail. In size and general coloration it resembles the Black Tern in im- mature or winter plumage, but the latter always has black bill and feet and the short tail is but slightly forked. Distribution. — Northern South America, northward to Cahfornia, iMinnesota, and New England, and casually to Labrador, breeding nearly throughout its range. This dainty little seabird is almost or quite unknown in Michigan at the present time, but there is some reason to believe that it once occurred regularly although in small numbers. It is included in Dr. ^Miles' List of 1860 on the authority of Prof. Fox who is said to have taken a specimen at Grosse Isle, Detroit River. There is also a mounted specimen in the University of Michigan Museum at Ann Arbor, labeled "Michigan" whi*h may have been taken in that vicinity. In the MS. notes of A. B. Covert there is a record of a male taken at Sandshore Lake, Ann Arbor, May 4, 1873, as well as "three specimens (two males and one female) taken at Bayport, Huron county, October 13, 1878." None of these specimens can be located, however, and it is not impossible that they were in reality fall specimens of the Black Tern, which has been mistaken repeatedly for the present species. The Barron collection at Niles was said to contain a specimen of the Least Tern, but a personal examination by the writer in November, 1905 failed to reveal any such specimen, although a single Black Tern in fall plumage, and without label, was found. A skin of an adult male in breeding plumage, from the Gunn collection, is now in the Kent Scientific Museum in Grand Rapids, but bears on the label (apparently the collector's label) "Short-tailed Tern, Warsaw, 111." The Albion record credited to 0. B. Warren by Cook proves to be erroneous. It formerly nested sparingly about some of the small lakes in northern Indiana, and possibly may do so still. Dr. Wheaton reported it as of irregular occurrence along the Lake Erie shore in Ohio, and there are several old records for southern Ontario. This species has disappeared almost completely during the last thirty years from places in southern New Eng- land, where it was once abundant, but within the past few years a few pairs have reappeared here and there, and possibly, if well protected, it may reestablish itself in the Lake Region. Its habits are similar to those of the Common and Arctic Terns, with which it frequently associates, and it prefers to nest on sandy or pebbly islands where its three or four eggs are laid in a little hollow scooped in the 64 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. sand, with little or no nesting material. The eggs are white, buffy-white or buff, variously spotted with gray, brown and purplish, and average 1.28 by .91 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. The adult in summer seems almost a miniature of the Common Tern, having nearly the same proportions, with the same slender, forked tail, and the same general pattern of col- oration. Closer comparison, however, shows that the present species has the forehead and a short extension backward over the eye pure white, the lores and crown black, mantle and upper surface of tail pearl-gray, and under parts entirely white. The bill is yellow, usually tipped with black, and the feet are orange. In winter m.ost of the black of the head is replaced with gray or white, only the occiput remaining black; the yellow bill and feet also may become duller or paler, but never black. The young of the year besides having shorter outer tail feathers (which are common to all young terns), has the upper parts more or less spotted and mottled with buff and black, and the tail feathers similarly blotched near the ends. Length of adult, 9 inches; wing, 6.75 to 7.00; tail, 3.50 (forked for at least IJ inches); cul- men, 1.10. 25. Black Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis (Gmel.). (77) Synonyms: Short-tailed Tern, Sterna surinamensis, Gmel., 1789. — Hydrochelidon surinamensis, Bonap., 1856. — H. plumbea, Lawr., 1858. — Sterna plumbea, Wils., 1813. Sterna nigra, Sw. & Rich., 1831, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1835. — Hydrochelidon lariformis suri- namensis, Ridgw., 1881. Readily distinguished by its small size, black body, and black bill. The tail also is much less forked than in the other common terns, which has given it the name Short-tailed Tern. Distribution. — Temperate and tropical America. From Alaska and the fur countries to Brazil and Chili, breeding from the middle United States west of the Alleghanies northward. An abundant bird during the summer in all suitable places, at least throughout the Lower Peninsula. It seems to prefer the marshy edges of rivers and lakes, or the marshes themselves, provided they have open pools here and there. It breeds abundantly along the Detroit River and St. Clair Flats, the St. Clair River, Saginaw Bay and numerous points in the intei'ior of the state. It arrives from the south early in May and remains until after the first of September (Swales). Doubtless in- some seasons it comes earlier and remains much later. It nests in large or small communities, placing its two or three eggs on mats or windrows of floating vegetation, or sometimes on a floating plank or log; the nest usually is only a hollow in the vegetation, although sometimes the materials appear to be slightly arranged. The eggs are similar to those of the other terns, but commonly more heavily spotted, the ground color being pale olive. Eggs average 1.35 by .98 inches. The young and adults after the nesting season lose much of their dark color, and when seen at a little distance may be readily mis- taken for the Least Tern, especially by one who has never seen the latter species in life. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. The Black Tern in adult plumage can hardly be confounded with any other bird, being so dark all over as to appear sooty-black at a little distance. Winter adults and young, however, show much white, but can always be separated from the Least Tern by the black bill and feet and the comparatively short and slightly forked tail. The adult in summer is entirely black or dark slate-color except the under tail-coverts which are white, and WATER BIRDS. 66 the under surface of the wings and tail which are very Hght slate. Usually the head, neck and breast are sooty-black the remainder of the upper parts being slate-color; the biU and feet black In wmter the adult has the forehead, nape and most of the under parts pure white; the crown, occiput and auricular region mixed black or slaty and white- the back, wings and tail pearl-gray. The young of the year are similar to Winter adults', but always have more or less brownish on the upper parts and are rather gray than clear white on the sides below. Length of adult 9.00 to 10.25 inches; wing, 8.25; till, 3.75 (forked .90 inch); culmen, 1.10. > oj i , .. ^^ Order IV. STEGANOPODES. Totipalmate Swimmers. KEY TO FAMILIES. A. Bill without visible nostrils but distinctly hooked at tip. B, BB. B. Tail deeply forked. Family 14, Fregatidaj, Frigate Birds (not found in Michigan). BB. Tail not forked. C, CC. C. Bill less than five inches long. Family 12, Phalacrocoraci- dse, Cormorants. Page 66. CC. Bill more than ten inches long. Family 13, Pelecanidse Pel- icans. Page 68. AA. Bill not distinctly hooked at tip. D, DD. D. With small but distinct nostrils. Family 9, Phaethontidse, Tropic Birds (not found in Michigan). DD. Without visible nostrils. E, EE. E. Tail fan-shaped, rounded; neck very long and slender. Family 11, Anhingidse, Snake Birds (Tropical birds of doubtful occurrence in Michigan. See Appendix). EE. Tail cuneate or wedge-shaped; neck short and thick. Family 10, Sulidse, Gannets. Page 65. Family 10. SULID^. Gannets. 26. Sula bassana (Linn.) Gannet. (117) Synonyms: Common Gannet, Soland Goose, Solon Goose. — Pelecanus bassanus, Linn., 1758. — Sula bassana, Briss., Nutt., Aud., and authors generally.' — Sula americana, Bonap., 1838. — Pelecanus maculatus, Gmel., 1788 (young). The four-toed, fully webbed feet, wedge-shaped tail and large size form a combination which is characteristic, the shape of the tail and the pointed bill without a hooked tip separating it perfectly from the pelicans and cormorants with which it might otherwise be confounded. Distribution. — "Coasts of the North Atlantic. Breeds on Bird Rock and Boiiaventure Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on islets off the British Islands. Winters from North CaroUna coast south to Gulf of Mexico, and on coasts of North Africa, Maderia, and the Canaries; occurs off eastern United States in migration; casual north to Greenland; acci- dental in Indiana and Ontario." (A. 0. U. Check-list, 3d edition). The Gannet is a North Atlantic seabird depending for its food solely on fish and rarely found at any distance from the coast. In America it is most abundant in and about the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where doubtless 9 66 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. some individuals remain throughout the year, although the majority move southward during the winter, at which season they are not un- common along the Maine coast and even somewhat farther south. Inland records at any season are rare and there are but one or two records (and these not perfectly authenticated) for the Great Lakes. It is therefore with much pleasure that we are able to record the capture in Michigan of a fine specimen of this bird and its preservation in the University Museum at Ann Arbor. This bird, an immature female in the white-spotted brown plumage, was shot October 19, 1911, by Mr. J. P. Case, on a small lake in Hamburg township a few miles north of Ann Arbor. Mr. Norman A. Wood of Ann Arbor, to whom we are indebted for the record, states that when first observed the gannet appeared to be asleep, since it was resting with the head hidden beneath the wing in the manner of a domestic goose. Evidently it was weak from lack of food if not from fruitless wandering. Gannets nest always in communities, and build bulky nests of seaweeds on ledges and shelves of almost inaccessible rocks. The largest and best known nesting grounds in this country are on the Bird Rocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but the species formerly nested on one or more islets off the coast of Maine. Only a single 'egg is laid, which is at first pure white with a thick chalk-like shell which soon becomes soiled and stained by the feet of the bird and the materials of the nest. The egg measures about 3 by 1.92 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. " Lower jaw (i. e. malar region), together with sides of chin and throat, densely feathered. Legs and feet blackish. Adult: White, the remiges (wing-feathers) dusky brown, the head and neck above washed with buff. Young: Dusky, everywhere streaked or speckled with white. Length 30 — 40.50 inches; wing about 19.50; tail 10, culmen 4. (Ridgway.) Family 12. PHALACROCORACID^.— Cormorants. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Tail of 14 feathers. — Common Cormorant. (Appendix.) A A. Tail of 12 feathers. — Double-crested Cormorant. No. 27. 27. Double-crested Cormorant. Phalacrocorax auritus auritus (Less.). (120) Synonyms: Cormorant, Shag, Water Turkey. — Carbo auritus, Lesson, 1831. — Pelecamis (Carbo) dilophus, Sw. & Rich., 1831. — Graculus dilophiis, Gray, 1849. — Phalacrocorax diplohus, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1835, Ridgw., 1881, Coues, 1882. Figures 8 and 9. Readily recognized from its size, black color, duck-like legs and feet (but with the four toes all connected by webs), long neck, very small head with bill hooked like a hawk's, and entire lack of nostrils. Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding from the Bay of Fundy, the Great Lakes, Minnesota and Dakota northward; south in winter to the southern states. WATER BIRDS. 67 This bird seems to be generally distributed over the state during the Most writers and observers state Fig. S. Double-crested Cormorant. (Original.) Reduced. migra,tions, but is nowhere common, that it is a rare migrant, but speci- mens have been taken in almost every county in the state, and probably there are few sheets of water of any size within our hmits which are not visited by this bird occasionally. The following records will give some idea of its migration: Saginaw River, May 29, 1896 (Eddy) ; Oakland County, May 3, 1902 (Swales); Mouth of Huron River, April 12, 1875 (Covert); Sault Ste. Marie, May 6, 1901 (Melville); Oakland County, October 6, 1904 (Swales); St. Mary's River, September 26 (year?) (Boies); Tuscola County, October 12, 1898 (Eddy); Wyandotte, October 25, 1904 (Barrows); Cadillac, November 13, 1897 (Selous). There are also records without dates from Lansing, Kalamazoo, Muskegon County, and Monroe. Undoubtedly more specimens are noticed in fall than in spring because many more people are in the field during the fall shooting, and also because there are actually more birds in the fall, the young of the year being added to those which went north in the spring. The distribution as given above would indicate that possibly the species nests about the Great Lakes, but I know of no breeding record for Michigan, and the nearest point of which I find a recent record is Shoal Lake in Northern Minnesota. Ac- cording to Mr. Chas. Dury it nested at St. Mary's Reservoir, western Ohio, 25 or 30 years ago. The nests are placed sometimes on rocky ledges, some- times on low bushes, sometimes on trees, prefer- ably dead ones. They are built of sticks, roots, and twigs, and the eggs, from two to five, are greenish white with a more or less chalky shell. They average 2.52 by 1.59 inches. The bird is so seldom seen that few have ob- served it in life, and no one appears to be familiar with its habits in Michigan. It dives easily and constantly and remains for a long time under water, in this respect resembling the loons and grebes. It is also frequently mistaken for a duck, but the length of the neck should prevent an error of this kind. The fact that it frequently alights on dead trees, the points of high rocks, or even on the tops of boat houses and other buildings about the water is a point likely to attract attention at once and prevent its being mistaken for a duck. The bird is like most other Steganopodes in having no external nostrils; breathing when adult entirely through the mouth. This is true of all species of cormorant so far as known, and F. A. Lucas states (Auk XIV, 87) that "Probably the external nostrils close about [the time the young cormorants take the water and begin to feed themselves." Fig. 9. Foot of Double-crested Cormorant. (Original.) 68 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. The adult in breeding plumage differs from the winter adult mainly in the clear black and more glossy plumage and the presence on each side of the head of a tuft of narrow, slender, black feathers. The winter adult has the entire under parts black, as also the rump, tail, and head and neck all around; the back and upper surface of the wings light brown, each feather margined with black; bare skin of the gular pouch orange in summer, yellowish at other times. The tail has but twelve feathers. Immature birds have no glossy black at all, but are gray, brownish-gray or brown, darker above and lighter below, but always known by the peculiar, hooked bill, fully webbed feet and long stiff tail with twelve feathers. Length of adult 29 to 34 inches; wing, 12 to 13; tail, 6 to 6.50; bill, 2 to 2.50. Family 13. PELECANIDiE.— Pelicans. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Twenty-four tail-feathers; lower jaw feathered, plumage of body en- tirely white or with yellow on chest. — White Pelican. No. 28. AA. Twenty-two tail feathers, lower jaw naked, plumage of body mixed brown, gray and white. — Brown Pelican. No. 29. 28. White Pelican. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmel. (125) Synonyms: Common Pelican (of the north). — Pelecanus trachyrhynchos. Lath., 1790. — P. onocrotalus, Bonap., Nutt. — P. americanus, Aud. A nearly white bird with black wing-tips and an expanse of eight or ten feet can hardly be mistaken for anything else; and when this is coupled with the possession of fully webbed feet and a bill at least a foot long with leathery pouch below the bill there is no possibility of mistake. Distribution. — Temperate North America, north in the interior to about latitude 61°, south in winter to western Mexico and Guatemala; now rare or accidental in the northeastern states; abundant in the interior and along the Gulf coast; common on the coast of California. This bird is little more than a straggler in Michigan, yet there are many authentic records, and the bird is such a large and remarkable one that when captured the specimens have been preserved in most cases. It is a well known species in the Mississippi Valley and the lakes of the Great Plains region, and nests abundantly, and usually in colonies, in Manitoba and other parts of British North America. There is no record of its nesting in Michigan nor any likelihood that it has ever done so. It most often occurs here in pairs or small squads, seldom more than four or five being seen together. The following are the records I have collected: Clam Lake, Wexford county, April, 1892 (Covert) ; Whitmore Lake, Washtenaw county, October 4, 1878, and Lake Wade, July, 1879 (Covert); Sarnia Bay, opposite Port Huron, no date (Hazelwood); Detroit River, July, 1902 (Swales) ; Detour, Chippewa county, fall of 1894, and another in Hay Lake, St. Jlary's River, earlier in the same year (Boies) ; two specimens in the Broas collection at Belding, without data, but probably taken in that vicinity (Barrows); Monroe, about 1882, mounted by B. J. Savage of Monroe (Savage was with the man who shot it and says it was one of four which were seen and followed from place to place for several hours) (Bar- rows); three killed in the vicinity of Marquette, and mounted by F. H. W. Bailey of that city, the last one killed near Baraga in the spring of WATER BIRDS. 69 1903 (Barrows); one killed at Dorr, Allegan county, September 1892 (0. & 0. XVII, 143); one killed at Tecumseh, Lenawee county in 1882 (L. W. Watkins); one specimen in Agricultural College Museum without data, perhaps the specimen recorded by Cook (page 31) as from Berrien county; two killed in Hillsdale county and mounted for a storekeeper at Hillsdale (Hankinson); two shot in St. Joseph county and now in the collection of Adolph Beerstecker (Gibbs, list of 1879); one killed near Port Huron about September 26, 1877 (F. & S.) ; one seen and shot at on Keweenaw Point "a few years since" (Kneeland, 1856-57); two shot October 31, 1905, by Ira J. Boughton, on Indian Lake, near Pentoga, Iron county. The nest is bulky and placed on the ground, being "only a heap of earth and gravel raked into a pile about six or eight inches high and about twenty inches broad on the top, which is only very slightly hollowed" (Ridgway). The eggs are two or three, white chalky, and more or less stained. They average 3.34 by 2.22 inches. The period of incubation is stated by Bendire to be about twenty-nine days; at least that was all the time taken by a hen to hatch pelican eggs placed under her. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. The largest of our water birds except the swans, and recognizable by its black and white plumage, its huge bUl, a foot or more long, with its great pouch of elastic skin below. The sexes are alike in color, mainly pure white; the flight feathers (primaries and most of second- aries) jet-black; bill and pouch reddish; feet red in summer, yellow in winter. In breeding plumage there is a drooping crest of white or pale yellow feathers from the back of the head, the chest and lesser wing coverts are pale yellow, and there is a bony wart-like knob or ridge near the middle of the upper mandible. This knob and the occipital crest are shed after the breeding season. Young birds lack the black wing feathers, but have a, little brown or gray in the wings and on the head; otherwise they are white. Length of adult, 4J to 6 feet; spread of wings, 8 to 10 feet; wing, about 2 feet; bill 12 to 15 inches. 29. Brown Pelican. Pelecanus occidentalis Linn. (126) Synonyms: Common Pelican (of Florida). — Pelecanus onocrotalus occidentalis, Linn., 1766. — Pelecanus fuscus, of most authors. Readily distinguished from the White Pelican by the prevailing colors, the naked lower mandible, and 22 tail feathers instead of 24. Distribution. — Atlantic coast of tropical and subtropical America, north on the Atlantic coast to North Carohna; accidental in Illinois and Michigan. According to Dr. Morris Gibbs of Kalamazoo, the late W. H. Collins of Detroit wrote him "A specimen taken near Romeo, Michigan in the spring of 1882." Probably this record was considered too doubtful for insertion in Cook's "Birds of Michigan," but we are able now to add two more records which establish the species as a very rare visitor to the state. Dr. J. W. Velie of St. Joseph, Michigan states that "an adult in good plumage was shot at St. Joseph, Michigan, June 7, 1904, and was brought to me in the flesh; I examined, measured, and fully identified it. I have seen thousands of these birds ahve, and have shot and skinned numerous specimens in Florida, and there is no possibility of a mistake in this identi- fication. It was not a bird which had escaped from some zoological garden, or at least it showed no signs whatever of recent confinement. The gunners who killed it refused to sell, but took it away and I have been unable to trace the specimen." Dr. Velie also states that "On September 8, 1904, 70 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Dr. Crowell of St. Joseph, Michigan saw two Brown Pelicans at the mouth of the St. Joseph River. They passed quite close to him on the wing and he had a good opportunity to note their peculiarities. He has spent several winters in Florida and is perfectly familiar with the species there, and is confident that there is no mistake in the identification." I can add nothing to the record of this species in Michigan. In general habits it is much like the White Pelican, but appears to be much less of a wanderer. It nests in large colonies along the Florida shores and the Gulf coast, and lays two or three eggs which are similar to those of the White Pelican, but smaller, averaging 3.01 by 1.95 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. "Nuptial plumage: Head, and feathers bordering base of gular pouch, all round, white, the top of the former sometimes straw yellowish; rest of neck rich velvety reddish brown, varying from light reddish chestnut to seal-skin brown, or nearly black; upper part of hind neck with a more or less distinct crest of chestnut; upper parts silvery gray, the feathers of back, rump, lesser wing-coverts, etc., edged with dark brown, producing a striped or streaked appearance; lower parts dark brownish gray, the sides, etc., streaked with silvery white. Winter adult: Similar, but whole head and neck white, except for a straw yellow tinge on the former and on the lower part of the fore neck. Young: Head and neck light brownish gray, somewhat mottled with paler tips to the feathers; back, wing-coverts, etc., dull brown, the feathers tipped with pale fulvous; lower parts white, tinged with brownish gray laterally and posteriorly." (Ridgway). ■ Length, 4 to 4J feet; wing, 18.50 to 21 inches; culmen, 9.40 to 12.20. Order V. ANSERES.— Swans, Ducks and Geese. Family 15. ANATID^. A. Neck very long, at least as long as the body; tarsus reticulate. Large, entirely white birds. Swans. A A. Neck shorter than the body. Ducks and Geese. B, BB. B. Legs comparatively long and toes short (shank or tarsus longer than the middle toe without its nail) ; tarsus reticulate. Geese. BB. Legs comparatively short and toes long (shank or tarsus shorter than middle toes without its nail); tarsus scutellate in front (Fig. 15). Ducks. DUCKS. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Bill long and narrow (seldom more than J inch wide at narrowest part never -J inch wide), edges of both mandibles with saw-like teeth. Saw-bill Ducks. B, BB. (Fig. 10). B. Teeth long, sharp-pointed, inclined backward; bill long (2 inches or more) wing over 8 inches. Goosander and Red-breasted Mer- ganser. Nos. 30, 31. BB. Teeth short, blunt, not inclined backward; bill short (much less than 2 inches) ; wing under 8 inches. Hooded Merganser. No. 32. WATER BIRDS. 71 Fig. 14. Bill of Mallard showing lamellae. (Original) Blue- winded Teal. AA. Bill short and broad (never less than ^ inch wide at narrowest place), edges of mandibles with strainer-like plates (Fig. 14) instead of saw- like teeth. C, CC. C. Tail of narrow, stiff feathers, only its very base hidden by the extremely short upper tail coverts. Ruddy Duck. No. 57. CC. Tail of ordinary type with broad soft feathers well covered at base by upper tail coverts. D, DD. D. Hind toe without a distinct flap or lobe (Fig. 15). River and Pond Ducks. E, EE. E. Small, wing less than SJ inches (Teal). F, FF. F. Shoulder (lesser wing-coverts) light blue. No. 39. FF. Shoulder (lesser-wing coverts) gray. Green-winged Teal. No. 38. EE. Large, wing more than 8^ inches. G, GG. G. Feathers of hind head lengthened to form a drooping occipital crest, much longer in the male; tail long, all its feathers very broad. Wood Duck (male). No. 42. GG. No occipital crest. H, HH. H. Middle tail-feathers elongated and much narrowed at the tip. Pintail (male). No. 41. HH. Middle tail-feathers not noticeably lengthened or narrowed. I, II. I. Bill spatulate or spoon-shaped, nearly twice as broad near the tip as at base. Shoveller. No. 40. II. Bill not spatulate, about as wide at base as at tip. J, JJ. J. Wing conspicuously glossed with metallic blue, green, purple or bronze, the tips of primaries me- tallic blue-green on inner webs, milk-white on outer webs. Wood Duck (female andyoung male). No. 42. JJ. Wings without metallic gloss, or with metallic colors confined to the middle of wing (region of speculum). K, KK. K. Speculum metallic in whole or part. L, LL. L. Speculum bordered in front with a black bar. M, MM, MMM. M. A white bar in front of the black one. Mallard. No. 33. MM. A large white patch in front of the black bar. Baldpate. (Male and some females). No. 37. MMM. No white anywhere on wing. Black Duck. No. 34. LL. Speculum bordered in front by a chestnut bar. Pintail (Female and young). No. 41. Foot of Mallard showing hind toe with- out flap. 72 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. KK. Speculum without metallic colors. N, NN. N. Speculum gray or greenish-gray with a narrow white bar (border) behind. Baldpate. (Fe- male). No. 37. NN. Speculum with anterior half velvet black, posterior half pure white. Gadwall. No. 35. DD.Hind toe with a distinct flap or lobe. (Fig. 21.) 0, 00. 0. Feathers extending forward along sides or top of bill until nearly or quite even with hind margin of nos- tril. P, PP. P. Wing more than 10 inches Inno- n no Fig. 21. Foot ot Redhead, showing hind Q. A conspicuous white bar (speculum) on wing. — White- winged Scoter. No. 55. QQ. No white wing-bar. R, RR. R. Feathering on sides of bill extending forward nearly or quite even with hind border of nostril. Eider. No. 52. RR. Feathering on sides of bill not extending for- ward nearly as far as hind border of nostril. King Eider. No. 53. PP. Wing less than 10 inches. S, SS. S. Bird mainly black or brownish black, large, wing more than 9 inches. Surf Scoter. No. 56. SS. Bird largely white, medium size, wing less than 9 inches. Old Squaw. No. 51. 00. Feathers at sides or top of bill not reaching nearly to nostril. T, TT. T. Wing under 7 inches, a, aa. a. With a conspicuous white wing-bar. Butter-ball; BufSehead. No. 50. aa. With no white in the wing. Ruddy Duck. No. 57. TT. Wing over 7 inches. U, UU, UUU. U. Speculum wanting (i. e. black or brown like rest of wing), b, bb. b. Entire plumage black (male) or grayish brown (female) without any white on head or wings. Black Scoter. No. 54. bb. Plumage largely white, the head and neck always with white patches. Old Squaw. No. 51. UU. Speculum gray or bluish gray. V, VV. V. Wing 8 inches or less. Ring-necked Duck. No. 47. VV. Wing 8^ inches or more, c, cc. c. Head and neck reddish brown. W, WW. W. Forehead and chin blackish. Canvas- back (male). No. 44. WW. Forehead and chin red like the rest of head. Redhead (male). No. 43. * cc. Head and neck without any reddish brown. X, XX. WATER BIRDS. 73 X. Back grayish brown more or less cross- lined or pencilled with white. Canvas- back (female). No. 44. XX. Back grayish brown without cross- lines or pencillings of white. Red- head (female). No. 43. UUU. Speculum pure white. Y, YY. Y. Head mainly black, with blue, violet or green re- flections, d, dd. d. A conspicuous white spot on each side of head, e, ee. e. White spot round or oval. Whistler (male). No. 48. ee. White spot more or less triangular (Fig. 24) Barrow's Goldeneye. (male). No. 49. dd. No white on head, f, ff. f. Black of head glossed with green, flanks pure white without cross- lines. Greater Blue-bill (male). No. 45. ff. Black of head glossed with purple, flanks distinctly cross-lined with dusky. Lesser Bluebill (male). No. 46. YY. Head and neck mainly brown, g, gg. g. A white face or "mask" formed by feathers about base of upper mandible, h, hh. h. Larger birds. Greater Bluebill (fe- male). No. 45. hh. Smaller birds. Lesser Bluebill (fe- male). No. 46. gg. No white face or mask, but a more or less distinct white ring or collar around lower neck, separating the brown of the neck from the gray chest, i, ii. i. White collar narrower. Barrow's Goldeneye (female). No. 49. ii. White collar broader. Whistler, (fe- male). No. 48. 30. Goosander. Mergus americanus (Cass.). (129) Synonyms: American Merganser, Shelldrake, Fish Duck, Big Sawbill, Big Shelldrake, Greater Merganser, Buff-breasted Shelldrake. — ^Mergus merganser, Wilson, 1814, and most writers. — Mergus americanus, Cass., 1853, Baird, 1858. — Merganser americanus, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895. In full plumage the male is at once recognized by its dark green head and neck, with short, bushy occipital crest, and under parts white more or less shaded with salmon. The largest of the three species of "saw- billed ducks. "' Distribution. — North America generally, breeding south in the United States to Pennsylvania and the mountains of Colorado and California. Bermuda. 74 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Generally distributed throughout the state and not at all uncommpn during the migrations. Well known to sportsmen who generally despise the "fish ducks," considering them unfit for food. This bird occurs spring and fall on all the waters of the state, the smaller ponds and streams as well as the shores of the Great Lakes. It nests, at least occasionally, from the Saginaw Valley northward, and Dr. Gibbs states that he has found it once with a brood of young in Kent county. Mr. Edward Arnold informs me that in May, 1905 he found a nest with fourteen eggs at Saginaw Bay, Michigan. Mr. 0. B. Warren states that in Marquette county it nests on isolated lakes near Palmer. Major Boies says it breeds on the St. Mary's River at Neebish and elsewhere. S. E. White states that it is not uncommon as a summer resident on Round Island about a mile from Mackinac Island. Mr. Norman A. Wood and others found it breeding along the Lake Superior shore in Ontonagon county and at Isle Royale in the summer of 1894. Mr. Ed Van Winkle says it is abundant and breeds in Delta county. While a majority of the birds go farther south to spend the winter, undoubtedly a few remain wherever open water is found, and Mr. Amos Butler states that on southern Lake Michigan it is one of the commonest ducks during the winter months (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 591). The bird feeds very largely on fish and has been accused of serious injury to food fishes, particularly to trout. It is very doubtful, however, whether it eats many trout, and we know positively that the bird is very fond of crayfish, in which most of our Michigan streams abound. It dives easily and swims with great rapidity below the water. The nest of this duck is usually placed in hollow trees, or holes in chffs, although Audubon describes it as on the ground among rushes. In one instance, at least, it was found nesting in a little cave in the edge of a rocky cliff on the shore of Saginaw Bay, and it is probable that it frequently nests in this manner. The eggs vary from ten to sixteen, or possibly more, are buffy white, and average 2.63 by 1.82 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Nostrils near middle of bill. The adult male has the head and upper neck greenish- black, the hind head short-crested; lower neck, breast, and belly white or pinkish-white (pale salmon); back black, rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail ashy-gray, wing-coverts with a large white patch crossed by a black bar. The adult female and the young have the chin and upper throat white, rest of head and neck brown or grayish-brown; imder parts white. Length of adult male 25 to 27 inches; wing, 10.50 to 11.25; cuhnen, 1.90 to 2.20. Length of female 21 to 24 inches; wing, 9.60 to 9.75; culmen, 1.80 to 2.00. 31. Red-breasted Merganser. Mergus serrator {Linn.). (130) Synonyms: Red-breasted Goosander, Red-breasted Shelldrake, Fish Duck, Common Saw-bill. — Mergus or Merganser serrator of most authors. Figure 10. The adult male in full plumage is known by the black streaks on the lower neck and sides of chest, and by the long, thin, green occipital crest which is unlike that of either other species of Sawbill. The female has a similar crest which is brown, giving the bird a close resemblance to the female Goosander, which, however, is decidedly larger. WATEK BIRDS. 75 _ Distribution,— Northern portions of tlie Northern Hemisphere- south m winter througliout the United States. Most of what lias been said about the preceding species apphes also to this, but the Red-breasted Slielldrake in most parts of tlie state does not seem to be as common at anj' season as the Goosander. Like tire hitter it is found on ponds and streams in the interior as well as on the Great Lakes, and it also feeds mainly on fish and craj'fish and dives in the same manner as other members of the genus. Like the Goosander it fre- quentl)' winters in southern and middle Michigan and this fact makes it difficult to fix accurate- ly the time of arrival and depar- ture of the migrants. Probably the largest numl lers move northward F'S- lO. Ecd-brrasted Merganser. P'M-lv ill Anvil qnrl tlio anrinrrmi From Hotfman's Guide to the Birds of New EiiKlanil eauy in Apill ana tne spring mi- a^j Eastern New York. (Houeliton, Mifflin & Co ) gration is completed by the first of jMay. Most of the southward migration takes place in October. Even in the Upper Peninsula, however, some linger until December, antl Mr. Thomas B. Wyman, of Negaunee, ]\Iarc[uctte county, says that it is frec[uent there along open streams in winter. In its nesting habits it differs somewhat from the Goosander since, so far as known, it invariably nests on the ground, sometimes under a log or stump, but often under the low spreading branches of an evergreen or even a thick clump of bushes or weeds. So far as I can learn it has not l)een found nesting in the southern parts of the state, but its eggs have lieen taken from Saginaw Bay northward; at Mackinac Island and Round Island (S. E. White) ; near Cross Village, Emmet county and on Beaver Islands (Chas. L. Cass), and near Van's Harbor, Delta county (Van Winkle). At Grand Island, Munising Bay, Lake Superior, Mr. E. A. Doolittle saw a female and seven young but a few days out of the shell, July 6, 1906, and a few clays later a combined flock of three broods. The nests are made of moss, grass and weed stalks, usually heavily lined with down. The eggs are ten or more, cream-colored, and average 2.57 by 1.59 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Nostrils near base of bill. Adult male: The whole head and throat dull greenish black, the color strongest on top of the head, duller on the throat; a white collar below the black, below which there is a broad cinnamon-brown band interrupted by black streaks extending over the upper breast and lower neck. Rest of under parts white, the sides and flanks barred with narrow wa^y lines of black; the tips of most of the secondaries and the greater coverts white. Rest of upper parts black, more or less barred with white on the rumji. Adult female: No black on the head, which is mostly reddish-brown, darker on top and with the chin and upper throat much paler or even pure white; the under parts from lower neck to tail white, the sides washed or barred with ashy-gray; the upper parts darker asliy- gray; the wings darker and the primaries nearly black; speculum white. The young when fully grown resemble the female but are duller. Length of adult 20 to 25 inches; wing, 8J to 9 inches; culmen about 2.60; bill from nostril to tip, about 1.75. In any plumage this species can be separated from the Goosander by the position of the nostril, which in the present species is much nearer the base of tlie bill than in the Goosander. miciiic;an bird life. 32. Hooded Merganser. Lophodytes cucuUatus (Linn.). (131) Synonyms: Hooded Sheldrake, Summer Sheldrake, Little Lish Duck, Little Saw-bill. — Mergus cucuUatus, Linn., 1758, and most of the older writers. — Lophodytes cuciillatus of more recent authors. Figure 11. Comparison with the figure of the head "will identify the male at once, and the female is snfficientlj' similar. The "saw-bill" and the small size would also sejiarate it from the other fish ducks with wliich alone it could be confoundeil. Distribution. — North America generally, south to Mexico and Cuba, breeding nearly' throughout its range. Casual in Europe. A common migrant throughout the state, and probably breeds much more generally than is suspected. It doubtless nests along most of the streams of the Lower Peninsula, as well as in the northern parts of the state. We have records of eggs or 3'oung from Alcona county, Oscoda county, Iosco county, Kent county, Chippewa county, Kalkaska county, and Calhoun count)'. Wherever it is found in midsummer it may be fairly assumed to be nesting, al- though as with most ducks the males leave the females after incubation has begun and wander more or less, sometimes alone, more often in com- l)any with other males. The bii'd nests invaiiably in the hollow of a tree, often at a consider- able height from the ground, and the nest consists of grasses and down from the breast of the mother. The ^.^ ^^ h^^^^^ Merganser. eggs, SIX to ten m number, are pure (From Bailev's Handbook of Birds of the AVestern white, sometimes nest-stained, and ""'"^^ States. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) are rounded oval, sometimes almost globular. They average 2.09 by 1.75 inches. In habits this species is similar to other fish ducks, but is more partial to the smaller and more rapid streams where it is believed, probably with more or less reason, to feed on the young of various fishes, including bass and trout. It often remains through the winter wherever open running water furnishes a supply of food. It dives and swims beneatlr the water with the utmost ease, and its c^uick motions either in the water or on the wing make it a difficult bird to shoot. Its flesh is much more palatable than that of the other mergansers, being often entire])' free from fishy taste. This fact gives color to the statements of some writers that it feeds largely on vegetable food, a question which we have had no oppor- tunity to investigate. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. In the adult male the larger part of the head and the whole of the neck and throat are deep black, but there is a very long crest of pure white feathers tipped with black, which WATER BIRDS. 77 can be erected so as to form a complete semicircle making the most conspicious crest worn by any of our ducks. The back is mainly black, the tertiaries and scapulars sharply streaked with pure white. The under parts from lower neck to tail are pure white; the sides and flanks finely barred with black or dark brown on a pale rufous ground. Just in front of the shoulders the black of the back extends downward on the sides of the upper breast forming two conspicuous black horns or points, which however, do not meet in front. These points are bordered in front and behind by a few narrow black and white bars. The wings are dusky; the speculum white. The adult female has the black of the head and neck replaced by reddish-brown of varying depth, with the upper throat white, and with only a small crest which is usually distinctly cinnamon. The lower breast and belly are white; the sides ashy, and the back brownish-black. The fully grown young resemble the female, but have no crest. Total length of adult, 17 to 19 inches; wing, 7.50 to 7.90; culmen, 1.50. 33. Mallard. Anas platyrhynchos Linn. (132) Synonyms: Common Wild Duck; Green-head (male); Gray Duck and Gray Mallard (female). — Anas boschas, Linn., 1766, and of most authors. Figures 12 and 13. In full plumage known at once by its resemblance to the ordinary barn- yard duck which is simply the domesticated form of the wild bird. The blue-green or purple speculum, bordered along both edges by black and white, marks the bird in any plumage. Distribution. — Northern parts of Northern Hemisphere; in America south to Panama and Cuba, breeding southward to southern United States; less common in the east. This duck is too well known to need any extended "description, being probably the most abundant species of duck found in this state. It is one of the best table birds among the water fowl, and is hunted therefore with appropriate ardor. The Mallard reaches southern Michigan in spring from the first to the 15th of March, the average date being not far from the 10th, and it passes northward as rap- idly as the lakes and streams open, affording a safe food supply. In autumn the southward movement begins certainly as early as September 1, although the period of greatest abundance is nearer October 1, and the birds often linger at favor- able places until early No- vember, in fact until the of this species, but since ern Ohio, Indiana, and even in southern Wisconsin that it sometimes does so in southern. Michigan. This is a typical marsh or shallow water duck, getting its food by bling" and wading, or frennenthr by walking about on Fig. 12. Mallard. From Baird, Brewer & Ridgway's Water Birds ot Nortli America. (Little, Brown & Co.) first ice forms. We have no winter records it sometimes winters in numbers in north- it is not improbable dab- the shore. It 78 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. does not dive for its food, and in fact even when wounded seldom attempts to escape by diving. It often visits stubble fields and meadows at long distances from water, going out to feed late in the afternoon and returning early in the morning, sometimes affording good "pass shooting" at such times. It is hunted most commonly by the use of decoys, either living domesticated mallards or wooden imitations, anchored near a blind, the gunner sometimes using a duck call as an additional attraction. In many places where clubs or private individuals have shooting grounds which can be protected the Mallards and some other ducks are regularly baited with grain strewed in the shallow water. Wild rice is also extensively planted for the same purpose. It formerly bred in suitable places everywhere in the state, nesting on the ground in or near marshes, or on islands in marshy ponds. Persecu- tion has driven it away from many localities where it formerly nested in abund- ance and it is now known in many parts of the state mainly as a migrant. It breeds rather early, and most eggs probably are laid in May, the duck- lings being most commonly seen in early June. The nests are hollows in the ground lined with grass and other dry vegetable matter with a good deal of gray down from the bird's breast. The eggs range from eight to fifteen, are greenish or grayish buff, and average 2.32 by 1.67 inches. The mother is said to be very brave in defence of the eggs or young, not only trying to decoy the intruder away but in some cases threatening or even attacking man or dog. Fig. 13. Wing of mallard, to show speculum. (Original.) TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. In the adult male the head and neck are rich green, bordered below by a white collar, with clear chestnut below the white. The speculum is metallic blue or purple bordered all around by black, and with a white bar outside the black both in front and behind. The under parts are grayish white vermiculated with black, and the under tail-coverts are deep black in strong contrast. The adult, female is a totally different looking bird, the only strong similarity to the male being in the wings where the speculum is nearly the same. The remainder of the plumage is brown and black in streaks and mottlings, darker above and lighter below. The adult male frequently has several of the upper tail-coverts curled upward, but this is by no means always the case. Bill greenish; legs and feet, reddish-orange. The drake cannot be confounded with any other; the female and young might be taken for those of the dusky duck or black duck. Length of adult, 22 to 25. inches; wing, 10 to 12; culmen, 2 to 2.40. 34. Black Duck. Anas rubripes Brewst. (133) Synonyms: Black Mallard, Dusky Duck, Dusky Mallard, Red-legged Duck. — Anas obscura rubripes, Brewster, 1902. — Anas obscura, Gmel., 1788, and of most authors. It may be recognized by its general brownish black color, violet speculum tipped with black but without the white bands characteristic of the Mallard wing. "*:««», WATER dftias J***% *•! 79 Distribution. — Eastern North America, west to the™ississippi Valley, north to Labrador, breeding southward to the northern parts of the United States. The Black Duck is similar in appearance and voice to the common Mallard, for the female of which it is sometimes mistaken. It is not uncommon throughout the state during the migrations, and doubtless formerly bred in suitable places everywhere. It arrives from the south from three weeks to a month later than the Mallard, an average date for the southern counties being not far from April 10th. On the other hand its autumnal movement southward does not begin until late in September, and numbers linger until after most of the Mallards have gone. According to Swales it is occasionally found at St. Clair Flats in winter, although very likely these birds may prove to belong to the more northern form, the Red-legged Duck. At present it seems to be only a migrant in the southern part of the Lower Peninsula, but breeds sparingly throughout the remainder of the state. It is found commonly in large flocks, flies and feeds much after dark, and is considered just as good eating as the Mallard. The nest is placed on the ground not far from the water, built of grasses and similar coarse materials, and more or less heavily lined with down. The eggs are grayish white to greenish buff, and average 2.43 by 1.75 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Resembles the Mallard in size and general appearance and might readily be mistaken for the female or young of the year of that species. The sexes, however, are alike, and in any plumage the Dusky Duck is always darker and less streaked than the Mallard. The general color is a rich dark brown, the feathers usually with lighter edgings. The lower back and rump are sometimes glossy black, but elsewhere the plumage is seldom darker than a clear birownish-black. The head is deep brownish-black on top more or less mixed with narrow streaks of ashy or brownish; the sides of the head, the throat, and the neck all around are buffy white finely streaked with fuscous. The distinguishing mark of the species is the speaulum,- jvhich is deeper blue or violet-purple than in the Mallard, bordered in front and behind by black, sometimes with a narrow: white bar behind the black, but none on the front 6dge. Bill greenish-Wack to olive-green; legs and feet brownish or sometimes tinged with reddish. Length, 21 to 24.50 incites; wing,- 10.50 'to 11.50; culmen, 2 to 2.35. In the northern form, :^eparated aS a'subspecies by Brewster in 1902 under the jiame Red-legged BlacE Duck, the tarsi and toes are bright red and "the bill yeltow/ while such individuals average somewhat larger than- thcfe.e,'ireared farther south. According to Mr. Brewster the Red- legged ?form vdoegjinot appear in New England as a rule before the middle of October, hisvearliest record with a, single exception being. October 8. He is careful, however, to make it clear that by no means all the black ducks whi-ch nest north of the , United States belong to the Red-legged form, Mr. C. F. Batchelder having collected many examples of the smaller bird in Newfoundland in June, and July. The 'colors of the bill and feet, change very quickly after death so that in museum specimens or dried skins the colors of these parts in the two forms are not noticeably different. Mr. Brewster, however, states that the two birds "are sufficiently unlike in respect to size and proportions, as well as in coloring, to be distinguished, under favorable conditions, at more than gunshot distance when flying, and when freshly killed and placed side by side they may be separated at a glance. The larger bird usually has the entire bill (excepting the nail) yellow, varying from chrome to canary or sulphur yellow, the legs and toes bright red, varying from 80 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. light scarlet to deep orange, the dark feathers of the pileum and nape conspicuously margined with gray or fulvous and the throat (as well as sometimes the chin, also) profusely spotted or streaked with blackish. All the dark markings on the checks, throat and neck are broader, blacker and more sharply defined [than in the southern form] and they often take the form of coarse, rounded spots which are seldom if ever present on the head or neck of the smaller bird. In typical examples [of the smaller form] the bill is greenish black, dusky olive, or olive green, the legs are olivaceous brown with, at most, only a tinge of reddish, the pileum and nape are nearly or quite uniformly dark, the throat and chin immaculate, the markings on the neck and sides of the head fine, linear, and dusky rather than blackish." (Auk, Vol. 19, 1902, pp. 184, 185). 35. Gadwall. Chaulelasmus streperus {Linn.). (135) Synonyms: Gray Duck, Gray Widgeon. — Anas strepera, Linn., 1758. — Chaulelasmus streperus of most authors. Figure 16 The male is easily recognized by its chestnut middle wing-coverts and the white speculum bordered in front by black. The female has the same speculum, but usually no chestnut on the wings and can hardly be identi- fied by the novice. Distribution. — Nearly cosmopolitan. In North America breeds chiefly within the United States. This seems to be one of the rarer ducks in Michigan; it has been taken here and there throughout the state, but is nowhere common. In southern Michigan Purdy has taken one at Plym- outh; Swales reports an adult female killed on Monroe Marshes Octo- ber 26, 1906, and a young male and female at the same place about November 13, Warren records it as rare at Albion and oc- casional at St. Joseph 3 Most of the older lists ' have it, but it is omit- ted by Cabot (1850) I have no record foi it for Ingham or the adjoining counties and it must be rare here. We have no record of its nesting in the state yet there is no reason Fig. 16. GadwaU. From Baiid, Brewer & Ridgway's Water Birds of North America. Little Brown & Co. why it should not do so occasionally, and it probably does. Mr. A. C. Bent (Auk, XVIII, 334-35) says that in North Dakota, where the species is fairly abundant, it nests always on dry ground, but not far from the water. WATER BIRDS. 81 The nest is merely a hollow in the ground padded with grass and weed stems and profusely lined with dark gray down around the eggs. These are dull creamy white, whiter and less creamy than the Baldpate's, also shorter and rounder. Mr. Bent found from seven to eleven eggs in a set, and seven nests with eggs were found July 15, 1901. The eggs average 2.09 by 1.57 inches. In its general habits it resembles the Mallard, frequenting the smaller streams, the edges of ponds and rivers, and the sloughs and pools of marshes, where it feeds on grasses and the leaves of various water plants, as well as on their roots and bulbs, and probably also on snails and other small animals, including insects. It never dives for its food, but secures it by "tilting" or "standing on its head" in shallow water, or by wading along the shore or waddling about on dry land. On the prairie sloughs of the northwest where it is more abundant, it flies in moderate or small flocks, but with us it is found singly or in squads of three or four, single Gadwalls being most often seen in company with Pintails or Baldpates. We have no data on its migration in Michigan, but the records for neighboring states indicate that it is likely to reach us from the south during the latter half of March, passing northward during April and returning in October. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. A large duck, similar in general appearance to the Mallard and Black Duck, but slightly smaller. The adult male has the top of the head brown or brownish-white tiiickly streaked and spotted with black, the top of the head with the ground color brownest and the streaks nearly wanting; the sides of the head similar but paler. The lower neck all around and the breast black, each feather with a white border and a ring or crescent of white which gives the plumage a peculiar and unmistakable appearance. The beUy is pale gray or white, with the under taU-coverts velvet black in sharp contrast. The upper parts are brownish-slate, the rump and upper tail-coverts black. The lesser-wing-coverts are chestnut-brown, a distinctive featmre; speculum pure white with a broad velvet black patch in front. The adult female has the head and throat similar to those parts in the male, but the breast and sides buffy spotted with black and with the pecuhar scale-like markings less distinct than in the other sex; the lesser wing-coverts also commonly lack the chestnut. Length of male, 19.25 to 21.76 inches; wing, 10.25 to 11, culmen, 1.60 to 1.75. Female: Length about 18 inches, wing, 10 to 10.26, culmen 1.55 to 1.65. 36. European Widgeon. Mareca penelope Linn. (136) Synonyms: Widgeon. — ^Anas penelope, Linn., 1758. The male in adult plumage resembles the American Widgeon or Baldpate except that most of the head and neck are rich reddish brown, the chin and throat blackish. It is not hkely that the two species would be dis- criminated at gun shot range. Distribution. — -Northern parts of the Old World. In North America breeds on the Aleutian Islands, and occurs frequently in the eastern United States and occasionally in California. Perhaps a dozen specimens have been recorded in the eastern United States in the last twenty years, and of these four at least have been taken in Michigan. There is a nice mounted specimen in the collection of the Monroe Marsh Club, Monroe, Michigan, killed there by Robert Lawrence of New York City, probably about 1898. The writer examined this speci- men in March, 1905. Mr. Harold Herrick records one (Auk, XIX, 284) taken at Monroe, March 27, 1902 by WilHam B. Boulton. He also states that another male in good plumage was taken in April, 1900, and a third 11 82 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. in April 1892. Mr. Herrick believes that females are also taken occasion- ally, but owing to their close resemblance to the female of the Baldpate they are not recognized. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. The adult male agrees with the Baldpate in having the "forehead and fore part of crown, posterior half of middle wing-covert region, and belly, plaia white; speculmn metallic green anteriorly, velvety black posteriorly; crop plain vinaceous; sides, flanks scapulars, and back, delicately waved with dusky upon a paler ground; under tail-coverts plain black." In addition the adult male in winter and spring has "Head and upper neck plain rufous, the forehead varying from white to ochraceous; crop and sides of breast vinaceous; sides, flanks, and whole back white, waved with blackish" (Ridgway). Fe- males, males after the breeding season, and young of both sexes are likely to be mistaken for similar sexes and ages of the Baldpate, and can be positively identified only by the expert who has proper material for comparison. Length, 18 to 20 inches; wing, 10 to 11; culmen, 1.35 to 1.45. 37. Baldpate. Mareca americana (Gmel). (137) Synonyms: Widgeon, American Widgeon, Green-headed Widgeon, Bald Widgeon, Poacher. — Anas americana, Gmel., 1789, and many authors. — Mareca americana, Steph., 1824, and authors generally. Figure 17. Adult male recognizable most easily by the large amount of white on the wings (most of the coverts), the green speculum bordered behind by velvet black, and the broad patch of metallic green on thei side of the head behind the eye. Distribution. — North America, from the Arctic Ocean south, in winter to Guatemala and Cuba. Breeds chiefly north of the United States, and west of the Mississippi. Apparently not a common duck in this state. It is found sparingly during migration, but we find no evidence that it nests here. Probably it never winters within our [ limits, but arrives from the south late in March and passes north of our boundaries during April, returning late in Septem- ber and lingering until Novem- ber, or even December. It is usually found in small flocks, a dozen or less, but associates freely with other species and has earned the name of Poacher by its habit of keeping with the Canvasbacks and Redheads when they are feeding in deep water and stealing from them a considerable part of the succu- lent grasses, waterweeds and roots which they bring to the surface. It is particularly wary and suspicious, and much disliked by gunners because it not only protects itself but gives the alarm to less watchful ducks of other species. It does not decoy readily, does not dive except when wounded, and when travelling usually flies in "company front" instead of single file. L_. Fig. 17. Baldpate. From Bailey's Handbook of Birds of the Western United States. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) WATER BIRDS. 83 Some of the earlier lists gave it as nesting, but this probably is a mistake. It is known to breed throughout most of northern British America, even to the Arctic Circle, but the southernmost point where it now nests abund- antly seems to be the Devil's Lake region of North Dakota. According to A. C. Bent (Auk, XVIII, 335-36) it is a late breeder there, very few eggs being found before June 1. On June 15 he found twelve nests in a single half hour. All were placed on dry ground, in slight hollows, lined with grasses, weeds and an abundance of gray down, with which the eggs are completely covered when the mother leaves the nest. The eggs are from eight to twelve and vary from almost white to deep cream color. They average 2.06 by 1.48 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male in full plumage with the forehead and crown pure white or creamy white, the sides of the head above and back of the eye glossy green, this color extending to and int'luding the nape. Ordinarily both the white of the crown and the green of the head arc more or less spotted and streaked, the former with black, the latter with white. The remainder of the head and neck is gray due to rather coarse spotting and streaking witli black on the white ground color. The upper breast and sides are pinkish-brown (" vinace- ous") without streaks or spots, but the feathers often with asliy edgings. Lower breast and belly pure white; under tail-coverts velvet black in sharp contrast. Back, scapulars and rump finely barred (vermiculated) with black and slate or buff, some of the scapulars with black shaft streaks. The speculum shows a narrow green area surrounded by dull black, with a large white patch in front. The shoulders (lesser wing-coverts) are pale ashy-brown; the tertiaries lanceolate, mucli lengthened, the outer webs glossy black margined with pure white. The female is difficult to describe, but may commonly be recognized by the combination of a finely streaked head and neck with pinkish-brown breast and sides and the lanceolate, streaked tertiaries. She does not ordinarily show any trace of green about the head, or of pure white on foreliead antl crown. Length 18 to 22 inches, wing 10.25 to 11, culmen 1.30 to 1.50. 38. Green-winged Teal. Nettion carolinense {Gmd.). (139) Synonyms: Green-wing, Winter Teal, Red-headed Teal. — Anas carolinensis, Gmel., 1789. — Querquedula carolinensis, Steph., 1824 — Nettion carolinensis of most recent authors. The bright cinnamon head with a large metallic green patch on each side is characteristic of the adult male. In any plumage the small size separates it from everything but the Blue-winged Teal, and the absence of the pale blue shoulder excludes that. Distribution. — North America, breeding chiefly north of the United States, and migrating south to Honduras and Cuba. The Green-winged Teal at present is not a common bird in any part of the state. It occurs sparingly in early spring (March 15 to April 30), and hngers in the fall at least until ice begins to form (Nov. 20 to Dec. 15). We have little reason to believe that it nests within our hmits now, although it probably did so sparingly in years gone by. Major Boies records it as nesting .on Neebish Island between 1892 and 1894. Its normal breeding grounds are well to the north of Michigan. The nest is placed on the ground, not necessarily close to water, and the eggs vary in number from eight to eighteen. They are white or buffy white, and average 1.75 by 1.28 inches. Except while nesting the birds are commonly seen in compact flocks, often of large size. They feed freely on seeds, grasses and other vegetable matter, but also eat insects and other animal food. Where they have to 84 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. been much disturbed they feed freely at night, resting during the day on open stretches of water where they are comparatively safe. They dive readily when necessity requires it, but seldom in search of food, the larger part of their food being found in shallow water, along shore or on the marshes and mud flats. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male with chin dusky or black, a large patch of metallic green on each side of head including the eye and extending back to the nape where the two patches join and the feathers are elongated into a crest; rest of head, upper throat, and neck bright cinnamon brown. Sides and upper back finely vermiculated with black and white; breast pinkish- brown (vinaceous) spotted with black; a conspicuous white bar or crescent on the side of the breast just in front of the bend of the wing; under tail-coverts buffy white at the sides, black in the middle. Speculum metallic green and velvet black in about equal parts, margined in front with clear pale brown and behind with pure white. Adult female similar only as to wings. The rest of the bird mainly slaty brown above, many of the feathers with ashy margins, the brown darkest on top of the head; the breast and sides buffy white, each feather with a large spot of brown; the chin, belly, and lower tail-coverts, white and unspotted; sides of breast and neck finely streaked with dusky-brown on a nearly white ground color. Young of the year resemble the female. Length 12.50 to 15 inches; wing 6.25 to 7.40; culmen 1.40 to 1.60. 39. Blue-winged Teal. Querquedula discors (Linn.). (140) Synonyms: Blue-wing, Summer Teal. — Anas discors, Linn., 1766. — Cyanopterus discors, Eyt., 1838. — Pterocyanea discors, Bonap., 1856. — Querquedula discors of authors generally. The adult male is instantly recognized by the large pure white crescent (like a new moon) on each side of the head between the eye and bill; adults of either sex have most of the shoulder (lesser wing-coverts and scapulars) light blue; the small size separates it from anything but the Green- winged Teal. Distribution. — North America in general, but chiefly eastward; north to Alaska, and south to the West Indies, Lower California, and northern South America. Casual in California. Breeds from Kansas and southern Illinois northward. Probably the Blue-winged Teal is the most abundant summer duck found in Michigan and formerly it bred commonly all over the state. It still breeds in suitable localities, but much less frequently than formerly. It is later in arriving in spring than most of our ducks, seldom reaching the southern counties before the first of April, while it is one of the earliest of all to move southward in autumn, the movement beginning by Septem ber 1 and being practically competed during that month. Its abundance, the ease with which it decoys, and its good table qualities insure constant persecution during the open season. While with us it shows a marked preference for marshes, grassy ponds and sluggish streams, and is particularly partial to regions where wild rice (Zizania) grows. It is rarely seen singly or in pairs, but almost always in flocks of a dozen or more, sometimes more than fifty being found together. It is neither shy nor suspicious and hence is more frequently bagged by the amateur than any other duck. The nest, placed on the ground in meadows or prairies, is formed of grass and lined with down. The eggs are from eight to twelve, white or bufl:y white, and average 1.84 by 1.34 inches. Our nesting records are Hillsdale (Munson); mouth of Kalamazoo WATER BIRDS. 85 River (S. E. White) ; Chandler's Marsh, Ingham county, (numerous records) ; Ann Arbor (Covert) ; Monroe county, eggs taken June 15, 1890 (Trombley) ; St. Clair Flats (Swales) ; Neebish Island, St. Mary's River (Boies) ; Wayne county, (Purdy). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male with chin, face, and crown brownish-black, darkest on the crown; a con- spicuous crescent of pure white on each side of head in front of the eye, the upper horn ending directly above the eye, the lower horn nearly meeting its fellow on the throat; rest of the head and most of the neck clear bluish ash with a purplish gloss; lower neck and entire breast, sides and belly pinkish brown, each feather with a distinct rounded spot; upper back ashy-brown, each feather margined with buffy- white; scapulars brownish- black with sharp shaft-stripes of light buff; lower back and rump ashy-brown, unspotted; lower tail-coverts velvet-black in sharp contrast with the spotted belly; a large white patch on each side of the base of the tail. Speculum green, bordered in front by a white bar; entire shoulder in front of this bar light blue. Female similar as to the wings, but speculum merely greenish with only a narrow line of white in front; chin and upper throat buffy-white, unspotted; remainder of under parts buffy or brownish-white everywhere, the feathers streaked or spotted with brown or black; crown dark brown with a few pale streaks; scapulars, back, rump and upper tail-coverts brownish black, each feather dis- tinctly edged with buffy-white. Length 14.50 to 16 inches; wing 7 to 7.50; culmen 1.40 to 1.65. The male in late summer and the young of the year resemble the adult female except that the adult male always shows the characteristic speculum. 40. Shoveller. Spatula clypeata {Linn.). (142) Synonyms: Spoon-bill, Red-breasted Shoveller, Blue-winged Shoveller, Shovel-bill. — ^Anas clypeata, Linn., 1758. — Spatula clypeata, Boie, 1822, and most recent authors. Adults of either sex may be known at once by the size and light blue wing-coverts; the much smaller Blue- winged Teal being the only species with a similar shoulder. The blue is gray-blue or wanting in young birds. The spoon-like bill of course is distinctive at any age. Distribution. — Northern Hemisphere. In North America breeding from Alaska to Texas ; not abundant on the Atlantic coast north of the Carolinas. Contrary to what might be inferred from the books this is nowhere a common duck in Michigan. Our reports come mainly from the St. Clair Flats and Saginaw Bay, but it has been noted here and there all over the state. According to Swales, in southeastern Michigan it is a fairly common migrant, has been taken at Plymouth, Wayne county, by Purdy, and Morden and Saunders say "It may breed at the Flats " (Swales). We have records from Kalamazoo county, Ingham county, Kent county, and St. Clair county, in addition to those already given, but I do not find a single definite nesting record, although several observers state that "It is a summer resident," and Langille says the nest is "rarely found" at St. Clair Flats (Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Hist. V, 1877, 36). According to A. C. Bent (Auk, XIX, 3, 4) it is one of the commonest ducks in North Dakota, nesting abundantly. The nest is a sUght hollow in the ground scantily lined with down, and the eggs are similar to those of the Mallard and Pintail, very pale olive buff or greenish gray. The nests are often placed away from water on the open prairie, and sets are seldom complete before June 15. The eggs average 2.12 by 1.48 inches. It may be looked for in spring from about the first of April until the second week in May, and its southward flight begins about September 1 and may last until the middle or end of October. , ,^ „ , , It frequents the same feeding grounds as the Mallard and uses to great a 86 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. advantage its large bill with its highly developed lamellas, by means of which it sifts out of the mud and water any and everything eatable. Its flesh is said to be of the very best. According to D. G. Elliot "When about the marshes, or moving over the inland lakes and coasting along the shores, the Spoonbill is readily recognized by its flight, which is more like that of a teal, although much less swift, and is performed in an irregular, hesitating kind of way, as if the bird was uncertain just where to go. * * * It is not particularly timid, and will often come boldly up to decoys. * * * j i^^ve seldom heard it utter any sound, though occasionally it gives forth a few feeble quacks, but it is usually very silent." TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male with head and neck all around dull metallic-green with purplish reflections, the chin, forehead and crown likely to be more brownish and with less metallic color; entire breast, base of neck and scapulars snowy-white, the inner scapulars and back brown- ish-black; rump black; entire belly rich chestnut; under tail-coverts velvet black separated from the chestnut belly by a band of finely barred black and white feathers; a large patch of white near root of tail on each side bordered posteriorly by a patch of metallic-green; speculum rich metallic-green bordered in front by a broad white band; entire shoiilders clear pale blue. Adult female similar to the male only as regards the wings, and in these the colors are not so strong. Upper parts grayish brown variously mottled and streaked; imder parts brownish-white, the neck streaked and the breast and belly spotted with brown. The young of the year are similar to the adult females, but the pale blue of the shoulders is duller or altogether wanting and the speculum has little or no green. Length 17 to 21 inches; wing 9 to 10; culmen 2.60 to 2.90; width at end 1.10 to 1.20. where it is nearly twice as wide as at the nostrils. 41. Pintail. Dafila acuta (Linn.). (143) Synonyms: Spring-tail, Sprig-tail, Spike-tail, Sharp-tail, Pigeon-tail. — Anas acuta, Linn., 1758. — Dafila caudacuta, Steph., 1824. — Dafila acuta, Gray, 1844, and most recent authors. The long middle tail-feathers are characteristic of the adult male and the cinnamon wing-bar is a distinctive mark in any plumage. Distribution. — Northern Hemisphere. In North America breeds from the northern parts of the United States northward, and migrates south to Panama and Cuba. A rather common migrant in Michigan and one of the earliest ducks to come north in the spring (southern Michigan March 15 to 20; returning southward August 20 to last of October). P. A. Taverner writes " Saunders records it breeding on the St. Clair Flats, but I can find no verification beyond his record published in 1882." Swales (MS. list 1904) says of southeastern Michigan "A common migrant spring and fall, March and April, again October and November. Purdy has seen it at Plymouth. Saunders writes me that he has taken a nest at Rondeau, Lake Erie, and has seen the birds in summer at St. Clair Flats one year, hence the inference in Macoun and Mcllwraith that they breed there. I have never heard of this bird being seen after May first." Positive proof of the nesting of this species within our limits was obtained by Norman A. Wood during the past summer (1911), at the Charity Islands, near the mouth of Saginaw Bay. Mr. Wood took two young Pintails still unable to fly, and one of the light-keepers on the island remembered see- ing the parent bird in early summer and searching for the nest in vain. WATER BIRDS. 87 The normal nesting grounds of this species are in the far north, and it is known to breed from northern Minnesota to the Arctic Circle. "In North Dakota it is an early breeder, beginning to lay early in May; proba- bly the majority of the broods are hatched by the first week in June. The female is strongly devoted to the yoimg, trying to decoy the intruder away. It nests anywhere, often a half mile from water; the nest poorly concealed, often in plain sight, a deep hollow in the ground, lined with straw, stubble and a little down. Eggs eight to ten, much like the Mallard's, but smaller and more glossy, pale olive green or olive buff." (A. C. Bent, Auk XIX, 5-6). Ridgway gives the average' size of the eggsfas 2.21^by 1.47 inches. ^ Fig. 18. . Pintail— Male. ^•, From Baird, Brewer-& Ridgway's Water Birds of North America. (Little, Brown & Co.) On the water as well as on the wing the Pintail is easily recognized by its long neck. According to D. G. Elliot it has three common notes; a mellow whistle, a hoarse, guttural quack, and a rolling note similar to that uttered by the Lesser Scaup. He adds "As a diver the Sprigtail is only a partial success. It can go under water, though it cannot stay long, but it skulks with great skill, stretching out the neck to the fullest extent and laying it and the head flat upon the surface. At a little distance, unless there is a complete calm, it is very difficult to be seen when it assumes such a position." TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male in full plumage with top of head very dark brown, sometimes nearly black; sides of head and throat clear brown, with a greenish gloss posteriorly. The brown of the crown passes into jet black on the occiput, nape and upper hind neck, where it forms a narrow stripe passing down the back of the neck, becoming grayer and finally blending with the vermiculated back. On the hind head and upper neck this stripe is bordered on each side by pure white, which is an extension of the white of the lower neck, breast and belly. The back and sides are beautifully vermiculated with narrow black and white Wavy lines; the tertiaries and some of the scapulars are elongated and lanceolate, and have broad black shaft stripes in sharp contrast with the clear as of the rest of the vanes. The speculum is green, edged posteriorly with pure white and in front by a bar of cinnamon- brown (distinctive). The under tail-coverts are velvet black in strong contrast with the white belly, and the middle tail-feathers are often very much elongated and taper to sharp points. The female is much smaller than the male, never has the clear brown and pure white head markings, nor the finely barred back and sides; she is usually a brown- 88 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. streaked or gray-streaked, inconspicuous looking duck, but may generally be recognized by the elongated, sharp middle tail feathers which do not occur in any of our other ducks. Length of male 26 to 30 inches; wing 10.25 to 11.20; middle tail feathers 7.25 to 9.50; culmen 1.85 to 2.15. Length of female 21 to 23.60; wing 9.60 to 10.10; middle tail feathers 4.50 to 5; culmen 1.80 to 2.10. 42. "Wood Duck. Aix sponsa (Linn.). (144) Synonyms: Summer Duck, Acorn Duck, Wood Widgeon (Conn.). — ^Anas sponsa, Linn., 1758. — Aix sponsa, Boie, 1826, and most authors. Figures 19 and 20. In any plumage the long tail of soft, broad feathers is characteristic, and some of the wing feathers (primaries and secondaries) show a metaUic sheen and frosted edgings or tips. Distribution. — Temperate North America, breeding throughout its range. Cuba. Fig. 19. Wood Duck — Male. From Nuttall's Ornithology. (Little, Brown & Co.) This doubtless is the most beautiful of American ducks, and the male in full plumage is probably without a superior in any part of the world. Unfortunately it is one of the species which appears to be rapidly decreas- ing in numbers throughout the state, and probably throughout the country at large. Twenty years ago it was one of the most abundant ducks in the state and nested commonly in the hollow trees bordering most of our streams and ponds. Its present status is best shown perhaps by a few notes from observers in different parts of the state. 0. B. Warren, Marquette county, 1898, says "Uncommon; when it occurs it stays to breed." Hazelwood, Port Huron, 1904, "Very common years ago." Swales, southeastern Michigan, 1904, "Now a rare bird but was formerly a common migrant and fairly abundant summer resident. A few pairs WATER BIRDS. 89 are said to breed still on the inland lakes in Oakland county. I have seen two or three near Waterford in August. At the Flats it is occasionally- taken in April and October, and also in the marshes near Monroe and Pt. Mouille." P. A. Taverner, Macomb county "Once common, now rare; one bird, male, taken this fall on the Flats." Boies, Neebish Island, 1891-93, "People on the island tell me that they have found their nests often during the summer, but I saw neither. They were plenty in the fall, however." Purdy, Plymouth, 1904, "Formerly quite common, but now very rare. It used to breed here, but now rarely visits our ponds and streams." Dunham, Kalkaska county, 1904, "Rather rare; a few breed along the Manistee River." Swales, St. Clair county, 1904, "Very rare now; once a common summer resident." Van Winkle, Delta county, 1905, "Quite common, breeds. It reaches the southern counties during the latter part of March, and moves southward again during September and October, the latest dates being about November first. Fig. 20. Wood Duck. — Male. From photograph of mounted bird. (Original.) The nest is always placed in the natural hollow of a tree, which may be living or dead, and the entrance is often forty or fifty feet above the ground. Mr. Covert states that 19 eggs were taken from a nest at Bass Lake, Wash- tenaw county, April 30, 1897, by Dean C. Worcester and F. G. Bournes. This species seems to be an early nester and it is probable that the above date represents about the average time for the completion of the set. The number of eggs, however, seems abnormal, the usual number being from eight to fifteen. The nest often contains much down, and the eggs are white or buffy white and average 2.08 by 1.58 inches. This duck is a general feeder, but is particularly fond of acorns, and spends much of its time in October along wooded streams and about the margins of ponds where these can be had. While sometimes found in the open lake and in large ponds it is far more frequently seen along the smaller streams which wind slowly between heavily wooded banks, especially if there is much oak timber in the vicinity. It does not, however, disdain the ordinary food of other ducks, and is frequently found in the 90 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. wild rice swamps and grassy marshes with Mallards, Teal, and other marsh- loving species. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Head mainly metallic green and purple above and pure white below, with a long, full occipital crest of the same colors. Chin and throat pure white extending upward and backward in two pairs of crescents, the anterior ending back of the eyes, the posterior nearly meeting on the back of neck beneath crest. A narrow white line on either side, starting from the forehead, runs backward over the eye and to tip of crest, while a broader white line starts behind the eye and also terminates in the crest. A black collar separates the white throat from the chest, which is rich purplish chestnut, marked with triangular white spots, very small in front but increasing in size toward the breast and belly, which are white and unspotted. A vertical white bar on each side of the breast, bordered behind by a velvet black bar of equal or greater width. Sides and flanks finely cross-lined with black on a yellowish groimd color, the hindmost flank feathers beautifully banded with crescent-like bars of black and white. Upper parts, including wings and tail greenish-black or brownish-black, with metallic reflections of green, purple and bronze; speculum metallic blue-green with a white bar behind; primaries frosted with white on outer edge and tipped with metallic blue-green. Sides of base of tail purplish chestnut. Adult female: Similar as to wings and tail but without crest and lacking the purplish chestnut of lower parts and the cross-lined flanks. The chin and belly are white as also a ring around the eye and stripe behind it. Rest of head and neck gray; chest mottled and streaked with yellowish-white and brown. Young resembhng the female at first, but the young males soon showing signs of the characteristic throat-patch and crest. Length of male 19 to 20.50 inches; wing 9 to 9.50; culmen 1.40. Female slightly smaller. 43. Redhead. Marila americana (Eyton). (146) Synonyms: Pochard, American Pochard, Raft Duck. — Anas ferina, Wils., 1814. — Fuligula ferina, Bonap., 1828. — ^Aythyaferina var. americana, Allen, 1872. — ^Aethyia americana, B. B. and R., 1884. — Fuligula americana, Eyton, 1838. The adult male can be confounded with nothing but the Canvasback, from which it is easily separated by the shape of the bill and the clear red head without any black. The "canvas" pattern of the back more- over, is made of black and white cross lines of about equal width, while in the Canvasback the light Hnes are wider than the black ones. The females and young of the year are not readily separated except by the characters of the bill. Distribution. — North America, breeding from California, southern Michigan(?), and Maine northward. The Redhead is well known to sportsmen throughout the state, but is abundant only during the migrations, and then mainly near the Great Lakes, and particularly along the east side of the state. It does occur sometimes on the smaller inland lakes, but, barring the accident of heavy storms, its movements are governed largely by the abundance of food. It is hunted extensively along Saginaw Bay, St. Clair Flats, Detroit River, and the Monroe Marshes on Lake Erie, the latter point being one of the most famous shooting grounds for Redheads and Canvasbacks in the entire west. The birds are now shot mainly from blinds and over decoys, less often from boats which float or sneak among the flocks. The Redhead is a deep water species, rarely found along the margins of ponds or streams, but usually gathering in large flocks or "rafts" on the open lakes at a distance from shore, where it is constantly diving for vegetable food on which it subsists almost entirely. It travels in v-shaped flocks like geese, and flies with great rapidity, but the common statement that its speed reaches 100 miles per hour is certainly a gross exaggeration. It is safe to say that no species of duck when migrating flies more than WATER BIRDS. 91 50 or 60 miles per hour — most species hardly more than 40 miles. Its flesh IS held in high esteem, and after feeding for a time on "wild celery" the bird is considered almost equal to the Canvasback under similar circum- stances. When in poor condition neither species is as good as the Mallard. This species is an early migrant ins pring, arriving in southern counties from March 15 to 25 and lingering through April. Most of the birds have gone north from the region of Detroit by the first of May, and they do not come south in any numbers until late October; the best shooting occurring during November and December. Probably a few spend the winter about the mouth of the Detroit River, or more rarely on Lake St. Clair, but formerly the Redhead nested occasionally within our limits. In 1879 or 1880 the late W. H. CoUins found two nests at St. Clair Flats, one containing seven and the other eight eggs (Bull. Nuttall Club, V. 61, 62). J. H. Langille also reported the Redhead as nesting commonly at St. Clair Flats at about the same time, and described the young as "olive green with the cheeks and under parts bright yellow (Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Hist. V, 1879, 34, 35). It seems probable that an occasional pair even nowadays nests in the same region, as Mr. Swales in a recent letter states that he is "assured that a pair nested in the Dickinson Marshes (St. Clair Flats) in the summer of 1901." In Wisconsin, according to Kumlien and Hollister, "even at present a few pairs are said to nest annually in the large marshes about Lake Koshkonong (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 21). In North Dakota where the species breeds abundantly, Mr. A. C. Bent states that the nest is well made of flags and reeds and lined with white down. It is usually surrounded by water and is placed among growing flags, its rim being seldom as much as a foot above the water. Fresh eggs were found abundantly between the first and middle of June and the sets varied from 6 to 22, the latter being an extraordinary number, but believed to be the product of a single bird. The next highest number was sixteen and the average number between ten and fourteen. Mr. Bent states that the Redhead seems to be particularly careless about laying its eggs in other ducks' nests. He found one of its eggs in a Ruddy Duck's nest, and in three cases found from three to four of its eggs in nests of a Canvas- back, but never found the eggs of any other species in the Redhead's nests (Auk, XIX, 8-9). The eggs are olive buff or greenish buff, with a very smooth and ex- tremely hard shell, and average 2.42 by 1.73 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Head and neck all round bright reddish-brown, often glossed with purple; lower neck, upper back and upper breast velvet black; rest of back, scapulars, sides and flanks wavy cross-lined with black and white (canvas-pattern), the lines being of about equal width. Most of breast and belly white, the latter grayer posteriorly; rump and upper and imder tail-coverts deep black; speculum gray or bluish gray, some of the inner secondariesjtipped with white. Adultjfemale: Without any red on head or neck, or any wavy pencilling anywhere. Mainlyfgrasrish brown, darker above, lighter below, the chin and throat alone white. Wing nearly the same as in male. Length (sexes nearly alike), 17 to 21 inches; wing 8.50 to 9.25; culmen 2.06 to 2.26. 92 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 44. Canvasback. Mania valisneria (Wilson). (147) Synonyms: White-back. — Anas valisineria, Wils., 1814. — Fuligula vallisneria, Steph., 1824. — Aythya vallisneria, Boie, 1826, and many others. — ^Aethyia vallisneria, Ridgw., 1881. The adult male can be confused only with the male Redhead, but is always blackish about the face, chin and crown. In common with the Redhead and Ringneek the adults of both sexes have the pale bluish-gray speculum. For other distinctions see remarks under Redhead. Distribution. — Nearly all of North America, breeding from the north- western states northward to Alaska. This duck is seen almost invariably in flocks, these gathering often into large companies of many hundred individuals. Like the Redhead this species in Michigan is more common along the Great Lakes than on the ponds and streams of the interior, yet it occurs sparingly in the latter situations. It is one of the earliest ducks to arrive in the spring, appearing usually as soon as the ice goes out, commonly early in March, sometimes even in the last week of February. In the fall it reappears in October and in places where food conditions are favorable may remain until late December. Its favorite food, the "eel-grass" or so-called wild celery (Vallisneria spiralis) has been planted in several places during recent years and attracts many kinds of ducks. It gives a peculiarly rich flavor to the flesh, and "celeryfed Canvasbacks" are the best of fine eating. As a matter of fact, other ducks which feed on the same plant are nearly or quite as good and it is doubtful if even the expert can discriminate between Canvasback and Redhead, or even Bluebill, if he had no other guide than his palate. Formerly the birds were slaughtered by all sorts of abominable devices, including night floating, punt guns, sail-boats and steam launches, as well as by the more legitimate methods of decoys. At present they are sometimes obtained by "sneaking" or drifting down upon flocks in the open water in a boat more or less concealed by rushes, bushes, and similar disguises, but the greater number are shot from blinds or hiding places over painted wooden decoys. Possibly this species once nested in small numbers at St. Clair Flats (Langille, 1879) but we can find no proof that it did so, and certainly at the present time it is altogether unlikely that it nests anywhere within our limits. Its proper breeding grounds are far north, in Manitoba, the Saskatchewan Valley, and Great Slave Lake. Probably the most southern nesting locality is in the northern part of North Dakota, where (in Steele county) Mr. A. C. Bent found a few nests in 1901. These were placed in tall grass, entirely surrounded by water, and were made of grass, dead flags and reeds, and sparingly lined with gray down. Three nests, found June 7 or 8, contained eight, eleven, and eight eggs respectively, one of them containing also four eggs of the Redhead, one three of the Redhead, and the other one of the Ruddy Duck. The Canvasback's eggs are readily distinguished from those of any other species, being a rich grayish olive or greenish drab, of a darker shade than any of the others (Auk, XIX, 11, 12). The eggs measure 2.48 by 1.76 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Chin, face, and top of head black or blackish shading gradually iato rich reddish brown of the rest of the head and neck; chest, upper back and upper breast deep black; back, scapulars, sides and flanks beautifully cross-lined or "vermiculated" with WATER BIRDS. 93 black and white, the white lines being about twice as wide as the black ones, the result being a very light canvas pattern (whence the name "White-back"); rump and upper and under tail-coverts black; lower breast and belly white, the latter grayish posteriorly. Speculum bluish gray, some of the secondaries white-tipped, two or three of the inner ones black-edged. Adult female: Head, neck and upper breast cinnamon or umber brown, the throat and face lighter and more rusty; back, sides and flanks grayish brown, usually more or less cross-lined with white; rest of under parts white or grayish white. Length 20 to 23.50 inches; wing 8.75 to 9.25; culmen 2.10 to 2.50. 4S. Greater Bluebill. Marila marila (Linn.). (148) Synonyms: Big Bluebill, Blackhead, Broadbill, Greater Scaup, Raft Duck, Flocking- fowl. Shuffler. — ^Anas marila, Linn., 1761. — Fuligula marila, Steph., 1824. — Fulix marila, Bd., 1858, B. B. & R., 1884. The adult male is known by its size, dull blue bill, uniform greenish- black head and neck, with black nape, and pure white speculum tipped with black. The female is similar, but browner, and has a conspicuous white face or "mask." Distribution. — North America, breeding far north. South in winter to Guatemala. This bird is usually confounded with the Lesser Bluebill from which it can be discriminated only with difficulty. It is probable that nine- tenths of the records for Bluebills relate to the Lesser Bluebill and not to the present species, which is much less common, more northern in its distribution, and probably the species which most often remains in the open waters about the state during the winter. In most respects it is impossible to discriminate between the two species and I know of nothing peculiar in the habits of the Greater Bluebill which requires mention. The only record of its nesting in Michigan is by the late W. H. Collins, who found one nest containing three eggs in the summer of 1879. "The nest was built in a tuft of flags, and composed of rushes and wild rice lined with some down and feathers. It was resting in the water and held in place by the tuft of flags in which it was built. I killed the female." (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, V. 62). Mr. A. C. Bent states that "The American (Greater) Scaup Duck probably breeds sparingly in North Dakota, but I have no evidence to prove it, and I am inclined to think that if it occurs there at all it is extremely rare." (Auk, XIX, 1902, 165). The eggs are pale buffy olive gray, and average 2.54 by 1.71 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIOlSr. So similar to the foUowing species, the Lesser Bluebill, that except in two or three par- ticulars the same description would answer for both. The most important difference is in the size, the present species being decidedly larger, and this is particularly noticeable in the width of the bUl which ranges from .85 to 1.05 inch, the average being .97, wMe in the Lesser Bluebill the greatest width ranges from .80 to .95 inch, the average bemg .89. In the male of the Greater Bluebill the black of the head and neck always (?) shows a greenish gloss, and the flanks are pure white without any cross-lines or spots, while the Lesser BluebiU has a purplish gloss on head and neck and the flanks distinctly cross-hned with, dusky. The females of the two species probably are separable onlyby the measure- ments. Length 18 to 20 inches; wing 8.25 to 9; culmen 1.85 to 2.20. 94 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 46. Lesser Blue-bill. Marila affinis (Eyt.). (149) Synonyms: Little Scaup Duck, Little Blackhead, Raft Duck, Flocking Fowl, ShufSer. — Fuligula affinis, Eyt., 1838.— Fulix affinis, Baird, 1858, B. B. & R., 1884. Plate III. Not distinguishable from the preceding at gunshot range, nor with the bird in hand except after careful examination. The principal difference lies in the measurements. Distribution. — North America in general, breeding chiefly north of the United States, migrating south to Guatemala and the West Indies. The Lesser Bluebill is mainly migratory in Michigan, and probably one of the most abundant migratory ducks of the state, occurring in suitable places everywhere, inland as well as on the Great Lakes. It is always found in large flocks, which gather in great companies in open water and on its feeding grounds, whence it gets the name of "Raft Duck and Flock- ing Fowl." It gets most of its living by diving and is fond of the same food as the Redhead and Canvasback with which it associates more or less. It is much less suspicious than either of these birds, comes readily to the decoys, and is therefore one of the good table ducks most often bagged by the gunner. It appears in spring as soon as the melting of the ice permits, indeed in some years numbers undoubtedly remain in favorable localities throughout the winter. The great majority pass north as soon as navigation opens and nest far north of our boundaries. Nevertheless a few undoubtedly nest each year within our limits. Mr. Newell A. Eddy, of Bay City states that he is satisfied that it breeds in the marshes at the mouth of the Saginaw River; the late W. H. Collins found many of these birds, with the Greater Bluebill, at St. Clair Flats in the summer of 1879, but did not find any nests, believing that he was too early for them, although one nest of the Greater Bluebill was found (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, V, 62). Mr. Swales (letter, October, 1904) says "I have seen this species several times at the Flats in June, July and August. The past summer a flock of some 15 to 18 birds remained all of June and July near Bryant's on the Snibora. This flock consisted of both males and females and they were wary and apparently in excellent condition. I have no doubt that they bred on the Dickinson Island marshes, protected. A number of the residents tell me that a few pairs still breed in the isolated parts and in the marsh near the mouth of the Chnton River, Lake St. Clair." In North Dakota Mr. Bent found the nest to be " A hollow scooped in the ground profusely lined with dark, almost black, down mingled with a little dry grass and occasionally a white feather. They are late breeders, a major- ity of the eggs laid during the second week in June or later." He found as many as fifteen eggs in one nest, but the average was from ten to twelve. He states that the eggs are "rich olive buff, and the lightest types approach somewhat the darkest types of the Mallard's eggs, and the darkest types are rich dark buff or deep coffee-colored. The nests were all on dry ground, but never more than fifty yards from water." (Auk, XIX, 265-66). As with many other species the male Bluebills flock by themselves after the females begin to sit. The eggs average 2.25 by 1.58 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Bill light grayish blue, with a black nail; head, neck, chest and upper back black, the head generally with a purplish gloss; most of breast, belly, and sides pure Plate III. Lesser Bluebill. From photograph of mounted specimen. (Original.) WATER BIRDS. 97 white, the belly grayish posteriorily and the sides and flanks distinctly waved with dusky; back and scapulars with numerous zig-zig cross lines of black and wliite; wings black, the speculum pure white tipped with black; rump and upper and imder tail-coverts black. Adult female: Wings and speculum much as in male, but wings browner; head, neck and upper back brown; a conspicuous area of white feathers about the base of the upper man- dible (but not on the chin) ; breast grayish or grayish-brown, whiter on the belly, browner on the sides; back and scapulars brownish; rump and upper tail-coverts brownish-black, under tail-coverts grayish-brown. Length 15 to 16.50 inches; wing 7.50 to 8.25; culmen 1.58'to 1.90; greatest width of bill .80 to .95. 47. Ring-necked Duck. Marila coUaris (Donov.). (150) Synonyms: Ring-necked Scaup. Ring-neck, Ring-bill, Ring-billed Blackhead, Marsh Blue-bin (?). — ^Anas collaris, Donovan, 1809. — Fuligula coUaris, Bonap., 1842. — Fuligula rufitorques, Nutt., 1834, Aud., 1835.— Fulix collaris, Baird, 1858, B. B. & R., 1884. Figure 22. Most resembles the Lesser Bluebill, from which it may be known by the dark bill with light cross-bar beyond the middle, the white chin mark- ing, and the speculum, which is bluish-gray, never white. The adult male always shows the chestnut collar, but females and immature males lack this. Distribution. — North America, breeding far north and migrating south to Guatemala and the West Indies. In many ways this bird resembles the Bluebill and Redhead to which it is closely related, but in habits it differs in at least two respects: It is usually found singly or in pairs, rarely if ever in large compact flocks; also, it seems to prefer inland waters, ponds, and marshy streams rather than the larger open waters so much frequented by its relatives. Naturally it may be supposed that its food is decidedly different, but I am not aware that this has been proved. It dives easily and stays under water a long time, and there is no reason why it should not feed precisely as does the Bluebill. It arrives from the south somewhat later than the Bluebill, probably most often between March 20 and April 10, in the southern counties goes south in September and October. It is not known to nest within our limits, but is one of the commonest nesting ducks throughout northern Minnesota, and is not uncomnion m North Dakota. Mr. Job found a nest June 14, 1898, in the Turtle Moun- tains, with twelve buffy eggs nearly fresh (Auk, XIX, 166) _ The eggs m color are like those of the Bluebill, and average 2.23 by 1.57 inches. This species seems to be much less common in Michigan than any other 13 Fig. 22. Ring-necked Duck. From Baird, Brewer & Ridgway's Water Birds of Nortli America. (Little, Brown & Co.) In the fall it 98 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. member of the genus. Mr. Swales states (Birds of S. E. Mich., 1904) "I know httle of this liircl and have not met with it personally at the Flats or on Detroit River, or seen it in any of the ducker's cabins. Purdy says 'taken at Plymouth as a migrant.' " According to Chas. L. Cass this species remained at Hillsdale, Michigan, until November 26, 1894. Mr. L. Whitney Watkins has a specimen taken in Jackson county, April 18, 1894, and there are two specimens, male and female, in the Agricultural College collection taken at Greenville, Montcalm county. According to the late Percy Selous "in June, 1896, a pair of Ring-necked Ducks spent weeks on Baldwin Lake (near Greenville), and probably were nesting." Most of the public and private collections in the state have specimens of this duck, but it is certainly never common. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. AdiJt male: Head, neck, chest and back black, the chin with a snow-white triangular patch, and the lower neck encircled by a chestnut ring; the head and neck glossed with purplish, and the feathers of the occiput usually elongated, forming a dense, bushy, more or le.ss erect crest. Lower breast and belly white; flanks finely cross-lined with white and dusky; rump and upper and under tail-coverts black. Speculum blue-gray, some- times very narrowly white-tipped. The black scapulars are sometimes minutely sprinkled with white. Bill black, bordered by white at the base, and crossed near the tip by a bluish-white band. Adult female: Similar only as to the speculum and wings. Head, neck, breast and back grajdsh-brown, deepest on the crcrni and neck, whitening to gray or soiled white about the base of the bill and on chin and throat; rump brownish-black; lower breast and belly soiled whitish; hinder part of belly grayish-bro'wn like breast; under tail-coverts gray. Length 15.50 to 18 incnes; wing 7 to 8 culmen 1.75 to 2. 48. Whistler. Clangula clangula americana Bonap. (151) Synonyms: Golden-eye, American Golden-eye, Whistle-wing, Spirit Duck, Garrot. — Clangula americana, Bonap., 1838. — Anas clangula, Linn., 1766, part. — Glaucion clangula, Kaup. — Clangula glaucion, Bonap. — Bucephala clangula, Coues, 1872. Figure 23. A large, handsome, black and white duck with a green-black head and a rounded spot of pure white on each side between eye and bill. The female has brown instead of black head, and other dark parts slaty gray instead of black; no white cheek spot. Distribution. — North America, breeding from Maine and the British Provinces north- ward; in winter south to Cuba and Mexico. The Whistler or Golden-ej^e is one of the best known ducks in the state, yet appar- ently is nowhere very abundant. It does not spend the summer within our limits, and is late in arriving from the north, few coming before the first of November. Unless driven south by heavy ice some af them stay all winter. Even at Sault Ste. Marie, where the river remains open on account of the swift current, Mr. W. P. Melville says that they are found all winter. Butler states that on southern Lake Michigan this is the common winter duck, Fiff. 23. Whistler. From Bailey's Handbook. of Birds of the WesteVn United states. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) WATER BIRDS. 99 staying all winter (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 621). Swales (Birds of S. E. Michigan, 1904), says "A common migrant and winter resident, late October and late April. It is the common winter duck in Detroit waters, frequenting the open channels cut by the ferry and car boats. Becomes more abundant in spring." It seldom occurs in large flocks, the maximum being a dozen or fifteen individuals. Oftener it is seen singly or in little squads of two to five. It is a shy bird, usually being the first species to take alarm in a mixed flock. The whistling noise made by the wings is characteristic, and of course has given it its name. It dives most expertly and often avoids the shot by diving at the flash of the gun, whence the name Spirit Duck. Our only nesting record for the state appears to be Major Boies' state- ment that it breeds about Neebish Island in the St. Mary's River (Bull. Mich. Orn. Club I, 1897, 18). At Umbagog, Me., Mr. William Brewster found it breeding, and gives a full account in the Auk, Vol. XVII, 1900, 207. The bird nests always in a hollow tree, often entering through a hole from 10 to 30 or 40 feet above the nest. "This is lined with down and the eggs vary from 5 to 15, oftenest 8 or 10. Two females often lay in the same nest, and often several eggs of the Hooded Merganser are laid with them." The eggs average 2.38 by 1.71 inches. It feeds freely on shell-fish, and along the sea coast is considered hardly fit for food, but in the Great Lake region its flesh is commonly well flavored and it doubtless feeds much on vegetable matter. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Bill black, iris golden yellow; head and upper neck glossy black with greenish reflections and a large, rounded, snow-white spot between the base of biU and eye (Fig. 23); lower neck, breast, beUy and sides pure white; hinder part of flanks and sides of tail brownish-black; back, riunp and upper tail-coverts black; scapulars black with broad white stripes; wing mainly black with a large white patch on secondaries and coverts. Adult female without any trace of the white cheek spot, the head and neck brown instead of black; the chest gray, separated from the brown neck by a whitish ring; the rest of the bird much like male, but with less white on wings and none at all on scapulars, and the back slaty instead of clear black. Length of male 18.50 to 23 inches; wing 9 to 9.30; culmen about 1.65. Female about 16.50; wing 7.90 to 8.30; culmen about 1.30. 49. Barrow's Golden-eye. Clangula islandica (Ghnelin). (152) Synonyms: Rocky Mountain Golden-eye. — ^Anas islandica, Gmelin, 1789. — Clangula Barrovii, Sw. & Rich., 1831. — Fuligula Barrovii, Nutt., 1834. — Bucephala islandica, Baird, 1858. — Clangula islandica, Bonap., 1842. Figure ^4- Extremely like the common Golden-eye, the males practically alike ex- cept in the shape of the white cheek spot; the females almost identical. Distribution.— Northern North America, south in winter to New York, Illinois and Utah; breeding from the Gulf of St. Lawrence northward, and south in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado; Greenland and Iceland. Accidental in Europe. The evidence for this species as a Michigan bird is not voluminous. A careful search of the museums and private collections of the state failed for a long time to reveal a single specimen of undoubted Michigan origin. Finally Mr. E. R. Kalmbach, of Grand Rapids, sent us the 100 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. skin of a female talceu March 22, 1907, l)y Mr. Bernard DeBries, on Black Lake, Ottawa county. To remove all possible doubt this specimen was referred to the U. 8. National jMuseum, at Washington, I). C, and the identification confirmed l:)y Dr. C. W. Richmond. So far as we know this is still the only unquestionable Michigan specimen on record. Specimens have been taken in Wisconsin, Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, and there can be no doul)t that the bird occurs once in a while in Michigan waters in winter. Nelson states (Bull. Nutt. Orii. C.lul), I, 41) that it occurs on Lake JMichigan in winter. Stockwell (F. & S. Vlir, 380) says "Common on St. Clair Flats and Sarnia Bay, ]\Iichigan, in winter." This certainly is not true now what- ' ever may have been the case twenty years ago. In a letter dated December 15, 1906, Mr. B. H. Swales of Detroit states that he has good reason to believe that a bird of this species was taken on the De- troit River about April 1, 1905, and mounted by Mr. Campion of that city. The latter described the Ijird accurately and sketched the crescentic white spot on the side of the head which is so different from the circular or oval spot of the common Whistler. The statement in Cook's Birds of ]\lichigan (1893, 2nd edition, p. 43) as to the capture of a specimen at Hillsdale in 1S92, proves to be an error. Prof. Frank Smith, now of Illinois University, who mounted the specimen, states that it was a female of the common Golden-eye. The statement on the same page attributed to N. A. Eddy of Bay City is also incorrect, Mr. Eddy himself having informed me that he has never taken this species in Michigan waters. There is an adult female of Barrow's Golden-eye in the Kent Scientific Museum at Grand Rapids, but its origin is entirely unknown. Kumlien & Hollister (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 24) say "Large nunrbers of Golden-eyes remain on Lake Michigan duiing winter, and no doubt this species [Barrow's] is of regular occurrence with them. It was I'eported from Racine in 1860 by Dr. Hoy; one specimen was sent to Thure Kumlien from Edgerton in 1877, and one was shot by L. Kumlien No- vember 14, 1896, on Lake Koshkonong." Its nesting habits are similar to' those of the Whistler, but it does not nest within our limits. The eggs are dull pea-green, or pale grayish pea- green, and average 2.47 by 1.77 inches. Fig. 24. Barrow's Goldeneye. From C'uues' Key to North American Birds, .5th (Dana Estes & Co.) TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Bill Ijlack, feet orange yellow. Similar in general to the male Whistler, l;)ut the white spot on the side of the head larger, somewhat crescent-shaped, and rounded triangular in outline, the broad base near tlie corner of the mouth and the apex well above the eye. The conspicuous white wing patch is crossed by a liroad black bar, which is not found in the common Wliistler. Tlie female is described by Ridgway as having the "brown of liead (usually a deep sepia or purplish snuff-brown) descending to the middle WATER BIRDS. 101 of neck all round; gray of chest broader and usually deeper, and white collar narrower than in the same sex of dangula." Length of male 21 to 23 inches; wing 9 to 9.40; bill from tip to frontal angle 1.G5 to l.SO; depth at base .95 to 1.10. Female; Wing S.25 to 8.75; bill from tip to frontal angle 1.40 to 1.70; depth at base .SO to .95. 50. Bufflehead. Charitonetta albeola (Linn.). (153) Sjmoujnns: Butter-ball, Bvitter Duck, Spirit Duck, Dipper. — Anas~allieoIa, Linn., 175S.— Fuligula albeola, Bp., 1S2S, Nutt., 1S34, Aud., 183S.— Clangula albeola, Stcph., 1824, and authors generally. — Buccphala albeola, Baird, 1858, and some otlicrs. Figure 26. The small size, general black and white plumage, puffed head of velvet black with purple and green reflections, and pure white cheeks and occiput make the male unmistakable; the female is smaller and browner, lacking entirely the clear or metallic black and snowy white of the male, except that tliere is a broad white wing-bar. Distribution. — North America; south in winter to Cuba 'and Mexico. Breeds from Maine and Montana nortliward through the Fur Countries and Alaska. This well known and beautiful little duck is an abundant migrant through- out the state, some often remain all winter in favorable places, and it is pos- sible that a few nest witlrin our limits. In 1893 Dr. R. H. Wolcott wrote "Com- mon every winter on the rapids at Clrand Rapids, fished for by factory hands along the banks with hook and line," Swales (Birds of S. E. Mich., lOO-i) says "In fall I have seen it as early as September 6, but it is October before the main body arrives. It re- mains until early December if not later. Generally reappears in the latter part of of March, remaining until late April; oc- casional birds remain well into May Purdy, at Plymouth, says "One of the Fig. 25. Buffltiiead— iiuie ?rom Bailey's Handbook of Birds of ern United States. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) most common ducks during migration, From^Bafley|sHandbookof^Birds^^^^ arriving from April 1 to 15, depending on weather." Saunders mentions that a few pairs breed at St. Clair Flats (Mcllwraith's Birds of Ontario, 1894, p. 84). The species is similar in its habits to the Whistler, being restless, in- quisitive but shy, but so abundant that it is killed in large numbers. In fall and winter it is usually extremely fat, and probably it is this fact which has given it the names Butter-ball and Butter Duck. It is never seen in large flocks, and does not fly in the " wedge formation " used by so many ducks; as Lynds Jones remarks it "flies in bunches, not flocks." Like the Whistler it nests in hollow trees and its eggs are dull light buff, averaging 1.98 by 1.46 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Head and neck changeable metiilhc bkie-grcen-purplc except for a large wedge-shaped patch of pure white on eacli sitle of tlio hoatl which has its apex below the 102 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. eye and spreads backward covering the whole hinder half of the head; feathers of hind head and neck thick, bushy and elongated, whence the name BuflBehead. Back, wings, and tail mostly black or slaty black, the wing with a large white patch formed by tne wing-coverts, secondaries and outer scapulars. Entire under parts from neck to tail, pure white, sometimes washed with grayish on the hinder belly and under tail-coverts and a few of the posterior flank feathers sharply edged with jet black. Bill black, feet and legs yellow. Adult female: Upper parts brownish black, deepest on head and rump; under parts white, washed with gray on chest, sides and flanks; speculum and part of the greater coverts white, as also a patch on the side of head below and behind the eye. Bill and feet black. Length of male 14.25 to 15.25 inches; wing 6.75 to 6.90; culmen 1.10 to 1.15. Length of female 12.25 to 13.60; wing 5.90 to 6; culmen .95 to 1. 51. Old-squaw. Harelda hyemalis (Linn.). (154) Synonyms: Old-wife, Long-tailed Duck, Sou'-southerly, Coween, or Cowheen, Cockawee, Squealing Duck, Winter Duck. — Anas hyemalis, Linn., 1758. — Anas glacialis, Wils., 1814. — Harelda glacialis. Staph., 1824, and many authors. — Fuligula glacialis, Aud. Figure 26. The male is known from any other duck by its striking black and white plumage, comparatively short neck, and very long middle tail-feathers. Distribution. — Northern Hemisphere; in North America south to the Potomac and the Ohio (more rarely to Florida and Texas), and California; breeds far northward. This duck is by no means uncommon during cold weather on the Great Lakes and is found with more or less regularity on many of the smaller inland lakes and streams. The fact that it winters regularly wherever open water can be found has given it the name of Winter Duck, a name Fig. 26. Old Squaw. From Baird, Brewer & Ridgway's Water Birds of North America. (Little, Brown & Co.) more generally applied to this than to any other one of the several species which stay with us through the winter. It is most often found in fair sized flocks and these frequently unite into bands of several hundred in favorable localities. It is extremely noisy and the constant gabbling undoubtedly has earned it the names of Old-squaw and Old-wife. Like its relatives it feeds largely on fish and dives to considerable depths in order to secure them. The late Dr. J. W. Velie told me that this was the regular winter duck on Lake Michigan off shore from St. Joseph, being fairly Water birds. io3 abundant some years while only a few were seen during other winters. Several observers mention the fact that it is often caught in the gill nets set in deep water for lake trout and whitefish. One fisherman at St. Joseph told me most positively that he had seen it caught repeatedly in nets set at a depth of 30 fathoms (180 feet). Butler (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 625) says "The depth to which they dive may be known by the fact that they are often caught in that vicinity (off Michigan City) in abundance in gill nets in 20 or 30 fathoms of water. They usually pass north in February or early March, and the latest record I have is one given by Mr. Stewart E. White, Grand Rapids, Mich- igan, where he observed three April 3, 1891. They are taken occasionally on the Grand River near Lansing, as well as on the smaller lakes in that vicinity. We also have records from Greenville (Jan. 31, 1899), Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and several other inland points; and it is reported from nearly every point along the shores of the Great Lakes. It is late in coming from the north, although it often appears toward the end of October. W. P. jMelville states that in the winter of 1897-98 large numbers starved to death at Sault Ste. Marie, owing to the fact that the open water was frozen by the intense cold. Ordinarily the species spends the winter in the rapids of the St. Mary's River at that place. This is one of the species recorded as killed on Spectacle Reef Lighthouse in Lake Huron, February 25, 1885. It nests in the Arctic regions, abundantly on the shores and islands of Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, and even as far south as Labrador. The nests are of grass and weeds, and lined with down, and the eggs vary from dull pea-green to light olive-buff, and average 2.05 by 1.49 inches. Although a handsome species the Old-squaw is not a favorite with gunners, mainly because its flesh is tough and usually ill-flavored, but also because it is a difficult bird to hit while flying (on account of its great speed) and even more difficult to shoot while swimming, since it dives at the flash of the gun and swims long distances under water. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male in winter: Entire top of head and back of neck, chin, throat, upper chest and back all round, pure white; sides of head smoky-gray, sides of neck black above brown below; lower chest and upper breast clear black; lower breast, belly, under tail-coverts and outer tail feathers pure white; sides and flanks pearl-gray; back, rump, upper tail- coverts and four middle tail feathers black or brownish-black; scapulars bluish-white; wing mainly black, part of the secondaries brown. Bill black, crossed by an orange band; legs and feet black, iris yellow. .... Adult female in winter: Similar, blit head, neck and entire under parts mamly white, the chest only grayish, and top of head dusky; upper parts dark brown, the scapulars bordered with lighter and gray-tipped. ., , , „ „ ^„ Length of male 20.75 to 23 inches; wing 8.50 to 9; middle tail-feathers 8 to 8.50; culmen 1.10. Lenoth of female 15 to 16 inches, the middle tail-feathers not lengthened. 52. Eider Duck. Somateria dresseri Sharpe. (160) Synonyms- American Eider, Common Eider, Big Sea Duck, Shoal Duck.— Anas moUissmia, Wils.— FuUgula moUissima, Nutt., Aud.— Somateria moUissima, Bonap., Baird, Coues. Separable from everything except the King Eider by its large size and the peculiarities of the bill and head Distribution.— Atlantic coast of North America, from Maine to Labrador; south in winter to Delaware and west to the Great Lakes. 104 MICHIGAN BIRD LiFfi. This bird must be considered an extremely rare winter visitor to the Great Lalces. Dr. Gibbs says that W. H. Colhns of Detroit wrote him_ in 1883 that he had one specimen in his collection (a young male showing white traces), taken on the Detroit River in December, 1882. Kumlien and Holhster (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 25) say "Lake Michigan in winter, rare. Recorded at Racine in winter of 1875 by Hoy. Two specimens were also taken at Milwaukee, and were preserved in the Public Museum. A female was shot on Lake Koshkonong (Wisconsin) in November, 1891." E. W. Nelson states (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 41) that an immature specimen was shot near Chicago in December, 1874, and was in his collection. Dr. H. B. Bannister of Evanston, told him that he had seen other specimens taken near that place. Mcllwraith records two specimens from Ontario, one taken near Hamilton and the other near Toronto (Birds of Ontario, 1874, p. 89). This is a true salt water species, and its occurrence in the Great Lake region must be considered as rather unusual. It is abundant along the New England coast during winter and gathers in great flocks on the shoals about the Island of Nantucket, Mass. It formerly nested on the coast of New Brunswick and the neighboring islands on the coast of Maine, laying five to ten (?) eggs in a large grassy nest on the ground. The nest is heavily lined with down from the breast of the bird, and this is the eider-down of commerce. The eggs vary from grayish pea-green to olive-buff and average 2.97 by 2.01 inches. When the first egg is laid there is but little down in the nest, but more is added every day, so that long before the eggs hatch they are deeply embedded in the down, often entirely covered by it. In arctic and sub-arctic regions where the various species of eider nest in great colonies, the eider-down is systematically gathered, each nest being robbed at least twice and sometimes a third time, although care is used commonly not to persecute the birds so far as to compel abandonment of the nesting grounds. All the eiders dive with great ease and are able to remain below the surface for a long time. They feed mainly, if not entirely, on aquatic animals, such as crabs, barnacles, clams, mussels, snails and fish, and as a natural consequence their flesh has an unpleasant, fishy flavor which does not commend it to the average palate. Eiders are heavy, robust, hardy birds, delighting in icy waters and not infrequently found riding the waves of the open sea far out of sight of land. Many of them linger in the far north through the entire winter, frequenting the open seas about southern Greenland and in Hudson Bay. In flying they keep near the surface of the water; travelling in long lines, single file, and alternately flapping their wings and sailing. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Entire top of head, from forehead to nape, clear bluish black, extending below the eyes, divided on the occiput and nape by a narrow stripe of cream color, and bordered on the sides and nape by rich pea-green which covers the sides and back of neck like a hood. Remainder of head and neck all round, together with back, scapulars, tertia- ries, wing-coverts and sides of rump, pure white; lower throat, chest and upper breast pale buff or rich cream color, sharply bounded below by the deep velvety black of the entire lower parts; flight feathers (primaries), rump, upper tail-coverts and tail also clear black. BiU pale yellow; legs and feet light green; iris brown. Adult female: Without any white or green; above brownish-black; barred with yellowish-brown or riisty; breast and sides similar, the belly being mostly without bars; head and neck light brown or buff streaked with brownish-black. Length 20 to 26 inches; wing 11 to 12; culmen about 2.25. In both male and female the feathering of the sides of the head (lores) extends forward as far as (but below) the hinder end of the nostril. WATER BIRDS. 105 53. King Eider. Somateria spectabilis {Linn.). (162) Synonyms: Anas spectabilis, Linn., 1758.— Fuligula spectabilis, Bp., Nutt., Aud.— Somateria spectabilis of authors generally. The large v-shaped black mark on the throat usually separates the adult male of this species from the Common Eider; females and young can be separated by careful comparison with named specimens, or with good descriptions, the outline of the feathering at the base of the upper mandible being distinctive. Distribution. — Northern parts of Northern Hemisphere, breeding in the Arctic regions; in North America south casually in winter to Georgia and the Great Lakes. Like the preceding species this is a rare winter visitor to the waters of the Great Lakes bordering Michigan. The actual records are few. There are two specimens, male and female, in the Kent Scientific Museum (Cat. Nos. 20342, 20343), labeled as collected at Grand Rapids by Thomas Harmer, but without other data. Dr. Gibbs quotes from a letter from W. H. Collins of Detroit: "Several specimens taken in young and female plumage. One specimen in Smithsonian Institution identified by Pro- fessor Baird, and one specimen in my own collection taken at St. Clair Flats, 1874." Kumlien & Holhster (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 26) say "Al- though this species occurs only as a rare winter resident on Lake Michigan, there are more authentic records than of the Common Eider. Has been taken at Racine, and there is now a specimen in the Milwaukee Public Museum, taken at Milwaukee many years ago." Mr. E. W. Nelson (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 41) says: "An adult female taken at Chillicothe on the Illinois River, in the winter of 1874, has been sent to the National Museum by W. H. Collins of Detroit, Mich." It seems likely that the last named specimen is the same as one of those noted above by Dr. Gibbs. JMcIlwraith states that specimens- have been seen occasionally in winter near Hamilton and Toronto, usually in immature dress, so that they could be identified only by capture. He adds, however, that "On the 25th of November, 1889, Mr. Cross reports having obtained a fine male in summer plumage, which was shot on Toronto Bay." (Birds of Ontario, 1894, p. 90.) Like the preceding this species occurs in small flocks during the coldest weather and its habits are very much Uke those of the Common Eider. It also has the same breeding range, and its nest and eggs are similar. As a rule the eiders lay only five or six eggs in a set, and when more are found it doubtless is due to the use of the same nest by more than one female. The hardy nature of these birds and their abihty to dive to great depths for their food, enables them to winter with comfort in the open sea or lake wherever the water is not too deep for them to feed. It seems possible that both species of eider may occur with some frequency in winter on the Upper Lakes, but that their presence is seldom detected because navigation of these waters is so generally suspended at this season. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Similar in color pattern to the preceding species (S. dresseri), but with the head bluish-gray; with less green on the side, the base of the much expanded upper mandible narrowly bordered by black feathers. There is a v-shaped black mark on the upper throat, and the scapulars and tertiaries are entirely black. The bill is largely orange, as also the legs and feet; iris bright yellow. The female and young closely resemble those of the Common Eider, but the feathering of the side of head (lores) extends but slightly forward toward the nostril, while in the Common Eider the feathermg extends 106 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. forward below the hinder end of the nostril. Slightly smaller than the Common Eider, the wing measuring 10.50 to 11.25 inches. 54. Black Scoter. Oidemia americana Sw. (163) Synonyms: American Scoter, Black Coot, Black Sea-coot. — Anas nigra, Wils. — Fuligula americana, Nutt., Aud. — ^demia americana, Coues, 1872, Ridgw., 1881. Known by the swollen bill, uniform dark color, and absence of white spots on head or wings at any age. Distribution. — Coasts and large inland waters of northern North America, breeds in Labrador and the northern interior; south in winter to New Jersey, the Great Lakes, Colorado and California. This bird undoubtedly occurs more frequently on the Great Lakes than most people suppose, but as a rule gunners do not discriminate between the females and young of the three species of scoter, hence many of the records are indefinite. Probably, however, this is the least common of the three. Mr. Newell A. Eddy of Bay City obtained a specimen in the market at Bay City, October 26, 1883. Butler in his birds of Indiana does not mention the species, which is odd, since the bird is known to occur regularly on Lake Michigan. Kumlien & Hollister say "Rather common winter resident on Lake Michigan. Less common in the interior, occurring principally as a migrant in late fall" (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 26). It should be looked for in Michigan waters from late October until the following May, but it is most likely to occur in November and April. It feeds largely on shellfish of various kinds, and its flesh is coarse and fishy. It breeds far north, laying white or buffy eggs in a down-lined nest on the ground. The eggs average 2.55 by 1.80 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Feathering of the forehead extending forward on the bill about as far as that of the sides of the head (lores), and not much beyond the corner of the mouth. Adult male with basal half of bill orange or yellow, the base much swollen, the terminal half black. Entire plumage, including lining of wing, black, without any white patches on head or wings; legs and feet black. Adult female; Grayish brown all over, darker above, lighter below; the bill without the swollen knob at base; the legs, feet and bill plain blackish. Length 17 to 21.50 inches; wing 8.75 to 9.50; culmen 1.65 to 1.80. 5S. White-winged Scoter. Oidemia deglandi Bonap. (16S) Synonyms: White-winged Coot, White-winged Sea Coot, Velvet Duck, Velvet Scoter, Lake Huron Scoter. — Anas fusca, Wils., 1814. — Fuligula fusca, Bonap., Nutt., Aud. — Oidemia bimaculata, Baird, 1858. — Melanetta velvetina, Baird, Ridgw. and others. Figure 27. Known in any plumage by the swollen bill, uniform black or dusky color and white speculum. Adults show a distinct white spot on the side of the head, below the eye in the male, behind the eye in the female. Distribution. — Northern North America, breeding in Labrador and the Fur Countries; south in winter to Chesapeake Bay, southern Illinois, and San Quentin Bay, Lower California. Undoubtedly this is the commonest scoter of the Great Lake region, occurring regularly on Lakes Huron and Michigan in winter, although WATER BIRDS. 107 FJK. 27. Whitc-wingeii Scoter.— I\rale. — From Bailey's Hand book of Birds of the Western United States. (Hoiigliton, Mifflin & Co.) the larger numljer probaljly winter farther south. The bird is not confined to the Great Lakes, but visits the smaller inland waters, and has been taken at various interior points throughout the state. Our record of specimens includes the following localities: St. Clair Flats, St. Clair Co., Sault Ste. Marie, and Neebish Island, Chippewa Co., Pine Lake, Ingham Co., Heisterman's Island and Ba}^ City, Bay Co., and Point J\Iouille Marsh, Monroe Co., (November 11, 1904). It is found usually in flocks of varying size and according to Kumlien & Hollister it is "At times exceedingly abundant on Lake Michigan, vast flocks being met with at long distances from land. It is often taken in fishermen's nets in deep water far from shore" (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 26). Like the preceding, this species nests in the far north, but is not quite so lioreal. We have no record of its nesting within our limits, yet it is not impossilDle that it may do so. It breeds abundantly in Labraclor, Alaska, and much of the intervening territory. Mr. A. C. Bent gives the following facts in regard to its nesting in North Dakota (the Devils Lake region) : "The nests were on islands among rosebushes, well hidden, being hollows scooped in the ground, the eggs alwa^'S thickly covered with rubtiish when left. New nests have no down, but it is added when the set is complete. In North Dakota it was the latest of our ducks to breed, few eggs were laid before the last week in June. June 27, 1S9S, Mr. Job found eight nests containing eggs varying in number from 1 to 14, and all fresh. The eggs are pale salmon buff or flesh-color. They average 2.68 by 1.S3 inches " (Auk, XIX, 170-171). TEC?INIC-\L DESCRIPTION. Feathering of sides of Iicad (lores) extending fora-ard on tlie Ijill much fartljer f Iran the corner of the mouth. Wing always with a wliito speculum. Adult m;de: Sides and tip of bill orange-yellow in life, the middle line white, the rest Ijlack. Legs and feet red; iris white. Entire plumage deep black except for a conspicuous white speculum and a small curved white spot below and behind the eye. Adult female: Similar, but brownish or grayish-black, grayest below; the speculum white as in the male, but the white on side of head never a single, sharply defined, curved spot, but usually appearing as two ratlier diffuse wdiite patches, one between eye and bill, the other some distance behind the eye. Bill blackish; feet and legs dark flesh-color to brownish black; iris dark brown. Length 19.75 to 23 inches; wing 10.65 to UAO; culmen 1.40 to 1.70. 56. Surf Scoter. Oidemia perspicillata (Linn.). (166) Synonyms: Surf Duck, Surf Coot, Skunk-head Coot, Skunk-top. — Anas perspicillata, Linn., 175S. — Fuligula perspicillata, Aud. — Pelionetta perspicillata, Reich., Baird, Ridgw. Figure 28. The male is known at once I^y its swollen liill, and uniform black plumage except for a large white spot on the top of the head and another on the nape, whence the name "Skunkhead"; the female is similar, but with no white on the top or nape, but a "thumb-mark" of white at base of bill on each side. No white on wings at any age. Distribution. — Coasts and larger inland waters of northern North America; in winter south to Florida, the Ohio River, and San Quentin Bay, Lower CaKfornia. Accidental in Europe. los MICHIGAN BIKX) JJFE. This cluck is proljal^ly not as common in our waters as the preceding, but owing to its conspicuous markings it is more generally recognized and hence more often recorded. Like the others it is a bird of late fall, winter and early spring, but not so likely to remain through the winter as the White-winged Scoter. My. N. A. Eddy calls it less common in fall migration on Saginaw Bay. IMajor Boies secured one which was killed on the St. ]\Iary's River near Neebish Island about the middle of October; one was killed at St. Clair Flats October i;;, 1904, by W. H. Marquette, and mounted in Detroit (Swales); J. Claire Wood re- ]jorts a female from Detroit River November 10, 1903; E. Fig. 28. Surf Scoter— Male. From Hoffman's Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) W. Nelson saj^s it is common on Lake ]\Iichigan and adjacent waters (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 41). Kumlien & Hollister say "Not rare on Lake Michigan in winter, and usually found on all the larger inland lakes in late fall. Seldom taken in the spring, most of the specimens being j'oung or immature birds" (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 26). Like the other scoters this species feeds mainly on shellfish and spends much of its time in diving for this food. Its flesh is rank and fishy in consequence. It nests well to the northward, and we have no reason to suppose that it ever breeds within our limits. The ne.st and eggs are similar t(5 those of the other scoters, and the eggs, which are pale buff or pale creamy l)uff, average 2.47, by 1.70 inches. technic.vTj description. Feathers of the head extending much farther forward than those of the kires; sides of the upper mandible swollen at the base and naked. Adult male entirely black except for a squarish white patch on the crown between the eyes and a much larger triangular wliite patcli on the nape; wings withotit any white; bill in life conspicuously colored with black, red, and white; iris wiiite. Adult female mainly dusky gray or grayish-brown, somewhat ]ialcr on the belly, and usually with an indistinct whitish patch near the corner of the mouth; tlio bill not much swollen at the base and uniformly dark colored. Young in first winter similar to adult female, but the sides of the head with two indistinct white patches, one near tlie base of the bill, the otlier below and behind the eye. Length of male 20 to 22 inches; wing 9.25 to 9.75; cuhnen 1.30_to 1.60. Length of female IS to 19 inches. 57. Ruddy Duck. Erismatura jamaicensis (GmcL). (167) Synonyms: Spine-tail Duck, Fool Duck, Deaf Dvick, Shot-pouch, Bull-neck, Rook, Roody, Dipper, etc. — Anas jamaicensis, Gm., 1789. — Anas rubida, Wils. — Fuligula rubida, Sw. & Rich., 1831, Aud., 18.38. — Erismatura rubida, Bp., 1838, and most later authors. Figure 29. The small size, short, thick neck and extremely short upper tail-coverts, leaving the tail-feathers exposed almost to their roots, are points which WATER BIRDS. 109 serve to identify tliis species in any plumage. Wlien swimming its habit of carrying tlie tail erect, almost like a hen, often aids in its recognition. Distribution. — North America in general, south to the West Indies and through Central America to Colundjia; breeds throughout much of its North American range and south to Guatemala. The Ruddy Duck is one of the best known of the smaller ducks, its familiarity, its numbers, antl the manner in which it avoids the sportsman by diving, having made it familiar even to the youngest Nimrod, and it Fig. 20. Ruddy Duck. From photograph of mounted specimen. (Original.) has received more or less appropriate and distinctive names in all parts of the country. Trumbull in his "Names and Portraits of Birds" lists sixty-seven common synonyms for it, and doubtless there are others in common use which that writer did not happen upon. This little duck comes to us in large numbers from the north in October, passes southward before the lakes freeze over, and returns to us again in A])ril. While here it frequents ponds, streams and large and small lakes wherever suitable food is to be found. It is largely vegetarian in its diet and secures most of its food by diving. It is one of the species most often seen on protected ponds, particularly in parks and on reservoirs, where it doubtless does a large amount of good by eating the seeds and bulbs of water plants which might otherwise clecay and pollute the water. I once took from the crop and stomach of a single Ruddy Duck at Middletown, Connecticut, 22,000 seeds of ' a species of pondweed (Naias) which at that time was growing in great abundance in the city reservoir, where the Ijird was shot. Much difference of opinion exists as to the table quality of this duck, many writers averring that its flesh is coarse, tough and fishy. My own experience is just the reverse of this, and I have found the bird m autumn uniformly tender and well flavored. The birds scatter some- what in feeding, and, as they are commonly found in flocks of con- siderable size some are always on the surface serving as sentinels whde the others are feeding below. In flight they keep well together m compact 110 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. bunches and fly with great rapidity. Having once found a good feeding ground they are loath to leave it and will return day after day in spite of continued persecution. They are not easy birds to kill and the name "Shot-pouch" in common use in some parts of the country probably suggests the large number of shot which they can carry away._ The only description of the nesting of this species in Michigan waters which we have been able to find is that given by Langille in his account of the bird life of St. Clair Flats. It must be borne in mind that these Flats lie partly in Michigan territory and partly in Ontario, and we have no means of knowing the exact region in which the observations were made. Con- ditions, however, are nearly identical on the two sides, so that it makes little difference. His account is as follows: "Not infrequent in this locality is the nest of the Ruddy Duck, the birds being quite common about the channels. The nests are generally very slight, often scarcely more than a matting together of the tops of the marsh grass over the water with a few additional grasses woven in; sometimes, however, the nest is well made of fine grasses, especially if incubation be advanced; sometimes it is but a slight placing of debris in a decayed cavity of a floating log. the arrangement being so imperfect that the eggs may roll out. These eggs are pecuHar enough for a duck. Larger than those of the larger ducks, nearly white and somewhat granu- lated, they might easily pass for the eggs of some of the smaller wild geese; especially as the duck can scarcely ever be caught on the nest, but stealthily dives from it like a grebe, before the hunter can detect it. These eggs may be found as late as July " (Rev. J. H. Langille, Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci., Vol. 5, 1877, p. 36). In Michigan the Ruddy Duck is almost universally distributed during migration, but probably does not often nest within our limits. The late W. H. Collins reported taking its eggs, presumably at St. Clair Flats, and Mcllwraith says that he has seen it there in summer and has been told that a few pairs breed there every season (Birds of Ontario, 1894, p. 94.). E. W. Nelson found it breeding in Illinois (Birds of N. E. lUinois, p. 143). In North Dakota, according to A. C. Bent, it nests in "deep water sloughs," always in reeds, over water and surrounded by water, much like the Redhead and Canvas-back. He found the female the shyest of all the ducks, never flushed from the nest or seen near it, and showing no anxiety for its welfare. It is a late breeder, all the nests found during the second week in June being incomplete or with fresh eggs. The eggs, six to ten in number, are extremely large for the bird, rounded, pure dull white, with a finely granula- ted or roughened shell. They average 2.42 by 1.80 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male in full plumage: Entire upper parts of head and nape black; cheeks, chin and under tail-coverts piu-e white; front and sides of neck, back, rump, upper tail-coverts, scapulars, chest, sides and flanks, bright chestnut; remainder of under parts silver-white to silver-gray; tail black; wings brownish gray without white bars or colored speculum; bill in life light blue, feet and legs blackish; iris brown. Adult female without any chest- nut; the black of the male replaced by brown, and the pure white of the cheeks and chin by grayish-white or grayish-brown; the under tail-coverts pure white; tail brownish- black; most of upper parts brownish-gray, the under parts grayish or brownish white, often strongly tinged with rusty. Young of the year are similar to the adult female, but often show various mixtures, and young males frequently have chestnut feathers on head, neck and back. Length about 13.50 to 16 inches; wing 5.75 to 6; oulmen about 1.50 to 1.60. WATER BIRDS. Ill GEESE. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Head and part of neck pure white. B, BB. B. Wing-tips (primaries) black, rest of plumage pure white. Snow Goose (adult). No. 58. BB. Wing-tips not black, most of plumage grayish brown, wing- coverts bluish-gray. Blue- winged Goose (adult). No. 59. AA. Head and neck mainly black. C, CO. G. A white "cravat" extending across upper throat from cheek to cheek. Canada Goose and Hutchins' Goose. Nos. 61, 62. CO. No white cravat, but sides of neck spotted with white. Brant No. 63. AAA. Head and neck mainly brownish or grayish. D, DD. D. Face (i. e. forehead and feathers about base of bill) white; breast or belly usually with black patches. White-fronted Goose (adult). No. 60. DD. Head without white. E, EE, EEE. E. Rump white (general plumage grayish). Snow Goose (immature). No. 58. EE. Rump slaty brown. White-fronted Goose (immature). No. 60. EEE. Rump grayish. Blue-winged Goose (immature). No. 59. 58. Lesser Snow Goose. Chen hyperboreus hyperboreus (Pall.). (169) Synonyms : Snow Goose, Common Snow Goose, White Brant, Wavey, Common Wavey. — Anser hyperboreus, Pallas, 1769, Nutt., Aud., Baird and others. — ^Anas hyperboreus, Gm., Wils. — Chen albatus, Elliot, 1869. — Chen hyperboreus, Boie, 1822, Ridgw., 1881, Coues, 1882. — Chen hyperboreus albatus, Ridgw., 1880. Plate IV. The adult at a little distance appears to be snow-white all over; in reality it is so except for the outer wing feathers (primaries), which are black, and the bill and feet, which are dull red. The young are grayish all over, more or less striped with dusky above. Distribution. — Pacific coast to the Mississippi Valley, breeding in Alaska, and probably the entire Hudson Bay region; south in winter to southern Illinois and southern California; casually to New England. The Lesser Snow Goose is with difficulty separable from its sub-species the Greater Snow Goose {nivalis), both of which have been reported from Michigan and other parts of the Great Lake region repeatedly. The adults of both are almost precisely alike in everything except size. The present species, the Lesser Snow Goose, averages decidedly smaller than the sub- species nivalis, and in addition the bill in the latter bird is said to be "con- stantly longer and relatively more slender than that of the western bird, hyperboreus" (Bishop). The geographical range of the two species is widely different, for, according to Dr. L. B. Bishop, the Greater Snow Goose breeds only in Eastern Greenland and is confined chiefly in winter to the 112 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. coast of North Carolina, while the Lesser Snow Goose breeds froni_ the Hudson Bay region westward and in winter is found mainly if not entirely in the interior. We have numerous records of Snow Geese in Michigan, sometimes under the name of hyperboreus, sometimes nivalis, and occasionally with no indication as to the species or subspecies. It seems likely that without exception all these records refer to the Lesser Snow Goose, Chen hyperboreus, unless possibly specimens of the totally different Blue-winged Goose have sometimes been mistaken for young Snow Geese. The older records of Snow Geese from the state certainly are not reliable in so far as this question is concerned. The only satisfactory evidence at our disposition consists of the few specimens still accessible known to have been taken within our limits or very near them. Of these there seem to be in all less than a dozen, but without exception these prove to be Lesser Snow Geese. These, so far as I am able to record them, are as follows : One taken at St. Clair Flats No- vember 5, 1905 by a local sportsman and recorded by Swales and Taverner as the Lesser Snow Goose, after careful measurement and examination of a sketch of the bird by J. H. Fleming and Dr. Louis B. Bishop; one specimen, an immature female in dusky plumage, taken October 27, 1905 on Point Pelee near Leamington, Ontario; an immature specimen in the Barron collection at Niles, identified by the writer, and probably taken in the vicinity of Niles, although without data (Possibly this is one of the two specimens recorded by D. D. Hughes as shot from a flock of five in Calhoun county November 4, 1867; he states that both of these were mounted for his collection); an adult specimen in full plumage received from A. H. Boies of Hudson, who states that it was killed in Hillsdale county, Novem- ber 28, 1890. In addition to these positive records there are numerous records of the occurrence of Snow Geese in various parts of the state. Dr. Gibbs states "I have shot Snow Geese in Kalamazoo county, but am not able now to say which species, and the specimens are not available." O. B. Warren says "Occasionally seen in Marquette county during the fall migrations, one was taken in 1895." Mr. L. Whitney Watkins states that a flock of one hundred and fifty was seen at Manchester, near the boundary between Washtenaw and Jackson counties, April 2, 1894. Major Boies states that Snow Geese are "said on good authority to frequent the waters of Hay Lake and Monosco Bay, St. Mary's River." Snow Geese are also reported as not uncommon in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, but in most cases the records seem to be no more satisfactory as regards the sub- species than those of our own state. Mr. P. A. Taverner quotes Mr. J. H. Fleming of Toronto as saying that he has found only specimens of the Lesser Snow Goose in the collections which he has examined in Ontario. On the other hand W. W. Cooke states that both forms of the Snow Goose occur during the winter season in the lower Mississippi Valley. "It seems probable that in this district the Mississippi River is the approximate dividing line between the two forms, to the westward C. hyperborea being the more common, and to the eastward C. nivalis. Both forms winter as far north as southern Illinois, and the Lesser Snow Goose is abundant in winter in Louisiana and Texas. * * * i^ winters sparingly in southern Colorado, more commonly in Utah, abundantly in Nevada, and along the Pacific coast." (U. S. Dep't of Agriculture, Biological Survey, Bull. No. 26, 1906, p. 66). Under the head of the Greater Snow Goose Mr. Cooke states "There is 7f. 15 Plate IV. Lesser Snow I ioosr. Iiiirnature. From drawing bj' P. A. Taverner. (Original.) WATER BIRDS. 115 no sharply defined line in the Mississippi Valley between the winter ranges of the Greater and Lesser forms. In general the Greater Snow Goose is the more common east of the Mississippi River and winters from southern Illinois to the Gulf" (Ibid, p. 68). As seen in Michigan Snow Geese usually occur in small flocks of ten to forty individuals, flying at a considerable height and usually in an irregular flock, seldom in a straight line or the v-shaped flock so characteristic of the Canada Goose. When they alight to rest they sometimes select open water in some of the inland lakes or the larger rivers, but they also frequently alight in open fields, when, however, it is difficult to approach them and hence specimens are seldom obtained. Like all geese they get a large part of their food from the dry land, eating grass and other herbage freely in the manner of the domestic geese. Un- doubtedly Snow Geese are far less common at present than a few decades ago, and from present indications the last of them will be seen within a very few years. The Lesser Snow Goose is known to nest in Alaska and its eggs are described as two to six in number, dirty white, and measuring 3.13 by 2.12 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Primaries and primary coverts black or brownish-black; rest of the plumage pure white except that the feathers of head and neck (and occasionally the breast also) are often stained rusty red at their tips by contact with iron-bearing waters or mud. Bill in life light purplish and with a whitish tip or "nail," the deep gaping space along its sides black. Legs and feet usually purplish red. Sexes alike. Immature birds are mainly gray, paler and less marked below, darker and distinctly streaked above, particularly on the scapulars and tertiaries, the feathers of most of the upper parts with whitish edges, and the rump, upper tail-coverts and tail commonly pure white; under parts grayish or soiled white, becoming clear white on the belly and under taU-coverts. Length 23 to 28 inches; wing 14.50 to 17; culmen 1.95 to 2.30; tarsus 2.80 to 3.25. 59. Blue-winged Goose. Chen coerulescens (Linn.). (169.1) Synonyms: Blue Goose, Blue Snow Goose, Blue Wavey, White-headed Goose, Bald- headed Brant, Brant. — ^Anas caerulescens, Linn., 1758. — Anser coerulescens, Vieill., 1823. — Chen coerulescens, Ridgw., 1880. The adult is known at once by its white head and neck in strong contrast with the gray-brown body. The young of the year can be separated from young Snow Geese only by careful comparison with descriptions, although the wings resemble those of the adult and the white chin appears to be distinctive. Distribution.— Interior of North America, breeding on eastern shores of Hudson Bay and migrating south, in winter, through Mississippi Valley to Gulf Coast; occasional on Atlantic Coast. While this bird is far from common in Michigan it appears to be more often seen and taken than any other member of the genus. It occurs only during migration, or possibly in winter, and of course does not nest anywhere within our limits. The following are our records: The late W. H. Collins states that two specimens were taken at St. Clair Flats (Gibbs Manuscript). Mr. N. A. Eddy of Bay City, has a fine male in his collection, taken October 30 1885, one of a dozen or more which he found in the Bay City markets, said to have been killed on a lake on the Mackinac Division of the Michigan Central, a little north of Bay City, where a large flock was surrounded at 116 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. night and killed by sticks! There is a fine, full plumaged adult in the collection of the Marsh Club at Monroe, Michigan, killed there. Mr. B. H. Swales says that one was shot by Mr. A. Ralph, November 16, 1888 on Lake St. Clair, near the mouth of the Thames, and is preserved in London, Ontario (MS. List, 1904). We have an adult mounted specimen (No. 6560) in the college museum, taken on Loon Lake, Greenville, Michigan, April 30, 1895, and another specimen (No. 3574) immature, which probably is local but unfortunately has no record. There are also two, one adult and one immature, in the Kent Scientific Museum, Grand Rapids, but without data. Taverner records one killed at St. Clair Flats early in April 1909. These geese are similar in habits in the main to the Canada Goose, but are said to migrate by night, as well as by day, and to fly in less regular flocks, seldom in the characteristic v-shaped flocks so common with that 'species. The nest and eggs are unknown. In common with the snow geese they are known to sportsmen and gunners generally under the name of "Brant," the adult of the former being generally called White Brant, while the young of that species and both old and young of the present species are confounded under the common name of Black Brant. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Entire head and neck all round pure white; chest and base of neck brownish black, the feathers edged with ashy; breast, sides, back, scapulars and tertiaries brownish edged with ashy, the inner scapulars and tertiaries edged with white and with somewhat darlcer shaft stripes; belly and under tail-coverts white; back, rump, and upper tail- coverts bluish gray to nearly white; wings with the primaries slaty blue to black, the secondaries mainly black, the coverts blue gray; tail pale brownish gray, each feather tipped and margined with white. Bill purplish red, tlie gaping fissure along the sides black; legs and feet purplish red; iris brown. Sexes alike. Immature: Described by Ridgway as ' ' similar to the adult, but head and neck uniform deep grayish brown, only the chin being white." A specimen in our collection (No. 3574), however, has the back, wings and tail almost like those of the adult, but the head, neck and scapulars brownish gray with a bluish cast, darkest on back of the neck; the breast and most of the under parts light slaty blue with a brownish cast; the chin wliite. Length 26.50 to 30 inches; wing 15 to 17; culmen 2.10 to 2.30; tarsus 3 to 3.30. 60. White-fronted Goose. Anser albifrons gambeli (Hartl.). (171a) Synonyms: American White-fronted Goose, Prairie Brant, Speckled-belly, Speckled Brant. — Anser gambelli, Hartlaub, 1852. — ^Anser albifrons, Bonap., 1828, Nutt., Aud. and others. — ^Anser albifrons var. gambeli, Coues, 1872. The adult is known at once by its pure white face or "mask" (whence the name "White-fronted") in strong contrast with the dark gray-brown of the rest of the head and neck. Distribution. — North America (rare on the Atlantic Coast), breeding far northward; in winter south to Cape St. Lucas, Mexico and Cuba. This is an extremely rare bird in the state and probably can be classed only as a straggler. Mcllwraith states that he has a bird in his collection taken at St. Clair Flats (Birds of Ontario, 1894, p. 97), and Mr. J. H. Fleming, of Toronto, Ontario, writes under date of March 8, 1906 "There is in the collection of Toronto University a mounted White-fronted Goose, taken by the late Dr. Garnier of Lucknow, Ont., probably at Mitchell's Bay, Lake St. Clair." In the Barron collection at Niles, Michigan, I found an adult in good plumage, marked "Brant," but without any locality label. In all probabihty, however, it was local. It occurs WATER BIHDS. 117 in some of the older lists (Knceland, 1857), and 8to(duvcll states tliat. it is "common in Micliigan" (Forest and Stream, VIII, 23, 380). The bird is not now common anywhere in the Great Lal^e region, in fact in most places it appears to be only accidental. Kumlien & HoUister say "Formerly an exceedingly abundant spring and fall migrant, but of late years not at all plenty. Frecpients the large prairie corn-"fields " (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 28). It breeds in the far north, building a nest on the ground, of grass, weeds, etc., lined with down. The eggs are six or seven, greenisli-yellow, and average 3.16 by 2.07 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. "Adult: Foro part of head, all round, to about half way across lores and forehead, white; rest of head grayish brown (darkest next the white) as are also the neck and upper parts, tlie latter varied by distinct grayish tips to the feathers; lower parts grayish wliite, l>lotched or irregularlj^ spotted witli black; anal region, crissiun and tail-co\'erts wliite; greater wing-coverts ash-gray tipped with white; secondaries blackish edged with white; upper and under tail-coverts white; tail dusky, tijiped with white; bill light colored (yellow- ish or orange in life) with white nail; feet liglit colored (orange or reddish in life). Young: Sirailar to adult, but fore part of head dusky instead of white, lower parts without black markings, and nail of bill dusky. Length 27 to 30 inches, wing 14.2.5 to 17.50; cuhnon l.SO to 2.35, depth of upper mandible at base .90 to 1.20, widtli .85 to 1.05, tarsus 2.G0 to 3.20." (Ridgway). 61. Canada Goose. Branta canadensis canadensis (Linn.). (172) Synonjins: Wild Cloose, Common Wild Goose, Big tlray Goose, Honker. — Anas canadensis, Linn., 1758. — Anser canadensis, Vicilh, Nutt., And. — Bcrnicla canadensis, Boie, Baird, Ridgw., and others. Fiqurc SO. Known from any but Hutchins' Goose l)y its black head and neck and white "cravat," from this form by its greater size, the weight rang- ing from eight to twelve pounds. Distribution. — Temperate North America, breeding in the nortli- ern LTnited States and British Frov- inces; south in winter to Mexico. This is the Common Goose or Wild Goose of the country and is familiar to even the most unobservant from the fact that it passes northward in the spring and southward in the fall in large noisy flocks which fly ordinarily in the sliape of a V, the two sides of which are seldom ec[ual. It is usually stated that an old gander always serves as the leader and pilots the flock on their semi- annual pilgrimages. This may be true, but it is certain that different members of the flock act as leaders at different times, and it is not likely that any one individual is invariablv responsible for the direction of the flock. Fig. .30. Canada Goose. From photograph of mounted specimen. (Original,) 118 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. The knowledge which most people have of this species is limited to these occasional glimpses as the birds pass overhead. Only in favor- able localities do they alight, and then their stay is commonly of short duration. During foggy weather or heavy storms they occasionally take refuge in some small pond or river, but ordinarily they alight only on one of the Great Lakes where they are fairly safe from approach. Of course in certain places they stop to feed, frequenting stubble fields or corn fields, but unless the conditions are unusually favorable their visits to these places are made only in the morning or just at evening, and they return to the open water when their hunger is satisfied, or sooner if they are seriously disturbed. Probably a few spend the winter within our limits, since flocks are occasionally seen passing over even in January and Febru- ary. Formerly they doubtless nested more or less commonly all over the state, and it is not impossible that single pairs may do so still in favorable places. Dr. Atkins states that in August, 1883, a small flock passed over his house in Locke, Ingham Co., and Major Boies states that he thinks they breed sparingly in the neighborhood of Monosco Bay and Hay Lake, St. Mary's River, and he saw old birds in midsummer on Hay Lake. Kumlien and Hollister state that in Wisconsin "Fifty years ago it was a common breeder in almost any swamp or large marsh, or on the prairie sloughs. At present only scattered pairs nest as far south as the southern third of the state." (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 28). Butler says "They still breed in some numbers in the Kankakee region and less frequently in other favorable localities. They evidently begin nesting between April 15 and May 1, as nests with the full complement of eggs are usually found from the first to the third week in May" (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 637). The Canada Goose commonly passes through Michigan during March and April and again in October and November, mostly in the latter month. The average date of first arrival for five years was March 5, at Petersburg, Monroe Co., and March 13 at Battle Creek, while the average date for 19 years at various points in southern Michigan was March 14, and the earliest arrival was February 13, 1890, at Petersburg. In the same region the average date of last appearance in autumn is November 7, and the latest date November 25, 1890. Mr. B. H. Swales says "This bird aUghts on Lake St. Clair in large flocks in April, but is wild and seldom shot. A large flock was seen feeding in a meadow at Lake St. Clair Flats, April 30, 1905 — a late record." According to A. C. Bent "In North Dakota, in the Devils Lake region, the Canada Goose nests on islands in the larger lakes and sloughs. It is a very early breeder, the eggs being laid early in May and young generally out by June 1. The nest is a bulky mass of dead flags placed on the ground and very little hollowed" (Auk, XIX, 173-174). The eggs average 3.55 by 2.27 inches; they are white or greenish white, and usually five or six constitute a set. The young are readily domesticated, but at least for several generations it is necessary to clip their wings spring and fall lest they join some of the flocks of their kindred passing over during migration. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Entire head and neck black except for a white "cravat" formed by two con- spicuous cheek patches, which usually unite on the throat; rarely an imperfect white ring about the lower neck; upper parts mainly brown, all the feathers with lightfgrayish tips; rump and part of upper tail-coverts clear black, but the shorter coverts pure white, WATER BIRDS. 119 forming a conspicuous cross-bar; under parts light brownish-gray, becoming lighter on the belly and pure white on the under tail-coverts; wings, tail, bill, legs and feet clear black; iris brown. Sexes alike. Young: Very similar to the adults, but the black less pure and the white of cheeks and throat more or less mixed with dark feathers. Length 35 to 43 inches; wing, 16.60 to 21; culmen 1.55 to 2.70; tarsus 2.45 to 3.70 62. Hutchins' Goose. Branta canadensis hutchinsii (Rich.). (172a) Synonyms: Goose-brant, Little Canada Goose, Little Wild Goose, Small Gray Goose — ^Anser hutchinsii. Rich., 1831. — Bernicla hutchinsi, Woodh., 1853, Baird, 1858. Precisely like the Canada Goose in everything but size, the present species being from 25 to 34 inches long, the wing 16 inches or less, and the weight often not more than 3 or 4 pounds, and rarely exceeding 6 pounds, while the Canada Goose averages 8 or 9 pounds and often reaches 12 or even more. Distribution. — North America, breeding in the Arctic regions, and migrating south in winter chiefly through the western United States and the Mississippi Valley; northeastern Asia. The claim of this bird to a place in the Michigan fauna appears to rest mainly on the statement of the late W. H. Collins, who in a letter to Dr. Gibbs stated that he "had it, taken at St. Clair Flats." It was also reported from Michigan by Stockwell (Forest & Stream, VIII, 23, 380). It is a fair presumption that the species does occur here occasionally, since it has been taken in practically all the surrounding territory. Sportsmen who have the opportunity to examine freshly killed Canada Geese would confer a favor if they would weigh and measure any unusually small specimens and send the notes to us with the address if possible of the owner of the specimens. The specimen noted by Prof. Cook (Birds of Michigan, 2d ed. 1893, p. 47) as in Moseley's list of Michigan birds in the Kent Scientific Institute at Gr.ind Rapids, proves to have no locality on the label, and may or may not have been taken in the state; it is, however, only a small specimen of canadensis, not hutchinsii. Hutchins' Goose nests much farther north than the Canada Goose, along the lower Mackenzie Valley and on the shores and islands of the Arctic Ocean. Its nest resembles that of the Canada Goose, and is usually placed on the ground, although sometimes the old nest of a Fish Hawk, or some other large bird, in a tree, is used. The eggs are commonly four to six, white or buffy white, and average 3.18 by 2.10 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. In color and proportions of parts precisely like the Canada Goose, but averaging decidedly Length 25 to 34 inches; wing 14.75 to 17.75; culmen 1.20 to 1.90; tarsus 2.25 to 3.20. 63. Brant. Branta bernicla glaucogastra Brehni. (173a) Synonyms: Common Brant, Black Brant, Eastern Brant, Brant-goose, White-bellied Brant. — Bernicla glaucogaster Brehm., 1831. — Branta bernicla, Bann., 1870. — ^Anser bernicla, Nutt., Aud.— Bernicla brenta, Steph., 1824, Bd., Ridgw., Cones. Distinguished from any other goose by the entirely black head and neck with merely a small patch of white streaks or flecks on each side of the upper neck. 120 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Distribution. — Northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere; in North America chiefly on the Atlantic coast; rare in the interior, or away from salt water. This bird is properly a bird of the seashore and its occurrence inland is always to be looked upon as accidental. According to some of the early writers "the Brant" was at one time not an uncommon migi'ant across the western end of Lake Erie and along the Detroit and St. Clair rivers. Major Boies states that formerly it was no uncommon thing to see several flocks of this species passing up the Detroit River in spring, flying at a considerable height and rarely stopping to feed or rest; even during the spring of 1904 he states that he saw one or two flocks. Steere (1880) says it is a transient; Stockwell says "One shot on Sarnia Bay, two on the St. Clair Flats, and two on Torch Lake, all in Michigan" (Forest & Stream, VIII, 380). We are constrained to believe that all the foregoing notes on "brant" refer to the immature and dark colored Snow Geese and Blue- winged Geese, which are generally known as "Brant" or "Black Brant" among sportsmen throughout Michigan. Mr. O. B. Warren's record of the specimen taken in Calhoun county in 1884 (Cook, Birds of Michigan, 1893, 2d ed. 47), comes in the same category, for the Albion Museum specimen (personally examined by the writer) proves to be an immature Blue- winged Goose. There are, however, two specimens of genuine Brant in the collec- tion of the Monroe Marsh Club, taken many years ago on the Monroe marshes, but the exact date is not known. The taxidermist (Mr. Sauvage) who assures me that he mounted them, says that they were killed between 22 and 25 years ago, that is, between 1877 and 1880. They were examined by the writer in March, 1905, and are typical specimens, one, however, in immature plumage. It is possible, but not probable, that these are the birds recorded by Robt. B. Lawrence (Forest & Stream, Vol. 32, p. 316) as follows: "On November 8, 1888, John Boyse, a local gunner, killed at Monroe, Mich., a pair of Brant which were sent on to New York to be mounted by John Wallace. The said Brant were examined by Mr. George N. Lawrence and pronounced to be the common eastern species, Branta bernicla." It seems likely that this gives us two authentic records for the state, at least eight years apart, each record relating to two specimens, but all four from the same limited region. Mcllwraith records the Brant for Ontario some- what doubtfully, stating that "it seems partial to the seacoast" and "I have only seen it once, flying past out of range" (Birds of Ontario, 1894, P- 101). This species is similar in many ways to the other members of the genus, and builds a similar nest on the ground, of grass, weedstalks, or moss, lined with down. It breeds only within the Arctic Circle, and the eggs, usually four, are white or buffy white and average 2.92 by 2.02 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Bill, feet, and claws black; iris brown. Head and neck aU round, and a little of fore part of body, glossy-black, well defined against color of breast; on each side of neck a small patch of white streaks; frequently also white touches on eyelids and chin. Breast light ashy-gray, beginning abruptly from the black, fading on belly and crissum into white, shaded along sides of body. Upper parts brownish-gray; feathers of dorsal region with paler gray tips; rump darker; upper tail-coverts white. Tail-feathers, wing-feathers, and primary coverts blackish; inner primaries whitish toward base. Young: Similar; general cast of plumage browner, with more pronounced white edging on the wing-coverts, and tips of secondaries quite white; less distinction between colors of breast and belly; back of WATfiR BIRiDS. l2l head and neck rather brownish-dusky, and the patch of white streaks on side of neck hght or wanting. Length 24 inches; extent 48; wing 13; tail 4.50; bill 1.33; tarsus 2.25; minnlfi tnfi n.nn pln.-nr nKrtnf fVia cnrv.i.ri middle toe and claw about the same.' SWANS. KEY TO SPECIES, A. A yellow spot near base of bill, in front of eye; tail-feathers 20. Whistling Swan. No. 64. AA. No yellow spot on bill; tail-feathers 24. Trumpeter Swan. No. 65. 64. Whistling Swan. Olor columbianus {Ord). (180) Synonyms :_ Swan, Common Swan, Wild Swan. — ^Anas columbianus, Ord, 1815. — ■ Cygnus americanus, Sharpl., 1830, Aud., Baird and others. — Olor columbianus. Stein., 1882. Recognized on sight from its resemblance to the domesticated swan of our parks and gardens; to be confounded with no other bird except the following species, from which, if adult, it may be known by the yellow spot on each side of the base of the bill; the Trumpeter Swan has entirely black bill and lores. Distribution. — The whole of North America, breeding far north. Com- mander Islands, Kamchatka; accidental in Scotland. This beautiful bird is so conspicuous that it rarely escapes notice when migrating or resting by day. Although it is so wary as to be seldom shot, it is seen frequently during migration, both spring and fall, and is well known to gunners and lake men throughout the state. Single birds or small squads occasionally alight during bad weather in ponds and streams in various parts of the state, but it occurs most regularly on the Great Lakes, par- ticularly on Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit and St. Clair rivers. From the fact that it is such a difficult bird to shoot most specimens killed are preserved, hence we find specimens in nearly every museum or collection of any size in the state, and doubtless it has been taken in every county. According to Swales (MS. hst 1904) " It is a common migrant in southeastern Michigan from March 2 to April 15, and October 26 to November. Large flocks occasionally ahght on Lake St. Clair in fall, and commonly do so during the spring. Generally these are wild and wary and keep out in the lake." At Monroe, Michigan, Mr. B. J. Sauvage states that it is seen flying over nearly every spring and sometimes in the fall. At Petersburg, Monroe county, Mr. Trombley records 30 seen flying north April 2, 1894. Major Boies says it is "occasional in the spring and fall at Neebish Island, St. Mary's River." Mr. F. H. Chapin, in a letter dated January 4, 1905, says "A Whistling Swan in my collection weighed 15 pounds when alive. One year ago last November one was shot at Long Lake, Portage township, Kalamazoo county, which weighed 23 pounds. Possibly this was a Trumpeter, but I never saw the bird. Swans are seen on this lake every November but are rarely taken." r,. r^^ ■ Early in March; 1910, large flocks of swans gathered m Lake St. Clair, and on the 12th several were killed by gunners who were ignorant or care- less of the law. Four of these swans were subsequently confiscated by the 122 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. state game warden, Charles S. Pierce, who kindly gave two to the Agricul- tural College and two to the University of Michigan, and they are now on exhibition in the museums of these institutions. Kumlien and Hollister say "During late fall, just before" the larger lakes freeze over, this species is not at all rare in suitable localities" (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 31). Butler says "Formerly when these birds were more abundant they migrated in flocks of 20 or 30, and sometimes as many as 60, high in the air, in two converging lines like a flock of Canada Geese. It is said that there is not the noticeable movement of the wings as with geese, yet when traveling at their ordinary gait, with the wind in their favor, it is estimated that they travel at least 100 miles an hour" (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 640-641). This estimate of their speed is doubtless much too high, probably 50 miles an hour would be nearer the truth. It was this species of swan which was killed in large numbers at Niagara Falls about the middle of March, 1908, as noted in the newspapers and de- scribed in greater detail in some of the scientific journals. Large flocks alighted in the Niagara River above the falls and on two or three different days numbers were swept over the brink into the seething water and grind- ing ice below and were either killed outright or were so crippled as to be easily captured by hunters on the watch for them. On March 15 not less than 100 swans were thus killed (Auk, XXV, 1908, 306-309.) The Whistling Swan breeds in the Arctic or Sub- Arctic regions, the nest being a mere heap of vegetable rubbish on the ground; the eggs, 2 to 5, are white or buffy- white, averaging 4.19 by 2.72 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Hinder end of nostril nearer to the tip of the bill than to the corner of the eye, that is, usually nearer to the tip of the bill than the base, tail-feathers 20. Adult: Entire plumage pure white, the bill and feet black, a distinct yellowish spot on or near the base of the upper mandible; iris brown. Young: Ashy or brownish ashy, the bill largely flesh color and the feet grayish or whitish. Length about 4J feet; wing 21 to 22 inches; culmen 3.80 to 4.20; tarsus 4 to 4.32. 6S. Trumpeter Swan. Olor buccinator {Rich.). (181) Synonyms: Cygnus buccinator. Rich., 1831, Nutt., Aud., and authors generally. May be separated from the preceding, which it resembles, by three points, viz., much larger size; bill and lores entirely black in adult; nostrils placed midway between tip of bill and eye, or nearer the eye. In the Whistling Swan, according to Ridgway, the nostril is nearer to the tip of the bill than to the eye, and this point holds good at any age after the young are able to Q.y. According to Eaton the Whistling Swan is distinguished from the Trumpeter Swan by its smaller size, 20 instead of 24 tail-feathers, yellow or yellowish spot on the side of the bill, and particularly by the different shape and dimensions of the bill (Birds of New York, Vol. 1, 1909, pp. 236-237) . The difference in the bills most easily recognized is the fact that in the Trumpeter Swan the sides of the upper mandible are approximately parallel from base almost to tip, while in the Whistling Swan the bill is somewhat spatulate, that is, narrower in the middle than towards the tip. There are also anatomical differences, particularly in the manner in which the windpipe (trachea) is coiled or convoluted in the breast bone or sternum. This point, however, can be determined only by dissection. Eaton claims WATER BIRDS. 123 that the relative position of nostril and eye in the two species is not diagnostic. Distribution. — Chiefly the interior of North America, from the Gulf coast to the Fur Countries, breeding from Iowa and the Dakotas northward; west to the Pacific coast; rare or casual on the Atlantic. The Trumpeter Swan is a decidedly rare bird in Michigan; in fact it probably can be regarded only as a straggler. In his manuscript list of the Birds of S. E. Michigan (1904) Mr. B. H. Swales says "I can add no record to that of Dr. Garnier, who shot one at Mitchell's Bay, St. Clair Flats. Mr. Saunders writes me that he has no record of this bird, and has never seen the above specimen." Dr. Gibbs states that W. H. Colhns of Detroit wrote him that he "had several specimens, one taken in 1880." I have not been able personally to verify these records, and since the two swans are readily confused they must be accepted with some caution. Major Boies states that it is "More rare than the Whistling Swan, but occasional in spring and fall on St. Mary's river." There is an adult male now in the National Museum at Washington (No. 70317) which was taken at St. Clair Flats, Michigan, November 20, 1875 (Stejneger, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. V, 1882, 218). Mr. J. H. Fleming of Toronto, who kindly called my attention to the above record, also states that he has examined a supposed male Trumpeter, taken at Grassy Point, Lake St. Clair, Nov. 30, 1887, and now in a local collection at Toronto, which proves to be a Whistling Swan. Kumlien and Hollister say "Surely a very rare bird in Wisconsin at the present day, and it is not certain that it could at any time during the past sixty years be called common" (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 31). Mr. Albert Lane, Madison, Minn., says "Not common in Minnesota; seven specimens noted. The heaviest ever examined weighed 16 pounds and was fat; one fine adult male weighed 15 pounds" (Auk, XIII, 78). Mr. Butler tells of one shot at Valparaiso, Indiana, February 22, 1894, which weighed 24^ pounds and measured 50 inches in length and 83 inches between the extended wing tips. He says this specimen is now in the collection of Mr. Ruthven Deane, Chicago. (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 642). In general habits this species does not seem to differ much from the preceding, but it breeds farther south, although apparently some individuals nest as far north as any of the Whistling Swans. The nest and eggs are similar to those of the latter species, but the eggs are larger, averaging 4.46 by 2.92 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Hinder end of nostril nearer to the tip of the bill than to the corner of the eye, that is usually nearer the tip than the base of the bill, tail-feathers 24. Adult: Entirely white, as in the preceding species, but the legs, feet and bill entirely back the latter and the lores without any trace of yellow. Young: Similar to that of the Whistling Swan, but without yellow on bill or lores. , „„ . a ha i. a c\a Length 5 to 5i feet; wing 21 to 27i inches; culmen 4.30 to 4.70; tarsus 4.54 to 4.94. 124 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Order VII. HERODIONES. Herons, Ibises, Storks. KEY TO FAMILIES. A. Bill straight, sharp pointed (Fig. 36). Claw of middle toe pectinate (with a comb on inner edge, Fig. 37b). Family 20, Ardeidse. Herons, Bitterns, etc. Page 127. AA. Bill distinctly curved, the tip rather blunt. Claw of middle toe not pectinate. B, BB. B. Bill slender, curved throughout, the upper mandible with a distinct groove from nostril nearly to tip. Family 18, Ibididae. Ibises. Page 124. BB. Bill very thick at base, only curved toward the tip. Upper mandible without groove. Family 19, Ciconiidse. Storks. Only one Michigan species, the Wood Ibis. Page 126. Fig. 36. Head of Green Heron. Fig. 37. Foot of Heron, n. Seutellate tarsus, b. Pectinate claw. Family 18. IBIDID^. Ibises. (Only one Michigan species, the Glossy Ibis.) 66. Glossy Ibis. Plegadis autumnalis (Linn.). (186) Synonyms: Ibis, Green Ibis, Bay Ibis, Black Curlew. — Tringa autumnalis, Linn.. 1762. — Ibis faloinellus, Vieill., Bonap., Aud., Nutt. — Plegadis falcinellus, Ridgw., 1881, Figure 31. Its large size, chestnut and dark iridescent plumage, and decurved bill five inches or more in length, render the species unmistakable. At a little distance the living bird appears to be glossy black. WATER BIRDS. 125 Distribution.— Warmer parts of Eastern Hemisphere, West Indie. and southern portions of eastern United States, wandering northward to JNew ilngand and Illinois. In America only locally abundant and of irregular distribution. In Michigan this species can be considered only as a very rare straggler One was killed October 6, 1884 on a marsh near the shore of Saginaw Bay just west of Bay City. jMr. Newell A. Eddy, who got the specimen for his own collection says it is "a young bird, without doubt, of the year, wanting on the head entirely and to a considerable degree on the back the beautiful gloss and purple reflec- tions of the adult bird" (0. & 0. X, p. 9). This specimen, according to Moseley, was at one time in the Kent Scientific Institute at Grand Rap- ids, but I have failed ^to identify it. In Novem- ber, 1905, I examined this collection carefully and found two specimens of the Glossy Ibis; one a poorly mounted, imma- ture specimen marked " Grand Rapids, " and catalogued as No. 20189, but without other data; the other the skin of a male in full plumage (Catalogue No. 22018) which prob- ably_ came from the Gunn collection, but was without any data whatever. Possibly the mounted specimen is the one taken near Bay City in 1884; certainly there is no record of an additional capture at or near Grand Rapids. According to Covert (MS. list 1894-95), the late D. D. Hughes recorded another specimen taken at Marshall, Michigan. These cases are the only ones known to me of the occurrence of this species in the state. There are two records for Wisconsin, one for Ohio (Lake county, 1850), and one or more for Illinois, but apparently none for Indiana. At Heron Lake, Minn., it is said to occur singly or in pairs nearly every fall, and at least once has been found nesting (Nidiologist, II, 116). Mcll wraith also records the capture of two specimens near Hamilton, Out., in 1857 (Birds of Ontario, 1894, 105). It is a wanderer from the tropics, where it breeds in swamps, building a nest of the stems of marsh vegetation placed on reeds or low bushes, and laying usually three dark blue unspotted eggs, averaging 2.05 by 1.41 inches. In regions where it is abundant it is one of the most striking features of bird life. It is found usually in flocks, sometimes of many hundreds, which ,wade about fearlessly in the shallow water or through the open marshes, their dark metallic plumage glistening in the sunhght, and their quick motions and wheeling flight making a bird picture of unusual beauty. Fig. 31. Glossy Ibis. From_Baird, [Brewer and IRidgway's Water Birds [of North America. (Little, Brown & Co.) 126 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Feathers about base of bill blackish (lores naked); rest of head and neck, lesser wing-coverts and entire under parts, rich dark chestnut; upper parts, except lesser wing- coverts, dark purplish-green with strong metallic reflections. Bill, feet and legs dark greenish-brown, or black; iris brown. Bare skin between biU and eye dark blue. Sexes Length 22 to 25 inches; wing 10.20 to 11.85; culmen 4.30 to 5.35; tarsus 2.90 to 4.30. Family 19. CICONIIDtE. Storks and Wood Ibises. 67. Wood Ibis. Mycteria americana Linn. (188) Synonyms: Wood Stork, Wood Pelican (Catesby). — ^Tantalus loculator, Linn., 1758, and authors generally. Its stork-like appearance, bare head and neck, and strongly contrasted black and white plumage are distinctive. Distribution. — Southern United States, from the Ohio Valley, Colorado, Utah, southeastern California, etc., south to Argentine Republic; casually northward to Pennsylvania and New York. This bird must be regarded as a mere straggler to Michigan from the south. Our only positive record is furnished by Mr. P. A. Taverner, of Detroit, who found a freshly mounted specimen in a taxidermist's shop in July, 1910, and on investigation discovered that it was killed at Monroe, Michigan, June 19, 1910. It was an immature bird, and the sex was not determined. The only other Michigan report comes from Mr. John Hazelwood, of Port Huron, who writes: "I saw and shot at a specimen of the Wood Ibis at this place recently. I have shot this species in Texas and Florida, and a man that has once killed a Wood Ibis could always tell one again, especially if he was within 225 feet from it, which I was when I fired two shots at it. But the bird got away, hit quite hard with No. 1 shot. A large white bird with black wing-tips and black tail, is easy to tell. This bird was following in the flight line of migratory birds, and from this place it flew across the river into Canada, going southeast as far as the eye could see." Mr. Hazelwood does not know the exact date of this occurrence, but it was during the fall migration, probably in August. The Wood Ibis has been taken several times in Wisconsin, also singly in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. According to E. W. Nelson it was "very abundant in the vicinity of Mound City, 111., on the Ohio River, and at Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi, the last of August, 1875. One was taken near Cleveland, Ohio, in 1879" (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 43). Mr. John Hurter states that it was "abundant through August at a small lake in Marion Co., 111., in 1879, but all disappeared about Sept. 5. Counted fifty at one time" (Ibid., VI, 124). The Wood Ibis breeds regularly in the Gulf States, and, like some other water birds, wanders north after the breeding season. The nest is of sticks, placed high up in trees, and the eggs are two to three, white and chalky, with pale spots or stains of brownish; they average 2.74 by 1.80 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: "Head and neck bare; primaries, secondaries, and tail glossy greenish-black, rest of plumage white. Immature: Head more or less feathered; head and neck grajfish- WATER BIRDS. 127 2rS-^ win^^ Tj'^t^T^^' "''"* °^ P',"^'^,?,^^^ '"^ **>« ^•^^1*' l-^t more or less marked with ^ ll^^fK Q?f -^^ • ^'l'^ less greenish" (Chapman). Sexes alike. Length 35 to 45 mohes; wmg 17.60 to 19.50; culmen 6.10 to 7.30; tarsus 7.00 to 8.50 Family 20. ARDEID^. Herons. Bitterns. Etc. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Large; wing 14 inches or more, culmen over 4 inches. B, BB. B. Plumage entirely white. Greater Egret. No. 72. BB. Plumage slaty blue or grayish blue above. Great Blue Heron No. 71. A A. Medium; wing Gi to 13 inches, culmen 2 to 3f inches. C, CC. C. Plumage largely or entirely white. D, DD, DDD. D. Entirely white, legs black, feet yellow. Snowy Heron: Lesser Egret. No. 73. DD. Mainly white, but primaries tipped with slaty blue, and often scattered patches of slaty blue elsewhere. Little Blue Heron (immature). No. 74. DDD. Entire under parts white, crown and back dark green or greenish black. Night Heron (adult). No. 76. CC. Plumage with little white— at least on the upper parts. E, EE. E. Larger; wing 9 inches or more. F, FF. F. Plumage mainly slaty blue with maroon-colored head and neck. Little Blue Heron (adult). No. 74. FF. Plumage streaked above and below with brown, buff, black and whitish. G, GG. G. Tail with 12 feathers. Black-crowned Night Heron (immature). No. 76. GG. Tail with only 10 feathers. Bittern. No. 68. EE. Smaller; wing 8 inches or less. Green Heron. No. 75. AAA. Small; wing less than 6 inches, culmen less than 2 inches. H, HH. H. Under parts buff or buffy-white streaked with darker. Least Bittern. No. 69. HH. Under parts chestnut or rufous. Cory's Bittern. No. 70. 68. Bittern. Botaurus lentiginosus (Montag.). (190) Synonyms: American Bittern, Stake Driver, Thunder-pump, Poke, Marsh Hen, Indian Hen, Bog Bull. — ^Ardea lentiginosa, Mont., 1813, Nutt., Aud. — ^Ardea minor, Wils., 1814. — Botaurus minor, Coues, 1872. Plates V and VI. The combination of the brown, buff and black plumage with green legs, yellow eyes and the size of a hen is generally sufficient to identify this bird. Distribution. — Temperate North America, south to Guatemala, Cuba, Jamaica, and Bermuda; occasional in the British Islands. One of the most abundant of our waders, and well known to every gunner who hunts snipe or ducks. Unfortunately the bird is large enough to tempt most juvenile shooters, and so thousands of these harmless and picturesque 128 MICPIIGAN BIRD LIFE. birds are killed every year for no useful purpose whatever. Unlike many of our herons it neither roosts, nests, nor feeds in flocks, but is seen singly, or at most in pairs, during its stay with us. Arriving from the south as soon as the frost is out of the ground, sometimes even earlier, and lingering at least occasionally until the marshes freeze up again, it is well known to every observant citizen who travels much over Michigan roads. Its voice is unique, the names "Thunder-pump "and "Stake-driver" being attempts to indicate two of its commoner notes. These notes are often called "booming" which is the term regularly applied to the note of the European Bittern, but the term seems hardly applicable to the call of our bird. Good descriptions of the notes themselves and of the contortions of the bird while uttering them may be found in several of our standard works, one of the best descriptions probably by Bradford Torrey. This bird's plumage offers one of the best illustrations we have of protective coloration, the brown, black and buff-streaked plumage har- monizing so perfectly with the dead or dying marsh vegetation among which it is found spring and fall, that the bird is wellnigh invisible even when standing fully exposed. Moreover the bird takes advantage of its color and puts itself in such attitudes as will favor the illusion, one of its favorite positions being erect with legs, body, neck and bill all in the same line, the bill pointing directly to the sky. It often assumes this postiion in alighting and will sometimes retain it for several minutes, when it will suddenly relax, taking the ordinary appearance of a heron, and proceeding to look for its food. The nest is made of grass, weed-stalks, twigs, etc., and placed on the ground, among reeds, flags or bushes, and usually in marshy places; the eggs three to five are "pale olive drab, or pale Isabella color, averaging 1.88 by 1.43 inches" (Ridgway). According to some writers the nest is placed commonly on bushes and at a height of several feet from the ground, but we have never seen or heard of a nest so placed. Its food is of the most varied character, including animal matter of almost every description, but no seeds, berries or other vegetable materials. We have taken from its stomach fish, frogs, mice, snakes, tadpoles, crayfish, snails, and a great variety of aquatic insects, while Prof. Aughey of Nebraska has recorded one from Grand Island, Nebraska, killed in September, 1873, which had 16 grasshoppers in its stomach. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Forehead and crown brown, darkest in front, where it is mixed with blackish; chin wliite or creamy-white, divided by a narrow median brown stripe; side of neck with a conspicuous patch of glossy black, dull or slaty in some cases and bordered above by clear buff; under parts from neck to tail pale buif with broad streaks of light brown, each streak minutely mottled with darker brown or black; back and scapulars heavily mottled with buff, brown and black, the buff predominating; primaries light bluish slate, tipped with brown, their shafts black. Bill mostly yellow, the culmen dusky; legs and feet pale green; iris bright yellow. Sexes alike, and young quite similar, but autumnal specimens darker, browner, and more ricUy colored, spring specimens having a paler bleached appearance. Length 24 to ,34 inches; wing 9.80 to 12; culmen 2.50 to 3,20; tarsus 3.10 to 3.85. U 1 ,/f iif / 1 Plate V. Bittern. From drawing by P. A. Taverner. (Original.) 17 Plate.VI. Nest and Eggs of Bittern. From photograpirby Thos.'L.'Hankinson. (Original.) WATER BIRDS. 133 69. Least Bittern. Ixobrychus exilis (Gmel). (191) Synonyms : Dwarf JBitteni, Wils., Nutt., And. and others, recent authors. Little Bittern, Least Heron. — Ardea exilis, rUnel., 1789j — Ardetta exilis, Gundl., Baird, Riilgw., Coues, and most Figure 32. Known from all but the next (which is extremely rare) by its diminutive size — a veritable pigmy among the herons, its body hardly heavier than that of a Robin. Distribution. — Temperate North America, north to the British Provinces and south to the West Indies and Brazil. Less common west of the Rocky Mountains; on the Pacific coast north to northern California. This tiny bittern or heron is really an abundant bird in all suitable places in the state, but owing to its small size, peculiar haunts, and pro- tective coloration, it is seldom seen unless sought for especi- ally. It frequents the wetter marshes, particularly those covered in large part with heavy growths of cattails, wild rice, and reeds (Phragmites). Occasionally it is found in meadows which are not ac- tually flooded, or in the fringe of brush and water plants bordering a quiet stream, but those are excep- tional cases and it is never numerous in such places. Even where it is abundant the explorer who goes floundering and crashing through the thick flags is not likely to see it unless he stumbles upon the nest, or by accident frightens the bird so thoroughly as to compel it to take flight. Or- dinarily when threatened the bird selects a favorable place, grasps a twig or flag stem, stretches head, body and legs into one straight hne, and re- mains immovable — and practi- cally invisible — until the dan- ger is past. The nest is a slight platform or shallow saucer of twigs, sedges and grasses, in a tussock or low bush, or on a mat of broken down flags, always Fig. 32. Least Bittern. From Bull. Mich. Ornith. Club. (By courtesy of P. A. Tayerner.) 134 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE over or near the water. The eggs, three to six (usually four) , are bluish- white or pale blue, unspotted, closely resembling those of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and averaging 1.20 by .93 inches. This species when disturbed rises with a good deal of awkward flapping, much like most other herons, but makes fair speed when once under way. Apparently it migrates mostly by night, and it is one of the birds often killed by flying against wire fences, telephone and telegraph wires. We do not know that its food differs much from that of the other herons. In suitable places Least Bitterns are extraordinarily abundant, but the numbers vary much in the same locality from year to year. On Chandler's Marsh, Ingham county, we have known two collectors working together to find more than 20 nests containing eggs, and nearly as many empty ones, during a day's search. According to Dr. R. H. Wolcott many false nests or "roosts" are constructed in the vicinity of the one in which the eggs are laid. In the southern half of the state most of the eggs are laid between June first and 15th, and we have no reason to suppose that more than one brood is reared in a season. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Top of head, back, scapulars and tail deep greenish-black; the scapulars margined on the outer edge by a pale buS stripe; sides of head and neck buff, deepening to chestnut along the black cap and down the back of the neck; a brownish black patch on each side of the breast in front of the bend of the wing; entire under parts from bill to tail whitish or very pale buff, many of the feathers with narrow dark brown shaft-lines, and a darker stripe down the middle of the neck and chest; lesser wing coverts and some of the others light buff, but the greater coverts, tertiaries, and outer vanes of most of the secondaries, rich chestnut; primaries dark slate color. Bill brown along the ridge, yellow along the cutting edges; legs and feet greenish-yellow; iris bright yellow. Adult female: Similar, but top of head dark brown instead of black, back and scapulars lighter brown, the buffy stripe much wider than in male; the under parts darker buff and more heavily streaked with brown. Immature: Similar to the adult female, but most of the back feathers buff-tipped. Length 12 to 14 inches; wing 4.30 to 5.25; culmen 1.60 to 1.90; tarsus 1.50 to 1.75. 70. Cory's Bittern. Ixobrychus neoxenus {Cory). (191.1) Synonyms: Cory's Least Bittern, Cory's Dwarf Bittern. — ^Ardetta neoxena, Cory, 1886, and most subsequent authors. Figure S3. Precisely like the preceding in size and proportions, and very similar in color, but with much more chestnut, the entire under parts being of this color, more or less mixed or shaded with black. Distribution. — Originally discovered in Florida, in the Everglades, where all the earlier specimens were taken. Subsequently 16 specimens were taken near Toronto, Ont., one was taken in Wisconsin, one in Ohio, and at least two in Michigan. The first Michigan specimen was taken at Manchester, Augusts, 1894, by L. Whitney kWatkins (Auk, XII, 77), the second by Jesse Craven, at St. Clair Flats, May 14, 1904. Very likely the distribution of this species will prove to be the same as that of the preceding, and several ornithologists have suggested that Cory's Bittern may prove to be simply a color phase of the Least Bittern. Almost nothing is known as yet in regard to the habits of this bird, but what there is agrees closely with what we know of the other species. WATER BIRDS. 135 The nest has been found but twice, once by J. F. Menge, at Lake Fhrt, near Fort Thompson, Florida, June 8, 1S90, containing four young birds (Aulv, VIII, 309); and once at Toronto, Ont., Canada, June 15, 1S9S, where Mr. George Pierce, while collecting in Ashbridge's marsh, took a female from her nest. This was simply a mass of last year's reeds and contained one egg. The female, which was killed, contained another fully developed egg which agreed perfectly in size and color with the one found in the nest. Mr. James H. Flem- ing of Toronto, who examined the eggs, states that their color is much darker than average eggs of A. exilis, thougir lie has seen a single set as dark (Auk, XVIII, 106). The eggs found in the nest measured 1.30 by 1.00 inch. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Crown, back of neck, inter-scapulars, rump, tail, bend of wing, and under tail- coverts, glossy black; front of neck, abdomen, sides, and flanks, chestnut more or less mixed or shaded with smoky black, especially on the sides and flanks; primaries slate-color without light tips; outer secondaries gray without reddish tips, inner secondaries black; median wing-coverts chestnut, greater wing-coverts blackish-gray, the inner ones with chest- nut tip.s; no buffy margin on the outer edge of scapulars. Adult female: Similar to adult male, but the crown dull blackish instead of glossy black, and the back brownish- black without gloss. Young birds appear to be similar to adults of the same sex, but many of the dark feathers may be light edged or tipped. Length and other measurements practically the same as those of the Least Bittern. Fig. 3:3. From Bull. Mich. Ornith. Club. Taverner) Cory's Bittern. {By courtesy of P. A. 71. Great Blue Heron. Ardea herodias herodias Linn. (194) Synonyms: Common Blue Jleron, Blue Crane, Crane. — Ardea herodias, Linn., 175S, and most authors. Plate VII. Largest of our herons, but not to be confused with the Sandhill Crane (Compare Fig. 40 and Plate 7). The latter has a comparatively blunt bill, partly bald head always without long plumes, and the plumage rather 136 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE brownish or grayish; the Blue Heron on the contrary has a bill as sharp as a dagger, the head always well feathered and usually with elongated occipital plumes, while the general tone of the plumage is always bluish. Distribution. — North America from the Arctic regions southward to the West Indies and northern South America. Bermudas; Galapagos. The largest and probably, all things considered, the most frequently seen of any of our herons. While it feeds largely at night and is most active at morning and evening, yet it fishes more or less all through the day, and may be seen quietly watching or slowly walking along the edges of pond or stream at almost any time. It is rather wary and hard to ap- proach, but quickly learns to avoid dangerous places and to know those where it is safe. Its height enables it to look over the tops of the tallest grass and it seldom becomes so absorbed in its pursuit of fish or frogs as to allow the hunter to come within shooting distance, unless indeed the murderer is armed with a rifle. The Blue Heron feeds mainly on fish and frogs, but also eats immense numbers of crayfish, small snakes, salamanders, insects (among them grasshoppers), meadow mice, and almost anything of an animal nature. So far as we know it never eats vegetable substances of any kind. It breeds almost always in communities, placing its bulky nest of sticks and twigs on the highest branches of swamp trees, often selecting those which are dead. Sometimes several nests are placed on the same tree, and frequently 150 to 200 nests may be seen in a single heronry. The same place is resorted to year after year unless the birds are seriously disturbed. Probably every county in the state has, or recently has had, one or more of these heronries, but as the timber has been cut off and the swamps and marshes have been drained the birds have been driven from their nesting places until they are now found only in the more favorable spots. They are still far from rare however, and the location of more than twenty flourishing heronries of this species is known to us at present. The eggs are commonly three to five, bluish green, unspotted, and average 2.50 by 1.50 inches. The same nests are repaired and used year after year, and the eggs are laid rather early, in Kalamazoo county by the middle of April, and probably by the first of May in the northern part of the state. This species arrives from the south from the middle to the end of March and remains usually through October, while single individuals linger occasionally much later. One was killed in the streets of Lansing by a policeman, December 23, 1897. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult in breeding plumage: Forehead, crown, chin, and most of sides of head pure white; a heavy black stripe over each eye, uniting in a black drooping crest on the occiput where the longest feathers reach a length of 8 or 9 inches; upper parts, including most of wing-coverts and secondaries, light slaty blue; most of back feathers (scapulars and inter- scapulars) elongated into bluish or creamy-white slender tips; throat and breast grayish- white, or brownish-white, heavily streaked with black, the feathers of the lower neck with elongated narrow white or buffy tips; a large deep black patch, with some white, on each side of the breast; belly pure black with some white streaks; under tail-coverts pure white; thighs (tibiae) and bend of wing chestnut; primaries black. Bill yellow, darker on culmen; iris yellow; legs and feet black. After the breeding season the occipital plumes are shed and the plumage becomes duller and grayer. Sexes alike. Immature: No long plumes; no white on the head, the entire crown being blackish; chestnut markings paler or wanting; upper parts dull gray, often rusty; under parts streaked with ashy and blackish. Length 42 to 50 inches; wing 17.90 to 19.85; culmen 4.30 to 6.25; tarsus 6 to 8. Plate VII. Great Blue Heron. From pliotograph of mounted specimen. (Original.) WATER BIRDS. 139 72. Greater Egret. Herodias egretta (Gmel). (196) Synonyms: Great White Egret, American Egret, White Egret, (sometimes erroneously White Heron or Great White Heron).— Ardea egretta, Gmel., 1788, Wils., Nutt., Aud and others.— Herodias egretta, Gray, 1849, Baird, 1858, Coues, 1882. The large size and pure white color are distinctive. Distribution. — Temperate and tropical America, from New Jersey, Minne- sota and Oregon south to Patagonia; casually on the Atlantic coast to Nova Scotia. This large and beautiful bird is by no means common in any part of the state, but its snow white plumage, large size, and the fact that it frequents open marshes and mud flats makes it likely that a large part of the few individuals which occur in the state are seen and reported if not actually killed. As mentioned later it is possible that the species formerly bred or may do so now occasionally in the southern part of the state, but its normal nesting grounds are farther south and nine-tenths of the Michigan records for the species are in July, August, and early September. Occasionally several species of herons wander considerably north of their breeding grounds after the nesting season, and this habit is well marked in the case of the Greater Egret. Our records for the state are as follows: One shot at St. Clair Flats about 1886, and in possession of a Frenchman living on the Cana- dian Flats (Swales). "Three or four have been shot near Plymouth during my recollection; one of these is now in my possession. All were taken during the months of July and August" (Purdy). A specimen in the Broas collection said to have been taken in the vicinity of Bel ding; now in the Agricultural College Museum. A specimen in the collection of the Monroe Marsh Club, taken at least twenty years ago and mounted by Sauvage. The latter thinks that he stuffed this specimen in 1882. Ex- amined March 1, 1905 (Barrows). Mr. James Gunsolus, the present Keeper of the Monroe Marsh Club, says that he has never seen this species in the ten years or more of his connection with the club. A specimen taken on Saline River, Washtenaw county, August 15, 1877, one of four seen (Covert). A male taken July 12, 1886, near Ann Arbor, and another (female) taken July 22, 1888 in the same region, both by Covert. A specimen taken April 14, 1877 in Kalamazoo county, and in the collection of G. B. Sudworth (Gibbs). Another specimen, shot by William Glover on the Kalamazoo River, July 9, 1886, and now in the collection of the Michigan Agricultural College (Barrows). Dr. Gibbs writes "Every few years I hear of a number of these birds being seen about Kalamazoo. They are never numerous at any time, and I have not in my life seen half a dozen individuals all told." A specimen taken September 10, 1881, near Saline, Mich, and mounted by Norman A. Wood of Ann Arbor. Mr. Jason Nichols of Lansing saw four "White Herons" in that vicinity in the summer of 1883 and they probably belong to this species. There are two mounted specimens in the Barron collection at Niles, without data, but probably local. We have been told of specimens believed to be Greater Egrets, seen or taken, in five or six other places in the state, but have not been able to verify the statements. According to Amos Butler, this species formerly bred in some numbers in the Kankakee Marshes in northern Indiana (Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. for 1897). In his Birds of Indiana Mr. Butler has the following: "Breeds in some numbers locally in the northern part of the state (Indiana), and the lower Wabash Valley, in situations similar 140 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. to those occupied by the Great Blue Heron, and generally associating in the same colony with them. For many years they have been known to breed in Knox and Gibson counties. We know that it still breeds in some, and did very recently in all, of at least six or eight of the counties in northern Indiana; also that it is very rarely indeed observed in its northward migra- tions before breeding time. This indicates that these herons migrate by night. Mr. McBride says that at the heronries at Golden Lake, Steuben county [which borders Michigan], for several years, he often saw a few of these among the many Great Blue Herons, and while satisfied they nested, he could not determine which nest was theirs. Mr. Woodruff says "Mr. Chas. Eldridge found this bird breeding at Kouts, Porter county, Illinois, May 1885, and took a large number of their eggs. He found their nests in the same trees with those of the Great Blue Heron. He adds that he visited the heronries in June, 1896, and did not see a single specimen of the White Egret" (Birds of Indiana, 1897, 660). According to Kumlien and Hollister the Greater Egret was a common bird on the larger marshes and swamps bordering the inland lakes and rivers of Wisconsin 25 to 50 years ago. "Of late years, thanks to bar- barous plume hunters, it is rare, so rare at the present time that three or four individuals only visit Lake Koshkonong each year where hundreds were found thirty years ago during August and September. Young un- able to fly were taken from a colony in -a tamarack swamp near Jeffer- son in July 1863. It was found breeding with a large colony of Great Blue Herons to the westward of Two Rivers in June, 1880, also reported as nesting near Waukesha in 1866" (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 35). I can add nothing personally to the life history of this species in Michigan. We know that its food is similar to that of the Great Blue Heron; that it nests in trees, building bulky nests of sticks, and laying three to five blue eggs, rather darker than those of the Great Blue Heron, and averaging 2.28 by 1.60 inches Southward, where the species formerly was very abundant and nested in large colonies, known as "rookeries" or "heronries," there was great variation in the position of the nests; sometimes these were placed in the tops of lofty trees, even 100 to 150 feet above the ground, at other times on low mangroves not six feet above the water, while other nests occupied intermediate positions (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult in breeding plumage: Entire plumage snowy white; a train or large bundle of long, dissected plumes falls from the middle of the back, their tips almost or quite touching the ground when the bird stands erect. Legs and feet black; bill yellow or greenish yellow. After the breeding season the long aigrette plumes are lost, but other- wise there is little change in the plumage. The yoimg resemble the adults except for the absence of the long plumes. Length 37 to 41 inches; wing 14.10 to 16.80; culmen 4.20 to 4.90; tarsus 5.50 to 6.80. WATER BIRDS. 141 73. Lesser Egret. Egretta candidissima candidissima (Gincl.). (197) Synonyms: Little Egret, Snowy Egret, Common Egret, Snowy Heron, Little "\^'l)ite Heron. — .\rdea candidissmia, Gmel., 1789, Wils., Nutt,, Aud., and others, tiarzetta can- didissima, Bonap., 1855, Baird, Ritlgw., Coues and most recent authors. Figure 34- Kno-\vn by its small size, pure white color, and in the Ijreeding season by the peculiar plumes known as "aigrettes." Distribution. — Temperate and tropical America, from Long Island and Oregon south to the Argentine Republic and Chili, casually toNova Scotia and soutlrern Britisli Columbia. This species is much rarer in Michigan than the preceding. In fact its presence here must be considered merely accidental. Formerly it may have occurred regularly in the southern tier of counties, but there is little to indicate tlrat such was the case. There are a few good records for the state. Mr. Norman A. Wood of Ann Arbor has a mounted specimen in his collection which he informs us was talcen about four miles from Ann Arbor, on the Huron River, April 20, 1895. Ac- cording to marginal notes in ]Mr. A. B. Covert's copy of Cook's "Birds of Michigan," he (Mr. Covert) took a specimen near Ann Arbor in June 1895, and "an adult male in full plumage, Aug. 17, 1874." He has also recorded the capture of a specimen at Ann Arbor, April 9, 1872 (Forest & Stream, VII, 10, 147). In his manuscript list (1894-95) however, he states that all specimens taken in the state so far as he knows have occurred in the month of August. Dr. Gibbs states that "A specimen was collected in Kalamazoo county, August 6, 1877, and is in the collection^'of G. B. Sudworth. The species is not mentioned in the lists of Boies, Trombley, Miles, Steere, Hughes, Sager, Cabot or Stockwell." Mr.^Amos Butler states that "It is a not common migrant and summer resident in the southern part of the state; breeding locally in the lower Wabash Valley. Mr. Ridgway saj^s that it bred in Knox and Gibson counties, and J. A. Balmer says that although they varied in numbers from year to year they were quite constant summer residents in Knox county. In 1890 they were common about Swans Pond. This so far as known is their most northern Ijreeding ground. After breeding they roam over the country, soon extending their journeys, as may be gathered by reported occurrences, into Michigan, Ontario, and Manitolm" (Birds of Indiana, 1897, 662). Kumlien & HolUster say "A rare and irregular visitor from the south during August and September. Of late years very rare. We have never been aljle to trace a capture of Fig. 34. Lesser Egret. From Bird Lore. (Courtesy of Franic M. Ctiapman.) 142 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. the Snowy Heron north of Milwaukee, Madison, and LaCrosse" (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 35). This bird is said to migrate by day as well as by night, and it usually travels in compact flocks, often of fifty or even one hundred individuals. In Florida, where it formerly nested in abundance in low trees, it laid three or four eggs, which are similar in color to those of the other herons, but possibly a little greener. The eggs average 1.68 by 1.34 inches. The history of the persecution of this bird in the Gulf states is very sad reading. Formerly one of the most abundant of water birds it has been followed from place to place and driven from the more accessible nesting places into the most impenetrable swamps, until at present it is with difficulty that an undisturbed heronry of this species can be found. While the plume hunter is directly responsible for this, the demands of fashion stand back of it all, and the lax legislation which has permitted the slaughter must of course bear its share of the blame. The "aigrettes" or plumes so much sought after are found in perfection only during the nesting season, and in order to obtain them the parent birds are shot and their backs skinned at their nesting places, leaving the young to perish miserably from starvation. Anyone wishing to learn the extent and details of this abominable business should read Educational Leaflet No. 7 of the National Committee of Audubon Societies, and the annual reports of Mr. William Dutcher, the Chairman of this National Committee. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult in breeding plumage: Entirely white; a train of aigrette plumes growing from the middle of the back (interscapulars), their recurved tips extending about even with the tip of the tail, sometimes a little beyond; legs black, feet bright yellow in strong con- trast; bill black, more or less yellow about the base. After the breeding season the long plumes are shed, but there is no other change. The young resemble the adults except in the long plumes. Length 20 to 27.25 inches; wing 8.20 to 10.50; culmen 2.08 to 3.75: tarsus 3.15 to 4.50. 74. Little Blue Heron. Florida cserulea Linn. (200) Synonyms; Blue Egret. — Ardea caerulea, Linn., 1758, Wils., Nutt., Aud. — Florida caerulea, Baird, 1858, and most recent authors. Recognizable always by the size and peculiar coloration; often the young are mostly white, but the tips of the primaries are always slaty blue, and the legs and feet greenish yellow in the young, so that they could hardly be confused with the Lesser Egret, which they resemble closely in size and proportions. Distribution. — Eastern United States, from New Jersey, Illinois and Kansas, southward through Central America and the West Indies to Guiana and Colombia; casually north on the Atlantic cost to Massachusetts and Maine. This must be considered merely a straggler in Michigan and we have only a single unquestionable record, that of a full plumaged bird in the dark phase killed near Detroit May 2, 1882, by Mr. William S. Smith, 140 Grand River Ave., who has the mounted specimen in his possession still.* Dr. Gibbs states (MS. notes) that Dr. Atkins took a specimen in Ingham * Auk XXVI, 1909, 83. WATER BIRDS. 143 county, but Dr. Gibbs did not personally verify this statement, and I have been unable to get any confirmation of it. The statement appears not to have been published by Dr. Atkins, but occurred in a letter or manuscript which is not now to be found. In Covert's manuscript list of 1894-95 we find the statement "One specimen obtained at Geddes [near Ann Arbor], in May, 1876, by the late Dr. Joshua Jones of Chicago, III, formerly of Arm Arbor. That specimen is still (1895) in what remains of his collection at Ann Arbor." We have been unable to verify this record. Four specimens were taken at or near Aylmer, Ont., an inland town nine miles north of Lake Erie, in the summer of 1901 (Auk, XIX, 94), and there are several records for the species in Ohio (Auk, XVIII, 392) and Wisconsin (Kumlien and HoUister, p. 36). It was formerly abundant along the lower Wabash Valley in Indiana, where it remained all summer and nested (Butler, Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 664). In Florida and the Gulf States, where it is an abundant species, it is said to feed mostly by day, to be always found in flocks, and to nest in com- munities, placing the nest of sticks on bushes or low trees in or very near the water. The eggs are three or four, blue, unspotted, and average 1.73 by 1.28 inches. The immature birds, white or largely white, are often mistaken for White Egrets, and from the fact that these are commonly found associated with the blue adult birds, although flocks of either color are also found by themselves, the adult birds are often called Blue Egrets. But these birds never develop the slender and beautiful "aigrette" plumes, and con- sequently are not in demand by the plume hunter. As a result the species is still fairly abundant over large areas in the south where the Egrets have been almost entirely exterminated. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. "Adult with scapular and jugular plumes elongated, narrowly lanceolate, compact- webbed; occipital plumes slender, only a few of them much elongated. Color of adult usually uniform dark slate blue, with maroon-colored head and neck, but not unfrequently 'pied' with white, or even almost wholly white, with bluish tips to longer quills. Young usually pure white, with longer quUls (primaries) tipped with slate-blue. "Length 20 to 29.50 inches; wing 9 to 10.60; culmen 2.70 to 3.30; tarsus 3.15 to 4." (Ridgway) 75. Green Heron. Butorides virescens virescens Linn. (201) Synonyms: Green Bittern, Little Green Heron, Poke, Fly-up-the-creek. — Ardea virescens, Linn., 1758, Wils., Nutt., Aud., and others. — Butorides virescens, Bonap., 1855, Baird, Ridgw., Coues and most recent authors. Figures 35, 36, 37, 38. The measurements and general green color of the back and wings serve to separate this heron from any other. It is smaller than any other member of the family except the Least Bittern and Cory's Bittern. Distribution. — Temperate North America, from Ontario and Oregon southward to Columbia, Venezuela, and the West Indies. Bermuda. This perhaps is the best known of the smaller herons in Southern Mich- igan, but it does not seem to extend far northward. It is abundant in 144 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. suitable places as far north as Port Huron, Owosso, Ionia and Grand Rapids, but north of this latitude it becomes in- frequent or unknown. Mr. Newell A. Eddy states that it has not been taken in Bay- county so far as he knows. Dr. Dunham took a single specimen in Kalkaska county. May 2, 1898, but says it is not common there. Kneeland records it for Keweenaw Point in his list of 1859, and Major Boies reported a single one. seen on the St. Mary's River (Hay Lake), in Chippewa county, but these are the only reports from the Upper Peninsula. The Green Heron enters the state from the south about the first of May, the exact date varying about a week either way according to season and locality. Nesting begins before the middle of May, and from the fact that occupied nests are occasionally found in July it seems likely that a second brood is reared sometimes. It gets its common name of " Fly-up-the-creek " from its abundance along the wooded shores of our slow streams and the manner in which it Fig. 35. Green Heron. From Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's Water Birds of North America. (Little, Brown & Co.) Fig. 36. Green Heron. Head, showing occipital crest and naked lores. (Original.) will keep ahead of a boat, making short flights of 50 to 100 yards each time the boat gets too near, and after such a flight usually alighting in a tree or bush. Unlike most of our herons it does not seem to be at all social, and is never found feeding in flocks, but is seen singly or more frequently in pairs. I once saw five individuals along the shores of a muddy pond of a couple of acres, but this was exceptional. It is rather crepuscular in its habits, feeding and flying mostly at morning and evening, but fre- quently heard during moonlight nights, and often abroad all day during WATER BIRDS. 145 cloudy and rainy weather. Its loud and unmusical squawk suggests at the same time the croak of the bull-frog and the call of a young crow. The nest is carelessly built of twigs and small sticks, usually placed from eight to thirty feet from the ground and not necessarily close to water; we have known it to be built in orchard trees and shade trees at least a quarter of a mile from water, although it is more often found in the low trees and swampy thickets which directly border streams and ponds. The eggs are three to six, blue, un- spotted, and average 1.50 by 1.14 inches. Ordinarily the nests are widely scattered, but more rarely a small colony of three to six pairs may be found. Dr. Morris Gibbs visited five nests of this kind found "in willow bushes near a creek, from 4 to 10 feet from the ground" in Kalamazoo Co., in May, 1878. The food is varied, but in addition to the usual fish and frogs it eats large numbers of insects, not always aqua- tic. One taken at New Haven, Conn., "had the stomach filled principally with little salt-marsh minnows, and in addition contained an eel, some kind of a water bug, several grasshop- pers and two spiders " (Buck, Nidiologist, III, 37). One killed at Boone- ville, N. Y., had the stomach "filled with grasshoppers." Fig. 37. Foot of Green Heron. Showing partly bare tibia and pectinate middle claw. (Original.) TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Entire top of head dark lustrous green, blackish in front; back and upper surface of wings and tail green of nearly the same shade as top of head, the elongated, narrow interscapulars often with a bluish-white gloss and the slender shafts pure white; most of the wing-coverts narrowly margined with yellowish-white; chin and upper throat white, scarcely streaked; median line of middle and lower throat striped brown and white; entire sides of head and neck rich dark chestnut with a purplish gloss at the back; remainder of under parts smoky-gray; primaries slaty-blue; iris yellow; bill brownish-black above, greenish-white below; legs and feet green. Sexes alike. Young somewhat like the adult but with little clear chestnut or green; everywhere streaked with light and dark, and the wing-coverts with much broader light edgings than in the adult. Length 16.50 to 22.50 inches; wing 6.30 to 8.00; culmen 2 to 2.55; tarsus 1.75 to 2.15. 19 146 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 1 ,■ v \^^.J^^^^ 1 i 1 1 ^i?-°^^WT«B ^^nMB^ 1 3 K n fe ■ MBg^^^^ 1 1 eTjJ im ■«Ri*^^BM ^ 1^ ^^ Fig. 38. Nest of Green Heron. From photograph b.y Thos. L. Hankinson. 76. Black-crowned Night Heron. Nycticorax nycticorax naevius {Bodd>,. (202) Synonyms: Night Heron, Quawk, Squawk. — Ardea nsevia, Bodd., 1783. — Botaurus nsevius Briss., 1760. — Nyctiardea grisea var. naevia, Allen, 1872. — Nyctiardea gardeni, Baird, 1858. When adult never to be mistaken for anything else, the green-black crown and back, white underparts, thread-like occipital plumes, and brilliant red eyes, forming a unique combination. The immature bird, gray-streaked and with yellow eyes, might be mistaken for the common Bittern which has about the same size and general appearance, but the tints of the Bittern are much browner and the plumage never shows the white spots and streaks of the Night Heron. Distribution. — America, from Ontario and Manitoba southward to the Falkland Islands, including part of the West Indies. This odd and beautiful heron seems to be nowhere common in Michigan. It has been taken here and there throughout the lower half of the Lower Peninsula, but always singly and at long intervals. Most of the specimens taken are young birds and found in late summer and early autumn. Ac- cording to Swales (Birds of S. E. Mich., 1904) "It is now a rare bird and seldom recorded. * * * In 1904, May 5, one was taken at St. Clair Flats, and on July 16 I saw^one near the River Rouge." Langille says that formerly it was " constantly seen at the Flats in summer, sometimes in large flocks, and no doubt bred in woods not f ar"away " (Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci. 1877, 39). Mr. T. L. Hankinson found it by no means uncommon WATER BIRDS. 147 about Walnut Lake, Oakland county, during the early summer of 1906, but no evidence of nesting was obtained. We have no record of its breeding in the state. Boies states that "it is reported as breeding on islands in St. Mary's River, but I did not see one during my three seasons on the river" (Birds of Neebish Island). The report to which Major Boies refers is probably that given in Cook's Birds of Michigan by Hon. Chase S. Osborn of Sault Ste. Marie, but further inquiry has shown that the heronry on Espanore Island is tenanted only by the Great Blue Heron, and we have no reason to suppose that any colony of the Night Heron will be found so far north. It is rather remarkable that no colonies have been located in the state, but such appears to be the fact. The species breeds ordinarily in large communities, often as many as 500 or 600 pairs nesting within the compass of a few acres. Usually it places its nests in low trees, but in Wisconsin it has been found nesting more than once on or near the ground in marshes. Nelson states that under such circumstances the nests are placed among the wild rice, but Kumhen and Holhster (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 36) state that they have always found the nest placed among the cane (Phragmites). When placed in trees the nest is composed almost entirely of sticks and twigs. The eggs are commonly three or four, clear blue, unspotted, and average 2.01 by 1.47 inches. The species feeds singly, and mostly at night, and its food does not seem to differ materially from that of other herons. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Forehead pure white, entire top of head, including the occiput, dark bottle green, almost black; entire back and scapulars of the same color, perhaps a little greener, the upper surface of wings and tail uniform pearl-gray in strong contrast. From the long feathers of the occiput arises a slender, thread-like pliime less than one-eighth of an inch wide and six inches or more in length, made of two or three pure white feathers laid one within the other; chin, throat, and entire under parts pure white; sides and back of neck shaded with ashy gray, as are also the sides of the breast and body. Bill mostly black; iris bright red; legs and feet yellow or greenish-yeUow. Sexes alike. Young of the year entirely different; above, light grayish or buffy-brown, each feather with a tri- angular streak or spot of whitish; below pretty evenly streaked with light brown and white in nearly equal amovmts, the chin and upper throat mainly white with few streaks. Iris yellow; biU and feet nearly as in adult. Length 23 to 26 inches; wing 11 to 12.80; culmen 2.80 to 3.10; tarsus 3.10 to 3.40. 148 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Order VIII. PALUDICOL^. Marsh-dwellers. Family 21. GRUID^. Cranes. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Tarsus 11 inches or more, plumage mostly white. Whooping Crane. No. 77. AA. Tarsus 10 inches or less, plumage mostly slaty gray or brown. Sandhill Crane. No. 78. 77. Whooping Crane. Grus americana (Linn.). (204) Synonyms: Ardea americana, Linn., 1758, Wils., 1814. — Grus americana of most subsequent authors. The adult may be known at sight by its great size (decidedly larger than the Sandhill) and the pure white plumage with the exception of the black wing-feathers. Distribution. — Interior of North America, from the fur countries to Florida, Texas and Mexico, and from Ohio to Colorado. Formerly on the Atlantic coast, at least casually, to New England. This magnificent bird is now one of the rarest of our water birds east of the Mississippi River. Formerly it was not uncommon throughout the entire Great Lake region, and was seen singly or sometimes in small flocks by itself, occasionally associated with the Sandhill Crane. Its striking plumage and great size made it conspicuous wherever it appeared, and although well known it probably was never really abundant. So far as we can learn there are no recent records for Michigan which are unquestionable. According to Covert (MS. List 1894-95) one was taken at Geddesburg, Washtenaw County, Mich., June 8, 1877. In Covert's copy of Coues Key a marginal note says "Three specimens, Brighton, Mich., April, 1882, Chas. Gushing." Mr. Covert tells me that he remembers the fact of their capture, but nothing more. We have not been able to find a Michigan specimen of this bird in any collection. The record by L. W. Watkins of Manchester (Cook's Birds of Michigan, 1893, 2d ed. 52) doubtless relates to the Greater Egret, which is large enough to be mistaken at a little distance for the Whooping Crane. There is a record of one taken at Camden, Ontario, September 27, 1871 (Mcllwraith, Birds of Ont., 1894, 116). In Indiana, according to Butler it is "A rare migrant; formerly more common. It has been known to breed in Central Illinois (Nelson), and clear Lake, Iowa (Cooke), and doubt- less did so in Indiana. Mr. L. P. Myers says that in Lake county it is ex- ceedingly rare. It was a summer resident, but the draining of the Kankakee marshes has driven it away. Mr. Timothy H. Ball also writes of their former occurrence in Lake county, that they were common, but not so abundant as the Sandhill Crane" (Birds of Ind., 1897,669). Kumlien and Hollister say "Thirty or forty years ago it was not rare to see a few among the enormous flocks of Sandhill Cranes during the October migrations, WATER BIRDS. 149 and even flocks composed entirely of this species. Of late years adults are exceedinaly rare, and the last record we have of a Wisconsin capture is October, 1878, when a fine old bird was shot in Green county, and sent to Thure Kumlien. Newspaper and other reports of flocks of ' White Cranes ' and of specimens shot in various parts of the state of late years, refer to the Greater Egret and not to this species" (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 36). The nesting habits are similar to those of the Sandhill Crane, the nest a rude structure of weeds and vegetable refuse on the ground, and the two eggs olive or olive buff spotted with brown and gray, and averaging 4.04 by 2.50 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Plumage entirely white, except the outer wing-feathers (primaries) which are black; top of head, lores and cheeks naked, usually reddish, and with a few scattered black "hairs." Sexes alike. Young of the year, similar, but many feathers with yellowish brown tips, often giving a rusty tinge to the entire plumage; the whole head feathered. Length 50 to 54 inches; wing 22 to 25; culmen 5.35 to 6.80; tarsus 11 to 12. 78. Sandhill Crane. Grus mexicana {Mull). (206) Synonyms: Brown Crane, Upland Crane, Field Crane. — Ardea mexicana. Mull., 1776 — Grus pratensis, Bartr., 1791. — Grus fusca (part) Vieill., 1817. — Grus canadensis, Nutt., 1834, Baird, 1858, Coues, 1872, Ridgw., 1881. Figures 39 and 40. Comparison of the figures of the head of this species and that of the Great Blue Heron will enable the student to separate the two at a glance. The large size and . general proportions make'it impos- sible to confound the bird with anything else but the Blue Heron, and from this species it can be readily separated by the bald head and the gray or brown plumage, which is never blue at any age. Distribution. — Southern half of North America; now rare near the Atlantic coast, except in Georgia and Florida. Now that the Wild Tur- key is extinct the Sandhill Crane probably is the heaviest wild bird found in the state, unless pos- sibly the Whisthng Swan sometimes equals it. It is a decidedly larger bird in every way than the Blue Heron, with which it is often confounded, and its weight is at least double Fig. 39. Sandhill Crane. From Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's Water Birds of North America. (Little, Brown & Co.) 150 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. that of the heron. Although it belongs with the waders, and is often found in wet places, it has little in common with the herons and frequents upland pastures and plowed fields as well as grain fields in preference to marshes and swamps. Its food is decidedly unlike that of the herons, since during a large part of the year it feeds extensively on vegetable food, eating roots, bulbs, grains, berries, etc. as well as insects, frogs, lizards, snakes and mice. It is said to be especially fond of corn, which is taken from the shock, and in Nebraska Prof. Aughey found it feeding freely on grass- hoppers. Occasionally it may prey upon fish, but this certainly is not a common food, and we do not know of an instance which has been observed. While it migrates by night as well as by day it feeds mainly if not entirely during the day, in which respect again it is unlike most herons. Its flesh is excellent for the table, and it is hunted accordingly wherever it occurs. Naturally watchful and suspicious it has become still more so through persecution, until in most parts of the state at the present time it can be approached only with the greatest difficulty and must be shot with the rifle if at all. In flight it carries the neck and legs stretched out to their full extent in line with the body, and squads or flocks are often seen flying in single file like ducks or geese. Its note is not easily described, but once heard is not soon forgotten. One writer likens it to the sound of a coarse cow-bell, another to the rattling of blocks and tackle on shipboard when getting up sail; still another says it resembles the creaking of a gate or windmill, while I never hear the note without thinking of the sound produced in trying to get water out of a wooden pump which has run down and been long out of use. When heard at a distance of a mile or more the notes are not unmusical, but at shorter distances they lose all charm for the sensitive ear. The nesting habits are very variable in different parts of its range. In Michigan, so far as we can learn, the nest is invariably placed flat on the ground in rather open and extensive marshes, but usually on some small island or ridge of slightly higher ground where there is no danger of inunda- tion. The nest itself consists of weed stalks, grasses and similar rubbish, not very deeply hollowed, and rather carelessly lined with grass. The eggs are invariably two, and are spotted and blotched with reddish brown or gray on an olive or pale buff ground. They average 3.98 by 2.44 inches. In Michigan this species is now far from common. Twenty-five years ago it probably nested in almost every part of the state, and even ten years ago it was seen spring and fall passing north and south in small flocks in most parts of the state. Dr. Atkins of Locke, Ingham county, noted its arrival at that place in spring for 27 consecutive years. His earliest date was February 19, 1857, and the latest April 12, 1864. On 21 springs it appeared in March, and on 16 of these it first appeared between the 15th and the 31st. He found the nest with nearly fresh eggs on June 8, 1879. Until within eight or' 'ten years the species has nested every season near the Agricultural College, and the eggs or young have been taken frequently. Since 1900 the nest has not been found here so far as I know, although a few of the birds have been seen passing northward in the spring. One or more pairs spent the summer of 1910 at Chandler's Marsh, just north of the College, and undoubtedly nested in the vicinity. They were not noted during the summer of 1911, but a squad of 4 or 5 fed there regularly during most of October. Major Boies states that he noted but two of these birds during his stay WATER BIRDS. 151 of two years on Neebish Island in the St. Mary's River. Mr. L. Wliitney Watldns believes that they still nest in parts of Jackson and Washtenaw counties, and Mr. Edward Arnold of Battle Creek has known of their nesting recently in several places in the southern part of the state. W. P. ]\lelville states that he saw three adults and took a young one in the down on the plains south of Newberry (Upper Peninsula), Luce count}', in 190.3; Mr. Newell A. Eddy of Bay Citj' reports seeing eleven on the marshes near Seney, Schoolcraft county, September 25, 1895, and was informed by residents that they occurred there every fall. Single specimens are taken here and there through the state occasionally now, but it seems certain that its numbers are decreasing steadily, and before many years in all probability it will desert the state altogether, seeking nesting places farther north and west where it can find greater security. Fig. 40. Head of Sandhill Crane. From photograph of mounted specimen. The nesting date given above by Dr. Atkins would seem to be unusually late in view of the fact that Trombley records two fresh eggs taken in Mon- roe county, April 23, 1885, and L. J. Cole took two newly hatched young on Chandler's Marsh, Ingham county in May, 1898. Several writers state that the bird is an early nester, and we should infer that ordinarily the eggs were laid the last of April or first of May. Covert, however, records a nest found near Ann Arbor June 2, 1870 (Forest and Stream, VII, 10, 147), and we find among the notes of the late Percy Selous a record of a nest and two eggs at Burgess Lake, near Greenville, Montcalm county, June 30, 1894. 152 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Mr. L. Whitney Watkins, of Manchester, has in his collection the skin of a Sandhill Crane which weighed 12^ pounds. It is one of two which were killed at Fay's Lake, Jackson county, about 3 a. m., August 29, 1893, while "roosting" in water eight inches deep on a bar in the lake. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Head, crown, and sides of head to level of eyes, naked or thinly covered with small "hairs" (really minute feathers); chin, cheeks, and auricular region, pure white; rest of head and neck bluish gray, becoming browner on lower neck; rest of upper surface, including wings and tail, brownish gray, each feather margined orjtipped with dull white, or, on the wing-coverts, with rusty-brown; under parts clear gray to brownish gray, mottled with whitish, each feather having a wide margin of grayish-white; primaries slaty-black with pure white shafts; tail-feathers ashy brown to nearly black. Bill and feet black; iris yellow. Sexes alike. Immature: Similar, but much browner, the upper parts, and especially the upper surface of wings, often mainly rusty-brown; reddish margins on many of the feathers all over the body. Length 40 to 48 inches; wing 21 to 22.50; culmen 5.15 to 6; tarsus 9.90 to 10.65. Family 23. RALLID^. Rails. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Forehead with a bony or membranous plate or shield. B, BB. B. Toes with conspicuous lobes or flaps. Coot. No. 85. BB. Toes without lobes or flaps. C, CC. C. Plumage mostly slate color, flanks with at least a few distinct white streaks. Florida GaUinule. No. 84. CC. Plumage mostly bluish-purple and olive-green, no white streaks on flanks. Purple Gallinule. No. 83. AA. Forehead without trace of plate or shield. D, DD. D. Bill (culmen) more than an inch long. E, EE. E. Bill two inches or more, wing about six inches. King Rail. No. 79. EE. Bill less than two inches, wing less than four and one half inches. Virginia Rail. No. 80. DD. Bill less than an inch long. F, FF. F. Bill f inch or more, wing 4 inches or more. Sora; Carolina Rail. No. 81. FF. Bill less than f inch; wing less than 4 inches. Yellow Rail. No. 82. 79. King Rail. Rallus elegans Aicd. (208) Synonyms: Fresh-water Marsh Hen, Red-breasted Rail. — Rallus elegans, Aud., 1834' and most authors. — Rallus crepitans, Wils., 1813 (but not of others). Figure 41 ■ The cinnamon breast, barred flanks, and red eye are common to this species and the Virginia Rail, the latter, however, being very much smaller. Compare the measurements. Distribution. — Fresh-water marshes of the eastern United States, north WATER BIRDS. 153 to the Middle States, northern IlUnois, Wisconsin and Kansas, casually to Massachusetts, Maine and Ontario. In Michigan this species is confined apparently to the southern half of the Lower Peninsula, although it may occur as a straggler somewhat farther north. We have speci- mens taken near Sagi- naw Bay, and it has been found breeding at Grand Rapids. It is a common nester at St. Clair Flats, and is fairly abundant in the neigh- borhood of the Agricul- tural College, Ingham ^'^- "• I'oot of King Rail. (Original) county, although far less common than either the Virginia Rail or the Sora. Like all the rails it is shy, secretive, and rarely seen unless specially looked for. Most of the specimens taken are killed in the fall while hunting quail or woodcock with a dog, and at such times the rails are often found on dry ground adjacent to marshes. It seems to migrate entirely by night and ordinarily is rather quiet during the day, probably hke most of the rails feeding principally morning and evening, but more or less all through the night. The nest is placed usually in long marsh-grass, but little elevated above the ground, and is made of grasses and weeds like most rail nests. The eggs vary in number from 6 to 16 and are commonly about 10. They are buffy or cream white rather heavily spotted and specked with red brown, and average 1.63 by 1.22 inches. They are most often found in southern Michigan from the middle of May to the middle of June. According to B. H. Swales "Some breed at Grassy Island, Detroit River, just below Detroit, but they are much more abundant at St. Clair Flats. A nest found July 9, 1896, contained 9 eggs of the King Rail, 8 eggs of the Virginia Rail, and one of the Sora. The bird seen to leave the nest was a King Rail " (Bull. Mich. Orn. Club, I, 32). Undoubtedly the bird is much more common than it seems, yet Lower Michigan forms the northern limit of its breeding range and it certainly is one of the less common rails. Most of our correspondents call it rare, but along the eastern side of the state, from Monroe county to Sagiiiaw Bay, it must be considered far from rare. Its food is much like that of the Virginia Rail and consists of a mixture of animal and vegetable substances. According to Kumlien & Holiister "It occurs in much higher and dryer situations than any of the other rails, and often frequents stubble fields when not too far away from the marsh. We have found the esophagus literally crammed with oats, and in the latter part of summer and early fall the birds subsist largely on grasshoppers" (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 38). Prof. Aughey examined seven stomachs taken in Nebraska in August and October, 1874, and May 1875, and found locusts in every stomach, the number varying from 17 to 48. Each stomach contained also other insects and seeds (1st Rep. U. S. Entom. Com.. App. 2, p. 56). Owing to its nocturnal movements the dates of arrival and departure are somewhat uncertain, but it probably reaches Michigan early in May and leaves for the south during October, although individuals may linger until early November (Detroit, Nov. 5, 1905, Swales). 154 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. TECHiVICAL DESCRIPTION. Head and neck above olive brown; the back, including uj-iper surface of wings a lighter shade of the same color, heavily streaked with umber brown and black; Adult and tail, sides of head and neck redilish brown or cinnamon, this color continviin"; over the whole of tlic Iircast, which is unsjiotted; a white streak from the base of the bill above the eye, and a white spot below the eye; chin and upper throat pure white; sides and flanks black or bro"\\'nish black conspicuously barred with pure white; belly nearly white; primaries dark brown, their coverts bright rufous; edge of wing white. Sexes alike. Immature: Similar. Downy young, luiiform glossy black. Length 17 to 19 inches; wing .5.90 to G.SO; culnien 2.112 'to 2.,50. 80. Virginia Rail. Rallus virginianus Linn. (212) Synonvms: Little Red-breasted Rail. — Rallus \irginianus of authors generally. — Rallus limicola,'Vicill., 1,S23. Figure 4'^. Vei\y similar to the King Rail in everything but size, the present specdes being very much smaller. Disti'ibution: North Ameiica, from the British Provinces south to Guatemala and Cuba. Fig. 42.1 \Virginia Rail. From Mounted Specimen. (Original.) LTnlike the King Rail this species is found over the entire state and probably nests wherever found. It is, however, much more abundant in the southern half of the state than farther north, and probably in most parts of the Upper Peninsula it should be considered rather uncommon. S. E. White calls it rare on Mackinac Island; Major Boies saw only a few on Neebish Island, St. iMary's River, in the summer of 1893; and one was WATER BIRDS. 155 killed at Spectacle Reef Light, Northern Lake Huron, May 14, 1886. Throughout the Lower Peninsula it occurs generally wherever the conditions are suitable, but apparently it varies greatly in abundance in different places, and also at the same place in different years. In most places it seems to be less common than the Sora, but occasionally the reverse is true. It frequents wetter ground than the King Rail, and I do not remember ever to have flushed one in a dry field. The nest is commonly built among reeds, rushes, or cattails, and sometimes is only a slight platform of dead leaves and grass, while at other times it is a deeply hollowed and compact nest around which the growing vegetation has formed a complete screen and sometimes even a complete roof. The eggs, 6 to 10 in number, are creamy or buffy white rather sparsely spotted with brown. They average 1.24 by .94 inches. The food is a mixture of animal and vegetable substances, insects, worms, small Crustacea, etc., forming the major part during the summer, but varied more or less with fruits, seeds, and grains whenever available. The bird swims easily, but seldom takes to the open water, preferring to run about on floating vegetation or jump from tussock to tussock while feeding, and seldom taking wing, at least during the day, unless surprised. The flight is feeble and fluttering at first, the heavy legs and feet dangling for a considerable distance, but when the bird has gained good headway the feet are stretched out behind, in the manner of herons, and the bird flies steadily and with considerable speed. It migrates entirely by night, and is one of the species frequently killed by flying against telephone and telegraph wires and wire fences. It is also frequently picked up under electric light towers, where, in company with scores of other migrants, it has met death during thick weather. This bird is frequently killed by snipe shooters and is considered fair eating, although inferior to Wilson's Snipe. William Brewster speaks of the notes of the Virginia Rail heard in May and June, as "a succession of grunting sounds not unlike those of a hungry pig. Although by no means loud, they have a penetrating quality which makes them carry to a considerable distance." TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Head and neck above brownish-black, faintly spotted with light brown; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, black, streaked and spotted with pale brown; sides of head bluish ash; a whitish line from bill to upper eye-hd, and edge of lower eye-lid white; chin pure white; front of neck and breast cinnamon-brown, paler along the middle of the breast; sides and flanks black with narrow white bars; lesser wing-coverts bright chestnut; edge of wing white; under tail-coverts mixed black and white. Bill dark above, greenish- yellow below; legs and ifeet greenish; iris red. Sexes alike. Downy young, uniform coal black. Length 8.12 to 10.50 inches; wing 3.90 to 4.25; culmen 1.45 to 1.60. 81. Sora Rail. Porzana Carolina (Linn.). (214) Synonyms: Carolina Rail, Common Rail, Bail-bird, Ortolan. — Rallus carolinus, Linn., 1758, Aud., 1835. — Ortygometra Carolina, Bonap., 1838, Aud., 1839. — Borzana carohna of most recent authors. Plate VIII. Adult: Readily known by the short, chicken-like bill, black face and throat, and barred flanks. The short bill separates it from any other common rail. 156 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Distribution. — Temperate North America, breeding chiefly northward, but less commonly on the Pacific coast. Casually north to south Greenland. South to the West Indies and northern South America. All things considered this is our commonest Michigan rail, nesting abundantly in suitable places all over the state, and frequenting almost all wet places except the overflowed woodlands which have neither underbrush nor grass. Their favorite haunts are the extensive marshes of cattails, wild rice, reeds and sedges, but a pair or two can almost always be found in any small cat-hole in the pasture or woods, and they frequently are found along the ditches and swales which border the highway, even when there are no large marshes within sight. In general habits they are similar to the Virginia Rail, but in most places are more abundant and they also appear to be less shy and suspicious; at all events they are more often seen by the sportsman and the average pedestrian. They are decidedly noisy, their loud and not unmusical notes being one of the characteristic sounds of our marshes, most noticeable at evening, though often heard all night long. If one hides among the reeds, or merely sits quietly in his boat in a favorable spot, he is very likely to see one or more of these birds tripping lightly over the lily-pads or other floating vegetation, picking up insects, snails, or floating seeds, and occa- sionally fluttering up among the stems to catch an insect or reach a spray of wild rice. Mr. Chapman speaks of their ordinary note as a "clear whistled ker-wee, now and then interrupted by a high-voiced rolling whinny which, like a call of alarm, is taken up and repeated by different birds all over the marsh. They seem so absorbed by their musical devotions that even when calling continuously it requires endless patience and keen eyes to see the dull colored, motionless forms in places where one would not suppose there was sufficient growth to conceal them" (Handbook, 1904, p. 143). The nest is similar to that of the other rails, sometimes well built, some- times very carelessly, almost always, however, in vegetation which is growing directly in the water. The eggs vary from 6 to 15, and are buffy white of a much deeper shade than those of the Virginia Rail, and usually more thickly and heavily spotted with brown and purple. They average 1.32 by .95 inches. This bird is commonly shot by sportsmen and is considered good eating. After it has become fat on wild rice at the south it is much sought after and is the "ortolan" of the Washington and Baltimore markets. The name is an absurd one, having been transferred to this bird from the Bob- olink, which is now called Rice-bird in the same localities. The true Ortolan (Emberiza hortulana) is a European sparrow or finch about the size of our IBobolink and much prized as food in southern Europe. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Face and median line of crown black; rest of upper parts olive brown, spotted with pure black, and streaked and dotted with white; sides of head and neck bluish ash, this color covering all the lower neck and the forepart of the breast; auricular region brown like the back; chin and median line of throat black; lower breast and belly nearly white, faintly barred with dusky; sides and flanks distinctly barred with black and white; sides of breast shaded with olive, more or less dotted with white; under tail-coverts white, washed with rufous. Bill bright yellow, feet green. Sexes alike. Immature: Similar, but lores and stripe over the eye brownish, the bluish ash of head, neck and breast replaced by light grayish brown. Downy, young,' clear black with a tuft of orange colored bristly feathers on the breast. Length 7.85 to 9.75 inches; wing 4.15 to 4.30; culmen .75 to .90. Plate VIII. Sora Bail. From drawing by P. A. Taverner. (Original.) WATER BIRDS. 159 82. Yellow Rail. Coturnicops noveboracensis (GmcL). (215) Synonyms; Little Yellow Rail, Yellow Crake.— Fuliea noveboracensis, Gmel 17S9 — Ortygometra noveboracensis, Steph., 1824.— Rallus no\-eboracensis, Bonap., Aud Nutt — l^orzana noveboracensis, Cassiu, 185S, and most subsequent writers. Figure 43. The small size, general yellowness, and sharp white cross-ljars on the leathers of the back are distinguishing marks. Distribution.— Chiefly eastern North America, north to Nova Scotia, Hudson Bay, etc., less commonly west to Nevada and California. No extra limital records except for Cuba and Bermuda. VC^\i\^;^ f i.\X! :m: From Bird Lore. 43. Yellow Rail. (Courtesy of Frank JI. Chapman.) This little rail is one of the rarest of the family in j\Iiclrigan and specimens are far from common in our museums. Mr. A. B. Covert states that nine specimens were shot at Ann Arbor, Sept. 13, 1877 by one hunter, a single specimen now preserved in the University j\Iuseum being the only one saved. One or two were taken in muskrat traps at Vicksburg, Michigan, by D. Corwin of that place; one was taken near Kalamazoo City, October 19, 1890, and is now in the University of Michigan collection at Ann Arl)or (Gibbs, Oologist, Nov. 1890) ; another specimen was picked up mutilated and too much decomposed for preservation, in the center of Kalamazoo City, about the middle of September, 1900. This specimen was doubtless killed by flying^against the telephone wires (Dr. M. Gil^bs, The Bittern, Grand Rapids, 1901, p. 4). Dr. Gibbs also records another specimen taken in autumn (date not specified) near Kalamazoo, by Wm. O'Byrne 160 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. (Bull. Mich. Orn. Club, II, 1898, 7); and there is a mounted specimen in the Barron collection at Niles, which was examined by the writer in Novem- ber, 1905. This specimen has no label, but undoubtedly was taken in the vicinity. There are two specimens in the Museum of Hope College, Holland, Ottawa Co., taken by Mr. Arthur G. Baumgartel in that immediate vicinity, April 21 and 28, 1896. Mr. Baumgartel also states, in a letter dated September 13, 1907, that a third specimen was killed but was lost in the mud. Still another Yellow Rail was taken alive, but injured, on the university campus at Ann Arbor, Sept. 30, 1908, and was mounted for the museum by Norman A. Wood. One other record is that of a female caught by a dog, Mar. 25, 1908, just north of the city limits of Detroit, and now in the collection of P. A. Taverner (Auk, XXV, 1908,[327). Jerome Trombley, Petersburg, Mich., has a set of four eggs, which in size and coloration meet perfectly the requirements for this species, and which were taken May 29, 1894, in the township of Ida, Monroe county, Mich. Mr. Trombley did not take the eggs himself, but his collector described the bird which was flushed from the nest, and his description tallied well with that of the Yellow Rail. The situation was in a large cranberry marsh, and the nest was fastened to the tops of the long marsh- grass, the bottom resting on, or just reaching the water. It was composed entirely of marsh grass. Mr. Trombley says " From the size and appearance of both the bird and eggs the evidence is fairly conclusive, although it is not absolutely certain that the bird was a Yellow Rail." This species has been taken somewhat frequently in Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, according to Kumlien and Hollister, "This little Rail is not nearly so rare as generally supposed, though by no means common. We have authentic records for Racine, Milwaukee, Elm Grove, Delavan, Janesville, Milton, etc., and even breed- ing records as far north as Brown county (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 39). Butler says "Those who have met with the Yellow Rail agree that it is the dryer marshes, or wet prairies or meadows, that it prefers; the more decidedly marshy ground is frequented by the larger rails" (Birds of In- diana, 1897, 678). According to Ridgway, the "eggs are six or more, creamy-buff, densely sprinkled and speckled on the larger end with rusty brown. They average 1.12 by .83 inches." The species, though widely distributed over the United States, appears not to be common anywhere. It is even more difficult to find and to flush than the Virginia Rail, and specimens are rarely found without the aid of a good dog. Few people have studied the bird enough to recognize its note when heard, and so it is not likely to be detected except by syste- matic and prolonged search in favorable localities. Of course one may be found accidentally, but this is most likely to happen in the case of some sportsman who does not appreciate the importance of the find and makes no record of it. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Head, neck and breast brownish yellow, unmarked; ground color of upper parts the same, but heavily streaked with black and crossed with numerous narrow bars of}" white; flanks brownish black, barred with white; secondaries white; under tail-coverts light brown.J" Sexes alike. Length 6 to 7.75 inches; wing 3 to 3.60; culmen .50 to .60; tarsus .95 to 1.00. WATER BIRDS. 161 83. Purple Gallinule. lonomis martinicus {Linn.). (218) Synonyms: Sultana (Jamaica). — Fulica martinica, Linn., 1766. — Gallinula martinica, Lath., And., Nutt., Baird. — Gallinula porphyrio, Wils., 1824. — Porphyrio americanus, Swains., 1837.— lonornis martinica, Reich., 1853, Ridgw., 1881, Coues, 1882. The light blue wings, dark blue head, neck, and breast, green-tipped red bill, and yellow legs, form a combination which makes the adult un- mistakable. The young might be confused with those of the Common Gallinule. Distribution. — South Atlantic and Gulf States, casually northward to Maine, New York, Wisconsin, etc.; south through the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America to Brazil. There are but three or four records for this species in Michigan, so far as we know, and none is entirely satisfactory. Stockwell says "Accidental visitor in Michigan" (Forest & Stream, VIII, 361); Covert has a marginal note in his copy of Coues Key to the effect that a male was taken at Ann Arbor, August 12, 1879, but he does not remember any of the particulars of this capture, and the specimen cannot be located; Mr. B. H. Swales, of Detroit, writes under date of December 15, 1906 "There is a record that Dr. J. H. Garner of Lucknow, Ont., saw a Purple Gallinule at St. Clair Flats about ten years ago (about 1883) that was killed by some boys and examined by him but not preserved" (Biol. Rev. of Ont., Jan. 1894, p. 11). Campion (of Detroit) also says that he has mounted one specimen of the Purple Gallinule "from the Flats." There are several records for Ontario, the most recent being that by A. B. Klugh, who states that one was taken in Wellington Co., Ontario, near Guelph, about 1894 (Ont. Nat. Sci. Bull. I, 3). In view of the abundance of the Florida or Common Gallinule, and the further fact that that bird is hardly known at all to the average sportsman, it seems likely that the newspaper reports and occasional notes in sporting magazines refer to the Common Gallinule rather than to the present species, especially as the Common Gallinule in full plumage always shows more or less purple gloss which would tend to deceive the amateur. The bird is abundant in Florida and the Gulf States where it associates with the Common Gallinule and seems to have much the same habits. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. "Adult: Head, neck, and lower parts slaty bluish purple, darker on the belly and thighs; lower tail-coverts white; upper parts bright olive-green, changing to bright verditer blue toward the purple of the lower parts; wings brighter green than black, shaded with bright verditer blue; frontal shield dusky or bluish; bill bright red, tipped with yellow. Young: Above light brown, tinged with greenish on wings; beneath pale fulvous or buffy, the belly whitish; bill dull yellowish, and frontal shield much smaller than in adult. Length 12.50 to 14.00 inches; wing 7.00 to 7.50; culmen (including frontal sliield) 1.85 to 1.95; tarsus 2.25 to 2.50; middle toe 2.25 to 2.35." (Ridgway). 84. Florida Gallinule. Gallinula galeata (Licht). (219) Synonyms: Gallinule, Common Gallinule, Water Hen, Mud Hen (St. Glair Flats and Detroit River), Red-billed Mud Hen. — Crex galeata, Licht., 1818. — Gallinula galeata of authors generally. — Gallinula chloropus, Bonap., 1828, Aud., 1835. Figures 44 o,nd 45. Readily known by the general slate color, with the white under tail- coverts and a few white stripes along the sides. The red bill and the green 21 162 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. legs, changing to bright red close to the liody, separate it at once fiom the Coot, which is also called Mud-hen, but which has a white bill and green legs without an^r red near the body. Distribution. — Temperate and Tropical America, from Canada to Brazil and Cliili. The Gallinule, under tlie name of J\Iud-hen, is commonly confounded with the Coot, which is equally or more abundant in JMichigan. The Gallinule occurs in suitable places throughout the en- tire Lower Peninsula, but seems to be most abundant in its southern half. It is plentiful in the ^lonroe count}' marshes, along the Detroit River, St. Clair Flats, about Saginaw Bay near the mouth of the river, as well as at Chandler's I\Iarsh, Ingham county, and else\vhere in the in- teiior of the state. Its notes, flight, and general appearance are so similar to those of the Coot that considerable care is needed to discriminate tietween them, and many of the the records of "Mud-hens" probablj' reallj' refer to this species. It nests wherever found, and in some localities is extraordinarily alnnidant during the nesting season. The nest is commonly placed among the cat- tails or reeds, in standing water, or on small islands in very wet marshes, and the eggs are laid from the first of June to the middle of July. Those vary in number from eight to fifteen, and are buff j-- white to clear buff, spotted rather scantily with dark brown. They average 1.74 by 1.19 inches. This is one of our most graceful water birds, a fact which no one would suspect from examination of the distorted specimens usuallj' seen on museum shelves. The food consists largely of insects, most of which are aquatic, but it also includes many other forms, and Prof. Aughey examined a gallinule killed at Beatrice, Nebr. in September 1S72, which had eaten seven grass- hojipers, 29 other insects, and some seeds and other vegetable matter. Fig. 4-1. Florida Gallinule. From Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's Water Birds of North America. (Little, Brown & Co.) TECHNICAL DESCEIFTION. Adult; Head and neck all around dark slaty blue, alnrost black; Ijreast and l^elly similar Ijut paler; upper parts, including wings and tail, similar, but brownish on in- ner secondaries and rump; several conspicuous white streaks on the flanks; most of the imder tail-coverts pure white; only the central coverts clear black. Tip of bill yellow, remainder, including the frontal plate, bright red; legs and feet greenish, the half inch next the feathers orange. Sexes alike. Immature; Similar, but under ]")arts gray or nearly white; frontal plate much smaller, and no red on bill or legs. Length 12 to 14.50 inches; wing G.S.5 to 7.25; tip of bill to hack edge of frontal shield 1.70 to 1.85; tarsus 2.10 to 2. .30': WATER BIRDS. 163 Fig. 45. Nest of Florida Gallinule. From photograph by Thomas L. Hankinson. 85. Coot. Fulica americana Gmcl. (221) Synonyms: Mud Hen, White-billed Mud Hen, Crow Duck, Blue Peter. — Fulica atra, Wils., 1825. — Fulica americana, Gmel., 1789, and of authors generally. Figure 1^6. The scalloped membrane or web along the sides of the toes is distinctive, but even when swimming the bird may be known from the Gallinule, its nearest relative, by the milk-white bill and the white patch, apparently across the wing-tip, formed by the white tips of the secondaries. Distribution. — North America, from Greenland and Alaska southward to the West Indies and Veragua. An abundant bird during the migrations, on all the waters of the state, and breeding in all but the southern counties, possibly in all. According to Swales (Bull. Mich. Orn. Club, I, 31) it nests abundantly on Grassy Island in the Detroit River, just below Detroit. It also nests in numbers at St. Clair Flats, according to the same authority. Dr. Gibbs states that he has never found it nesting in Kalamazoo county, although the Gallinule nests there commonly. Cole and Hankinson found it nesting abundantly on Chandler's Marsh, Ingham county, and it nests commonly in all suitable places northward to Lake Superior. While it resembles the Gallinule much in all its habits, it frequents more open water than that bird, swimming most of the time, and apparently not attempting to run rapidly through the weeds and coarse vegetation, preferring to spend most of its time where it can swim. It is quicker to take wing, flies better and farther, and has a characteristic way of "patter- ing" over the water when taking wing, apparently trying to run on the surface while flapping vigorously, the wings themselves beating the water 104 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. at first. While swimming it lias a peculiar pecldng motion of the head and neck, a sort of exaggerated form of the bobbing of a hen in walking. : .The nest is a heap of vegetable rubbish, sometimes placed well up among the reeds and deeply hollowed, sometimes but little raised above the surface (if the water, occasionally almost floating like that of the Grebe. Langille found the floating type of nest invariably about Dickinson Island, St. Clair Flats. The eggs, from eight to sixteen or even more, are creamy or grayish white, thickly and rather evenly speckled with black, brown, and gray, averaging 1.91 by 1.32 inches. They are distinguishable at a glance from the much more buff')^ eggs of the Gallinule. During the migrations, and especially in the fall, the Coots collect in large flocks, sometimes of hundreds, and mingle more or less with various (lucks. They are much less shy than ducks as a rule, and as they seldom or never dive, and rise apparently with much difficulty from the water, they are readily killed even by the most inexperienced gunner. The flesh is palatal )lc, but not of the first equality. Coots are rather omnivorous, Fig. 46. Nest and Eggs ot Coot. From photograph by Thomas L. Hanliinson. eating grain, seeds, bulbs, snails, insects, tadpoles, and almost anything animal or vegetable which is available. In one case they were observed to tear off the feathers from a freshly killed duck and eat away a considerable portion of the breast (Taylor, Nidiologist, II, 56). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Col(3r in general jirecisely like that of the Florida Gallinule, but secondaries broadly tipped with white, and no white streaks on the flanks; the head and neck are often nearly black, and the slate color of the back and breast is purer and with very little brown gloss. Bill milky-white; frontal shield brown; iris red; legs yellowish-o-reen to greenish-slate. Sexes alike. Yovmg similar to adult, but frontal shield very small or lack- ing, and under parts largely white. Length 13 to 16 inches; wing 7.25 to 7.60; culmen to end of frontal sliield, nearly 2; tarsus 2 to 2.20. WATER BIRDS. 165 Order IX. LIMICOL^E. Shore Birds. Family 24. PHALAROPODID^. Phalaropes. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Front toes with marginal webs, but the membrane not scalloped (Fig. 47); bill longer than head, very slender. Wilson's Phalarope. No. 88. AA. Front toes with lobed or scalloped webs. B, BB. B. Bill about as long as head, very slender, cyhndrical. Northern Phalarope. No. 87. BB. Bill about as long as head, rather stout, flattened. Red Phalarope. No. 86. 86. Red Phalarope. Phalaropus fulicarius (Linn.). (222) Synonyms: Gray Phalarope, Sea-snipe. — Tringa fulicaria, Linn., 1766. — Phalaropu fulicarius, Bonap., Nutt., Aud., Baird. — Crymophilus fulicarius, A. O. U. Check-list 1895, and most subsequentauthors. The snipe-like form, but rather short, stout bill and scalloped web border- ing the toes, serve to identify this species in any plumage.^ Distribution. — Northern parts of Northern Hemisphere, breeding in the Arctic regions and migrating south in winter; in the United States south to the middle states, Ohio Valley, and Cape St. Lucas; chiefly maritime. When migrating this is a bird of the open water, usually the sea, where it feeds and rests in flocks, swimming as gracefully and safely as a duck, and found along the shore only when driven in by storms. In Michigan it is one of the rarest of the waders and has been noted only a few times. It is credited to Michigan by Stockwell (Forest & Stream, VIII, 22, 361). According to Mcllwraith Dr. Garnier saw a flock of six at Mitchell's Bay, near St. Clair, in the fall of 1880 and secured one of them (Birds of Ontario, 1894, 125). One was taken October 24, 1888, on Lake Erie at the mouth of the River Raisin, Monroe, Mich., and recorded by Mr. Robt. B. Lawrence (Auk, VII, 1890, 204). A second specimen taken at Monroe, October 15, 1894, by Mr. Lawrence, was kindly presented to the Michigan Agricultural College; it settled among the duck decoys of the Monroe Marsh Club and was alone when shot. Kumlien & Hollister state that "Small flocks may be met on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior in autumn, and occasionally straggling individuals wander to the larger inland lakes. Four specimens, one adult female and three young of the year, were taken on Lake Koshkonong September 3, 1891. We have but a single state record for the early part of the season, a solitary female killed by Thure Kumlien on Lake Koshkonong June 4, 1877" (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903," 41). This species nests in Arctic regions, laying three or four pale brown, heavily spotted eggs in a moss-lined hollow on the ground. The eggs aver- age 1.24 by. 86 inches. Eifrig found this a very common species about Fullerton and Southampton, in Northwestern Hudson Bay, laying the eggs, 166 Michigan Bmt) LiPfi. without nesting material, in depressions of the sand or moss, often in lichens, about the fresh water ponds (Auk, XXII, 238). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill sandpiper-like, about as long as the head, flattened and somewhat widened near the end, the tip acute; legs slender and snipe-like, but toes margined with lobed flaps. Adult, during fall migration: Entire under parts, with most of head and neck, pure white; top of head, nape, back of neck, and ring around eye, slaty black; rest of upper parts clear pearl-gray; the primaries and tertiaries black or slaty-black; wing with a con- spicuous white wing-bar, formed by the tips of the greater coverts. Immature, at same season: Similar, except that a few blackish feathers may be scattered over the back, and the tertiaries are margined with white or rusty. Length 7.50 to 8.75 inches; wing 5.25 to 5.50; culmen .80 to .95; tarsus .80 to .85. Adults in summer have the entire lower parts deep purplish ciimamon, and the forepart of the head as well as the top dark slate- color; it is doubtful, however, if specimens in this plimiage ever occur in Michigan. 87. Northern Phalarope. Lobipes lobatus (Linn.). (223) Synonyms: Red-necked Phalarope. — ^Tringa lobata, Linn., 1758. — ^T. hyperborea, Linn., 1766. — Phalaropus hyperboreus, Nutt., Aud., Cass., Baird. — Phalaropus lobatus, Ridgw., 1887, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895, and most subsequent authors. Known by its similarity to the preceding (including of course the pecu- liarly fringed toes) , but rather smaller, and the bill very slender, cylindrical and sharp, although about the same length. Distribution. — Northern portions of Northern Hemisphere, breeding in Arctic latitudes; south in winter to the tropics. This is another marine species which is hardly more than a straggler in Michigan. Dr. Gibbs states that D. D. Hughes, in his manuscript Orni- thology of Michigan, says that there is "A specimen in Mr. Barron's collec- tion at Niles; also one in the Hobson collection at Detroit, and said to be not rare on Detroit River in spring." We have not been able to verify any of these statements, and the only phalarope in the Barron collection in November 1905 proved to be Wilson's. Covert in his manuscript list, 1894-95, says there are but two authentic records of its capture; probably referring to the ones just cited. Mcllwraith quotes Saunders' record of "One found dead at Mitchell's Bay 1882" (Birds of Ont., 1894, 127). A skin in the Kent Scientific Museum at Grand Rapids proves to have been collected in Freeborn Co., Minn., August 29, 1878. I do not know of an actual Michigan specimen preserved anywhere. Kumlien and Hollister state that this species is "Much more common than the Red Phalarope. * * * Noted on Lakes Michigan and Superior in September and October, and a regular spring and fall migrant on Lake Koshkonong, though more often taken in fall than in spring" (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 41). In its habits the Northern Phalarope is quite similar to the Red Phalarope, migrating in flocks, usually over the ocean, at a distance from land. It feeds on small Crustacea and other marine animals found at the surface, and it swims and dives with the greatest ease. It nests far north, laying its eggs in a hollow on the ground, and they closely resemble those of the other phalaropes, being pale olive-buff, thickly spotted with dark brown, and averaging 1.20 by .82 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill very slender and almost cylindrical, hardly longer than the head; legs and feet very slender, the toes partly webbed, the edges of the webs and the sides of the toes being scalloped or lobed. Adult, during migration: Under parts entirely white, as also the WATER BIRDS. 167 forehead, line over the eye, and the sides of the neck; top of head gray, more or less streaked with dusky; a blackish spot in front of the eye and more or less dusky and gray behind and below the eye; upper parts gray or bluish gray. Young, during fall migration : Similar, but more streaked above, the feathers of bade mostly margined with buffy, the middle wing-coverts bordered with white or yellowish white. Length 7 to 8 inches; wing 4 to 4.45; culmen .80 to .90; tarsus .75 to .80. In summer the sides of the neck and a con- siderable part of the upper breast are reddish brown, more conspicuous in the female than in the male; if is doubtful, however, if this species is ever seen in this plumage in Michigan. 88. Wilson's Phalarope. Steganopus tricolor Vieill. (224) Synonyms: Summer Phalarope. — Phalaropus lobatus, Wils., 1825. — Phalaropus Wilsoni, Sab., 1823, Nutt., Aud., Cass., Baird. — Steganopus Wilsoni, Coues, Ridgw. — Steganopus tricolor, Vieill., 1819. — Phalaropus tricolor, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895. Figure 47. The combination of a snipe-like form and action, with the thick elastic plumage of a duck and the web-margined toes, is common to the three species of phalarope, but the present species is distinguished easily by its superior size, the absence of lobes in the toe webs, and especially by the slender bill from an inch to an inch and a quarter long. Distribution. — Temperate North America, chiefly the interior, breeding from northern Illinois and Utah northward to the Saskatchewan region; south in winter to Brazil and Patagonia. This bird, both in structure and habits, is more snipe-like or sandpiper- hke than either of the others. Confined almost entirely to fresh water lakes and marshes it is less often seen swimming on the open lake, more often found wading in the marshy pools or swimming there in small flocks. According to Nelson "The charming grace of movement exhibited at such times, combined with their tasteful elegance of attire, form one of the most pleasing sights one could witness, as they swim buoyantly from side to side of the pool, gracefully nodding their heads; now pausing an instant to arrange a feather or to daintily gather some fragment of food, and now floating idly about, wafted by the shght breeze which at intervals ripples the surface of the water. A more common, but scarcely less pleasing sight is presented when, unconscious of observation, they walk sedately along the border of the water, never departing from their usual easy grace of movement" (Bull. Nutt. Club, II, 41). The same writer states that the male commonly prepares the nest and attends to the whole duty of incubation, but the female remains in the vicinity and evidently helps care for the young, although the females disappear about the middle of July, before the males and young. The nest is said to be a shallow depression in the soft earth, which is usually lined with a thin layer of fragments of old grass blades, upon which the eggs, numbering from three to four, are deposited about the last of May or first of June. Owing to the low situations in which the nests are placed the first set of eggs is often destroyed by a heavy fall of rain, causing the water to rise so as to submerge the nest. Wilson's Phalar- (Original.) In this case 168 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFJE. the second set, numbering two or three, are often deposited in a depression scratched in the ground, as at first, but with no sign of any lining. Ac- cidents of this land cause the second set of eggs to be deposited sometimes as late as the last of June (Nelson). These notes relate to northeastern lUinois, where in suitable places the species is actually abundant, not exceeded in numbers, says Mr. Nelson, by even the ever-present Spotted Sandpiper. Wilson's Phalarope is far from common in Michigan. Dr. Gibbs and two companions shot five in Kalamazoo county from a flock of fifteen or twenty. May 21, 1878, and Dr. Gibbs states that another man shot a single specimen September 8 of the same year. There is a specimen in the collec- tion of C. J. Davis, Lansing, taken at Chandler's Marsh, Ingham county, probably about 1892 or 1893, and T. L. Hankinson took a pair at Chandler's Marsh June 21, 1897, and was sure they were breeding. Mr. Saunders records one killed at Mitchell's Bay, St. Clair Flats in May 1882 (Mcllwraith, Birds of Ont., 1894, 128); and J. Claire Wood (letter, July 28, 1905) says " In June, 1900, my brother saw one specimen at St. Clair Flats, and Jesse Craven saw a pair there under circumstances that convinced him they were breeding." May 9, 1906 Mr. J. Claire Wood saw a pair of these phalaropes in Ecorse township, Wayne County, and on May 12, Mr. P A. Taverner took a female in full plumage near the same place (Auk, XXIII, 1906, 335). Mr. A. B. Covert records the taking of a male and female on the Huron River, near Ann Arbor, April 19, 1887 (Marginal note Coues Key). The same collector has also recorded a nest with both parent birds secured at Portage Lake, 26 miles north of Ann Arbor, July 2, 1875 (Forest & Stream, VI, 25, 402). Mr. Stewart E. White says it is uncommon at Grand Rapids (MS. List 1885). It is also included in Kneeland's List of the Birds of Keweenaw Point, 1859, a doubtful record. The above records indicate that although the species is widely distributed in Michigan it is nowhere common. The eggs are described as cream buff or grayish buff, heavily spotted with dark brown or black; they average 1.28 by .90 inches. The food of all the phalaropes seems to consist entirely of animal forms, and mainly of minute mollusca, Crustacea, and aquatic insects. The present species, however, does not confine itself to aquatic forms, but eats a great variety of insects, including many terrestrial species. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill decidedly longer than the head, very slender, almost cylindrical; legs slender, toes slightly webbed at base, with a narrow marginal web along each toe, but without scallops or lobes. Adult female in summer: Entire top of head bluish-gray, whitening on the nape and hind neck and becoming darker blue-gray on the middle of the back; a black stripe through the eye, expanding into a, large black patch on the side of the neck and continued as a broad chestnut stripe along the side of the neck to the middle of the back; chin and upper throat white, as also the breast and the belly; the middle of the throat more or less washed with rufous and pale chestnut; sides and flanks grayish; rump and upper tail-coverts white, sometimes buffy tinted; wings brownish gray, the outer primaries with white shafts; tail-feathers largely white, broadly margined with gray. The adult male in summer is smaller and much less conspicuous, lacking almost entirely the strongly contrasted pearl-gray, chestnut, and black, and being simply grayish above and white below. In any plumage, however, the bird is recognizable by the details of bill and feet. Length of female 9.40 to 10 inches; wing 5.20 to 5.30; culmen 1.30 to 1.35; tarsus 1.30 to 1.35. Length of adult male 8.25 to 9 inches; wing 4.75 to 4.80; culmen 1.25- tarsus 1 20 to 1.25. WATER BIRDS. 169 Family 25. RECURVIROSTRID^. Stilts and Avocets. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Front toe fully webbed, hind toe present. Avocet. No. 89. AA. Front toes slightly webbed, no hind toe. Stilt. No. 90. 89. Avocet. Recurvirostra americana Gmel. (225) Synonyms: American Avocet. — Recurvirostra occidentalis, Vig., 1829. — Recurvirostras americana of most authors. Recognized at once by the sharp, slender, snipe-like bill turned up toward the tip very decidedly. It can be mistaken for no other bird, except possibly for the Black-necked Stilt, but the latter species has the bill slightly or not at all turned upward, and has the back of the neck clear black while the Avocet has the neck cinnamon or white. Distribution. — Temperate North America, north to the Saskatchewan and Great Slave Lake; in winter south to Guatemala and the West Indies. Rare in the eastern United States. One of our very rare waders, and apparently much less common now than formerly. "W. H. Collins records one specimen taken at St. Clair Flats in 1874, and preserved in the collection of the Audubon Club, in the Museum of the Detroit Scientific Association" (Gibbs, American Field, Nov. 10, 1894). Mr. B. H. Swales writes me from Detroit (May 28, 1906) "There is an Avocet at Campion's which Colhns mounted, and it may be the same bird that he is understood to have taken at the Flats. Campion tells me that when he came here he secured a lot of Collins' birds and that there was a list with data, but this was destroyed." According to Moseley there is, or was, a specimen in the Kent Scientific Institute at Grand Rapids, and Dr. R. H. Wolcott writes that the specimen was collected in that immediate vicinity. In November, 1905, I found a mounted specimen of the Avocet in the Kent Scientific Museum, bearing the catalogue number 20220, but with absolutely no data from which its origin could be traced. There are several records for Toronto, Ont., a number for Wisconsin (Kumlien and HoUister p. 42), and it has been taken in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois (Butler's Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 695). It is not known to nest in Michigan, and occurs probably only during the northward migration in May and the southward migration is September and October. It is an abundant species about the alkaline lakes of the Great Basin region of the west, and occurs frequently of late years in the irrigated regions of Arizona and southern California. It may nest anywhere in the United States. The nest is placed on the ground; the eggs are three or four, pale olive or buffy olive, thickly spotted with brown and black, and averaging 1.93 by 1.35 inches. In habits the Avocet much resembles the Yellow-legs, frequenting sand bars, mud flats and the shallow margins of lakes and streams, where it feeds like a sandpiper on the minute animal life of the shores, or wades about in the water gleaning aquatic insects, crustaceans and other forms from the bottom. Professor Aughey found many locusts in the stomachs of two taken in Sarpy county, Nebraska, in September 1874, and one taken in Richardson county, Nebraska in September 1873, had 71 insects of various kinds in its stomach (1st Rep. U. S. Entom. Com. App. 2 p. 50). 170 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. A hind toe present, but very small; the three front toes fully webbed. Rump, upper tail-coverts, and entire under parts pure white, as are also the middle of the back, the outer scapulars, about half the secondaries, and the terminal half of the greater wing- coverts; the rest of j the wings, the inner scapulars, and a stripe on each side of back, brownish-black; tail ashy. In summer the adult has most of the head and the entire neck and upper breast pale cinnamon; in winter these parts are pure white, or bluish or grayish- white. Young birds resemble winter adults, but the primaries are tipped with whitish, the back more or less mottled with brownish or buff, and the back of neck washed with rusty. Length 15.60 to 18.75 inches; wing 8.50 to 9; cuhnen 3.40 to 3.65; tarsus 3.70 to 3.80 (Ridgway). 90. Stilt. Himantopus mexicanus (Mull). (226) Synonyms: Black-necked Stilt, Lawyer. — Charadrius mexicanus Miill., 1776. — Him- antopus nigricollis, Vieill., Nutt., Aud., Baird. — Recurvirostra himantopus, Wilson, 1813. Known at once by the extremely long legs, pure white under parts and black back, the back of the neck also clear black. Distribution. — Temperate North America, from the Northern United States southward to the West Indies, northward to Brazil and Peru. Rare in the eastern United States except in Florida. An extremely rare bird in Michigan; and I know of no Michigan specimen in any collection. It is included in Stockwell's list of Michigan birds (Forest & Stream, VIII, 22, 361), but no specific instance of its occurrence is given. Covert (marginal notes in Coues Key) records a specimen from Sand Shore Lake, Ann Arbor, October 14, 1880; and D. D. Hughes (MS. Orn. of Mich.) says that "a Mr. Metcalf, of Grand Rapids, Kent county, secured a specimen near there, and has seen others on two occasions" (Gibbs). While looking over specimens in the store of F. R. Vigeant at Sault Ste. Marie, July 10, 1903, Mr. Vigeant told me that he killed a pair of Black- necked Stilts on the shore near St. Ignace, on the Straits of Mackinac, "several years ago," and that he afterwards sold them, mounted to a gentleman in Ohio, whose address he gave me. A letter to that address was returned unclaimed, and I was unable to trace the specimens. In Wisconsin, according to Kumlien and Hollister, "this species is a very rare straggler, the only record being that of Dr. Hoy, who states that he met a small flock near Racine in April, 1847. The single specimen preserved in his collection was probably taken at this time" (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 42). In Ohio, according to Lynds Jones (Birds of Ohio, 1903, 65) there are some old records by Dr. Wheaton and Dr. Langdon, but nothing since 1879. Butler, in his Birds of Indiana, 1897, does not mention the species at all. The Stilt is a bird of the west and south, where it is not uncommon, being particularly abundant about the alkaline lakes and pools of the Great Basin, where it is often seen in company with the Avocet. It breeds, at least occasionally, in the Gulf States and Mexico, and the eggs are olive or drab, spotted and blotched with very dark brown, and averaging 1.79 by 1.23 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. No hind toe; a small web between outer and middle toes only. Plumage clear black (or slaty black in female) and pure white, in large, sharply defined areas. Adult male: Top of head,' back of neck, back, scapulars and wings, continuous deep black, sometimes with a greenish'cast; forehead, rump, upper tail-coverts, and entire under parts from chin to tail, pure white; tail ashy; iris red; legs and feet rose-color or crimson. Female' WATER BIRDS. 171 Similar, but the glossy black replaced by dull black or brownish slate. Young: Like adult female, but aU the dark areas more or less mottled by grey or buffy edgings of feathers. Length 13.50 to 15.50 mches; wing 8.50 to 9; culmen 2.50; tarsus 4. Family 26. SCOLOPACID^. Snipe, Sandpipers, Etc. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Bill (culmen) two inches or over. B. BB. B. Wing less than six inches. C, CC. C. Three outer primaries much narrower than rest (Fig. 49); tibia feathered to heel joint ("knee")- Woodcock. No. 91. ^'S. 49. CC. Outer primaries not narrow; lower end of tibia bare. D, DD. D. Tail with a rust-red bar near end; rump and upper tail- coverts without white. Wilson's Snipe. No. 92. DD. Tail without a rust-red bar; rump and upper tail-coverts largely white. Red-breasted Snipe. No. 93. BB. Wing more than seven inches. E, EE. E. Bill straight or with shght upward curve. F, FF. F. Bill more than 2.75 inches. G, GG. G. Bill 3.50 inches or more. Marbled Godwit. No. 103. GG. Bill less than 3.50 inches. Hudsonian Godwit. No. 104. FF. Bill less than 2.75 inches. H, HH. H. Basal half of primaries white, forming a large white patch on the wing. Willet. (Appendix) HH. No white patch on wing. Greater Yellowlegs. No 105. EE. Bill curved decidedly downward. I, II. I. Crown with a median light stripe between two broad dusky ones. Hudsonian Curlew. No. 112. II. Crown without median light stripe. J JJ. J. Bill (culmen) 2.50 inches, or less. Eskimo Curlew. No. 113. JJ. Bill from 3 to 8.50 inches. Sickle-billed Curlew. No. 111. AA. Bill (culmen) less than 2 inches long. K, KK. K. Wing more than 6 inches. L, LL, LLL. L. Rump without any white. Bartramian Sandpiper. No. 108. LL. Rump pure white without bars or streaks. Lesser Yellowlegs. No. 106. LLL. Rump white, barred with dusky. Knot. No. 95. KK. Wing less than 6 inches. M, MM. M. Bill more than an inch long. N, NN. N. Tarsus more than 1.50. 0, 00. 0. Wing 5 inches or over. Stilt Sandpiper. No. 94. 00. Wing less than 5 inches. Red-backed Sandpiper. No. 100. 172 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. NN. Tarsus less than 1.50. P, PP. P. Tail with cross-bars. Solitary Sandpiper. No. 107. PP. Tail without cross-bars. Q, QQ. Q. Bill straight. R, RR. R. Upper parts purplish-black without rusty. Purple Sandpiper. (Appendix) RR. Upper parts mottled with black, whitish and rusty. Grass Snipe. No. 96. QQ. Bill curved downward toward tip. Curlew Sandpiper. (Appendix) MM. Bill one inch or less. S, SS. S. Only three toes, hind toe lacking. Sanderling. No. 102. SS. Hind toe present. T, TT. T. Wing over 4 inches. U, UU. U. Upper tail-coverts white. White-rumped Sand- piper. No. 97. UU. Upper tail-coverts not white. V, VV. V. Wing more than 5 inches, inner webs of primaries speckled with blackish. Buff- breasted Sandpiper. No. 109. VV. Wing less than 5 inches. W, WW. W. Outer tail-feathers with spots or bars. Spotted Sandpiper. No. 110. WW. Outer tail feathers without spots or bars. Baird's Sandpiper. No. 98. TT. Wing 4 inches or less. X, XX. X. No webs between the toes. Least Sandpiper. No. 99. XX. Distinct (but small) webs between the toes. Semipalmated Sandpiper (and possibly Western Sandpiper). No. 101. 91. Woodcock. Philohela minor (Gmel). (228) Synonyms: Wood Snipe, Bog-sucker, Timber-doodle. — Scolopax minor, Gmel., 1788, Wils., 1812, And., 1835. — Philohela minor of most authors. Plate IX, Figures 48, 49, 50. Distinguishing marks are the long, grooved bill, short legs feathered to the heel ("knee"), very large eyes, and top of head barred with buff and black. The scythe-shaped or falcate tips of the three outer primaries are distinctive. Distribution. — Eastern North America, north to the British Provinces, west to Dakota, Kansas, etc.; breeding throughout its range. This beautiful bird, justly celebrated for its table qualities, was formerly an abundant resident of the entire state, being fairly plentiful in all suitable localities, which of course are wooded or brushy swamps, since this species is practically confined to wet woodlands and the thickets Isordering streams. In autumn it is occasionally found in cornfields and often about the edges of fairly dry Avoods, but usually where the ground is soft enough for probing with the whole length of the bill. This method of feeding is almost unique, for the long bill is forced into the ground up to the feathers in search of Plate IX. Woodcock on Nest. From photograph by Ilegner. (Courtesy of G. Alan Abbott.) WATER BIRDS. 175 worms and possibly other animal food and its strncture is such that the mandibles may be separated near the tip without withdrawing the bill. The holes thus left in the soft ground, and known to the sportsman as "borings," are infalli):)le indications of the neighborhood of the bird, but since it feeds mainly by night and hides closely by day, a good dog is alisolutely necessary for successful shooting. There is no reason to suppose that the Woodcock gets all its food by proljing or "boring"; in fact there is abundant evidence to the contrary. The structure of the biU allows the bird to pick up food from the surface with ease and precision, and the examination of stomachs proves that the diet is quite varied. Although earthworms are consumed in large Fig. 48. Woodcock on Nest. Photograph from life. (Courtesy of Gerard Alan Abbott.) numbers, various other worms are also eaten, and soft-bodied insect larvce, especially those of subterranean habits, are constantly devoured. Dr. B H. Warren, of West Chester., Pa. records beetles, larva?, and a smgle spider as taken from stomachs, and one killed in November, had eaten nothing but small seeds (Birds of Pa., 1888, p. SO). Professor Aughey found locusts in several Woodcock taken in Nebraska, and although other insects usually formed the larger part of the food, one taken in Otoe county in September' 1876, had 32 locusts in its stomach, "besides a large number of other insects" (Ist Rep. U. S. Entom. Com. App. 2, p. 51). It has an interesting habit of "towering," that is, of rising to a con- siderable height by spiral flight, at either morning or evenmg twilight, uttering a peculiar series of notes meanwhile, and then pitching back to 17G MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. the earth again with great velocity and alighting close to the point from which it started. The ^Yoodcock has decreased in numbers very seriously within the past twenty years, and for a time was beheved to be on the verge of extinction. Even at the present time it seems to be entirely absent from large sections of country wliere it was formerly abundant, and although beheved to be again increasing in numbers it is nowhere so common as formerly. It arrives from the south almost as soon as the ground is free from snow, very frequently before the last snow storm of winter. Probably in the southern counties a few always arrive before the middle of March, and the greater part of the local birds by April first. Since the Woodcock nests freely Fig. 50. Nest and Eggs of Woodcock. From photograph. (Courtesy of Gerard Alan .'\bbott.) in the northernmost parts of the state, however, and since these regions are often covered with ice and snow until the last of April, or even the first of May, many migrants may be found in the soutliern half of the state all thiough April. The southward movement begins in early September and continues through October, but after the middle of the latter montli very few are found. In Southern Michigan the first eggs are almost always laid in April. Tlie nest is simply a hollow among the dry leaves, and the eggs commonl)' four in number, beautifully spotted and mottled with various shades of brown, and averaging 1.51 by 1.14 inclies. Nests with eggs are found fiom the first week in April until well into May, but these later sets are probably second layings, the first having been destroj'ed by bad weather WATER BIRDS. 177 or by some of the numerous enemies which beset ground-nesting birds. Miss Harriet H. Wright, of Saginaw, states that she examined two nests in that vicmity, May 14, 1906, one of which contained three young, and the other four eggs. The female is a very close sitter, seldom leaving the nest until almost trodden on, and occasionally she will allow herself to be lifted from the nest by the hand, sometimes even scrambling back as soon as released. _ The extent to which Woodcock some- times suffer from bad weather during ^'S- 49- Woodcock's wing-tip. migration is well shown by an account (Original.) given by Arthur T. Wayne of a cold wave and gale on the coast of South Carohna between December 27, 1892 and January 2, 1893. He states that at Mt. Pleasant, S. C. 2,000 Woodcock were killed on one day and 10,000 in six days, between the above dates (Auk, X, 204). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Forehead and crown ashy gray, with an indistinct median black stripe; occiput and nape clear black, with three or four narrow cross-bars of deep buff or rufous; entire back, scapulars and rump black, mottled and barred with rufous, but many feathers broadly edged or tipped with clear bluish-gray; side of head ashy to buffy-white, with a black line from base of bill to eye; a similar black stripe across the ear-coverts; chin white; sides of neck brownish ash; throat, breast and belly buffy or pale cinnamon, deepening on the sides and flanks; breast and throat indistinctly barred with rufous; primaries slate-colored; secondaries and most of wing-coverts barred with black and buff; tail feathers mainly clear black, the tips abruptly ashy above, silvery white below. Sexes alike. Length 10.50 to 11.75 inches; wing 4.80 to 5.70; culmen 2.50 to 3; tarsus 1.25. 92. Wilson's Snipe. Gallinago delicata (Ord). (230) Synonyms: Common Snipe, Jack-snipe, American Snipe, Bog-snipe, English Snipe, Snipe. — Scolopax Wilsoni, Temm., Nutt., Aud., and others. — Gallinago wilsoni, Bonap., Cass., Baird, Coues. — Scolopax drummondi, Sw. and Rich. Figures 51, 52. The distinctive marks are the long slender bill, about 2J inches, the comparatively short legs, the upper parts striped with brown and tan, and the under parts more or less streaked, spotted and barred. Distribution. — North and middle America, breeding from the northern United States northward; south in winter to the West Indies and northern South America. This is another sportsman's bird, but, unlike the Woodcock, it is found mainly in the open marshes, never in woods or even in thickets along streams. Like the Woodcock, however, it is rarely or never seen upon the ground, being invisible until flushed, when it rises with a sharp call or "scaipe" and flies'away with great' rapidity and often in a zigzag course. When first flushed it is likely to keep near the grass, but after flying a hundred yards or less it is apt to rise to a considerable height, circling about for several minutes and finally pitching downward and alighting not far from its starting point. It is never found in flocks, for although a dozen may be found in the compass of an acre they usually rise singly, circle independently, and alight separately. It is most abundant spring and fall, arrives from the south as soon as the 23 17S MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. frost is out of the bogs, and returns again from tlie north in September, lingering until Noveinber. Snipe shooting is notoriously uncertain, bogs which are alive with them one day being almost deserted the next, and marshes which afford good shooting one season being almost worthless the next year. Although the larger number pass farther north to breed, a few always remain in middle Michigan for this purpose, and probably there are few counties, even in the southern part of the state, in which Wilson's Snipe does not nest occasionally. We have single records of nesting from Jackson county (Watkins), Washtenaw county (Purdy, Covert) ; several records from Kalamazoo county (Gibbs, Syke), and the vicinity of Lansing (J. E. Nichols, W. B. Barrows). We have an egg in the Agricultural Fig. 51. Wilson's Snipe. Photograph from mounted specimen. (Original.) College collection taken near Lansing by a friend of Mr. Jason E. Niclaols, whose dog, wliile hunting Snipe late in the spring, flushed a female from lier nest and broke all but one of the four eggs. During some summers Wilson's Snipe are fairly common on Chandler's Marsh, Ingham county, during June and July, and unquestionably nest there in some numliers. In other years not an individual is to be found there between June first and the middle of August. During the late spring (undoubtedly while mating) tlie bird has a habit of "bleating," which consists of rising to a considerable height and then pitching downward obliquely toward the ground with great rapidity, making a peculiar sound with the wings, and probably also at the same time with the voice. The same individual will repeat this action half a dozen times in succession, and often several birds may be within hearing at the same WATER BIRDS. 179 time. The male alone is supposed to indulge in this pastime, but I am not aware that this is anything better than an inference. The food is obtained largely by probing in the wet ground in the man- ner of the Woodcock, but apparently this species prefers wetter ground than the Woodcock, at all events the holes or "borings" are seldom visible, even in places where Snipe are breeding regularly. But the bird also eats large numbers of insects and other invertebrates for which it does not probe. In eleven stomachs of this species examined by Professor Aughey of Nebraska, there were found 678 insects, 412 of which were locusts (1st Rep. U. S. Entom. Com., App. 2, p. 51). Neither of the common names, English Snipe nor Jack Snipe, is strictly correct. The first is a com- plete misnomer, since our species is distinctly American; the other is applied with equal frequency to the Pectoral Sand- piper or Grass Snipe, which it slightly resembles. The nest is invariably placed on the ground, in wet places, s..nUon.^:%JS^.::^Z:L^'-,or^^., and consists merely of a hollow among the herbage, only slightly lined with grasses and leaves. The eggs, usually four, are olive gray or olive brown, heavily spotted with deep brown and purplish gray and average 1.55 by 1.09 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Top of head black, with a median stripe of buffy white, and a similar one from nostril over eye to nape; a dusky bar from bill to eye; chin white and unspotted in spring, buffy brown, more or less streaked, in autumn; neck all around, and upper breast, buffy brown, streaked with dark brown or black; upper parts brownish black or black, the scapulars and interscapulars edged with creamy white in spring, rufous in autumn, most of the back speckled or barred with rufous or buff; lower breast and belly white; sides and axillars narrowly barred with black and white; tail barred with black and rufous, tips of feathers often white. Sexes alike and seasonal changes not great, though the autumn dress is much redder or browner. Length 10 to 12 inches; wing 4.90 to 5.60; cuhnen 2.50 to 2.70. 93. Red-breasted Snipe. Macrorhamphus griseus griseus {Gmel). (231) Synonyms: Dowitcher (Deutscher), Brown-back, Grey Snipe, Gray-back. — Scolopax grisea, Gmel., — Scolopax noveboracensis, Wils., Aud., and others. Known by its general resemblance to Wilson's Snipe, but the lower back and rump white, mostly unspotted, and the under parts mainly cinnamon or buffy brown. Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding far north; south in winter to the West Indies and Brazil. This is a bird of the shore, not of the bog; moreover it is usually found in flocks, running about in plain sight on the open mud or sand, in all which it is entirely unlike Wilson's Snipe. This does not seem to be a common species in Michigan. Dr. Gibbs saw a small flock in Kalamazoo county. May 21, 1888; Major Boies says it is occasionally seen in Hillsdale and Lenawee counties, and that he observed a few in the spring on the shores of [the west side of Neebish Island (1892-1894). One was killed by J. Claire Wood on a mud flat 180 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. bordering the River Rouge, Wayne county, October 7, 1890, when a small number were seen (Swales, MS. List, 1904). One was taken by the writer at Chandler's Marsh, Ingham county, August 26, 1897 and a second specimen at East Lansing, August 14, 1908. These two skins were sent to the U. S. National Museum and the identifi- cation confirmed by Dr. C. W. Richmond. Mr. P. A. Taverner has two specimens in his collection taken in Wayne county, one on August 26, 1905, and the other, July 14, 1906. The former was doubtfully referred by Ridgway to the western form, M. scolopaceus, but the latter was identified as true griseus. More recently both specimens have been ex- amined by other experts, and compared with better specimens, and it seems probable that both belong to the eastern subspecies, griseus. This subspecies so closely resembles the western form (Western Red- breasted Snipe), that it is impossible to separate the two except with speci- mens in hand. Michigan seems to be on the dividing line, since both sub- species have been taken near Chicago although the present form is more common (Woodruff, Auk, XIII, 180). In Wisconsin, according to Kumlien and HoUister, the eastern form was formerly a common migrant, but is now exceedingly rare. There are in the Milwaukee Public Museum two speci- mens from Lake Koshkonong, taken in August 1886 (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, 43).* The eggs are four, laid in a hollow in moss or grass, usually without any lining. They are greenish olive to gray, spotted rather coarsely with umber brown, and average 1.65 by 1.13 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Top of head, scapulars, interscapulars and upper surface of wings, brownish black or black, more or less streaked or margined with buffy-brown; back of neck ashy brown, dimly streaked; middle of back pure white, imspotted; rump white, with rounded black spots; upper tail-coverts and tail evenly and narrowly barred with black and white, about ten black bars on each tail-feather; chin and belly buffy or soiled whitish; rest of under parts washed or tinted with brownish buff, obscurely streaked with dusky on the sides and under tail-coverts; axillars barred black and white, the bars chevron-shaped, primaries black, the outer one with a white shaft. Length 10 to 11; wing 5.25 to 5.90; culmen 2 to 2.55 inches. 94. Stilt Sandpiper. Micropalama himantopus (Bonap.). (233) Synonyms: Long-legged Sandpiper, Frost-snipe. Tringa himantopus, Bonap., 1826, Nutt., 1834. — Micropalama himantopus, Cass., 1858, Baird, Coues, Ridgw., A. 0. U. Check-list. 1895. The long, slightly recurved bill, somewhat widened toward the tip, and the unusually long shanks (tarsi) are peculiar to this species and will identify it in any plumage. Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding north of United States, and migrating in winter to Bermuda, West Indies and Central and South America. Occurs only as a migrant in Michigan, and that not commonly. Probably a few pass through the state every season, but they are rarely detected. According to Dr. Gibbs "D. D. Hughes in his MS. Ornithology of Mich., says that Sid Van Horn shot and mounted a fine young specimen taken at a pond in Calhoun county." The species is mentioned in Miles' list, 1860, but is omitted by Sager, Cabot, Boies and Trombley. Covert states that it is a *For further notes on the Western Red-breasted Snipe see Appendix. WATER BIRDS. 181 rare migrant in all parts of the state, more being killed during August than at any other time. Three specimens were taken at Ann Arbor, May 4, 1877, and a specimen taken in August 1892 is preserved in the University of Michigan museum (MS. list 1894-95). There are two mounted specimens in the Kent Scientific Museum at Grand Rapids, under the single catalogue number 20313. According to the record one of them is from Grand Rapids, the other from Toronto, Ont., and both collected by Thos. Harmer. Ac- cording to E. W. Nelson (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, II, 68) it is a migrant along Lake Michigan in Cook and Lake counties, 111. It has been taken in Indiana and Ohio, and was formerly not uncommon in Wisconsin, although now very irregular (Kumlien and Hollister, Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, page 44). It nests within the Arctic Circle, and the four eggs are said to be "pale grayish buff, or grayish buffy white, boldly spotted with vandyke brown and purplish gray, and average 1.42 by 1.00 inches." (Ridgway). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Hind toe present, bill longer than head, about equal to tarsus, the latter always more than one and one-haU inches long, and less than one and three-quarters inches. Adult in summer: Back and scapulars mostly black, mixed with some gray and buff; upper tail- coverts white, with dusky bars and streaks; top of head streaked with dusky and pure white; ear-coverts and sides of occiput light rust-red; a dark streak from corner of mouth to eye; rest of head and neck whitish, streaked with dusky; under parts grayish-white, barred with dusky. Adult in winter: Upper parts uniform ash or gray, the tail-coverts white, more or less streaked and barred; upper breast, sides of neck, and lower tail-coverts streaked with gray; rest of lower parts white, as is also a streak over the eye. Young: Similar, but browner and buffier, the rump white, unspotted, the under parts washed with buff, sometimes streaked with dusky. Length 7.50 to 9.25 inches; wing 5 to 5.30; culmen 1.55 to 1.75; tarsus 1.55 to 1.70. 95. Knot. Tringa canutus Linn. (234). Synonyms': Robin Snipe, Red-breasted Sandpiper, Red-breast, Beach Robin, Gray- back. — ^Tringa canutus, Linn., 1758, Cass., Baird, Coues, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895. — Tringa cinerea, Brimn., GmeL, Wils., Nutt. — Tringa islandica, Aud., 1838. Adults may be known by the cinnamon or brick-red under parts, which give them the names Robin Snipe and Beach Robin (Carolinas) ; immature birds are gray above and nearly white below, but the size and proportions are distinctive. Largest of our beach sandpipers. Distribution. — Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds in high northern latitudes, but visits the southern hemisphere during its migrations. One of the rare beach birds now, but much more common formerly. It is one of those species which was extraordinarily abundant on the Atlantic coast thirty years ago but which has decreased to such an extent at present as to be considered one of the less common migrants. We have few positive records for Michigan. Covert states that one was picked up dead on the Shore of Dead Lake, Washtenaw county, in October, 1876 (Birds of Washtenaw county, 1878); and J. Claire Wood reports one killed near Port Austin, Huron county, September 4, 1899 (Auk, XVII, 391). We recently examined a specimen, apparently a "yearling" which was taken at Benton Harbor, Berrien county, June 23, 1904, by Russell Hawkins, of Grand Rapids, and is now in his collection. He states that there were about twenty in the flock, and that he killed two, one of which spoiled before he could prepare the skin. The date is unusually late, but the bird 182 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. was in immature dress and probably the entire flock was composed of non- breeding birds. Another specimen of the Knot was found in the Kent Scientific Museum (No. 20215), said to have been collected by Thomas Harmer, but without other data. We have two well mounted specimens in the Agricultural College Museum, taken by Albert Hirzel, at Forestville, Sanilac county, June 20, 1903; Norman A. Wood saw two and secured one on Charity Island, Saginaw Bay, September 1, 1910, and A. G. Ruthven took three at Oak Point, south shore of Saginaw Bay, August 20-21, 1908 (Rep. Mich. Geol. and Biol. Surv., Pub. 4, Biol. Ser. 2, 1910, p. 280). The Knot is mentioned in Steere's list of 1880, and also in Stockwell's list (Forest and Stream, VII, 22, 361). It is omitted from the lists of Sager, Cabot, Miles, Hughes, Trombley, and Boies. E. W. Nelson states that it formerly occurred in migration along the shore of Lake Michigan in northeastern Illinois (Bull. Nutt. Club, II, 1877, p. 68). In Wisconsin it is said to have been a common migrant thirty years ago, in May and June, and more sparingly in autumn; of late years decidedly rare at any season (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 45). It has been taken also occasionally in Ontario and Ohio, but is never common. In habits it is a typical sandpiper, preferring the sandy beach to all other localities, though it often visits the salt marsh, and the shores of ponds and creeks at a little distance inland. It is always a sociable species and formerly was invariably seen in flocks, sometimes of large size. These flew with great rapidity, usually following the outline of the beach only a few yards from shore and often directly over the breakers. In feeding the Knot runs swiftly along the beach, following the receding waves to pick up the minute animals left stranded, and avoiding the returning waves with great agility and skill. It nests in the far north — within the Arctic Circle. Only a single egg is known, and that was taken near Ft. Conger, in latitude 81° 44' north, by Lieut. A. W. Greely. It is light pea-green, closely spotted with brown in small specks about the size of a pin head (Auk, II, 1885, 313). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Wing more than six inches long; bill rather longer than head. Adult in summer: Light gray above, more or less mottled with blackish and tinged with rusty; rump and upper tail-coverts white, with numerous narrow blackish bars; under parts uniform light reddish or cinnamon, palest on the belly; flanks and under tail-coverts often barred or streaked with gray; a whitish stripe over the eye, often tinged with cinnamon. Adult in winter: Similar, but upper parts plain gray, with few darker markings, except the rump and upper tail-coverts, which are as in summer; under parts white or grayish white, the neck, breast and sides barred or streaked with dusky, and with little or no trace of the cinnamon. Young similar to winter adult, but scapulars and back feathers edged with pure white, with a sub-edging of black; the top of head and back of neck narrowly striped with dusky. Length 10 to 11 inches; wing 6.50; culmen 1.30 to 1.40; tarsus about 1 25. 96. Grass Snipe. Pisobia maculata (VieilL). (239) Synonyms: Pectoral Sandpiper, Jack Snipe, Grass-bird, Meadow-snipe. — Tringa maculata, Vieill , 1819, Cass., Baird., A. O. U. Check-list, 1895. — ^Actodromas maculata, Coues, 1861, Ridgw., 1881. — Tringa pectoralis, Say, Nutt., Aud. Figure 63. Known by its moderate size, gray-brown back, black rump and upper tail-coverts, thickly streaked chest and throat, white chin and belly, and l)ill not over IJ inches. WATER BIRDS. 183 Distribution.— The whole of North America, the West Indies, and the greater part of South America. Breeds in the Arctic regions. Of frequent occurrence in Europe. This is the bird most often called Jack Snipe, a name also given to Wilson's Snipe. The present species, though often known under the name of Grass Snipe, is not entirely confined to grassy places, but frequents the margins of muddy pools and is occasionally found on the sandy shores of ponds and streams. It is an abundant migrant throughout the state, and is one of the best known of the shore birds which occur regularly. Ordinarily it is seen in squads of six to thirty, around grassy pools in marshes or meadow lands. On August 19, 1897, near Lansing, the writer saw at least 300 Grass Snipe about a temporary pool in a Fig. 63. Grass Snipe. cornfield, associated with YellowlegS, From Baird, Brewer and;Ridgway'sWater;Birds Killdeer, Solitary Sandpipers, and a °* ^"""^ ^™""'^- ^""'"' ^™'''' * ^"-^ few Wilson's Snipe. It seems to be more abundant always in fall than in spring, but occasionally it appears in some numbers in May. When scattered about in grassy meadows it often lies close and flushes almost as suddenly as Wilson's Snipe, and in the fall of the year it is considered good eating. There is no reason to suppose that it. ever nests within our limits. It passes northward usually before the first of June, and nests only in the far north, where it lays three or four grayish buff or olive green eggs, heavily blotched with vandyke brown and purplish gray, which average 1.44 by 1.02 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Top of head, back and scapulars mainly black and brown, each feather mostly black with a wide margin of brown or buff; neck all around, and most of throat and upper breast, ashy-gray, thickly and rather sharply streaked with black; chin, upper throat, and abdomen white or buffy white; sides (under wings) somewhat streaked with brown; axillars white, immarked; rump and upper tail-coverts black or brownish black. Autumn specimens are browner, spring specimens grayer; little or no sexual difference in color, but females larger than males. Length 8 to 9.50 inches; wing 6 to 5.50; culmen 1.10 to 1.20. 97. White-rumped Sandpiper, Pisobia fuscicollis (Vieill.). (240) Sjmonyms: Bonaparte's Sandpiper. — Trianga fuscicollis, Vieill., 1819, Coues, 1874, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895. — Tringa bonapartei., Schleg., Cass., Baird. — Tringa Schinzii, Bonap., Nutt., Aud. Characterized by its moderate size (wing about five inches), and white upper tail-coverts, unspotted or with very few spots indeed. Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding in the high north. In winter, the West Indies, Central and South America, south to the Falkland Islands. Occasional in Europe. This is one of our less common sandpipers, yet it doubtless occurs regularly during migrations, although'" in'^small numbers. Dr. Gibbs states that specimens were killed in Kalamazoo county during 1878 and 1879, by B. 184 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. F. Syke and others; he also states that it has been taken at Petoskey. Jas. B. Purdy states that at Plymouth, Mich., he has seen it but two or three times, and then as a migrant. B. H. Swales (MS. List of Birds of S. E. Mich., 1904) says " I have no records. It is not rare around Lake Erie in Monroe county, according to Trombley." On July 29, 1897, the writer took a specimen at Chandler's Marsh, north of the Agricultural College, but it was so badly mutilated and so fat that it was not preserved; subsequently (Aug. 18, 1897) several specimens were seen at a pool within the city limits of Lansing. Mr. P. A. Taverner of Detroit, found six specimens at a little mudhole in Ecorse township, Wayne county, on June 2, 1906, and took three of them (Auk, XXIII, 1906, 335). In its general habits it resembles closely the Grass Snipe, or Pectoral Sandpiper, with which it often associates. About the southern end of Lake Michigan it was formerly more abundant than at present. Nelson says: "Rather uncommon migrant (in northern Illinois). June 9, 1876 I obtained one specimen and saw quite a number of others upon the lake shore near Waukegan. Mr. R. P. Clark informs me that he has taken it late in autumn upon the lake shore near Chicago " (Bull. Essex Inst. Vol. VIII, 1876, p. 127). It has also been taken in Ohio, Ontario, and Wisconsin, but seems to be nowhere abundant. It nests in Arctic regions in June and July, laying four eggs in a mere hollow in the ground, with scarcely any lining. The eggs are reddish drab, spotted with dark brown and black, and average 1.37 by .94 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Upper parts buff or brownish-gray, mottled and streaked with black, much as in the preceding 'species, but the rump dusky and the upper tail-coverts pure white, or with a few arrow-marks of dusky; chin and upper throat white; lower neck and breast, as well as sides, spotted and streaked with dusky. In autumn the plmnage shows more rusty coloration, especially above, and immature (young of the year) birds often have white or buff tips on the scapulars and interscapulars. Length 6.75 to 8 inches; wing 4.90 to 6; culmen .90 to 1. 98. Baird's Sandpiper. Pisobia bairdi (Coues). (241) Synonyms: Actodromas bairdii, Coues, 1861, Ridgw., 1881. — ^Tringa bairdii, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895. Most closely resembles the White-rumped Sandpiper, with which it was confused for many years, and for which it is often mistaken even. now. Baird's Sandpiper has brownish-black instead of white upper tail-coverts, and autumn specimens are lighter below than the White-rumped Sandpiper, and have a buffy tint on the breast, but, except for the white tail-coverts, very careful examination would be needed to discriminate the two species. Distribution. — Nearly the whole of North and South America, but chiefly the interior of North and the western portions of South America, south to ChiU and Patagonia. Breeds in Alasks and on the Barren Grounds. Rare along the Atlantic coast, and not yet recorded from the Pacific coast of the United States. This bird, which normally inhabits the interior region to the west of Mich- igan, appears to be not uncommon in the neighborhood of the Great Lakes during the migrations, although for a considerable time it was regarded as one of the rarest of our sandpipers. According to B. H. Swales (MS. List of Birds of S. E. Mich., 1904) the first state record was made by J. C. WATER BIRDS. 185 Wood, who obtained specimens in August, 1890, near the River Rouge. Mr. Newell A. Eddy of Bay City, took two specimens on Saginaw Bay, Sept. 11, 1891, four more Sept. 1, 1893, and several others Sept. 23, 1893. One of those taken in 1893 was examined, and the identification verified, by Dr. T. S. Palmer, of the Biological Survey, Washington, D. C, and the writer also examined two of Mr. Eddy's specimens in November, 1904. Mr. A. B. Covert took a specimen near Ann Arbor, August 15, 1893; Leon J. Cole took one on the Lake Michigan shore, in Ottawa County, August 20, 1895, and several more were taken at the same place August 24 to 26, 1896, by L. J. Cole, T. L. Hankinson, and W. E. Mulliken. Two of these latter specimens are now in the collection of the Agricultural College, and one (No. 24387) in the Kent Scientific Museum, Grand Rapids. There is another specimen of Baird's Sandpiper in the same collection, which was taken in Charlevoix county, September 6, 1879, and Mr. Leon J. Cole informs us that on the back of the original label was written " T. bonapartii," and if ever reported in any list or otherwise it was as the White-rumped Sandpiper. Mr. R. H. Wolcott states that he found Baird's Sandpiper along the river at Grand Rapids at the end of August, 1897, and F. H. Chapin states that he has seen it in Emmet, Cheboygan and Charlevoix counties in August and September. Five individuals were seen on the Charity Islands, Saginaw Bay, two on August 23 and three on August 24. 1910 (N. A. Wood, Wilson Bulletin, XXIII, No. 2, 1911, 90). J. Claire Wood says it is "common in July and August near Detroit, Wayne county" (Auk, XVII, 390). On the other hand, according to Swales (MS. List of Birds of St. Clair county, 1904), there is no authentic record for St. Clair county. In its habits it does not seem to differ much from its near relative the White-rumped Sandpiper, and the descriptions of its notes, food, and nesting habits are more or less confused with those of the latter species. It nests far north, and lays four light buff eggs, thickly spotted with brown, averaging 1.30 by .93 inches. Professor Aughey examined the stomachs of five specimens taken in Nebraska in October, 1873, 1874, and found locusts in three stomachs and numerous other insects in all (1st Rept. U. S. Entom. Com., Appendix II, 52). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Wing between 4.50 and 5 inches; median upper tail-coverts brownish black, the lateral coverts much lighter. Ground color of entire upper parts pale grayish brown, often with a buffy tint, always more or less streaked or spotted with dark brown or blackish, the markings darkest and sharpest on top of head and interscapulars, lightest and most diffuse on back of neck; chin and most of under parts pure white or buffy white, the throat and chest alone darker buff and sometimes indistinctly streaked with dark brown or blackish. In winter the adult is less distinctly streaked above, and little or not at all below, while young birds are distinctly streaked with brown or blackish on the chest and throat, and the scapulars, interscapulars, tertiaries and most of the wing coverts are sharply edged or tipped with pure white. Length 7 to 7.60 inches; wing 4.60 to 4.85; culmen .90 to 1; tarsus 1. 99. Least Sandpiper. Pisobia minutilla (Vieill.). (242) Synonyms: Sand-peep, Little Sand-peep, Peep. — Tringa minutilla, Vieill., 1819. — Actodromas'minutilla, Bonap., 1856, Ridgw., 1881.— Tringa pusilla. Wils., Sw. and Rich., Aud.— Tringa wilsonii, Nutt., 1834, Baird, 1859. Recognizable by its small size (wing less than four inches), toes without webs at base, and rump and median upper tail-coverts black. 186 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFfi. Distribution. — The whole of North and South America, breeding north of United States. Accidental in Europe. This is one of the commonest of the sandpipers and occurs regularly in spring and fall in suitable places, both on the lake shores and in the interior, usually in squads of 3 to 10, or more rarely in flocks of 20 to 50. On the Atlantic coast flocks of 200 to 500 are not uncommon in favorite feeding places, but I have never heard of its occurrence in large flocks in Michigan. It passes northward in May and June, the great majority during the former month, but a few remain until after the first of June, sometimes even until the 10th or 15th of the month. It reappears in July, always as early as the 20th, sometimes by the 10th, and is usually abundant through August, while some may remain until October. While with us it frequents sandy and muddy shores, and particularly the muddy pools in marshes, sloughs, and fields almost anywhere. The temporary ponds formed by the heavy thunder showers of August are commonly well patronized by this species, often accompanied by the Semipalmated Sandpiper and the Grass Snipe, together with several larger species. Usually it is very unsuspicious and especially when in small squads will feed unconcernedly at a distance of four or five yards from the observer. It eats vast numbers of minute aquatic animals, but also feeds largely on insects, including injurious locusts. We have no reason to believe that it ever nests within our limits, and the argument sometimes advanced, that it could not leave here the first week in June, proceed northward to Arctic regions and rear its young and be back again by the middle of July, is based on an entire misconception of the facts. The great majority of the birds go northward before the first of June, and doubtless those which go north first are the ones which return earliest in July; on the other hand those which linger until the middle of June may not return to us with their young before the last of August, which allows plenty of time for nesting. It is a well known fact, moreover, that not all the individuals of a species nest every season, and it is entirely possible that some of those we see in midsummer are not breeding birds. Nevertheless Mr. E. W. Nelson found this species nesting along the Calumet River in northeastern Illinois, on the 5th of June, 1875, and another observer found several of them near Waukegan, Illinois, the first of July, 1875, and is certain that they nested in the vicinity (Bull. Essex Inst., VIII, 1876, 127). Its usual breeding grounds are far north of the United States, where it nests on the ground, laying three or four pale buffy or brownish eggs, thickly spotted with brown and purplish, and averaging 1.15 by .83 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Smallest of our sandpipers, about six inches long and not heavier than an English Sparrow. Upper parts mostly black, the feathers edged or streaked with buff or brown; central upper tail-coverts black, unspotted; lateral upper tail-coverts white; chest and part of throat white or grayish white, thickly streaked with brownish black; chin and rest of under parts, including under-tail coverts, pure white. Autumn adults have the chin grayish or spotted and the upper parts more rusty than in spring, while young of the year have an ashy pectoral band, with the dark streaks more or less indistinct or wanting, and many of the scapulars and interscapulars margined with pure white. Length 5 to 6.76 inches; wing 3.50 to 3.75; culmen .75 to .92. Water birds. is? 100. Red-backed Sandpiper. Pelidna alpina sakhalina (VieilL). (243a) Synonyms: Black-bellied Sandpiper, Red-backed Dunlin, American Dunlin, Black- heart Plover (Ontario).— Tringa, alpina, Wils., Nutt., Aud.— Tringa alpina var. americana, Baird, 1859, Coues, 1872.— Tringa alpina pacifica, Coues, 1861, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895. A medium sized sandpiper (wing about 4f inches), Icnown in' any plumage by the rather long bill (about li inches) bent slightly downward, like a curlew's, for the terminal third. Distribution. — North America in general, breeding far north. Eastern Asia. This is one of the scarcely common, but regular, migrants, and apparently pretty evenly distributed throughout the state. It is sometimes seen in small flocks, but more often singly or in squads of 3 to 5, not infrequently in flocks of other species. It was taken by F. L. Washburn at Ann Arbor, May 14, 1888; P. A. Taverner found about a dozen on Sarnia Bay, May 26, 1901; Hubert L. Clark saw one on the shore of Long Lake, Brookfield, May 24, 1904; A. W. Blain, Jr., killed one at St. Clair Flats, November 20, 1904; Newell A. Eddy finds it not uncommon on Saginaw Bay, and took several specimens October 3, 1890, and a male October 5, 1891; Dr. Gibbs records two taken at Austin's Lake, Kalamazoo county, May 25, 1878, by Geo. B. Sudworth, and several seen and one killed at Humphry's Lake, May 31, 1883; Purdy took one specimen at Plymouth in the spring of 1891, and Swales states that it is occasionally reported at St. Clair Flats by J. Claire Wood, and on St. Clair River. Major Boies says that it is frequently seen on the south and east shores of Neebish Island, St. Mary's River, in the fall (Bull. Mich. Orn. Club I, 1897, 20). We have three specimens in the Agricultural College Museum, taken at Forestville, Sanilac county by Albert Hirzel; and Norman A. Wood reports a flock of about twenty at Oak Point, south shore of Saginaw Bay, August 20, 1908 (Rep. Mich. Geol. and Biol. Surv., 1910, Pub. 4, Biol. Ser. 2, p. 291). W. A. Oldfield recorded the nesting of this bird at Port Sanilac, Sanilac county, where he took a nest, three eggs and parent bird (Cook, Birds of Mich., 2d ed., 59). This record has been questioned, and at first sight seems very improbable, since the species usually nests in Arctic and sub- Arctic regions; but when we remember how many northern waders Nelson and others found nesting in northeastern Illinois, it is scarcely wise to condemn Oldfield's record as untrustworthy. Unfortunately the bird taken with the eggs was never examined by a recognized ornithologist, and both bird and eggs were destroyed by the burning of Mr. Oldfield's house, when he lost his entire collection. As with most other sandpipers, the eggs are laid on the ground, in an im- perfectly lined nest, and are three or four in number, buffy or brownish, spotted with dark brown. They average 1.43 by 1.01 inches. Formerly this species seems to have been more abundant in the Great Lake region, and as late as May, 1899, according to Kumlien and Hollister "53 individuals were killed by the discharge of a double-barreled shot-gun" (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, 47). This bird is less suspicious than many of the sandpipers, and being large enough to serve as food is frequently killed in considerable numbers. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Wing between 4.25 and 4.75 inches, median upper tail-coverts dark like the back, bill distinctly longer than the head, gently cxu'ved downward. Adult in spring and summer: 188 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Top of head, back, scapulars, tertiaries, lesser wing-coverts and median upper tail-coverts, bright reddish-brown or rusty, each feather with a black streak or spot; lower breast and belly with a more or less extensive black patch, sometimes with a few whitish feathers intermixed; chin, breast and sides, pure white or pale grayish-w'hite with a very few narrow black shaft stripes; sides of head, neck all round, and chest clear grayish-white, more or less distinctly streaked with dusky, the breast spots often arrow-shaped. Adiilt in winter: plain ash-gray above, without streaks or spots except some indistinct dusky shaft stripes; median upper tail-coverts blackish, the lateral ones nearly white; forehead, chin and most of under parts pure white or grayish white, the throat and chest more or less distinctly streaked with darker ash; no trace of the abdominal black patch. Yoiing: Similar to winter adult, but feathers of back more or less margined with rusty or buff and tipped with white. Length 7.60 to 8.75 inches; wing 4.30 to 4.75; culmen 1.15 to 1.40; tarsus .85 to 1. 101. Semipalmated Sandpiper. Ereunetes pusillus {Linn.). (246) Synonyms: Peep, Sand-peep, Little Peep. — Tringa pusilla, Linn., 1766. — ^Tringa semipalmata, Wils., Sw. and Rich., Aud. — Ereuntes pusillus of most authors. Very similar in coloration to the Least Sandpiper and of about the same size (wing less than four inches), though the rump is ashy instead of black; it can always be separated from the Least Sandpiper, however, by the fact that the toes are plainly webbed at base. Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding north of the United States; south in winter to the West Indies and South America. A common bird in migration, appearing and disappearing at about the same times as the Least Sandpiper, with which it is often associated. It frequents the same localities and has in all respects essentially similar habits excepting that the Semipalmated Sandpiper has never been found nesting within the United States. Butler states that in Indiana it is generally uncommon, but usually more numerous in spring than the Least Sandpiper (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 715). In Wisconsin it is quite abundant during migrations, and according to Kumlien and HoUister "so many are summer residents that one usually gets the impression that it nests. Evidence of breeding is however entirely lacking, although specimens shot on Lake Koshkonong June 16, 1897, contained ova the size of medium hazelnuts and were in full breeding plumage. " (Birds of Wisconsin 1903, 47). E. W. Nelson also found it in northeastern Illinois where he says that it is "a very abundant rnigrant and many remain through the summer. From repeated dissec- tions I am confident these are barren birds and, as Mr. Maynard suggests, probably young of the preceding year." (Bull. Essex, Inst. VIII, 1876, 126-127). It nests commonly in Labrador and the Hudson Bay region, laying three or four dull grayish-buff eggs, spotted with dark brown and purplish gray, and averaging 1.21 by .85 inches (Ridgway). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Upper parts mottled black and gray, the central upper tail-ooverts alone being clear black or brownish black; marginal upper tail-coverts white; lower parts pure white except for a pectoral band of ashy gray, more or less streaked with dusky or black, the streaks most distinct and numerous in summer birds, indistinct or wanting in winter and in young of the year; the latter also show some rusty, buffy or white edgings on the feathers of the back. The bill is about the same length as that of the Least Sandpiper, but much broader in proportion. Length 5.25 to 6.75 inches; wing 3.65 to 4; culmen .68 to .92. WATER BIRDS. 189 102. Sanderling. Calidris leucophaea (Pallas). (248) Synonyms: Beach Bird, Surf Snipe, White Snipe.— Tringa leucophffia, Pall., 1764.— Tringa arenaria, Linn., 1766.— Calidris arenaria of most authors. The only Beach Bird of its size with but three toes — the hind toe lacking. It is also probably the palest or whitest of the sandpipers, young birds and adults in the fall being pure white below, and white, speckled thinly with darker, above. In flight the compact flocks, light bodies, dark wings, and conspicuous white wing-bars, are good recognition marks. Distribution. — Nearly cosmopolitan, breeding in the Arctic and sub- Arctic regions, migrating, in America, south to Chili and Patagonia. This seems to be a rather common species along the shores of the Great Lakes during migration, but is seldom met with in the interior. Dr. Gibbs states that so far as he knows it has never been taken in Kalamazoo county. jMr. Newell A. Eddy has found it abundant some years on the shores of Saginaw Bay. He took a dozen or more October 3, 1890, and found it abundant again Sept. 26, 1896. Leon J. Cole calls it an abundant fall migrant along the shore of Lake Michigan at Grand Haven, and Major Boies observed it on the east shore of Neebish Island in the spring of 1893. The only record which I have been able to find for any point not. on the shore of the Great Lakes is a record of four seen at Ann Arbor, August 26, 1899, by Chas. L. Cass. A very late record is that of a male taken by Hirzel at Forestville, Sanilac county, November 24, 1903, and now in the Agricultural College Museum. This is a typical beach species and is usually seen feeding at the very edge of the water, following the retreating waves and picking up particles of food, in Michigan mainly insects, left by the water. It rarely visits the upper parts of the beach, and still more rarely, if at all, the grassy or muddy ponds inland. In flight the members of the flock keep close together, yet always preserve about the same distance, and they act practically like a single bird, all rising and falling, turning to right or left, wheeling or alight- ing with the utmost uniformity and precision. Ordinarily they are one of the least suspicious of the shore birds and may be approached very closely while feeding. They nest only in the far north and their eggs have been taken only a few times. The nest is placed on the ground and sometimes at a considerable distance from the water, which is surprising in a species which ordinarily loves to have its feet wet all the time. The eggs are three or four, light oHve-brown, spotted and speckled with darker, and average 1.41 by .91 inches. According to Elliot "its food consists of minute mollusca, Crustacea, worms, insects, and in the far north it has been observed to eat the buds of saxifrage" (North Am. Shore Birds, 1895, 102, 103). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Toes three in front, no trace of a hind toe. Bill about as long as head, slender, straight black. Adult in summer: Upper parts pale rusty with numerous black spots and many feathers tipped with white; under parts mainly white, the throat and breast washed with rusty and finely speckled and lined with blackish; a conspicuous white wing-band formed by tips of greater coverts; basal parts of inner primaries also white, the outer webs and tips of all blackish, the shafts white. Adult in spring: Top of head, occiput, back and scapulars, black, coarsely mottled with grayish white, often some feathers showing rusty edgings; back of neck grayish white, more or less striped with pale brown; entire under parts spotless white, the throat and chest often shaded lightly with pale rust-red. Some 190 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. late migrants are quite ruddy on the chest, while others show hardly a trace of rusty above or below. Length 7 to 8.75 inches; wing 4.70 to 5; culmen .95 to 1; tarsus .90 to 1.05. 103. Marbled Godwit. Limosa fedoa (Linn.). (249) Synonyms: Great Marbled Godwit, Great Godwit, Red Curlew, Brant Bird, Red Marlin, Brown Marlin, Spike-bill. — Scolopax fedoa, Linn., 1758. — Scolopax marmorata, Lath., 1790. — Limosa fedoa, Ord, Aud., Nutt., and most recent authors. A snipe-like bird of large size (wing about nine inches), known from its relatives by the long bill (3i inches or over) whjch has a distinct upward curve all the way from base to tip. and by the cinnamon color of the lining of the wings. Distribution. — North America; breeding in the interior (from Iowa and Nebraska, northward to Manitoba and the Saskatchewan), migrating in winter to Guatemala, Yucatan, and Cuba. This is a rare species in Michigan at the present time, but seems to have been less so formerly. Covert records the capture of a female on Clam Lake, Cadillac, May 3, 1881 (Marginal notes in Coues Key), and Hazelwood states that it is "less common in September on the Michigan shore of Lake Huron near Port Huron" (MS. List, 1904). L. Whitney Watkins has a specimen in his collection, marked "Monroe Flats, 1881," which was obtained from a taxidermist at Manchester, Michigan many years ago. A mounted specimen in the Kent Scientific Museum (No. 20063) is marked "D. D. Hughes, Grand Rapids," but bears no date. It seems to be in autumnal plumage. There is also a nicely mounted adult in the Barron collection at Niles, but without data. The Marbled Godwit is said to be decidedly rare in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio at present. It was formerly an abundant bird of the prairie regions west of the Mississippi, but of late years seems to be found in numbers only about the alkali lakes and large bodies of shallow water in the far west. According to Kumlien and Hollister (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, 48) "Mr. H. Nehrling gives it as breeding in the Northern Peninsula of Michigan," but I am not able to verify this statement. It is said to nest most commonly in Manitoba and the Saskatchewan region, but it also nests in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska, and other western states. The nest is placed on the ground, and the eggs are pale olive to light grayish buff, rather sparsely spotted with dark brown and dull purplish gray, and average 2.27 by 1.60 inches. Professor Aughey found it feeding freely on locusts in Nebraska in 1867 and 1874, but says that it never feeds exclusively on them; he found from 30 to 45 other insects in each of the stomachs examined (1st Rep. U. S. Entom. Com. Appendix 2, p. 53). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Tail and its upper coverts cinnamon or buff, barred with black or brown; axillars and under wing-coverts also cinnamon. Chin white; rest of underparts buffy white to pale cinnamon, streaked on the throat, and more or less thickly barred on breast and sides with brown or brownish black; entire top of head and back and sides of neck brown, streaked with ashy or buffy white; rest of upper parts brown, the feathers variously spotted, barred, edged or tipped with buffy white or cinnamon; wings mainly brownish black, the outer primaries buffy on the inner webs and with white or buffy shafts; basal half of bill flesh- colored, the remainder brown or black; legs and feet dark slate. Adults are more heavily barred below than the young, which often are entirely without dark markings on breast, sides and belly. Apparently there is little or no difference in the sexes. Length 16.50 to 20.50 inches; wing 8.50 to 9; culmen 3.60 to 5; tarsus 2.50 to 3. WATER BIRDS. 191 104. Hudsonian Godwit. Limosa haemastica (Linn.). (251) Synonyms: Black-tailed Godwit, White-rump, Black-tailed Marlin.— Scolopax hsema- stica, Linn., 1758.— Limosa hudsonica, Sw. and Rich., Nutt., And., and other authors, Limosa hsemastica of more recent writers. Similar to the preceding but somewhat smaller, and with the rump and upper tail-coverts pure white, unspotted. This mark, together with the slender, nearly straight, but shghtly up-curved bill, should identify the bird in any plumage. Distribution. — Eastern North America and the whole of middle and South America. Breeds only in the far north. Not common anywhere in the United States, probably less abundant than the Marbled Godwit. It is also more northern in its summer distribu- tion, nesting in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, for example, on the Barren Grounds of British America, in the Anderson River region, etc. In Mich- igan it occurs only as a very rare migrant and records are very few at best. According to Dr. Gibbs, the late D. D. Hughes had a specimen taken in Calhoun county in April, 1868. There is one (an adult in spring plumage) in the Barron collection at Niles, without data, but probably taken there. Mcllwraith states that he has seen it in spring at St. Clair Flats, and also on the shore of Hamilton Bay (Ontario), where the specimen in his collec- tion was obtained (Birds of Ontario, 1894, 149). Trombley records it from the shore of Lake Erie, near Monroe (Swales MS. List, 1904). It seems to be rare in neighboring states, although specimens have been recorded from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The latest instance of its nearby capture is a male taken at Point Pelee, Ont., north shore of Lake Erie, May 13, 1905, by P. A. Taverner. It nests on the ground, laying four deep olive eggs, sometimes unmarked, but oftener spotted or mottled with darker brown, and averaging 2.20 by 1.42 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Tail black, with white base and tip, the tail-coverts with a broad white band. Summer adult: Head and neck pale chestnut, streaked with dusky; lower parts deeper chestnut, barred with dusky; back, etc., blackish, irregularly varied with buffy. Winter plumage: Back, etc. plain, dull brownish gray; head, neck and lower parts dull whitish or pale grayish buffy, shaded with brownish gray anteriorily. Young: Back, etc. dull brownish gray, each feather marked with a submarginal dusky crescent and margined terminally with buffy, the belly whitish and chest more grayish. Length 14 to 16.75 inches; wing 8.10 to 8.60; culmen 2.85 to 3.45; tarsus 2.25 to 2.50 (Ridgway). 105. Greater Yellowlegs. Tetanus melanoleucus (Gmel). (254) Synonyms: Big YeUowIegs, Winter Yellowlegs, Tell-tail, Stone Snipe. — Scolopax melanoleuca, Gmel., 1789. — Gambetta melanoleuca, Bonap., 1856. — Totanus vociferus, Vieill., 1816. — Totanus melanoleucus of recent authors. Figure 54- The combination of the slender, straight bill about 2} inches in length, long yellow legs, and nearly white rump, always speckled more or less, is peculiar to this species. Distribution. — America in general, breeding from Iowa and northeastern Illinois, etc. northward, and migrating south to Chili and Argentine Republic. 192 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. This and the Lesser Yellowlegs are two of the best known waders in the state. They are often found associated in large flocks on their feeding grounds, but when alarmed commonly gather in flocks by ^^ss'^^^^^^^^^^^S^^aassiS^^'^^^^^^^'^^^^ themselves as they ^ . take flight. Their fa- vorite resorts for feed- ing are grassy or muddy pools, and ^. _ , ^ ,, , , ,^ „ , ., •'„, ^ Hi- Fig. 54. Leg and Foot of Yellowlegs. they often collect m large numbers on sand-spits and sand-bars where they rest, preen their feathers, and feed listlessly here and there in shallow water. They are favorite birds with the gunner, who shoots them from a blind, attracting them to his decoys by means of the whistle, which they answer all too readily. Their ordinary call is a clear, mellow whistle, which can be heard at a great distance (at least a mile in favorable weather), and is written by Chapman as "When, wheu-wheu-wheu-wheu, wheu, wheu- wheu." When answering the whistle, or when induced to return by the cries of their wounded or deserted comrades, they have a habit of floating quietly on extended wings for many seconds at a time, making a tempting mark for the gunner. They fly in rather compact flocks and often as they turn, their lower backs or rumps look pure white although really spotted with black. This species is supposed to linger longer at the north than the Lesser Yellowlegs, and hence is called Winter Yellowlegs. As a matter of fact there seems to be little difference in the movements of the two species. They appear in Michigan in April, linger until the last of May, return again from the north in July, often by the middle, and remain through August, September, and occasionally well into October. It must not be supposed that any single bird or flock remains for any great length of time in the same place, but flocks linger a few days in a spot, pass on to the south and are replaced by others of their kind. Probably the heaviest flights occur during the first half of May and through the month of August. It nests mainly north of the United States, but has been known to breed in northeastern Ilhnois (Nelson, Bull. Essex Inst. VIII, 128-129) and in southern Wisconsin (Kumlien and Hollister, Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, 49) ; however, there is no record of its breeding in Michigan. The nest is placed on the ground, in or near a marsh; the eggs are three or four, brownish buff, irregularly spotted with dark brown, and average 1.79 by 1.28 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill straight or slightly curved upward, the nasal groove extending less than half way to tip. Adult in summer: Upper parts mainly black or brownish-black and white, the white in streaks on head and neck, in bars and spots on back, scapulars and wing-coverts; rump and upper tail-coverts white or nearly so, with a few spots and bars of brown or black. Under parts mainly pure white, heavily spotted on lower throat and breast with black, the sides and flanks barred with black; tail barred with brown or black and white; primaries blackish, the outer one with a white shaft. Adult in winter : Similar but much lighter col- ored above; the head and neck mainly ashy gray, streaked with pale brown, the back, etc., olive brown, the edges of the feathers with alternate dusky and white spots; the lower throat, chest, sides of breast, and flanks more or less streaked and spotted with brown and ashy, but without distinct rounded black spots. Bill black or greenish black, legs and feet yellow. Length 12 to 15 inches; wing 7.50 to 7.75; cuhnen 2.20 to 2.30; tarsus 2.50 to 2.75. The early spring migrants are variously intermediate in plumage between the winter WATER BIRDS. 193 and summer dress, but those which linger until June assume the nearly perfect breeding plumage. Autumn specimens are also more or less intermediate, but the winter plumage nrfirinminn.tpR ° predominates. 106. Lesser Yellowlegs. Totanus flavipes (Gmel). (255) Syiionyms: Yellowlegs, Summer Yellowlegs, Little Yellowlegs, Little Tell-tale, Yellow- shanks.— Scolopax flavipes, Gmel., 1789.— Gambetta flavipes, Bonap., 1856.— Totanus flavipes, VieUl., and authors generally. Known by its close resemblance to the preceding, and its smaller size. It has the same nearly straight bill, less than 1 J inches long, also the same yellow legs,_ and the white rump slightly barred with black. Distribution. — America in general, breeding in the cold temperate and subarctic districts, and migrating south in winter to southern South Am- erica. Less common in western than in eastern North America. In Michigan this bird has practically the same habits and distribution as the Greater Yellowlegs, which it so closely resembles, and with which it is commonly found. Its notes are practically the same, its feeding habits identical, and it answers the whistle, comes to the decoys, and behaves in every way precisely like its larger relative. The main difference observable is that the Lesser Yellowlegs is commonly much more abundant than the Greater Yellowlegs, being seen frequently in flocks of 100 or 200 individuals, while the Greater Yellowlegs is seen by dozens or scores. In many localities it lingers until the first or even the second week in June, and by the middle of July flocks begin to return from the north. Mr. Swales noted the first migrants at Detroit on July 9, 1905, and Mr. J. Claire Wood says they were back July 1, 1906. Our latest fall record at Lansing is October 28, 1906, when a flock of eleven was found wading and swimming in a pool near the College. Its nesting range seems to be precisely the same as for the Greater Yellowlegs, and like that species it has been found nesting in northern Illinois and in Wisconsin, but not in Michigan. The eggs are buff, distinctly spotted with dark brown and purplish gray, and average 1.73 by 1.14 inches. Its food consists mainly of the smaller forms of animal life which abound in shallow waters, including large numbers of insects and insect larvae. In Nebraska Professor Aughey f&und locusts in five stomachs taken in October 1874, as well as large numbers of other insects. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill straight or very slightly curved upward, and nasal groove extending more than half way to tip. Colors of plumage, bill, and legs essentially the same as in the Greater Yellowlegs, the summer and winter dress varying also in the same way. Length 9.50 to 11 inches; wing 6.10 to 6.65; cuhnen 1.30 to 1.55; tarsus 2 to 2.15. 107. Solitary Sandpiper. Helodromas solitarius solitarius (Wilson). (256) Synonyms: Big Sandpiper, Tip-up, Teeterer. — ^Tringa solitaria, Wils., 1813. — Totanus solitarius, Aud., 1839, Coues, 1872. — Rhyacophilus solitarius, Cass, in Baird, 1858. — Totanus chloropygias, Vieill., 1816, Nutt., 1834. Figure 65. Slightly larger than the common Tip-up or Spotted Sandpiper, for which it is likely to be mistaken; but it is always darker above (sometimes quite 25 194 MICHIGAN BIRD LII'^K. lilack), never spotted below (though the chest may be chjuded oi' in- distinctly streaked in the fall), and the bill is black, slender, perfectly straight, and always a little over an inch long. Distribution. — North America, Ijrecding occasionally in the n(jrthern United States, more commonly northward, and migrating southward as far as the Argentine Republic and Peru. Unlike most of our sandpipers this bird is essentially solitary in its hal;)its and is never seen in compact flocks. Four or five may l^e found feeding on the edge of the same pool, and once or twice I have seen a score or more in the compass of an acre, but scattered among hundreds of other wadei'S, thrown together by a common interest in the unusually good feeding ground. While the Solitary Sandpiper frequents all the places in which the other sandpipers are found, it evinces a special preference for pools in the woods, and for marshy places which have become overgrown more or less with thick- Fig. ,55. Solitary Sandpiper. From photograph of mounted specimen. (Original.) ets and brush. Not infrequently it is found al)out the mossv, leaf-choked, branch-strewn puddles in the deep swamps, where the big trees sliut out the sky above, and the Large-liilled Waterthrush keeps it company among the decaying stumps and half submerged roots. When flushed it usually flies with unexpected swiftness, rises at a sharp angle to a height of several hundred feet, and then flies wildly for a moment or two, and often returns and alights near the place from which it started. Almost invariably it utters a sharp whistle of three or four notes as it rises, not particularly loud, but high-pitched, penetrating, and very characteristic. While feeding it runs about and bobs its head and tail somewhat hke a common Tip-up, but the movements are much more abrupt and jerky, and there is far less of the graceful swinging motion so prettily shown by that bird. WATER BIRDS. 195 Often when standing quietly otherwise it will jerk its head and body stiffly upward and back again, precisely as if moved by a hiccough. _ It reaches southern Michigan the last week in April or the first in May, disappears by the first of June, returns from the north during the latter half of July and soon moves southward, although stragglers hnger into or even through September. During the fall of 1906 this species was com- mon at Lansing all through September, and 6 or 8 were seen October 3. In the northern half of the state a few remain all summer, and it is very likely that an occasional pair may nest even in the southern counties. Singularly enough its nesting habits remain totally unknown, and al- though several collectors claim to have taken the eggs, there is no unques- tionable specimen in any museum or private collection so far as we know. An egg is said to have been taken from a nest on the ground, at Lake Bomaseen, Vt., by Jenness Richardson, May 28, 1878 (Bull. Nutt. Club, III, 1878, 197) ; Dr. C. K. Clarke claims to have found a nest and eggs on Simcoe Island, Lake Ontario, June 10, 1898 (Auk, XV, 328, 329); and more recently Walter Raine records the taking of three sets of eggs in northern Alberta, one set in the summer of 1903, the other two in 1904, by Evan Thomson, one of his collectors (Oologist, XXI, 1904, pp. 165-167). The eggs from Alberta were taken from old nests of the Cedar Waxwing and the Robin, placed in trees several feet above the ground; the Vermont and Simcoe Island eggs were from nests on the ground. For one reason or another no one of these records is entirely satisfactory and it remains for some reliable ornithologist to clear up the mystery surrounding the nesting of this species. There is a growing belief that it always nests in trees, using the deserted nest of some other bird, a habit unknown in any American Sandpiper, but said to be the rule with the European Green Sandpiper, H. ochropus, which very closely resembles our bird. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill slender, straight, black, longer than the head; legs and feet greenish black. Adult in summer: Olive-brown above, with a greenish cast, dotted or speckled with white; lower throat, chest, and sides of breast streaked with dusky; rest of under parts pure white; axillars barred with black and white; middle tail-feathers like the back, but spotted with white along the margins; other tail-feathers with about five narrow bars of black, the interspaces and tips white; primaries black with a purplish gloss, none of the shafts white on the upper side. Adult in winter: Similar, but with fewer white markings above, and the dusky streaks of throat and chest less distinct; a dark loral stripe, bordered above by a short white stripe. Young: Grayer about the head and neck, the top of head, back, and scapulars, thickly marked with dots of rusty or buff. Length 7.50 to 8.60 inches; wing 5 to 6.40; culmen 1.15 to 1.30; tarsus 1.25 to 1.90. 108. Bartramian Sandpiper. Bartramia longicauda (Bechst.). (261) Synonyms: Bartram's Tattler, Upland Plover, Field Plover, Prairie Pigeon, Prairie Plover.— Tringa longicauda, Bechst., 1812.— Tringa Bartramia, Wils., Aud., Nutt.— Totanus Bartramius, Temm. — Actiturus Bartramius, Bonap. Plate X. The bill is too short for the ideal sandpiper and too long and slender for a plover. The lengthened tail, and the outer primary sharply barred with black and white are good recognition marks. Distribution.— North America, mainly east of the Rocky Mountams, 196 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. north to Nova Scotia and Alaska, breeding throughout most of its North American range; migrating in winter southward as far as Brazil, Peru (and Argentina (W. B. B.)- Occasional in Europe. This beautiful bird is one of the species which was formerly abundant throughout the state, but has become distressingly scarce within the last twenty years. Even ten years ago it was fairly common in suitable places throughout the Lower Peninsula, but at present we know of but few places where it breeds, and its voice during migrations is now seldom heard. In the eastern states it frequents upland fields and hilly pasture lands by preference, and usually, if not always, nests in such places; but in Michigan, it frequently nests in wet grounds, although the nest itself is usually placed on one of the dryer spots. We have seen the birds nesting in two instances in good snipe-bogs where the mud was ankle deep anddry spots few and far between. Probably it still nests in favorable localities throughout the state, but only in small numbers. As it is one of the early fall migrants, most of the birds leaving for the south before the middle of September, one would naturally suppose that it would have increased in numbers during the protection afforded by the game law which did not allow the shooting of Snipe, Woodcock or shore birds until October. So far as we can learn, however, there has been no increase in numbers and it has continued to decrease in most localities. At Plymouth, Michigan, Mr. Jas. B. Purdy states that it was formerly unknown, but has appeared and increased in numbers recently though still far from abundant. It is an exceptionally good table bird and a favorite with amateur sports- men, though it is very shy as a rule and does not decoy readily. Its mellow, plover-like call when migrating is well known and characteristic, but it has another and entirely different note when nesting, which Dr. Gibbs accurately describes as "much like the twitter of the tree frog." The nest is placed on the ground, and the eggs are buffy white, spotted with brown and purplish gray, and average 1.79 by 1.30 inches. They are commonly laid during the latter half of May, but occasionally sets are found in June, and it is possible that second broods are sometimes reared. This is one of the few North American birds which extends its migration to southern South America, being often extraordinarily abundant on the pampas of Argentina in November, December, and January. Both at that time and during our northern summer it feeds extensively upon grass- hoppers and is one of the species which forms a natural check upon this scourge in some places. It is doubtful whether it is abundant enough in Michigan now to do much good in this way, but during the "grasshopper years" in Iowa. Minnesota, and Nebraska the Upland Plover or "Prairie Pigeon " was reported in scores of places as being one of the most important enemies of the grasshopper or Rocky Mountain locust. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Top of head brownish black with an indistinct niedian stripe of buff; chin and upper throat white, rest of head and neck light brown or buff, streaked with dark brown or blackish; back, scapulars and wing-coverts, mottled black, brown and buff, most of the feathers black centrally, then brown, and with yellowish edges; rump and upper tail- coverts glossy black, without bars or spots; outer primary sharply barred with black and white, its shaft piu'e white; middle tail-feathers olive, barred with black, the others barred with light buff and black, tipped with white and conspicuously spotted with black near the ends; under parts pale buffy, fading to nearly pure white on beUy and under tail-coverts, the lower neck sharply streaked with tear-shaped spots of black, which become arrow- Plate X. Bartramian Sandpiper. Courtesy of National Committee of Audubon Societies. Water birds. I9& heads on the chest, brace-shaped on the breast and plain bars on the sides, the belly and under tail-coverts unmarked. Upper mandible and tip of lower black, rest of bill yellow; legs and feet gray or greenish gray. Sexes alike. Young: Similar to adult, but more yellowish or buffy, and the dark markings below fewer and less distinct. Length 11 to 12.75 mches; wing 6.50 to 7; culmen 1.10 to 1.15; tarsus 1.90 to 2.05. 109. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Tryngites subruficollis (VieilL). (262) Synonyms: Tringa subruficollis, VieUl., 1819.— Tryngites rufescens of most authors. A small sandpiper with much the form and habits of the preceding species, but not easily described for recognition by the novice. Reference to the detailed description will be necessary, and careful examination of the measurements and proportions. Distribution. — North America, especially in the interior; breeds in the Yukon district and the interior of British America, northward to the Arctic coast; South America in winter as far as Uruguay and Peru. Of frequent occurrence in Europe. This is a rare sandpiper in Michigan and very few specimens have been taken. Dr. Gibbs states that on September 17, 1875, he secured a pair, the only ones he ever saw. They were taken while hunting for Golden Plover on the Big Marsh one and one-half miles north of Kalamazoo. He further states that on September 14, 1882, B. F. Syke, of Kalamazoo, secured three specimens of this species and preserved one for his collection. There were but three in the flock; they were found on Grand Prairie, Kalamazoo county, and were very shy. There is a Buff-breasted Sandpiper (No. 20315) in the Kent Scientific Museum, Grand Rapids, but it was taken at Toronto, Ontario. The above are the only records for the state of which I know, but Stock- well includes this species in his list of Michigan birds (Forest & Stream, VIII, 361). According to Kumlien & Holhster, it is one of the rarest shore birds in that state (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, 51). It is also rare ordinarily in Indiana and IlUnois, but in August 1874, Dr. A. K. Fisher found hundreds of them on the dry prairie at Maywood, Cook county Illinois, only ten miles from Chicago, and shot numbers of them (Cooke, Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, 1888, p. 97). There are also records for Ohio and Ontario, but the species is nowhere common. It breeds in the far north, the Saskatchewan Plains and the Barren Grounds being favorite resorts. The eggs are buffy white, boldly spotted with dark bronze and purplish, and average 1.53 by 1.04 inches. There is a record by Mcllwraith (Birds of Ont., 1894, 156) of the nesting of this species at Dunville, Ontario, June 10, 1879, but it has transpired recently that this was a mistake and that the nest and eggs recorded really belonged to Wilson's Phalarope (Macoun, Cat. Canadian Birds, Part III, 1904, 732). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. "'No trace of webs between the front toes; bill barely as long as the head, or even shorter. " Upper parts dull grayish buff or brownish, varied with blackish; lower parts buff, streaked or speckled on chest with dusky; axillars white; under primary coverts and inner webs of quills [prunaries] beautifully mottled or speckled with dusky on a whitish ground. Adult: Feathers of back, etc., blackish centrally, and without whitish borders. Young: Feathers of back, etc. distinctly bordered with whitish, the black and brown less sharply contrasted; mottling on inner webs of quills, and under primary coverts, much more minute and delicate than in adult. Length 7 to 8.90 inches; wmg 6.10 to 5.50; culmen .75 to .80; tarsus 1.15 to 1.30" (Ridgway). 200 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE 110. Spotted Sandpiper. Actitis macularia {Linn.). (263) Synonyms: Sandpeep, Sand-snipe, River-snipe, Tip-up, Teeterer, Teeter-tail, Peet- weet, Peep. — Tringa macularia, Linn., 1766. — Totanus macularius, Temm., 1815. — Tringoides macularius. Gray, 1849, and many others. — Actitis macularia, Naum., 1836, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895, and most recent authors. Plate XI. The adult is recognizable as the only sandpiper whose under parts are thickly marked with clean cut round spots or "polka-dots" of dark brown or black on a nearly white ground color. In addition, the living bird is always bobbing and balancing as it sit or runs, and when in flight always shows conspicuous white bars on the wings. Distribution. — North and South America, from Alaska south to southern Brazil. Breeds throughout temperate North America, less commonly on the Pacific coast. Occasional in Europe. This is the common Sandpiper or Tip-up of streams and ponds during the summer, and is almost universally distributed, from the southern border to Lake Superior. It never occurs in flocks, always singly, in pairs, or at most in httle family parties of five or six, the young then distinguish- able by the unspotted breast. It is a late comer in spring, seldom arriving before the first of May, sometimes not until the middle of the month; and rarely remains after the middle of September. It is oftenest seen along the edges of small ponds and streams, but occurs also along the sandy beaches of the Great Lakes, and about the little mud-holes and ditches in upland pastures far from any large body of water. It nests almost anywhere on the ground; not always near the water, but in pasture, wheatfield, sand-bank, or in the wrack along the shore. The nest is often well built, but at other times is hardly more than a hollow scraped in the ground, with a few grass stems between the eggs and the soil. Eggs are rarely found, even in 'the southern counties, before the third week in May, and the larger number appear to be laid between the first and fifteenth of June. Mr. E. A. Doolittle records three nests of four eggs each, found June 28, July 2, and July 5, 1906, on Grand Island, Lake Superior. He considered these to be second sets, but if so it would not indicate second broods but only that the first set of eggs had been lost by accident and the birds had made a second trial. Possibly no part of the life history of our common birds has been so much neglected as this question of second broods, and careful studies in this direction would well repay the investigator. The eggs are almost invariably four in number, seldom three or five, and are buffy or soiled white, spotted and speckled with brown and black. They average 1.25 by .90 inches. The characteristic note of the bird is usually written "peet-weet" and when the bird is alarmed or is calling anxiously to its mate or young it sounds like p'weet'-p'weet'-p'weet'. When followed along the shore the bird flies ahead 30 to 50 yards at a time, and almost always prefers to fly out over the water rather than over the sand. After being followed some Httle distance it is likely to turn back, making a larger loop than usual, and return to that part of the shore from which it was first driven. It often alights on stumps, fence-posts and rails, as well as on boulders and small rocks; and wherever it may be it keeps up the constant balancing, teetering motion, which is by no means confined to this species, yet is carried to such an extreme as to have given the bird several of its vernacular names. ^^^'f U. '/'uii'ff;, ) Plate XI. Spotted Sandpiper. From Cones' Key to North American Birds. (Courtesy of_Dana" Estes & Co.) WATER BIRDS. 203 The Spotted Sandpiper feeds until late in the evening, and possibly is more or less nocturnal, since its notes are frequently heard at night when it cannot be migrating. Its food consists largely, if not entirely, of animal matter, including small aquatic forms of every kind, but it also eats insects of various sorts, and according to S. E. White, at Mackinac Island, it was observed to feed on "stone spiders." Aughey found it feeding freely on locusts in Nebraska in May, 1895, six stomachs containing an aggregate of 91 of these injurious insects. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill about as long as head, stout, slightly decurved, largely yellow toward the base, the tip and culmen blackish; legs and feet greenish brown. Adult in summer: Entire upper parts grayish or greenish brown, usually with a brassy luster, the head and neck more or less streaked and the back and scapulars spotted and barred with black; a dusky loral streak (continued back of the eye) bordered above by a whitish stripe; under parts nearly pure white, rather thickly dotted with rounded black or dark brown spots, smallest on chin and throat, largest on breast and sides; middle tail-feathers olive brown like the back, sometimes barred with black, lateral feathers barred with black and white, and with broad white tips; wing with two conspicuous white bands, one formed by the white tips of the secondaries, the other by the inner webs of most of the primaries and the basal half of all the secondaries. Adult in autumn: Without any spots below, and with few or ho black bars above, but sides of breast shaded with gray. Young: Similar to autumn adult, and unspotted below, but with narrow bars of buff and dusky on tips of many upper tail- coverts, scapulars and wing-coverts. Length 7 to 8 inches; wing 4.05 to 4.60; culmen .90 to 1.05; tarsus .90 to 1.06. 111. Sickle-billed Curlew. Numenius americanus 5ecAsi. (264) Synonyms: Sickle-bill, Long-billed Curlew, Big Curlew, Hen Curlew. — Numenius longirostris, Wils., 1814, and authors generally. — Numenius rufus, Vieill. — Numenius occidentalis, Woodh. Known at a glance by its strongly down-curved bill, from five to eight inches long, and its mottled brown and gray plumage. The only other bird with a similarly curved bill of this length is the Glossy Ibis, which is readily separable by its metalHc green, bronze, and chestnut plumage. ■Distribution. — Temperate North America, migrating south to Guatemala, Cuba and Jamacia. Breeds in the South Atlantic States, and in the interior through most of its north American range. Doubtless this species was once fairly common in the prairie regions of southern Michigan before the country was thoroughly cultivated. Recent records for the Great Lake region are few and far between, and I am unable to find a single instance of its nesting within our limits, although we find the statement in Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's "Water Birds" (Vol. I, 1884, 314). "It is now known that they probably breed in all or nearly all the western states north of Ohio and west of Lake Erie." A. B. Covert records the capture of a male in Washtenaw county, Septem- ber 12, 1872, and another specimen taken near Ann Arbor "about September 15, 1877." According to Norman A. Wood this last specimen is mounted and now in the collection of the University of Michigan. A mounted specimen, without any label, in the collection of the St. Mary's Academy, Monroe, Michigan, is said to have been collected in that vicinity, and to have come from the collection of Father Kilroy. Mr. Ed. Van Winkle, of Van's Harbor, Delta county, says that he has taken specimens there but that they are rare. The above constitute our only records for the species, although ac- cording to Dr. Gibbs one instance of its capture was cited by D. D. 204 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Hughes in his manuscript Ornithology of Michigan, but without exact time or place. It is also mentioned by Stockwell (Forest and Stream, VIII, 22, 361). According to Butler "It is a rare migrant (in Indiana), formerly more numerous, and perhaps occasionally breeding in the northern part of the state" (Birds of Indiana, 1897, 732). It was formerly abundant in lUinois, and in Wisconsin, but has become rare of late years in both states. Nelson says that a few nested on the .fJalumet marshes in northern Illinois in the spring of 1873 (Bull. Essex Inst., VIII, 1876, 130). Mcllwraith calls it an irregular visitor in western Ontario. It nests on the ground, laying three or four eggs, which are grayish buff or buffy brown, spotted with darker brown, and averaging 2.59 by 1.81 inches. The nests are sometimes placed along the shore, sometimes on dry ground at a considerable distance from water; in the interior usually on the dryer parts of the prairies. The nest is a mere hollow in the ground, scantily lined with grasses. The food is varied, but includes a large proportion of insects, as well as berries, seeds, and various crustaceans and other aquatic animals. In Nebraska Professor Aughey examined ten stomachs between 1868 and 1876, and eight of them contained Rocky Mountain locusts, the number varying from 51 to 70 in a stomach (1st Rep. U. S. Entom. Com., Appendix 2, 55). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Bill five to eight inches long, strongly decurved; top of head streaked with buffy and black without any median light stripe; back cinnamon or grayish barred transversely with blackish; secondaries and inner vanes of primaries rufous or cinnamon; under parts varying from buffy brown to reddish brown or cinnamon; the neck and sides of breast more or less streaked or barred with blackish, the axillaries plain cirmamon or rufous with few or no black bars. Bill blackish, the base of the lower mandible flesh-color; legs bluish gray. Length 20 to 26 inches; wing 10 to 12; cuhnen 5 to 8.50; tarsus 2.25 to 3.50. Sexes alike and little seasonal change in plumage. The bill varies immensely with age, being only 2.50 to 3 inches long in young of the year and reaching a length of 5 or 6 inches the following season. 112, Hudsonian Curlew. Numenius hudsonicus Lath. (265) Synonyms: Jack Curlew, Jack, Short-billed Curlew, Striped-head. — Numenius hudson- icus. Lath., 1790, and authors generally. Plate XII. Known by the strongly decurved bill, which, however, is only from three to four inches in length, together with the buffy and brown striped and spotted plumage which is similar in all the curlews. Distribution. — All of North and South America, including the West Indies; breeds in the high north, and winters chiefly south of the United States. This is the least rare of our curlews, yet it is by no means a common bird at present. When it occurs at all it is likely to be found in flocks of considerable size, but it also associates freely with the Golden and Black- bellied plovers, and a single curlew is not infrequently seen in a large flock of plover. B. H. Swales says "One record. On May 25, 1902, I met with a flock of fully 200 birds at St. Clair Flats. My companion, C. H. Alice, secured one male, which is mounted and in his possession. This flock was commented on by several of the resident gunners as the only curlews they had ever seen" (MS. List, Birds of S. E. Michigan, 1904). There is a Plate XII. Hudsoniaii C'urlrw. From drawing by P. A. Tavt-rncr. (Original.) WATER BIRDS. 207 mounted specimen in the collection of the Michigan Agricultural College, obtained from Mr. Peter Lepp, Saginaw, Mich., which he says was taken in the fall of 1896, just outside Saginaw City. It was "leading a flock of Golden Plover" and the only bird of the kind in the flock. We have a second specimen taken by Albert Hirzel, at Forestville, Sanilac county, April 23, 1906. There is also a mounted specimen (No. 20261) in the Kent Scientific Museum, Grand Rapids, marked as local, but without other data. In Indiana, according to Butler, it is much rarer than the Long-billed Curlew. In Wisconsin, according to Kumlien and Hollister, "it has certainly been decidedly rare during the past thirty years, even in migra- tions, and we have not seen a single specimen for twelve years " (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, 52). The species nests only in the far north, and its eggs are pale olive, spotted with brown, and average 2.27 by 1.57 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Top of head brownish black, with a median stripe of huffy or grayish white; a similar but broader light stripe from bill over eye to nape, bounded below by a dusky loral and post-ocular stripe; chin and upper throat white or whitish, without markings; rest of throat, neck and breast grayish or buifyi^white thickly streaked with brownish black, the sides, flanks and under tail-ooverts barred with the same; belly mostly unspotted; back and scapulars brownish black, spotted with buffy white, the wing-coverts similar but the lighter color predominating; primaries sharply barred on inner webs with buffy white and dusky; the axillaries buffy or cinnamon, sharply barred with blackish; upper mandible brown, lower mandible yellowish, especially toward base. Sexes alike, and seasonal changes slight; young of year hardly different from adults. Length 16.50 to 18 inches; wing 9 to 10.25; culmen 3 to 4; tarsus 2.25 to 2.30. 113. Eskimo Curlew. Numenius borealis (Forst.). (266) Synonyms: Little Curlew. — Scolopax borealis, Forst., 1772. — Numenius brevirostris, Licht., 1823. — Nvimenius borealis, Lath., 1790, and authors generally. Known by its close resemblance to the Hudsonian Curlew, but the strongly decurved bill is still shorter, averaging only 2i inches ; the general tone of the plumage is also more reddish. Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding in the Arctic regions, and migrating south throughout South America. Formerly this curlew was more abundant and better known than either of the others. It appeared in large flocks during migration, and frequented dry fields and such situations as are preferred by Golden Plover. It was much hunted for its flesh, which was considered superior to that of the other curlews. Up to about 1890 it probably occurred with more or less regularity both spring and fall, and there are several well attested records of its capture. According to Gibbs (MS. List) B. F. Syke secured a female on the north marsh at Kalamazoo, October 28, 1879. It was the only one seen. In a letter to Dr. Gibbs the late W. H. Collins of Detroit said "It is quite common in Detroit markets spring and fall. Two specimens taken at St. Clair Flats in the spring of 1883; have had a number." In northeastern Labrador, where this species formerly collected in immense numbers in the late summer and early fall, they almost totally disappeared in 1894, and have been very rare ever since. Up to 1894, they had remained in large numbers in spite of the persecution to which they were subjected (Bigelow, Auk, XIX, 1902, 29). At present the species seems to be on the verge of extinction, possibly the last one has 208 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. been killed already. The last specimen taken, so far as we know, was killed at Hog Island, Hancock county, Maine, Sep. 2, 1909 (0. W. Knight, Auk, XXVII, 1910, 79). The food of all the curlews consists partly of animal matter and partly of vegetable material, and the present species is known to feed freely on locusts, grasshoppers, crickets, and a large variety of other insects, as well as on various seeds, grains and berries. It formerly visited Labrador after the breeding season, largely to feast on the crow-berry or curlew- berry (Empetrum nigrum), and some other abundant berries before starting on its long journey southward. This is another of the species which formerly reached southern Argentina and even Patagonia on its southward migration. The writer saw it in flocks of hundreds on the Argentine Pampas in January and February, 1880 and 1881. It formerly bred in large numbers on the Barren Grounds, within the Arctic Circle, laying three or four spotted eggs in a poorly lined hollow in the ground. The eggs average 2.04 by 1.43 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Top of head uniformly streaked with brownish black and grayish or buffy white, without any median light stripe; an indistinct light stripe from bill over eye; remainder of head and neck buffy white, narrowly streaked with dusky or brownish black, the markings becoming arrow-shaped or v-shaped on the lower throat and breast, the sides and flanks with larger bars of the same color. Inner webs of primaries uniform brownish without bars. Length 12.60 to 14.50 inches; wing 8 to 8.50; culmen 2.25 to 2.50; tarsus 1.70 to 1.80. Family 27. CHARADRIID^. Plover. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Large, wing over 6 inches, bill nearly or quite 1 inch. B, BB. B. Three-toed, hind toe lacking. C, CC. C. Wing not over 6f inches; neck encircled by a broad white ring with a black ring below it. Killdeer. No. 116. CC. Wing more than 6|- inches; neck without rings. Golden Plover. No. 115. BB, Four-toed, hind toe short but distinct. Black-bellied Plover. No. 114. A A. Small, wing not over 5 inches; a complete white ring around neck, with a dark collar below it. E, EE. E. General color of upper parts (back, etc.) pale gray or even grayish white. Piping Plover. No. 118. EE. General color of upper parts dark brownish gray. Ringneck. No. 117. 114. Black-bellied Plover. Squatarolasquatarola (Linn.). (270) Synonyms: Gray Plover, Beetle-head, Black-breast, Four-toed Plover.— Tringa squatarola, Lirm., 1758, T. helvetica, 1766. — Squatarola helvetica, Cuv., 1817, and authors generally. — Charadrius helveticus, Licht., Nutt., Aud. — Charadrius apricarius, Wils. Likely to be confounded in any plumage with the Golden Plover which it closely resembles. With specimens in hand, however, they can be WATER BIRDS. 209 instantly separated by examination of the feet, since the present species has a distinct hind toe in addition to the three front toes, while the Golden Ploverlacks the hind toe altogether. In spring the black breast and belly have given it the name of Black-breast, while the general gray color in the fall IS sufficient reason for the name Gray Plover. Of course the Golden Plover is in very similar dress at corresponding seasons, but the Golden Plover, as its name implies, shows many dots and markings of yellow in the gray upper parts, especially on the top and back of the head and the lower back. Distribution. — Nearly cosmopolitan, but chiefly in the Northern Hemis- phere, breeding far north, and migrating south in winter, in America, to the West Indies, Brazil, and Colombia. In Michigan this is not an uncommon species during the fall migration, but there are few records for spring. Dr. Gibbs states that the late D. D. Hughes took a single specimen in spring (presumably in Calhoun county) many years ago, and Mr. Albert Hirzel, of Forestville, Sanilac county, took an adult male there May 2, 1905, which is now in the Agricultural College museum. The earliest record in the fall is that of a specimen taken near Greenville, Michigan, August 10, 1893, and another August 16, 1897, by the late Percy Selous. A few have been taken in September (Sept. 26, Bay county, N. A. Eddy), but the majority are found in Octo- ber (Oct. 5, Bay City, Oct. 29, Kalamazoo, Oct. 5, Ann Arbor, and Oct. 1895, Greenville). Mr. N. A. Eddy found one in the market at Bay City, November 25, 1893, an unusually late record. Norman A. Wood found this species fairly common on the Charity Islands, at the mouth of Saginaw Bay, from Aug. 20 to Sep. 10, 1910. Among the earliest to come from the north were five adults in almost per- fect spring plumage (under parts black), while after Sep. 26, only young birds, in the gray plumage, were seen. Some of these remained until Oct. 7, but the light-keeper said he shot some on Nov. 21, 1909. (Wilson Bul- letin, XXIII, 1911, 91). The bird sometimes associates with the Golden Plover, but is often seen in small flocks by itself. It has much the same habits as the Golden Plove^, but seems more inclined to frequent the lake shores and wet places generally, while the latter bird is more often seen on the dryer uplands. Both species feed largely on seeds, berries, grasshoppers and other insects, and their flesh is much better after a season of such diet, while a ranker and even a fishy taste may result from their feeding along the shore or on fresh water mud flats. This species breeds in the far north, laying three or four "light buffy olive eggs, spotted with brown and black, and averaging 2.04 by 1.43 inches" (Ridgway). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Toes three in front, one behind, the latter short but distinct. Bill shorter than head, stout, acute, black. Adult in late spring and summer: Brownish black or dusky above, darkest on crown and lower back, everywhere speckled or barred with white; lower parts mainly clear black, including the sides of head above the eyes, and the sides of the neck to the middle line; only the sides of breast, the anal region, imder tail-coverts, and thighs white; black of the throat and neck sharply divided from the gray of the upper parts by a white stripe along the sides of the neck, which gradually shades into the gray; rump and upper tail-coverts mostly white with a few dark bars; tail with numerous black and white bars- axillaries plain black. Adult in autumn and winter: Upper parts much as in summer, but lower parts without trace of black, the lower neck and sides of breast alone streaked or mottled with brownish or grayish ash, the rest of under parts nearly pure white, 27 210 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. but the axillars always black. Young: Similar to adult in winter, but upper parts more or less speckled with buffy or pale yellow. Iris dark brown, bill, legs and feet, black Length 10.50 to 12 inches; wing 7.60; culmen 1.10; tarsus 1.95. US. Golden Plover. Charadrius dominicus dominicus (Mm^^.). (272) Synonyms: American Golden Plover, Bull-head, Golden-back, Black-breast, Field Plover, Prairie Pigeon. — Charadrius pluvialis, Wils., 1813, Sw. & Rich., Aud., Nutt. — C. virginicus, Licht., Cass., Baird. — C. fulvus var. virginicus, Coues, 1872. Plate XIII and Figure 56. In fall plumage similar to the preceding, but the upper parts usually show numerous spots of dull yellow or buffy white which gives it the name Golden Plover. Of course the absence of the hind toe will always separate it from the Black-bellied Plover. Distribution. — Arctic America, except coast of Bering Sea, migrating southward throughout North and South America to Patagonia. This bird is better known to sportsmen than most other shore birds owing to the fact that it is found in high dry regions, as well as along the shores and marshes. It is commonly seen in large flocks from September to November, but the larger number -f appear during the latter half of September and linger for a month or more. These appear to be mainly young of the year, and they are in the gray plumage characteristic of the young birds. It seems certain that the old birds pass south in August and early September, and that a large part of them travel along the sea coast, or even over the open sea, past Bermuda and the Lesser Antilles, to the north coast of South America. On the return trip in spring the great majority, young or old, travel west of the Mississippi River, and it is exceptional to meet with the species in spring anywhere in the eastern states. This is true also of Michigan, and although several ob- servers have reported it as seen in spring, I have not been able to find a spring specimen in any collection in the state, and it seems likely that these reports may be in- correct. It has been reported in the fall from nearly every point in the Lower Peninsula where we have correspondents, and it formerly was abundant about Kg se Foot of Goi- Saginaw Bay and along the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers ng)na .) Marciuette in the summer of 1904, douljtless was a flock of JMourning Doves. It is one of the first lairds to arrive in spring, coming at about the same time as the I^lueljird, Robin, and Meadowlark, usually in advance of the Killdeer. It commonly arrives in pairs, but occasionally in small flocks of three to ten individuals, which soon separate and begin nesting. With us the nest is usually placed on the horizontal branch of a spreading tree, and not more than eight or ten feet from the ground. Frequently it is placed in a bush or a tangle of vines, at an elevation of l)ut three or four feet, and instances are by no means uncommon in which tlie eggs are placed directly upon the ground with only the merest apology for a nest. In prairie regions farther south and west this is the common mode of nesting, while in New England the nest is almost invariably placed in trees. It is dithcult to determine the number of broods, but in southern Michigan eggs may l)e found during every month from April to September inclusive, and there are reports of sets in October and Noveml)er.(?) Doubtless two In-oods are always reared, and in case of disaster the bird may repeat the attempt several times. By the first of July small companies of doves may be found feeding in stulable fields and brushy pastures, and the size of these flocks increases until in September sometimes a hundred individuals or more will be found feeding in the same fleld, although when alarmed they seldom unite into one large flock, more often dividing into six to ten small companies. Later in the fall the flocks are smaller yet and when the liirds finally move south they generally go in couples or small squads. Th's is one of our most useful birds, feeding ex- tensivel}' on weed seeds and never, so far as we are aware, inflicting damage upon anj^ farm crop. It has been accused of injuring peas wlicn ripening on the vines, but I do not know of a single well attested ^'^- ":*■ instance. On the other hand it frequently eats insects, ' ° "">■"'"« particularly grasshoppers, although it is always mainly vegetarian. Until recently this was considered a game bird and its destruction was allowed during the fall, but by act of the legislature of 1905 it was trans- ferred to the list of non-game bii'ds, and its killing is now wisely prohibited at all seasons. LAND BIRDS. 253 The nest is usually very slightly built, of a few twigs, weedstalks and straws, forming a nearly flat platform on which the two M'hite, unspotted, elliptical eggs are laid. These measure 1.10 by .84 inches. A noteworthy performance of this bird at mating and nesting time seems to have been overlooked by its biographers. An individual leaves its perch on a tree, and, with vigor- ous and sometimes noisy flapping (the wings seeming to strike each other above the back), rises obliquely to a height of a hundred feet or more, and then, on widely extended and motionless wings, glides back earthward in one or more sweeping curves. Usually the wings, during this ghding flight, are carried some- what below the plane of the body, in the manner of a soaring yellowlegs or sandpiper, and sometimes the bird makes a complete circle or spiral before again flapping its wings, which it does just before ahghting. Occasionally a soaring dove glides downward in this way until within a yard or two of the ground, but more often it perches again at an elevation of twenty or thirty feet. While gliding rapidly downward its resemblance to a small hawk is noticeable. This peculiar evolution is commonly repeated several times at intervals of two or three minutes, and appears to be a display flight for the benefit of its mate, the assumption being that only the male Dove soars. Although familiar with the Mourning Dove's habits in New England, Western New York, and elsewhere, we have never seen this peculiar flight except in Michigan. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Forehead, sides of head and neck, and breast, clear pinkish-buff, lightest and most buffy on forehead and sides of head, darkest and pinkest on the breast; chin nearly pure white; sides of the lower neck glossed with changeable metallic violet or reddish purple; a small but distinct blue-black spot on each side of the upper neck; crown and occiput clear bluish gray, becoming brownish on back, rump, upper tail-coverts, scapulars and wing-coverts; the inner wing-coverts and scapulars with distinct rounded black spots; middle tail-feathers Uke the back, the others slaty blue at base, crossed by a broad black band, the terminal third or more white or bluish white. Adult female: SimUar, but duller and browner, with little or no blue-gray on the head, or pinkish on the breast; the purplish area on the neck smaller and fainter; the black neck spots small and dull blackish. Young: Similar to adult female, but many of the feathers of the upper surface, neck and chest, with whitish edgings or tips, the black neck spot and metallic gloss entirely wanting. Length 11 to 13 inches; wing ,5.70 to 6.10; tail 5.70 to 6.50. Fig. 66. Tail of Mourning Dove. 254 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Order XII. RAPTORES. Birds of Prey. Members of this order are at once recognizable by a glance at the structure of the bill and feet, various though the modifications of these parts may be. The strongly hooked bill, provided with a cere, only occurs elsewhere among parrots, and there the feet are totally different, being "yoke-toed", as in cuckoos and woodpeckers, two toes pointing forward and two always back- ward, while in birds of prey either three toes point forward permanently, as in all the diurnal Raptores except the Osprey, or the outer toe is versatile, that is, may be turned in either direction, as in the Osprey and all owls. In any case the claws or talons are long, curved and sharp, and in all except the American Vultures they are extremely acute and flexibly jointed to the toes, so that the feet become powerful weapons for grasping, piercing and killing the living prey on which these birds mainly subsist. Three suborders are recognized, separable as follows: KEY TO SUBORDERS. A. Head and part of neck without feathers (Fig. 67). Suborder Sarcor- hamphi. American Vultures. Page 254. AA. Head well feathered. B, BB. B. Eyes placed at the sides of the head so that the two eyes never look in the same direction. Suborder Falcones. Diurnal Birds of Prey. Page 257. BB. Eyes directed forward so that both look in the same direction, surrounded by disks of radiating feathers, the so-called facial disks. Suborder Striges. Owls. Suborder SARCORHAMPHI. American Vultures. Family 36. CATHARTID^. Buzzards or Vultures. Only a single Michigan species, the Turkey Buzzard. The family (and suborder) is characterized by the naked head, perforate nostrils, short hind toe inserted a little above the level of the three front toes, and the somewhat blunt and not strongly curved claws. The whole structure of the foot is adapted rather for walking or standing than for grasping and killing as in most other Raptores. 130. Turkey Buzzard. Cathartes aura septentrionalis Wied. (325) Synonyms; Turkey Vulture, Vulture, Buzzard, Carrion Crow. — Cathartes septen- trionalis, Wied., 1839. — Vultur aura, Linn., 1766, and tiie older authors generally. — Cathartes aura, lUig., 1811, and most recent writers. — Rhinogryphus aura, Ridgw., 1875. Figures 67 and 68. The large size, long, rounded tail, and head entirely naked or merely downy, serve to separate this bird from all others. Distribution. — Temperate North America, from New Jersey, Ohio Valley, LAND BIRDS. 255 Fig. 07. Turkey Buzzard. Adult. From photograph of mounted specimen. (Original.) Saskatchewan region and British Columbia, southward to Patagonia and the Falldand Islands. In j\Iiehigan the Turkey Buzzard is practically confined to the two southernmost tiers of counties, although it is found sparingly throughout two tiers farther north and A\anclers occasionally all over the state. Being a bird of re- markable powers of flight and by no means sensitive to cold, it is not surprising that single individuals often extend their wanderings even to the shores of Lake Superior. Wc have records from nearly all the counties in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula, and reports of single specimens seen or taken in half a dozen localities farther north. At Port Huron, Mr. Hazel- wood states that he sees from one to five every spring. We have a specimen in the College collection, taken at Riley, Clin- ton Co. ; we examined a speci- men at Harrisville, Alcona Co., taken near that place; and a description of one killed near Benzonia, Benzie Co., was sent us several years ago. We also have a specimen taken at the Agricultural College, and Mr. C. J. Davis, of Lansing, has one in his collection, wdiich was killed at Fowlerville, Livingston county. There is a specimen in the Broas Collection (now in the College Jluseum), taken in Ionia county, and it has been recorded several times from Kent count}^ ilr. Ed. Van Winkle, of Vans Harbor, writes that he has seen about a dozen specimens in Delta county (Upper Peninsula) during the ])ast fifteen years; and Mr. Thomas B. Wjanan, of Negaunee, Mich., writes that a sj^ecimen was seen there June 20, 1905, by Mr. E. A. Doolittle of Painsville, Ohio, who knows the species well and could not be mistaken. Incidentally it may be noted that J. H. Fleming has recorded a specimen taken at Moose Factory, James Bay, in June 1S9S (Auk, XX, 66). The nesting habits are somewhat peculiar. The birds commonly nest in a hollow tree, the hollow of a fallen log, the arched cavity beneath a large stump, or a small cave or pocket in a ledge of rocks. Some times the eggs are laid in .the hollow top of a sycamore stub fifty feet or more from the ground, but more often they are placed on or near the ground in some such place as just indicated. There are several well attested instances of nests found in Michigan, and probably in the counties bordering Indiana and Ohio considerable numljers nest every year. Jerome Trombley states that a pair nests regularly in a hollow sycamore near the llaisin Ptiver at Petersburg, Monroe county, and that other pairs have nested in that vicinity. May 30, 1903, a nest with two eggs was found in a swamp near Freedom, Washtenaw county by Mr. John Uphaus, and the birds ha^'e nested in that vicinity regularly for several years. Mr. S. E. AMiite and E. Durfee took two eggs at Douglas, Allegan county, in 1891. 256 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. The eggs arc always two, and are usually laid on the bare ground, or on the chips and rul)l)ish accumulated at the bottom of the hollow in which they are found, without any sign of a nest. They measure 2.74 by 1.89 inches, and are usually buffy or greenish white, spotted and blotched with rich brown and purplish gray. The young are covered with wiiite down, except the fore part of head, which is naked from the first. The food of the Turkey Buzzard is mainly carrion, but it also eats snakes, toads, and probably rats, mice, and occasionally j'oung birds that chance to fall in its way. It does not, however, attack poultry or game birds, nor does it regularly search for and destroy the nests of other birds. On Fig. OS. Turkt-y Buzzard. Four weeks old. PhotoKrarihed from life. From Bird Lore, by courf(.sy of Dr. ThonuLS H. Jaekson. the whole it is a Ijeneficial species and should be rigorously protected. On the wing it is one of the most graceful of birds and soars for hours at a time in fair weather, wheeling in endless circles high above the earth, always on the lookout for food. It is commonly believed to find its food through the sense of smell, but this has never been proved. It seems much more probable, from the evidence at hand, that it depends primarilj;- u])on sight, and the gathering of large numbers about some newljr discovered food is due simply to the keen watch kept on each other, so that the motions of the discoverer are immediately noted b}' others at a distance, and when these stop circling and start toward the feast birds which are still farther away notice the unintentional signal and speed in the same direction. LAND BIRDS. 257 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Head and upper part of neck entirely bare or with only a few "bristles;" wings very h '^/len folded their tips reaching to or beyond the tip of tail. Tail much rounded. Adult: Nearly uniform black, dull below, glossy above; the feathers of back, scapulars and wmg-coverts more or less margined with grayish brown. Bill white; iris brown; naked skin of head dull red; feet brownish black. Young: Similar, but bill blackish, head dusky, and general color of upper parts black, with less brown on scapulars and wing-coverts. The young when just hatched, and for several weeks thereafter, is covered with pure white down except on the head which is largely naked. Length 26 to 32 inches; extent about 6 feet; wing 20 to 23 inches; tail 11 to 12; cuhnen 1. Suborder FALCONES. Diurnal Birds of Prey. This suborder includes all our birds of prey except the Turkey Buzzard and the owls, and under the scheme of classification recently (1910) adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union, is divisible into three famihes, viz., the Buteonidse, comprising a majority of all the species, the Falconidse or true falcons (four species), and the Pandionidse or ospreys, a single species. The latter, the Fish Hawk, is unique in the structure of its foot, which has the outer toe reversible, the lower surface of all the toes thickly studded with spicules, and the claws or talons strong, slender, much curved, extremely sharp, and all of the same length — adaptations for holding the slippery prey on which it lives. The other families, Buteonida; and Falconidse are defined with difficulty, the single point by which they can be diagnosed sharply being the anatomical structure of the shoulder, only to be determined by dissection. It seems best therefore not to attempt to separate the three families here, but to give an artificial key for all the species of the suborder, as follows: KEY TO SPECIES. A. Fourth toe (outer toe) reversible, i. e. turning either to the front or back; claws of all the toes approximately the same length. Osprey or Fish-hawk. No. 148. AA. Fourth toe not reversible; claws of unequal length, that of the hind toe usually longest, that of outer toe shortest. (Fig. 71.) B, BB. B. Very large birds, wings 20 inches or more. C, CC. C. Tarsus or shank feathered to base of toes. (Fig. 74). Golden Eagle. No. 143. CC. Lower third or half of tarsus without feathers. Bald Eagle. No. 144. BB. Not so large, wing from 6 to 18 inches. D, DD. D Cutting edge of upper mandible toothed and notched (Fig. 75). E, EE. E.'With two or more teeth and inter- vening notches on each side; general color bluish-gray, almost white on head; wing 10.30 to 12.30. Mississippi Kite. No. 133. 33 Fig. 71. 258 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Fig. 72. EE. With but one distinct notch, separating the hooked tip of the mandible from a single sharp, tooth-like pro- jection just behind it. F, FF. F. Five outer primaries emarginate near tip. Sharp-shinned Hawk. No. 135. FF. Only one or two primaries emarginate. G, GG. G. Wing over 10 inches. Duck Hawk. No. 145. Possibly also the Gyrfalcon (Appendix). GG. Wing less than 10 inches. H, HH. H. Back and tail bright rust-red, usually with regular cross bars of black. Sparrow Hawk. No. 147. HH. Back and tail without any rust-red, usually slaty-blue or brownish black, the tail with a few (four or five) white cross-bars. Pigeon Hawk. No. 146. Possibly also Richardson's Falcon (Appendix). DD. Cutting edge of upper mandible not toothed and notched (Fig. 72). I, II. I. Small hawks, wing less than 12 inches. J, JJ. J. With only two outer primaries emarginate near tip. White-tailed Kite. No. 132. JJ. With more than two primaries emarginate. K, KK, KKK. K. With three emarginate primaries. Broad-winged Hawk. No. 141. KK. With four emarginate primaries (Fig. 73). Red-shouldered llawk (small males). No. 139. KKK. With five emarginate primaries. L, LL. L. Tail nearly square at end, that is, tail-feathers all of about the same length. Sharp-shinned Hawk. No. 135. LL. Tail rounded at end, that is, middle feathers longest and each successive pair shorter, the outermost being the short- est. Coopers Hawk. No. 136. II. Larger hawks, wing 12 inches or more. M, MM. M. Tarsus feathered to base of toes. Rough- legged Hawk. No. 142. MM. Tarsus feathered only part way down. N, NN. N. Tail deeply forked. Swallow-tailed Fig. 73. Kite. No. 131. NN. Tail not forked. 0, 00. 0. Upper tail-coverts pure white. Marsh Hawk. No. 134. LAND BIRDS. 259 00. Upper tail-coverts not white. P, PP. P. Tail white, unmarked or at most with an in- distinct dark bar toward the tip. White- tailed Kite. No. 132. PP. Tail not white. Q, QQ. Q. Only first three primaries emarginate on inner webs near tip. Swainson's Hawk. No. 140. QQ. First four primaries emarginate on inner webs. R, RR. R. Tail rust red, usually with a black bar near tip. Red-tailed Hawk (adult). ■ No. 138. Possibly also the Western Red-tail (Appendix). RR. Tail not red. S. SS. S. Tail blackish, crossed at regular distances by about five narrow white bars. Red-shouldered Hawk (adult). No. 139. SS. Tail crossed by seven or eight dark '^' ''^' bars and an equal number of light ones. T, TT. T. The dark bars wider than the hght ones; primaries with much rusty or bright buff basally. Red-shouldered Hawk (immature). No. 139. TT. The light bars wider than the dark ones; no buff or rusty on base of primaries. Red-tailed Hawk (immature). No. 138. QQQ. First five primaries emarginate on inner webs near tip. Goshawk. No. 137. Family 37. BUTEONID.E. Kites, Hawks and Eagles. 131. Swallow-tailed Kite. Elanoides forficatus (Linn.). (327) Synonyms: Swallow-tailed Hawk, Swallow-tail, Fork-tailed Kite, Snake Hawk. — Falco forficatus, Linn., 1758. — Milvus furcatus, Vieill., 1807. — Nauclerus furcatus, Vig., Swains., Bonap. and many others. — Nauclerus forficatus, Wils., Aud. A remarkable hawk, instantly recognizable at almost any distance by its resemblance to a gigantic Barn Swallow, the slender wings and deeply forked tail rendering it unmistakable. Distribution. — United States, especially in the interior, from the Carolinas and Minnesota southward throughout Central and South America; west- ward to the Great Plains. Casual eastward to southern New England and northward to Manitoba and Assiniboia. This remarkable bird must be regarded as merely a wanderer from the south which has been taken in Michigan perhaps half a dozen times in the last thirty years. 260 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. According to Mr. Norman A. Wood, there is a specimen now in the col- lection of Egbert Harper, at Saline, Washtenaw county, which was killed there September 15, 1880. A pair was shot June 19, 1882. in Monroe county, and the late W. H. Collins took a specimen near Detroit in 1881. Possibly this is the same specimen recorded by Dr. Gibbs, who states that Mr. Collins wrote him: "One specimen taken seven miles from Detroit in the summer of 1878, now in the Museum of the Detroit Scientific Associa- tion." Mr. Edward Arnold took a specimen in Kalamazoo county, in 1897, and there have been several reports of birds believed to be of this species which were seen but not taken. Among these are records by G. A. Stockwell (Forest and Stream, XII, 9, 165), who says that it sometimes breeds in the southwestern part of the state; and a record by Dr. Atkins, who told Mr. Covert that he had seen it at Locke, Ingham county. It has been taken occasionally in Ontario, and there are records for Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The nest is placed near the top of a tall tree, frequently near the tip of a limb, and is built of small sticks and sometimes lined with moss and feathers. The eggs are commonly two or three, white or buffy white, boldly spotted with brown, and average 1.87 by 1.49 inches. The species nests commonly in the Gulf States and Texas, but may nest in almost any part of its regular range. There is no reason to suppose, however, that it ever nests in Michigan. Its food consists largely of snakes, lizards, tree-toads and frogs, but it also consumes myriads of large insects, particularly grasshoppers and locusts. In the southern states, where it is abundant, all observers agree that it rarely if ever touches birds or mammals. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Back, wings and tail clear black, sometimes with metallic reflections; rest of plumage pure white; bill blackish; feet grayish or flesh color. Young: Similar, but head and neck narrowly streaked with blackish, and most of the dark flight feathers edged and tipped with white. Length 19.50 to 25.50 inches; wing 15.40 to 17.70; outer tail- feathers 12.50 to 14.50. 132. White-tailed Kite. Elanus leucurus (Vieill.). (328) Synonyms: Black-shouldered Ete. — Milvus leucurus, Vieill., 1818. — Elanus leucurus of authors generally. — Falco dispar, Bonap. In general appearance resembles a small sea gull, for example, Bona- parte's, and when seen at a distance might easily be mistaken for one of those birds. In the hand, its pure white under parts, bluish gray back, and clear black shoulders, together with the white tail, mark it unmis- takably. Distribution. — Eastern United States from South Carolina and southern Illinois to Texas and Cahfornia, southward to Chili and Argentine Republic; casual in Michigan. Breeds regularly throughout its general distribution in the United States. The claim of this bird to a place in the Michigan fauna rests mainly on the statement of A. B. Covert, of Ann Arbor, who says he killed a specimen in September 1878, on the Honeycreek marshes four miles west of Ann Arbor, and that another was killed April 21, 1879, by C. H. Manley, in Livingston county. The latter specimen is said to be mounted and now in the possession of Capt. Manley. The first specimen was for a time in LAND BIRDS. 261 the possession of Mr. Herbert Randall of Ann Arbor, but we have not been able to examine either specimen. The record of a Grand Rapids specimen by Professor Cook was partly incorrect; Mr. Stewart E. White, to whom the capture was credited, merely recorded seeing a specimen. He says: "Identified while on the wing, but I think his pecuhar shape and color- ation leave shght room for doubt." Dr. Atkins, of Locke, reported it as "a rare summer resident," but there can be little doubt that this was a mistake. The bird is a southern species, nowhere common, and not hkely to occur except as an extremely rare wanderer in southern Michigan. The nest is placed on trees, usually near the water, and the eggs, which average 1.71 by 1.31 inches, are "handsomely marbled or clouded with various shades of rich madder brown on a paler, sometimes whitish, ground" (Ridgway). Its food is similar to that of the Swallow-tailed Kite, and recent observers do not confirm Audubon's statement that it sometimes feeds on small birds. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Under parts pure white; upper parts bluish gray, bleaching to pure white on the head; a black spot in front of the eye; tail pure white; shoulders (lesser wing-coverts) deep black, rest of wing bluish white above, pure white below. Young: More or less rusty and brown-streaked above; tail crossed by an indistinct dark band near tip; wing- feathers tipped with white. Length 15.15 to 16.75 inches; wing 11.50 to 13.30; tail 5.90 to 7.40. • ~ 133. Mississippi Kite. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wils.). (329) Synonyros: Blue Kite. — Falco misisippiensis, Wils., 1811. — Falco plumbeus, Aud., 1831. — Ictinia plumbea, Bonap., Nutt. Known from other kites by its bluish-gray color, becoming lighter or nearly white on the head, and darkening almost to black on wings and tail. Distribution. — Southern United States, east of the Rocky Mountains; southward regularly from South Carolina on the coast, to Guatemala, and casually north to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Iowa. The title of this bird to a place in the Michigan list appears to rest on a specimen said to have been taken in Cass county many years ago, and recorded in the manuscript list of the birds of the state by D. D. Hughes. This specimen is said to have been preserved, but we have been unable to get any trace of it. The species is mentioned also in Stockwell's Forest and Stream list where it is said to be "rare in Michigan." The Mississippi Kite, like several of its relatives, often occurs in flocks and is a tireless and graceful flyer. Its food consists "of insects such as the larger beetles, grasshoppers and locusts, lizards, small snakes, and frogs. It never has been known to molest birds or mammals" (A. K. Fisher). It nests in the tops of very tall trees, laying two or three nearly white eggs, sometimes faintly marked with pale brown, and averaging 1.63 by 1.32 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Uniform bluish-gray or lead color, becoming lighter on head and darker on wings and tail; inner webs of outer wing-feathers partly rufous. A blackish spot in front of the eye. Iria red; legs and feet dull red. Young: Similar, but streaked andi'spotted with brown below, and the tail with three or more narrow bands of gray or grayish white. Length 13 to 15.50 inches; wing 10.60 to 12.30; tail 6 to 7. 262 MICHKJAN BIRD LIFE. 134. Marsh Hawk. Circus hudsonius (Linn.). (331) Synonyms: Frog Hawk, Bog-trotter, Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Mouse Ilawlv, Whitc- ruinped Hawlv. — Faleo luidsonius, Linn., 1766. — Circus liud.sonius, Vieill., 1S()7. — t'ireus cyaneus var. luid.sonius, Ridg^v., 1872. Figure 69. Recognizable in any plumage by the pure wliite upper tail-coverts which form a conspicuous mark in females and young birds, iDut not so noticeable in the adult male, which is largely bluish white. Distribution. — North America in general; south to Panama and Cuba. Breeds throughout its North American range. The Marsh Hawk is one of our commonest and Ijest known birds, arriving from the siiuth usually in ^larch, often before the uplands are free from Fig. 61). Nest anrl Eggs of Marsh Hawk. From photograiih l)y Thornas L. Hankiiison. snow and before the ice is gone from the marshes. It is commonly seen hunting back and forth over the low grounds, keeping generall)' within a few yards of the surface and rising aljove the trees only in passing from one marsh or field to another. Its food is varied, consisting of meadow-mice, ground squirrels, frogs, snakes, insects, and occasionally small birds, mainly blackbirds and the smaller ground-nesting species. According to Dr. Fisher "It is unquestion- ably one of the most beneficial of oiu' hawks and its presence and increase should be encouraged in every possible waj', no' only by protecting it by law but by disseminating a knowledge of the benefits it confers. It is probably the most active and determined foe of meadow-mice and ground scpiirrels, destroying greater numbers of these pests than any other species, and this fact alone should entitle it to protection even if it destroyed no other injurious animals." Out of 124 stomachs reported on by Dr. Fisher, LANb BlRbg. 263 7 contained poultry or game birds; 34, other birds; 57, mice; 22, otiier mammals; 7, reptiles; 2, frogs; and 14, insects. This hawk is peculiar in nesting always on the ground, where it builds a somewhat bulky nest, mainly of weed-stalks and grass, and lays from four to eight bluish-white, unspotted eggs, the usual number being five or six. Occasionally the ground color is pure white and not infrequently there are a few pale brown spots. The eggs average 1.80 by 1.41 inches. The period of incubation is about four weeks. In spring these hawks are seen always in pairs, but after the young are able to fly they often hunt in family parties, and later in the season gather into loose flocks of twenty to fifty individuals. Their call note is said to be "a peevish scream, not unhke that of the Red-tailed Hawk, though not so strong" (Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. Birds, I, 185). This is one of the birds most often killed by sportsmen, few of whom can resist the temptation of so fair a mark. This is much to be regretted, since the bird does almost no harm and renders incalculable service by the de- struction of mice and insects. In Nebraska Professor Aughey found it feeding freely on the Rocky Mountain locust during locust years, and the five stomachs which he examined showed an average of fifty locusts (1st Rep. U. S. Entom. Com., App. 2, p. 43). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Face with an imperfect ruff, somewhat as in owls. Adult male: Mostly light bluish gray above, more or less streaked with white, the upper tail-coverts pure white; under parts nearly white, usually with a bluish tinge, and rather faintly streaked with grayish or buffy; wings tipped with blackish, forming an excellent field mark; tail bluish gray with six or more narrow dark bars, the sub-terminal bar being broad and very dark. Adult female: General color deep brown above, streaked with rusty; under parts buffy or whitish, streaked with brown; upper tail-coverts white as in male; tail brown with six or seven distinct blackish bars. Young: Similar to adult female but darker everywhere, and tail with only four dark bands. Length 19.50 to 24 inches; wing 12.90 to 16; tail 8.80 to 10.50. 135. Sharp-shinned Hawk. Accipiter velox (Wils.). (332) Synonyms: Pigeon Hawk, Sparrow Hawk, Bird Hawk, Chicken Hawk, Bullet Hawk. — Palco velox, Wils., 1812. — Falco fuscus, GmeL, 1789. — Accipiter fuscus, Bonap., 1838, and authors generally. — Nisus fuscvis, B. B. & R., 1875. Plate XVIII. Known by the small size, comparatively short wings and long tail, and especially by the slender legs and feet and the remarkably long toes. As with many hawks, adult plumage is not acquired for several years and the fully mature birds are entirely different in color and markings from younger ones. This species is not likely to be confounded with any other save the Cooper's Hawk, but the latter is commonly much larger and the end of tail rounded instead of square. Distribution. — North America in general; south to Panama. Breeds throughout its North American range. This little hawk is known in different parts of the state by different names, as indicated above, but it is most often called "Sparrow Hawk," a name to which it has every natural right, since it feeds largely upon small birds; but unfortunately the name "Sparrow Hawk" is the one given 204 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFii. in almost all our books of reference to the little falcon, or Kestrel, which is almost equally common, but which feeds much more commonly upon insects and mice than upon sparrows. The present species, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, is one of the few really injurious hawks which is common in Michigan. It prefers feathered game to anything else and creates havoc among the bird population of our fields and forests during its presence with us. During migration it is generally distributed over the state, but passes northward for the nesting season, so that it is seldom found in southern Michigan after the first of June. It nests usually in evergreen trees — pines, spruces, tamaracks, or cedars, building a rather compact nest of sticks and twigs and laying from two to five heavily blotched eggs, which average 1.47 by 1.16 inches. It has been reported nesting from many counties in the southern part of the state, but it seems tolerably certain that in most, if not all, these cases Cooper's Hawk was mistaken for the present species. We know of but two instances in which the eggs have been taken in the state, and for these we are indebted to Mr. Edward Arnold of Battle Creek He reports a nest with four eggs taken near Port Huron, St. Clair county, May 26, 1899, the nest being placed twelve feet up in a cedar tree. Another nest, with two eggs, was taken May 22, 1901, from a cedar tree, also in St. Clair county. While these are the only actual records of nesting known to us, the bird has been found during the nesting season at several points in the northern part of the state; by Major Boies on Neebish Island, St. Mary's River; by 0. B. Warren in Marquette county, 1898; and by the writer at Gaylord, Otsego county, and Grayling, Crawford county, in June, 1902, and on Beaver Island, Charlevoix county, in July, 1904. While this species closely resembles Cooper's Hawk in flight, general appearance, and character of nesting, the eggs are heavily spotted, while those of Cooper's Hawk are never heavily spotted, and usually are plain bluish white without any spots at all. Among 159 stomachs reported upon by Dr. Fisher, 6 contained poultry or game birds; 99, other birds; 6, mice; 5, insects; and 52 were empty. It appears, therefore, that out of 107 stomachs which contained food 99 contained remains of wild birds while only 6 contained mice (Hawks and Owls of the U. S., 1892, 35-37). These figures should be compared with those relating to other hawks, and especially to the owls. The Sharp-shin is by no means a noisy hawk, except perhaps when its nest is threatened. At such times its shrill notes justify the description given by a farmer who said they were always "squealing" when he went near their nest. One writer says their call is a clear chee-up. chee-up, while another compares it to the cac, cac, cac of the Flicker, and says "it is exactly like that of the Cooper's Hawk, except perhaps a little shriller and not quite so loud" (Bendire, Life Hist. I, 188). This is one of the species which frequently migrates in large scattered flocks, especially in autumn. Mr. P. A. Taverner observed such a flight in the autumn of 1905 at Point Pelee, Ont., about 20 miles east of Detroit. He writes: "There were Sharp-shins everwhere — sweeping about through the woods, beating about just over the tree tops; higher, working up and down the line of trees along the shore [Lake Erie], and still farther up, as high as one could see them, were still hawks. Standing in a small open- ing in the brush where I could look out over a field I counted 25 and I judged there were but an average number for the day in sight then." This flight I TTff •&[(. {f^" y •-~,a;A 5«Tm ' Ac ;.;„■• w' — Plate XVIII. Sharp-shinned Hawk. Adult. Reprinted from Chapman's BirdtLife, by'eourtesy ofjD. Appleton & Co. LAND BIRDS. 267 lasted several days and appears September ever)' year. to take place late in August and early in TKCHNIC'AL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Uniform dark bluish gray or slate blue abo\-e, tlie feathers of the occiput lau-o white beneatli tlie surface; under parts white, tlie throat narrowly streal-ced and tlie lest heavily barred witii reddish brown; primaries blackish on outer webs, bluisli white l:)arred witli black on inner webs, the five outer ones emarginate on the inner webs; tail colored like the back, but with about five blackish cross-bars, the tip narrowly wlute. Tail square or slightly emarginate at tip; bill black; legs and feet yellow; iris reddish brown. Length 10 to llTsO indies; wing 6.10 to 7.10; tail 5.80 to 6.10. Adult female: Similar in color to the male, but decidedly larger. Length 12.50 to 14 inches; wing 7.80 to 8.80; tail 6.60 to 8.20. Lnniature: Without any slate blue, the upper parts brownish, tlie feathers mostly edged with rufous and the tertiaries and scapulars with many partly concealed, large, white spots; under parts white, everywhere streaked with pale brown, many feathers with sharp shaft lines of dark brown or blackish. 136. Cooper's Hawk. Accipiter cooperi (Bonap.). (333) Synonyms: Pigeon Hawk, Chicken Hawk, Quail Ha-i\'k, Blue Darter, Swift Hawk.- Falco cooperii, Bonap., 1828. — Accipiter cooperi, Gray, 1844, and authors generally. - Astur cooperi, Jard., Delvay, and some others. — Nisus cooperi, B. B. & R., 1875. .vjW^t Fig. 70. Cooper's Hawk. Adult. From Baird, Brewer & Eidgway's North American Birds. I.ittle, Brown & Co. Figures 70 and 71. With nearly the same proportions as the Sharp-shinned Hawk, but averaging decidedly larger, with heavier legs and feet, and the tail rounded instead of square. In coloration the two are very simUar, and there is the same general difference between adults and immature birds. Distribution. — North America from southern British America south to southern Mexico. Breeds throughout its range. Probably, all things considered, our most abundant hawk. It is found in all parts of the stale, and in aU seasons of the year, except during two or three of the coldest months. It nests everywhere throughout the state. 208 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. and abundantly in most sections, placing the nest in almost any kind of tree and at heights varying from a dozen feet to nearly one hundred. The nest is commonly composed of sticks of various sizes, and lined with twigs and scale-like pieces of bark. Rarely does the nest contain any soft lining, although tufts of down from the old bird are often found clinging to the nest and when visible from below are often taken as proof that the nest is in use. The period of incubation is about twenty-four days, and only a single brood is reared in a season. The eggs vary from two to six and are com- monly bluish white or greenish white and unspotted, but occasionally some or all the eggs of a set are distinctly though faintly marked with spots of brown or gray. They average 1.93 by 1.50 inches, and may be laid at any time from late April to mid June, though most frequently in May. This is the common "chicken hawk" of the farmers, and probably is responsible for most of the loss of small chickens. The bird has a habit of dashing suddenly among the poultry, picking up a small chicken in its claws, and carrying it away so quickly that it is commonly impossible to kill the robber. It is very likely to return the same day or the next and to repeat its visits indefinitely until killed. It also eats large numbers of wild birds, including some quail, young partridges and young waterfowl, and although it does some good by eating an occasional mouse or squirrel, it is nevertheless on the whole a decidedly injurious species. Out of 94 stomachs reported on by Dr. Fisher, 34 contained poultry or game birds; 52, other birds; 11, mammals; one, a frog; three, lizards; and two, insects. Under the present Michigan law this species and the Sharp-shin are the only hawks which may be killed legally at any time; and the law seems to be a wise one, most of our other hawks being highly beneficial, and the few which form exceptions (as the Goshawk and Duck Hawk) being so rare as to be of no importance. Unlike the buzzard hawks the Cooper's and Sharp-shin seldom wheel aloft on the lookout for food, but fly swiftly and silently from place to place, flapping the wings rapidly for a few seconds and then gliding noiselessly, always alert and watch- ful, and ever readj?- to drop like an arrow on some unsuspecting victim. Sometimes they alight for a few moments on the top of a dead tree, or on some other commanding perch, sitting quite stiff and upright, but soon taking wing again. They are among our most restless and active hawks, apparently endowed with a surplus of strength and energy and never content except when in action. lawk, Fig. 71. )ot of Coope (Original.) TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Top of head blackish or clear black, in strong contrast with the slate blue of the rest of the upper parts; feathers of occiput and nape pure white below the surface, the white showing when the feathers are ruffled; under parts white or nearly so, the chin and throat Ughtly streaked, the breast, belly and sides heavily barred, with red- dish brown; primaries blackish on outer webs, the inner webs with broad and scanty bars of dusky and white; tail roimded, similar in color to back, and with four or five broad LAND BIRDS. 269 blackish bars and a narrow terminal edging of white. Bill black; cere, feet and legs yellow; ms reddish brown to deep red. Length 14 to 17 inches; wing 8.86 to 9.40; tail 7.80 to 8.30; tarsus 2.30 to 2.60. ' & > Adult female: Similar to male, but duller, browner and decidedly larger. Length 18 to 20 mches; wing 10.10 to 11; tail 9 to 10.50; tarsus 2.60 to 2.85. Immature: Similar to corresponding ages of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, but of course larger. Most hawks require several years for attaining fully adult plumage and almost any mtermixture of young and adult plumage is possible. 137. Goshawk. Astur atricapillus atricapillus (Wils.). (334) Synonyms: American Goshawk, Blue Hen Hawk, Blue Darter, Partridge Hawk, Dove Hawk. — Falco atricapillus, Wils., 1812. — Astur atricapillus, Bonap., 1838, Wils.', Nutt., and others. — ^Astur palumbarius, Sw. & Rich. — Astur palumbarius var. atricapillus,' B. B. & R., 1875. With nearly the proportions of the two preceding species, but much larger than the largest, and far more heavily built. The immature bird closely resembles the immature Cooper's Hawk in all but size, but the adult, with the blue-gray upper parts and finely cross-barred gray and white underparts, is entirely unlike any other hawk. Distribution. — Northern and eastern North America, south in winter to the middle states and southern Rocky Mountain region; casually west to Oregon. Breeding range restricted to the Canadian fauna of the United States and northward. A magnificent but bloodthirsty bird with a particular fondness for game- birds, chickens, and doves, to which it is very destructive whenever it has a fair chance. Fortunately for the farmer it is seldom seen in Michigan excei^t in severe weather when his poultry are generally well housed. Under such circumstances the Goshawk chases the doves, and in spite of their great powers of flight not infrequently captures them. The great majority of specimens taken in the state are captured while trying to catch poultry or doves during severe cold weather Under normal conditions the Goshawk feeds principally upon grouse and other game birds, with an occasional rabbit or squirrel. Sometimes it is fairly common in winter in the northern half of the state, and then several winters may pass without any being observed. On the whole it must be considered a decidedly uncommon species. About the middle of November, 1906, a large flight of Goshawks entered Michigan from the north and overspread the entire state. In the neighbor- hood of Detroit, and especially in parts of western Ontario, they were particularly abundant, and a score or more of specimens were taken. One was taken at Morenci, Lenawee county, November 19, and one near Benton Harbor, Berrien county, about the same time. Mr. C. E. McAlvey informs me that about November 25, 1906, while hunting near Manistee, he shot a Partridge or Ruffed Grouse, and before he could recover it a large Goshawk darted down and carried it off. At about the same time a fine specimen was killed near Copemish, Manistee county, by Mr. H. A. Danville Jr. It is worthy of note that almost without exception the Goshawks of this flight seem to have been fully mature birds in the blue and white plumage, only a single immature bird having been taken. The entire time covered by this invasion did not exceed a month, and the birds disappeared as suddenly as they came. It probably nests in the state regularly, but in very small numbers, and most of bur records are far from satisfactory. Mr. A. B. Covert visited a nest near Comers' Camp, Wexford county, about six miles northwest of 270 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Cadillac, April 22, 1882, and obtained the old female with one young and one egg. None of these specimens can be located at present, and although Dr. Gibbs examined the young bird when alive, June 26, 1882, he was not able to identify it positively. The location is one of the highest in the Lower Peninsula (about 1700 feet) and the surroundings precisely what one would expect for the summer home of the Goshawk. Mr. S. E. White states (Birds of Mackinac Island, Auk, X, 1893, 223) that in 1889 two pairs of Goshawks could be seen about the island every day, but that he was unable to secure a specimen. In 1890 there was but one pair and the last pair had disappeared in 1891. There can be little doubt that these birds nested somewhere on the Island. At the Fontinalis Club, near Vanderbilt, Otsego County, the writer found a pair of mounted Goshawks, July 28, 1909, which had been killed "a year or two before" by Mr. I. F. Sellick, the caretaker of the club. Early in the summer these hawks began carrying off his poultry, even taking full grown fowls. Finally, in June or July, the boy who drove the cows was attacked by one of the birds, which struck him on the head repeatedly and so frightened him that he refused to pass the place again. Mr. Sellick visited the place and was himself attacked. He located the nest "in the top of a dead stub, perhaps 30 or 40 feet from the ground." No nest was visible, but "the hen bird — at least the smallest one" was sitting in the top of this stub and evidently had eggs or young there. He shot this bird, and later secured the other when it returned to the nest. The nest itself was not examined. Mr. Sellick is positive that birds of the same kind nest in this vicinity every summer. The Goshawk has been found nesting in the mountains of Pennsylvania and in southern New Hampshire, as well as in the Adirondack region of northern New York. We know of no reason why it should not nest regularly in elevated regions in Michigan where there is still plenty of timber. The eggs are two or three, nearly white, sometimes faintly marked with brown, and average 2.31 by 1.74 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Bluish-gray or bluish-slate above, darkening to blackish or clear black on the head, where the feathers are snow-white beneath the surface; usually a broad white stripe above and behind the eye, bordered below by a stripe of slate-color or black; under parts white finely barred with gray, blue-gray or blackish, regularly on the flanks and thighs, irregularly elsewhere, and many of the feathers of throat and breast with narrow dark shaft streaks. Tail bluish-gray like the back, sometimes without any dark bars above, but usually showing four or five above, and these always conspicuous on the under side of tail. Bill and claws black; cere, legs and feet yellow; iris deep red. Immature: Grayish brown above, many feathers spotted, edged, or streaked with buff or white; lower parts buffy white, heavily streaked and spotted (but not barred) with brownish-black; tail grayish-brown with foui' or five dark crossbands, and a narrow white terminal edging. Male: Length 22 inches; wing 12 to 13.25; tail 9.50 to 10.50; tarsus 2.70 to 3.05. Female: Length 24.50; wing 13.50 to 14.25; tail 11.50 to 12.75; tarsus same as in male. 138. Red-tailed Hawk. Buteo borealis borealis (Gmel). (337) Synonyms: Buzzard Hawk, Red-tailed Buzzard, Hen Hawk, Big Hen Hawk, Chicken Hawk, White-breasted Chicken Hawk, Eastern Redtail. — Falco borealis, Gmel., 1788, Wils., 1808, Nutt., 1840. — Buteo borealis, Vieill., 1819, and American authors generally. Plate XIX and Figure 72. When adult readily recognized by the large size and the general bright chestnut color of the tail with a narrow white tip and sometimes more or Plate XIX. ned-tailcd Hawk. Adult. From North American Fauna No. 16. Courtesy of Biologieal Survey, U. S. Dept. Agriculture. LAND BIRDS. 273 less perfect black bar. The immature birds are readily confused with other species. Distribution. — Eastern North America, west to the Great Plains, north to about latitude 60°, south to eastern Mexico. Breeds throughout most of its range. This is one of the two most abundant buzzard hawks, commonly called Hen Hawks, often seen floating in circles or spirals far aloft, especially over the uplands. It seems to prefer open country, or at least regions not too heavily timbered, and its food consists almost entirely of meadow-mice, rats, ground squirrels, rabbits, and an occasional snake, frog, or fish. Like other hawks it sometimes gets into bad habits and may then visit the poultry yard many times in succession carrying away fowl after fowl unless trapped or shot. As a rule, however, it feeds almost entirely upon mammals pj ^, and must be considered an extremely beneficial bird. Bin of'fied"taiied Out of 473 stomachs reported upon by Dr. A. K. ^'■''''• Fisher, 54 contained poultry or game birds; 51, other birds; 278, mice; 131, other mammals; 37, batrachians or reptiles; 47, insects; 8, crayfish; 1, centipedes; and 18, offal. It is no uncommon thing to find the remains of 5 or 6 meadow-mice in a single stomach and in many localities during the fall and winter it feeds almost exclusively upon small rodents. While wheeling high in the air its common call-note is "kee-aah" as written by Captain Bendire. While perched, often on the top of some tall and conspicuous tree, it is usually silent. The nest is a bulky structure of sticks and twigs lined with smaller twigs and some bark, and usually a few feathers after the eggs are laid. It is placed high up in a large tree, sometimes in the thick woods but more often near the edges of wooded areas, or in single trees in the open. The eggs in Michigan are commonly two or three in number, but occasionally four are found. They are laid earlier than those of the Red-shouldered Hawk, often as early as the last week in March, and usually before the middle of April. Of thirty-one nests found by the late R. B. Westnedge, in Kalamazoo county, ten contained eggs the last week in March, thirteen between April first and 10th, seven during the rest of April, and only one in May (the 10th). The eggs vary much in color and markings, perhaps one-fourth of them being dirty white and unspotted, while the remainder are spotted and blotched, sparsely or thickly, faintly or heavily, in endless variation. They average 2.38 by 1.81 inches. This hawk is rarely if ever found in Michigan in winter, but arrives from the south very early, usually before the middle of March, and remains until mid-October or later. Frequently it migrates southward in straggling flocks of considerable size, either wheeling in wide circles and drifting stead- ily southward, or alternately flapping and sailing, usually across the wind, and thus carried steadily to leeward. During fine weather in late autumn scores or even hundreds of Red-tails may be seen thus during a single day. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Four outer primaries notched on inner webs. Adult: Dark brown above, more or less mixed or mottled with gray and whitish; under parts white or whitish, usually washed with buff on the sides of breast, only the beUy streaked with dark brown or blackish; tail bright rust-red (rufous) above, usually with a distinct black bar near the end, the tip whitish; iris brown. Immature: Similar, but the dark streaks on the belly so thick 35 274 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. as to form a broad zone or band of blackish, and the tail not rusty at all, but gray, crossed by about eight narrow blackish bands. Male: LengtB 19 to 22.50 inches; wing, 1.3.50 to 16.50; tail, 8.50 to 10. Female: Length 23 to 25 inches; wing, 15.25 to 17.75; tail, 9.50 to 10.50. 139. Red-shouldered Hawk. Buteo lineatus lineatus (Gmel). (339) Synonyms: Red-shouldered Buzzard, Hen Hawk, Big Chicken Hawk, Winter Hawk. — Falco lineatus, Gmel., 1788, Wils., 1808, Aud., 1831.— Buteo lineatus, Jard., 1832, Aud., 1839, and others. — Falco hyemalis, Gmel, 1789, Bonap., 1832. — Falco buteoides, Nutt., 1832. Plate XX and Figure 73. Likely to be confounded only with the Red-tailed Hawk, and young birds of the two species can hardly be separated by the novice. The present species, however, always shows rusty-red shoulders (lesser wing- coverts) , and the adult has a nearly black tail crossed by four or five distinct, narrow, pure white bars, and usually is tipped narrowly with white. The Red-shouldered Hawk is also more slightly built, the feet and legs in particular being more slender than those of the Red-tail. Distribution. — Eastern North America to Manitoba and Nova Scotia; west to Texas and the Plains; south to the Gulf States and Mexico. Breeds throughout its range. The Red-shouldered Hawk is an abundant hawk in Michigan, frequenting every part of the state and found, at least occasionally, at all seasons of the year. The greater number move southward at the approach of cold weather, but many remain all winter, at least in the southern half of the state. In its general habits it resembles the Red-tail rather closely, but is more partial to heavily wooded regions and less often seen at a distance from timber, or sitting motionless on the top of an isolated tree. This difference is correlated with its feeding habits, since the Red-shouldered Hawk is much more partial to the tree-loving squirrels, and more of its food comes from the woods than from the fields and meadows. It is commonly called a Hen Hawk, and most farmers believe that it is a constant menace to the poultry yard. Nevertheless this idea is absolutely without foundation. Dr. A. K. Fisher says that in all his field experience he has never seen one attack a fowl, nor has he found the remains of one in the stomachs of those examined, except that in severe weather, when the ground is covered with snow and when food is scarce, it will devour dead chickens which have been thrown out from the yard, as well as other refuse found on the compost heaps or in the vicinity of slaughter-houses. Out of 206 stomachs reported on by Dr. Fisher, 3 contained some remains of poultry; 12, other birds; 102, mice; 40, other mammals; 20, reptiles; 39, batrachians; 92, insects; 16, spiders; 7, crayfish; 1, earthworms; and 3, fish. It will be seen from a careful examination of Dr. Fisher's report that the bird has a wide range in food and shows a decided preference for snakes and frogs, as well as a fondness for mice, grasshoppers, beetles, and various other insects. It does eat a few wild birds, but does not appear to be particularly injurious to game, although it occasionally picks up a quail. Like the Red-tailed Hawk it is an early nester, though probably not quite so early as that bird. The late R. B. Westnedge records 21 sets of eggs taken in Kalamazoo county, of which number 16 sets (fresh eggs) Plate XX. Red-shouldered Hawk. Adult. Courtesy of National Committee of Audubon Societies. LAND BIRDS. 277 were taken between April 1st and 15th, one set April 21st, one April 18th, two on May 5th, and the latest one May 13th. The nests are similar to those of the'^Red-tail and we know of no way in which they can be surely discriminated. The eggs, however, average smaller and are more heavily spotted, with a smaller proportion of entirely unspotted eggs. The usual number of eggs is three, but four are often found. The ground color varies from white to pale brownish and they are variously spotted and splashed with brown of different shades. They average 2.13 by 1.69 inches. It is difficult to discriminate between the call notes of this species and the Red-tail, and still more difficult to put the distinctions into words. Captain Bendire says "The note of early spring, especially in mating season, is 'kee-yooh, kee-yooh,'' the last syllable drawn out," and Dr. Ralph says the call-note is "a loud whistle-hke sound, resembling 'whee-ee-e,'.with once in a while a 'ca-ac' added to or rather mixed with it" (Bendire, Life Histories, I, 222). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Four outer primaries distinctly notched (emarginate) on inner webs, the outer webs spotted with white or buff. Adult: Upper parts mottled with reddish brown and blackish, the feathers often with purplish reflections and sometimes tipped or margined with whitish; chin and throat white or whitish with a few narrow dark shaft-stripes; upper breast with similar streaks on a rusty ground, and more or less barred with white; lower breast, belly and sides regularly cross-barred with rusty and white, with a few longitudinal streaks of dark brown; under tail-coverts white and unspotted; shoulders (lesser wing-coverts) bright rust-red; tail black with about four narrow white cross bars, the white tip making a fifth bar; iris reddish brown. Immatm-e: Upper parts similar, but with more munerous white edgings, the shoulders duller red; under parts creamy to buffy white with numerous rounded, tear- shaped or lance-shaped spots and streaks of brown, but with no trace of rusty and white bars; tail pale brown (often quite rusty on outer webs of feathers near the base) with a narrow white tip and about eight dark brown or blackish cross bars. Male: Length, 17.60 to 19.50 inches; wing, 11.25 to 13.50; tail, 8 to"9.50. Female: Length, 19 to 22 inches; wing, 13.35 to 14.25; tail, 9 to 10. 140. Swainson's Hawk. Buteo swainsoni (Bonap.). (342) Synonyms: Brown Hawk, Black Hawk, Hen Hawk. — Buteo swainsoni, Bonap., 1838, Coues, 1866. — Falco obsoletus, Gmel., 1789. — Buteo montanus, Nutt., 1833. The adult in normal plumage is likely to be mistaken for the immature Red-tail or possibly for the Red-shouldered Hawk, but it lacks the rufous wing-coverts, and has a broad pectoral band of gray, brown, or cinnamon, separating the white throat from the nearly white belly. The fact that this hawk has only three primaries emarginate (cut out) on the inner webs will separate it from either of the two hawks just named. Distribution. — Western North America from Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas and Texas to the Pacific and south to the Argentine Republic. Casual east to Maine and Massachusetts. Breeds nearly throughout its range. Swainson's Hawk is a western bird which straggles eastward occasionally, specimens having been taken in many of the eastern states. It has been reported from Michigan a dozen times or more, but it seems probable that in most cases the birds so reported have been improperly identified; at all events in several instances specimens labelled and reported as Swainson's Hawk have been examined and proved to be Red-shouldered or Red-tailed Hawks. There are but two unquestionable records for the state, so far as we now know. The first is a specimen taken by Norman A. Wood, 278 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. in Cheboygan county, in October 1883, and recorded in the Auk, Vol. XIV, 1897, p. 216. This specimen is now in the University Museum, Ann Arbor (Catal. No. 36062), and is an immature bird, in the black phase of plumage. The bird was not sexed when skinned, but its size would indicate a male. The second record is that of a specimen taken at Hessel, Mich., about 18 miles from Mackinaw City, October 13, 1908, and now in the collection of P. A. Taverner (Auk, XXVI, 1909, p. 83). Specimens were reported from Kent county, Mich., by C. W. Gunn, in November 1882, but examination of the Gunn collection, now in the Kent Scientific Museum at Grand Rapids, reveals but three specimens, marked B. swainsonii, two of which are from California and one from Kent county, but all are Red-tailed Hawks without question. We are convinced that the determinations in most cases have been based solely upon color and pattern of plumage without comparison with genuine specimens of swainsonii, and without an examination of the primaries to see whether three or four were emarginate. Several specimens were reported by W. A. Davidson, in January 1897, as killed in Wayne county ; one was recorded by Dr. Miles as killed in Genesee county in the summer of 1859, probably the one mentioned by Stockwell in the Forest and Stream list. Covert reported it breeding in Washtenaw county, taking the female and eggs May 5, 1880. A. H. Boies informed Dr. Gibbs that he took a specimen at Hudson, Mich., about the first of November 1879. Mr. Covert also records a specimen taken by himself in Cadillac, August 16, 1882. Major Boies recorded a specimen taken on Neebish Island in October of either 1892, 1893, or 1894 (Bull. Mich. Orn. Club, I, 27). With the exception of the Kent county specimens in the Gunn collection, we have been unable to examine any of the birds mentioned above but have ascertained from inquiry that most of them were sold, exchanged, or given away, and so lost track of. It is by no means impossible that some of these were genuine Swainson's Hawks, but we feel no certainty that this was the case. Mcllwraith (Birds of Ontario, 1894, p. 204) records a young specimen observed at Hamilton in 1865, and another in the hands of a local taxider- mist in 1886, but these identifications are open to some question. In Wisconsin it is far from common. According to Kumlien and Hollister (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 64) it has been "noted only during the autumnal migrations, but probably occurs more frequently along the Mississippi River than in the eastern or central parts of the state." On the plains west of the Mississippi it is a common species and feeds principally on small mammals and insects, rarely attacking birds, and never poultry. It has been known to feed almost exclusively on grasshoppers for many days at a time, and when these insects are extraordinarily abundant the Swainson's Hawks gather in large numbers to feast upon them. This is one of the species also which frequently moves southward in large straggling flocks during the fall, although it seems probable that many, if not all, our common hawks frequently associate in flocks during migra- tion. The eggs are from two to four, their ground color greenish white to yellowish white, commonly spotted with different shades of brown and gray, but not often heavily marked. They average 2.23 by 1.73 inches. Plate XXI. Broad-winged Hawk. Young, 24 days old. From Bird Lore. Courtesy of Dr. Thomas H. Jaekson. LAND BIRDS. 281 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. "Only three outer quills [primaries] with inner webs distinctly emarginated. Tail grayish brown, or brownish gray, sometimes with a hoary tinge, crossed by an indefinite number (about 9 or 10) of narrow dusky bands, which toward base of tail become gradually indistinct and finally obsolete. " AdvM male, normal plumage: Above nearly uniform grayish brown; forehead, chin, and throat white, usually abruptly defined and forming a distinct patch; chest and upper part of breast usually plain rufous or cinnamon (rarely mixed or broken with whitish); rest of lower parts buffy whitish, sometimes immaculate, but usually more or less barred or spotted with brownish; length 19.50 to 20 inches; extent 48 to 60.50; weight IJ to 2\ pounds; wing 14.40 to 16; tail 8 to 9; culmen .80 to .90. Advlt female, normal plumage: Similar to the male, but chest patch grayish brown instead of rufous or cinnamon; length 21 to 22 inches; extent 50.50 to 56; weight 2J to 3J pounds; wing 14.75 to 17.25; tail 9 to 10; culmen .80 to .95. Melanistic phase, both sexes: Whole plumage uniform sooty brown, the under tail coverts sometimes spotted or barred with rusty or whitish. (In different individuals may be seen every possible intermediate condition of plumage be- tween this complete melanism and the light-colored normal plumage described above). Young: Tail as in adult; above blackish brown varied with buffy or ochraceous; head, neck, and lower parts creamy buff (deeper in younger, paler in older individuals), the lower parts usually more or less spotted with blackish, the head and neck streaked with same" (Ridgway). 141. Broad-winged Hawk. Buteo platypterus (VieilL). (343) Synonyms: Broad-winged Buzzard. — Sparvius platypterus, Vieill., 1823. — Falco pennsylvanicus, Wils., 1812, Aud., 1831. — Buteo pennsylvanicus, Bonap., 1830, and many others. — ^Buteo latissimus, A. O. U. Check-list, 1889, and most subsequent authors. Plate XXL Decidedly smaller than any of the other buzzard hawks, the wing not more than 13^ inches. It resembles the immature Red-shouldered Hawk somewhat, but may always be known by the small size coupled with but three emarginate primaries. Distribution. — Eastern North America from New Brunswick and the Saskatchewan region to Texas, Mexico, and thence southward to Northern South America and the West Indies. Breeds throughout its United States range. In most parts of Michigan this is not an abundant bird, but it is more common in the northern half of the state, where it is a summer resident and breeds. It is so frequently confounded with the other Buteos that our rehable records are not very numerous, and it is possible that it nests much farther south than we now suppose. Mr. Edward Arnold of Battle Creek has a set of two eggs of this species taken in Kalamazoo county. May 24, 1875, by Dr. Morris Gibbs. The nest was in a black ash tree and said to have'been about 100 feet from the ground. According to Dr. Gibbs the late Richard Westnedge of Kalamazoo, took several nests in Allegan county, in heavy woods along the Kalamazoo River, but after careful examination of Mr. Westnedge's catalogue of eggs, kindly sent me by his mother, I am unable to find any records for this species. The late Percy Selous found it at Greenville, Montcalm county, in June, and it doubtless nests there. We have found it nesting in Emmet county, near Harbor Springs, and it has also been recorded from the same region by Otto Widmann. S. E. White reported it from Mackinac Island, and Major Boies from Neebish Island St. Mary's River. According to B. H. Swales it is an abundant migrant in southeastern Michigan and breeds there, at least occasionally. He took a nest of three eggs, together with the parent bird, near Highland 282 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Park, Wayne county, April 29, 1893. The nest was 55 feet up in a beech tree. Mr. Swales also states that this species is fairly abundant in St. Clair county and is known to breed. In its general habits it somewhat resembles the other Buteos but its food consists more largely of insects and it is entirely free from suspicion of injury to the farmer. It eats mice, squirrels, ground squirrels, rats, shrews, wood mice, as well as grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and the large, green, naked caterpillars which are the larvae of destructive moths. Out of 38 stomachs reported on by Dr. Fisher, 2 contained small birds; 15, mice; 13, other mammals; 11, reptiles; 13, batrachians; 30, insects; 2, earthworms; and 4, crayfish. The Broadwing nests always in trees, the nest being made ordinarily of sticks and lined with thin scales of dry bark, but not infrequently green leaves are added, possibly for protection during the absence of the parents. The eggs are commonly two or three, very rarely four, the ground color grayish white, spotted in variable degrees with brown or gray. They average 1.93 by 1.56 inches. This is another of our hawks which often migrates in flocks, and sometimes hundreds may be seen passing slowly northward in spring, or southward in fall, now flapping steadily, and again circling and drifting slowly in the desired direction. The autumn migration takes place mostly between the middle of September and the 10th of Otcober, and the birds return from the south early in April. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Only three outer primaries notched (emarginate) on the inner webs; wing never more than 13.50 inches long. Adult: Upper parts grayish brown to brownish black, darkest on interscapulars and crown, often with distinct purplish reflections; forehead and chin whitish, the latter some- times streaked with dusky, sometimes pure white; feathers of occiput pure white below the surface; underparts reddish brown, everywhere spotted or barred with white, most freely and regularly on the belly, flanks and thighs (tibia), least on the chest; sides of neck without white, but usually with a blackish patch from corner of mouth backward; tail brownish black to clear black above, with 2 to 4 distinct, wide cross-bars of white or grayish, and a narrow tip of the same shade; iris, cere and feet yellow. Immature: Upper parts almost precisely like those of the young Red-shouldered Hawk, but the shoulders not rusty, nor the outer webs of the primaries light-spotted; under parts pure white to buffy white, more or less heavily spotted and streaked with dark brown, but without bars except imperfect ones on flanks and thighs; chin and throat usually pure white, with few or no streaks; iris bright yellow; cere and feet greenish yellow. Male: Length, 13.25 to 15 inches; wing, 9.85 to 10.70; tail, 6.50 to 7. Female: Length, 16 to 18 inches; wing, 11 to 11.40; tail, 7 to 8. 142. Rough-legged Hawk. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis {Gmel.). (347a) Synonyms: American Rough-legged Hawk, Rough-legged Buzzard, Black Hawk, Mouse Hawk. — Falco sancti-johannis, Gmel., 1788. — Buteo sancti-johannis, Nutt., 1833. — Falco lagopus, Wils., 1808. — Buteo lagopus. Rich., 1831. Known from all the rest of our hawks by the feathered shank or tarsus, only the toes being naked. It is about the size of the Red-tailed Hawk, but a much lighter built bird, with more slender feet, weaker bill, and especially longer, more pointed wings. Its plumage is too variable for ready descrip- tion, but nearly black individuals are rather common, and in specimens not so colored a broad dark zone across the lower breast and belly is usual. LAND BIRDS. 283 Distribution. — North America north of Mexico, breeding north of the United States (except in Alaska). This is a beautiful and valuable hawk, which is found with us only during the colder half of the year, passing beyond our northern boundary to nest. It arrives from the north usually in October or November and in favorable seasons and localities some may winter, but the majority pass farther south_ after the streams and lakes freeze up. It returns in the spring with the disappearance of snow, and a few linger until the first week in May (Greenville, May 4, 1898, Selous). Dr. Atldns, of Locke, reported it as breeding there (0. & 0. IX, 44), but this was certainly an error. No unquestionable instance of its nesting within the borders of the United States (except in Alaska) has been recorded, and the numerous reports of its nesting in Maine, Wisconsin, and Minnesota have all been discredited. A single credible record is that of a nest and two eggs found in Nelson county. North Dakota, June 7, 1901, by Mr. A. C. Bent (Auk, XVIII, 393); the bird, however, was not killed in this case, and although the collector of the eggs was positive of the identification, there is still room for question. It nests in Labrador on ledges, cliffs, etc., and in Alaska mainly in trees, 20 feet or more above the ground, but occasionally on banks, bluffs and cliffs. It lays from two to five eggs (usually three or four) which are dingy white, sometimes plain, but oftener spotted and blotched with various shades of brown and gray in every conceivable degree and pattern. They average 2.31 by 1.74 inches. While with us in spring and fall this hawk frequents by preference open, low lying lands and marshes, where it perches on the tops of scattered trees watching for its prey, which consists almost entirely of meadow-mice, and frogs. In favorable situations, where such food is abundant, the birds sometimes gather in considerable numbers, so that sometimes 30 or 40 may be seen in the course of a week and a large number may be shot during the season. This has happened several times at the St. Clair Flats and in the marshes bordering Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River. The Rough-leg is irregular in its visits, some years appearing in considerable numbers and during other years none being seen. It does absolutely no harm to the farmer and should be rigidly protected. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Entire leg feathered to base of toes; basal half or more of tail white or whitish, the remainder dark, four outer primaries emarginate on inner web. Normal Adult : Plumage too variable for description, but the above points are sufficient if the specimen is in hand. In addition, there is usually a broad dark zone across the lower breast and belly, sometimes solid fuscous or black, sometimes made up of a more or less fused mass of spots, streaks and bars. The latter condition is said to characterize older birds, while the solid dark zone indicates immaturity. As a rule the upper parts closely resemble those of the Red-tail, although the head and neck average lighter colored. A dark phase (melanistic) is not uncommon, in which the entire bird is black or blackish except the forehead, base of tail and inner webs of primaries, which are white. Inter- mediate stages are also common. Male: Length 19.50 to 22 inches; wing 1S.75 to 16.80; tail 9 to 10. Female: Length 21.50 to 23.50 inches; wing 16 to 18; tail 9 to 11., 284 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 143. Golden Eagle. Aquila chrysaetos (Linn.). (349) Synonyms: Brown Eagle, Gray Eagle, Black Eagle, Ring-tailed Eagle. — Falco chrysaetos, Linn., 1758. — Falco canadensis, Linn., 1766. — Aquila canadensis, Wils., 1808. — Aquila chrysaetos, Sw. & Rich., 1831. — ^Aquila fulva, Nutt., 1833. — ^Aquila chry- saetus var. canadensis, B. B. & R., 1875. Plate XXII and Figure 74. Its size, the expanse of wings being about seven feet, prevents con- fusion with any other bird except the Bald Eagle, and the two may be separated in any plumage by examination of shanks or tarsi. In the Golden Eagle these are feathered to the base of the toes (Fig. 74), much as in the Rough-legged Hawk, while in the Bald Eagle the shanks are naked for some distance up the legs. Of course the adult Bald Eagle always has the pure white head and tail, which the Golden Eagle always lacks, but the immature birds resemble each other sufficiently to be readily confused. Distribution. — North America, south to Mexico, and northern parts of the Old World. Breeding range in the United States practically restricted to the mountainous parts of unsettled regions. While the Golden Eagle is generally considered a rare bird anywhere it would seem to be fully as common in winter in Michigan as the Bald Eagle. Probably it would not be true of all localities but neither bird is abundant anywhere and the Golden Eagle occurs here and there through the state almost every winter. Naturally it is entirely absent during the warmer half of the year and almost all our records for the state fall within the months December, January, and February. However, there are some records for November and March and a few for October. In at least three instances we have known Golden Eagles to be caught alive in the hands after becoming entangled in bushes and vines where evidently they had plunged after some quarry which they had failed to capture. In other cases specimens have been caught in steel traps while feeding on carrion during severe weather. This is contrary to their usual habits, since the Golden Eagle is much more particular than the Bald Eagle to have its food perfectly fresh. One which we kept in captivity at the College for more than a year absolutely refused to eat tainted meat or any animal which had begun to decompose. The habitual food consists of partridges, quail, water fowl, rabbits, and occasionally squirrels and even smaller game. It does not seem to care for fish and is no more abundant along the lake shores than in the interior, except possibly that it follows the migration routes of water birds. It is not known to nest within our limits, the several reported instances for Fig. 74. Right foot of Golden Eagle. (Original.) Plate XXII. Golden Englc. Adult. From pIiotORraph of mounted specimen. (Original.) LAND BIRDS. 287 Michigan being all referable to the Bald Eagle, with which the bird is constantly confounded. Most people, including many who should be better informed, consider any eagle M'hich lacks the white head and tail a Golden Eagle, whereas the Bald Eagle does not acquire the white head and tail until the third or fourth year at least, yet probably nests when one year old, that is, during the second summer. Dr. R. H. Wolcott states that a nest beheved to be that of a Golden Eagle was described to him in 1894, on the shore of Lake Huron, 40 miles east of Mackinac. Mr. Ed. Van Winkle of Van's Harbor, Delta county, Mich., was positive that the Golden Eagle nested in Delta county some ten or twelve years ago, but he was doubtless mistaken. Of course it is not impossible that the bird does sometimes nest among the cliffs along the south shore of Lake Superior, but we have absolutely no proof that such is the case. This is decidedly a mountain eagle and its nests are usually placed in almost inaccessible places on cliffs. It is known, however, to nest in trees occasionally, and in some regions (California and Oregon) most of the nests are so placed. Usually but two eggs are laid, though there are records of three. They are deposited very early in the season, in January or February in Arizona, from the 10th to the 20th of March in southern California, and from April 1st to April 10th in southern Oregon. We have no records of nests from the vicinity of Michigan. The eggs are sometimes plain white, but oftener thickly spotted or blotched with brown or gray, various shades of brown predominating. They average 2.93 by 2.34 inches. The Golden Eagle sometimes attacks larger animals than hares and rabbits, and occasionally, on some of the western sheep ranches, it is quite destructive to young lambs. Probably also once in a while it attacks young fawns of the common deer, but the instances are rare. Major Bendire says of its note " The usual call-note is a shrill ' kee-kee-kee ' uttered in a high tone. It is often heard in the early spring before nidifica- tion commences. Another note not so frequently used — one of alarm — is 'kiah-kiah,' repeated a number of times." The Golden Eagle rears but one brood in a season, and the period of incubation is approximately four weeks. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: General color rich dark brown, lighter on tibije and tarsi, the feathers of the occiput and hind neck with separate, lanceolate tips (like the hackles of a rooster) which are yellower or more golden brown, whence the name of the eagle; tail white basally, only the terminal half or less clear black, sometimes with a lighter tip; cere and feet greenish yellow; bill dark horn color; iris brown. Immature: Similar to adult, but darker, especially above, the hackles less golden, and the tail white only at the very base, or with several imperfect grayish bars on its Male: Length 30 to 35 inches; wing 23 to 24.70; tail 14 to 15. Female: Length 35 to 40 inches; wing 25 to 27; tail 15 to 16; extent of spread wings 7 to 7i feet. k 144. Bald Eagle. Hali^eetus leucocephalus leucocephalus (Linn.). (352) Synonyms- White-headed Eagle, American Eagle, Black Eagle, Gray Eagle, Wash- ington Eagle.— Falco leucocephalus, Linn., 1766, Gmel., Lath., Wils.— Aquila leucocephala, Briss., Vieill., Swains.— Haliaetus leucocephalus of authors generally. Only two species of eagle occur in Michigan; the Golden Eagle has just been described, the Bald Eagle when adult has a pure white head and 288 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. tail which readily identify it. Immature birds, lack these distinguishing marks and are readily confused with the Golden Eagle. They may be known always, however, by the partly bare shank or tarsus, coupled of course with the large size the spread of wing being from six to seven feet, averaging a little less than that of the Golden Eagle. Distribution. — "United States to Southern Lower California and north- ern Mexico, breeding in suitable locations throughout its range" (A. O. U. Check List, 1910).* The Bald Eagle is generally distributed over the state, but is most com- monly seen near the shores of the Great Lakes, or along the larger rivers, and is nowhere abundant. Its food consists very largely of fish and it seldom or never nests at any great distance from some region where this food can be obtained in abundance. It seems to be resident, or practically so, wherever found and if it absents itself at all it is only for a short time during the coldest weather when the waters on which it depends so largely for its food are tightly frozen. It was formerly much more abundant, and probably a few pairs nested in every county in the state, but the birds are followed relentlessly by hunters who shoot them for specimens or for mere sport, and the nests have been robbed year after year by egg collectors, so that one by one the nests have been deserted and the birds have withdrawn to places of greater security. It is much to be regretted that this wanton destruction has been permitted, and it is a matter of congratulation that by an act of the legislature of 1905, renewed at each subsequent session, these noble birds are protected together with other non-game birds, and their destruc- tion or the disturbance of their nests at any time of year becomes an offense punishable by fine and imprisonment. Although this is one of the largest of our birds of prey, and has been chosen as the emblem of the Republic, it is nevertheless a robber of a rather dis- graceful type, and although it frequently captures worthy prey, in open fight or by direct attack, it often robs the Fish Hawk, compelling it to relinquish the fish which it has just captured. When nothing better offers it feeds freely upon decomposing fish washed up along the shore, or upon carrion, in company with the Crow and Raven. True, it kills many rabbits, grouse, ducks and water fowl of various kinds, and even stoops to squirrels, mice and snakes; but on the whole it confers no decided benefits on the agriculturist, although on the other hand, it is not commonly injurious. On rare occasions it picks up a hen, usually at a distance from the house, and in early spring it has been known to destroy young lambs, but these are not common offenses. The nest is very bulky and conspicuous, placed high up in a large tree (often a dead one), and often so situated as to command a wide view of the surrounding country. It is occupied year after year by the same pair of eagles and is only slightly repaired each spring before the laying of eggs. This takes place quite early in the season, in December or January in Florida, and from February to March in the middle states. It is likely that the exact time of egg laying varies with different pairs and in different seasons, but in Michigan the eggs probably are laid in the latter part of March or the first of April. But a single brood is reared in a season and the period of incubation is about thirty days. The eggs are commonly two. very rarely three; pure white in color (unless nest-stained), and average 3 by 2.30 inches *For notes on the Nortliem Bald Eagle, see Appendix. LAND BIRDS. 289 It is a well known fact that in most birds of prey the female exceeds the male in size, and this is true of both species of eagle. It is not so generally- known, however, that the young Bald Eagle, during the first year after leaving the nest, is larger than either of its parents, the expanse of wing being often a foot greater. It is also noticeably different in color, and these large, immature birds were originally described by Audubon as the "Bird of Washington," and even at present we sometimes hear allusions to the " Washington Eagle " as if it were a distinct species. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Tarsus bare for an inch or more above base of toes; five outer primaries deeply notched (emarginate) on inner webs. Adult: Entire head, neck, upper tail-coverts and tail pure white, in strong contrast with the rest of the plumage which is mainly dark brown, many of the body feathers with paler margins, and the wing feathers nearly black. Bill, cere and feet bright yellow; iris pale yellow to yellowish white. Immature, first year (Black Eagle): Plumage mainly black; no white on head, and at most only small freckles of white on the inner webs of tail feathers, but all the body feathers snowy white below the surface; bill black; feet yellow; iris brown. Immature, second and third year (Gray Eagle); Head and neck mainly black, the "hackles" of hind neck tipped with brown or gray; tail black, the inner webs of most of the feathers more or less sprinkled or mottled with whitish; body feathers above and below mixed brown, black and gray, or even streaked and margined with pure white. Bill dark horn color; iris brown; cere and feet yellow. Male: Length 30 to 35 inches; wing 20 to 26; tail 11 to 15.25. Female; Length 34 to 43 inches; wing 23.50 to 28; tail 12.50 to 16; spread of wings 6J to 7| feet. Family 38. FALCONID^. The Falcons. 145. Duck Hawk. Falco peregrinus anatum (Bonap.). (3S6a) Sjmonyms: Peregrine Falcon, American Peregrine, Great-footed Hawk. — Falco anatum, Bonap., 1838. — Falco peregrinus, Ord, 1808. — Falco communis var., Lath. — Falco communis var. anatum, B. B. & R., 1875. This is a large falcon characterized by the notched and toothed bill, and the single emarginate outer primary; only to be confounded with the Gyrfalcon (Aijpendix). Distribution. — North America at large, and south to Chili. Breeds locally throughout most of its United States range. This beautiful falcon is nowhere common; although a few individuals are seen each season in favorable localities it probably would be irnpossible for any collector to procure one on an order at any particular time. It is most often seen during the large flights of water fowl in spring and fall, when it seems to accompany these birds in their migratory movements, feeding upon them whenever so inchned. Specimens are found here and there in the public and private collections of the state, but in most cases without definite data as to time and place of collection. Among the more recent records are a female shot March 25, 1904, on the outskirts of Detroit, and a male taken October 6. 1904, on the Detroit River near Ft. Mouille (Swales Wilson Bull. 53, 1905, p. 108); an immature bird taken by N. A. Wood at the Charity Islands, Saginaw Bay, September 20, 1910, and a second specimen at the same place October 3. . , ,. , .,, ,, In general appearance and habits it is practically identical with the Pereo-rine of the Old World, which was considered the prince of falcons, 37 290 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. or "noble hawks" by the sportsmen of the middle ages and more recent times who devoted much of their time to hawking. It kills its game either by direct chase, sudden assault, or, more commonly, by rising in a spiral until it gets above its victim and then dropping with unerring precision upon it. Sometimes it nests upon a lofty tree, but its favorite aerie is the inacces- sible ledge of some cliff, where it builds a nest of sticks and twigs and rears its young in perfect safety. Such a nesting place, the only one known to us in Michigan, was located on the south shore of Lake Superior in the summer of 1906, by Mr. E. A. Doohttle, who found the young, full-fledged and very noisy, early in July. Among the remnants of food brought for the young was found the entire foot and part of the skeleton of a Long- eared Owl. It lays three or four buffy or deep brown eggs, sometimes nearly uniform in color, but more often heavily spotted and blotched with several shades of brown. They average 2.10 by 1.60 inches. Mr. Robert Ridgway describes three nests of this species found near ]\It. Carmel, 111., in the spring of 1878. All were placed in cavities in the tops of very large sycamore trees, and were inaccessible. One tree was felled and the measured distance from the ground to the nest was 89 feet. The eggs in Indiana and Illinois are deposited in April or May; probably somewhat later in our latitude. As with most other large hawks the period of incubation is about four weeks, and but one brood is reared each year. This falcon feeds almost entirely upon large birds, particularly grouse, partridges, and water fowl. It is decidedly fond of poultry, and were it more common doubtless would prove quite a pest to the farmer. As it is, not one Michigan farm in a thousand is visited by this bird in the course of a lifetime. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Upper mandible not simply hooked, but with an additional point or "tooth'' near the tip and a corresponding notch in the lower mandible; first and second primaries longest and about the same length, only the first distinctly emarginate, on inner web. Adult: Top and sides of head very dark slate or black, the back similar but paler; chin, throat and chest white or buffy white, without dark markings, or with a few narrow shaft-streaks, but the lower breast, sides and belly sharply barred with black; wings and tail blackish closely barred with lighter, mainly on inner webs of feathers. Bill bluish black; iris brown; cere and feet yellow. Immature: Similar above, but most feathers with light edgings; underparts much more buffy and heavily streaked (not barred) with brown or blackish. Male: Length 15.50 to 18 inches; wing 11.30 to 13; tail 6 to 7.50. Female: Length 18 to 20 inches; wing 13 to 14.75; tail 6.90 to 9. 146. Pigeon Hawk. Faico columbarius columbarius Linn. (357) Synonyms: Pigeon Falcon, American Merlin, Bullet Hawk. — Falco columbarius, Linn., 1758, and authors generally. Lithofaico columbarius, Bonap., 1850. — jEsalon columbarius, Kaup., 1850. — Falco (jEsalon) lithofaico, B. B. & R., 1875. A medium sized falcon, smaller than the Duck Hawk and larger than the Sparrow Hawk, with the two outer primaries emarginate on the inner web. In color it most closely resembles the Sharp-shinned Hawk, but is more heavily built, with shorter tail, more pointed wings, and above all, the typical falcon bill. Distribution. — The whole of North America, south to West Indies and northern South America. Breeds chiefly north of the United States. LAND BIRDS. 291 This dainty little falcon is one of the less common hawks, and although it has been recorded from all parts of the state (mainly as a migrant) it is never abundant and many a collector has spent several seasons in the field without even seeing one. So seldom is it met with, and so generally is it confounded with other small hawks, that the notes from our corres- pondents are of little value in determining its habits. Like the Duck Hawk and the Sharp-shin it feeds much upon birds, and thus should be con- sidered rather an injurious hawk; yet its scarcity saves it from this reproach. Of 51 stomachs reported upon by Dr. A. K. Fisher, 2 contained poultry; 41, small birds; 2, mice; and 16, insects. We do not know that its nest has ever been taken in Michigan. The nearest approach to it is the fact that an adult and three young (able to fly) were seen, and two of the young taken, by a niember of the University of Michigan party at the Porcupine Mountains, in Ontonagon county, July 24, 1904. It would seem extremely probable that these young were reared in that immediate vicinity. The same party afterward (Aug. 23, 1904) saw several, and took three, on Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Mr. Norman A. Wood noted ten individuals at the Charity Islands, Saginaw Bay, during the fall migration, 1910, from August 30 to October 10, and took several specimens. Major Boies found it frequently on Neebish Island, in the St. Mary's River, during summer, and had no doubt that it bred there. In the far north (Alaska and the Anderson River country), according to Major Bendire, it nests in May or June, placing its nest in hollows of trees or on the limbs, as well as frequently on the ledges of cliffs. The eggs, two to four in number, are soiled white or buffy, more or less heavily spotted with brown and cinnamon, and average 1.69 by 1.23 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill of the falcon type, with tooth and notch; second and third primaries longest and about equal, only the first and second emarginate on inner web; middle tail feathers with not more than four daric and five light bands. Adult male: Above, bluish-gray with black shaft-stripes, and mucli rusty and white about the back of neclt; under parts buffy, thickly striped 'with brown or black; inner webs of primaries with numerous (6 to 8) light bars or spots; tail mainly black, crossed by four narrow whitish or buffy bands and narrowly tipped with same color; bill horn- colored; cere and feet greenish-yellow; iris brown. Adult female and yoimg: Similar, but brownish above, with less white on the hind neck; the under parts less rusty than in the adult male. Male: Length 10 to 11 inches; wing 7.40 to 7.80; tail 4.65 to 5.20. Female: Length 12.50 to 13.25 inches; wmg 8.35 to 8.60; tail 5.30 to 5.50. 147. Sparrow Hawk. Falco sparverius sparverius Linn. (360) Synonyms: American Sparrow Hawk, Rusty-crowned Falcon, American Kestrel, Mouse Hawk. — Falco sparverius, Linn., 1758, and authors generally. — ^Tinnunculus sparverius, Vieill. — Falco (Tinnunculus) sparverius var. sparverius, B. B. & R., 1875. Plate XXIII and Figure 75. The typical falcon bill, small size, and rust-red color suffice to identify this bird. A glance at Plate XXIII probably will serve the same purpose. Distribution. — North America east of the Rocky Mountains, and from Great Slave Lake south to northern South America. This is by far our commonest falcon, being indeed the only one which is at all abundant. Occasionally it is seen in winter, but more often it 292 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. arrives from the south early in March, or as soon as the ground is nearly free from snow, and it does not retire southward again till late in the fall, although it is some- times seen migrating in large scattered flocks in August or September, as described by Professor Frank Smith, in the Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club, Vol. V, Fig. 75. 1904, p. 77. '*"' Hawr™"' It is found everywhere throughout the state, commonly perched upon some dead stub or bare limb, or more frequently on telegraph wires or on a fencepost in the open field. Often it is seen hovering almost stationary above a clover field, darting down into the grass to seize a grass- hopper, cricket, or other large insect, or almost as often a field mouse. Rarely is it seen following birds, and when so engaged the victims are as often English Sparrows as any other species. On the whole it is an ex- tremely beneficial bird and should be rigidly protected. True, it does occasionally kill some small insect-eating bird, but these lapses from virtue are more than atoned for by the continual war which it wages upon injurious insects, field mice, and other vermin. Among 291 stomachs reported upon by Dr. A. K. Fisher, only 1 contained remains of a game bird (quail); 53, other birds; 89, mice; 12, other mammals; 12, reptiles or batrachians; 215, insects; and 29, spiders, In its nesting habits it is peculiar, since it makes its home almost in- variably in the hollow of a tree, usually a more or less natural hollow caused by decay, but not infrequently the hole of a woodpecker, sometimes already deserted, but often deliberately wrested from the owner, usually after a decisive conflict. As a rule the nest is high up in some dead tree, but sometimes quite near the ground. Occasionally a bird-house or dove-cot is used, but these are exceptions. The eggs in Michigan are laid between the middle of May and the first of June. They range in number from two to five (occasionally six or seven), and are generally white or rusty white, thickly speckled and spotted with cinnamon brown, often so thickly as to appear of uniform color. They average 1.38 by 1.11 inches. As pointed out earlier, this true falcon should not be confounded with the Sharp-shinned Hawk, which is of about the same size and is frequently called the "Sparrow Hawk." The present species is a valuable bird to the farmer, while the Sharp-shinned Hawk is very destructive to wild birds and small chickens. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill of the falcon type, with tooth and notch; second and third primaries longest and about equal, only the first and second distinctly emarginate on inner web, and in many females and young only the first; tail mainly deep rust-red (chestnut-rufous), with a broad sub-terminal black band. Adult male: Top of head bluish gray, with or without a central patch of rusty; back, rump and scapulars bright rusty, with more or less numerous black bars; each side of head with two conspicuous black bars, and three more black patches encircling the neck, seven black spots in all; cliin and throat white, unspotted; rest of under parts white, either pure or rusty, and with or without streaks and circular spots of deep black; primaries black above, their inner webs with mmierous white bars; remainder of upper surface of wing and coverts clear bluish-gray or bluish-slate, more or less spotted with black; tail with the basal three-fourths rich rust-red without bars (except sometimes on outer two pairs), tlien a broad subterminal bar of deep black and a narrow white tip. Adult female: Head markings precisely as in male, including the seven black spots, but entire upper parts back of neck, including upper surface of tail, narrowly cross-barred with rusty and black, the subterminal black tail-band much narrower than in male, and the tip rusty or buffy, not white; chin and throat white, as in male, but breast and belly Plate XXIII. Sparrow Hawk. JIale (at left) and female. From North American Fauna No. 10. Courtesy of_BioIogical Survey, U. S. Department Agriculture. LAND BIRt)g. 295 thickly streaked lengthwise with rusty on a whitish ground; bill black at tip, bluish gray at base; cere and feet yellow; iris brown. Young resemble adults of the same sex. T iu'n c^'i^^^^^-^^ *° ^O-^O i'lo'ies; wing 6.55 to 8.05; tail 4.20 to 5.45. Female: Length 9.50 to 12; wmg 6.90 to 8.15; tail 4s-0 to 6.60 inches. Family 39. PANDIONIDiE. Ospreys or Fish Hawks. 148. Osprey. Pandion haliaetus carolinensis'((?meZ.). (364) i^o^^"^^-- American Osprey, Fish Hawk, Fishing Eagle.— Falco carolinensis, Gmel., 17S8.— -I'andion carolinensis of authors generally.— Pandion americanus, Vieill.— Pandion haliaetus, Rich. — ^Accipiter piscatorius, Catesby, 1754. Fig. 76. Osprey; Fish Hawk, From Coues' Key to North American Birds, 5th ed., 1903. Dana Estes & Co. Figure 76. Intermediate in size between the larger hawks and the eagles, but readily distinguished from both by the character of the feet. Instead of three toes in front and one behind, as in all other hawks and eagles, this bird has the outer toe reversible — turning front or back — as in the owls, and moreover all the claws are of equal size, and long, slender, awl-like and much curved, while the soles of the feet and under sides of the toes are thickly studded 296 MICHIGAN BIRl) LIFE. with sharp, strong, horny papillae, evident adaptations for holding slippery fish. Distribution. — North America, from Hudson's Bay and Alaska south to the West Indies and northern South America, breeds throughout its North American range. In Michigan the Fish Hawk or Osprey is generally distributed, but apparently nowhere abundant. It arrives from the south soon after the ice breaks up, usually by the middle of March, although in the northern part of the state it appears much later. Unlike most other fish-eating birds, it does not tarry with us until ice forms, but begins to move southward in August or September and is rarely seen in the state after the first of October. It was reported as last seen at Sault Ste. Marie September 14, and at Greenville, September 18. It is by no means confined to the shores of the Great Lakes, but frequents the larger inland lakes during the summer and may appear on any small pond or stream during migration. Along the middle Atlantic coast this bird sometimes nests in what might almost be called communities, a score or more of nests being found within a radius of a mile or two ; but in Michigan the nest is seldom seen and we have never known of two occupied nests in the same immediate vicinity. The nest, at least in Michigan, is almost invariably placed on a tree and at a considerable height, and is occupied year after year by the same birds. In other places, however, the bird frequently nests on cliffs, rocks, low banks, or even nearly level ground, as for example, on Gardner's Island and Shelter Island in Long Island Sound, and at various points along the New England coast. The eggs are usually three, occasionally only two, and rarely four. They are very variable in shape, size and color; usually heavily spotted with brown and pinkish red on a creamy white ground, but sometimes uniform reddish brown. They average 2.44 by 1.77 inches. But a single brood is reared in a season, but if the eggs are removed from the nest the birds soon lay again. Major Bendire states that he believes the period of in- cubation to be about 28 days, although usually given as 21. The Fish Hawk feeds entirely upon fish, for which it poises, or hovers and plunges, almost exactly as does the Kingfisher. It should be noted, however, that while the Kingfisher catches its prey with its bill, the Fish Hawk (like all other birds of prey) uses only its feet. For this purpose the structure of the feet, claws and soles is admirably adapted as already mentioned. In addition it may be said that the claws are rounded below as well as above, not ridged beneath as in most birds of prey. This may be of no particular advantage in clutching the fish originally, but undoubtedly enables the b>d to withdraw the claws readily if it becomes necessary. Possibly this fact sometimes saves the bird's life, when through any error in judgment it strikes a fish too large to be landed. In Kumlien and Hollister's Birds of Wisconsin we find the statement that "A specimen was found washed ashore on Lake Koshkonong [Wis.], in June, 1898, with both feet firmly embedded in the back of a very large carp; the fish had proved too large for the hawk and he had weakened in the struggle and drowned." The fish commonly sought by the Fish Hawk in our waters are of little economic value, and even were the birds much more abundant they could not justly be called harmful. They are powerful and picturesque, which adds much to the interest of the shore in summer, and they should be LAND BIRDS. 297 rigidly protected wherever found. The present law (1912) forbids their destruction and every person should see that the law is enforced. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill with a very long hook but without tlie distinct tooth and notch of the falcons; claws all of equal length; second and third primaries longest and nearly equal, the first four emarginate on iimer webs. Adult male: Most of the head and entire under parts pure white, only the sides of the head with a dark stripe, and the crown and occiput more or less streaked with dusky, the upper breast sometimes faintly blotched with brownish; upper parts dark grayish brown, many feathers with narrow whitish edges or tips; tail lighter brown above with about seven or eight dark bars, the inner webs of all but the middle pair distinctly barred below with pure white and dusky. Adult female: Precisely like male except that the upper breast is more distinctly spotted. Immature: Similar to adult, but with less white on the head, and usually with most of the feathers of back and upper surface of wings widely margined and tipped with whitish. Little or no difference in size of male and female (exceptional among hawks). Length 20.75 to 25 inches; wing 17 to 21; tail 7 to 10; expanse of wings about 5J feet. Suborder STRIGES. Owls. This suborder is commonly divided into two families, the Aluconidse, or Barn Owls, and the Strigidaj, including all the rest. In addition to the diagnostic points mentioned below the Barn Owls have a pectinate middle claw not found in other owls. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Lower half of tarsi naked or bristly; facial disk much narrowed below (Fig. 77) Family 40. Aluconidas. Barn Owl. No. 149. AA. Tarsi well feathered ; facial disk circular or nearly so (Fig. 80). Family 41. Strigidffi. B, BB, BBB. B. Large owls, wing 13 inches or more. C, CC. C. With prominent ear-tufts or feather-horns (plumicorns). Great Horned Owl and Western Horned Owl. Nos. 157, 158. CC. Without prominent ear-tufts. D, DD. D. Mainly white, more or less barred with black. Snowy Owl. No. 159. DD. Not mainly white. E, EE. E. Very large, wing 16 to 18 inches. Great Gray Owl. No. 153. EE. Not so large, wing 13 to 15 inches. F, FF. F. Under parts thickly streaked but with no cross bars. Short-eared Owl. No. 151. FF. Breast heavily cross-barred, only the belly streaked. Barred Owl. No. 152. BB. Owls of moderate size, wing from 8 to 13 inches. G, GG. G. With prominent ear-tufts. Long-eared Owl. No. 150. GG. With very small ear-tufts or none. H, HH. H. Under parts heavily streaked, but no cross-bars. Short- eared Owl. No. 151. jMICllKiAN J'.iKD LIFE. HII. Uiulor parts heavily barred, (_)wl. No. 160. IjISB. Small owls, wine; less than 8 inches. Iiut no streaks. Hawk I, II. I. With prominent ear-tufts. Screech Owl. No. 156. II. Without ear-tufts. J, J.J. J. Wing less than 6 inches. Acadian Owl. No. 155. J.T. Wine; more than 6?r inches. Richardson's Owl. No. 154. Family 40. ALUCONID.E. Barn Owls. Onl}- a single s[)ccics in Michigan. 149. Barn Owl. Aluco pratincola (Bonap.). (365) Synonyms: American ]!arn Owl, Monkey-faced Owl, Monkey Owl, Wlii(e Owl. — Strix pratincola, Bonap., 1838.— Strix Hamniea, Max., 1820, Wits., And., Nutt.— ,Strix Hammoa var. americana, Coues, 1872. — Strix flammca, var. pratincola, B. B. & R., 1875. Figures 77 and 7S. Known at a glance by the light creamy-yellow color, monkey-like "fa.ce" (Fig. 78), and absence of ear-tufts. The long, nearly bare shanks and pectinate middle claw are also distinctive. Distribution. — United States, rarely to the northern border and Ontaiio, southward through IMexico; northern limit of breeding range about 41 degrees. [In Michigan at least 44°.] This remarkable owl is a southern bird which finds its northern limit of abundance near our southern Lioundar}- but proljajjly nests within the state regularly, if somewhat sparingly. It would seem that within the last two decades the species has become much more common in Ohio and northern Indiana, and it is prob- able that most of the specimens taken in Michigan ha^•e lieen reared in the state. Formerly it \\-as considered an extremel}' rare Mich- igan Ijird, 1 >ut we now have between 20 and 30 records fur the state, and tloubtless many have been killed and not recorded. Most of the records arc for the southern half of the state, but there are at least two records for the neighbor- hood of Saginaw, and according t(i ?ilcllwraith (J^irds of Ontario, }). 22o), two individuals were re- ported as seen near Sault Ste. Marie (Lat. 46° .30') by C. .1. Bampton. An interesting breeding record Fig. t7. Bam Owi. Adult. is furnished liy i\Irs. Gene Stratton- I"™"^" mounted specimen. (Original.) Porter, of Geneva, Ind., who found a nest with young in a hollow tree LAND BIRDS. 2'JO on the "Iiihuid Route, " Northem Michigan (pn)t):iMj' in Cheboygan county), al)Out the middle of June 1900 or 1901. By the exercise of con- siderable ingenuity and a vast amount of patience she secured a good photograph of the parent bird as it was about to enter the nest in the early morning. This picture was published in the Ladies Home Journal for June, 1906 (Vol. XXIII, No. 7, p. 25), and appears to furnish the northern- most nesting record for the species, about 45^}°. We have also received an account of a nest of "white owls" found in a hollow tree near Mason, Ingham countj'', in the spring of 1906, and have no doubt the species was the Barn Owl. Specimens havel)een taken at or near Monroe, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Olivet, Kalamazoo, Hudson, Johnstown, Grand Ilapids, Coldwater, Saginaw, Plymouth, JSrighton, Fig. 78. Barn Owls. About three months olfl. Photograph from life by Dr. Thomas H. Jackson. Howell, Ionia, Grand Ledge, and Lansing. Apparently this species is not migratory, but remains all winter in the vicinity of its nesting places. Several of the specimens above recorded were taken in mid-winter. This species is strictly nocturnal in its haljits, and feeds very largely upon rats and mice, although it occasionally takes a small bird, not infrequently an English Sparrow. It also eats ground squirrels, shrews, bats, frogs, insects, crayfish, and more rarely fish. Out of 32 stomachs reported upon l)y Dr. A. K. Fisher, 1 contained poultry; 3, other birds; 17, mice; 17, other mammals; and 4, insects. An examination of 200 of the "pellets" ejected by a family of these owls showed a total of 454 skulls of small mammals. Of these there were 225 meadow mice; 2 pine mice, 179 house mice, 20 rats, 6 jumping mice, 20 shrews, and 1 star-nosed mole. There was also one skull of a Vesper Sparrow (A. K. Fisher). Unlike most other owls this species frequently nests in cities and villages and often takes up its abode in the deserted loft of a warehouse, mill or church, tower, where, on the bare fioor or in a shallow nest made of the 300 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. disgorged pellets of its own undigested food, the eggs are laid and the young reared. It has been known to nest in hollow trees, and even in crevices of cliffs or holes in sand-banks, but ordinarily it prefers the vicinity of a human habitation, and that doubtless has given it the name Barn Owl. The eggs, like those of all owls, are white and unspotted, and measure 1.65 by 1.31 inches. The number is very variable, ranging from three to ten, and not infrequently fresh eggs and newly hatched young are found together. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Legs long and slender, the shank (tarsus) covered with short feathers above and with bristly, hair-lil i^ 4.rt aMJ^£m ' riafe XXIV. Short-fared Owl. Courlesy of Nalional Coiiiniittio of Audubon Societies. LAND BIRDS. 305 Distribution. — Throughout North America and much of South America; nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds, somewhat irregularly and locally, from about latitude 39° northward. This owl differs_ widely in its habits from all other Michigan owls, since it is found only in open ground, and roosts and nests invariably on the ground. Although we have seen hundreds of these birds, we have never yet seen one perched on a bush or tree and but rarely on a fence or post. We do not recall any note uttered by this owl, and believe that ordinarily it is entirely silent. Major Bendire says that while hunting at evening a faint squeak, hke that of a mouse, was the only note heard, but while ex- amining a nest one of the birds "uttered a weak whistling sort of note two or three times." They are most often seen in October or November when flushed from the long grass where they are resting during the day, after gorging them- selves on field mice. They have a habit of gathering in some numbers in places where the fields are overrun with these mice, and sometimes a score or more may be found within the compass of a few acres. When started by day they fly somewhat irregularly, often circling about the intruder, and generally ahght again after a flight of 200 or 300 yards. After sunset they may be seen flying back and forth over grass lands very much in the manner of a Marsh Hawk. In Michigan this is an abundant owl in autumn, probably the most so of any, unless it be the common Screech Owl. It is distributed somewhat unevenly, so that in some regions it is abundant and in other places it may be almost unknown, yet anyone who hunts quail is almost sure to run across it at least once or twice each fall. It also winters occasionally within our limits. It is a species of wide distribution, ranging from arctic regions southward in winter at least to Panama, and very likely much farther, since it has been recorded from Brazil, Chile and Argentine Repubhc. The writer found it rather common on the Lower Uruguay river, Arg. Rep., in May and June, 1880 (winter months), which would seem to show that it nested still farther south (Auk, 1, 1884, 29). Being a bird of remarkable powers of flight and endurance it has been found frequently on islands far from land (in one instance on the Hawaiian Islands), and occasionally it has been known to rest on vessels when hundreds of miles from shore. Doubtless the greater number seen in Michigan are migrants, and nest considerably to the northward of us, yet a few undoubtedly rear their young each year within our limits. The nest is placed on the ground, usually among bushes or clumps of coarse weeds, and the five or six pure white, unspotted eggs are laid commonly in May, but sometimes not until June. They average 1.59 by 1.23 inches. We have few records of its nesting in the state, but this is not surprising when we consider its scarcity in summer and that few observers visit the places where it is likely to be found at that season. Covert records a nest found near Ann Arbor, May 3, 1877, and Butler records a nest in Indiana, with three young and two eggs. May 6, 1890, and another on the same date with three eggs. Mr. John Uphaus tells me that he found several young of this species, just able to fly, sitting around on stumps in an open part of Freedom Swamp, Washtenaw county, May 30, 1903. Mr. J. Claire Wood writes that in the summer of 1906 he took two young of this species in the down, in Wayne county, and Mr. Norman A. Wood informs me that a hunter once told him of a pair nesting in a marsh in the Portage Lake region, Washtenaw county. "On June 25, 1907, three young, still in the down, 39 306 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. were brought to the University Museum to be mounted. They were taken in a marsh seven miles southwest of Ann Arbor and must have been bred where they were found" (N. A. Wood). There is also in our Agricultural College collection the skin of an adult female taken on Chandler's Marsh, Ingham county, June 21, 1897, by Thomas L. Hankinson. Of 87 stomachs reported upon by Dr. A. K. Fisher, 11 contained small birds; 77, mice; 7, other mammals and 7, insects. While this would indicate that the food consisted mainly of mice, which we believe to be the case, it seems likely that when feeding young in the nest this owl may prey more extensively upon birds. In "Birds of Wisconsin," p. 69, we find an account of a nest of three young found at Delevan, Wis., May 29, 1898, which were "literally resting on a mass of wing and tail-feathers of the victims of their appetites. From this mass we picked out over 600 feathers, and among them positively identified more than 30 species of birds. No trace of a mammal was found either about the nest or in the pellets around it." TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Ear-tufts or plumicorns rudimentary, scarcely visible; first primary emarginate on inner web near tip. Adult: Facial disk coal black about the eyes, grayish or buffy about the edge, whitish above the inner corners of the eyes; chin white; upper parts bufiy wliite to deep buff or even rufous, thickly and broadly streaked with brownish black; under parts similar, but the dark stripes broad and close only on the throat and chest, becoming narrower and scantier on breast and belly, and sometimes entirely wanting on the under tail-coverts; tarsi and toes closely feathered, pale buff, unmarked; first three primaries with two dark bars on inner webs near the tips, and usually with a third spot or imperfect bar about the middle; rest of inner web buffy or whitish; tail whitish, buffy or rusty, with four or five narrow dusky bars; bill blackish; iris dark yellow. The female is larger than the male, but not otherwise different; the young of the year are darker than old birds, especially above, while the under parts are less thickly streaked, sometimes not at all. Length 13.80 to 16.75 inches; wing 11.80 to 13; tail 5.80 to 6.10. 152. Barred Owl. Strix varia varia Barton. (368) Synonyms: Hoot Owl, Rain Owl, Wood Owl. — Strix varius, Bart., 1799. — Strix nebulosa, Forst., and the older authors generally. — Sjnrnium nebulosum, Gray, 1844, and most recent writers. Plate XXV. Known from the Great Horned Owl by its somewhat smaller size and absence of ear-tufts; also by the greenish-yellow beak and dark brown eyes. The only other owl with which it could be confounded it the Great Gray Owl, which is decidedly larger (although of about the same weight) and has a yellow eye instead of a brown one. Distribution. — Eastern United States, west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas, north to Nova Scotia and Quebec. Breeds throughout its range. This is undoubtedly the commonest large owl in Michigan and the one most often killed by "sportsmen." It is a bird of the forest and is seldom seen outside of the woods, although often obliged to be contented with the fringe of large trees along a stream. Its range does not extend much farther north than Upper Michigan, and probably it is more abundant in the southern half of the state; but it has a decided preference for heavily wooded regions and has decreased rapidly wherever the country has been cleared up. ^,, .„ rS^ ^j u ,Jff^1f?.^ Ai m "i *v#^, i:v' PlatelXXV. Barred Owl. From Yi/arbook of Department of Agriculture, 189i. Courtesy of Biological Survey. LAND BIRDS. 309 Mr. Purdy writes from Plymouth, Washtenaw county : " Quite abundant here a few years ago, but now quite rare and will soon become extinct unless there is some law to protect them. During my experience, of the past 61 years, I have never known them to kill poultry, but a fool with a gun will not allow one to exist if he can prevent it." It is recorded by White at Mackinac Island, and by Major Boies at Neebish Island, St. Mary's River. In Marquette county 0. B. Warren calls it uncommon, but it is resident there and breeds. Both Judge Steere and W. P. Melville state that at Sault Ste. Marie it is the most abundant species of owl. At Petersburg, Monroe county, Jerome Trombley says it is now nearly extinct. This owl sees well in the day time and occasionally hunts by day in cloudy weather. According to Bendire mating begins in February, early or late according to the latitude, and in the middle states the eggs are laid from the second week in March to the first week in April. Mr. Covert states that at Ann Arbor it nests from the last week in March to the middle of April, and Dr. Gibbs says that C. W. Gunn found Barred Owls nesting in the hollow limb of a sycamore tree in Kent county, April 12, 1879. In Kalamazoo county the late Richard Westnedge found a nest April 28, 1891, containing three young birds, and another, evidently an old hawk's nest, in a basswood, 60 feet up, had a single egg well advanced in incubation, April 9, 1893. K. R. Wilhelm found one egg and a two-day-old chick in a cavity of a dead birch in the same county, April 21, 1887, the nest made of dead leaves and feathers and nearly level with the opening. A second nest found in the same vicinity, April 15, 1891, by the same collector, had three eggs containing advanced embryos. It usually nests in hollow trees, very rarely in an old nest of hawk or Crow. The eggs are usually three, sometimes but two, very rarely four. But one brood is reared in a season, and the period of incubation is variously given as three to four weeks. The eggs are white, unspotted, and average 1.94 by 1.65 inches. Probably this is the noisest of our owls. It has a variety of harsh screams, some of which are almost blood-curdling. Bendire speaks of "the un- earthly, wierd call-notes peculiar to this species, which surpass in startling effect those of all other owls with which I am famihar." He states further that the common notes are "hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo-too-too." It often calls in the day time in dark weather, and is most noisy when mating, several birds often uniting to form an indescribable chorus. Dr. A. K. Fisher sums up the food habits of this owl in the following words: "While the general statements of certain authors, especially the earher ones, charge the bird with the destruction of poultry, game and small birds, such destructive habits are comparatively uncommon. That it does occasionally make inroads upon the poultry yard, and does more or less damage among game birds, is true; but such acts are exceptional, and the examination of a large number of stomachs shows that the greater part of its food consists of mammals. And it is to be noted that among the Hst are some of the most destructive rodents the farmer has to contend with. If a fair balance is struck therefore, it must be considered that this owl is on the whole beneficial and hence should occupy a place on the list of birds to be protected" (Hawks and Owls of the U. S., 1892, 151-152). Of 89 stomachs reported upon by Dr. Fisher, 5 contained poultry or game; 13, other birds; 46, mice; 18, mammals; 4, frogs; 1, a lizard; 2, fish; 14, insects; 2, spiders; and 9, crayfish. 310 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. No ear-tufts or plumicorns; five outer primaries emarginate or sinuate on inner webs; facial disk gray, with several concentric, narrow, dark rings or lines; iris dark brown; bill yellow or yellowish-white. Adult: Upper parts deep brown (umber) regularly barred with pure white, these white bars shortening to squarish or rounded spots on some of the wing-coverts and outer webs of secondaries; throat and breast similarly barred but much^grayer anteriorly, white or grayish-white predominatiiig on the throat and chest; belly and sides without any cross- bars, but heavily striped lengthwise with dark brown on nearly pure white; primaries barred on inner webs with blackish and bufiy white, the dark bars broadest; tail of same color as back, with whitish tip and about five narrow white or brownish bars. Sexes alike except that the female is largest. Young similar as to wing and tail feathers, but entire under parts imiformly barred with light brown and buffy white, the bars of about equal width. Length: 19.75 to 24 inches; wing 13 to 14; tail 9. 153. Great Gray OwL Scotiaptex nebulosa nebulosa (ForsL). (370) Synonyms: Spectral Owl. — Strix nebulosa, Forst., 1772. — Strix cinerea, Gmel., 1788. — Syrnium cinereum, Aud., 1839. — Scotiaptex cinerea, Swains., 1837. Plate XXVI and Figure 80. By measurement the largest of our owls, the wing reaching 16 to 18 inches. The absence of the ear-tufts separates it from everything but the Barred Owl, and its yellow eyes and dusky gray plumage distinguish it from that species. Distribution. — Arctic America, straggling southward in winter to southern New England, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Idaho and northern Montana. The Great Gray Owl must be considered one of our rarest birds. It is never seen except in winter, and often several years may pass without one being recorded. Occasionally, as with most other northern birds, it becomes more numerous, or rather less uncommon, and several specimens may be taken in a single winter. Undoubtedly the greater number are shot by deer hunters and woodsmen who do not appreciate the rarity of the bird, probably confounding it with the Barred Owl. We have records from Falmouth, Missaukee county, December 1881 (Covert); Munising, Alger county, November 1891 (Covert); Trout Lake, Chippewa county, November 11, 1897 (Selous); and we have a specimen in the Agricultural College collection, taken at St. Ignace, Mackinac county, in January, 1894. There is also a fine specimen in the Kent Scientific Museum, taken November 15, 1906, near Germfask, Schoolcraft county. Mr. E. R. Kalmbach, who mounted this bird informs me that the stomach contained six short-tailed meadow mice. Mr. W. B. Mershon, of Saginaw, has a very nice specimen in his collection, killed several years ago in the Upper Peninsula, but the exact date and place of capture are unknown. Major Boies states that it is occasionally seen on Neebish Island (presum- ably in winter), and Judge Steere, of Sault Ste. Marie, tells me that he has seen several specimens, more or less mutilated, hung up at deer camps in the woods in Chippewa and neighboring counties. There is not the slightest reason to suppose that it ever nests within our limits, nor has it ever been recorded except in winter. During the winter of 1889-90 it was more common in New England than ever before, and numbers were captured. According to Major Bendire it nests from the Plate XXVI. Ureat Cray (Jwl. From Baird, Brewer and llidgway's XorthyAnierican Birds. Little, Brown &To. LAND BIRDS. 313 shores of Hudson's Bay northward to the hniit of trees, about 68 degrees. In Alaska it nests near the sea as early as April, and in the interior as late as the middle of June. The nest is placed in trees, and the eggs, two to four, are dull white with little luster, unspotted, and average 2.16 by 1.71 inches. Although this bird exceeds the Great Horned Owl in measurements, its weight is much less, in fact seldom greater than that of the Barred Owl. Its plumage is very soft, fluffy and deep, so that it appears to Idc a much heavier bird than it really is. Little seems to l^e known of its food, but it probal.)!}' feeds largcl}' on hares. Fig. so. Great Gray Owl. Adult. From iihofograph of museum specimen. (Original.) meadow mice and squirrels, together with ptarmigan and smaller birds. It is commonly reported to feed mainly at night, but since its habitat lies in large part within the Arctic Circle, it must do all its hunting during the summer )_iy daylight. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Ear-tufts or plumicorns entirely absent; feet and toes heavily feathered to tlie base of the claws; first si.x primaries emarginate or sinuate on inner webs near tip; iris yellow. Adult: Dark grayish brown above, irregularly mottled with grajash-white, and with some indistinct cross-bars; under parts mottled grayish white and dusky, with irregular dark trrayish-brown stripes on breast and belly, and bars of same color on flanks, facial disk grayish, with numerous concentric dark rings; bill yellowish or nearly white; claws dark.'' Sexes alike in color, but female largest. Length 2.5 to 30 inches; wing 16 to 18; tail 11 to 12.50; spread of wings 41 to 5 feet. 314 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 154. Richardson's Owl. Cryptoglaux funerea richardsoni (Bonap.). (371) Synonyms: Arctic Saw-whet Owl, Sparrow Owl. — -Nyctale richardsoni, Bonap., 1838. — Strix tengmalmi, Rich. & Swains., 1831. — Nyctale tengmahni var. richardsoni, Ridgw., 1872, and most subsequent writers. Plate XXVII. AlDout the same weight as the Screech Owl, but with slightly longer wings and decidedly longer tail. Besides lacking the ear-tufts, it is easily recog- nized by its chocolate-brown color above, spotted with white, and the white under parts striped lengthwise with brown. Distribution. — Arctic America, south in winter into the northern United States. Breeds from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Manitoba northward. This is another decidedly rare owl in Michigan, and like the preceding is found only in winter, and then only at long intervals. Owing to its small size it probably escapes observation and capture more often than does the Great Gray Owl, so that the lack of records must not be taken to indicate extreme rarity. We have a specimen in the Agricultural College collection, doubtless from northern Michigan, but without other data. Mr. W. P. Melville, of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., writes that there are two male specimens of Richardson's Owl in the high school museum at that place, taken in the immediate vicinity, by Mr. Mark Cady, one on February 22, 1900, and the other January 28, 1902. Mr. A. B. Covert records two females taken at Ann Arbor in December, 1877, one on the second and the other on the thirteenth of the month. He also states that a male was killed in a barn at Cadillac, Michigan, November 28, 1881, and that "Mr. Warren of Duluth, gets all he wants there." According to Bendire it is "Possibly a very rare resident from latitude 46 degrees northward, becoming more abundant as higher latitudes are reached. It appears to be very common about Great Slave Lake, seems not to see well at all in daylight, and may often be caught in the hand. It probably nests always in holes in trees; possibly, as a rare exception, in deserted open nests of other birds." The eggs are two to seven, white and unspotted, and average 1.35 by 1.14 inches. Napoleon A. Comeau states that near Godbout, Quebec, it "has a liquid note like dripping water." Little is known of its food, but it appears to subsist mainly on mice and small birds. In Michigan, it is so rare that of course it has no economic importance. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Small; no ear-tufts or plumicorns; iris yellow; bill white; first three primaries emarginate or sinuate on inner webs near tip; feet heavily feathered to the very claws. Adult: Upper parts chocolate-brown, with more or less numerous white spots; under parts white, with numerous broad streaks of brown which extend even to the under tail- coverts; wing and tail feathers with numerous paired white spots, those on the tail tending to form two or three white cross-bars; tarsi and feet buffy, spotted with brown. Sexes alike, but female largest. Length 9 to 12 inches; wing 6.60 to 7.40; tail 4.10 to 4.70. Plate XXVII. Richarfl.son's Uwl. Photograph from life. From Bin] Lore. Courte.si' of P. 15. Peabody. Plate XXVIII. Acadian Owl. From Bird Lore. Courtesy of Frank SI. Chapman, LAND BIRDS. 319 155, Acadian Owl. Cryptoglaux acadica acadica (Gmel). (372) Synonyms: Saw-whet Owl, Sparrow Owl, White-fronted Owl (young), Kirtland's Owl. — Strix acadica, Gmel., 1788, Aud., and others. — Nyctale acadica, Bonap., 1838, and authors generally. — Strix passerina, Penn. — Strix frontalis, Licht. — Nyctale albifrons, Cass. Plate XXVIII. Smallest of our owls, the wing less than six inches. This, together with the absence of ear-tufts, and the numerous small white spots above and brownish stripes below, readily identifies the bird. Distribution. — North America at large, breeding from the middle states northward, and in mountainous regions of the west southward into Mexico. A dainty little owl, doubtless much more common than generally supposed, and well distributed over the entire state. Its small size, strictly nocturnal habits, and protective coloration make it easy for it to avoid detection. During the day time it secretes itself amid the thick foliage of trees, evergreens being preferred. At such times it is ridiculously tame and may sometimes be captured alive in the hands. It is commonly stated to be resident wherever found, and it is certain that in Michigan our records are more numerous in winter than in summer. Nevertheless a considerable movement of the birds southward in cold weather has been noted and there is a decided increase in their numbers in the middle and southern states during the winter season. Mr. W. E. Saunders found 24 dead Acadian Owls among the hundreds of migrants which perished in a snow storm on the east shore of Lake Huron, the night of October 10-11, 1906. For a full account of this disaster see the Auk, Vol. XXIV, 1907, pages 108-110. Part of the account is quoted in the introduction to the present volume, pages 26-27. The nest is placed always in a hollow tree, and the eggs, in Michigan, are probably laid early in April, at least before the first of May, and there is no reason to suppose that more than a single brood is reared in a season. The eggs vary in number from three to seven, are white and unspotted, and average 1.19 by 1 inch. The note of this bird is said to resemble that made by filing a saw, yet in our own experience we have been unable to detect the resemblance. Dr. W. L. Ralph says "their call is a frequently repeated whistle, sometimes uttered in a high and again in a low key, in either a slow or rapid cadence. Generally it is commenced slowly and gradually becomes faster and faster until it ends quite rapidly. This call, which is the only one I have ever heard them give, sounds not unlike the noise made during the operation of filing a saw, and it is easily imitated." The food consists largely of mice, but it doubtless also eats squirrels, chipmunks, and an occasional bird. Of 19 stomachs reported upon by Dr. A. K. Fisher, 17 contained mice; 1, a bird (sparrow); and 1, an insect. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Smallest of Michigan owls; very much like Richardson's Owl, but much smaller; no ear-tufts or plumicorns; iris yellow; bill blackish; two or three outer primaries emarginate or sinuate on inner webs. Adult: Upper parts olive-brown or reddish-brown, lined with white on forehead and crown, spotted with white on back of neck, scapulars, and sometimes elsewhere; under parts white, streaked with reddish brown; tarsi and toes buffy white, without markings; 320 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. facial disk wlutisli or gray; wing and tail feathers with pairs of rounded white spots, those on the tail forming two or three imperfect bars, besides the white tip. Young: Similar to adult only in size and wing and tail markings; upper parts reddish- brown without any light spots; under parts brown in front, yellowish posteriorly, and without any streaks; facial disk dark brown with a white stripe above each eye, this white "eyebrow" giving the name "White-fronted Owl." Length 7.25 to 8.50 inches; wing 5.25 to 5.90; tail 2.80 to 3.25. 156. Screech Owl. Otus asio asio {Linn.). (373) Synonyms: Mottled Owl, Red Owl, Gray Owl, Little Horned Owl.— Strix asio, Linn., 1758, Gmel., Shaw. Wils., Aud. — Scops asio, Bonap. and many others. — Megaficops asio, Stejn., 1885, and most subsequent authors. Plate XXIX and Figure 81. Our only small owl with conspicuous ear-tufts; but recognizable also by the absence of white dots above, the feathers of back and breast whatever their color always showing dark shaft stripes. Distribution. — Temperate eastern North America, south to Georgia and west to the plains. Accidental in England. Throughout most of Michigan this undoubtedly is the commonest owl, found not only in thickly wooded regions, but in almost equal abundance in the older settled parts of the state, where it frequents orchards, groves, and the fringe of timber along the streams, and is even found in the small parks or the shade trees along the streets in our largest cities. In spite of the fact that this owl is almost invariably killed by man whenever opportunity offers, it has held its own during recent years and probably is as abundant now in most localities as it was fifty years ago. It is perhaps somewhat less plentiful in the Upper Peninsula, but it doubtless occurs in every county in the state and appears to be resident wherever found. During the day it secretes itself in some hollow tree, or more rarely in some sheltered retreat among the thickest foliage (preferably of an ever- green), and ventures forth only after sunset unless earlier discovered, mobbed, and driven from place to place by Blue Jays and other birds, which are always on the lookout for their enemies. The ordinary call of the Mottled Owl is a series of clear, tremulous and plaintive, but rather musical notes, suggesting a wail rather than a screech and by no means justifying the common name "Screech Owl." This call is uttered at all hours of the night and at all seasons of the year, although according to our experience most frequently and persistently during the earlier part of the breeding season. Nevertheless Mr. Eugene Bicknell states that in the lower Hudson Valley "The late summer far more than the spring seems to be the season when its cry is most frequent and most regular from year to year. Usually, after a considerable time of silence, it begins to quaver in July or in August, thence continuing off and on until winter. I am not without scattering records of having heard it in winter; but it is virtually a silent bird from December or earlier until March or later. With some uniformity it is to be heard for a short time in late March or early April; but I have not a record for late April, May or June" (Auk, II, 260-261). The nest is placed invariably in the hollow of a tree, perhaps most often a natural hollow, but not infrequently in the nest of a woodpecker which has been deserted, or from which the rightful owner has been forcibly # /ir//} ^aa.'f:? %^effi?s. Plate XXIX. Screech Owl. Courtesy of National Coinmittee of Audubon Societies. LAND BIRDS. 323 expelled. The eggs are laid, in tins latitude, from the middle of Apiil to the middle of May, and they are commonly placed on the rubbish at the bottom of the cavity without any attempt at a nest. The birds are likely to use the same nesting place year after year, but apparently onlj^ a single brood is reared in a season. Tlie eggs are pure white, unspotted, and average 1.42 by 1.19 inches. The food of the Screech Owl is quite varied, but although small mammals, and especially mice, form a large and constant factor in its diet, it also catches a few birds (notably English Sparrows), and is very fond of insects and of crayfish. Probably its continued and increasing abundance in our larger towns and cities is due to the abundance of English Sparrows, on which it largely subsists during winter. Out of 212 stomachs reported Fig. 81. Screech Owls. Young. From photograph by C. Wm. Beebe. Courtesy of Bird Lore, upon by Dr. A. K. Fisher, 1 contained poultry: 38, other birds; 01, mice; 11, other mammals; 2, hzards; 4, frogs or toads; 1, fish; 100, insects; 5, spiders; 2, scorpions; 9, crayfish; 2, earthworms; 7, miscellaneous. Among the birds found in the stomachs there were remains of 21 sparrows, more than half of which were English Sparrows. The fondness of this owl for mice is well known, and it is probable that the farmer has no more valualde ally in his war against these pests than the common Screech Owl. Doubt- less this little owl, which is notoriously courageous or even savage, does occasionaUy pick up a smaU chicken, but its opportunities for such harm must be very limited and the damage so done is infinitesimal. The remarkable differences in color which occur in this species, known as "dichromatic phases," seem to be entirely independent of age, sex or locality, and as yet no thoroughly satisfactory explanation has been given of the fact that among young of the same parents some may develop the 324 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. red phase and others the gray phase, and this whether both parents are red, both gray, or one red and the other gray. It has been shown that in captivity the gray bird can be converted into a red one by feeding regularly with liver, and by withholding this food afterwards the bird has eventually resumed the gray plumage. This would seem to indicate that the color of the plumage may be largely influenced by the character of the food, yet it is difficult to see how this fact can be used to explain the conditions actually found in nature. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Small; ear-tufts (plumicorns) large and conspicuous; four or five outer primaries emargi- nate or sinuate on inner webs; iris yellow; bill variable, but never white; toes scantily feathered toward their tips. Adult in Gray Phase : Upper parts brownish-gray, more or less mottled with blackish, many feathers of the top of head and back with black shaft-streaks; outer edge of many scapulars white or whitish, forming two conspicuous light stripes down the back; facial disk gray with much dusky mottling, and bounded on its outer edge by a clear black border which is continued down the side of throat as a black stripe; under parts white or grayish white, with conspicuous black streaks and much finer and fainter wavy cross-bars of dusky or black; outer webs of wing feathers with numerous white or bufiy spots or patches, the inner webs barred with blackish and gray; tail gray with six to eight narrow dusky bars. Adult, Red Phase: Prevailing color bright rust-red, sometimes uniform above except for the white scapular stripes and an occasional blackish shaft line on forehead and scapulars; under parts mixed rust-red and white, usually with some black streaks, but sometimes all the markings very deep red; facial disk rusty gray, commonly bordered by black as in the normal phase; wing feathers and tail with same pattern as in normal bird, but the bars mainly of light and dark rusty, only partly blackish; bill reddish. Between these two extremes of gray and red, are found intermediate forms of every possible gradation, but the size and proportions will always discriminate it from the Long- eared Owl, and the ear-tufts prevent confusion with any other. Length 7.50 to 10 inches; wing 6 to 7.10; tail 3.05 to 3.50. 157. Great Horned Owl. Bubo virginianus virginianus (GmeL). (375) Synonyms: Virginia Horned Owl, Big Hoot Owl, Cat Owl. — Strix virginiana, Gmel., 1788, Wils., Aud. — Bubo virginianus, Bonap., Nutt. — Strix maximus, Bart., 1792. — Bubo pinicola, Vieill., 1807. Plates XXX and XXXI. Our largest common owl, readily identified by the conspicuous ear-tufts. Any tufted owl with a spread of wings of four or five feet may be safely identified as the Great Horned Owl, or its western variety, No. 158. Distribution. — Eastern North America, west to the Mississippi Valley, and from Labrador south to Costa Rica. Generally distributed throughout the state, but more abundant in the unsettled portions than elsewhere. As the country is cleared up and gunners become more numerous this species becomes less and less common, although doubtless a few pairs continue to rear their young even in the most populous districts as long as any considerable patches of timber remain. It appears to be resident wherever found and we know of nothing to indicate a migratory movement, the great abundance at certain seasons or during certain years being due probably to an increase in the total number of individuals or possibly to a concentration brought about by favorable food conditions The Great Horned Owl is mainly nocturnal in its habits, but if found abroad during daylight appears to see fairly well and is usually a rather riate XXX. Great Horned Owl. Adult. Photograph from mounted specimen. (Orighial.) Plate XXXI. Groat Horned"0\vl. About six weeks old. Photograph from life, by Dr. Thomas H. Jackson. LAND BIRDS. 329 hard bird to approach, especially if once shot at or otherwise alarmed. Ordinarily it spends the day time in some hollow tree, or hidden amid the densest foliage, and appears to depend upon its protective coloration to escape the notice of enemies. Among its inveterate foes is the Crow, which takes delight in mobbing it and making its life miserable whenever it finds it abroad by daylight. The owl retaliates by raiding the crow roost at night and devouring a few of his persecutors. Apparently the crow is not a favorite food and is eaten only when other food is scarce. The usual diet consists of partridges, quail', ducks, rabbits, squirrels, rats, and even fish, crayfish and insects. It is one of the very few enemies (aside from man) of the common skunk, and specimens are frequently taken whose plumage is rank with the odor of this animal. More rarely still it attacks the porcupine, and W. P. Melville has recorded the capture of a specimen at Windsor, Ont., in the winter of 1883-84, which had porcu- pine quills in its tongue, mouth and skin, as well as in the stomach, in- testines and liver. Although it unquestionably does much good by destroy- ing rats, mice and other harmful rodents, it is particularly fond of poultry and once it has visited a particular farm yard is almost certain to continue its attacks until captured or killed. An instance is recorded where one owner lost 59 young guinea-fowl in a single autumn by this owl. On the other hand, Mr. Chas. Dury states that in the neighborhood of a nest of these owls, in a sycamore stub near a farmer's barn, there were found the remains of 113 Norway rats, most of them with the heads split open and the brains removed. Of 110 stomachs reported upon by Dr. A. K. Fisher, 31 contained poultry or game birds; 8, other birds; 13, mice; 65, other mammals; 1, a scorpion; 1, fish; and 10, insects. Among the mammals were hares, rabbits, squirrels of several kinds, skunks, musk-rats, weasels, gophers, rats and mice of various kinds, and even a few shrews. It has also been known to attack and kill the ground-hog or woodchuck occasionally. This is the only species of Michigan owl not protected under the present (1912) laws of the state, and in view of its destructiveness to game and poultry it doubtless was wise to make this exception in framing the law. It should be distinctly understood, however, that all other owls, large or small, are protected by the law, and their kilhng is prohibited under penalty of fine or im- prisonment or both. The Great Horned Owl nests very early in the season and probably with very few exceptions the eggs are laid in Michigan before the first of March. In many cases they are laid early in February and it is by no means unlikely that during mild winters some of the birds nest even in January. Sometimes a hollow tree is selected as a nesting place, but more often an open nest is built, or an old nest of hawk, crow or heron is repaired and the eggs laid therein- Such nests are almost always in large trees and at a con- siderable height from the ground. One of the parents is almost always found on the nest, a necessary precaution to prevent freezing of eggs or young, and it is no unusual thing to find the Great Horned Owl sitting patiently upon her nest although deeply covered by falling snow. The eggs are commonly two, occasionally three, more rarely but one. They are always white and unspotted and appear to be decidedly small for the size of the bird; they average 2.12 by 1.81 inches. According to Major Bendire the eggs are laid at intervals of about three days, and the period of incubation is 28 days. There is considerable evidence, however, to show that much longer periods frequently elapse between the deposition 330 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. of the two successive eggs, and frequently one or two young birds and an unhatclied egg may be found in a nest together. It has been surmised that this is designed by the old bird as a matter of convenience, the warmth of the chicks protecting the freshly laid egg from freezing, so that the parent may be absent for longer intervals in- search of food. This, however, seems to be merely an inference from a few observed facts. When first hatched the young are covered with white down, and although they grow rapidly they do not acquire their flight feathers until two months old and probably remain in the nest from twt) to three months after they are hatched. According to Bendire "The common call whieh is most often uttered, and I believe that of the male, is a far-reaching 'too-hoot-too-hoot-too-hooh,' while the answering one of the female is shorter, and usually consists simply of a '00/ or 'to-oo.' Aside from these they have several others, one a cat-like squeal or cry like ,waah-hu,' and again a series of yelps similar to the barking of a dog." When heard at a little distance the hoot of this owl may easily be mistaken for the ordinary crossing whistle of a loco- motive, and at times it bears quite a strong resemblance to the notes of the Morning Dove. When near at hand, however, the notes are too loud and harsh to be mistaken for anything else. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Large; ear-tufts (pliimicorns) very conspicuous; iris bright yellow; bill and claws black; toes fully feathered; first three or four primaries emarginate or sinuate on inner webs. Adult: Upper parts mottled blaclc, white and rusty (tawny), the latter the prevailing color beneath the surface, the superficial pattern made up of narrow, wavy or zigzag, white cross-bars, and wider black interspaces, giving the efJect on head, neck and "cape" of a gray ground-color broadly and irregularly striped with black; facial disk brownish gray or rusty gray, with a broad black outer border and usually several concentric blackish lines; a conspicuous snow-white patch on the lower throat, forming an imperfect collar; rest of under parts white, broadly and irregularly streaked with black on the chest, and closely and evenly barred with black elsewhere, sometimes with a good deal of rufous intermixed; wing and tail feathers barred with gray and black, the tail showing about six distinct black bars. Young: At first covered with snow-white down, which becomes buffy or even tawny, spotted and later barred with brown or dusky everywhere except on legs and feet; the wing and tail-feathers from the first have essentially the same colors and pattern as when adult; the ear-tufts are visible in the down of the half grown bird and the characteristic black border of the facial disk and white throat patch also appear at about the same age. There is immense individual variation in adults, particularly as to the proportions of rufous, black, and white, a^d the coarseness of the pattern. Females are noticeably larger than males, but there seem to be no constant color differences. Male: Length 18 to 23 inches; wing 14.50 to 15.25; tail about 8.25; weight about 3^ lbs. Female: Length 22 to 25 inches; extent about 57; wing 16; tail 9. 158. Western Horned Owl. Bubo virginianus pallescens Stone. (375a) Synonyms: The synonymy is so involved that it seems useless to attempt to untangle it here. This western subspecies very closely resembles typical virginianus, but is characterized by a decidedly lighter tone of coloration and by somewhat smaller average size. The two forms, however, are separable only by the expert. , . Distribution. — The distribution is given by the A. O. U. Check-list (1910) as western United States (exclusive of the higher mountains) from eastern Oregon, Montana, and Minnesota south to southeastern California, Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, and northeastern Mexico. This form, or its equivalent, has been included in several earlier lists, but the specimens upon which the claims were based are inaccessible and LAND BIRDS. 331 some doubt with regard to them remains. In the summer of 1904 the University of Michigan party took four specimens, one in Ontonagon county, July 26, and three on Isle Royale, August 26, which have been determined by Mr. Ridgway as Bubo virginianus pallescens Stone, of the new (1910) A. O. U. Check-list. Another specimen of the same race was taken by Mr. C. McLaughlin, at Robbins, Ontonagon county, January 5, 1906, and was determined by Mr. H. C. Oberholzer as Bubo virginianus occidentalis [Stone?] (Swales, Auk XXVII, 1910, 208), which would therefore seem to make this latter subspecies equivalent to pallescens of Stone (Auk XVIII, 1901, 300). In reply to an inquiry as to the status of these specimens Dr. C. W. Richmond, of the U. S. National Museum, writes, under date of December 1, 1911: "The Owls identified by Mr. Ridgway are Bubo virginianus pallescens of the new Check-list, but Mr. Oberholzer claims that B. v. occidentalis is a definite, recognizable form occupying the middle west (north of the range of true pallescens), and from his point of view the Michigan birds are occidentalis." The habits of this subspecies, as observed by Mr. Peet, on Isle Royale, do not seem to differ much from those of the common Great Horned Owl. It seemed to feed mainly on white-footed mice and northern hares, both of which were abundant. It was not shy in the dusk of evening, but rather curious, perhaps because most of those seen were young, or because they had been little disturbed by man (Adams' Rep. on Isle Royale, Mich. Geol. Surv., 1908, 353). 159. Snowy Owl. 'Nyctea. nyctea. (Linn.) . (376) Synonyms: Arctic Owl, White Owl, Ermine Owl. — Strix nyctea, Linn., 1758, Vieill., Wils., Bonap., Aud. — Nyctea nivea, Cass.- — Strix arctica, Bartr., 1792. — Nyctea scandiaca var. arctica, B. B. & R., 1875. Figure 82. Mainly snow white, but always more or less barred with brown; no ear- tufts or only mere traces; large. Distribution. — Northern portions of northern hemisphere. In North America breeding wholly north of the United States; in winter migrating south to the middle states, straggling to South Carolina, Texas, California and Bermuda. This beautiful owl, not to be mistaken for any other species, comes to us from the north late in autumn and is met with occasionally until early spring. Sometimes one is seen as early as the middle of October, but more often they do not come until late in November, and although a stray loiterer may be seen in April (St. Clair Flats, April 5, 1906, Taverner) the greater number retire to the north before the beginning of that month. Usually very few are seen, and in the interior of the state several winters may pass in any given locality without the record of a single one. They prefer the shores of the Great Lakes and the courses of the larger rivers, perhaps because they are decidedly fond of fish and these localities afford them a fairly good supply. At long intervals they appear in much larger numbers, and several of these invasions have been recorded within the past thirty years. In the winter of 1876-77, they were unusually abundant over all the northern United States, being thus reported from localities where previously they had been extremely rare. Again in the winter of 1892-93, there was another large 332 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. influx from the north, and in 1901-02 perhaps the largest invasion of all occurred. On this last occasion they appeared in such numbers that they ceased to be rare and specimens were often seen for sale in markets along with ducks and other birds, the taxidermists in the larger cities being already so well supphed with specimens that they would not purchase more. Mr. Peter Lepp, of Saginaw, told us that during that winter he had forty-two Snowy Owls sent in to be mounted, coming from all over the northern half of the Lower Peninsula, though many of them were from the immediate vicinity of Saginaw. Mr. W. L. Kress, of Elk Rapids, mounted twenty- eight during the winter, and thinks at least fifty were killed in the immediate vicinity. He says they almost completely destroyed the quail and partridges in that county. Mr. J. H. Fleming, of Toronto, Ont., estimated that at least 1,000 were killed in Ontario during this remarkable flight. He states that "during March, 1902, the females disappeared and were replaced in April by the returning flight of the light-colored birds (apparently all males). A few remained about Toronto Marsh all through May and a small, light-colored male was taken on June 7. It was in excellent condition and showed no signs of being a wounded bird." This owl appears to see perfectly well by day and hunts freely by day- light. It is said never to take prey which is not in motion, with the ex- ception of fish, which it will pick up wherever found. It flies with remark- able swiftness and is able to overtake and capture ducks, grouse, quail and other quick flying birds. It nests only in the far north, the southernmost breeding record apparently being about 53°, in Labrador. Its eggs were found by Fielden, June 20, 1876, on Grinnell Island, latitude 82° 40' north, probably the most northern nesting record for this species. The nest, if such it can be called, is com- monly placed on the ground, usually on some slight elevation, and consists of a mere hollow in the ground with a few leaves, grasses, and stray feath- ers for a lining. Normally the eggs are from five to seven, but as many as ten have been found. They are oblong oval, never as round as those of the Great Horned Owl, roughly granular, and have no luster. Usually they are clear white and un- spotted, but occasionally they are pale cream color. They average 2.24 by 1.76 inches. Arctic travelers state that a few of these owls remain all winter within the Arctic Circle, but the great majority move south- ward at the approach of cold weather, only returning in the summer time to nest. While with us they feed largely upon game birds, including partridges, quail, and ducks, but also on rabbits, rats and mice, and probably also on muskrats and squirrels. As noted before, they are very fond of fish and are said to be expert at catching them alive. They, however,''^eat dead fish washed up on the shore when other food is scarce. Fig. 82 Foot of Snowy Owl. (Original.) TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Large; ear-tufts (plumicorns) almost or quite lacking; iris yellow; biU blue-black; four or five outer primaries emarginate or sinuate on inner webs near tip; feet densely covered with hair-like feathers, hiding the black claws; plumage largely pure white. Adult male: Plumage nearly white, sometimes quite so except for a, few dark spots and bars on head, backhand scapulars; as usually seen the upper parts are freely barred with dark brown or slate on a pure white backgroimd, while the belly, sides and flanks are similarly marked, but the throat and breast pure white, unspotted; wings also freely LAND BIRDS. 333 spotted and barred with black; tail mainly white, but middle feathers witli se\'eral blackish bars and the rest with one or more ilark spots near tip. Adult female: Similar, but much darker; heavily spotted and barred, above and below, with dark brown or blackish, only the throat, breast and feet unmaiked; tail usually with three or four dark bars. Male: Length 20 to 23 inches; wina,- 15.,50 to 17.30; tail 9 to 0.70. Female: Length 23 to 27 inches; wing 17.30 to IS. 70; tail 9.70 to 10.30. 160. Hawk OwL Surnia ulula caparoch (.!/((//.). (377a) Synonyms: American Hawk Owl, Day Owl, Canadian Owl, Hudsonian Owl. — Strix caparoch, Mull., 176G. — Strix hudsonia, GmcL, Wils., Sliaw. — Strix canadensis Briss. — Strix funerea. Rich. & Sw., Aud., lionap. — Surnia ulula var. hudsonica, Ridgw. Figure 83. lack of ear-tiiftf l(jng, rounded tail, and dark 1:)reeding from Newfoundland northward, northern Ijorder of the Lhiited States. Known by its medium size, brow'n-and- white-barred breast. Distribution. — Arctic America, and migrating in winter to the Occasional in England. A winter visitor from the wooded regions of the far north, wliere it nests in April or May in hollows of trees, or in open nests of twigs and moss in evergreens. It lays from three to seven white unspotted eggs wdiich average L51 by L23 inches, and closely resemble the eggs of the Short-eared Owl. It is one of our rarest owls, but like the Snowy Owl, occasionally appears in something like abund- ance. We have no record in Michigan of such an occurrence, but in October and November 1884, a wave of these birds visited northern New England and scores, possibly hundreds, of specimens w'ere taken; one taxidermist at Bangor, Me., receiving 28 freshly killed specimens within a few weeks (Brewster). It may be looked for in the northern third of Michigan from the last of October until the latter part of winter, but it appears to retire northward much earher than the Snowy Owl, few if any, lingering later than February. As it hunts freely by daylight, and is not particularly shy, it should be easily recognized. It perches like a hawk on the top of some dead stub or isolated tree, from which it watches for its prey, which consists mainly of mice, Fig. S3. Hawk Owl. From photograph of mounted specimen. (Original.) 334 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. squirrels and birds, though it is said to eat insects freely in its summer home. A • li 1 Specimens are not numerous in our collections. Ihe Agricultural College Museum has three, one taken by Major Boies on Neebish Island, October 27, 1894, and two taken in Mackinac county, near Trout Lake, by the late Percy Selous, one November 5, and the other November 10, 1896. Prof. H. L. Clark writes us that there is a specimen in the Olivet College museum which was killed there, and in 1903 we saw two mounted specimens in a store at Sault Ste. Marie, which were killed near by. One was killed at Port Huron about November 17, 1905, and another November 6, 1906, and mounted by Eppinger of Detroit. Mr. Albert Hirzel, Forest- ville, Sanilac county, mounted one in December 1906, which was killed in the Upper Peninsula. The nesting ground of this species lies mainly north of the United States, but in 1905 members of a biological survey party from the University of Michigan took a young bird, able to fly, but still partly "in the down," making it very probable that it was reared in the vicinity. The locality was Isle Royale, Lake Superior, and the date August 4, 1905. An adult Hawk Owl was seen near by but was too wary to be taken Adams, Ecolo- gical Survey of Isle Royale, 1905, pp. 92, 353. Annual Rep. Mich. Board of Geol. Survey, 1908). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Rather small; ear-tufts (plumioorns) lacking; facial disk poorly developed, making the face hawk-like; feet heavily feathered; outer three or four primaries emarginate on inner webs; tail strongly graduated; iris deep yellow; beak nearly white; claws black. Adult: Top of head black, thickly sprinkled with small rounded, pure white dots; cheeks white or grayish white, bounded posteriorly by a broad black bar or stripe which extends downward on the side of the throat, meeting its fellow from the other side, thus forming a black collar; two other black stripes bound the sides of the occiput and hind neck; rest of upper parts chocolate brown to sooty black, profusely spotted with white, the spots running into a rather conspicuous bar on the outer edge of the scapulars on each side; under parts regularly and closely barred with pure white and brown or blackish, except across the chest where the dark bars are scanty or wanting; tail like the back, each feather with paired white spots, forming about five or six narrow wliite bars. Young: Much browner or more buffy, with fewer spots above, and the barring below more indistinct. Length 14.75 to 17.50 inches; wing about 9; tail 6.80 to 7. Plate XXXII. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. From original drawing by P. A. Tavcrner. LAND BIRDS. 337 Order XIV. COCCYGES. Cuckoos, Kingfishers, etc. KEY TO FAMILIES. A. Toes two before and two behind, the front toes separate to the base; bill about as long as head. Family 43. Cucuhdse. Cuckoos. (Only two Michigan species). A A. Toes three in front and one behind, two of the front toes grown together for half their length; bill longer than head, its cutting edges minutely saw-toothed. Family 45. Alcedinidse. Kingfishers. (Only one Michigan species). Family 43. CUCULIDiE. Cuckoos. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Basal half of lower mandible yellow; most of the tail-feathers white tipped, the outer ones for an inch or more (Fig. 84). Yellow- billed Cuckoo. No. 161. A A. Bill all black; tail-feathers with narrow white tips, the longest tip not half an inch (Fig. 86). Black-billed Cuckoo. No. 162. 161. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Coccyzus americanus americanus (Linn.). (387) Synonyms: Rain-crow, Rain-dove, Kow-Kow, Chow-Chow. — Cuculus americanus, Linn., 1758. — Coccyzus americanus, Bonap., 1824, and authors generally. Plate XXXII and Figures 84, 85. Reference to the plate will serve to separate the cuckoo from all other birds, and the present species may be known from the only other Michigan cuckoo by the yellow lower jaw, the cinnamon in the wings, and the large white "thumb-marks" on the outer tail-feathers (Compare figures 84 and 86). Distribution. — Eastern temperate North America, breeding from Florida north to New Brunswick, Canada, and Minnesota, west to the eastern border of the Plains, and south in winter to Costa Rica and the West Indies. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is generally distributed throughout the state but probably is somewhat less common in the northern sections than farther south; it is, however, nowhere abundant and although at the proper season you may see or hear cuckoos almost any day ^___ or night, it would be difficult in ^j^ g^ Q^gj. tail-Ieathers of Yellow-bUled Cuckoo. Tnn«+ nlnppc! t.n find half a dozen From Hoffmann's Guide. most places to nnu nan a uoz,eii courtesy of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. specimens in a half day s hunt- ing. The two species of cuckoo are so similar in general appearance and so often confounded that most of our notes for the state are badly mixed and 43 338 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. it is not possible to generalize safely in regard to either species. _ They seem to arrive from the south at about the same time, which is early in May in the southern part of the state and from five to ten days later in the Upper Peninsula. Average dates for Detroit and Lansing will range from May 10th to 20th. This is one of the birds whose voice is often heard at night and its usual call, coo- coo- coo, or kuk-kuk-kuk, is common to both species and is familiar to most outdoor people. Both the cuckoos have numerous variations of this call, and several entirely distinct notes, but our best observers are unwilling to assign any one of these notes exclusively to either species, and we know of no characteristic note belonging to the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Nest building begins ordinarily in June, but not commonly until the middle of the month or even later. According to Bendire " In the northern part of its range the breeding season is at its height during the latter part of June and the first week of July, and here one brood only is reared, while in the south they sometimes raise two." The nest is a very simple affair, consisting of a little platform of twigs,.leaf-stems, and perhaps a few catkins, slightly hollowed to receive the eggs, and lodged rather than placed in the crotch of a bush, among a tangle of vines, or sometimes on the horizontal spreading branch of an evergreen. Not infrequently the old nest of some other bird is used with only slight repairs or additions. The eggs are three to five, pale blue, often more or less nest-stained, and always unspotted, though frequently clouded or "water-marked" in a manner which is easily recog- nized but not readily described. They average 1.21 by .88 inches. It seems to be a fact that the two species of cuckoos not infrequently lay their eggs in each others nests, and this by many is considered a relic of the parasitic habit so strongly developed in the old world cuckoos, which usually build no nests of their own, but impose the care of their eggs and young on other and mostly smaller birds. Single cuckoos eggs are not infrequently found in the nests of other birds here in Michigan, but not more often perhaps than we find eggs of the Robin, blackbirds and some sparrows. In this connection it should be noted that comparatively fresh eggs and newly hatched young are sometimes found in the same nest, although as a general rule the set is completed before incubation begins. It is difficult to believe that only one brood is reared in Michigan each season, since eggs are common in June and all through July and August, even a few sets being found in September. It is possible that these are merely second layings by birds which have been unfortunate with their first nests, but it seems much more likely that many individuals rear two broods The food of this cuckoo consists very largely of insects, and probably we have no bird which is more valuable to the orchardist and fruit grower. The careful studies made by the Department of Agriculture at Washington have shown that more than 75 percent of the food consists of insects, and these are almost all of injurious kinds. It is particularly fond of cater- pillars and appears to delight in those forms which are covered with hairs and spines. It is a common thing to see a cuckoo perch near a nest of tent caterpillars (Clisiocampa), and quietly swallow one caterpillar after another until seven or eight have been taken, then rest for half a minute or more before eating an equal number, repeating this action several times until the appetite is satisfied or the supply of caterpillars exhausted. In several instances more than one hundred tent caterpillars have been taken from a single cuckoo's stomach, and the bird is almost equally destructive to various other hairy caterpillars. Even those caterpillars which are covered LAND BIRDS. 339 with protective stinging hairs, like the lo caterpillar and the various species of Vanessa, are eaten freely. Large quantities of beetles and bugs also are consumed, and both species of cuckoo seem to be very fond of grasshoppers, eating especially such forms as frequent shrubbery and trees, among these the destructive tree crickets {(Ecanthus). Ten specimens examined by Professor Aughey, in Nebraska, contained 416 locusts and grasshoppers, and 152 other insects. In Michigan the cuckoos seem to eat very httle fruit, but farther south they have been known to feed freely on elder-berries and mulberries, and they doubtless eat other small fruits to some extent. They, however, never become actual enemies of the horticulturist in this way. The only serious charge ever brought against the cuckoo, so far as we know, is that of robbing the nests of other birds. This crime was ascribed Fig. S.5. Nest, egg and young of Yellow-biUed Cuckoo. From photograph by Thomas T,, Hankinson. to the bird years ago, and several of the older wiiters have adduced some proof in support of it. Audubon, Wilson and Nuttall all state that the cuckoo is known to suck the eggs of other birds, and one would infer from their statements that considerable damage was done in this way. Recent observers, however, have pretty generally failed to corroborate these statements, and several of our best naturalists, whose opportunities for observation have been ample, state positively that they see no reason to believe these charges. Personally, the only evidence of this habit which we have seen lies in the fact that many species of the smaller birds attack the cuckoo and drive it away from their nests, even following it some distance and treating it very much as they would Crows, Blue Jays and Bronzed Grackles, which are known'sometimes to rob nests. These actions, however, are susceptible of another explanation, for in flight and general appearance the cuckoo is not unhke some of the smaller hawks and very possibly other birds may mistake them for birds of prey. 340 MICHIGAN BIRD^LIFE. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Toes two in front, two behind; tail of long, soft feathers, much graduated. Adult: Upper mandible mainly black, its edges and most of the lower mandible yellow; entire upper parts brownish gray or olive gray, often with a bronzy luster; under parts pure white; inner webs of most of the primaries rufous or cinnamon; middle tail-feathers like the back, the rest black with abrupt and broad white tips. Young: Similar, but feathers of upper parts usually with rusty or ashy tips, and tail-feathers with smaller and less abrupt white patches. Length 11 to 12.70 inches; wing 5.40 to 5.80; tail 6 to 6.15. 162. Black-billed Cuckoo. Coccyzus ery hropthalmus (Wils.). (388) Synonyms: Rain Crow, Kow-Kow. — Cuculus erythrophthalmus, Wils., 1811, and authors generally. Figure 86. So similar to the Yellow-billed Cflckoo in appearance, habits and note that the two are very generally confused. The present species shows no yellow on the bill, which is nearly black, has a circle of bare red skin about the eye, little or no cinnamon in the wing, and the outer tail-feathers only lightly tipped with white. (Compare figures 84 and 86.) Distribution. — Eastern North America, west to the Rocky Mountains, breeding north to Labrador, Manitoba and eastern Assiniboia; south, in winter, to the West Indies and the valley of the Amazon. In Michigan the Black-billed Cuckoo has nearly the same distribution as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, except that it is equally abundant all over the state, whereas the Yellow-billed species is apparently less common in the northern half. The two species are also so similar in general habits that most of what has been written in the preceding pages is Fig. sa. Tan of Biack-biiied cuckoo. applicable to the present bird. It From Hoffmann's Guide, arrives from the south at about the Courtesy of Houghton, MifHin & Co. same time, nests in much the same way and at the same time, and moves southward again in the fall together with the Yellow-billed species. Although a few field naturalists profess to be able to discriminate the notes of the two species, most good observers agree that this is impossible. Bendire says that it is impossible to distinguish its call notes positively from those of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Mr. E. P. Bicknell, one of our best authorities on the notes of birds, states that he has been unable to find any constant differences. The nests of the two species are likewise extremely similar, but the Black-billed is the smaller bird and lays the smaller egg; moreover the eggs average deeper in color, the shade being described by Ridgway as glaucous-green or verditer-blue. They average 1.11 by .78 inches, and usually present the peculiar mottled appearance already mentioned under the preceding species. This bird has been charged with robbing the nests of other birds, precisely as m the case of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and although the charge lacks recent substantiation there may be some truth in the accusation. On the other hand, it is equally destructive to injurious insects, on which it feeds constantly and voraciously, consuming immense numbers of hairy cater- pillars, bugs, beetles, grasshoppers and other injurious species. A single LAND BIRDS. 341 bird was shot in an oat field infested with army worms near Ellsworth, McLean county, 111., and when examined by Prof. S. A. Forbes, 95 percent of the food in its stomach consisted of army worms (Trans. 111. State Hort. Soc, Vol. 15, 1881, p. 129). It certainly is one of our most valuable birds and it is to be regretted that it is not more numerous. Although generally distributed, and nowhere rare, it nevertheless is nowhere abundant. It seems probable that with us it rears two broods during the season, but exact data on this point are very desirable. It seems to be a little more careless than the Yellow-billed Cuckoo in regard to its eggs, which are frequently found in the nests of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and less often, but occasionally, in those of other birds. Mr. J. G. Davidson, of Lockport, N. Y., says that in Niagara county, N. Y., on June 17, 1882, he "found a Black-billed Cuckoo and a Mourning Dove sitting together on a Robin's nest. The cuckoo was the first to leave the nest, which contained two eggs of the cuckoo and one of the Robin (all somewhat incubated), and two of the dove, perfectly fresh" (Bendire, I, 141). F. S. Shuver, of Bangor, Mich., says: "It seems in this locality to nest very commonly late in the fall, as every year I find several nests. On September 14, 1897, I found a Black-billed Cuckoo sitting on four fresh eggs. I stepped up and examined the nest, and the bird, true to its habit, at once abandoned the nest. On September 3, 1894, I found a nest of this cuckoo in a large spice bush, and as the heavy frosts had taken the leaves from the bushes, I watched it from a distance without disturbing it. On September 12, I found four young birds and an addled egg in the nest. The birds cared for the young until the 18th, when a very cold autumn rain began; they then deserted their brood and were not seen again" (Bull. Mich. Ornith. Club, II, 1898, 16). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Similar to the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, but bill entirely blackish, or with merely a yellowish tinge at the base of the lower mandible; edge of eyelid bright red (but iris brown); tail- feathers (except middle pair, which are like the back) grayish brown, with a sub-terminal darker bar, and narrow white tips; chin, throat and upper breast grayish white, often with a buffy tinge; rest of under parts pure white; wing-feathers without rufous on inner webs. Young: Similar, but duller brown above, the eyelids dull yellow instead of red. Length 11 to 12.70 inches; wing 5.12 to 5.65; tail 6.25 to 7. Family 45. ALCEDINIDiE. Kingfishers. Only a single representative occurs in Michigan. 163. Kingfisher. Ceryle alcyon (Linn.). (390) Synonyms: Belted Kingfisher. — ^Alcedo alcyon, Linn., 1758, Wils., 1811, Aud., 1831. — Ceryle alcyon, Boie, 1828, and authors generally. Figures 87 and 88. One of our few birds in which blue predominates; possibly to be mistaken for the Blue Jay by the beginner, but readily separated by a glance at figures 87 and 98, and by noticing that the bill is nearly two inches long in 342 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. the Kingfisher and tlie feet very small, while the Blue Jay has a moderate bill and large feet. Distribution, — North America, from the Arctic Ocean south to Panama and the West Indies, Breeds from the southern Ijorder of the United States no rth w ard . In Michigan the Kingfisher is universally distributed, and though nowhere abundant is so conspicuous in plumage and note that it may always be readily found. It frequents the borders of ponds, streams, large and small, and the Great Lakes, and is frequeirtly to be seen perched upon the pile of a wharf, the mast or Ijoom of a vessel, the peak of a boat-house, a dead stulj standing in the water, or the overhanging branch of some convenient tree. The note is a vigorous and prolonged rattle, startlingly loud and harsh when close at hand, but not unpleasant when heard at a distance. It is not to be mistaken for the call of any other bird and bears a close resemblance to the sound made by the old- fashioned watchman's rattle. In fishing the Kingfisher poises on quickly beating wings at a height of from ten to twenty-five feet alDOve the surface of the water, with the body at an angle of perhaps 45°, but the bill pointed downward and the eyes scanning an the water intentl)^ watching for the approach of a fish toward the surface. When a favorable opportunity presents itself the wings are partially closed and the bird droiDS head foremost into the water with a splash, usually capturing the small fish in the bill. Sometimes this is swallowed at once, but more often it is carried away to some nearby perch where it is beaten for a few moments until dead, and then either swallowed entire or carried away to the nest to be fed to mate or young. The nest is always a burrow in a bank of sand, gravel, or gravel and clay, sometimes only three or four feet in length, but more often 'from five to eight feet. At the end of the burrow is a somewhat enlarged chamber where the eggs are laid, often on the bare sand, but frequently on a collection of scales and bones of fish, the shells of crayfish, or similar skeletal material which has been ejected as pellets by the birds. The eggs vary in number from four to eight, but are commonly about six. They are pure white, unspotted, and usually a short oval, sometimes approaching the spherical. They average 1.36 by 1.05 inches. The food of the Kingfisher consists very largely of Fig. S7. Kingfisher. From HoITmann's Guide. Courtesy ot Hougliton, Mifflin & Co. Fig. 88. Foot of Kingfisher. (Original.) fish, which are mainly the young of shallow water species, principally L'^ND BIRDS. 343 minnows, chubs and related fish. Much complaint is made by fishermen about the damage done by the Kingfisher, but this is almost entirely imaginary ._ In a few cases persons who are raising gold fish, trout and other fish in large quantities, and in exposed situations, may suffer some- what from the visits of the Kingfisher, but the harm done on open streams and ponds is infinitesimal. Besides fish the Kingfisher eats large numbers of crayfish, some frogs (mainly when fish are scarce), and many insects. Professor Aughey, of Nebraska, writes " One that was sent to me to identify in September, 1874, had 18 locusts, in addition to portions of some fish, in its stomach. One that I opened in September, 1876, had mingled at least 14 locusts with his fish diet" (1st Rep. U. S. Entom. Com., App. 2, p. 39). Another writer records taking from a Kingfisher's stomach "fragments of various beetles belonging to the families Carabidse, Dytiscidse and Scaraboeidse." Larvae of these beetles, particularly those of the Dytiscidse, are known to destroy immense numbers of newly hatched trout, and the good done by the King- fisher in consuming the beetles undoubtedly more than offsets any slight harm it may do in catching young trout. Probably it is not markedly beneficial, but it is a beautiful bird, whose presence adds much to the pleasure of the summer resorts, and its absence would be keenly felt by the nature lover. The custom of shooting the Kingfisher on sight, and in- cluding it in the list of birds which may be killed in the competitive hunting matches which are in vogue in some parts of the country, cannot be too strongly deplored. The present law of the state protects the Kingfisher at all seasons and this law should be rigidly enforced. The Kingfisher arrives early from the south, usually in March, or by the time the ice is out of the streams. It lingers in the fall until the waters which it commonly frequents begin to freeze over, when most of the birds move southward, although a few occasionally remain all winter in favorable localities. During prolonged rough weather, when fish can be seen with diflaculty, the Kingfisher is said to suffer much from hunger, and in such cases always resorts to other food, even trying to catch mice, according to Bendire. The latter writer also records one instance in which a King- fisher was seen to greedily devour the berries of the sourgum (Nyssa aquatica). At the south the eggs are laid in April, while in the Arctic Circle they may not be laid until the latter part of June. The male often digs a shallow burrow near the one occupird by his mate and uses this for roosting at night. According to Bendire only one brood is reared in a season, and the period of incubation is about sixteen days. The female alone incubates, but the male carries food to her at frequent intervals. For some time after the young leave the nest they are dependent on the old birds for at least a part of their food; but some of the stories as to methods employed by the old birds in teaching the young to fish must be taken with a very large grain of allowance. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill long, strong, sharp, with a keel on the ridge, the edges of both mandibles minutely- barbed backward, like the tip of a porcupine quill, evidently for the purpose of holding the slippery prey; feet small and weak, the three front toes largely grown together (syndactylous), the sole much flattened, the tibia bare above the heel; head strongly crested; iris dark brown; bill black. Adult male: Above, clear leaden blue (plumbeous), the conspicuous double crest with most feathers darkening at the tips; a small white spot in front of eye; chin, throat 344 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. and collar about the neck, pure white; a broad lead-blue band across the chest; belly and under tail-coverts white; primaries largely white on the inner webs toward the base; both primaries and secondaries often white-tipped, the latter always with white bars on the inner webs; tail with nimierous paired white spots, forming 8 to 10 narrow white bars. Adult female : Similar, but with a more or less complete chestnut band across the belly, this color also extending along the sides and flanks. Young birds of either sex have the blue chest band more or less mixed with brown or rufous. Length 11 to 14.50 inches; wing 6 to 6.50; tail 3.80 to 4.30; oulmen 2 or more. LAND BIRDS. 345 Order XV. PICI. Woodpeckers, Wrynecks, etc. (Only the Woodpeckers are found in America.) Family 46. PICID^. Woodpeckers. KEY TO SPECIES. Log-Cock. No. 169. A. Very large, wing more than 8^ inches. AA. Smaller, wing less than 7 inches. B, B. B. Back and rump shiny black, without any white markings; the top of head with or without a golden yellow patch; only three toes, two in front. Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker. No. 167. BB. Back or rump always with white; head often with red, but never with yellow; toes four, two in front and two behind (Fig. 90). C, CC. C. Shafts of wing-feathers golden yellow; breast and sides with numerous clean cut, round, black spots. Flicker. No. 172. CC. Shafts of wing-feathers not yellow, no round black spots on breast or sides. D, DD. D. Middle pair of tail-feathers largely white on inner webs. E, EE. E. A large black patch on chest. Sapsucker. No. 168. EE. No black on chest. Red-belhed Woodpecker. No. 171. DD. Middle pair of tail-feathers wholly black. F, FF. F. Entire head, neck and chest red. Red-headed Wood- pecker (adult). No. 170. FF. Red only on the nape, if at all. G, GG. G. Under parts all white. H, HH. H. Wing 4^ inches or more; outer tail-feathers white, without cross bars. Hairy Woodpecker and Northern Hairy Wood- pecker. Nos. 164, 165. HH. Wing less than 4^ inches; outer tail- feathers white, barred with black. Downy Woodpecker. No. 166. GG. Throat, chest and sides gray, more or less streaked or mottled with blackish; some- times a few scattered red feathers about head and neck. Red-headed Woodpecker (young). No. 170. 164. Hairy Woodpecker. Dryobates villosus villosus {Linn.). (393) Synonyms: Guinea Woodpecker, Sapsucker or Big Sapsucker (incorrect). — Picus villosus, Linn., 1766, and authors generally. The pure white under parts, black back with median white stripe, and checkered black and white wings are distinctive of this and the Downy 346 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Woodpecker, which are separable only by size, the Hairy being at least twice as heavy as the Downy. In each the male has a scarlet nape patch which the female lacks. Distribution. — Northern and middle portions of the eastern United States from Atlantic coast to the Great Plains. In Michigan this is a common woodpecker wherever there is any con- siderable amount of woodland, but the bird is also seen during the colder half of the year in orchards and groves at considerable distances from large tracts of timber. It is commonly considered a resident wherever found, but certainly there is a well marked movement southward in the fall, since we have numerous reports from southern and southeastern Michigan to the effect that it is much more common in winter than in summer. Although widely distributed and nowhere rare, it is never really abundant; it is also rather a solitary bird, seldom seen except singly or in pairs, although for a few weeks after the young leave the nest family parties of four to seven may be encountered once in a while. It nests early in the season, and eggs may be found from the last week in April to the middle of May according to latitude. Fully fledged young are abroad the first week in July, or somewhat earlier in the southern part of the state. The nest is a neat hole dug by the birds themselves in the dead wood of a trunk or limb, usually at some little height above the ground. In some regions maple seems to be preferred, but nests are often found in willow, poplar, and other soft wood trees. According to Bendire the eggs are usually four, sometimes three or five, rarely if ever more. They are pure white, unspotted, polished, like the eggs of all woodpeckers, and average .93 by .69 inches. The food of this species is very similar to that of the Downy Woodpecker, but is of less account to the orchardist, since the present species is less often found outside continuous woods. According to Beal, who reported on 82 stomachs examined at the Department of Agriculture, in Washington, 68 percent of the food consisted of animal matter and 31 percent of vege- table matter. Insects formed 63 percent of the food, divided as follows: 17 percent ants; 24 percent beetles; 21 percent caterpillars; and 1 percent miscellaneous, including a few plant lice or aphids. Spiders and myriapods formed 4 percent of the food. The vegetable matter, 31 percent in all, consisted mostly of wild fruits and a few seeds, with about 8 percent of vegetable rubbish. The fruits most freely eaten were dogwood, Virginia creeper, June berries, strawberries, poke berries and sumac berries, both poisonous and non-poisonous. Eight stomachs contained the seeds of sumac and the distribution of these poisonous seeds seems to be the only harm done by this bird. It cannot be claimed that the consumption of insects confers any great benefit upon the agriculturist, since although the percentage of beetles is very large, and many of them are boring beetles, they are all species which work only in dead wood, thus doing practically no harm. A good many caterpillars (21 per cent) are eaten, and about 17 percent of ants, the latter item having very little economic significance. This bird and the Downy Woodpecker are wrongly called sapsuckers in many parts of the state, being confused with the Yellow-bellied Wood- pecker or true Sapsucker, which drills the bark of living trees in order to eat the sweet inner bark (cambium) and drink the sap. Neither the Hairy Woodpecker nor the Downy has this habit, and when seen about fruit or shade trees they are never injuring them, and usually it is safe to assume LAND BIRDS. 347 that they are eating some of the insect pests which might otherwise dam- age the trees. Bendire describes its note as a shrill and rattUng sound like trriii, trriii, or when flying from tree to tree several loud notes like huip, huip. Like all our woodpeckers it is very fond of drumming or tattooing on a hollow stub or any resonant object. An expert might possibly discriminate the tattoo of the present species from the rest, but the ordinary observer would notice httle difference. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Upper parts mainly black, the middle of the back striped with white; a white stripe over and behind the eye, sometimes continuedjacross the occiput in front of the con- spicuous scarlet crescent which adorns the nape; nasal bristles white or grayish white; ear- coverts (amiculars) black; bordered below by a white stripe, which in turn is bounded below by a black stripe running from base of lower mandible to shoulder; entire under parts pure white; wings and coverts black, freely spotted with white; middle tail- feathers black, the outer pair entirely white, the rest black and white. Adult female: Precisely like the male, except that there is no red on the nape. Young males resemble the adult female. Length 8.50 to 9 inches; wing 4.50 to 5; tail 3.10 to 3.60; culmen 1.18 to 1.35. 165. Northern Hairy Woodpecker. Dryobates villosus leucomelas (Bodd.). (393a) Synonyms: Picus leucomelas, Bodd., 1783. — Picus canadensis, Gmel., Lath., Aud., Bonap. — Picus septentrionalis, Nutt., 1840. This is the northern form of the Hairy Woodpecker, characterized by somewhat larger size and a larger proportion of white in the plumage. It intergrades with the common Hairy Woodpecker, and suspected specimens should be submitted to an expert for identification. It is not safe to assume that every Hairy Woodpecker taken within the range assigned to leuco- melas belongs to this subspecies. Distribution. — Northern North America, south to about the northern border of the United States. Assuming that there is a southward movement of many individuals in winter we should expect this race to occur in the Upper Peninsula and the higher parts of the Lower Peninsula during winter, and it is not impossible that it may prove to breed occasionally in favorable locahties in these regions. The only actual records, however, of which we know are those obtained by the expedition of the University of Michigan to Isle Royale in the summers of 1904 and 1905. Two specimens taken August 20 and September 1, 1904 were identified by Robert Ridgway of the U. S. National Museum. Mr. Peet, who was a member of the 1905 expedition says: "Rather rare throughout the island. Probably nearly all are resident throughout the year, although none were seen after September 12. July 12 one was procured in the balsam forest and on July 13 one was taken in the birches along Benson Brook" (Max M. Peet, Adams' Rep., Mich. Geol. Surv., 1908. p. 354). . • i, • -, u u-+ There is no reason to suppose that this race differs materially m its habits from the common Hairy Woodpecker of more southern latitudes. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Precisely like the ordinary Hairy Woodpecker except in size, and possibly a somewhat larger amount of white on the upper parts in the present sub-species. The measurements are as follows: Length 10 to 11 inches; wing 6.02 to 5.40; tail 3.60 to 3.80; culmen 1.40 to 1.62. 34S MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 166. Downy Woodpecker. Dryobates pubescens medianus (*5u'f«'ns.). (394c) Synonyms: Little Guinea Woodpecker, Little Sapsucker (error). — Pious (Dendrocopus) medianus, Swains, 1831. — Pious pubescens, Linn, (part), and most Amerioan authors. — Pious medianus, Nutt., 1834. — Dryobates pubescens. Cab., 1863, A. O. U. Check-list, 1889-1895. Figure 89. In general appearance precisely like the Hairy Woodi^ecker, but decidedly smaller, the wing usually less than four inches long and the total length from 6i to 7 inches (See note under Hairy Woodpecker). Distribution. — Middle and northern parts of eastern United States and northward. Probably the Downy WoodiJecker, though actually not so abundant as some other members of the family, is better known than &\vy other woodpecker of the state. He is a familiar resident not only of the deep forests and smaller patches of outlying woodland, but of nearly every orchard and grove, even coming regularly into the parks and .shaded streets of our towns and villages and frec[uently nesting in such places, particularly if the English Sparrow is not super- abundant. He shows a slight tendency to withdraw to quieter regions during the nesting period, and is doubtless more conspicuous in winter when the trees are leafless, but nevertheless is in evidence at all times of the year. He is one of our most confiding birds, and when busily at work cutting out grubs from fruit trees, or pecking into a dead stub for burrowing larviE, will allow a quiet observer to approach within a yard or two and watch every movement. Although he gets a large part of his food from dead and more or less decayed wood he also searches the bark, limbs, and even the twigs of apparently healthy trees in search of eggs, larvaj, pupaj and adult insects of almost every kind, and we have no more indefatigable insect eater, and probably few birds more beneficial to the farmer and fruit grower. According to Beal, who examined 140 stomachs at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, 74 percent of the food consisted of animal matter and 25 percent of vegetable. The animal matter consisted almost entirely of insects, of which ants formed about one-third (23 percent), beetles another third (24 percent) and the remainder was made up largely of caterpillars, with numerous bugs, among which were considerable quantities of plant lice. The vegetable food, forming 25 percent of the Fig. 89. Downy Woodpecker. From Coues' Key to North American Birds, .5tli ed,, 1903. Dana Estes & Co. LAND BIRDS. 349 stomach contents, consisted almost entirely of wild berries and seeds, with a small amount of unidentifiable vegetable matter classed as rubbish. The fruits taken were those of uncultivated plants and their consumption caused no loss whatever to the fruit grower. The only item weighing in any manner against the good character of the bird was the presence of seeds of the poison ivy and poison sumac which were found in the stomachs of 21 birds and sometimes in large numbers. These berries are eaten for the nutritious, waxy pulp which surrounds the seed, and the seeds them- selves, which are usually ejected by the mouth, are found to germinate just as well afterwards. It is evident that these noxious plants owe their wide distribution in large part to the birds which feed upon the berries, and evidently the Downy Woodpecker does his part of this work. In its consumption of insects the bird is decidedly useful, since it not only eats many of the common pests of the orchard, but it visits plantations of young trees, shrubs and even vines and hunts out injurious insects which might otherwise gain a foothold and cause serious trouble. During the winter it searches persistently for the hidden pupee and cocoons of various insects and has been seen to drill through the silken cocoons of the cecropia moth and devour the pupae within. It is credited also with the destruction of the larvse of the codling-moth which often spend the winter hidden beneath a thin scale of bark or a dry leaf cemented to the tree, and Dr. Trimble's account of his discovery of this fact, in Morris county, N. J., is worth repeating here. He writes "I was gratified in being able to ascertain how he finds where to peck through the scales so as to be sure to hit the appleworm that is so snugly concealed beneath. * * * g^^ what does he do? By sounding, tap, tap, tap, just as the physician learns the con- dition of the lungs of his patient by what he calls percussion. The bird uses his beak generally three times in quick succession — sometimes oftener; then tries another." One stomach was found to contain a codling-moth larva and some beetles; another held one beetle, the heads of two codling- moth larvse and three small borers (Treatise on the Insect Enemies of Fruit and Fruit Trees, pp. 116-117). In its general habits the Downy Woodpecker quite closely resembles its larger relative the Hairy Woodpecker, but, as already seen, it is more likely to frequent the open country, and especially the orchards and trees about houses. In nesting it also selects smaller trees or limbs, and the nest is more often placed low down, often only two or three feet above the ground. The eggs are commonly four or five, occasionally only three or as many as six. They are pure white, unspotted, and average .77 by .58 inches. The period of incubation is about twelve days. It begins nesting several weeks later than the Hairy Woodpecker and eggs are not hkely to be found before the middle of May in southern Michigan, although in one instance we found a nest of young in Ingham county May 8 (1897). On the other hand, fresh eggs are frequently found the last week in May and occasionally even in June. It seems probable that only one brood is reared in the season, but birds which lose the first set of eggs are very hkely to lay again. The hole for the eggs is excavated by the birds themselves, and although the same hole may be used year after year, probably in most cases a new hole is made for each new set of eggs. Frequently single birds are found excavating holes in midwinter, and they resort regularly to these holes to roost throughout the year. * Of the voice of this bird E. P. Bicknell says: "In addition to its usual short sharp note the Downy Woodpecker has a rattling cry which starts 350 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. and ends with an abrupt precision suggestive of a mechanical contrivance set off with a spring. This is used in Heu of song. It is set off for the first time in the new year in March, usually about the middle, but sometimes earlier and again not until the end of the month or even early April. It is in use through the summer and autumn, often becoming infrequent in October, and in November still more so; although in some years not ceasing altogether until the end of the month. On a few occasions I have heard it in winter" (Auk, II, 257-258). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Precisely like the common Hairy Woodpecker except for much smaller size and the additional fact that in the present species the outer pair of tail-feathers is always more or less barred with black, while in the Hairy these feathers are unspotted. The measure- ments are: Length 6.25 to 7 inches; wing 3.40 to 4.05; tail 2.29 to 2.90; culmen .68 to .82. 167. Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker. Picoides arcticus (Swains.). (400) Synonyms: Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker. — Picus (Apternus) arcticus, Swains., 1831. — Picoides arcticus, Gray, 1845, and most recent authors. Plate XXXIII. Reference to the accompanying plate will serve to identify this bird; it can be known readily by its entirely black upper parts, except that the male has a square golden-yellow patch on the crown, the female lacking this mark. Distribution. — Northern North America from the Arctic regions south to the northern United States (New England, New York, Michigan, Minne- sota and Idaho), and in the Sierra Nevada to Lake Tahoe. The Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker has been confounded fre- quently with its near relative the so-called American Black-backed Wood- pecker, better called the "Ladder-backed Woodpecker." The name appearing in the A. 0. U. Check-list for the present species is Arctic Three- toed Woodpecker, but this name is objectionable since, of the two Three- toed Woodpeckers this is the more southern in its distribution. It seems better therefore, to call this bird (arcticus), the Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker, and the other form (which does not occur in Michigan as far as we know) the Ladder-backed Three-toed Woodpecker.* The Black-back is a fairly common species throughout the Upper Peninsula and the heavily wooded higher parts of the Lower Peninsula, but so far as we know it does not occur south of latitude 43° even in winter. The southernmost record so far as we know is that of three specimens taken, presumably at different times, near Port Huron, St. Clair county, by Mr. John Hazelwood. Mr. N. A. Eddy took a male February 7, 1885, on the Pine River, near Standish, Arenac county, and it is not uncommon, according to Wood and Frothingham, in Ogemaw, Roscommon and Oscoda counties, and has been recorded from nearly all the counties of the Lower Peninsula north of this, as well as from most of the Upper Peninsula, including Isle Royale. It is restricted mainly to heavily wooded regions, but opinions differ widely as to the character of timber preferred. One observer states that it frequents high lands and hardwood timber, another * For additional note on this species see Appendix. Plate XXXIII. Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker. From North American Fauna, No. 10. Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture. LAND BIRDS. 353 that it is seldom seen outside the pine districts, and still another thinks it should be looked for only in tamarack swamps. The truth probably is that the bird is nowhere abundant and its choice of a residence and feed- ing ground depends mainly upon the food supply. In one district there- fore, it may be found in one sort of timber, and in another in a different kind. Its habits are by no means thoroughly known and much is yet to be learned concerning them. Though usually considered resident wherever found, it seems certain that it wanders farther south in winter and it would not be surprising if stragglers were occasionally taken in the southern part of the state, especially on the western side where the pine forests formerly extended almost or quite to the Indiana line. According to Bendire, "Both sexes assist in nidification, which is usually _ at its height between May 20th and June 10th, as well as in incubation, which lasts about two weeks. Only one brood is reared in a season. The eggs are generally four, mostly ovate, the shell fine-grained and only mo'derately glossy, and pure white." The eggs average .95 by .71 inches. Although we are not able to give an instance of its nesting within the state, there can be no doubt whatever that it breeds both in the Upper Peninsula and in a large section of the northern half of the Lower Peninsula. Bendire states that its food seems to consist almost entirely of tree-boring insects and their larvse, mainly Buprestidae and Cerambycidte, and this seems to be borne out by Beal's examination of stomachs at the Department of Agriculture. Audubon, however, states that it feeds also on berries and fruits. Under any circumstances it cannot be considered harmful to the agriculturist, and as its insect food is obtained almost entirely from dead and decayed wood it certainly does no harm to the forester; whether on the other hand it confers any marked benefit is questionable. As a rule the insects which infest dead trees are not those which have caused their death, and therefore, their multiplication, which may be checked by woodpeckers, would not be likely to cause further harm to the forests. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Toes two in front and one behind. Adult male: Crown with a conspicuous squarish patch of satiny golden yellow; nasal tufts black; forehead and stripe below eye white, bounded below by a narrow black stripe starting from base of lower mandible; rest of upper parts glossy black, the wing feathers alone with paired checks of pure white; under parts plain white, the sides and flanks barred with black; middle tail-feathers entirely black, the outer ones white and without bars. Adult female: Precisely like the male except that it lacks the yellow crown patch. Length 9.50 to 10 inches; wing 4.85 to 5.25; tail 3.60; culmen 1.40 to 1.60. 168. Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus varius varius. {Linn.). (402) Synonyms: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, Red-throated Sapsucker.— Picus varius, Linn., 1766, and the older authors generally.— Sphyrapicus varius, Baird, 1858, and most recent authors. Plates XXXIV, XXXV. The adult is known by the scarlet on the forehead and front part of crown, together with the pale yellow of the lower breast and belly. In addition, the adult male has a bright red chin and upper throat. Both sexes have a 45 354 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. velvet black chest band, but the throat and chin of the female are white. Distribution.— Eastern North. America north to about latitude bdi , breeding from Massachusetts northward; south in wmter to the West Indies, Mexico and Costa Rica. The Sapsucker is an abundant migrant in most parts ot the state ana doubtless breeds regularly everywhere in the state except perhaps in the southernmost three tiers of counties; even there it may nest occasionally (one record for Monroe county). Farther northward it is a regular summer resident becoming more numerous over the upper part of the Lower Penin- sula and throughout the Upper Peninsula. It seems to prefer hardwood growths and deciduous trees, although it is by no means absent from pine regions. Ordinarily it appears from the south during the first half of April, from the 1st to the 5th in the southern part of the state, and from the 12th to the 20th farther north. It moves southward somewhat irregularly but seems to be most abundant during the latter half of August. Occasionally a few individuals spend the winter with us. It is by no means a noisy bird, and as its tattoo closely resembles that of other species, it may easily pass unnoticed unless attention is_ especially called to it. It is our single woodpecker which is always mischievous, and probably is the one least deserving of protection at the hands of the fruit grower, farmer and forester. Its well known habit of perforating the bark of fruit and shade trees with innumerable squarish holes, from which it first extracts the soft inner bark or cambium and later drinks the flowing sap, has given it the name of Sapsucker, to which it is fully entitled. Many ingenious theories have been advanced to account for this remarkable habit, but the simple truth of the matter is that the holes are made solely to get the inner bark and the sap, never for the purpose of extracting insects from the tree. True, the bird eats freely the insects which are subsequently attracted by the flowing sap, but this is no part of the original plan. The trees thus attacked are of various kinds, and probably at one time and another almost every species of forest and orchard tree is attacked, but the bird shows a particular fondness for the Scotch and Norway (red) pines, the sugar maple, apple, pear, mountain ash, haw and white birch. The late Frank Bolles gives the following summary of the habits of the Sapsucker as observed by him in New Hampshire, from April to October, in 1889 and 1890: "From these observations I draw the following con- clusions: The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker is in the habit for successive years of drilling the canoe birch, red maple, red oak, white ash, and probably other trees for the purpose of taking from them the elaborated sap and in some cases parts of the cambium layer; that the birds consume the sap in large quantities for its own sake and not for insect matter which such sap may chance occasionallj'' to contain; that the sap attracts many insects of various species, a few of which form a considerable part of the food of this bird, but whose capture does not occupy its time to anything like the extent to which sap drinking occupies it; that different families of these Woodpeckers occupy different orchards, such families consisting of a male, female and from one to four or five young birds; that the orchards consist of several trees usually only a few rods apart, and that these trees are regularly and constantly visited from sunrise until long after sunset, not only by the woodpeckers themselves, but by numerous parasitical humming- birds, which are sometimes unmolested but probably quite as often repelled; that the forest trees attacked by them generally die, possibly in the second r I n L ti (P t| t '%' L^'p r ci ■ifli« rf ^a, '! ( r 1, 1 "" ■;Mi/i ' , I ■i- Piate XXXIV. Sapsucker. From Farmers Bulletin No. 7. Biological Survey, U. iS. Department of Agriculture. Plate XXXV. Sapsucker. Photographed from life. From Bird Lore. Courtesy of Dr. T. S. Roberts. LAND BIRDS. 369 or third year of use; that the total damage done by them is too insignificant to justify their persecution in well wooded regions" (Auk, II, 1885, 270). Aside from the sap and bark eaten the bird has a varied diet. Eighty- one stomachs examined and reported on by Professor Beal, of the U. S. De- partment of Agriculture, show that the food consisted of animal and vege- table matter in exactly equal amounts. Forty-eight per cent of the food con- sisted pf insects, of which 36 percent was ants, 5 percent beetles, 2 percent caterpillars, 3 percent flies, 1 percent grasshoppers, and 1 percent plant- lice. The remaining 2 percent of animal matter was made up of spiders and myriapods. The insect food thus consumed is, however, of shght economic importance, from the fact that the ants are themselves of un- certain value and the other forms because they are taken in such small amounts. Undoubtedly some little good is done by the consumption of caterpillars and plant lice, but the amount must be very slight. On the other hand, about one-half of the vegetable food (23 percent of the whole food) consisted of the inner bark of various trees, while most of the re- mainder of the vegetable food was fruit. The fruits taken, however, with the possible exception of. some of the blackberries and raspberries, were all wild fruits, and their consumption caused no loss to the fruit grower. It is worthy of mention that only one stomach among the 81 examined con- tained any seeds of the poisonous sumac, which is exceptional among the woodpeckers, these birds as a rule being industrious planters of these baleful seeds. Probably this species of woodpecker, oftener than any other, excavates its nesting hole in the trunk or branch of a sound and living tree. This is by no means its universal custom, since nests are often found in dead wood, but it frequently uses the living tree. It begins to nest about the first of May, and digs a hole from eight to eighteen inches deep, the entrance being perfectly circular and about one and one-half inches in diameter. The eggs are from five to seven, and are laid, like those of most woodpeckers, on the chips at the bottom of the hole, without any nesting material. They are pure white, glossy, without spots, and average .86 by .66 inches. A nest taken by Jerome Trombley, of Petersburg, Monroe county, Mich., was twenty-five feet up in a small basswood stub, near the edge of the woods. It was ten inches in depth and contained five fresh eggs on May 25, 1880. Another nest, of four fresh eggs, was found at Goodrich, Genesee county May 19, 1887, and on Grand Island, Lake Superior, Mr. E. A. Doolittle found several nests containing young the last week in June, 1906. Accord- ing to Mr. Dunham it is a common summer resident in Kalkaska county, and breeds. On the other hand, Mr. Newell A. Eddy, of Bay City, states that from records extending over twenty years he finds nothing that would indicate that it breeds in that locality. In regard to its notes Mr. Bicknell states: " Perhaps at the time it passes, April [Hudson Valley], it is not ready to begin courtship, and drumming, which, as with other woodpeckers, in a measure takes the place of song, is deferred until the birds are ready to seek their mates. I have never known this woodpecker to drum in autumn. At that season it seems especially reserved." In -the vicinity of the Agricultural College the Sapsucker drums freely in April and May, after which time it seems to disappear and we have never found it nesting here. At Locke, however, in the same county, Dr. Atkins found it a common summer resident and nesting; it has also been reported in summer from the southeastern part of this county. 360 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. In a recent bulletin entitled Woodpeckers in Relation to Trees and Wood Products (Bull. 39, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, 1911), W. L. McAtee devotes much space to the Sapsucker, and shows pretty con- clusively that this bird, on the whole, does far more harm than good. Not only does it kill valuable trees outright but its attacks cause distortion of the trees themselves and irregularities in the woody layers, while the punctures made for cambium and sap let in water, fungus germs, bacteria, etc., which often result in serious damage to the timber. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Forehead, crown, chin and throat bright crimson, side of head with two white stripes and three black ones, the lowermost black one bordering the red throat and running into the conspicuous velvet black patch on the upper breast; rest of under parts pale yellow or yellowish white, the sides and flanks spotted, streaked or barred with blackish; upper parts mixed black and white, the rump and upper tail-coverts nearly white; wings spotted with black and white and a conspicuous broad white stripe on the greater coverts, forming a good field-mark; two middle tail-feathers mostly white on inner webs; outer tail- feathers with only narrow white edgings or small spots near tips; bill bluish black; nasal tufts white; iris brown. Adult female: Similar to male, but the red of chin and throat replaced by pure white, and the red of crown often mixed with gray or brown. Young birds of either sex usually lack all red, or have only a few scattered red feathers on the crown, while the under parts are more streaked and mottled, the black chest patch sometimes quite indistinct; the species may always be recognized, however, by the white wing-patch and white-marked middle tail-feathers, aside from the yellowish belly. An interesting abnormality is noted occasionally in birds which seem otherwise adult. It consists in the replacement of the red crown by glossy black, so that the entire top of the head is clear black, with perhaps a few minute flecks of white or a tinge of red on the forehead. The writer has seen four or five such specimens, all females, and P. A. Tav- erner, of Detroit, has taken one or two. Length 7.75 to 8.75 inches; wing 4.80 to 6; tail 2.90 to 3.20; culmen 1 to 1.08. 169. Log-cock. Phloeotomus pileatus abieticola (Bangs). (405a) Synonyms: Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Pileated Woodpecker, Great Black Wood- pecker, Cook of the Woods, Wood Cock, Wood Hen. — Ceophloeus pileatus abieticola. Bangs, 1898. — Picus pileatus, Linn., 1766, Wils., 1811, Aud., 1834. — Dryocopus pileatus, Bonap., 1838. — Hylotomus pileatus, Baird, 1858, and many subsequent authors. — Ceophloeus pileatus. Cab., 1862, A. O. U. Check-list, 1889, 1895. Plate XXXVI. Known at once by its large size (scarcely less than the Crow) and pre- vailing brownish black plumage with conspicuous red cap. The largest by far of our woodpeckers. Distribution. — Forests of the northern United States and northward to about 63°. Toward the south it intergrades with Ceophloeus pileatus pileatus, but as yet the hmits of the two species have not been definitely mapped. Resident and nesting (?) wherever found. This, the largest of our woodpeckers, was formerly an abundant bird throughout the state, but with the deforesting of the country it has become more and more rare until at the present time it is seldom seen in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula and probably is nowhere as abundant as it was twenty years ago. Nevertheless, it is far from rare in the wilder parts of the Lower Peninsula, and is fairly common in many districts in the Upper Peninsula. Among the lumbermen of the north it is commonly known as the " Wood Plate XXXVI. Log-cock. From Farmers Bulletin No. 7. Biological Surrey, U. S. Department Agriculture. LAND BIRDS. 363 Cock," a misnomer easily accounted for, since it is widely known as "Log- cock" and of course recognized as a woodpecker. Bendire states that it is also known in various parts of the country as "Black-log," "Black Wood-cock," "Johnny-cock," "Wood Hen," and "Wood Chuck." He states also that Mr. B. F. Gault says that in southeastern Missouri it is known by the pecuhar name of "Good Guard." The origin of this was at first incomprehensible to us, but one of our students informs us that near his home in South Carolina the bird is universally known among the negroes as "Lord God," which is obviously a corruption of "Log-cock." According to Bendire "the ordinary call-note is a loud 'cock-cock-cock' several times repeated; another resembles the 'chuck-up' of the Red- shafted FUcker, only somewhat slower, louder, and clearer; others again remind me of the clacking of a domestic hen." In Michigan the Log-cock appears to be resident wherever found, although like most other woodpeckers it wanders widely in search of food. This is obtained largely, if not entirely, from dead trees, and it seems not to be at all material whether these are standing or fallen. With its powerful beak it tears off the bark and cuts out great wedges of decaying wood, thus exposing the grubs of the various beetles which are found in such situations. It also feeds largely upon ants, which are likely to be found in the same places, but it also resorts to the ground for these and other insects. Mr. Manly Hardy, of Brewer, Me., states that he has seen one pick a large hole "through two inches of frozen green hemlock to get at the hollow interior, and it seemed impossible that a steel tool of the same size could have done such work without being broken." Most observers state that this bird is very shy, but this is contradicted by others. Our own experience with the species is limited, but we once spent an hour in following a Log-cock which allowed us to stand within twenty feet and watch him at work for many minutes at a time. We have few records of its nest in Michigan. A set of four fresh eggs was taken from a hole two feet deep in a cherry stump, in a swamp in Al- mena township. Van Buren county, April 26, 1889, by Mr. F. H. Chapin, who took the female as she left the nest. Mr. Samuel Spicer of Goodrich, Gene- see County, took two sets of eggs there in successive years from the same pair of birds, one set containing three eggs, the other four. Both nests were located in dead poplar stubs. Probably the years were 1886 and 1887, but Mr. Spicer is not sure. From the fact that in Warren county, New York, a nest was found with four eggs on May 15, 1878, and that C. H. Morrell found four young just breaking through the shells May 28, 1895, and three fresh eggs May 15, 1896, both at Pittsfield, Maine, it seems prob- able that on the average May would be the most likely month for egg- laying in Michigan. The eggs are pure white, unspotted, very fine grained, and as glossy as if enameled. They average, according to Ridgway, 1.27 by .96 inches, but this includes northern and southern birds, and since our northern form is decidedly larger than the southern, Michigan eggs should exceed this. A single egg in our College collection, marked "Lansing," and collected by Wm. K. Kedzie, measures 1.40 by 1.00 inch. Probably but one brood is reared in the season. According to A. W. Butler the period of incubation is about eighteen days. It is unnecessary to give the records of all the specimens recently taken in the state, but the following may be mentioned: One taken at Bangor, Van Buren county, in the autumn of 1897, by Frank H. Shuver; seen in Emmet, Cheboygan and Charlevoix counties in August and September, and in Emmet, Mackinac, Alger and Luce counties in winter (F. H. Chapin) ; 364 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. reported from Oscoda county, July 5, and Alcona county, September 19, 1904 (Wood & Frothingham) ; one seen at Ann Arbor March 1, 1899 (Chas. L. Cass); common in winter on Mackinac Island in 1889-91 (S. E. White); common and breeds on Neebish Island, St. Mary's River (Major Boies); frequent in Lake county in November, 1896 and 1900 (F. H. Chapin); not uncommon in Kalkaska county in 1907 (W. H. Dunham) ; specimens in the College Museum from Missaukee county, December, 1895; two taken near Greenville, Montcalm county, in 1896 by the late Percy Selous; not un- common at Chatham, Alger county, in July, 1903 (Barrows); four seen near Houghton, Houghton county, in November 1904 (Wilbur H. Grant); two taken near Okemos, Ingham county in 1905 (Barrows) ; not uncommon on Isle Royale, Lake Superior, in 1905 (Max M. Peet); fairly common in parts of Iron county in 1908 (Blackwelder). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Entire top of head (including the conspicuous crest) and patch at base of lower mandible on each side, bright scarlet; side of head with a black stripe between two white ones, the lower of which runs down the side of neck for several inches; rest of plumage, above and below, entirely slaty or brownish black, except the lining of the wings, and the basal half of the inner webs of all the wing-feathers, which are pure white; sometimes the primaries also are white-tipped; tail entirely black; upper mandible blackish, lower mandible largely whitish; iris brown. Adult female: Similar to male, but only the occipital crest red, the forehead, crown, and malar region being brownish gray or light slate color; the general color of the plumage, moreover, is lighter and more slaty than in the male. Not much difference in the size of the sexes. Length 16 to 19 inches; wing 9 to 10; tail 6.75 to 7.40; culmen 2.10 to 2.65; spread of wings 25 to 29 inches. 170. Red-headed Woodpecker. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.). (406) Synonyms: Red-head, Tricolor. — Picus erythrocephalus, Linn., 1758. — Melanerpes erythrocephalus. Swains., 1831, and authors generally. Figure 90. Our only woodpecker with entirely red head and neck. Otherwise conspicuous by the velvet black back, wings and tail, with large areas of white on wings and rump. Distribution. — United States, west to the Rocky Mountains, and north from Florida to about latitude 50°, straggling westward to Salt Lake Valley and Arizona; rare or local east of the Hudson River. This is one of our best known woodpeckers, abundant in most places and apparently not entirely absent from any section of the state. It frequents equally the small groves of timber in cultivated districts and the slashings and edges of heavy timber in the wilder parts of the state. It is the woodpecker oftenest seen in driving along country roads, where it flies from fencepost to ^^i^^ telephone pole and by its noisy cries and striking plumage attracts the attention of the most un- ^'s- 90. observant. ^""peckff tSrftaTr"" The great majority of individuals move south- ward at the approach of cold weather, returning again in numbers in the latter part of April or early in May. A few, however, linger with us all winter, at least in the southern half of the state, feeding largely on beech LAND BIRDS. 365 nuts, but hunting insect larvse in decayed wood in the same manner as other woodpeckers. The food in summer is very varied and is about equally divided between an- imal and vegetable substances. One hundred and one stomachs examined at the Department of Agriculture, and reported on by Professor Beal, give the following results: Animal food 50 percent, vegetable food 47 percent, sand and gravel 3 percent. All but 1 percent of the animal food consisted of insects, the remaining 1 percent being made up of spiders and myriapods. The insect food included the following items: Ants 11 percent, beetles 31 percent, grasshoppers 5 per cent, caterpillars 1 percent, plant hce 1 percent. Unfortunately a very large part of the beetles eaten (24 percent) consisted of the predaceous famihes Carabidje and Cicindelidae (the ground beetles and tiger beetles), which are mainly beneficial. The ants are of doubtful utility, so that practically the main good done in the consumption of insects lies in the caterpillars, grasshoppers and plant hce eaten, which aggregate only 7 percent of the food. To quote Prof. Beal "A preference for large beetles is one of the pronounced characteristics of this woodpecker. Weevils were found in 15 stomachs, and in several cases as many as ten were present. Remains of Carabid beetles were found in 44 stomachs to an average of 24 percent of the contents of those that contained them, or ten percent of all. The fact that 43 percent of all the birds taken had eaten these beetles, some of them to the extent of 16 individuals, shows a decided fondness for these insects, and taken with the fact that 5 stomachs contained Cicindelids or tiger beetles forms a rather strong indictment against the bird." In Tazewell county, 111., Professor Forbes found it eating cankerworms freely in orchards overrun with them. The 47 per cent of vegetable food covered 33 percent of fruit, much of it cultivated, and a considerable amount of corn, much of it in the milk. Among the cultivated fruits eaten freely were apples, pears, cherries, black- berries, raspberries and strawberries, besides many wild fruits. The Red-head is also known to eat both cultivated and wild grapes in quantity. During autumn and winter it eats large numbers of acorns and beech nuts and sometimes stores these away in large quantities in hollow trees, fence- posts and similar cavities. Practically the only favorable statement- that can be made in regard to the vegetable food of this bird is the fact that it does not seem to eat the berries of poison sumac or poison ivy, and so is not one of the birds responsible for the distribution of these noxious plants. One disagreeable trait which has been observed several times is its habit of eating the eggs and even the young of other birds, and this not always for the sake of getting them out of coveted nesting places, but apparently from hunger, or from mere mischief. Dr. R. H. Wolcott writes that he has seen this bird destroy the eggs of the Wood Thrush and suspected it of other depredations. Bendire gives several instances of what he calls its "cana- balistic tendency." Captain Bendire describes its notes as follows: "Its ordinary call-note is a loud tchur-tchur; when chasing each other a shrill note hke charr-charr is frequently uttered, an alarm is expressed by a harsh rattling note as well as by one, which, according to Mr. Otto Widmann, is indistinguishable from the note of the tree frog. He tells me that both bird and frog some- times answer each other. * * * From an economic view it appears to me certainly to do fully as much if not more harm than good, and I consider it less worthy of protection than any of our woodpeckers, the Yellow-breasted Sapsucker not excepted." 3G(i MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. In Kalamazoo county the late Richard B. Westnedge took nests of fresh eggs from May 21 to May 28, and often farther north eggs are not laid liefore the first week in June. The nest is a hole in the dead trunk or branch of a tree, the entrance being al^out If inches in diameter and the depth of the hole varying from eight inches to two feet. Usually the nests are at a considerable height from the ground, rarely less than ten feet and often sixty feet or more. Not infreciuently telephone poles are used for nesting, but we have never seen a nest in a fencepost. But one brood is reared in the season, but, as with other species, a second laying is made if the first set of eggs be taken (.July 11, 1877, Kalamazoo county). The eggs vary from four to seven, are wliite, unspotted and glossy, and average .97 b}^ .75 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Entire head and neck, all round, deep crimson; back, scapulars, and most of wings glossy black; terminal half of secondaries, rump and ui^per tail-coverts pure white; vmder parts, from lower neck to tail, pure white, sometimes washed with yellowish or orange on tlie h(A\y; tail entirely black, or a few of the outer feathers white-tipped; bill blackish or horn-colored; iris brown. Adult female: Similar to male, but usually with a narrow licit of clear black between the red throat and white breast, a.n(l the inner secondaries always more or less liarred or spotted with black. Young: Without any red, or only a few feathers, on head and neck, these parts brownish gray, thickly spotted or mottled with lilackish, and breast and sides streaked with tlie same; rum]i and tail as in old tiirds; all the sccontlaries white, barred or spotted with black. Length <».25 to 9.7.'') inches; wing 5M0 to .''i.TO; tail 3.(i0 to 3.7.5; culmen .90 to 1.15. 171. Red-bellied Woodpecker. Centurus carolinus (Linn.). (409) Synonyms: Zebra liird, Zeljra-back. — Picus caroliiuis, Linn., 17.58, Wils., And. and others. — Centurus carolinensis, Swains., 1S.37, and most subsecjuent autliors. Figure 91. Our only woodpecker which shows any red on the belly, but often this is a mere tinge, by no means conspicuous. On the other hand, the Ijeauti- fully cross-barred black and white Ijack and wings are very conspicuous and render the bird unmistakable. Distribution. — Eastern and southern United States, north casually to Massachusetts, New York, Ontario, southern Michigan, and central Iowa; west to eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, Indian Territory and Texas. The distribution of this bird in Michigan is of much interest. It seems to l)e nowhere alnmdant, but is more frequently met with in the southern half of the state, where, although not common, it cannot be considered par- ticularly rare. It is reported as a regular migrant in almost every county in the southern part of the state, as far north at least as the Saginaw ^'alley, although it seems to be rather more abundant on the west side of the state than in the east. B. H. Swales does not include it in his list of the birds of St. Clair county (MSS.), liut Hazelwood finds it, though rarely, at Fig. ui, Red-heiiied woodpecker. Port Huron. P. A. Taverner says it is very i^"'m Baiie.vs Handbook of Birds of tiie rare about Detroit, has found it but once, ^^'t^'"" u. s. Houghton, Miftiin&co. LAND BIRDS. 367 in September. At Grand Rapids it is a common migrant, particularly in spring, while in many of the southern counties it is said to be more frequently seen in winter than at any other season. Dr. Atkins found it rather common at Locke, Ingham county twenty-five years ago, and states that at least three pairs nested there in 1884. Mr. F. H. Chapin noted it several times in Eden township. Lake county, north of 44°, in 1896, and Major Boies saw it several times on Neebish Island in the St. Mary's River, where he says it undoubtedly breeds. This is north of 46°, and the northernmost record for this species in the state. Major Boies' record has been ques- tioned, but he is perfectly familiar with the species from long residence at Hudson, Lenawee county, where it is fairly common, and there is no reason whatever to doubt his identification. It is also certain that at most points in Michigan where the species occurs regularly it is distinctly a migrant, the greater number certainly moving northward in spring and returning southward in the fall. Since it is well known that this bird winters in southern Michigan frequently and without hardship there is no obvious rea- son why it should not spend the summer as far north as it pleases. It is not a very conspicuous bird and ordinarily is decidedly shy, seldom coming into orchards or parks, but preferring the heavier growths of the river bottoms, especially where beech and oak are the prevailing trees. Undoubtedly it nests in Michigan wherever it occurs, but we have few notes of nests actually found. Dr. Gibbs states that on May 15, 1873 he found a nearly completed nest in Kalamazoo county, about six feet from the ground, in a stump, and saw both the birds at work. The late Richard B. Westnedge took a set of eight eggs from a dead elm stump in Kalamazoo county. May 25, 1892. This nest was thirty feet from the ground, and the hole was one and one-half feet deep. Samuel Spicer of Goodrich, Genesee county, says this bird is rather common in that vicinity and nests. He took one set of eggs from a hole in a sugar maple between 1881 and 1885, and found another nest in a basswood but did not take the eggs. J. B. Purdy, of Plymouth, Mich., took a set of five eggs, April 26, 1889, from a hole in the top of a tall beech deep in the forest. Jerome Trombley, of Petersburg, Monroe county, took a nest of four fresh eggs at that place. May 23, 1882. It was forty feet up in a basswood stub. The hole was about a foot in depth, two inches in diameter at the entrance, enlarging to four or five inches at the bottom. Miss Harriet H. Wright, of Saginaw writes as follows: "Last June (1907) I found a pair of Red-bellied Wood- peckers nesting here in an old oak tree at the edge of a piece of woods. Watched these birds until they were feeding young. I have never before found them nesting here, have seen them during migration only." The eggs are pure white, polished, unspotted, and average .96 by .71 inches. The little that is known of the food of this species indicates that it is very similar to that of the Redhead. Twenty-two stomachs examined at the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and reported on by Professor Beal, showed that vegetable matter formed 74 percent of the food, and animal matter (all insects) the remaining 26 percent. Ants formed 11 percent, large beetles 10 percent, and the remainder consisted of various insects. The vegetable food is quite varied, but fruits are conspicuous and the bird seems to be particularly fond of seeds of the poison Rhus, since they were contained in six stomachs and formed twelve percent of the entire food of the 22 birds. . ,.,.,., xv »r> In Florida, at least in some sections, this bird is known as the Orange Sapsucker" and "Orange Borer," owing to its fondness for oranges. It 368 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. eats into these in much the same manner that the Redhead attacks apples at the north, but it rejects the skin and seeds, eating only the pulp. In Michigan the bird is too scarce to have any economic importance. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Entire top of head and back of neck, from bill to shoulders, bright scarlet; remainder of upper parts, including wings, closely and evenly barred with glossy black and pure'white, the rump'and upper tail-coverts not quite' so thickly marked with black; sides of head, and entire vmder parts, ashy gray of varying depth, sometimes tinged with salmon on throat and breast, and the middle of the belly always strongly washed with scarlet, sometimes almost as bright as the crown; middle tail-feathers black at tip, largely white elsewhere; lateral tail-feathers barred with black and white; bill black; iris red. Adult female: Similar to male, but the red of the head restricted to the nasal tufts, occiput and nape, most of the top of the head ashy gray, like the breast; the red of the belly is likely also to be fainter and less extensive, sometimes hardly more than a reddish tinge. Young birds are similar as regards pattern of coloration to adults of the same sex, but are always much duller, the red of the head usually lacking altogether, the belly often merely washed with buffy, and the black and white markings less sharply defined. Length 9 to 10.10 inches; wing 4.85 to S.50; tail 3.50 to 3.95; culmen 1 to 1.20. 172. Flicker. Colaptes auratus luteus Bangs. (412) Synonyms: Northern Flicker, High-hole, Heigh-ho, High-holder, Wake-up, Wick-up, Clape, Golden-winged Woodpecker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Yellow-hammer, Pigeon Woodpecker, Wood-pigeon, etc. — Cuculus auratus, Linn., 1758. — Colaptes aiu-atus, Swains., 1827, and most later writers. — Colaptes auratus luteus, Bangs, 1898. Plate XXXVII. The golden yellow of the lower surfaces of wings and tail, and the profuse circular black spots ("polka-dots") of breast, sides and belly, are pecuhar to this species. The first mentioned character is a good field mark when the bird passes above the observer, and the conspicuous white rump is an even better mark as it flies away from him. Distribution. — In summer northern and eastern North America from North Carolina northward to Canada. In winter southward probably beyond the Umits of the United States, but records confused with those of the southern form. Breeds throughout its summer range. This is an abundant summer resident of the entire state and in most sections is commonly referred to as the most abundant woodpecker. A few individuals remain all winter, particularly in the southern third of the state, but the great majority move southward in September and October and do not return until the following April. This woodpecker differs widely in its habits from most others of the family, getting a large proportion of its food from the ground and a cor- respondingly small amount from the trees. In correlation with this habit its bill is more curved and less chisel-shaped than in other members of the family and it does not dig so readily into dead wood either soft or hard. Apparently it never digs into living trees. Its food consists largely of insects, among which ants form by far the largest item. It is exceptional to examine a stomach which does not contain ants, and the average stomach contains hundreds, sometimes even thousands. These are mainly ground-inhabiting species and of little economic importance, so that the Flicker does no harm and possibly some good by eating them. Two hundred and thirty stomachs examined at the 47 Plate XXXVII. Flicker. Adult male. Courtesy of National Committee of Audubon Societies. LAND BIRDS. 371 U. S. Department of Agriculture, and reported on by Professor F. E. L. Beal, showed 56 percent of animal matter, 39 percent of vegetable matter and 5 percent of sand. More than three-fourths of the animal matter consisted of ants, so that they formed at least 45 percent of the entire food for the year. In two cases the number of ants in single stomachs exceeded 3,000. Other conspicuous insects found in the stomachs were large ground beetles, mainly carabids, and others presumably beneficial. On the whole the insect food of the Flicker does it little credit and its vegetable food does not help the record much. It eats corn in the milk, and at least twenty varieties of fruits, mostly wild. However, it eats cultivated cherries and grapes, as well as candleberries or wax-myrtle berries (Myrica cerifera) and berries of the poison ivy and poison sumac. On the whole its food shows it to be of little economic account one way or another. It nests commonly in May, selecting the decayed trunk of a tree and excavating a hole from one to three feet in depth and usually at no great height from the ground, most often from ten to thirty feet. It lays from six to ten eggs, the usual number being seven or eight, but if all hut one or two be removed the Flicker has been known to continue laying until fifty or more have been deposited. Apparently but one brood is reared in a season, but, as with other birds, a second laying is made if the first comes to grief. It has a great variety of notes, some of which are indicated with more or less exactness by the common names listed above. Eugene Bicknell says: "Its long rolling call is usually given from some high perch, and has a free far-reaching quality that gives it the effect of a signal thrown out over the barren country as if to arouse sleeping nature. This call continues irregularly through the summer, but then loses much of its prominence amid the multitude of bird songs. It is not infrequent in September, but later than the middle of October I have not heard it. Another vocal acquirement of the High-hole is a sound much like that caused by the whetting of a scythe. It is hardly necessary to allude to the familiar call-cry of the species, which may well have conferred the name Clape which this bird bears in certain sections. In the breeding season the High- hole seems to be quieter than either before or after, perhaps from con- siderations of caution" (Auk, Vol. II, pp. 259-260). Captain Bendire gives the following description of some of its notes: "One of their com- monest calls at this season of the year [spring] is a clear whick-ah, whick-ah; another sounds like quit-u, quit-u, a number of times repeated; tchuck-up tchuck-up, is another famihar sound uttered by them; a far-reaching clape, clape, is also frequently uttered, while a quickly given rolHng or rattling three-he-he-he-he and a low cack-cack-cack seems to be notes of endearment. Another call, when courting its mate, sounds like ouit-ouit and ends with a soft puir, puir, or a cooing yu-cah, yu-cah. Low chuckling sounds are also frequently uttered during their love-making; another common call note sounds like zee-ah, zee-ah and during the summer a clear pi-ack, pi^ack, or pioh, is also frequently heard; in fact, no other of our woodpeckers utters such a variety of sounds." TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male- Top of head clear bluish-gray; occiput with a bright scarlet "crescent; back scapulars and wing-coverts brown, sharply barred with clear black; rump white, unspotted- upper tail-coverts white, barred or marbled with black; sides of face above 372 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. and below eye, and entire throat, pinkish buff (vinaceous), the throat and cheek separated by a velvet black malar patch; chest with a large jet-black crescent; breast, sides and beUy, pale brownish gray, thickly marked with circular or heart-shaped jet-black spots or "polka- dots;" flanks and under tail-coverts whitish barred with black; under surface of wings and tail (except at tip) golden yellow, the shafts brightest; tail broadly black at tip, only the outer feathers tipped and spotted on outer webs with whitish; bill blackish; iris brown. Adult female: Precisely like the male, except that it lacks the black malar stripe or " mustache," this region being of the same color as throat. The young are scarcely different from adults of the same sex, except that the colors are somewhat dmler and the markings not so sharp. The black mustache of the male is well developed before the young leave the nest. Length 12 to 12.75 inches; wing 6 to 6.60; tail 4.70 to 4.95; culmen 1.20 to 1.40. LAND BIRDS. 373 Order XVI. MACROCHIRES. Goatsuckers, Swifts and Hummingbirds. KEY TO FAMILIES. A. Nail of middle toe pectinate (with a comb) on inner edge. Caprimulgidffi. Whippoorwills and Nighthawlcs. Page AA. Nail of middle toe not pectinate. B, BB. B. Each tail-feather tipped with a sharp spine (Fig. 92). Family 48. MicropodidiE. Swifts. Page BB. Tail-feathers not spine-tipped; birds of very small size, less than four inches long; plumage more or less metallic. Family 49. Trochihdffi. ■^'^- ^^■ Hummingbirds. Page Family 47. CAPRIMULGIDJi;. Whippoorwills and Nighthawks. KEY TO SPECIES. A. A conspicuous white patch in the middle of the wing (on several pri- maries). Nighthawk. No. 174. AA. No white patch on the wing. Whippoorwill. No. 173. 173. Whippoorwill. Antrostomus vociferus vociferus (Wilson). (417) Synonyms: Caprimulgus vociferus, Wils. — Capr. virginianus, Vieill. Plate XXXVIII. The diminutive bill and immense mouth, taken in connection with the very small feet and the pectinate middle claw, are distinctive marks of the goatsuckers; in addition a conspicuous pure white patch in the wing marks the Nighthawk, and the absence of such a spot indicates the Whippoorwill. Distribution. — Eastern United States to the Plains, and from latitude 50° southward to Guatemala. In Michigan the Whippoorwill is universally distributed, and although nowhere abundant may be found in almost every section, except possibly in regions where the woodland has been entirely removed, or in the most populous districts immediately about the larger cities. In many places where it was formerly common it is now reported as seldom heard, but it is probable that it has not entirely disappeared from any of these sections. It is not a particularly wary bird and even seems to prefer the vicinity of dwellings, frequenting the open pastures and fields in farming districts and seeming to have a special preference for sandy roads bordered by low trees and bushes. It is one of the later birds to arrive from the south, although it reaches southern Michigan almost always in April and even the northern part of 374 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. the state by the middle of Way. It moves southward by the first of October and the larger number probably pass entirely out of the United States to winter, a few only lingering in the Gulf States. It is one of the birds much oftener heard than seen, and its characteristic call resembles quite clearly the words, whip-poor-will, the middle syllable being slighted and the first and last syllables rather strongly accented. It has also numerous clucking and purring sounds, which however, are inaudible at a distance. According to Major Bendire it is much attached to its nesting sites and returns to the same spots year after year. He says "Its flight is strong, swift, graceful and entirely noiseless, gliding hke a shadow across the ground in pursuit of insects," which are mainly moths and beetles. It nests rather early, the eggs in southern Michigan being laid from May 10th to 20th and somewhat later farther north. No nest whatever is constructed, but the eggs are laid upon the dead leaves on the ground, usually without the sHghtest hollow being prepared; in fact frequently they are so placed that they will roll easily in any direction. The eggs are two, creamy or pure white, spotted or blotched with lilac and brown. They are regularly elliptical in outline, being of the same size at both ends, and averaging 1.12 by .84 inches. Many observers claim that if frequently disturbed the old bird will remove the eggs to another place, carrying them in the mouth. It seems to be true that the eggs frequently disappear soon after their discovery, but so far as we can learn no one has actually seen the bird remove them. Jerome Trombley of Petersburg states that " If you find a single egg of the Whippoorwill and do not take it it will be gone next day; the old bird carries it off in her mouth invariably. I have noticed the disappearance many times." On the other hand many observers have watched the eggs of the Whippoorwilf, repeatedly disturbing the birds, and have failed to cause the removal of the eggs. Bendire states that after the young are hatched the mother is more likely to remove these than the eggs, but it seems unlikely that these are carried in the mouth, and Mr. H. W. Flint, of New Hampshire, Conn., once saw a female carry a young bird about a rod. He says he does not think she used her bill, but is almost sure the claws and legs were used "as the young was hugged close to the body." Like most other birds which nest on the ground the mother makes every effort to prevent the discovery of the nest, and when flushed often feigns lameness or other injury and attempts to decoy the intruder away. On its arrival from the south the Whippoorwill begins to "sing" almost at once and continues until the young are well grown, but according to Bicknell the note is seldom heard after the middle of the year (last of June), although it is well known to sing in the autumn. Its food, so far as known, consists entirely of insects, the larger part of which are taken on the wing, but the bird frequently alights on the ground to pick up food, although its feet are so weak that it does not run about much. Undoubtedly it does some good by its consumption of injurious insects, but in most places it is not abundant enough to be much of a factor in this work. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill very small, but with long stiff bristles extending far beyond its tip; eyes very large; feet small and weak, the claw of the middle toe pectinate (with a comb) on its inner edge; tail rounded at end. Adult male: Upper parts mottled with black, brown and silver gray, the top of head broadly streaked with black in the middle, more narrowly on the sides, where the gray is y, LAND BIRDS. 377 more abundant; back, scapulars and wing-coverts similar, the degree of "frosting" quite variable, the black markings tending to become cross-shaped; primaries blackish, spotted and barred with rusty brown on both webs; chin and breast brownish black to sooty black, more or less freckled with buff, the throat with a pure white collar; sides and belly buffy white, finely and irregularly barred with black; middle tail-feathers like the back, the others blackish, spotted and imperfectly barred with rusty buff, the three outer pairs mostly pure or buffy white, on the terminal half. Adult female: Similar to male, but the white collar often buify tinted, and the white of the tail much more restricted, only the tips of the three outer pairs being whitish (usually buffy). Length 9.50 to 10 inches; wing 5.80 to 6.70; tail 5.10 to 6.50. 174. Nighthawk. Chordeiles virgmianus virginianus {Gmelin). (420) Synonyms: BuU-bat, Musquito Hawk, WiU-o-the-wisp. — Caprimulgus popetue Vieill. — Chordeiles popetue, Baird. — Caprimulgus virginianus, Gmelin, 1789. — Chordeiles americanus, DeKay. Plate XXXIX. The goat-sucker characteristics, plus the white wing-spots, mark this species. See remarks under Whippoorwill and examine plate. Distribution. — Northern and eastern North America, west to the Great Plains and central British Columbia, and from Labrador south through tropical America to the Argentine Republic. One of the best known of our summer birds and one of the latest to arrive from the south. It is rarely seen even in the southern counties before the 10th of May and frequently does not arrive until the 15th or 20th. Its nesting is correspondingly late and eggs are rarely found before the first week in June, while many are deposited late in that month or even early in July. Captain Bendire states that the earliest date on which he has known eggs to be deposited in the north was on May 27, in southern Michigan. He further states that as a rule only a single brood is reared in a season, but that a second laying occurs if the first is destroyed. He gives the period of incubation as sixteen days and states that both sexes assist. The eggs are laid on the bare ground, usually in an open field or on a bare rock, or not infrequently on the flat and gravelled roofs of buildings in cities and towns. We have never known the eggs to be laid in woods or even in the shade of a bush, but invariably in the open. In this respect the bird is entirely unUke the Whippoorwill, which always lays its eggs in the woods. The eggs, according to Ridgway, are pale olive buff, buffy white, grayish white, etc., thickly speckled and dashed with deep brown, olive, blackish, and usually with pale bluish gray. They average 1.19 by .85 inches. In regard to the coloration of the eggs Bendire says "There is endless variation in the markings. Scarcely any two sets resemble each other closely, and I consider the egg of the Nighthawk one of the most difficult ones known to me to describe satisfactorily." The note of the Nighthawk is a peculiar, loud, nasal call which may be heard at a long distance and once heard is not likely to be confounded with any other bird note. It is, however, very difficult to describe. Bendire speaks of it as "their querulous and squeaky call note sounding like ceh-eek, ceh-eek, or speek-speek," Chapman, however, describes it better as "a loud nasal peent.' ,. , It flies freely by day, but is rather crepuscular than dmrnal or nocturnal. During its southward migrations it may be seen in large, loose flocks flying 37S MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. in the bright sunlight, and at almost any time of day, but it seldom feeds freely at such times, hunting mostly on cloudy days and particularly dur- ing the morning and evening twiUght. During moonlight nights it may fly all night, but except when feeding young this does not seem to be its usual custom. During the mating season the male rises to a considerable height and then suddenly dives toward the earth with incredible velocity, checking itself suddenly, sometimes when within a few yards of the ground, and sweeping upward again nearly to its original height. As it checks itself in its fall the air rushing between the primaries produces a peculiar roaring sound which has been aptly likened to the sound made by blowing into the bung- hole of an empty cask. When children we were told that this sound was made by the whistling of air through a hole in the wings, and the white spot in either wing was pointed out as the actual hole. It is needless to say that the white spot has nothing to do with the sound, which is similar to that produced by several other species under similar circumstances, notably by Wilson's Snipe. This species is well distributed over the state, fairly abundant in most sections, and well known to most dwellers in the country. Under such circumstances it is amazing that it is so generally confounded with the Whippoorwill. True, the two birds are close relatives, but they are de- cidedly unlike in shape, coloration and habits. The Nighthawk has long pointed wings, each with a conspicuous white spot, a somewhat forked tail, and under parts strikingly barred crosswise with black and white. The Whippoorwill has comparatively short and rounded wings, a rounded tail, and under parts streaked and mottled but scarcely barred. The Whippoor- will is practically restricted to the woods, rarely visits the open fields until after dark, and seldom makes long flights in search of food, being content to flit about here and there, alighting frequently on fenceposts, boulders, or on the ground, in order to pick up insects. It is never seen flying high in the air by daylight, and finally its eggs are laid always in the woods, and though shaped like those of the Nighthawk are very differently colored. The food of the Nighthawk consists entirely of insects, the great majority of which are taken on the wing. It seems to be remarkably fond of ants and as many as 1800 ants have been found in a single stomach. These of course are the winged ants, the mating swarms, which fly in such numbers in afternoon and evening, particularly in the late summer. Beetles of various kinds are also eaten freely, and among them have been found a few Colorado potato bugs and striped cucumber beetles. In addition, flies, moths, grasshoppers, and an immense variety of other insects are taken. The birds become very fat in the fall and when moving southward in large numbers during the latter half of August they are sometimes shot for food, particularly at the south. Unquestionably they are valuable allies of the agriculturist and should be rigidly protected from destruction. Up to about 1897 the Nighthawk was a very abundant bird throughout Michigan, as elsewhere at the north. Each year, late in August, great flocks appeared in the afternoon, and sometimes for an hour or two the air would be fairly alive with them, all feeding more or less, but steadily working southward. Then followed a decade of rapid and marked decrease; migrat- ing flocks were no longer seen and it seemed possible that the complete extermination of the species might be at hand. Since 1906, however, there has been a decided gain in numbers, and with better legislation and the grow- Plate XXXIX. Nighthawk. Courtesy of National Committee of Audubon Societies. LAND BIRDS. 381 ing sentiment for protection of all our insect eating birds it seems likely that the species may regain its former numbers. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. This bird has the general appearance of the Whippoorwill, together with the small bill large eye, weak feet and pectinate middle claw; the bristles about the mouth, however, are very small, the wings are long and pointed, and the tail is emarginate or somewhat forked. Adult male: Upper parts black, more or less spotted or mottled with buff or rusty on top of head, back and scapulars, and with whitish on the wing-coverts; sides and back of neck with series of buffy spots forming imperfect stripes; a whitish line over the eye; a broad v-shaped white collar on the middle throat; chin and lower throat blackish, spotted with buff or white ;_ rest of under parts narrowly and evenly barred with blackish' and pure or buffy white; primaries black, with a conspicuous white patch crossing most of them about the middle and looking like a hole through the wing as the bird is seen flying over- head; tail black or brownish-black, with five or six narrow and imperfect whitish cross- bars and a broad pure white band near the end; iris dark brown. Adult female: Very similar to male, but the v-shaped collar buffy instead of pure white, the white wing-patch smaller, the white tail-band altogether wanting, and the under parts more buffy or rusty. Young: Similar to female, but more mottled above and less dis- tinctly barred below. Length 9 to 10 inches; wing 7.30 to 8.25; tail 4.30 to 4.75. Family 48. MICROPODIDyE. Swifts. (Only one species found in Michigan.) 175. Chimney Swift. Chastura pelagica (Linn.). (423) ey Swallow, Chimney Sweep. — I 3ypselus pelasgia, Aud. Plate XL and Figure 92. Synonyms: Swift, Chimney Swallow, Chimney Sweep. — Hirimdo pelagica, Linn., 1758. -H. pelasgia, Linn. 1766. — Cypselus pelasgia, Aud. Known readily by its uniform sooty color, with slightly paler throat, and the short stiff tail, each feather pointed with a strong sharp spine (Fig. 92). Distribution. — Eastern North America, north to Labrador and the Fur Countries, west to the Plains, and passing south of the United States in winter at least to Jalapa, Mexico, and Cozumel Island. The Chimney Swift is an abundant summer resident throughout the entire state, apparently as numerous along the Lake Superior shore as in the southern counties. It arrives from the south the last of April or first of May, coming usually in flocks of con- siderable size and attracting attention at once by its sharp twittering, the only note commonly uttered by the bird. It begins to nest soon after its arrival, but apparently few eggs are laid before the last of May or the first of June. We have records of fresh eggs on June 8 and June 17 in , ^ , Kalamazoo county, and there is little doubt that the bird ^jg gg rears a second brood in most parts of the state during July. Tail of^ohimney While it nests most commonly in chimneys, placing the nest from five to twenty feet from the top, it is also known to nest somewhat frequently on the insides of barns, and less often still in hollow trees. The latter method undoubtedly was once its universal custom, and probably :j,S2 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. in many parts of the state the nest is still so placed, but owing to the habits of the bird, and its abundance everywhere, the fact escapes notice. Dr. W. H. Dunham, of Kalliaska, states that in Kalkaska county it is an abundant summer resident and nests in hollow trees and ajso in wells, placing the nest in the latter case from six to eight feet below the surface. The nest is made of small twigs broken by the bird from the tips of dead branches and fastened to each other and to the wall by the gummy saliva of the bird, which is especially modified for this purpose. The nest is often only a narrow platform, at first barely large enough for the five or six pure white, unspotted, elongated eggs, but later the platform is enlarged and the edge turned up so as to make it more or less saucer-shaped. At best, however, it is small and shallow and never contains any hning. The young are fed for a time in the nest, but usually after the second week they get out of the nest and chng to the wall near it. According to very careful observa- tions made by Otto Widmann of St. Louis, Mo., the period of incubation is about eighteen days, and about thirty days more is required before the young are able to fly. Mr. Widmann does not believe that two broods are reared in Missouri, but thinks that the first nesting is very uncertain, depending largely on the weather, and that consequently some birds get their young on the wing while others are still incubating eggs. The food of this species consists entirely of winged insects, which are very largely two-winged flies, and presumably it is decidedly beneficial. It has been claimed that this bird, as well as some of the true swallows, carried bedbugs from house to house, but there seems to be nothing whatever to warrant such a belief. In collecting twigs for the nest there is some difference of opinion as to the action of the bird. Some observers claim that the twig is seized with the feet and broken off by the weight of the bird, and that the twig is then carried away in the feet. On the other hand, most observers apparently think that the twig is seized in the beak and held there during the flight to the nest. More careful observations on this point are desirable. The spring arrival of the Swift is quite variable in different seasons, ranging in southern Michigan (Petersburg) from April 13, 1885 to May 12, 1902, but the average date for that locality is not far from May 1st. At Bay City the arrivals average three or four days later, and at the Sault a week or ten days later. Sometimes on their first arrival in spring, but more commonly in late summer after most of the young are on the wing, thfe Swifts gather in large flocks toward nightfall, and after sweeping in great circles about some favorite chimney, they form a conical cloud, somewhat like a cyclone funnel, and drop rapidly from the apex into the chimney, where they roost for the night. Favorite resorts of this kind, usually abandoned factory chimneys or the unused chimneys of public buildings, are thus occupied year after year, but apparently these places are never used for nests. The earlier naturalists record the use of hollow trees in the same manner, and Mr. J. Foster, of Pompeii, Mich., tells us that several years ago, while coming down the Maple River, in Gratiot county, not far from Washington town- ship, just after daylight he saw an immense flock of Swifts come out of "a big hollow stub" close to the river. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. General color dark sooty brown, usually with a greenish tinge, blackening on top of head, on lores, and on outer wing-feathers, lightening to grayish brown on rump, upper tail- ■ i' Plate XL. Chimney Swift. Photograph from life by P. PL Beebe. Courtesy of Bird Lore. Platr Xrj. Ilummiiiijbird on Jiest. Photoi,'ra|)li from LilV by Frmik ^I. (.'!ia[)inan. (Bird Lort'.) LAND BIRDS. 387 coverts and upper surface of tail, and to grayish white on the chin and throat; shafts ot wing and tail-feathers shining black, those of the tail prolonged one-fourth to one-half an inch beyond the vanes of the feathers as stiff and very sharp spines; bill and feet black; ins dark brown, bexes ahke in size and color, and young scarcely different. Length 4.75 to 5.60 inches; wing 5 to 5.25; tail 1.90 to 2.15. Family 49. TROCHILIDiE. Hummingbirds. (Only one species found in Michigan.) 176. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Archilochus colubris (Lmn.). (428) Synonyms: Hummingbird, Common Hummingbird, Hummer, Ruby-throat.— Trochilus colubris, Lmn. 1758, and most recent authors. Plate XLI. This, the smallest of our birds, measuring always less than four inches from tip of bill to_ tip of tail, is not likely to be mistaken for any other species, its metallic colors and humming flight, in connection with its diminutive size, rendering such an error impossible. Not infrequently, however, it is mistaken for one or another of our hawk-moths (Sphingida) , or rather the moth is mistaken for the bird. Distribution. — Eastern North America to the Plains, north to the fur countries, breeding from Florida to Labrador, and south in winter to Cuba, Mexico and Veragua. A few individuals spend the winter in southern Florida. The Hummingbird is too well known to need description. In Michigan it appears with the bloom on the apple orchards, rarely before the first of May, often not before the 10th of the month even in the southernmost counties. The average in ten years at Petersburg, Monroe county, is May 8,. while at Bay City it appears nearly ten days later. It is not uncommon in any part of the state, but appears to be most abundant in cultivated districts where an abundance of bloom is to be found. It is frequently seen however, in the depths of the forest, and a prettier sight can hardly be imagined than two or three of these beautiful birds, in full spring plumage, visiting the brilliant blossoms of the columbine in some quiet place in the deep woods. As is well known, this bird feeds largely upon the nectar of flowers, but it undoubtedly eats numberless small insects at the same time. These have been found in considerable numbers in its stomach, and it has been seen to capture plant lice, small spiders, and numerous other small insects, while Professor Aughey records finding four small locusts in the stomach of one taken in Nebraska in June 1875. Nevertheless it seems probable that its principal food is the nectar of flowers and other sweet vegetable juices. It visits the bark punctures made by the Sapsucker, drinking the sweet sap with avidity, and in autumn it sucks the sweet juices from bruised or injured fruits, particularly pears, although there is no reason to suppose that it ever attacks sound fruit of any kind. The nest is one of the daintiest built by birds and is usually so skilfully placed and so carefully covered with hchens, moss, cobwebs and other materials as to be readily taken for a knot or excrescence on the branch of a tree, so that it is not easily discovered. The bird generally selects a more or less horizontal branch, at no great height above the ground and 388 MIOHKIAN BIRD LIFE. usually at some little distance from the trunk of the tree, commonly saddling the nest on a branch an inch in diameter or less. Occasionally it is placed in a small fork, and more rarely still in one of the main forks of a large tree. It is built of various soft fibers, mainly or entirely vegetable, among others the down from various kinds of ferns, the milkweed down, and the silky filaments from different kinds of willows and poplars. These are held together largely by spider's silk, and the whole structure averages about one and one-half inches in diameter outside and a little less in depth. Internally the cup is about an inch across and a little more than half an inch deep. The eggs are invariably two, pure white, with a polish, nearly eUiptical in shape, and average .50 by .31 inches. They are laid, in this lat- itude, in June, the date varying somewhat with the season and locality. There is some reason to believe that a second brood is reared in August, but we have no positive evidence in support of this, except that Mr. B. H. Swales found two fresh eggs in the vicinity of Detroit, July 15, 1896, and the late R. B. Westnedge found two eggs far advanced in incubation, July 26, 1891, at Kalamazoo. The earliest record, furnished by the same collector, is of two fresh eggs taken June 3, 1892 in Kalamazoo county, and his notes refer to other nests as follows: Fresh eggs June 16 and June 23, 1888, June 10, 13 and 15, 1891. At Plymouth, Wayne county, J. B. Purdy found nests on June 11 and June 18, 1904. The parent often betrays the location of the nest by diving at the passerby, swooping back and forth past his head like an angry bumblebee. While this action does not invariably indicate the proximity of a nest this is usually the case. Probably the Hummingbird is not particularly valuable on account of any service rendered the agriculturist, but it is known to aid in the cross-pollination of flowers, and it probably at the same time distributes some plant diseases, as has been shown to be the case with pear-blight. When visiting flowers with deep tubular corollas, like those of the trumpet creeper (Bignonia), it frequently pierces the corolla near the base, thus reaching the nectar without being compelled to enter the corolla bodily. Its ordinary note is a high-pitched, insect-like chirp repeated many times in succession, especially when two birds are chasing each other and when two males give battle, as they frequently do. Although commonly supposed to be very sensitive to cold, and individuals are sometimes found apparently benumbed and unable to fly on very cool mornings, yet the bird seems to be in no hurry to move southward in the fall, remaining always until after the first of September, and not infrequently until the very end of the month. In fact, October records are not particu- larly rare; Major Boies records seeing one in October on Neebish Island, in the St. Mary's River, and Swales found several near Detroit on October 2, 1893. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Upper parts uniform metallic brassy green, as are also the sides and flanks; entire chin and throat rich metallic ruby-red ending sharply against the grayish white lareast, which darkens to dull gray on belly and under tail-coverts; wings purplish brown above; tail similar but blacker, forked; bill black; iris dark brown. Adult female: Similar above to male, but duller green on head; throat grayish, without trace of metallic coloring; rest of under parts dull whitish; tail double-rounded, not forked, the middle pair of feathers entirely green, the rest green at base with a broad sulj-terminai black bar, the three outer pairs tipped with white. Immature birds resemble the adult female, but sex is indicated by shape of tail. Length 3.25 to 3.85 inches; wing 1.60 to 1.80; tail 1.20 to 1.25. LAND BIRDS. 389 Order XVII. PASSERES. Perching Birds. This, by far the largest order represented in the state, contains nineteen families and about one hundred and fifty species, or approximately one-half the bird-species of the state. Although known collectively as Perching Birds or The Perchers, they are by no means the only birds which perch, and moreover many species within the order are mainly if not entirely terrestrial, for example the Horned Larks, the Tit-lark, the Longspurs and a few others. Eighteen of the families are grouped under the Suborder Oscines, or Singing Birds, the remaining family, the Tyrannidse, alone repre- senting in Michigan the Suborder Clamatores, or Songless Perchers. Fig. 130. KEY TO FAMILIES. 1. Upper mandible distinctly hooked, toothed, or notched at tip. A, AA. A. The tips of mandibles crossed laterally (Fig. 111). Crossbills. Family 56. Fringillidae. AA. The tips of mandibles not crossed laterally. B, BB, BBB. B. Bill strongly hooked and toothed, compressed (higher than wide at base), with four or five strong bristles on the rictus (upper edge of mouth near corner) (Fig. 130). Family 60. Laniidse. Shrikes. BB. Bill slightly hooked and toothed, depressed (wider than high at base) with four or five bristles on the rictus (Fig. 93). Family 51. Tyrannidffi. Flycatchers. BBB. Bill slightly hooked or notched, * about as wide as high at base. S, SS. S. Head with a prominent crest, no bristles on the rictus (Fig. 129). Family 59. BombycilUdai. Waxwings. SS. Head without crest, rictus with three bristles (Fig. 132.) Family 61. Vireonidse. Vireos. 2. Upper mandible indistinctly or not at at all hooked, toothed or notched at tip. C, CO. C. Tips of folded wings reaching beyond tips of middle tail-feathers. D, DD. D. Tail more or less forked (Fig. 123), or first primary longest, or both. Family 58. Hirundinidffi. Swallows. DD. Tail square or rounded, first primary only one-third as long as longest (Fig. 147). Some Nuthatches. Family 69. Sittidaj. Fig- 132. Fig. 93. Fig. 129. 390 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. CO. Tips of folded wings not reaching to tips of middle tail-feathers. E, EE. E. Head crested (Fig. 129), tail tipped with bright yellow. Family 59. Bombycillidse. Waxwings. EE. Crested or not, the tail not tipped with bright yellow. F, FF, FFF. F. First primary much more than half as long as the longest. (Fig. 108.) G, GG. G. Tertiaries in folded wing reaching nearly to tips of primaries. Meadowlark and Pipit. Families 55 and 64. GG. Tertiaries not reaching nearly to tips of pri- maries. H, HH. H. Claw of hind toe little curved, at least twice as long as claw of middle toe (Fig. 97). I, II. Chin and throat yellow or yellowish ; a feather horn on each side of crown (Fig. 96). Family 52. Alaudidse. Fig. 108. Fig. 123. Fig. 147. I. Fig. 97. Horned Larks. II. Chin and throat without trace of yellow; no feather-horns. Longspurs and Snow Bunt- ings. Family 56. Fringillidse. HH. Claw of hind toe much curved, less than twice the length of the middle claw (Fig. 102). J, JJ. J. Cutting edge of upper mandible with a low tooth-like lobe or projection about midway (Fig. 122); plumage mainly red and black or black and olive. Scarlet Tanager. Fam- ily 57. Tangaridse. JJ. Cutting edge of upper mandible without tooth-like lobe. K, KK. K. Bill conical, short, its height at base one half or more of the length of culmen (Fig 120). L, LL. L. First or second primary longest; nostrils not covered by bristles; outer tail-feathers shorter than middle ones. Cowbird and Bob- olink. Family 55. Icteridae. LL. First and second primary not longest, or if so, the nostrils hidden by bristles, or the tail more or less forked, or both. Family 56. FringillidEe. Spar- rows, Finches, Grosbeaks, etc. LAND BIRDS. 391 Fig. 145. Fig. 106. KK. Bill conical, longer, its height at base equal to or less than one-half the culmen (Fig. 106). M, MM. j^^ M. Birds 6 to 12 inches long, the wing (except in the Orchard Oriole) always exceeding 3J inches. Family 55. Icteridse. Orioles and Blackbirds. MM. Birds 4^ to 7i inches long, the wing seldom exceeding 3 inches, never more than 3^ inches. Family 63. Mniotiltids. Wood Warblers one- the FF. First primary about half the length of longest (Fig. 145). N, NN. (See also FFF). N. Tail-feathers with soft, ^'s- 1"- rounded tips. 0. 00. 0. Wing less than 4.75 inches. P, PP. P. Head crested. Tufted Titmouse. Family 70. Paridse. PP. Head not crested. Family 67, Troglodytida, Wrens, and Family 66, Mimidaj, Thrashers. 00. Wing 5 inches or more. Family 53. Corvidse. Crows and Jays. NN. Tail-feathers stiff, sharp-pointed. Family 68. Certhiidse. Creepers. FFF. First primary not more than one-third as long as the longest (Fig. 151). Q, QQ. Q. First primary about one-third as long as the longest. R, RR. R. Wing less than 2J inches. Family 72. Sylviidse. Kinglets and Gnatcatchers. RR. Wing more than 2J inches. Family 70. Paridse, Chickadees, and Family 69, Sittidae, Nut- hatches. QQ. First primary not more than one-fourth as long as the longest (Fig. 151). Family 73. Turdida. Thrushes and Bluebirds. Suborder CLAMATORES. Songless Perchers. Family 51. TYRANNIDiE. Flycatchers. A large family of interesting birds, represented in Michigan by only nine or ten species. All are insect eaters of the best type, and most of this food is taken on the wing, the structure of the entire bird being specially adapted for this work. A characteristic action is the selection of a particular perch from which the flycatcher makes sudden sallies to capture pass- ing insects with an audible snap of the bill, returning directly to the chosen 392 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. perch to swallow its prey and watch for more. The smaller species are more readily identified by note, action and nest than by plumage. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Larger species, wing about four inches or over (3.90 to 4.75). B, BB. B. Tail all one color, black or brownish-black. C, CO. C. Breast uniform light brownish-gray; belly cinnamon. Say's Phoebe. No. 180. CC. Breast dark, mottled olive, divided by a median light stripe; belly yellowish white. Olive-sided Flycatcher. No. 181. BB. Tail not of one color. D, DD. D. Tail-feathers blackish with conspicuous white tips; crown with a concealed patch of orange. Kingbird. No. 177. DD. Tail-feathers (except middle pair) with the inner vanes bright rufous or chestnut. Crested Flycatcher. No. 178. AA. Smaller species, wing not over 3^ inches. E, EE. E. Wing from 3 to 3i inches. F, FF. F. Tail more than 3J inches. Phoebe. No. 179. FF. Tail less than 3 inches. G, GG. G. Upper parts dark olive brown; top of head darker than back; two white wing-bars. Wood Pewee. No. 182. GG. Upper parts olive green; top of head same shade as back; two buffy wing-bars. Acadian Flycatcher. No. 184. EE. Wing less than 3 inches. H, HH. H. Upper parts olive-brown; throat nearly white. I, 11. I. Wing 2.60 inches or more; wing-bars yellowish. Alder Flycatcher. No. 185. II. Wing 2.60 inches or less; wing-bars white. Least Fly- catcher. No. 186. HH. Upper parts olive-green. J, JJ. J. Under parts, including throat and belly, pale sulphur yellow, shaded with olive on sides and breast. Yellow- bellied Flycatcher. No. 183. JJ. Throat and belly usually pure white; sides and flanks tinged with yellow. Acadian Flycatcher. No. 184. 177. Kingbird. Tyrannus tyrannus (Linn.). (444) Synonyms: Bee-bird, Bee Martin. — Lanius tyrannus Linn. 1758. — Lanius tyrannus var. carolinensis, GmeL 1788. — Tyrannus intrepidus, Vieill. — Tyrannus carolinensis Baird, 1858. Plate XLII and Figure 93. Easily known by the slate-gray upper parts, pure white under parts, and black tail with conspicuous terminal band of white. The adult has a concealed patch of orange red on the crown which can be displayed or hidden at will. Distribution. — North America from the British Provinces south in winter through eastern Mexico, Central and South America. Less common west of the Rocky Mountains. The Kinglaird is one of our largest and best known flycatchers, universally Plate XIJI. Kingbird. From Coues' Key to_'Nortli American Birds. Dana Estcs & Co. LAND BIRDS. 395 distributed throughout the state in summer, and nesting freely along our highways and in orchards everywhere. It is noted mainly for its frequent and courageous attacks on crows and hawks, which have won for it the name "Kingbird," and it has also obtained, more or less unjustly, a reputation for the destruction of honey bees which has given it the name of "Bee Martin " or " Bee-bird." Its valor in defence of its nest is not to be doubted, but the facts as regards bee-eating do not warrant the general opinion. It has been shown most conclusively, by the examination of numerous stomachs, as well as by careful observation of the living bird, that it seldom eats worker bees, usually contenting itself with drones. Of course it makes an occasional mistake and snaps up an armed worker, undoubtedly paying a severe penalty for its carelessness. The stomach examinations just referred to (281 stomachs), made under our own direction, in the U. S. Department of Agriculture, showed that about 90 percent of the food consisted of animal matter, most of which was insects. These included beetles, grasshoppers, butterflies, bees, wasps, two-winged flies, and even caterpillars. There were fifty honey bees in these stomachs, forty of which were surely drones, and only four certainly workers. The bird feeds much like other flycatchers, selecting a perch from which it makes frequent sallies after passing insects ; but it also frequently descends to the ground and picks up insects creeping there. It is fond of the vicinity of water and may be seen frequently dipping its bill after the manner of a swallow, and probably in some cases snapping up insects from the surface of the water. Its characteristic flight, with widely spread tail and quickly vibrating wings, is well known to every observer, and the species may be identified almost as far as it can be seen by its characteristic motions. The nest is bulky and usually in plain view on the horizontal branch of a scrubby tree, often a thorn tree or a neglected fruit tree in an orchard or by the roadside. Occasionally it nests on the bough of an evergreen, or even on the timber of a bridge or the top of a fence post, but these are departures from its usual custom, f "^^ Still more unusual is the condition described "^ by R. W. Chaney, in the Hamilton Lake region ^.^^ ^ Kingbird on the west side of the state. He says: "This ' ° mg ir . species might be considered almost aquatic in its nesting habits, as the nests were invariably placed in stumps projecting out of the water, often at a considerable distance from the shore. Nests with eggs — always three in number — were seen up to the middle of July " (Birds of Mason county, Mich., Auk, XXVII, 1910, 274). The nest is compactly built of grass, bark, roots, strings and often paper and rags, and hned usually with rootlets and slender vegetable fibres. The eggs are four to six, pure white or creamy white, boldly spotted and blotched with various shades of brown and lilac, and average .95 by .69 inches. They are among the handsomest eggs laid by our small birds. , . t,t i xi. The Kingbird arrives from the south late in April or early m May, and the nest is built during the latter half of May, often not until the first of June. Fresh eggs are likely to be found in the southern half of the state during the first week in June, although many are not laid until the middle of the month Not 'infrequently nests with eggs of young are found m July, indicating a second brood, but it seems likely that these are mostly the nests of birds who^iiave been unsuccessful in their first attempt. In August the Kingbirds often gather in small companies and feed 396 MICHIGAN BIRD LIL'E. ravenously on berries of sassafras and spice bush and to a less extent on wild cherries, June berries (Amelanchier) , honeysuckle, blackberries and a few other species. They begin to move southward by the first of Septem- ber and are all gone by the end of the month. There has been much speculation about the use of the brilliant crown- patch of the Kingbird, some writers claiming that the birds use this as an imitation flower to attract insects, snapping them up as they come within reach. Actual observation of this performance does not seem to have been recorded and it would be well for those who have opportunity to watch hungry Kingbirds in reference to this alleged habit, and publish the results. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike) : Top and sides of head clear black, the middle of the crown with a concealed patch of orange red; rest of upper parts slate gray, most of the wing-coverts as well as the tertiaries and some of the secondaries, narrowly edged with white; under parts pure white shaded with gray along the sides and across the breast; tail square or slightly rounded, clear black, each feather conspicuously tipped with white; bill and feet black; iris brown. Immature: Similar to adult, but red of crown entirely absent, and most of the light edgings above tinged with rusty. Length 8 to 9 inches; wing 4.45 to 4.75; tail 3.40 to 3.75; culmen about .60. 178. Crested Flycatcher. Myiarchus crinitus (Linn.). (452) Synonyms: Great Crested Flycatcher, Snake-skin Bird. — Turdus crinitus, Linn., 1758. — Musoicapa crinita, Linn., 1766. — Muscicapa ludoviciana, Gmel. Figure 94. The ashy gray throat and breast and sulphur yellow belly mark this bird among the other flycatchers, and the cinnamon edgings of the wing and tail feathers serve to clinch the identity. The "crest" is no larger than in most other members of the family. Distribution. — Eastern United States and southern Canada, west to Manitoba and the Plains, south through eastern Mexico to Costa Rica, Panama and Columbia. Breeds from Florida northward. A rather common bird in most parts of the state, but nowhere abundant, and less often seen toward the north, although occasional pairs are found along the south shore of Lake Superior, and Major Boies noted it occasionally on Neebish Island in the St. Mary's River, about 46° 20'' north. It arrives from the south rather late, rarely before May 1 in the southern counties, and a week or ten days later in the north. At Petersburg Trombley's earliest record is April 27, 1888, but Swales noted one at Detroit, April 9, 1889. It moves southward again in September, only stragglers being seen after the middle of the month. It shows a preference for the forest and is shyer than most of the flycatchers. Its favorite perch is the top of some high tree (not necessarily a dead one), and its loud parrot- like calls and whistles can be heard at long distances. Major Bendire says: "It utters a variety of sounds; the most common is a clear whistle like 'e-whuit-huit,' or 'wit-whit, wit- whit,' repeated five or six times in Fig. 94. Tail of Crested Flycatclier. LAND BIRDS. 397 a somewhat lower key, and varied to 'whuir, whuree,' or 'puree,' accom- panied by various turns and twistings of the head. Its alarm note is a penetrating and far-reaching 'wheek, wheek.'" Bicknell says the birds are nearly silent through most of July and August and use only low notes until they depart. The nest is built late in May or early in June; E. B. Schrage taking a set of five eggs at Pontiac June 4, 1896, and R. B. Westnedge a set of six at Kalamazoo June 10, 1891. Possibly a second brood is sometimes reared, since we have several records of eggs in July. Mr. W. Wilkowski states that at Kalamazoo, July 11, 1902, he found a nest containing ten eggs evidently laid by two different females, since five were heavily blotched and the other five thinly marked. The period of incubation is commonly given as fifteen days. The nest is always placed in a hollow of some kind, usually in the branch of an orchard tree, or the dead limb of some large tree in the forest. It is made of a great variety of fibrous materials, but usually has tufts of hairs, roots, grasses, feathers, and almost invariably pieces of cast snake-skin, sometimes entire skins. Various explanations have been suggested for this use of snake skins, the most common being that the skins are supposed to protect the nest from the intrusion of enemies, but this is extremely doubtful. The eggs are four to seven, rarely three or eight, while five or six is the usual number. They have a buffy ground color profusely marked with streaks, lines, and spots of darker color, commonly reddish brown, purple and lavender. " Pen markings " usually predominate and the eggs can hardly be confounded with those of any other Michigan bird. They average .88 by .66 inches. The food consists mainly of insects and if more abundant the bird could be counted as one of the farmers' good friends, although it eats such a variety of insects that the problem is by no means simple. It also eats some small fruits, including blackberries, wild cherries, and the fruits of honeysuckle, sassafras and spice bush. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike) ; Upper parts clear olive or grayish brown, the top of head darker and browner; most of the primaries edged externally with rusty (riifous), and the coverts and tertiaries with white or buffy; throat and chest clear ash-gray, shading into sulphur- yellow on the lower breast, belly, sides and under tail-coverts; edges and lining of wings also yellow; middle pair of tail-feathers entirely brown, the rest brown on the outer webs, riifous or chestnut on inner webs; bill brownish; feet black; iris brown. Immature: Scarcely different from adults, but colors not so pure, and feathers of back and wings, often with rusty edgings. Length 8.50 to 9 inches; wing 3.90 to 4.40; tail 3.50 to 4.20; culmen about .75. 179. Phoebe. Sayornis phcebe {Lath.). (456) Synonyms: Phoebe Bird, Pewee, Bridge Pewee, Water Pewee, Barn Pewee, Beam- bird, Pewit Flycatcher.— Muscicapa phcebe, Latham, 1790.— Muscicapa fusca, Gmel. 1788.— Tyrannus fuscus, Nutt.— Sayornis fuscus, Baird. May be recognized by its action and note, not by shape or color, at least not by amateurs. The lack of conspicuous wing-bars, the white edgmg of the outer tail-feathers, the nearly white (slightly yellowish) under parts, are helpful points with a specimen in hand. Probably the most character- istic action of the bird is the constant dropping and flirting of the tail. Distribution.— Eastern North America, west to eastern Colorado and western Texas, and from the British Provinces south to eastern Mexico 398 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. and Cuba, wintering from the south Atlantic and Gulf States southward. Breeds from South Carolina northward. This is an abundant summer resident throughout the state, arriving early and staying late; generally distributed, but perhaps somewhat less common in the most northern parts of the Lower Peninsula and in the Upper Penin- sula. Sometimes it arrives from the south before the middle of March (Petersburg, March 10, 1887, March 10, 1894, March 17, 1889), but the average date of arrival for southern Michigan is not far from March 20, while occasionally it is not seen until the first week in April. It lingers late into October — sometimes even into November, but does not then haunt the waterside as in spring. It shows a great fondness for the vicinity of water and often builds its nest under bridges and culverts or on the rafters, cornices and other favor- able parts of buildings close to the water. Not infrequently it is placed on a ledge of rock in a river gorge, railroad cut, or entrance of a mine shaft or tunnel; less often on a root or stump under a projecting sandbank. The nest itself is made of various soft substances such as grasses, mosses, roots, hairs, wool, and plant fibres, usually mixed with more or less mud, though this may be absent. The eggs are commonly four or five, more rarely three or six, pure white and unspotted, but occasionally one or two eggs in a set will show a few dots of brown. The eggs average .84 by .55 inches and the period of incubation is about twelve days. The nest often becomes infested with vermin, the most common parasite being a mite which occurs in millions. In one case after the young left a nest over our front door these mites invaded the house and caused more or less trouble for several days. The note of the Phcebe is not easily described. We have never been able to detect any resemblance to the word phcebe or pe-wee. Bendire says: "They appear rather to approach the words see-hee, see-hee, and are some- times varied to 'see-bee,' with the accent on the last syllable." The clear, long-drawn, plaintive- whistled pe-wee of late winter and early spring is given by the Chickadee, weeks or even months before the Phcebe appears. The food is almost entirely insects, and the bird is valuable in keeping down mosquitos, gnats and flies, as well as other insects. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike) : Top and sides of head smoky brown, often blackish; rest of upper parts grayish-olive, the wing-coverts and tertiaries narrowly tipped and margined with whitish; under parts dull whitish, just tinged posteriorly with yellowish, the sides of the breast and often the chin, strongly shaded with the color of the back; wing and tail feathers blackish, the narrow outer web of the outer tail-feather pure white except near tip; bill and feet black; iris brown. The female is slightly smaller than the male. Young are scarcely different from adults, but at first show many rusty edged feathers. Length 6.25 to 7 inches; wing 3.25 to 3.55; tail 3.45 to 3.75; culmen .45 to .50. 180. Say's Phoebe. Sayornis sayus (Bonap.). (457) Synonyms: Muscioapa saya, Bonap. 1825.— Tyrannus saya, Nutt. — Tyrannula pallida, Swains. — Sayornis sayus, Baird. Similar in general to the common Phoebe, but slightly larger, the bill somewhat narrower, the belly cinnamon, and the tail black. Distribution. — Western United States from the Plains to the Pacific; north along the Yukon River to the Arctic Circle; south to Cape St. Lucas LAND BIRDS. 399 and over the Mexican Plateau to Puebla and central Vera Cruz. Accidental m Massachusetts. This bird seems to be purely accidental in Michigan. But one capture IS recorded, a specimen taken by Rev. Chas. Fox at Owosso, Shiawassee county, in July, 1853. This capture seems to have been the source of several distinct records, one by Stockwell, in Forest and Stream, another by Miles, m his list of 1860; and this in turn quoted by Swales, 1903, but the locality given as Grosse Isle. Dr. Miles says of his own hst " The species m the catalogue marked 'a' were obtained at Grosse Isle, Wayne county, by Prof. Fox and are given on his authority." In this list Say's Flycatcher is preceded by an "a." and it is therefore possible that a second specimen was taken at Grosse Isle, though it seems more likely that the intention was merely to indicate that it was one of Fox's records. Miles' statement is perfectly clear as to the Owosso specimen, and it would be a remarkable coincidence ifjjFox should have taken a second specimen of this bird at Grosse Isle. Unfortunately Fox's original list, which was almost certainly published, cannot be found. The color of this bird is so unhke that of any other flycatcher that it can hardly be mistaken, but there is little likelihood that it will be met with again in Michigan. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: "Lateral tail-feathers edged with whitish; belly light cinnamon or tawny ochraceous. Above light brownish gray, the tail black; anterior lower parts light brownish gray, posterior portions light cinnamon or tawny ochraceous; length about 7.50 to 8.05 inches; wing 3.90 to 4.25; tail, 3.35 to 3.76" (Ridgway). 181. Olive-sided Flycatcher. Nuttallornis borealis (Swains.). (459) Synonyms: Nuttall's Pewee. — Tyrannus borealis, Swains., 1831. — Muscicapa inornata, Nutt. — Contopus borealis, Baird. Known by the conspicuous tuft of white fluffy feathers on the flank together with its comparatively large size, seven to eight inches long. It is not likely to be confounded with anything except the Wood Pewee, which is smaller and unstreaked on the under parts. Distribution. — North America, breeding from the northern and higher mountainous parts of the United States northward to British Columbia and the Saskatchewan River. In winter south to Central America, Columbig, and northern Peru. This is one of our rarer flycatchers, occurring in the southern half of the state as a migrant only, passing through during the latter half of May and returning from the north late in August. Like many other migrants it seems to be more frequently observed near the lake shores on the east and west sides of the state. In Ottawa county Dr. Gibbs recorded it on May 21, 1879, May 17, 1880, May 9, 1882 and May 25, 1883. One was seen in Kalamazoo county. May 22, 1885. Prof. Frank Smith records it at Macatawa, Ottawa county, as follows: One specimen each on August, 17 1903, and August 21, 1904, and one specimen August 15, 1905. There is a pair in the museum of the University of Michigan taken near Ann Arbor, May 28, 1896. , ,. . , t -n ■ i Throughout the higher parts of the northern half of the Lower Peninsula this bird occurs sparingly as a summer resident. Widmann met with it near Harbor Springs, Emmet county, in July, 1901; S. E. White took a speci- 400 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. men at Mackinac Island, August 15, 1890; on the Charity Islands, Saginaw Bay, N. A. Wood found it from August 18 to October 10, 1910; Wood and Frothingham saw it in Crawford County, June 16, and Oscoda county, June 18, on the tops of pines, where it was rare, and Wood again recorded it several times in Ontonagon county in July and August, 1904, and found it common on Isle Royale from August 17 to 28 the same year; the writer saw two individuals along the Au Sable at Grayling, Crawford county, June 8, 1902, and F. H. Chapin records it as seen in Emmet, Cheboygan and Charlevoix counties in August and September. E. A. Doolittle found several in Baraga and Marquette counties in June, 1905, and several pairs on Grand Island, Munising Harbor, in the summer of 1906. Max M. Feet noted it on Isle Royale, Lake Superior, in 1905, as follows: "Seen at Rock Harbor in the tamarack and spruce swamps; Siskowit Bay and Washington Harbor, July 17 to September 3. A rather common resident and probably nesting, although no nests were found. A pair was taken July 17 in a tamarack swamp. In nearly every swamp visited two or three pairs were found. As a rule found in pairs, sometimes with a third, perhaps a young one" (Rep. Mich. Geol. Surv., 1908, p. 358). So far as we know no Michigan nest is recorded, but there can be no doubt whatever that the bird breeds wherever found between the middle of June and last of July. The nest is commonly placed in an evergreen, a horizontal branch being preferred, and at a height of fifteen to fifty feet from the ground. It is built of twigs, roots and moss, is decidedly small considering the size of the bird, but very compactly built and securely lodged in its place, although so shallow that the eggs may be easily shaken out. These are usually three in number, cream colored, spotted with different shades of brown and purple, somewhat resembling large specimens of the Wood Pewee's eggs. They average about .82 by .71 inches. Captain Bendire states that the period of incubation does not exceed fourteen days, and that the young are said to remain in the nest about three weeks. The Olive-sided Flycatcher has a habit of perching on the tops of liigh trees, either green or dead, from which it makes long sallies after insects and utters occasionally its loud and striking call notes. These are very differently described by different writers, but to us they always suggest the note of the Piping Plover. Bendire compares the ordinary call to that of the Wood Pewee, but states that it consists of three notes like "hip- pui-whee," while the alarm note he gives as "puip-puip-puip." The food consists mainly of winged insects, and in so far as we know, the bird must be considered beneficial to the agriculturist and forester. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Upper parts dark brownish olive, blackish on top of head, many feathers with blackish centers; wings and tail clear brownish black (fuscous), the tertiaries and some of the wing-coverts with grayish or whitish margins; chin, tliroat and belly white or yellowish, and often a narrow stripe of this color along the middle of breast; rest of under parts olive like the back, most of the feathers with blackish centers, giving a mottled or streaked appearance; a conspicuous tuft of yellowish downy feathers on the flank; upper mandible dusky; lower mandible yellowish except at tip, where dusky; feet black, iris brown. Length 7.10 to 7.90 inches; wing 3.90 to 4.50; tail 2.80 to 3.50; culmen .58 to .70. LAND BIRDS. 401 182. Wood Pewee. Myiochanes virens (Linn.). (461) Synonyms: Pewee Flycatcher, Pewee.— Muscicapa virens, Linn., 1766.— Muscicapa querula, VieilL— Muscicapa rapax, Wilson.— Tyrannus virens, Nutt.— Contopus virens, Cabams and most recent authors. So similar to the other small flycatchers that no single diagnostic mark can be given. Perhaps the best character hes in the somewhat con- spicuous white wing-bars, these being buffy or brownish in some others and almost lacking in the Phcebe, with which the Wood Pewee is most likely to be confounded. The present species is not quite so large as the Phcebe, has a shorter tail proportionally, and its bill is decidedly broader. Distribution. — Eastern North America, west to the Plains, and from southern Canada southward, migrating through eastern Mexico and Honduras to Columbia and Equador; breeds from Florida to Newfoundland. The Wood Pewee is generally distributed throughout Michigan, its abundance depending apparently on local conditions and not on latitude or altitude. Other things being equal, it seems to prefer decidous woods, but it is frequently found along the edges of white pine tracts or even in the depths of hemlock and spruce timber. It is one of the latest of our birds to come from the south, also one of the most regular. In the .latitude of Lansing it arrives from the 5th to the 12th of May, rarely earlier or later. At Petersburg, Monroe county, Mr. Trombley's earliest record was May 6, 1887, and the latest May 20, 1890. It lingers until about the middle of September, but is rarely seen during the last week in that month. On an average the first nest is built during the first week in June, and fresh eggs may be found from the 6th to the 20th of that month. A second nest is frequently built in July, often toward the last of the month, but these second nests are by no means as abundant as the first. The nest is unlike that of any other flycatcher of our acquaintance; shallow, thin- walled, often bottomless, or nearly so, yet so securely placed on a horizontal branch, and its materials so firmly interwoven and glued by spider's webs and apparently by some other adhesive material, that it frequently out- lasts the winter's storms, though the birds seem never to use the nest a second time. It is built mainly of fine grasses, thin strips of bark, small roots and various plant fibres, and covered outside by spider's webs, bits of moss, lichens and similar material so as to closely resemble the branch upon which it is placed. Ordinarily it is not less than ten feet from the ground and occasionally is found at an elevation of forty or fifty feet, more often from twenty to thirty. The eggs are usually three, occasionally but two, more rarely four. They are white or cream-colored, heavily spotted about the larger end with markings of brown and purple, and average .71 by .53 inches. According to Bendire "the ordinary call note sounds like 'pee-a-wee' or 'see-e-wee,' long drawn out and plaintive in sound; apparently a short note like 'pee-eer,' 'phee-hee,' or 'hee-ee' is also given, this if possible is a still more mournful strain than the former, but it is not so frequently heard. No two persons would put them down alike." After sunset the Wood Pewee not infrequently breaks into a twittering song of considerable length and variety which it utters while on the wing and flying irregularly here and there as if in great excitement. ^ •, . The food consists very largely of insects taken on the wmg, yet it not 51 402 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. infrequently hovers before a twig or leaf and snaps up small insects which appear to be stationary, sometimes descending to the grass for this purpose. Its food habits on the whole may be considered beneficial, though not markedly so. Three specimens, taken in an orchard in Illinois which was being destroyed by canker worms, were examined by Professor S. A. Forbes and found not to have eaten any of the caterpillars, the stomachs containing more than 50 per cent of flies and gnats, with various harmless beetles and a few ants with other hymenoptera. In Nebraska Professor Aughey found seven grasshoppers and many other insects in the single specimen which he examined. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Dark olive above, darkest on top of head; under parts whitish, washed on sides and across breast with the color of the back, and sometimes tinged with yellow on the belly; wings brownish-black with two more or less distinct bars formed by_ the whitish tips of the greater and median coverts; tail plain brownish black; upper mandible dark brown, lower yellowish; feet black; iris brown. In general appearance much like the Olive-sided Flycatcher, but decidedly smaller, lacks the cottony flank tufts, and does not show the mottling due to dark-centered feathers. Length 5.90 to 6.50 inches; wing 3 to 3.45; tail 2.50 to 2.90; culmen .43 to .52. 183. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Empidonax flaviventris (Baird). (463) Synonyms: Tyrannula flaviventris, M. W. & S. F. Baird, 1843. — Muscicapa flaviventris, Aud., 1844. — Empidonax flaviventris, Baird, 1858, and most authors. The only one of the small flycatchers which is distinctly yellow below in the spring; in the autumn it is not readily separated by this mark from several other species. Distribution. — Eastern North America, west to the Plains, and from southern Labrador south through eastern Mexico to Panama, breeding from the northern states northward. In Michigan this bird occurs sparingly during the migrations, passing northward during May, and southward during August and September. It is so seldom noticed that average dates of occurrence cannot be given. Swales calls it a common migrant at Detroit, giving May 7, June 9, August 12, and September 27 as extreme dates. While with us there seems to be nothing in its habits which serves to distinguish it particularly from the other species which it so much resembles. It is likely to be found in low growths and in moist woodlands, and feeds principally on insects caught on the wing. Its nesting habits are peculiar, since, unlike any other native flycatcher, the nest is always placed on the ground. Usually a mossy knoll or fern- covered bank is selected and the nest is sunken to its edge and not in- frequently roofed over and reached by a short passage from the outside. The nest consists largely of mosses, fern stems and slender roots, and the eggs, usually four, are white, finely marked with dots of brown, mainly about the larger end. They average .73 by .51 inches. We have no record of a Michigan nest of this species, yet it is extremely probable that the bird breeds occasionally in the higher parts of the Lower Peninsula and throughout a considerable extent of the Upper Peninsula. It seems to be nowhere an abundant species and the scattered individuals seen in midsummer in these localities might easily breed without the nest being discovered. Mr. T. B. Wyman writes that it is a frequent summer LAND BIRDS. 403 resident at Negaunee, Marquette county, and breeds there. Max M. Peet records a pair seen in a tamarack swamp on Isle Royale, July 14, 1905, and the female taken. Also another pair found in a cedar swamp July 26 (Adams' Rep., Mich. Geol. Surv., 1908, 359). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Upper parts dark olive green, top of head little if any darker; under parts mainly pale sulphur yellow, especially along the median line; sides of breast plain olive, this color sometimes extending entirely across the breast and along the sides; two yellowish white wing-bars formed by tips of greater and middle coverts; secondaries usually edged with yellowish; tail olive brown; upper mandible dark brown, lower pinkish or yellowish white; iris brown; feet black. Young: Similar but duller, the wing-bands yellower. Male: Length 5.10 to 6.80 inches; wing 2.55 to 2.75; tail 2.10 to 2.30; culmen .48 to .,59. Female: Wing 2.40 to 2.50 inches; tail 2 to 2.25. 184. Acadian Flycatcher. Empidonax virescens (Vieillot). (46S) Synonyms: Green-crested Flycatcher, Small Green-crested Flycatcher, Green Fly- catcher. — Platyrhynchos virescens, Vieill. 1818. — Muscicapa querula, Wilson. — Tyrannula acadica, Bonap. — Empidonax acadicus, Baird, Coues, B. 13. & R., Nehrling, Bendire, and others. — Empidonax virescens, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895. Not to be separated from the Alder Flycatcher, or even with certainty from the Least and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, except by the expert. Its note and its nest and eggs are alike distinctive, but the note is not easily described and the nest is seen much less often than the bird. Distribution. — Eastern United States, north to southern New York and southern Michigan, west to the Plains, south to Cuba and Costa Rica. Rare or casual in southern New England. Throughout the southern half of the Lower Peninsula this flycatcher is generally distributed and a rather common inhabitant of upland woods, particularly beech and maple. It is nowhere abundant, yet it is seldom that any beech and maple grove of a dozen acres does not contain one or more pairs of these birds. It seems to prefer the deep woods, and its favorite haunts are the more or less leafless spaces midway between the earth and the leafy crowns of the forest trees above. Here it sits, very much like the Wood Pewee, darting from its favorite perch on a dead limb to capture passing insects and at intervals uttering its sharp and characteristic note which Bendire describes as "resembling 'wick-up' or 'sick-up' interspersed now and then with a sharp ' queep-queep ' or 'chier-queep,' the first syllable very quickly uttered." The nest is peculiar, being frail, basket-hke, yet shallow, and almost always partly pensile. It is slightly built of slender twigs, rootlets and grasses, often snugly fastened with cobwebs, and frequently decorated with catkins of various trees. It is placed invariably on a horizontal spray or drooping branch near the tip, most often on beech, maple or dogwood (Cornus) , but also on witch-hazel, hickory, oak and other trees. It is seldom more than a dozen feet from the ground, often within reach of the hand, and the bottom usually so thin that the eggs can be seen through it. These are usually three, but may be either two or four. They are creamy or buffy white, marked with specks and spots of different shades of brown, mainly about the larger end. They average .71 by .53 mches. This bird arrives from the south at about the same time as the Wood Pewee and nests with eggs are found most often between June 1st and 12th. 404 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. The species has been reported from many points in the northern part of the state, and even from the Upper Peninsula, but we have seen no specimens collected north of 43^°, and believe that most, if not all, the reports from farther north are based on mistaken identification. Accord- ing to KumUen and Holhster (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 132), this species is not known to occur at all in Wisconsin. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Upper parts uniform olive or olive green, the precise shade variable, but the head not darker than the back; wings olive, with two conspicuous buffy or yellowish bands, and secondaries edged with same shade; throat and 'middle of belly usually pure white, rarely tinged with yellow; breast and sides shaded with olive gray, the sides of the belly usually tinged with yellowish; tail plain olive; upper mandible dark brown, lower pale yellow or flesh-color; iris brown. Length 5.50 to 5.90 inches; wing of male 2.75 to 3.10; tail 2.30 to 2.70. Female: Wing 2.55 to 2.70 inches; tail 2.25 to 2.35. 185. Alder Flycatcher. Empidonax trailli alnorum (Brewst.) (466a) Synonyms: Traill's Flycatcher (part). — E. trailli alnorum, Brewster, 1895, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895, and most recent authors. Not separable from Traill's* or the Acadian Flycatcher except by the expert. Distribution. — Eastern North America from the Maritime Provinces and New England westward at least to northern Michigan, etc., breeding from the southern edge of the Canadian Fauna northward; in winter south to Central America. In Michigan the Alder Flycatcher appears to be generally distributed, although there is a possibility that some of the records from the southern part of the state may refer to the closely related Traill's Flycatcher.* It has been reported as more or less common in the following counties: Monroe, Kalamazoo, Wayne, Washtenaw, St. Clair, Ingham, Kent, Saginaw, Emmet, Mackinac, Marquette, Keweenaw and Ontonagon. It has not, been found breeding in all these places, but has been taken during the breeding season in almost all of them, and there can be little doubt that it nests wherever found between the middle of June and the middle of July. In addition to the places just mentioned specimens were killed on Spectacle Reef Light, in northern Lake Huron, and the writer found it on Beaver Island, Charlevoix county. Lake Michigan. In Monroe county Mr. Trombley found it nesting abundantly and states that in 1879 he found at least twenty nests in one restricted locality, all in alders, willows or similar low growth in wet ground. No other writer appears to have found the species nesting so abundantly, yet according to Swales it is by no means uncommon in Wayne and St. Clair counties. Purdy states that it is abundant and nests along the margins of streams near Plymouth, Wayne county, and it has been found nesting commonly in Kalamazoo and Ingham counties. In its nesting habits it differs markedly from all the other small flycatchers (except Traill's) in building a somewhat bulky, very compact, deeply hollowed nest, seldom at a height of more than six feet from the ground, often within two feet. These nests are almost invariably placed in upright *For notes on Traill's Flycatcher see Appendix. LAND BIRDS. 405 forks of slender bushes and usually in very wet ground, not infrequently in standing water or at the very edges of streams. In this last respect it seems to differ from Traill's Flycatcher, since the latter seems to be more partial to higher ground, and nests more often in dry situations. The nest consists of various soft substances and commonly contains three white or cream-colored eggs, spotted, sometimes quite heavily, with brown. Occa- sionally four eggs are found. They average .73 by .53 inches. The bird arrives from the south from the middle to the last of May and the eggs are seldom laid before the first week in June, probably ten days later in the Upper Peninsula. Considerable difference of opinion exists as to the note of this bird, but all observers agree that it is distinctly unlike that of any other Flycatcher. Brewster writes it "kee-wing;" Dwight gives " ee-zee-e-up ; " Mr. F. H. Allen states that Dwight's rendering seems to him nearly correct, but he prefers "wee-zee-up, the up very faint;" Dr. Morris Gibbs writes the call "pit-too." _ On the few occasions when we have heard the bird there has been a distinct nasal or metallic twang in the note which is not suggested by any of the previous renderings unless it be Brewster's "ke-wing." All observers appear to agree that the bird is partial to wet situations and low growths, and is seldom found in the deep woods or the dryer groves and orchards. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Upper parts clear olive or olive brown, darker on the head, where the feathers usually have blackish centers; throat, lower breast and middle of belly pure white; sides of belly and lower tail-coverts decidedly yellowish; breast olive gray, darkest on the sides, but distinct all the way across; two conspicuous wing-bars of grayish or buffy white, and the secondaries and tertiaries rather broadly edged with the same; upper mandible dark brown, lower mandible pale, but much darker than that of the Acadian or Yellow-beUied Flycatchers; iris brown. A large male from Marquette county gives the following measurements: Length (fresh), 6.10 inches; wing 2.80; tail 2.50; culmen .46. A female taken at same place and time (June 10, 1894) gave: Length 5.80 inches; wing 2.60; tail 2.30; culmen .42. According to Brewster this subspecies differs from the typical Traill's Flycatcher "in having the coloring of the upper parts richer and more olivaceous, the wing-bands yellower and hence more conspicuous, the bill decidedly smaller and the legs rather shorter" (Auk XII, 1895, 161). 186. Least Flycatcher. Empidonax minimus (Baird). (467) Synonyms: Chebec, Sewick. — Tyrannula minima, Baird, 1843.— Empidonax minimus, Baird, 1858. — Muscicapa acadica, Nutt. Figure 95. So similar to the three preceding species as to be separated with difficulty, but the Least Flycatcher is smaller than any of the others and the wing bars are nearly pure white. Its note, well expressed by the common name "Chebec" with strong accent on the last syllable, is distinctive; it is also the only one of our flycatchers which lays unspotted eggs, the color being creamy white. , , . ^ ^ , ^ i j Distribution —Chiefly eastern North America, west to eastern Colorado and central Montana, south in winter to Central America. Breeds from the northern states northward. . j- ^ -u 4. j In Michigan the Least Flycatcher seems to be umversally distributed, 406 MICHIGAN 15I11D LIFE, but nowhere very abundant. It is an inhal)itant of the open woods. orchards and groves, and is not infrequently found in city parks and gardens. It is one of the hitcr migrants in spring, rarely reaching us l)efore the first of May, although Trombley recorded it at Petersburg on Apiil 23, 1885, and April 29, 1892; in 1890, however, it did not appear until May 12, and in 1898 was first seen May 14. In the northern part of the state it is a wecl-c or ten days later. It nests usually in deciduous trees and at all heights from ten to sixty feet from the ground, the nest being sometimes saddled on a branch of about its own diameter and at other times placed in an upright fork. It is small, compact, deeply hollowed, and very neatly built of soft fibrous materials, with a lining of cottony fibres and occasionally a few feathers. The eggs are white, usually with a distinct creamjr or buffy tint, and almost always un- spotted; occasionally eggs are seen with a few faint l^rown dots. They are commonly four, but may be three or five, and average .64 by .49 inches. The period of incubation is said to be twelve daj^s. The food is mainly insects, though a few berries are eaten in the late summer. The bird is strongly beneficial to the farmer and fruit grower and should be rigidl)' protected. Fig. n.5. Least Flycatcher. From orifjinal drawing by P. A. I'averner. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Very similnr to the Alder Flycatcher, but besides being decidedly smaller the upper ]iarts are olive-grey rather than olive-green or olive-brown, the two wing bars are decidedly whitish, or at most gr.ayish-white, not yellowish, and there is a conspicuous whitish eye- ring; chin, throat and belly whitish, the throat sometimes nearly white, the belly usually faintly tinged with yellowish; breast and sides washed with ashy gray; upper mandible dark brown, the lower much lighter but not yellowish except perhaps at very base, in this resembling the Alder Flycatcher; iris brown. Male: Length 4.90 to 5.50 inches; wing 2..30 to 2.60; tail 2.10 to 2.40. Female: Wing 2.20 to 2.40 inches; tail 2.10 to 2.25. Suborder OSCINES. Sons; Birds. Family 52. ALAUDIDtE. Larks This fanrily is represented in Michigan only by the Horned Larks or iShore Larks, two or three species of which occur with more or less regularity in migration, but only one, the Prairie Horned Lark, nests. The old world Skylark (Alauda arvensis), famous for its beautiful song and lofty flight, is a member of this family, Init has never been recorded from this state, though it was introduced in the vicinity of New York city fifty years ago and has l)ecome sparingly naturalized on Long Island. LAND BIRDS. 407 187. Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris alpestris {Linn.). (474) Synonyms: Northern Horned Lark, Winter Horned Lark, Shore Lark.— Alauda alpestris, Lmn, 1758.— Eremophila alpestris, Boie. Alauda cornuta, Wilson.— Eremophila cornuta, Boie, 1828, Coues, 1861.— Otocoris alpestris, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most recent authors. The little feather-tufts or "ears" which suggested the name "Horned Lark," and the very long, nearly straight claw on the hind toe, are dis- tinctive of the Horned Larks; the present species may be separated from the Prairie Horned Lark by its larger size, the deeper yellow on the throat, and the yellow line over the eye, but the two forms are readily confounded by any but the expert. Distribution. — Known to nest only along the coast of Labrador and north- eastern America, probably west to Hudson's Bay; in winter south to the northern United States regularly, and occasionally as far as the Carohnas and the Ohio River. Its range as yet has not been satisfactorily separated from that of Hoyt's Horned Lark, but the latter is decidedly more western in its distribution. The Horned Lark and the Prairie Horned Lark are so similar in general appearance, and have been so generally confounded by observers, that it is difficult to say how common this species really is in Michigan. Ap- parently it occasionally spends the winter in the state, mingling more or less with its near relatives, but withdrawing northward in the late winter or early spring, and returning southward again in autumn. Mr. Wilbur H. Grant observed a flock of 20 near Houghton, Houghton county, October 2, 1904, and took specimens, one of which is now in the University of Michigan collection (No. 31775) at Ann Arbor. Another specimen in the same collection (No. 30278) was taken by Dr. Morris Gibbs in Montcalm county, October 20, 1883. In the collection of the Kent Scientific Museum, Grand Rapids, there are skins of four males, all taken in Kent county, one by Stewart E. White, November 1, 1890, the other three. May 6, 1878, by C. W. Gunn. In the collection of Mr. Newell A. Eddy of Bay City, there is a fine specimen of a male taken at Bay Shore, Bay county, October 9, 1890, and identified by A. K. Fisher of Washington. Other specimens taken at the same time belong to the subspecies praticola. Mr. H. A. Purdy, of Plymouth, states that it is sometimes seen in winter, but that its place is quickly filled in spring by the Prairie Horned Lark. Mr. Swales, of Detroit, does not know of any record for southeastern Michigan. It was found in some numbers on Isle Royale, Lake Superior, in the autumn of 1905 by the University expedition, the first small flocks appearing as early as September 13, but increasing in size within a few days until single flocks contained 200 or 300. On the Charity Islands, at the mouth of Saginaw Bay, N. A. Wood found it fairly common in the fall of 1910, the first one appearing on September 18. A series of typical specimens was taken (Wilson Bulletin, XXIII, 1911, 98). There is no reason to suppose that it ever nests withm our hmits. Its habits while with us in fall and winter are similar to those of the Prairie Horned Lark with which it associates freely, yet flocks of the two species frequently keep distinct. Like the Prairie Horned Lark it nests on the ground the nest being deeply sunken in the moss or herbage, and the eggs closely 'resembling those of the other subspecies. There were no eggs of this species in the United States National Museum in 1895, accordmg to Captain Bendire, and so far as we know none have been taken since. Mr. 408 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. E. A. Mcllheii}' took several nests with eggs in Labrador in 1894, but all his collections were lost by the foundering of the steamer Miranda in which he was returning from Greenland. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill shorter than head, conical, acute, without trace ot notch or hook; claw of hind toe straight and much elongated, as long as or longer than the toe itself; two conspicuous little feather-horns or ear-tufts at the side of the crown. Adult male: Upper parts dark pinkish brown, brightest and clearest on the nape, shoulders, rump and upper tail-coverts, the back and scapulars more grayish and heavily streaked with brown; forehead, line over the eye, part of the auriculars, chin and throat, rather bright sulphur yellow; front of crown, ear-tufts, lores, line under eye, cheeks and a broad crescent on the chest, black; lower breast whitish, shaded at the sides with pinkish brown and usually more or less streaked with dusky; belly and under tail-coverts white; primaries brownish, darker at the tip; middle pair of tail-feathers grayish like the back, the others black, the outer vane of the outer pair edged with white; bill bluish black or horn color; iris brown. Adult female; Similar, but smaller, grayer, duller and more streaked. Male: Length 7.50 to 8 inches; wing 4.20 to 4.60; tail 2.70 to 3.10; culmen .40 to .50. Female: Length 6.75 to 7.25; wing 3.95 to 4.55; tail 2.50 to 3.10. 188. Prairie Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris praticola Henshaw. (474b) Synonyms: Lesser Horned Lark, Summer Horned Lark, Prairie Lark, Yellowthroat. — Otocoris alpestris praticola, A. O. IJ. Check-list, 1886, and all recent authors. Figures 96 and 97. For distinctive marks see notes under preceding species. Distribution. — Upper Mississippi Valley and the region of the Great Lakes to New England, breeding eastward to northeastern New York and western Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and migrating south to South Carolina, Texas, etc. The Prairie Horned Lark occasionally remains through the winter in southern Michigan, but ordinarily is entirely absent from the state during December and January, arriving from the south as soon as the snow begins to disappear, usually in February, sometimes not until the first of March. It is said to arrive in large flocks, but if so these soon break up and the birds are found singly, in pairs, or in small parties of three to ten. In the late fall it is sometimes seen in flocks of fifty or one hundred, and at that season probably associates with the Head of i?^airie Homed northern species, alpestris. It is our earliest passerine ^"^^^ bird to nest, and frequently eggs are found before the middle of March and while snow still covers most of the ground. The birds begin to sing or twitter immediately on their appearance, and if not already paired soon select mates and begin nesting. Probably two broods are reared always, and sometimes three, while a few observers claim that a fourth brood is sometimes raised. It seems Hkely that a large proportion of the earlier nests are covered by snow and abandoned, since young Horned Larks are rarely seen before May, and they are much more abundant in June and July. The writer found young just ready to fly at Gaylord, LAND BIRDS. 409 ?nn^^° county, June 6, 1902, and has inspected a nest found March 27, iyU4, with two eggs, near the College in Ingham county, and another near the same place, with three eggs, March 13, 1906. Mr. Hazelwood, of Port Huron, states that he has taken the eggs m March, and Dr. Gibbs took them several times m April. Mr. L. Whitney Watkins took a set at Manchester, Jackson county, March 20, 1889, and L. J. Cole records a nest with four eggs taken at Grand Rapids, March 27, 1896. Mr. Swales found a Foot of pfairie Homed set of eggs, June 19, 1895, in southeastern Michigan. ^='*- Mr. S. E. White states that this species is very common at Mackinac Island about the middle of September, and that the Indicans shoot them for food under the name of "Yellow-throat." It has been generally supposed that this bird was extending its range toward the east; that formerly it was restricted to the Mississippi Valley, but that since 1860 it had overspread the eastern states, even reaching eastern IMassachusetts in 1903. It seems doubtful whether this is really the case. It is conceivable that the species has always occurred in small numbers throughout the northeastern states, but that it has passed unnoticed until recent years, when the increase in the number of collectors and the more general pubhca- tion of field notes have called attention to its presence. The nest is always placed on the ground, in a hollow scooped out by the birds, and consists of grasses and vegetable fibres carefully interwoven and sometimes quite thick and warm. The eggs are from three to five, varying from olive to dirty white, thickly and finely speckled with brown. They average .85 by .62 inches. The food of this bii'd is of much interest, since it has been accused of injuring grain crops, both by pulling the sprouting seed and by consuming the ripened grain. Thus far we have no evidence whatever in support of these charges, and the examination of a large number of stomachs shows that the Horned Larks are decidedly beneficial to the farmer, through the consumption of such weed seeds as pigweed, bitterweed, amaranth and sorrel, which they eat at all seasons of the year, while some good is done also by the eating of insects, although the bird is essentially a seedeater and the average amount of insects and spiders eaten during the year falls a little below ten percent (Barrows, U. S. Dept. Agr. Rep., 1892, p. 197). Le Baron, in 1870, recorded the fact that the Prairie Horned Lark ate cut- worms as well as grain, and Professor Aughey shot one in Nebraska, June 16, 1875, whose stomach contained 33 small seeds and 42 locusts. We may safely say, therefore, that the species is mainly granivorous, but that insects are eaten more or less at all times, and, other things being equal, a larger proportion of insect food is taken when it is most abundant. Nest- lings appear to be fed largely on insects even at a time when such food must be obtained with some difficulty. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill hind toe and claw, ear-tufts and general pattern of coloration precisely as in the typical Horned Lark just described, and with which the present subspecies mtergrades. The main differences are as follows : The prairie form is decidedly smaller on the average and the upper surface somewhat paler; practically no yellow markings anywhere except on throat, which is sometimes decidedly yellowish and sometimes almost white, with just a perceptible tinge of yellow; forehead and line over eye grayish white to pure white, 410 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. usually without any yellowish tinge, while the auriculars are grayish white also. The same general differences are found between male and female as in the typical alpestris. Young: Birds just out of the nest lack the ear-tufts, but show the long hind claw; upper parts light grayish brown, mottled with blackish, the head and neck thickly sprinkled with small white spots, and most of the wing-feathers and coverts with white edgings and narrow black sub-marginal lines; under parts mainly whitish, the breast with numerous dusky spots or streaks, but with little or no sign of the black crescent. Male: Length 7 to 7.50 inches; wing 4 to 4.30; tail 2.90 to 3.10. Female: Length 6.75 to 6.85 inches; wing 3.70 to 4; tail 2.60 to 2.90. 189. Hoyt's Horned Lark. Otocoris alpestris ho)rti Bishop. (474k) Synonyms: Otocorys alpestis hoyti, Bishop, 1896, A. O. U. Committee, 1903, and more recent authors. Similar to the northern Horned Lark, alpestris, but the upper parts paler and grayer, the posterior auriculars gray rather than brown, and more of the yellow of the head and neck replaced by white. Distribution. — In summer, British America from the west shore of Hudson Bay to the valley of the Mackenzie River, north to the Arctic Coast, south to Lake Athabasca; in winter southward to Nevada, Utah, Kansas and Michigan, casually to Ohio and New York. This new subspecies of Horned Lark was described by Dr. Bishop in 1896 and is included in the list of Michigan birds on the strength of a single specimen, taken at Grand Rapids (Oberholzer, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 24, 812), and two specimens taken in Montmorency county, in the fall of 1908, and now in the collection of P. A. Taverner, Ottawa, Can. The latter skins have been compared with authentic specimens of typical alpestris and hoyti in the collection of J. H. Fleming of Toronto, and there can be little question as to identity. So far as known this form does not differ in habits from typical alpestris, from which it can be discriminated only by the expert, and with which it doubtless associates in winter. The technical description which follows may give some idea of the bird, but suspected specimens should be sub- mitted to some competent ornithologist for critical comparison before their capture is published. It seems likely that this subspecies occurs as a straggler in Michigan at the same time as the northern Horned Lark, alpestris, but even this fact is not actually known. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. "Similar to Otocoris a. alpestris, but with the upper parts generally paler and more gray, the posterior auriculars gray rather than brown, and the yellow of the head and neck replaced by white, except the forehead, which is dirty yellowish white, and the throat, which is distinctly yellow, most pronounced toward the center. Adult male: Length 7.35 inches; wing, 4.54; tail, 3.01; bill from nostril, .41; tarsus, .89. The adult female in spring plumage differs in a similar manner from the female of alpestris, but in the female of hoyti the yellow on the throat is much paler than in the male'' (L. B. Bishop, Auk, XIII, 1896, p. 130). LAND BIRDS. 411 Family 53. CORVID^. Crows, Jays, etc. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Large birds, wing 12 inches or more, plumage all black. B, BB. B. Wing more than 15 inches, tail graduated. Northern Raven. No. 193. BB. Wing less than 15 inches, tail-feathers all of same length. Crow. No. 194. AA. Smaller birds, wing less than 10 inches, plumage not all black. C, CC. C. Tail very long (over 9 inches) and much graduated, the lateral feathers scarcely one-half the length of the middle ones. Magpie. No. 190. CC. Tail moderate (about 6 inches), somewhat rounded at tip. D, DD. D. Head with conspicuous crest, plumage largely blue. Blue Jay. No. 191. DD. Head without crest, plumage mostly gray, no blue. Canada Jay. No. 192. 190. Magpie. Pica pica hudsonia (Sabine). (475) Synonyms: American Magpie, Black-billed Magpie.- — Corvus hudsonius, Sabine, 1823. — Corvus pica, Forst., 1772.- — Pica hudsonica, Bonap., 1838. — Pica melanoleuca var. hudsonica, Coues, 1872. — Pica caudata var. hudsonica, Allen, 1872. A strikingly handsome bird, averaging about 18 inches in length, of which the tail forms nearly half; general color glossy blue-black with purple and metallic reflections, but the entire belly and large areas on the wing-feathers and scapulars pure white. The bird suggests a Crow Blackbird or Grackle, but is larger than our species, and the conspicuous white markings of course distinguish it at a glance. Distribution. — Northern and western North America, from the Plains to the Cascade Mountains and north to Alaska; casually east and south to Michigan (accidental in northern Illinois in winter), and in the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico and Arizona. This species is mentioned in several of the older lists of birds of the state and there can be little doubt that it is, or formerly was, found occasionally in winter in the northern parts of the state, particularly in the Upper Peninsula. Schoolcraft wrote: "The Magpie is found to approach as far north as Lac du Flambeau on the head waters of the above river [Montreal River, which forms the boundary between Michigan and Wisconsin], and in the vicinity of Lake Superior this bird is called by the Chippewas ' Wobish Kakagee' or 'White Crow'" (Schoolcraft, Discovery of the Sources of the Mississippi River, "Birds of Lake Superior," 1855, page 104). Dr. S. Kneeland Jr., in his Birds of Keweenaw Point (Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist. VI 231) states that he has seen a few specimens obtained near Eagle River (Keweenaw county). This was in the winter of 1856-57. Dr. Gibbs states that the Rev. Mr. Day of Cadillac, who formerly lived as a missionary at an Indian reservation in the Upper Peninsula, told him that he knew of this species as a very common one at that time "ten to twenty years 412 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. ago." The bird is also included by G. A. Stockwell in his list of Michigan birds (Forest and Stream, Vol. 8, 19, 300). Mcllwraith, in his "Birds of Ontario," states that Mr. C. J. Bampton, Registrar of the District of Algoma, reports it as a rare winter visitor at Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario), this of course is just across the St. Mary's River from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. It has also been reported at Odessa, Ont. March 12, 1898. In recent years apparently none have been seen within our limits. There are two Magpies (Nos. 20000 and 20001) in the Kent Scientific Museum, marked "Michigan, Gunn Collection, C. W. Gunn," but without other data. The bills of both, however, are nearly pure white, and the birds are doubtless the Yellow-billed Magpie, from California. Kumlien and HoUister (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 84) give several records for Wisconsin, but none of recent date. Mr. H. N. Clark of Meridian, is said to have captured one in a trap in Dunn county. Wis., in 1870, and to have seen another in February, 1884. According to Dr. Hoy one was obtained at Bagley's Harbor, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan, November 15, 1849. This bird is very closely related to the European Magpie, so closely in fact that it is almost or quite impossible to separate the two birds. In its northwestern home it is said to nest in thickets or dense trees, building an immense nest of sticks, twigs and similar material, in the midst of which a hollow is left for the eggs, this being reached by a covered opening or burrow sometimes of considerable length. The eggs vary in number from six to ten, are drab or greenish, heavily spotted with brown and purplish, and average 1.30 by .91 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike) : Head, neck, breast and entire upper parts (except scapulars) deep black, the top of head usually with a metallic gloss, and the feathers of the throat largely white below the surface; belly, sides and flanks pure white; thighs black; upper surface of wings mainly black, with green, blue, or violet reflections, the inner webs of the primaries largely white; scapulars pure white; tail metallic greenish-black with purplish and bronzy reflections toward the tip, much graduated, the lateral feathers only about half as long as the middle pair; bill, legs and feet black; iris bluish gray; naked skin about the eyes blackish. Young: Similar to adult, but without metallic reflections except on wings and tail; the head, neck, and back dull black. Length 17.40 to 21.75 inches; wing 7.30 to 8.40; tail 9.30 to 11.95; culmen 1.15 to 1.42. 191. Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata cristata (Linn.). (477) Synonyms: Jay, Common Jay. — Corvus cristatus, Linn. 1758. — Garrulus cristatus, Vieill. — Cyanurus cristatus, Swains. — Cyanocorax cristatus, Bon. Figure 98. Recognizable at a glance by the general bright blue color checked with black and white, and the conspicuous crest. It can be mistaken for no other bird, except possibly for the Kingfisher, and its habits sufficiently distinguish it from that species. Distribution. — Eastern North America to the Plains, and from the Fur Countries to Florida and eastern Texas. The Blue Jay is found abundantly throughout Michigan and is commonly believed to be resident wherever found. Certain it is that Blue Jays occur LAND lURDS. 413 FiR. 9S. Blue Jay. PIiutOKraph from jnouutcii specimen. (I >rii;;inal.) Ill (.'\-oi-y |>:u-l (if the slate during wintei' us well as summer, }-et in many sec- tions there is a. well marked migration, thousands pass- ing southward in Septem- ber and October and noitli- ward again in Ma,}-. At Port Huron Mr. Hazel wood states that a large flight starts aliout .May first and lasts all through the month, thousands passing north. It is ])ossil)le that: the indi\-iduals which I'cma.in A\'ith us through wintei' have come from jilaces farther north and that the birds which nest in any one locality move farther south in winter. They frequent all kinds of tind)er ami seem to have a special liking for orchards and the vicinity of towns and \'illages. In this lespect they differ widely from the Blue Jays of the eastern states, A\'hi(di a\'oid populous districts and are inclined to be shy and retiring. On the College campus the Blue Jay is one of our most familiar birds. The nest is placed in apple trees, shade trees, either deciduous or evergreen, often within reach of the hand; the biirds show almost no fear of human beings, and in defense of their nests will often strike a person on the head or even swoop dowai and peck a cat or dog. During winter they live largely upon scraps furnished by the residents, but whenever the snow is not too deep they hunt for acorns and other hidden stores which are l)uried in tlie ground. Nesting may begin very early, but eggs are rarely laid before the first of May. We have repeatedly seen birds repairing old nests and starting new ones in March, and on one occasion a pair w^orked several days on a nest in the middle of February, but we have never seen young out of the nest before June first, and although but one brood seems to l:)e reared, we have occasionally seen young unable to fly during the first week in July, Old birds feeding four young just out of the nest were found on July 15, 1903. On July 31, 1907, we examined a nest near the College which con- tained a single egg and two young, possibly three or four days old. This of course was a second brood. On the same day an adult Jay was seen feeding a full grown young one which was following her about and clamoring for more; and even on August 18, 1907, old Jays were seen feeding full grow'n young. Among eight nests containing fresh eggs, found in Kalamazoo county l)y the late Dr. Westnedge, the earliest was found May 5, 18SS, and the latest May 31, 1886. The greater number of nests were found between May 10 anci 25.' The eggs vary greatly in color, the ground color being pea-green, olive-green, buff,'' and even cream-color, more or less heavily spotted with brown 'and' lavender of various shades. They average about 1.10 by .81 inches. 414 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. The food of the Jays includes almost everything eatable, but they show special fondness for acorns, beech nuts, small fruits and insects. They rob the nests of smaller birds frequently, yet so far as our personal observa- tion goes such robberies are restricted to particular birds and are by no means general. With at least half a dozen Blue Jays' nests under observa- tion each year we have known an entire season to pass without the detection of a single act of violence on the part of the Jays. On the other hand, we have occasionally known several nests of Robins and Chipping Sparrows to be destroyed within a week. The Blue Jay is a rather general feeder on insects and probably does a large amount of good in this way, especially since it does not disdain hairy caterpillars but appears to eat them with some pleasure. Probably the great- est good done is in eating caterpillars and grasshoppers, but it may be useful also in consuming the bark-boring and wood-boring beetles and other large insects infesting woodlands. It gets a large part of its food from the ground and also buries or hides there any surplus that it may have. This is particularly true of small fruits, acorns, beechnuts and grain, although it also stores these things away in knot-holes, crevices in trees, and chinks behind loose sheets of bark. Undoubtedly the Blue Jay is an important factor in reforesting burnt or cut-over lands, since it is continually planting acorns, nuts and seeds of various kinds. Of course it also distributes the seeds of many of the fruits which it eats, as these are disgorged or pass through the intestines and are distributed under favorable conditions for growth. Mr. Amos Butler, of Indiana, believes that the Blue Jay distributes seeds of poison ivy ex- tensively in this way, but our own investigations indicate that it eats few if any poison ivy berries, and the distribution of these seeds is largely accomplished by other birds. Professor F. E. L. Beal, of the U. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture, found no seeds of poison Rhus in the 292 Blue Jay stomachs which he examined. He says "Jays do not eat the seeds of the poison ivy (Rhus radicans) or poison sumac {Rhus vernix). It is worthy of notice that the sumac seeds eaten are those of the harmless staghorn (Rhus hirta) and smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) " (Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1896, 205). Under some circumstances the Blue Jay becomes very annoying in its injury to cultivated fruits. It frequently attacks ripening apples and pears, pecking holes in the sides of the largest and ripest fruits and injuring a much greater number than it can possibly use. Moreover, its example is quickly followed by other birds, who begin by enlarging the openings made by the Jay, but probably attack sound fruits after a taste has been obtained. When work on a tree of early apples has been once started the Jays, Red- headed Woodpeckers, Robins and Orioles sometimes destroy almost every apple. The Blue Jay has an immense variety of call-notes, many of which are decidedly musical, especially when heard at a little distance. Its ordinary harsh scream of "jay, jay" has given it its common name, but it has in addition a common yodling note which Seton Thompson writes " sir-roo-tle, sir-roo-tle, sir-roo-tle," which he says is uttered in a subdued undertone; the same syllables, however, express very well one of its common calls in autumn which may be heard at a distance of a quarter of a mile or even more. It also imitates the calls of the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks with such precision and accuracy as to mislead many birds and even deceive the practiced human ear. During quiet days in winter, and especially LAND BIRDS. 415 late in winter and in earliest spring, the Blue Jay frequently utters a subdued and somewhat varied warble which is decidedly musical. More than once we have been on the point of passing a tree from which this sound issued under the belief that the author was a Pine Grosbeak, but after seeing the performer in the act we were able to note a decided difference in the songs of the two birds. Dr. Morris Gibbs has called our attention to the same song, and it has been reported by others. The bird is something of a ventriloquist and we believe it possesses considerable power of mimicry. Taken altogether, it is a bird of such strong character, and with so many good points, that in spite of its occasional forays on the eggs and young of other birds we should sorely miss it if exterminated. The present law, which places the Blue Jay among protected birds, is on the whole a wise one. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike): Forehead, spot in front of eye, crescent on chest continued into collar encircling the neck, deep black; top of head, including conspicuous crest, back, scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts, bright blue without spots; upper surface of wings bright blue, the secondaries, tertiaries and coverts narrowly barred with black, the greater coverts, secondaries and tertiaries broadly tipped with pure white; tail-feathers blue, barred narrowly with black, all except the middle pair with deep white tips; throat grayish white, with a purplish tinge; breast and sides dusky gray; belly and imder tail-coverts pure white; bill and feet black; iris dark brown. Yoimg: Similar, but duller, the crest shorter and markings less sharply defined. Length 11 to 12.50 inches; wing 5 to 6.70; tail 6.05 to 5.70; culmen .93 to 1.06. 192. Canada Jay. Perisoreus canadensis canadensis (Linn.). (484) Synonyms: Whiskey-jack, Whiskey-john, Moose Bird, Meat Bird, Grease Bird, Venison Bird, Camp Robber, Meat Hawk. — Corvus canadensis, Linn., 1766. — Garrulus canadensis, Nutt., Aud. — Garrulus fuscus, Vieill. Size of the Robin, dark gray above, lighter gray below, bleaching into whitish on forehead and crown and becoming almost black on the back of the head and neck. Distribution. — Northern New York, Northern New England, and Northern Michigan northward to Arctic America. A bird well known to deer hunters throughout the northern half of the Lower Peninsula, and in most of the Upper Peninsula, since it hangs about their camps, picking up refuse scraps thrown out by the cook and pecking at meat or game hung up outside. It often becomes perfectly fearless under such circumstances and is sometimes a great nuisance. Ordmarily, however, it is shy and not often seen, although its voice may be constantly heard both summer and winter. Probably it is resident over most of the territory where it is found, but it may be driven somewhat farther south in winter and there are records of several southward movements of consider- able magnitude; the last of these, in the fall of 1904, extended southward m Ontario almost or quite to the city of Toronto. , ^ ^, „ . ^ , In Michigan the bird is rarely if ever seen south of the Sagmaw-brand Valley and must be considered decidedly rare except in the higher and more densely wooded regions of the northern half of the Lower Pemnsula_^ Professor Cook's statement that this species was seen m winter of 1893 on the campus of the Agricultural Co lege (Birds ^^ ^ich 2d ed 1893 p 100) is doubtless a mistake, since neither Professor Cook himself nor any of his assistants has any recollection of the fact, and no one else has ever 410 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. observed the bird here. It is not improbable that before the pine forests were cut off tliis species may have been a winter visitor as far south as Sliiawassee county at least, and possibly much farther south along the Lake Michigan shore. The most southern record which we can find is the statement by ^Ir. Newell A. Eddy that he found it common on the south branch of the Pine River, north of Bay City, in November, 1879. It is common in suitable places throughout the Upper Peninsula and has been recorded repeatedly from Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Crawford, Oscoda and Alpena counties in the Lower Peninsula. We have a skin in the College collection taken in Alpena county, November 22, 1898, by A. B. Durfee, and two skins of young birds, stilPin immature plumage, taken near Iron Mountain, Dickinson county. May 20, 1894, by Mr. E. E. Brewster. This may be considered pretty good proof that the bird nested in that county, for it is not likely that these birds would have wandered south during the spring. Mr. 0. B. Warren states that the species is common and nests in Marquette county, but we have been unable to obtain a single nesting record for the state. The interesting account given by Mr. 0. B. Warren (Auk, XVI, 1899, pp. 12-19), with excellent photo- graphs of nest and young, relates to Mahoning, Minnesota, not Michigan, although the statement occurs in the article that the observations were made at "Mahoning, Mich." This nest was built between February 22 and March 12, 1898, and confirms the statement made by various other authors that nesting is always very early in the season, the eggs being laid almost invariably in March. According to Captain Bendire the eggs are usually three or four, although five are sometimes found. Their ground color is gray, flecked and spotted over the entire surface with various shades of brown and lavender. They average 1.16 by .82 inches. The Canada Jay is said to be fully as destructive to the eggs and young of wild birds as his near relative the Blue Jay, but we have no data tending either to confirm or disprove these statements. In Michigan the bird has been but rarely noted in summer, and so far as we know there have been no observations made on its summer food. Dr. Kneeland, in his Birds of Keweenaw Point (1859) says: "This bird is common in winter, and a great pest to the trappers, from its pro- pensity to steal their poisoned baits. Like the Raven it often falls a victim to its greediness, by devouring meat containing strychnine set for foxes and the fur-bearing animals." According to Seton Thompson "Many of its notes resemble those of the Blue Jay, but it has a number distinctly its own. Some of these are musical, but most of them are harsh and discordant." TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike): No crest; forehead and anterior part of crown white or grayish - white, the nasal tufts usually buffy or rusty; crown, occiput and nape brownish black to sooty black, bordered behind by a broad grayish white or ashy collar; rest of upper surface brownish or slaty-gray, the wing and tail feathers tipped with whitish; cheeks, chin, throat and chest white or grayish-white; rest of under parts plain gray, very variable in shade, ^TSut always darker than the chest; bill and feet black; iris brown. .'■■■'■ Young: Nearly uniform slate-gray, as they leave the nest, with whitish tips on wing :, :and tail feathers, but no trace of white forehead or throat; later the forehead becomes much Jigliter than the occiput, but the full plumage is not assumed until the following spring. Length 11 to 12.10 inches; wing 5.60 to 5.90; tail 5.65 tp 6-35; culmen .95 to 1.08. LAND BIRDS. 417 193. Northern Raven. Corvus corax principalis Ridgio. (486a) Synonyms. Raven Common Raven.— Corvus corax, Wils., Nutt.— Corvus carnivorus, mitt 1SS9 ' etc.— Corvus corax principalis, Ridg^v., 1887, A. O. U. Com- Figurc 99. Known at a glance l)y its strong resemljlance to the common Crow, from which it is readily separated by its much greater size, the lance-shaped separate feathers of the throat and neck (Fig. 99) and the graduated tail. Distribution.— Northern North America, south to British Columl)ia, northern Michigan, New Brunswick, Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina! etc. During the early history of Michigan the Raven was an abundant Ijird, and even forty years ago it was fully as abundant about Lansing as was the common Crow. At the present time it is confined almost entirely to the northern part of the Lower Peninsula and the more heavilv wooded Fig. 99. Heads of Crow and Eaven (at right) to show relative size. Photograph from mounted specimens. (Original.) portions of the LTpper Peninsula, and even there it is by no means abundant. Stragglers may wander south in winter and it would not be surprising if an occasional individual were to be found in winter at any point in the state; nevertheless the Raven must be considered a vanishing bird and its extinction doubtless will be complete within a very few years. According to B. H. Swales it was formerly common in Wayne county, but is now probably extinct; the latest record for that vicinity being a pair seen by J\Ir. J. Claire Wood in 1S85, not far from Windsor, Ont., just across the river from Detroit. Mcllwraith, in his Birds of Ontario, states that he had a specimen in his collection which was obtained at St. Clair Flats, where it was said to be an occasional visitor in the fall. That, however, was previous to 189-1. In 1879, according to A. W. Brayton, it was not uncommon along the shores of Lake Michigan from October until spring, eating the dead'fish thrown up by the Lake (Trans. Ind. Hort. Soc, 1879, p. 129). Jerome Trombley states that it was common at Petersburg', Monroe county, when he was a boy, but is now entirely extinct. Mr. John Hazelwood of Port Huron writes that formerly he shot a good many near that place, but of late years never sees them. Dr. Gibbs states 53 418 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. that he saw two in Lake county, October 12, 1883, and S. E. White records one as seen at Grand Rapids, April 8, 1890. We have a specimen in the College Museum talven November 12, 1896, near Trout Lake, Mackinac county, Mich., and Mr. C. J. Scranton of West Branch, Ogemaw county, told the writer in 1899 that, although not common there, several were seen every winter and that they usually stayed through the summer. The same year Mr. Oscar Palmer of Grayling, Crawford county, assured us that it was not uncommon in that vicinity still. ^lajor Boies found it rather common in the fall on Neebish Island in the St. Mary's River, and 0. B. Warren stated in 1898 that Ravens were seen every month of the year at Marquette, although they were rare. From 1889 to 1891 S. E. White found it common along the north shore of the Straits of Mackinac, and Mr. Newell A. Eddy of Bay City tells us that his last record for the Lower Peninsula is a pair seen at a lumber camp in Roscommon county, March 27, 1891. Judge J. H. Steere informed us in 1903 that the Raven was still very common at Sault Ste. ]\[arie during some winters, often coming into the city after refuse. He stated that scores were killed in Chippewa county each winter by poison put out for wolves. ISir. Joplin of Munising informs us that it occurs regularly in winter on Grand Island (in Lake Superior), Alger county. Professor Eliot Blackwilder states that in Iron county (Upper Peninsula), it is a bird of the deep recesses of the forest, not common anywhere, but single pairs seen at frequent intervals (Auk, XXVI, 1909, 368). Formerly the Raven doubtless nested all over the state and it is not impossible that it still nests in suitable places here and there. According to Hon. Chase S. Osborn it breeds in the Upper Peninsula "in the tallest dense-topped conifers," and by the middle or latter part of April deposits from two to seven eggs, which are hatched after about twenty days. Under date of December 22, 1906, Mr. Osborn wrote: "During the last month I have seen quite a number of Ravens in this vicinity (near Ecker- man, Chippewa county), and upon one day I saw twenty-two, seven of them in one flight, but they are not as numerous as in former years." The only account which we have been able to get of the actual finding of a Raven's nest in the Lower Peninsula comes from Mr. F. H. Chapin, of Kal- amazoo, and refers to a part of the state in which this bird would hardly be looked for under present conditions. Mr. Chapin writes: "In May, 1880, there was a large swamp, several miles long and two miles wide, at the head- waters of the north fork of the Paw Paw River, in Almena township, Van Buren county. Here, breeding for the most part in large sycamores, was a large colony of Great Blue Herons, ^Ir. Sykes and myself went up there to get some herons and I immediately remarked a pair of Ravens. I was unable to visit the place again, however, until April 26, 1889, when I returned to the heronry with Mr. L. E. Reed, a student at that time in Kalamazoo College. The herons were not there, but we noted a pair of Ravens and after some search we saw a bird leave a large nest. We secured this bird and also another which had appeared on the nest. Both proved to be full grown young of the year, and I have one of them still in my collection. We did not get the old birds, for they were too wary. The nest was situated on the broken top of a sycamore, sixty feet up. The top had been blown off squarely and on this break a very large nest of sticks had been built. j\Iarch 18, 1890, Mr. Reed and myself again visited the place, hoping to secure the old Ravens and the eggs, but were disappointed in both respects. The old birds kept out of range and the nest contained J.ANl) BIHDS. Hi) you UK too stnall to Ik> of any use as .s|)('('iinonH, so Uioy were not mulrsicil. They were very noisy, ami nJioul, two weeks old. February 15, lSi)l, lMi\ Heed, Mr. R. F. ,)iulsoii and niyself again visiled Uie swamp, but did not see or lu>ar a U.aveu. Marcli (1, ISDli, Mr. Judson and myself again weid, to ,\lmena, a-nd sa-w (Uie l{a,ven, but found no nest; this was my last visit, to iJie place." Ma\ M. I'eet. who accompanied Mu> Uni\-ei'sily of Michigan expedition to Isle Uoyale, Lake Su[)erior, in the summer of 1!)()5, gives the following interesting account of the habifs of the Haven at that place: "The NorlJiern Hiucn was no\\here common but seemed lo occur in limiled num- bers all o\'er tlu> island. Three were seen in a cedar swamp on Jul)- 2'.), a.nd a skeletcm was found pi'evious to this on I he i'o(da,d or at some natural clearing near the beach. At W'ashinglon Harbor tlu>y were only xisibirs, ccnning e\-ery no«- and then lo the clearings where (Jiey fed on grasshojipers which were so abuntiant. They were \-ery wary. While exploring (he ruins of llu- desei'led town near I he head of v'^iskowit Kay, on SeplemhiM' 10, a nesf of the Northern lla^•en was found in llu> old stamp mill. 11- was placed in (he small hollow fiu'merly occujjied by the nu-(al plate uptui wdiich (he head of the stamp fell. The side walls of the slanip mill are broken down in places so that the entrance to the in- terior was sim|)le. The nest, was about four fe(>l S(puire and the de(>pest |)arl about a fool- de("p, and was composed of sli(d other nialerial. The tlooi' of tl\e building was strewn with pellets ccui- sisling princii)ally of llshlnmes, skeletons of snuill mice, ami some insei't remains. I'ndei' some of llu> I'aflers lliis had accumulated to such an extent thai Ihe deposit was four or fi\-e inches in depth. In places it was weathered so badly tinil it appeared simply as a mass of lirownish earth" (.Adams' Rep., Mich. (ieol. Surv., 190S, pp. ;U)l-;i()'_'). in olhei' parts of the country the Ra^■en frequently nests on cliffs and ledges of rock, but \vher(> such localitms are not to lu> had it contents itself with tall li'ees, in which it builds a bulky nest, similar to that of Ihe Crow, and usually real's its yi)ung in safely. .Vccoi'ding lo Bcndii'e the number of eggs \-ai'ies from li\'e to s(>\(mi, sets of i\\v and six being most common. Tlu^ eggs ha\e a gnnmd color of jiale pea-green, drab, ov greenish-olive, and are unusually thickly and lu\\vil>- sjiotled with different shades of brown, lavender and diab. The aviM'age size is l.!),5 by l..'Ui inches. Probably the food of Ihe lxa\en is almost as \aried as thai of the Crow, yet it is not known lo at I aide cullix'ated crops of any kind, and the belief that it is desli'ucli\-e lo young birds, eggs and game is rather an inference than the result of observation. \t all events its scarcity al the }ii'esent linu> precludes Ihe possibilil\' of its doing serious injury of this kind any- where. Possibly it may hang about the nesting places of the gulls and terns in our norlluu-n waters, and do smne mischief by robbing nests, bnt no actual obsei'valions of such piracy have come to our knowledge. The lU'dinary call note, according to Bendire, is " craack-cvaak" varied sonudiuK\s by a dee() grunting " koerr-koerr," and again by a "clucking, 420 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. . a sort of self-satisfied sound, difficult to reproduce on paper; in fact, they utter a variety of notes when at ease and undisturbed, among others a metallic-sounding 'klunk' which seems to cost them considerable^'effort." TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Feathers of the throat lanceolate and the tips distinct from each other, like the hackles of a rooster; tail much graduated, the lateral feathers two inches or more shorter than the middle ones; entire plumage dark black, with bluish, greenish and purplish reflections; bill, legs and feet black; iris dark brown. The female averages a little smaller than the male, and the full grown young are hardly different. Length 22 to 26.50 inches; wing 16.50 to 18; tail 9.20 to 10.50; culmen 2.66 to 3.45. 194. Crow. Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos Brehm. (488) Synonyms: Common Crow, American Crow, Carrion Crow. — Corvus corona, Wils., Bonap., Nutt, — Corvus americanus, Aud. and most American authors. — Corvus frugivorus, Ridgw. 1881, Coues, 1875, and some others. — Corvus brachyrhynchos, Brehm,^1822. Figure 99. Entirely black, including bill and feet; length about 18 inches; feathers of throat with normal blended tips. Much larger than the Crow Blackbird and much smaller than the Raven; otherwise easily separable from both by the simply rounded, not pointed, tail. Distribution. — North America, from the Fur Countries to the southern border of the United States. Locally distributed in the west. In Michigan the Crow is an abundant bird during the larger part of the year and probably a few hardy individuals remain in all parts of the state even during severe winters. By far the greater number, however, with- draw from the state before the first of November, passing southward in large flocks and wintering, as is well known, in immense numbers through- out a belt of country less than two hundred miles in width, extending from Chesapeake Bay westward to Missouri and Kansas. Within this belt there are numerous "Crow-roosts" at each of which several hundred thousand Crows congregate each night to roost after foraging the sur- rounding country over an area often fifty miles in diameter during the day. Crows begin to reenter the state from the south in February, sometimes as early as the middle of the month, but more often toward the close, and during March most of the Crows which nest in Michigan reach the locations selected for that purpose. Crows which proceed beyond our northern limits to nest continue to pass through the state until late in April or even the first week in May, at which time many of our local Crows already have young in their nests. In the southern part of the state nest-building begins early in April, while along the northern border this may be postponed until the first of May. The nest is always bulky and consists largely of sticks, twigs, grasses, roots and similar fibrous material, to which sometimes masses of sod or even mud may be added. The nest is usually placed at a considerable height above the ground, and in regions where evergreens are plentiful these are most often selected. The eggs are commonly five or six in number, but may range from four to eight. They vary interminably in color and markings, but usually have a bluish or greenish white ground color heavily spotted and blotched with different shades of brown. They average 1.69 by 1.17 inches. LAND BIRDS. 421 The Crow is proverbially shrewd and shy and doubtless succeeds in rearing its young in safety in the great majority of cases. In the latitude of Lansing the young leave the nest by the middle of June, and there is no reason to suppose that more than one brood is reared in the season. The economic status of the Crow has been in dispute for more than a hundred years, and in spite of all the work which has been done in the attempt to settle the question, not a few points still remain obscure. Be- tween the years 1886 and 1894 the author made a continuous and minute study of the food of Crows, based primarily upon the examination of more than 900 stomachs brought together at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, and this work has been supplemented by more than seventeen years of observation and examination in this state. For a detailed account of the food of the Crow as shown by stomach examination the reader is referred to the author's work on the Crow published by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1895.* The following abstract and summary of this investigation may be useful to those to whom the bulletin itself is not accessible: The writer personally examined, classified and estimated the stomach contents of the 909 Crows on which the investigation was primarily based. The remains of insects found in these stomachs, after careful study in our own laboratory, were submitted to the Entomological Division of the Department of Agriculture and were determined by the members of that division, Mr. E. A. Schwarz submitting a report upon the insect food of the Crow which was embodied in the bulletin as finally published. As a result of the detailed investigation of these stomachs and of the vast amount of other evidence gathered, the writer became fully convinced that the Crow on the whole is far more injurious than beneficial. The stomach examinations showed that the average amount of animal food in winter was 33 percent and in summer 67 percent, while the average amount of vegetable food was exactly complementary, that is, vegetable food formed 67 percent of the winter food and but 33 percent of the summer food. We may say therefore, speaking roughly, that the Crow's food for the year consists of nearly equal parts of animal and vegetable substances, the animal predominating in summer and the vegetable in winter. Much the larger part of the animal food consists of insects, the average for the year amounting to about 24 percent. The proportion howeve varies widely according to season. Thus in January insects form less than 3 percent of the food, while in April they form 53 percent, in May 49 percent and in June 41 percent. This large percentage of insect food, and the common assumption that all insects are injurious, leads the careless observer to conclude that the Crow must be necessarily a very beneficial bird. As a matter of fact only a small part of the insects eaten are injurious, many are beneficial, others are neutral, and a large number — whether good or bad — are dead before they are picked up and hence have no bearing on the question. Furthermore the stomach examinations prove beyond doubt that the Crow must be held blameworthy for this neglect to eat at all many of the most common and injurious insects which attack the farmer's crops. The following extracts from Mr. Schwarz' report will give a fair idea of the insect food: "The insect food is almost exclusively composed of terrestrial species, that is, such as are found on the surface of the ground, or hide during the daytime at the base of plants * Barrows anrt Schwarz. — The Common Crow in its Relation to Agriculture. Bull. No. 6, 1895, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 422 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. or under the various objects lying on the surface; or such as live in the dung of domestic animals, in decaying vegetable or animal matter, or underground. * * * The almost complete absence of the numerous arboreal insects of all orders * * * indicates that the birds when sitting or resting on trees do not pick up insects. "The almost constant presence of coprophagous (dung-eating) insects in the stomachs indicates that Crows preferably frequent dry pasture lands, dry meadows, or very open woods, where cattle or horses are grazing. In many instances the presence of certain species of Chlcenius, water beetles, or an occasional aquatic hemipter or a Oryllotalpa or Corydalus, etc., shows that the birds frequent the margins of ponds or streams. "The insect food of the Crow consists only of large or medium-sized insects; small species are only rarely, if ever, picked up. The smallest insects found are certain species of Aphoclius (dung-beetles). Ants form a marked exception to this rule, as small or very small species are frequently found in many stomachs [doubtless taken with carrion]. "The Crow appears to prefer insects with a hard covering to the more soft bodied ones * * * no soft-bodied images (a few Diptera excepted) seem to be eaten * * * Crows derive a great deal of their food from the insects living in dung-heaps and dead animals, where dipterous and other larvaj abound, still these are but rarely met with in the stomachs. A marked exception to this rule is the frequent occurrence of spiders, and more especially of the family Lycosidte or ground spiders. [These are neutral — neither harmful nor beneficial]. " Crows seem to have a predilection for insects possessing a pungent or otherwise strong taste or odor. This is exemplified by the prevalence of Carabidse (among them the often recurring genus Chlcenius, possessing a peculiar odor), coprophilous or necrophagous coleoptera (Silphidse, Histeridae and Scarabceidse Laparosticti), ants, and more especially by the almost constant occurrence of certain species of the heteropterous family Penta- tomidse (stink-bugs and spice-bugs). "The following groups of insects representing the principal (insect) food supply of the Crow are arranged according to their relative importance, but this sequence might imdergo some changes if an equal number of stomachs from all parts of the country were available for examination: "1. Grasshoppers. During the months of May and June * * * grasshoppers, mostly of the genus Tettix, occur in the vast majority of stomachs, but with few exceptions in moderate numbers only. * * * Toward the end of June specimens of the typical locusts (grasshoppers, Melanoplus and allied genera) increase in number until in the month of August and throughout the fall they constitute by far the greatest part of the insect food, often occurring in astonishing numbers, and often forming the only insect food. "2. Dung beetles. A larger or smaller number of dung-beetles, and more especially of the genera Silpha, Hister, Copris, Onthophagus, Aphodius and Staphylinus, occur in most of the stomachs from all localities and throughout the whole year, and in many instances comprise the greater bulk of the insect food. "3. Ground beetles (Carabidse). These occur likewise in the vast majority of stomachs from all localities and throughout the year, and the list of the species thus found is a very extended one. However, none of these species is ever represented by any considerable number of specimens in a single stomach. "4. May beetles (Lachnosterna) . During a short period of the year, commencing, in the latitude of Washington, D. C. at the end of April, and in Maine and Michigan about a fortnight later, and extending toward the end of June, these beetles furnish, as regards bulk, number of specimens, and frequency of occurrence, the principal insect food of the Crow. * * * Frequently large numbers are found in a single stomach and this often to the exclusion of other insect food. This habit prevails throughout the whole region and would occupy the foremost rank in this enumeration but for the fact that it is restricted to two months of the year. * * * The principal but by no means exclusive insect food of the nestlings may be said to consist of these May-beetles. "5. Ground spiders (Lycosidoe). The only soft-bodied insects that occur in a very large number of stomachs from all localities and throughout the warmer seasons. * * * Often represented in considerable numbers in the stomachs, occasionally forming the greater bulk of the insect food. "6. Weevils (Rhynchophora) . Two species of weevils, Epiccerus imbricatus and Phytonomus punctatus, both often referred to in economic entomology, occur abundantly in a large number of stomachs. They would play a very prominent role in the food supply of the Crow but for the fact that they are locally restricted. Epicosrus imbricatus does not extend into the northern and northwestern states, and the clover weevil (Phytonomus) is a comparatively recent importation from Europe [First noted in Michigan in 1892, but now abimdant and injurious]. "7. Cutworms (larvEe of Noctuidfe). Considering the enormous number of cutworms that occur, especially in spring and the earlier part of summer, in pastures, dry meadows. LAND BIRDS. 423 and open fields, and that they hide during the day * * * jn just such places as are preferably investigated by the Crow in search of food, it is remarkable that they do not constitute the largest part of the insect food. Even if we include all other lepidopterous larvaj and pupae found in the stomachs, this food does not by any means rank among the most prominent features. The only explanation that occurs to me * * * jg that the Crow greatly prefers insects with hard bodies. Cutworms occur in many stomachs, usually singly or in very small numbers, rarely forming the bulli of the food in any one stomach and never the entire food. Noctuid pupae were found only in isolated cases. "8. Soldier bugs (Pentatomidae). Although by no means representing a considerable portion of the insect food, the constantly recurring presence of various species of soldier bugs constitutes a characteristic feature in the food habits of the Crow. * * * It seems probable that the strong odor or taste of these soldier bugs is the reason why they are so eagerly sought by the Crows. * * * Those found belong to Podisus, Euschistus, and allied genera. "9. Ants (Formicidfe). Ants form only a small proportion of the bulk of the insect food, but their frequent occurrence in the stomachs suggests the explanation that they are relished by the Crow on account of their peculiar acid taste. * * * The largest species, Camponotus and Formica, are most frequent. The presence of very small species is probably due to accident (picked up with dead or wounded May-beetles). "Among insects which occurred only in a moderate number of stomachs and usually only as single specimens, or only in a few stomachs in large numbers, the following perhaps deserve mention: "Click-beetles (Elateridse). A tolerably large number of species but none represented by many specimens. Larvae (wire-worms) were found only in a few isolated instances. "Lamellicorn beetles. Lucanids occur occasionally, while various species of Soaraboeids form in the aggregate a not inconspicuous portion of the insect food. " Ants, bees, and wasps (Hymenoptera) . Only a moderate number of species and speci- mens found, except of ants, already referred to. "Flies (Diptera). The whole order is comparatively poorly represented. The small number of larvae and puparia found in the stomachs is in striking contrast with their enormous abundance in the excrement of horses, cattle, etc., or in dead animals. "Crickets (Gryllidae). Very poorly represented. Ground crickets of the genera GrijUus and Nemobius occur in a moderate number of stomachs." The complete or almost complete absence in the stomachs of numerous harmful insects which live in places readily accessible to the Crow is note- worthy. Witness the following from Mr. Schwarz' report: "The absence of the large family of leaf -beetles (Chrysomelidae) is striking. Not a specimen of the notorious Colorado potato beetle was found, nor a single lar^a of any member of the family. "The absence of all cabbage-worms deserves mention, also the absence of the various Sphingid larvae and their pupae, which infest potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and tobacco. The corn-worm (larva of Heliothis armigera) is here specially mentioned because it is said that the Crows pull open and injure the ears of corn only for the purpose of getting at the corn worms. None were recognized in the stomachs. "No traces of the Hessian-fly were found in the stomachs, but the small size of the larva and pupa, as well as their mode of occurrence, make it improbable that the Crows ever feed on this insect. "Among all the stomachs examined only a single specimen of the notorious chinch bug {BKssus leucopterus) was foimd, and, unless we assume that this insect is too small, no explanation of its absence is offered. "The more or less injurious leaf-hoppers (Jassida;, Cercopida?, Membracidaj) are not represented in the stomachs. "No specimens of white ants (Termitidae), the only injurious family of the order Neuroptera, occurred in the stomachs. " AH spiders are insectivorous but only a few are useful to man. The only family which is well represented in the stomachs (Lycosidae) has no economic importance. " No ticks (Ixodidae) were foimd in the stomachs." In summing up the good and harm done by the Crow in the consumption of insects we must give full credit for his work on grasshoppers, May beetles, click beetles and weevils. The work on grasshoppers is all good; the work on May beetles is likely to be greatly overrated, yet unquestionably is important. Many years of careful field work have convinced us that 424 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE!. during the May beetle season the Crow gets a large part of its animal food from the refuse thrown up on the shores of sea, lake or stream. Fre- quently insects are drowned by the million, and anyone who will carefully search the shores of even the smallest pond in May, June and July will find scores if not hundreds of drowned insects. Often the Crow gorges itself with this food, and carries large amounts to its young, the May beetles almost always forming a conspicuous part. Moreover, myriads of May beetles are injured or killed outright by accident every night, and these dead or maimed beetles are among the commonest objects met with on pavements, roadways and paths everywhere in the early morning. Often they are covered with tiny ants which are trying to tear them to pieces or drag them away, and when the Crow discovers and swallows the beetles he takes the ants as well — the proof of this being evident in scores of the crow stomachs examined. In short, dead insects are just as palatable to the Crow as living ones, and there can be no question that a very con- siderable part of the insects found in the stomachs represent merely so much refuse animal matter, in fact carrion. The work done on click beetles and weevils is commendable, but it is very much smaller in amount than that on grasshoppers and May beetles. The other harmful insects eaten are so few that they may be disregarded, even the cut-worms being insignificant. Two groups of beneficial insects, however, must be considered, namely the ground beetles (Carabidse) and the soldier bugs (Pentatomidse). The Crow eats these constantly, and although it is impossible to say just how much harm is done in this way, it seems probable, all things considered, that it is sufficient to offset almost completely the good done in eating grasshoppers and May beetles. This would leave a small balance in the Crow's favor from the consumption of injurious insects, but, as will be shown directly, this is practically the only credit to which the bird is entitled, and when weighed against the vast amount of harm done in other ways is absolutely insignificant. The remaining part of the animal food of the Crow is made up mainly of rabbits, mice and other small mammals; snakes, frogs, toads, and fish; wild birds and their eggs; crayfish, crabs, clams, snails and other shell fish; and carrion. Taking up these items in the order mentioned, we may say at the outset that the evidence afforded by the stomach examinations must be weighed with considerable care in order to avoid misapprehension. For example the presence of flesh or fibres of meat, sinew and bone may mean that the Crow has been eating carrion or that it has been eating some of the birds or mammals already mentioned. The presence of a single tooth, a little hair, or a few entire bones or feathers may enable us to identify this material positively, but in most cases it is still impossible to say whether the remains thus identified are from individuals killed by the Crow or from dead animals, that is carrion. The stomach examinations show that the carrion not otherwise identified amounts to about 3 percent of the entire food; rabbits, mice and other small mammals form about 1.7 per cent; snakes, lizards, frogs, toads and fish form 2.2 per cent; remains of wild birds and their eggs, together with poultry and their eggs, form about 1 percent; crayfish and clams about 1.2 per cent. Undoubtedly the Crow destroys a considerable number of young rabbits, pouncing upon them and killing them by blows of the beak and afterwards devouring them. But it also eats any remains of dead rabbits, young or old, which it may find. The same is true of mice, which would seem from LAND BIRDS. 425 the stomach examination, to form a rather constant item in the diet. Un- doubtedly the Crow occasionally destroys the nests of meadow mice, particularly in early spring when the snow is melting away, and it then devours the helpless young, thereby doing some positive good. It must be remembered, however, that the normal mortality among field mice and meadow mice is considerable and the Crow unquestionably consumes hundreds of these little rodents, picked up as carrion. The same is true of frogs, toads, snakes and fish; for although any of these may be taken alive when opportunity offers, it is unquestionably true that the great majority of such remains in the stomachs are from individuals found dead by the Crow, thus merely representing so much carrion. The habit already referred to, of haunting the margins of pond, stream, and sea, points plainly to this fact in the Crow's economy, and nothing is more certain than that it watches the shores and patrols the water's edge continually on the lookout for such food. Similiarly when a stream, pond, or pool dries up the Crow is always on hand to get the dead or dying water animals thus left at its mercy. In all this work (with the possible exception of that on mice) no good of any importance is done, since the materials thus consumed would have been effectually disposed of by the various carrion- eating insects or by speedy dessication and decay, without injury of any kind to man. The relation of the Crow to our wild birds and to domestic poultry is of decided importance. Perhaps no single trait has been more generally noted or more uniformly condemned than its habit of robbing the nests of other birds; not simply those of the robin, thrush, meadowlark and other song birds, but those of the quail, partridge, wild duck, sea gull, and various other birds or waterfowl, in fact the nest of any bird whatever, provided it can secure the eggs or young without too much danger to itself. The skill with which this is done is often amazing. Crows will pass back and forth in the vicinity of birds nests which seem to be plainly exposed and of which the Crows must know the location, yet day after day they will ignore these nests until precisely the right moment arrives, when almost invariably they descend upon the nest in the absence of the parents and devour or carry away for their young whatever the nest may contain. The fact that the stomachs show so small a percentage of the remains of wild birds and eggs is readily explained by a consideration of the facts. In the first place the eggs usually are devoured at once by the Crow, not- carried to the nest to be fed to the young; and in most cases the shells are entirely discarded, only the soft interior of the egg being swallowed. Again, the unhatched chicks or the nestlings devoured by the Crow or fed to the young contain few or no hard parts which can escape digestion and remain to be used as evidence against the criminal. The beak, bones and claws are all soft and in most cases the feathers are too small and undeveloped to be identified. Thus it happens that Crows may feed extensively upon the eggs and young of other birds, while the stomach contents may give little or no evidence against them. The complaints from sportsmen and naturaUsts alike, are almost unanimous in condemning the Crow for the destruction of immense numbers of the eggs and young of game birds and waterfowl; and all the evidence collected goes to show that, aside from chmatic conditions, no single factor is so important as the Crow in reducing the number of these birds. It is now known with certainty that the Crow destroys large numbers of chickens, ducklings and the young of other domesticated poultry. d2() MICPIIGAN BIRD LIFE. Complaints of this nature come from all parts of the country, but naturally are most frequent in those regions where Crows nest abundantly. We have heard scores of complaints from farmers in Michigan and it may be safely affirmed that in this state Crows kill far more chickens than all species of hawks combined. In some instances poultry raisers have noticed the loss of j'oung chickens continuously for days or even weeks without suspect- ing the cause, for although Crows were frequently seen in the vicinity they were not observed to ti'ouble the chickens and in the absence of hawks it was difficult to account for the loss. Careful observation, however, shows that the Crow is very adroit in his chicken steaUng, usually visiting the poultr}^ yards very early in the morning, often before sunrise, although in some instances he becomes bolder and makes his visits at any time of day. Often he may be seen sitting on fence or tree not far from the barn, but apparently unconcerned about the chickens which may be near. He watches his opportunity, however, and at the favorable moment floats quietly to the ground, snatches up a downy chicken and flies swiftly away to the nearest woods. For some obscure reason these visits of the Crow do not cause the flurry and alarm which follows the visit of the hawk, and often no outcry is raised except perhaps by the mother of the unfortunate chick. One successful exploit of this kind is followed quickly by another and in this way a score or more of chickens may be taken in the course of a week without the detection, or at least without the punishment, of the thief. Such robberies are more frequent when the broods of chickens are at some distance from the house and especially when the hen has stolen her nest in the woods some distance away. A Crow has no objection to taking the eggs of poultry when these can be had but except in cases like that just mentioned it seldom gets the opportunity. Turning now to a consideration of the vegetable food of the Crow we find still less to commend and much more to condemn. Directly or in- directly the Crow inflicts a large amount of damage on the agriculturist and in most cases it is possible to estimate this loss with considerable accuracy and weigh it with approximate justice against the good. The principal vegetable foods of the Crow are corn, wheat, oats, buck- wheat and the seeds of some grasses and weeds, together with a considerable amount of acorns, chestnuts and beechnuts (collectively spoken of as "mast"), to which is added a comparatively small amount of cultivated fruits, particularly cherries, strawberries, and blackberries, and a rather larger amount of various wild fruits and berries. In the consumption of all this vegetable food the Crow is known to do good in but two ways; namely, in the destruction of a very limited amount of the seeds of grasses and weeds, and in the distribution or planting of chestnuts, acorns, beech- nuts and the seeds of various more or less valuable trees, particularly those of the wild cherry (Primus serotina) and the red cedar (Juniperus virginiana). The good work done in this way should of course be taken into consideration, but it is not greater, if it is as great, as that done by numerous other species; moreover it is entirely offset by the large amount of harm done by distributing the seeds of poison sumac and poison oak or poison ivy (Rhus venenata and toxicodendron). In common with many other birds the Crow eats freely the berries of all the species of Rhus, but is particularly fond of the poisonous species above named, and during the colder half of the year it often eats these in immense quantities. The writer has frequently taken more than a hundred seeds LAND BIRDS. 427 of the poison ivy from the stomach of a single Crow, and among hundreds of stomachs collected in cold weather not 5 percent failed to contain some of these seeds. In the gizzard of the Crow the nutritious pulp of these berries is quickly separated from the hard bony seeds, and the latter, mixed with large quantities of the sand and gravel used for grinding, are choked up by the Crow in compact masses of twenty to fifty seeds at a time. These seeds are not injured in the least by this process and the greater part of them are distributed by the Crow under conditions which favor their germination and growth. It is difficult to estimate the amount of harm thus done, but it is safe to say that the misery thus caused is enormous and our estimate of it is not lessened by the fact that numerous other birds assist in the harmful work. The consumption of ripened gi'ain (including corn) perhaps is not very great, although we have scores of complaints relating to the destruc- tion of green corn, corn "in the milk," and corn "in roasting ear" by Crows. In such cases the amount of damage seems to depend largely upon the location of the field, and it is usually noted that the rows which are nearest the woods, or which are least exposed to human observation, are the ones which suffer most. It is not uncommon to find more than 50 percent of the ears in ten or more of the outermost rows seriously damaged if not entirely destroyed. At this time the Crows are in flocks of con- siderable size formed by the union of three to thirty family groups and the marauding parties often consist of thirty to eighty individuals. But by far the most serious injury which the Crow does the farmer is in pulling up the corn which has just come through the ground. This habit is so well known and the complaints are so universal that it seems idle to spend time in discussing the fact. There are those who claim that the mischief is done by chipmunks, gophers, or even red squirrels, and it is well known that the Crow-blackbird or Bronzed Grackle does a certain amount of damage in the same way. But beyond question the larger part of this work is done by the Crow alone. A few seemingly intelligent people still claim that in pulling corn in this way the Crow is carefully searching for the wire-worm, the cut-worm or the white grub found at the root. This claim has been absolutely disproved by repeated observations and by examinations of stomachs of Crows which had been feeding on corn pulled in this way. In no case have any of the insects above named been found in the same stomach with sprouted corn, and it may be added that these three groups of insects are rarely found in Crow's stomachs at all. The cutworm being distasteful to the Crow is taken only as a last resort. The consideration of the foregoing .facts should convince any candid mind that in the long run the Crow must prove far more injurious than beneficial to the agriculturist. The question now naturally arises, what can be done to prevent the harm? Two methods of procedure suggest them- selves: (1) The more or less complete destruction of Crows. (2) The more or less complete protection from Crows of the crops which he injures. Destruction of the Crow is hardly practicable. The conditions are such that in spite of persecution of all kinds the Crow is sure to survive at least in small numbers. The use of poison, the gun, and bounties have effected a temporary lessening of numbers in hmited areas, but all these factors combined are insufficient to secure extermination. Nor is this altogether to be regretted. In spite of his many bad qualities the Crow has an attractive personality and his presence in small numbers adds 428 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. a picturesque element to the landscape which the nature lover can ill afford to lose. Probably few, even of the most inveterate Crow haters, would care to see. the species completely exterminated. Doubtless, however, it is perfectly safe to allow the kilHng of the Crow at all seasons and in almost any manner, for his watchfulness, intelligence and hardiness seem sufficient to insure the survival of a moderate number in spite of everything. On the one hand it does not seem wise to afford him the protection which the law gives to most species, while on the other hand the offer of bounties is ill advised for many reasons. Among these is the fact that Crows can be most readily killed during the nesting season, and anything which takes the man with a gun into the field during the season for game is always to be deplored. The average American, particularly the young American, is always ready to kill, and if he does not find Crows is sure to satisfy his ambition with the killing of some other and valuable bird. The protection of poultry and the nests of wild birds against the ravages of the Crows is practically impossible, and so long as Crows exist they will continue to distribute the seeds of the poison sumacs. In one direction only can the farmer secure partial protection from the Crow. If he is willing to prepare his seed corn by moistening with tar oil or some similar material before planting the Crow will seldom make any attempt to pull up this corn after it has sprouted. This practice, known as the "tarring of seed corn," has been in common use in Maryland, Virginia and parts of Pennsylvania and Delaware for more than a hundred years and if properly used seems to be quite effective. The protection secured doubtless depends upon the strong flavor which the tar imparts to the growing shoot and young plant, until the latter is at least several inches high. It is not necessary or desirable to soak the grain in strong tar oil, but merely to coat it lightly so that enough of the material will remain upon the kernel to give a strong flavor to the young plant. There are several objections to the method, the most important being that it involves a considerable amount of additional labor, especially as the planter can seldom be used for this prepared seed. The usual method is to soak the seed corn for ten or twelve hours in water and then drain off the water and stir the corn with a stick which is dipped at short intervals into the tar oil. When the kernels have become dis- tinctly brown from the coating of tar air-slaked lime, wood-ashes or fine road dust is stirred into the grain until the kernels no longer stick together. In this condition the corn can be planted by hand and will sprout in due time. Too heavy a coating of tar may hinder the absorption of water from the soil, and a too thorough soaking in tar oil may entirely prevent germination. A few farmers claim that such preparation has not protected their corn but that the Crows pulled it almost as if untarred. The general verdict, however, is decidedly otherwise, and most corn growers would follow the practice regularly were it not for the labor involved. The use of "scarecrows" is quite general and most people are familiar with the human effigies of straw and old clothes which do duty in this way, as well as with the small windmills, rattles, wires, jingling tin and sheet iron suspended from poles and moved by the wind. Perhaps the most effective of these devices consists in stretching white twine around and across the newly planted field, especially if the strings be stretched in two direc- tions so as to form a coarse net work over the field. The protection secured in this way, however, is seldom complete or long continued. LAND BIRDS. 429 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Feathers of the throat broad and blended at the tips, Uke those of the breast and back; tail but little rounded, the lateral feathers hardly an inch shorter than the middle ones; entire plumage black, as in the Raven, with similar greenish, bluish and purplish reflections; bill and feet black; iris dark brown. The sexes are nearly alike in size and color, though females may average a little smaller. The yoimg just after leaving the nest are duller black than the adults, lacking the glossiness and metallic reflections. Length 17 to 21 inches; wing 11.90 to 13.25; tail 6.90 to 8; culmen 1.80 to 2.06. Family 55. ICTERID^. Orioles, Blackbirds, etc. KEY TO SPECIES. A. Plumage showing some bright yellow or red. B, BB. B. With red or red and yellow. C, CC. C. Breast orange red, tail with much yellow and black. Baltimore Oriole, male. No. 203. CC. Shoulders alone red, tail without yellow. Red-wing and Thick-billed Redwing, adult male. Nos. 198, 199. BB. Without red; under parts largely yellow. D, DD. D. Throat yellow. E, EE. E. A black crescent on chest; breast and belly yellow. Meadowlark and Western Meadowlark. Nos. 200, 201. EE. No black crescent on chest. F, FF. F. Entire head and neck yellow, breast and belly black, white patch on wing. Yellow-headed Blackbird. No. 197. FF. Entire under parts yellow, two whitish wing-bars. G, GG. G. Under parts light greenish yellow, wing 3.25 or less. Orchard Oriole, female. No. 202. GG. Under parts reddish yellow, wing 3.50 or more. Baltimore Oriole, female. No. 203. DD. Throat black. H, HH. H. Tail with much yellow and black. Baltimore Oriole, male. No. 203. HH. Tail greenish yellow, without black. Orchard Oriole, young male. No. 202. AA. Plumage without bright red or yellow. I, II. I. Distinctly streaked below. J, JJ. J. Breast and sides thickly streaked with black or dusky on a nearly white ground color. K, KK. K. Streaks sharp and black. Redwing, female. Nos. 198, 199. KK. Streaks blended and dusky. Cowbird, young, and some adult females. No. 196. JJ. Under parts clear buff, streaked mainly on the sides, with black. Bobolink, female, and fall specimens of both sexes. No. 195. 430 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. II. Not streaked below. L, LL. L. Mainly black or slate color all over, and without any white in wings. M, MM, MMM. M. Large, length 11 to 14 inches, tail much graduated. Bronzed Grackle. No. 205. MM. Medium, length 8 to 10 inches, tail nearly square, bill slender. Rusty Blackbird. No. 204. MMM. Small, length 6 to 8 inches, tail square, bill short and thick. Cowbird, male and female. No. 196. LL. Not all black or slate color, some white on wings. N, NN, NNN. N. Under parts clear black, upper parts largely white. Bob- olink, adult male. No. 195. NN. Under parts mainly rich chestnut, only throat and chest clear black. Orchard Oriole, adult male. No. 202. NNN. Under parts plain greenish yellow, upper parts plain olive, two whitish wing-bars. Orchard Oriole, female. No. 202. 195. Bobolink. Dolichonyx oryzivorus (Lmn.). (494) Synonyms: Skunk-head Blackbird, White-winged Blackbird, Meadowwink, Towhee (mistake), and, at the south, Rice-bird and May-bird. — Fringilla oryzivora, Linnaeus, 1758. — Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Swains., 1827. — Emberiza oryzivora, Wilson. Plate XLIII. Male in spring entirely black below, mixed black, white and cream above; female everywhere pale buff, the upper parts and the sides streaked with black. In both sexes and at all ages and seasons the tail-feathers are very sharp pointed. Distribution. — Eastern North America, west to ^lontana, etc. ; north to Ontario and the southern parts of i^lanitoba, Assiniboia, and Alberta; south in winter to the West Indies and South America. Breeds from the middle states northward, and winters south of the United States. In ]\Iichigan the Bobolink is a summer resident over by far the larger part of the state. Wherever there are open meadows and grain fields the bird is found at least occasionally, but it must be considered an in- frequent resident of the entire Upper Peninsula, and even in the Lower Peninsula it is far more abundant south of the parallel of 44° than north of it. In a general way the Saginaw-Grand Valley may be said to be the northern limit of its abundance, but we have records of its occurrence, sometimes in considerable numbers, in almost every county in the Lower Peninsula, and it occurs regularly, although in comparatively small numbers, in parts of jMackinac, Chippewa, Delta and Marquette counties in the Upper Peninsula, and will doubtless be found at various other points. It is a bird of such striking appearance and beautiful song that it is not likely to be overlooked at any point where it occurs in numbers. This is one of our finest songsters and also one of the birds which is believed to be most beneficial to the farmer as a consumer of insects in- jurious to mowing lands, meadows and grain fields. It arrives from the south the last of April or the first of May, the dates I'anging at Petersburg, Plate Xr, in. lioliolink. .Male an, A])[.Ictiiii A: Co. LAND BIRDS. 433 Monroe county, from April 26, 1885 to May 6, 1897, while at South Frank- fort, Benzie county, Mich., the earliest date is May 21, 1892, and there is a single record at Sault Ste. Marie on May 28, 1900. As in many other cases the males usually precede the females by a week or more and nesting does not begin until perhaps a fortnight later. Nests with fresh eggs are most often found during the first week in June, but in some years they may be built as early as the 20th of May. The nest is invariably placed on the ground, usually sunk flush with the surface, somewhat deeply hollowed, and carefully concealed by the surrounding vegetation. It may be placed in a meadow, a pasture or a grain field, and occasionally in ground so low that it is flooded by heavy rains. So thoroughly is the nest concealed that it is seldom discovered while it contains eggs, except by flushing the female from the nest, but after the young are hatched a little careful watching of the birds usually will indicate the exact location. The eggs vary from four to seven, but are commonly five or six in number. They are dull white, heavily spotted with dark brown or bluish, and often irregularly scratched and pen-marked with black. They average .83 by .61 inches. But one brood is reared in the season. From the time of arrival until the young are out of the nest the males sing constantly and the indescribable song is by many considered the most remarkable, if not the most beautiful, of any of our bird songs. As soon as the young are on the wing the male begins to moult his dark suit and usually by the first of August can be distinguished from the female only by his somewhat larger size and rather deeper yellow color. At this time young and old resemble each other quite closely and, many families uniting into one flock, they roam from one meadow or grain field to another, feeding freely upon grass seeds, weed seeds,' and sometimes upon grain (most commonly oats) in the milk. The damage done in this way, however, is negligible and is more than offset by the destruction of weed seeds, which must be enormous. Moreover, during the entire nesting season both old and young feed very largely upon insects, thus conferring a vast benefit upon the agriculturist. Among these insects weevils, cutworms and grasshoppers are conspicuous, and although numerous other insects are consumed those just named appear to form the bulk of the insect food during June, July and August. Although one of our most beautiful and valuable birds, it would be hardly fair to withhold the statement that our Bobolink passes southward about the first of September, and uniting with various species of blackbirds pillages the rice-fields of South Carolina, Georgia and the Gulf Coast where it is commonly known as the "Rice Bird." The damage done to ripening rice is very great and it not unfrequently causes losses of thousands of dollars to individual planters. Prof. F. E. L. Beal makes the following statement in this connection: "The picturesqueness of the Bobolink and the melody of its song do not offset the financial loss and harrassing care of the southern rice grower. As the case stands at present the harm done by the bird far outweighs its benefits; but it is to be hoped that science may devise some means by which the rice growers may be reheved from some portion, if not all, of the labor and expense now incident to saving their crop.s from its devastations" (Bull. No. 13, Division of Biolo- gical Survey, U. S. Dep't of Agriculture). 55 434 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male in spring: Entire top of head glossy black; occiput, nape and hind neck rusty white, buily, or pure white; outer scapulars, rump and upper tail-coverts white or whitish; interscapulars mainly black, usually streaked with rusty or whitish; entire under parts clear black except for whitish or rusty edgings on some feathers of abdomen and under tail-coverts; wings and tail pure black, the tertiaries rather broa,dly margined with whitish, and the first three primaries with very narrow white edges; bill bluish black; iris dark brown; legs and feet brown. Adult female in spring: Top of head deep brown, with a median stripe of grayish buff, which is also the ground color of the entire upper parts, but plentifully streaked and spotted with dark brown and blackish, most heavily on the scapulars and interscapulars; under parts clear buff or grayish buff, more or less streaked on sides, flanks and under tail-coverts with blackish, the chin nearly pure white; wings and tail brownish, with narrow light edgings; upper mandible reddish brown, lower flesh colored; feet and legs pale; iris light brown. Adult male in autumn: Similar to summer female, but the ground color a deeper, richer buff, and the streaking more pronounced. Autumn females, and young of both sexes, are similar but paler than the autumn male, the females usually separable by smaller size. Male: Length 7 to 7.60 inches; wing 3.50 to 4; tail 2.75 to 3; culmen about .55. Female averaging about one-half inch shorter, the wing about one-fourth inch less. 196. Cowbird. Molothrus ater ater {B odd.). . (495) Synonyms: Cow Blackbird, Cow Bunting, Lazy Bird, Brown-headed Blackbird. — Oriolus ater, Boddaert, 178o. — Molothrus pecoris, Aud., Bonap., Baird, and others. — Emberiza pecoris, Wils. Plate XLIV. Smallest of our blackbirds. Male, metallic greenish black, the entire head and neck brown; female, dirty grayish brown. Distribution. — United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, north into southern British America, south in winter into Mexico. This, the smallest of our blackbirds, is abundant throughout the state and well known not only from its constant association with cattle in the pasture, where it is seen feeding about their feet and perching upon their backs, but also on account of the remarkable habit of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds. It never builds a nest of its own, nor does the female take any care whatever of its young. The birds are polygamous and are commonly found during spring and summer in small flocks of twenty or less in which the males may outnumber the females or vice versa. When the female is about to lay she searches for the nest of some smaller bird, preferalily a warbler or a sparrow, and watching her opportunity deposits her egg in the nest while the owner is temporarily absent. Usually the owner of the nest accepts the situation and hatches the egg along with her own, and eventually the young cowbird is reared, very often at the expense of the other young; for, being larger, stronger and more voracious, the young Cowbird demands and receives the larger part of the food brought by the parents, so that, if not crowded out of the nest, the rightful young are often starved to death. That this is not always the case is shown by the fact that nests are occasionally found containing a single young Cowbird and two or more young warblers or sparrows all nearly or quite ready to leave the nest. It is much more common, however, to find a pair of warblers or vireos feeding a single young Cowbird. It is claimed that the Cowbird is careful to select a nest already containing eggs, but this certainly is not true in Michigan, since scores of deserted nests are found each year con- Plate XLtV. Cowbird. Male. Reprinted from Chapman's Bird Lifi-. By courtesy of D. Appleton & Co. LAND BIRDS. 437 taming single eggs of the Cowbird. It is also common to find a nest con- taining two, three, or even four Cowbird's eggs along with one or more eggs of the rightful owner. Ordinarily such nests are promptly deserted. The species most commonly imposed upon are the various warblers, flycatchers, vireos and sparrows which nest in exposed situations where the Cowbird can readily find them. Nevertheless, a very large number of small birds suffer from the visits of the Cowbird, and a few species which nest in the deep woods are frequently victimized, among them the Ovenbird. Captain Bendire gives a list of ninety-one species and subspecies in whose nests Cowbirds' eggs have been found, and states that undoubtedly a number of others yet remain to be added to the list. In a few cases a bird thus imposed upon builds a false bottom or shelf above the eggs of the intruder and also raises the rim of the nest, thus leaving the Cowbird's egg to become stale in the basement while it lays its own eggs above. This, however, does not always secure safety, for the same or another Cowbird is likely to visit the nest again and leave another egg. Such two-story nests are not uncommon in collections, and occasionally even a three-story nest is found. We have such a one, built by a yellow Warbler, in our college collection. The Cowbird's eggs are variously speckled and spotted with brown on a soiled white back-ground, often with a greenish tinge, and average .81 by .66 inches. The Cowbird arrives from the south about the first of April. At Peters- burg the earliest record is March 17, 1889 and the latest April 27, 1892. At Grand Rapids the dates are April 1 to April 4, and at Sault Ste. Marie the single record we have is April 22, 1901. The males come first, and often singly or with flocks of other blackbirds, and it is not until nine or ten days after their arrival that they are seen in flocks with the females. Their food has been carefully studied by the Division of Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture, and is found to consist of about 22 percent of animal matter and 78 percent of vegetable matter. Insects form about 20 percent of the food for the year, but are mainly taken in May, June, July and August. The Cowbird appears to eat few beneficial insects, avoiding the predaceous ground beetles, but eating a few wasps, bees and ants. Its best work is in destroying grass- hoppers which form about half the insect food, and in August make 45 percent of the entire food of the species. It also eats snout beetles or weevils (about 2 percent), and caterpillars to about the same extent. Among the latter are a few cutworms, and the armyworm (Leucania) was found in four stomachs. Contrary to expectation it eats few flies or maggots, and there is no proof whatever that it eats intestinal worms from cattle droppings, or ticks from the animals themselves. In fact, the association of this bird with cattle has never received any satisfactory explanation. The vegetable food consists mainly of weed seeds and grain, the former predominating. Many stomachs contained nothing but weed seeds and clover seed, and many others nothing but these and grain. The latter is largely waste grain, principally oats, but a considerable part is from newly sown fields. The Cowbird does no harm to cultivated_ fruits. On the whole its food would indicate that it is rather more beneficial than harmful. It must not be forgotten, however, that in causing the death of multitudes of small birds, all of which are valuable to the agriculturist, this blackbird is doing an injury for which no amount of beneficial work in other directions can ever atone. It is one of the few species of native birds which might well be exterminated if possible. 438 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Advilt male: Entire head and neck uniform glossy dark brown; rest of plumage glossy- greenish black, usually with a purplish tinge where the brown and black areas merge; bill and feet black; iris dark brown. Adult female; Dull brownish gray to plain dark gray, somewhat darker above than below; throat much lighter, sometimes soiled white; breast and belly often obscurely streaked with dusky; bill and iris brown. Young: At first quite similar to the adult female, but more distinctly streaked below; young males, however, begin to assume the adult plumage in early autumn, and are often seen patched in various degrees with gray and deep black. Male: Length 7.75 to S.25 inches; wing 4 to 4.60; tail 2.90 to 3.35; culmen .61 to .72. Female: Averages about one inch shorter, the wing about 3.75. 197. Yellow-headed Blackbird. Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus (Bonap.). (497) Synonyms: Copperhead. — Icterus xanthocephalus, Bonaparte, 1826. — Agelaius xanthocephalus, Sw. & Rich., Aud., Baird. — Xanthocephalus icterocephalus, Coues, B. B. & R., Lawr., Ridgw. and many others. Male glossy black with bright yellow head and neck in sharp contrast, and a pure white patch in the wing which is conspicuous in flight. Female similar, but smaller, browner, the yellow duller and no white in the wing. Distribution. — Western North America, from Wisconsin, Illinois and Texas to the Pacific Coast, and from British Columbia and the Saskatchewan River southward to the valley of Mexico. Accidental in Ontario and the Atlantic states. The Yellow-headed Blackbird must be considered a straggler in Michigan and a very rare one at that. A single specimen, an adult male, was taken May 17, 1890, near Iron Mountain, Dickinson County, Mich., by Mr. E. E. Brewster. Mr. Brewster has kindly donated this specimen to the College and it is now in our collection, numbered 8044. This, so far as we can learn, is the only unquestionable Michigan specimen in existence. There is a specimen in the Barron collection at Niles, Mich., which may have been taken in that vicinity, but it is without any label and its origin is entirely unknown. Mr. John Hazelwood of Port Huron states that a single specimen of this species was brought to him for identification by a boy who had shot it, but the specimen was not preserved and the date of capture is not known. A. B. Covert of Ann Arbor states that specimens have been secured on the Monroe marshes in Monroe county, and he has a note to that effect on the margin of his copy of Coues Key, but no definite data as to these specimens have been found. There is in the University of Michigan collection a specimen of the Yellow-headed Blackbird labeled "Scole- cophagus carolinus, Mich., J. Hobson & Son." It is a young bird, but evidently was well able to fly. N. A. Wood informs us that Hobson was once curator of the University Museum, and he feels sure that this spec- imen must have been taken in the immediate vicinity of Ann Arbor. The bird is known to nest abundantly in certain parts of Wisconsin, and it formerly nested in numbers in Lake county, Indiana, within a very few miles of the Michigan border. The Gibbs collection contains a set of four eggs taken at Sheffield, Lake county, Ind., June 16, 1878, by Geo. F. Clingman, nest in wild rice two feet above the mud. It also breeds in northeastern Illinois and it is not impossible that small colonies may occasionally nest in Michigan territory in the southern tier of counties. It is a prairie bird, nesting in the marshes and sloughs after the manner LAND BIRDS. 439 of the Red-winged Blackljird and feeding largely on grain and weed seeds as do the other blackbirds. It builds a bulky nest and lays from four to six eggs, which are thickly speckled with brown on a gray back-ground, sometimes with pen scratches of black. The eggs average 1.05 by .71 inches. Although a handsome bird it seems to be doubtfully beneficial, according to Prof. Beal's study of its food in the Biological Survey at Washington. He finds that about 30 percent of its food consists of insects harmful to vegetation, all taken from the ground, mainly beetles, grasshoppers and caterpillars. Among the latter the army-worm is not uncommon. On the other hand it gleans waste grain from roadsides, barn yards and pastures like the Cowbird, but it also visits grain fields in large flocks and eats enough to cause much complaint among farmers. Oats and wheat suffer most. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Feathers about the base of bill, including the lores and small area about the eye, deep black; rest of head, neck and chest bright canary yellow, sometimes almost orange; usually a few yellow feathers about the vent and on the thighs (tibiae) ; a conspicuous pure white patch on each wing, including the primary coverts and often some of the greater coverts; rest of the plumage, including wings and tail, glossy black; bill and feet black; iris brown. Adult female: Decidedly smaller; brownish black, only the chest, throat and a line over the eye dull yellow; breast with some whitish intermixed with tiie darlv; no white wing-patch. Young: Similar to adult female. In autumn and winter the adult male has the bright yellow much obscured by dusky or brownish tips of the feathers. Male: Length 10.60 to 11.10 inches; wing 5.65 to 5.80; tail 4.50 to 4.85; culmen .75 to 1. Female: 9 to 10 inches; wing 4.40 to 4.65; tail 3.50 to 3.70. 198. Red- winged Blackbird. Agelaius phoeniceus phceniceus (Linn.). (498) Synonyms: Red-wing, Red-shouldered Blackbird, Swamp Blackbird, Red-winged Starling. — Oriolus phoeniceus, Linn. 1766. — Icterus phceniceus, Bonap., Nutt. — Sturnus praedatorius, Wils., 1811. — Agelaius phceniceus of most other authors. Figures 100, 101, 102, 103. Adult male mainly or entirely black except for the shoulders (lesser and middle wing-coverts), which are briUiant scarlet bordered with buffy white. Female and young streaked with brownish or grayish above and below, and mottled or not with dull red on the shoulders. Distribution. — North America in general from Great Slave Lake south to Costa Rica, with minor exceptions. In Michigan the Red-winged Blackbird is almost universally distributed and breeds in every part of the state where suitable conditions are found. It is, however, much more plentiful in the middle and southern portions of the state, although this may be due largely to the greater abundance in these sections of marshes, cattail swamps and sinailar ground for which it has a decided preference. It arrives from the south very early, pig 102. the first flocks (which consist entirely of l,eg and foot of Red-winged Blackbird. males) frequently entering the southern tier of counties before the end of February (Petersburg, Feb. 18, 1893), and 440 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. reaching all parlw of llie Lower Peninsula before the end of March in ordinary seasons. At Lansing the males commonly arrive l^etween the 10th and 20th of March and the females follow a week or ten days later. Nesting does not begin until May, and even in the southern part of tlic state proliably not many eggs are laid before the middle of tliat month, while in the northern part of the state the first eggs are found the latter part of May and first of June. Undouljtcdly a great many of the birds rear second broods in July, but this haljit is not universal and it is difficult to say to what proportion it applies. The species is more or less polygamous, a single male often mating witfi two, tliree, or possibly more females and driving other males away from the immediate vicinity. ]''i),'. ](H), It(-(l-winged Blackbird. Adult Male. Froiri Fanners' Bulletin No. 1.3, Biological Survey, U. S. iJepartinent of Y\griculture. The nest is commonly a somewhat bulky and substantial structure woven out of coarse grasses and weeds and lined with finer material of the same kind. It is most often attached to the stalks of grass, reeds or flags at heights ranging from a few inches to several feet above the water, or in rarer instances aljove the ground. Not infrequently nests are placed in wild rose bushes, low willows or other slender shrulDS growing in water, and more rarely in a tree of some kind at a height of a dozen feet or more. Occasionally nests are found placed close to the ground or even directly upon it, but this is exceptional. The eggs are three to six, most often four or five, and are greenish or bluish white variously dotted, spotted and often pen marked with brown, purple, lavender and black. They average .97 by .07 inches. The birds LANiD BIRDS. 441 are more or less gregarious even when nesting, and in favorable localities scores, or even hundreds, of nests may be found placed here and there at intervals of but a few yards, sometimes only five or ten feet apart. The song, if it can be called such, commonly consists of three syllaljles which Emerson writes " o-ka-lee, " and Samuels as " ciuonk-a-ree." Nehrling writes this "con-cur-ee," and calls its whistling note "tii-th." This whistle is one of the clearest and most penetrating of bird-calls and in clear weather can be heard at great distances. When o"ne is collecting in a marsh where Red-wings are nesting in numbers this persistent and powerful Fig. 101. Red-winged Blackbird. Young about five days from nest. Photograph from mounted specimen. (Original.) whistle becomes so monotonous and yet so painful to a sensitive ear that at length the irritation becomes. almost unbearalsle. As soon as the young are able to fly the birds gather into larger or smaller flocks and begin to forage on the cultivated fields in the vicinit}^ retiring at night to the cattail marshes to roost. It is at this time that the greatest harm is done to grain, for the birds sometimes assemble in flocks of twenty to fifty thousand and are capable of inflicting heavy damage upon oats or wheat. This has been more particularly the case in the past, for in the early history of the state the breeding grounds of the blackbirds were extra- ordinarily abundant and the grain fields were few and far between. Thus an immense blackbird population was likely to concentrate on a small acreage of grain, naturally with disastrous results. The steady increase in the area of cultivated lands, and perhaps more especially the drainage of a large part of the swamps and marshes, has changed these conditions completely; at present not nearly as many blackbirds are reared in the state 442 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. and these distribute their attacks over a much larger area so that the loss to any one farmer is very small. Studies of the food of the Red-wing bring out three points of particular interest: It eats immense quantities of grass seed and weed seeds, a moder- ate amount of grain of various kinds, and a con- siderable number of insects, the greater part being injurious species. According to Beal,* in 1083 stomachs examined more than half the food (55 percent) was grass and weed seeds, particularly seeds of pigeon grass or foxtail, bitter-weed, smartweed, dock, sorrel, etc.; 14 percent was grain, half of which was waste grain; while the other vegetable matter was of little account. Insects formed 26 percent of the food, with beetles heading the list and caterpillars and grasshoppers next. Practically all the insects are taken from the ground and by far the larger part are injurious forms. Among these may be named weevils or snout-beetles, cutworms (including army worms), span-worms, chafers, and grasshoppers. About one-fourth of the beetles are predaceous forms, and thus more or less beneficial, but as a whole this blackbird does excellent service for the farmer in ridding his fields and meadows of harmful insects. In regions where the bird is but moderately plentiful the balance is largely in its favor, but where it is very abundant its inroads on grain are too serious to be overlooked. Fig. 103. Tail of Red- winged Blaclibird. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male in summer: Glossy velvet black all over, except shoulders (lesser wing- coverts) which are bright scarlet, and the middle wing-coverts which are buffy or creamy white, forming a broad margin for the red shoulders. In autumn all the black feathers (except primaries and tail-feathers) are margined with buff, rusty red, or even chestnut, most broadly and heavily on back, scapulars and tertiaries, more narrowly and lightly on under parts; bill and feet bluish-black; iris brown. Adult female in summer: Smaller and otherwise entirely different. Upper parts brownish black, more or less streaked with ashy or whitish, with a more or less distinct median light stripe on the crown, and a distinct whitish stripe over the eye; under parts streaked lengthwise with whitish and black in almost equal amounts, the chin and throat reddish or yellowish and faintly or not at all streaked; shoulders usually mixed red and black, occasionally nearly as red as in the male, sometimes without any red; bill brownish black; iris brown. Young at first resemble the adult female, but males are soon separable by larger size and darker color pattern. iVIale: Length 9 to 10 inches; wing 4.60 to 5.05; tail 3.55 to 3.95; culmen .88 to 1. Female: Length 7.50 to 8.50 inches; wing 3.80 to 4.25; tail 3.10 to 3.40; culmen .72 to .80. 199. Thick-billed Red-wing. Agelaius phoeniceus fortis Ridgw. (498d) Synonyms: Northern Red-wing. Similar to the common Red-wing, but decidedly larger, with the bill relatively much shorter and thicker. Distribution. — Central North America, breeding northward; migrating from j\Ianitoba south to Illinois, Indian Territory, and western Texas, westward to and including the Rocky Mountains, and south to Arizona and Chihuahua. The Thick-billed Red-wing is a new subspecies of blackbird described by Ridgway in 1901, and as yet but imperfectly known as to habits and ♦Biological Survey Bull. 13, pp. 33-44. LAND BIRDS. 443 distribution. So far as we know now it has been found within Michigan territory only at Isle Royale, Lake Superior, where, in the fall of 1904, members of the University of j\lichigan expedition took four specimens, two males on August 18 and 26 and two females on August 24 and 29. Several flocks were seen during the month of August and it is possible that all belonged to this subspecies, but more likely that the flocks were mixed. Again, in 1905, this subspecies was found in numbers on Isle Royale and about fifty specimens were taken. They appeared first on August 19, in large flocks, which seemed to consist entirely of immature birds and adult females, since no adult males were taken. Several specimens of the common Red-wing (phceniceus) were taken on August 18, but none after the Thick-billed Red-wing appeared. It seems almost certain that the latter form does not nest on Isle Royale (Peet, An. Rep. ]\lich. Geol. Surv., 1908, 362-363). We do not know of any differences in feeding or other habits between this subspecies and the tj'pical Red-wing. Its nest and eggs are as yet unknown. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. The original description of this subspecies is as follows: "Similar to Agelaius phceniceus phceniceus, but decidedly larger, with bill relatively much shorter and thicker; adult female, adult male in winter, and immature female, similar in coloration to the same of A. p. sonoriensis, but distinguished by very different measurements" (Ridgway, Proc. Wash. Acad. Science, III, April 1901, p. 153). 200. Meadowlark. Sturnella magna magna {Linn.). (501) Synonyms: Common Lark, Old Field Lark, Field Lark, Marsh Quail. — Alauda magna, Linn. 1758, Wilson, 1811. — Sturnus ludovicianus, Bonap., Nutt., And. — Sturnella magna, Baird, Allen, Ridgway, Brewster, and most American writers. Plate XLV and Figure IO4. Recognizable at a glance by the gray-and-brown-streaked upper parts, and the brilliant yellow throat and breast separated by a broad v-shaped black collar. In flight the white outer tail-feathers are conspicuous. Distribution. — Eastern United States and southern Canada to the Plains. Breeds from the Gulf of j\Iexico northward. In ilichigan the Meadowlark is widely distributed, being most abundant, however, in the Lower Peninsula and occurring only in the most favorable spots in the Upper Peninsula. We have records from Beaver Island in Lake Jlichigan, Mackinac Island at the head of Lake Huron, and Neebish Island in the St. Mary's River, as well as from Chippewa, JIackinac, Luce, Alger, Marquette, Iron, Dickin- son and Delta counties, all in the Upper Peninsula. That it also occurs in favorable localities farther west in the Upper Peninsula is not to be doubted, but at present we have no data which warrant a positive state- ment in this respect. Presumably it breeds wherever it is found within our borders. Fig. 104. Wing of Meadowlark, showing elongated tertiaries. 444 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. It is one of our first birds to arrive from the south, in fact, a few individuals always winter in favorable places in the southern part of the state, and in mild winters considerable numbers remain. The northward movement always begins early in March if not before, but the records for the southern part of the state are of course vitiated by the fact that some of the birds have wintered there. At Lansing the first arrivals range from March 3 to March 28, and probably an average date for the center of the Lower Peninsula would be March 12. Often they come in small flocks, but these are seldom compact and the birds are soon found everywhere, in pairs or singly, or occasionally in little parties of three to five. Nest building begins early in May and fresh eggs may be found at almost any time after the 10th of that month in southern Michigan, and from ten days to two weeks later in the more northern counties. Very com- monly, if not usually, a second nesting takes place in July, and it is not uncommon to find young birds barely able to fly late in August. The nest is always placed on the ground, sometimes in the side of a tussock or bank, but more often on the level ground in some neglected field, pasture or meadow, where the dead grass is somewhat long. It is always well con- cealed, and not infrequently is approached by a covered tunnel or run, sometimes extending two feet or more from the nest. The nest itself is composed almost entirely of grasses, and the eggs are commonly five or six, occasionally four or seven. They are variously marked with brown, purple and lavender dots and lines on a nearly white ground color. Some- times the spots are very few, and rarely the eggs are thickly spotted. They average 1.10 by .78 inches. Incubation is said to last fifteen or sixteen days. The song of the Meadowlark is hardly more than a prolonged call-note, yet it is so sweet and clear that when first heard after the long silence of winter it is one of the most attractive of bird calls. Bendire writes the song " hee-hee-hee-thee-hea " and gives the call-note or alarm-note as "eeck-eeck, ending with a tremulous quaver." From the standpoint of the agriculturist the Meadowlark has few rivals; in fact, we do not know that it has a single bad habit. It feeds almost entirely upon insects, grass-seed and weed-seeds, rarely eating grain of any kind and probably never taking sprouting grain or grain from the head or shock. Moreover, the insects consumed are nearly or quite all injurious forms. It eats moths, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, cut-worms, cater- pillars, and a variety of other insects, but is partial to the forms which are so constantly present in pastures and meadows, working upon the vegetation in such places that it is impossible for the farmer to destroy them. This bird by no means confines itself to the naked span-worms and other larvae which most other birds eat, but it devours with equal avidity the hairy caterpillars which few birds will touch. In Illinois, in the summer of 1880, Professor Forbes found that the Meadowlarks ate the chinch bug "in barely sufficient numbers to show that they have no unconquerable prejudice against them." It is much to be regretted that the bird is large enough to make an attractive mark for the would-be sportsman and the small boy, for it is followed up relentlessly and shot for food or for "sport" in spite of the protective law which absolutely forbids its destruction at any time, but which unfortunately is seldom enforced. The Meadowlark is not naturally shy or suspicious and wherever it is rigidly protected for a few seasons it becomes familiar and even confiding, nesting readily in close proximity Plate XLV. Meadowlark. Courtesy of National Committee of Audubon Soeieties. LAND BIRDS. -147 to travelled roads, and even in parks and on lawns wherever it finds itself safe from persecution. Its beautiful plumage, attractive notes, and great economic value commend it alike to all classes and situations and it should be most rigidly protected and encouraged. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male; Upper parts mainly black, streaked, spotted, and imperfectly barred with grayish-brown; crown mainly black, with a median whitish stripe; a similar light stripe rims backward from the eye, with a narrow black stripe below it, dividing it from the cheeks and am-iculars, which are also grayish white; a bright yellow line from nostril to eye; chin, throat, breast, belly and bend of wing, rich yellow, the yellow of the throat not extending laterally onto the malar region; chest with a conspicuous black crescent separating the yellow of throat and breast; sides and flanks heavily streaked with black and grayish-white; two or three outermost pairs of tail-feathers pure white on inner webs; bill brown, horn-colored at base; iris brown. Adult female : Smaller and duller, the black above not so deep, and the yellow of throat and breast paler. Young birds resemble the female, and for a time show no black collar, or only a series of black spots there. In autumn all specimens have the black and yellow markings much veiled or overlaid by the broad ashy tips and margins of the feathers; these wear off almost entirely before the breeding season. Male: Length 9.50 to 11 inches; wing 4.40 to 5; culmen 1.20 to 1.52. Female: Length 8 to 10 inches; wing 3.95 to 4.30; culmen 1.04 to 1.17. 201. Western Meadowlark. Sturnella neglecta Awrf(/6on. (501b) Synonyms: Common Meadowlark, Field Lark, or Lark, of the West. — Sturnella neglecta of Aud. and most authors until about 1870. — Sturnella magna neglecta of most recent writers. So similar to the eastern Meadowlark as to be separable with difficulty except by the expert. The western form is decidedly paler both above and below, having a peculiar bleached appearance, which, however, is also found sometimes in specimens of the eastern form when in worn plumage. In size the two forms are nearly alike, but the western form averages a little larger. Distribution. — Western United States, from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Texas, etc., west to the Pacific Coast and north to British Columbia and Manitoba, south through central and western Mexico. The only unquestioned record of this species for the state is that of a pair seen near Palmer, Marquette county (Upper Peninsula), on May 10, 1894, by Mr. Oscar B. Warren. One of these birds was secured and the skin is now in the College collection. The species has been reported at various times by different observers in widely separated parts of the state, but we have no specimens to confirm any of these observations and it seems almost certain that the birds reported by Dr. Atkins from Ingham county, and by Covert from other parts of the state, were simply ordinary eastern Meadowlarks in somewhat unfamihar plumage. Similar as the two forms are in plumage and general habits, they differ remarkably in song. The present species, on its natural nesting grounds west of the Mississippi, has a beautiful warbling song, suggesting somewhat that of the Baltimore Oriole, but much more prolonged and sometimes almost rivalling that of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Even the imperfect autumnal song, which the writer has heard many times on the Minnesota prairies in September, is utterly unlike anything which the eastern bird ever produces, and it would seem impossible that the two birds could be ■confounded if one were: familiar with their songs. 448 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. It is very desirable that someone should search for the Meadowlark in the western part of our Upper Peninsula, and if colonies can be found, should study them carefully and publish the results. At present we do not know that either species occurs in this territory, yet from the fact that the western form is not uncommon in northern Wisconsin it seems likely that it may frequently enter adjoining Michigan territory. The nesting habits and eggs are entirely similar in the two species, but the eggs of the western form average slightly larger and rather more sparsely marked. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Upper parts mainly dark brown, streaked, spotted and barred with grayish, thus giving a lighter and grayer tone to the plumage; tertiaries and middle tail- feathers distinctly barred with black and grayish, the latter color reaching the shaft, not merely indenting or scalloping the black as it does in the eastern Meadowlark; under parts similar to those of the eastern form, but the yellow somewhat paler, and that of the throat extending laterally more or less over the malar region; flanks and under tail-coverts nearly white — not buffy. The sexual and seasonal differences are parallel with those of the common form. Male: Wing 4.85 to 5.30 inches; culmen 1.20 to 1.36. Female: Wing 4.30 to 4.60 inches; culmen 1.10 to 1.22. 202. Orchard Oriole. Icterus spurius (Linn.). (506) Synonyms: — Brown Oriole, Basket-bird. — Oriolus spurius, Linn. 1766. — Oriolus mutatus, Wilson, 1808. — Pendulinus spurius, Cassin. — Icterus spurius of most authors. Adult male mostly deep black, the breast and belly rich chestnut brown; no pure white anywhere. Female yellowish olive above and olive-yellow below, with two white wing-bars. Distribution. — Eastern United States, north to the southern portions of New England, New York, Ontario, Michigan and North Dakota, west to the Plains, south in winter to northern Colombia. Breeds throughout its United States range. In Michigan the Orchard Oriole is a resident from May to September in most of the southern half of the state. It seems to be a fairly common bird in suitable locahties as far north as Grand Rapids and Port Huron, or about to the parallel of 43°; farther north than this it is decidedly uncommon and probably the Saginaw-Grand Valley forms the northern Umit of its distribution. Mr. Newell A. Eddy of Bay City records a single specimen from Kawkawlin, in Bay County about ten miles north of Bay City, the only record for the county. At Goodrich, in the southeastern part of Genesee county, Mr. Samuel Spicer reports it common and nesting. This oriole arrives from the south at about the time the apple blossoms open, the dates ranging from May 6 or 7 at Petersburg and Ann Arbor to May 19 or 20 at Lansing and Grand Rapids. It is everywhere much less com- mon than the Baltimore Oriole, but shows decided preferences for some localities. Thus, about Lansing an entire season may pass without the record of a single Orchard Oriole and it is never common, while along the western shore of Lake St. Clair and St. Clair River, in Macomb and St. Clair counties. Swales and Taverner call it a fairly abundant summer resident. Its song, according to Bendire, is quick, hurried and impossible to de- scribe, but reminds one somewhat of the Warbling Vireo, but is louder and clearer. In Michigan the song always seems to have a peculiar wiry, metallic twang which suggests thg introductory notes of the Bobolink's LAND BIRDS. 449 song. Bicknell notes the fact that it sings regularly on the wing and "passes with uninterrupted song from tree to tree." It is most often seen searching for insects among the terminal sprays of blossoming trees. It seldom visits the ground, and, at least while with us, its food consists mainly of insects. It is very fond of plant-lice, small caterpillars, and the flies and wasps found about blossoms. According to Bendire it also eats beetles, rose-bugs, grasshoppers and cabbage worms, as well as "larvse of all kinds." Two specimens were killed in an orchard overrun with canker worms in Tazewell County, 111., .in 1881, and the contents of their stomachs studied by Professor S. A. Forbes. He found that nearly four- fifths of their food was cankerworms, while other caterpillars formed all but three percent of the remainder, this being ants. Butler states that in Indiana when the young leave the nest the whole family go into the corn- fields and feed upon the insect enemies of the corn. It feeds sparingly on fruits, mainly wild varieties. It also, like the Baltimore Oriole, probes flowers for insects and possibly for nectar, and seems to pinch off and eat stamens quite freely, but since the species is not abundant, this work, as well as the work on small fruits, may be entirely disregarded. Its nest, unlike that of its nearest relative, the Baltimore Oriole, is seldom completely pensile; although deeply cup-shaped and basket-like, it is most often attached to twigs at the sides as well as at the rim, so that it never swings freely. It is most often found in orchard trees, but the bird is not very particular and sometimes selects oaks, elms, cottonwoods, maples, hackberries, and even occasionally the red cedar or pine. The nest is seldom placed at any considerable height, usually from eight to twenty feet above the ground. The material is almost invariably slender grass, which is commonly used green and often retains this color for months afterward. It is woven and fastened with the same skill possessed by other species of the family and forms a neat and remarkably durable nest. The eggs are from four to six, usually five, bluish-white, spotted and pen-scratched with brown, purple and lavender. They average .79 by .57 inches. The nest is seldom built before the last week in May, and in Kalamazoo county fresh eggs were taken by Westnedge and Syke at various times from May 27 to June 11. Dr. R. H. Wolcott records a nest with young at New Baltimore, Macomb county, July 20, 1893. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill conical, acute, slightly down-curved toward the end; tail shorter than wing, slightly- graduated, the lateral feathers less than half an inch shorter than the middle pair. Adult male: Entire head, neck, anterior half of back, scapulars, throat and chest, deep black; breast, belly, under tail-coverts, sides, lesser and middle wing-coverts, lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts, rich deep chestnut; greater wing-coverts black, narrowly tipped with whitish; tail black; bill black above, horn-blue at the base of lower mandible; iris pale brown. Adult female: Yellowish olive above, brightest on head and rump, grayer or browner on back and scapulars; wings with two whitish bars; under parts light greenish-yellow; no chestnut anywhere. Young: At first like the female, but the second season the young male has the lores, chin and throat deep black, and frequently a few black or chestnut feathers here and there. Probably three years are necessary for the attainment of full plumage. Length 6 to 7.25; wing 2.90 to 3.25; tail 2.65 to 3.20, 57 -ir,o MICHIGAN I5IRD LIFE. 203. Baltimore Oriole. Icterus galbula (Linn.). (507) Synniiyins: (iolilen R(jl)iii, English Robin, Hang-bird, H:ing-nes( , Eiru-binl, Pea-bird, Ilannnock-binL— Coracias galbula, Linn., 1758. — Icterus baltimorc of many autliors. Figures 10.5, 100. ,\(lull male mainly oranse-yellow and black, the latter reistricted mo.stly (o the liead, tail and wings; wings with two imperfect white bars. Female much duller yellow, with little or no clear black, decidedly smaller than the male. Distrilnttion. — Eastern United States, north to Ontario and Manitoba, west nearly to the Rocky Jlountains, south in winter through Wexico to ('oloml)ia. Fii,'. 105. Baltimore Oriole. Adult iMale. From Yearbook of U. S. Department of Agriculture, 18'.).5. This is a common visitor to tlie greater part of the Lower Peninsula, but occurs in abundance only south of latitude 44°, and apparently is absent altogether from most of the Upper Peninsula. It is reported as not common at ^'an's Harljor, Delta county, which appears to be the northernmost record for the state. This distribution is somewhat singular, since the l)ird is common in .Minnesota as far as Leach Lake, latitude 47°, and is fairly common in parts of Manitoba. It reaches ]\Iichigan from the south late in April or earl}- in Way ^jjg dates ranging from April 19, 1889 to May 2, 1893 at Petersburg, Monroe county, and from April 19, 1896 to IMay 11, 1885 at Lansing. The males LAND BIRDS. 451 come first, as is usual with birds of this family, the females following from five to _ ten days later. Ordinarily the species first becomes abundant at the time the apple trees are coming into full bloom. Almost immediately on the arrival of the females nest-building begins and most nests are com- pleted and contain eggs by the first of June. Dates for fresh eggs in Kalamazoo county are May 21, 1887, June 1 and 2, 1891, June 8 and June 11, 1888. On the College campus the young almost invariably leave the nest between June 18 and 30, the great majority between the 20th and 25th. Before the middle of July both old and young have disappeared from garden, orchard and park, and except for an occasional almost silent individual at rare intervals, none are seen again until about the middle of August, from which time until their departure for the south in September they are fairly common and the male frequently sings almost as sweetly as in May. This disappearance for a month or more is rather apparent than real, for a careful search of the woods and swamps will reveal a fair number of orioles, spending most of their time, however, in the leafy crowns of the higher trees, where they are hardly visible, and being almost silent are pretty sure to be overlooked. They may also be found at this season about wild cherry and service berry trees, feeding on the ripening fruit. The nest is a purse-shaped net of plant fibres, twine, roots and hair, varying in size and depth, but usually fastened by its upper border to several drooping twigs on the hanging branch of some large tree, preferably an elm, oak, or birch, although nests are seen occasionally in a dozen other kinds of trees. These nests are so firmly fastened and so durably woven that not infrequently a nest lasts for several years, although the builder never uses the same nest for more than a single brood. The bird appears to return year after year to the same tree, and often to the same branch, and sometimes two or' even three nests built in consecutive years may be seen on the same branch in winter. The eggs are pale bluish-white or rosy-white, spotted, streaked and pen-scratched with black and brown, mostly at the larger end. They average .91 by .61 inches. The set usually consists of four, but often five are found and rarely six. The period of incubation is about fourteen days. Captain Bendire says of its song: "A very peculiar note, a long drawn out chattering 'chae, chae, chae' is apt to draw ones attention to it on its first arrival, and this is more or less frequently uttered throughout the season. This note is difficult to reproduce exactly, and I find its song still more so. One sounds somewhat like 'hioh, hioh, tweet, tweet;' another something like 'whee-he-he, whee-he-he, oh whee-he-he-woy-woy.' This last is much more softly uttered than the first." The food of the oriole has a wide range, but consists mainly of insects, at least while with us. It is true that it has a special fondness for green peas, sometimes stripping the pods so freely as to cause con- siderable complaint. It also punctures ripening grapes -^^^^^ whenever it has opportunity, but particularly where vines >'' .,'iii'"'^ have run up into trees or over arbors or shrubbery in such " ^^^ ^^g a way as to hide the bird while at work. It is rare to hear bui of Baltimore complaints from grape growers, for where the vines are numerous and properly pruned the Oriole seldom injures them. Occasion- ally it attacks early apples and pears, digging holes into the soft pulp and of course ruining each apple attacked. This work, however, is often carried on in conjunction with several other birds, notably Red-headed Wood- 452 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. peckers, Robins, and Blue Jays, while Catbirds and occasionally Bronzed Crackles, take a hand in the work. On the other hand, the good work done by the Oriole in the consumption of harmful insects can hardly be overestimated. The examination of 113 stomachs in the Division of Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agri- culture, reveals the fact that more than 83 percent of the food of the year consists of animal matter, almost all of which is insects. Of this material the most important item is caterpillars which form more than 34 percent of the whole. Next come beetles, among which the snapping-beetles, of the family Elateridse, whose larva? are known as wire-worms, seem to be preferred. May-beetles are also eaten greedily and the destructive leaf-beetles (Chrysomelidse) usually avoided by birds, seem also to be a favorite food. Weevils are often taken, and wasps, ants and bees are consumed in some numbers. Perhaps the most interesting item in this connection is the fact that the Oriole eats considerable numbers of scale insects (Coccidse) and plant-lice (Aphidae), two of the most destructive families of insects known. These are so minute that it is remarkable the birds should eat them, but any one who has watched the Oriole gleaning among the opening buds of apple trees will realize that a single bird must destroy thousands of plant-lice daily. Forbes found that it ate canker- worms freely in Illinois, and Trimble, in New Jersey, found the wing-covers of the plum-curculio in its stomach. It has been noted also by many different observers that the Baltimore Oriole feeds freely on the apple-tree tent caterpillar, tearing open the silken web in order to reach the young insects and returning again and again to feast upon them. The writer has watched the bird thus employed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Michigan. Not a few grasshoppers and locusts are eaten also, but it must be remembered that almost all the Oriole's food is gleaned from trees, and that it seldom searches for food on the ground. On the whole, it is one of our most valuable, as well as most beautiful birds, and the little harm done is more than compensated by the blessings conferred in the destruction of insects. "Added to these good qualities, its brilliant plumage, sprightly manners, pleasing song, and skill in nest-building excite our admiration. Let the farmer continue to hold his good opinion of the Oriole and accord to it the protection it so well deserves." (Beal.) TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill much stouter than that of Orchard Oriole; conical, acute, slightly if at all decurved; tail but slightly graduated. Adult male: Upper parts from bill to middle of back, including scapulars, glossy black, this color covering neck, chin and throat, and usually extending downward on the middle of the chest; rest of under parts rich orange or deep yellow (very variable), brightest on the chest; wings mainly black, with a single white bar across tips of greater coverts, the tertiaries margined with white, and the lesser coverts (shoulders) bright orange; tail yellow at base and tip, each feather with a broad area of black in the middle, most on the middle feathers and least on the lateral pair; bill and legs horn-blue; iris pale brown. In late summer after moulting, the white wing-markings are wider and much more conspicuous. Adult female : Rather smaller than the male and otherwise very different. Upper parts dull brownish yellow, more or less mottled or obscurely spotted on head and back with blackish; chin and middle of belly whitish; rest of under parts dull yellow, often with obscure dusky markings on throat and chest; wings grayish-brown with two white bars; tail greenish yellow without black markings. Young: Similar to female, but young males acquire the color pattern of the old male (but not the brilliance) in the second year. Length 7 to 8.15 inches; wing 3.50 to 3.90; tail 2.85 to 3.35. Land birds. 453 204. Rusty Blackbird. Euphagus carolinus {AIiilL). (509) Synonyms: Rusty Crackle, Tlirush Blackbird. — Turdus carolinus. Muller, 1776 — Scolecophagus ferrugineus, Svv. & Rich., Baird, Coues, and many of tlie older naturalists. — Quiscalus ferrugineus, Bonap., Nuttall, Audubon. — Gracula ferruginea, Wilson. — Scolecophagus carolinus, Ridgw., 1885, A. O. U. Clieck-list, 1886, and most recent antliors. Figures 107, WS. J\lale ill spring uniform Ijluisli or greenisli Ijlack; in autumn most of the feathers edged with rusty. Female brownish slate-color in spring, with rusty edgings in autumn. In both sexes the iris is straw-yellow. Distribution. — Eastern United States, west to Alaska and the Plains. Breeds from Northern New England, northern New York, and northern iMichigan [?] northward. This beautiful blackbird is one of the first spring migrants, enteiing the state from the south early in March, usually as early as the 10th, and frequently lingering, at least in the latitude of Lansing, until the first or even second week in May. This statement is at variance with reports from several sections of the state, wdrere observers speak of the Rusty Grackle I)eing seen only for a day or two in spring, ):>ut making a longer stay in fall. Our own experience at the College during the past seven- teen years has been as stated above, the birds appearing at about the same time as the Red- wings and lingering, in larger or smaller flocks, for almost or quite two months. Eventually all pass northward entirely out of the state and nest lieyond our limits. Statements that this species nests in the Upper Peninsula, or elsewhere in the state, seem to lie entirely unwarranted, as not a particle of evidence in confirmation has been obtained. The bird returns to us late in September (Isle Royale, Sept. 15, 1905), or early in October, and lingers until after heavy frost, or often until the ground freezes. Frequently large flocks are found late in November, and stragglers linger into December and even occasionally all winter. At least three times during the last ten years we have known from one to three individuals to remain in the neighborhood of the College all winter, and similar instances have been reported from other parts of the state. In the spring the birds are decidedly musical and though a single song, if it can be called such, consists of hardly more than a dozen chuckling and whistling notes, yet a chorus of several hundred birds produces a very pleasing effect. Seton Thompson speaks of them in April as Fii,'. 107. lUi.sty Blackbird. From photograph of mounted specimen. 454 MiClilGAN BIRD LIFE. follows: "They blacken the fields and crowd the air. The bare trees on which they alight are foliaged by them. Their incessant jingling songs drown the music of the Meadowlarks ^^g and produce a dreamy far-away effect ^^.^^^ oj ^figty Blackbird, as of myriads of distant sleigh bells " (Birds of :Manitoba, p. 581). During their spring visit in Michigan the food seems to consist entirely of weed-seeds, waste grain, and such insects and other scraps of animal life as they can pick up in the marshes and around the edges of ponds and streams. They are specially fond of damp places and are continually wading in the shallow edges of pools and streams, apparently never so happy as when their feet are wet. In autumn they frec|uent stubble fields, corn fields and sometimes the beech woods, feeding on practically the same substances as in spring, though probably with a larger proportion of insects. The examination of 132 stomachs by the Department of Agriculture at Washington shows a larger proportion of animal matter (53 percent) than in any other American blackbird except the Bobolink. They eat immense numbers of water-beetles and their larvaj (which probably have no economic importance), but they also eat snout-beetles, leaf-beetles, Alay-beetles and numerous other Coleoptera, most of Avhich are harmful. In autumn grasshoppers form a very large part of their food, amounting to nearly 40 percent. They eat but little wheat, oats or corn, except waste in the fields, and it is not probable that they pull up sprouting grain, although this has been alleged. On the whole this species is at least as beneficial as harmful, and probably has a large margin to its credit on the beneficial side. As already stated, it is not known to nest within our limits, and the only record at hand of a nest in this latitude is the statement that one was found at Storr's Lake, near Milton, Wisconsin, in June 1861 (Kumlien and Hollister, Birds of Wisconsin, p. 89). We are also informed by Mr. F. C. Hubel of Detroit, that he and Mr. Kay found a pair feeding young, near Cobalt, Nipissing district, Ont., in the summer of 1905. According to Job it breeds abundantly on the i\Iagdalene Islands, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where it nests like the Robin, "low down in spruces, usually near the ends of thick boughs" (Auk, XVIII, 1901, 200). The eggs are described by Bendire as light bluish-green, blotched and spotted with different shades of chocolate and chestnut-brown and lighter shades of ecru, drab and pearl-gray. The eggs are four or five in a set, and average .99 by .73 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: In spring, glossy greonish black all over, sometimes (usually) with very narrow whitish or rusty edgings on a few feathers, particularly the under tail-coverts; in autumn, black, all the feathers of the forward half of the bird margined more or less strongly with buff, rusty, or chestnut, most heavily on the top of head amd interscapular region; bill and feet black, iris straw-yellow. Adult female : In spring, uniform slate-color, with scanty buffy or rusty edgings, which are remnants of the winter plumage; in autumn, similar, but with the slate-color overlaid on head, breast and back with rusty brown or even chestnut; often a conspicuous light stripe extending backward from above the eye. Young are similar to the adult female at first but the males soon show much blacker wings and tail. Length 8.20 to 9.75 inches; wing 4.25 to 4.75; tail 3.65 to 4.20; culmen .70 to .80. LAND BIRDS. 455 20S. Bronzed Grackle. Quiscalus quiscula aeneus (Ridgw.). (511b) Synonyms: Grackle, Crow Blackbird, Big Blackbird, )Vestern Crow Blackbird. — Quiscalus seneus, Ridgway, 1869. — Quiscalus versicolor, Aud., Swains, Baird (part). — Quiscalus purpureus aeneus, Coues, Brewster and others. — Quiscalus quiscula aeneus, Stejn., A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most recent authors. Plate XLVI and Figure 109. Largest of our blackbirds, and readily known by the changeable blue- purple-green-black, of the head, neck and upper breast, and the metallic bronze or brassy color of the body, the feathers of the back and belly without iridescent bars. Distribution. — From the Alleghenies and southern New England north to Newfoundland and Great Slave Lake, west to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, and s'outh to Louisiana and Texas. In migrations, the southeastern states, except Florida and the Atlantic Coast district south of Virginia. The Bronzed Grackle arrives from the south early in March, occasionally in the latter part of February, and a few instances are known of individual birds wintering in the state. 0. B. Warren states that he once saw them in a protected creek bottom in Albion, Calhoun county, in January, and single ones have been observed about the Agricultural College in December and January. At Petersburg the earliest arrival was March 6, 1897 and the latest March 27, 1885. Near Detroit Swales recorded them on February 24, 1891, and in 1896 not until March 29. In the fall the majority depart in October and early November but a few linger until the latter part of November or even into December. This species is found almost invariably in flocks except during the nesting season, and even then the nests are often placed in communities and the birds feed in companies of ten to fifty ^ even when gathering food for the young. They ^~ ^-^^^— ^ are somewhat local in their distribution, being ^^""^ common in some towns and almost or entirely absent in adjoining ones, but the species is widely distributed over the state and occurs in greater or less abundance probably in every county. W. H. Grant found it near Houghton, on Keweeiiaw ^^^^ „j Bronzed' Grackle. Point, in 1904; Norman A. Wood took one on Isle Royale in Aiigust of the same year; White found it on Mackinac Island, ]\Iajor Boies found it on Neebish Island, and several observers have reported it from ilarquette county and all the Upper Peninsula counties east of that point. Unlike any of our other blackbirds this species nests almost always in trees and at a considerable height from the ground. Its favorite nesting place is in the thick tops or the bushy branches of spruces and other ever- greens, but it also places its bulky nest in many of the deciduous trees, and not infrequently in abandoned woodpeckers' holes or in the natural cavities of dead or living trees. We have also seen the nest in vines against the walls of buildings, upon rafters of sheds, the timbers of bridges, and not in- frequently on cornices or brackets on large buildings. Dr. R. H. Wolcott also records their nesting in lumber piles at Grand Rapids. We have never seen a nest less than eight feet from the ground, but in the lake regions 456 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. of Minnesota and Iowa, according to Bendire, they sometimes nest in large colonies in shrubs and wild gooseberry bushes, or even in the reeds, placing the nest sometimes within a foot or two of the ground. It is possible that this may occur in Michigan, but we have been unable to find any record of such a habit. Ordinarily the nest is very bulky and made of coarse grass, \yeed-stalks and similar materials, sometimes with a little mud in its composition, rnore often without. It is lined with finer grass and other fibrous materials, is deeply hollowed, and usually contains five or six eggs, but frequently only four are found and rarely as many as seven or eight. The eggs vary interminably, the ground color ranging all the way from pale greenish- white to light brown, heavily blotched and streaked with brown and purplish. They average 1.18 by .81 inches. Nesting often begins in March, and in the southern part of the state probably most of the eggs are laid in April. At the Agricultural College young frequently leave the nest before May 20th, but they seem to be maturing from this time on, all through May and June, and we have repeatedly seen young hardly able to fly as late as the 10th of July. It is possible that two broods are reared by some of the birds, but we are in- clined to believe that these late broods are due to the loss of a first nest of eggs or young during April or May. From an economic standpoint the Bronzed Grackle possesses unusual interest. It is extraordinarily abundant over large areas, and has pro- nounced good habits as well as bad ones. Selecting its nesting places in the shade trees of towns, parks and cemetries, and constantly visiting gardens, lawns, and farms, it has became familiar to almost every one, and its habits have been noticed and criticized. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the widest difference of opinion exists as to its value. Fortunately the Division of Biological Survey of the United States De- partment of Agriculture has made an exhaustive study of the stomach contents of this species and the results go far toward settling this vexed question. The writer did a large part of this work himself between the years 1886 and 1890, and the results of this, and additional work by Prof. F. E. L. Beal, were published in Bulletin 13 of the above Division in 1900. Two thousand three hundred and forty-six stomachs were examined, and of the material contained in these stomachs 30 percent was shown to be animal matter and 70 percent vegetable matter. Insects formed 27 percent of the food for the entire year, while grain formed 47 percent, fruit 5 percent, weed seed 4 percent, and "mast," that is, acorns, chest- nuts, beechnuts, and similar material, 14 percent. By far the largest part of the grain consumed is corn and this formed 41 percent of the food in April, 27 percent in May, 28 percent in June, 8 percent in July, 14 percent in August, 53 percent in September, 51 percent in October, and 35 percent in November. Doubtless at least half this corn was of no consequence, being waste grain picked up in the fields or about the farm and roads, but that taken in August and September was mainly corn "in the milk" and caused a direct loss and a serious one to the grower. Wheat, on the other hand, formed about 26 percent of the food in July and August, and in other months less than one percent. This again shows that the bulk of this grain was taken from the harvest field, part of it doubtless from the stand- ing grain and the shock, but much of it from the stubble. Oats formed 14 percent of the food in April, 5 percent in July, 9 percent in August- during the other months the amounts were insignificant. Occasionally r" »i^.T7>- f ^.*^J-*fc^ jiS^~. r 'V' •s,*^\^'i / Plate XLVI. Bronzed Crackle. Reprinted from Chapman's Bird Life, bj' courtesy of D. Y\ppleton tt Co. LAND BIRDS. 459 the birds pull up sprouting grain, either corn, wheat or oats, and they also pick up any grain left uncovered; but it is during the harvest season, and especially during the time when corn is "in the milk," that their attacks are most important. These facts show conclusively that the Crow Black- bird or Bronzed Grackle is a serious foe to the farmer whenever it occurs in large numbers. Many instances are on record of flocks numbering thousands, or even tens of thousands, which have visited cornfields and grain fields, doing a vast amount of damage in a short time. The Grackle also eats considerable quantities of fruit at certain times, the figures furnished by stomach examinations being 13 percent in June and 10 percent in July. The fruits most commonly attacked are rasp- berries, blackberries, cherries, and mulberries, but ordinarily no great damage is done. One other serious accusation is made against the Grackle, namely, that it robs the nests of other birds, devouring their eggs and young. That this is true to a limited extent is shown both by numerous direct observa- tions and by the stomach analyses. The latter, however, show that remains of eggs and young birds were found in only 37 of the 2,346 stomachs ex- amined, or in less than one stomach in 63. During seventeen summers' observation on the campus of the Michigan Agricultural College, where from fifty to one hundred pairs of these Grackles nest every year, we have but twice seen Grackles robbing the nests of other birds, and very rarely have birds been seen mobbing or attacking the Grackles, which seems to be pretty good proof that they do not regularly pillage the nests of other species. Turning now to the brighter side of the Grackles character we find that the work which it does in the destruction of insects is of the most interesting and valuable kind. As stated already, 27 percent of the entire food of the year consists of insects, but these are eaten in quantities which vary with the season. Thus in March insects formed 17 percent of the food, in April 25 percent, in i\Iay 63 percent, in June 59 percent, in July 45 percent, in August 39 percent, in September 17 percent, and in October 12 percent. As to the kinds of insects eaten, beetles form an important part, and probably the Grackles do a vast amount of good by destroying the mature beetles and the larvEe of the May-beetle or June bug {Lachnosterna) , which, under the name of "white-grub" is so well known to the farmer as an enemy of grass lands and many cultivated crops. These insects belong to the family Scaraboeidse, and members of this family formed one-fifth of the insect food of the Grackle for May, and one-seventh of the food for June. On the lawns of the Agricultural College it is no uncommon thing in May and June to see fifteen or twenty female Grackles at a time busily searching the turf for these large May-beetles and flying away with one or two at a time to feed their young in the neighboring spruces. On exceptional occasions we have counted as many as sixty of these birds searching for May-beetles and apparently for nothing else. In our opinion the good condition of the college lawns is due very largely to the protection afforded them by these birds. Snout-beetles (weevils or curculios) are also eaten regularly and in considerable numbers, indicating that the Grackles have a special fondness for these insects which are small, hard- shelled, and not particularly attractive to most birds. In one stomach seventeen specimens of the corn-weevil (Sphenophorus) were found and in other stomachs fourteen. Grasshoppers formed 19 percent of the food in May and increased in amount regularly until August, when they formed 460 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 23 per cent of the food. It is hardly necessary to point out the importance of these facts. Remembering that, especially in August, the blackbirds are feeding in large flocks it is easy to see that at this time they must consume grasshoppers by the million. Caterpillars formed 8 per cent of the food in May and 4 percent in June; not a large amount, but forming nevertheless an important item; many of the caterpillars eaten are cut- worms, and among these the army-worm was recognized in six stomachs. The Grackles eat large numbers of spiders, but these probably have small economic significance. Practically the only harm done in the course of the insect-eating is the destruction of a considerable number of predaceous beetles, ground beetles belonging mainly to the family Carabidse. The largest percentage of these, 13 percent, was found in June, and this would indicate that the birds were doing some harm, for these beetles feed mostly upon other insects and are therefore potentially beneficial. It must be remembered, however, that these beetles are alDundant at all times of the year, that they are con- spicuous by their size and activity, and also, being often strong-scented, are not generally eaten by other birds. It is therefore natural that a bird like the Grackle should eat a considerable number of them, especially as the taste and odor do not seem to be disagreeable. Taken all in all the facts seem to show conclusively that in the long run the Bronzed Grackle is a valuable bird which does considerably more good than harm, but the manner in which this good and evil are distributed makes it impracticable for the average farmer to tolerate the bird invariably. The good done is widely distributed; the harm is often concentrated on a few acres. So long as the birds are but moderately abundant the good done is pretty sure to outweigh the harm, even in the case of the fruit grower, market gardener or small farmer; but when they become superabundant instances of great injury are sure to occur and much complaint will follow. It seems probable that it will be best not to attempt to protect the Grackles by law at present, but to try to teach the farmer to let them alone so long as they are doing no visible harm, only striving to limit their numbers or drive them from his fields when they threaten serious injury. The Bronzed Grackle is one of the few birds for whose vocal performance little can be claimed. It has nothing which, even by the most imaginative, can be called a song, and its usual love notes have been aptly likened to the creaking of a rusty hinge. In the case of other blackbirds numbers sometimes modify the character of the individual performance so that a chorus is musical, but in the case of the Grackle the larger the number the greater the discord. TECHNICAL DESCBIPTION. Adult'male: Head and neck all round, metallic black, with purple, violet, blue or green reflections; rest of the body plumage above and below, black, with a distinct brassy gloss, the line between neck and body sharply defined; wings and tail with purplish or violet gloss, never bluish; bill and feet black; iris bright yellow. Adult female: Decidedly smaller and duller, the head and neck not noticeably different, but the body plumage lacking much of the metallic luster. Young: Similar at first to adult females, but even duller, the body plumage mostly slate color, with no metallic reflections; before moving southward, however, the sexes are distinguishable by the plumage. Male: Length 12 to 13.50 inches; wing 5.45 to 5.95; tail 5.25 to 5.90 (its graduation 1.15 to 1.60); culmen 1.12 to 1.26. Female: Length 11 to 11.50 inches; wing 5 to 5.25; tail 4.80 to 4.90. LAND BIRDS. 461 Family 56. FRINGILLIDiE. Finches, Sparrows, Buntings, Linnets, Grosbeaks, Crossbills and Longspurs. The largest family of Michigan birds, including not less than 38 species. KEY TO SPECIES. Closed tail showing a distinct notch or fork (Fig. 112), that is, middle tail-feathers shorter than lateral feathers. Group 1. Closed tail rounded or double-rounded (Plate 53) , the lateral tail-feathers always shorter than the middle ones. Group 2. Closed tail square or nearly so (Fig. 114) (sometimes slightly double- rounded), the middle and lateral feathers of about the same length. Group 3. Group 1. Closed tail with a distinct notch or fork. A. Wing over 4.25 inches. B, BB. B. Wings black, the primaries or secondaries, or both, with large white markings (patches). Evening Grosbeak. No. 206. BB. Wings brownish-black (fuscous), only their coverts white tipped, forming two white wing-bars. Pine Grosbeak. No. 207. AA. Wing less than 4.25 inches. C, CC. C. Mandibles with hooked tips which cross each other like scissor blades. D, DD. D. With conspicuous white wing-bars. White-winged Crossbill. No. 210. DD. Without any white in wing. Red Crossbill. No. 209. CC. Mandibles not crossed. E, EE. E. Claw of hind toe twice as long as claw of middle toe. F, FF. F. Hind claw much curved. Snow Bunting. No. 218. FF. Hind claw little curved. Lapland Longspur. No. 219. EE. Claw of hind toe not twice as long as claw of middle toe. G, GG. G. Birds showing more or less bright blue, yellow or red (not brown). H, HH, HHH. H. Marked with red. I, II. I. A conspicuous red cap or crown; chin black. Redpolls. Nos. 211-214. II. Most of plumage washed with red; chin not black. Purple Finch, male. No. 208. HH. Marked with blue, or whole body blue. Indigo Bird, male. No. 242. HHH. Marked with yellow. K, KK. K. Yellow mainly on head and body plumage; none on wings or tail. Goldfinch. No. 215. KK. Wings and tail with more or less yellow, head and body without. Pine Finch, Siskin. No. 216. 4(12 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. GG. Birds without any bright blue, yellow, or red. L, LL. L. Streaked below. M, MM. M. Broadly and strongly streaked; wing over 3 inches long. Purple Finch, female. No. 208. ^LAI. Narrowly and often faintly streaked; wing less than 3 inches. Indigo Bird, female. No. 242. LL. Without streaks below. N, NN. N. A dusky spot in middle of breast. Tree Sparrow. No. 230. NN. No dusky spot in middle of breast. 0, 00. O. Crown with a distinct median stripe. Clay- colored Sparrow. No. 232. 00. Crown without median stripe. P, PP. P. Bill black. Chipping Sparrow. No. 23L PP. Bill reddish yellow. Field Sparrow. No. 233. Group 2. Closed tail rounded or double-rounded. A. Larger, wing over 2.75 inches. B, BB. B. Plumage with more or less red or yellow. C, CC. C. Breast yellow, no red anywhere. Black-throated Bunting. No. 243. CC. Breast not yellow. D, DD. D. Head crested, mainly red, no white on wings or tail. Cardinal, male and female. No. 240. DD. Head not crested, nor red; some white on wings or tail. E, EE. E. A yellow spot in front of eye. White-throated Sparrow. No. 229. EE. No yellow spot in front of eye, under wing coverts rose red or lemon yellow. Rose-breasted Grosbeak, male and female. No. 241. BB. Plumage without red or yellow. F, FF. F. Outer tail-feathers with much white. G, GG. G. Breast narrowly streaked with blackish. Vesper Sparrow. No. 220. GG. Breast not streaked. H, HH. H. Breast black or brown, sides bright brown. Chewink, male and female. No. 239. HH. Breast whitish with a small central patch of blackish spots. Lark Sparrow. No. 226. FF. Outer tail feathers without white. I, II. I. Upper parts mainly rust red. Fox Sparrow. No. 238. II. Upper parts without rust red. J, JJ. J. Crown milk white or with a median light buff stripe. White Crowned Sparrow. No. 228. JJ. Crown black or blackish without median light stripe. Harris' Sparrow. No. 227. LAND BIRDS. 463 A A. Smaller, wing 2.75 or less. K, KK. K. Streaked above and below. L, LL. L. Crown with a distinct median light stripe. M, MM. jM. Smaller, wing barely 2 inches. Leconte's Sparrow. No. 224. MM. Larger, wing always more than 2 inches. N, NN. N. Tail short, barely 2 inches. Henslow's Sparrow. No. 223. NN. Tail long, 2.25 to 3 inches. 0, 00. 0. Chest white, broadly streaked and spotted with brown or blackish, usually with a central dark patch. Song Sparrow. No. 235. 00. Chest gray or buff with narrow or indistinct dark streaks and no central dark patch. P, PP. P. Chest gray or brownish gray with broad indistinct streaks. Swamp Sparrow, (young). No. 237. PP. Chest buff with distinct narrow streaks of blackish. Lincoln's Sparrow. No. 236. LL. Crown without distinct median light stripe; tail feathers acute. Nelson's Sparrow. No. 225. KK. Streaked above, but plain below. Q, QQ. Q. Bend of wing and spot above eye yellow, crown without chest- nut. Grasshopper Sparrow. No. 222. QQ. No yellow on bend of wing or above eye, forehead black, crown chestnut. Swamp Sparrow (adult). No. 237. Group 3. Closed tail square or nearly so. A. With more or less blue in plumage. Indigo Bird, male. No. 242. AA. Without blue. B, BB. B. With more or less bright yellow. C, CC. C. Only bend of wing and streak over eye yellow. Savanna Sparrow. No. 221. CC. Breast yellow. Black-throated Bunting. No. 243. BB. Without yellow. D, DD. D. Outer (lateral) tail-feathers largely white. E, EE. E. Upper parts and breast slate-colored, not streaked, bill white or pink. Junco. No. 234. EE. Upper parts and breast streaked with light and dark, bill dusky. Vesper Sparrow. No. 220. DD. No white in the tail. F, FF. F. Upper parts distinctly streaked; wing more than 2.75 inches. English Sparrow. No. 217. FF. Upper parts indistinctly or not at all streaked; wing less than 2.75 inches. Indigo Bird (female). No. 242. 4CA MICHIGAN BIRO LIFE. 206. Evening Grosbeak. Hesperiphona vespertina vespertina (Coop.). (514) Synonyms: Sugar-bird. — Fringilla vespertina, W. Cooper, 1825. — Coccotliraustes vespertina, A. O. U. Check-list, 1SS6. — Hesperiphona vespertina of most recent autliors. Figure 110. The male is a striking bird with immense bill, with l^lack and white and old gold plumage, the yellow and black passing into each other through all the shades of l^rown, olive and buff. The female is largely drab-gray or ashy with little or no yellow and more white in the wings and tail. Distribution. — Western British Provinces, east to Lake Superior and casually to Michigan, Ohio, Ontario, New York and New England. The Evening Grosbeak is doubly interesting to Michigan bird lovers not only because it is a rare and beautiful bird, but because the first speci- men known to science, the type from which the species was described, was taken near Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., in April, 1823, by School- craft, and described b}^ Cooper, in January, 1825, under the name Fringilla vespertina, the specific name given apparently under the lielief that the bird sang oftenest or best at evening. As a matter of fact, the song appears to be the least inter- esting of its characteristics, nor does it appear to sing l^etter or more frequently at evening than at other times. Mr. Stewart E. White, who observed these grosbeaks carefully at Grand Rapids from March 5 to May 14, 1890, says of their song: "The males have a single metallic cry like the note of a trumpet, the females a loud chattering like the large Cherry Birds {Ampclis garndus)." This was in March, but on April 14, just before they withdrew to their summer home, Mr. White adds, "Their song now is a wandering, jerky warlile, beginning low, suddenly increasing in power, and as suddenly ceasing as if the singer were out of breath" (Auk, Vol. IX, 1892, p. 245). It may be objected that this was not nesting time and the localitv not home. However, J. K. Townsend, who studied this bird along the Cohimbia River in May 1836, wrote for Audubon's work the following account of the call-note and song. "It is stated that they are retiring and silent during the day and sing only at the approach of evening. Here they are re- markaljly noisy during the whole of the day from sunrise to sunset. They then retire quietly to their roosts in the summits of the tall pines and are Fig. 110. Evening Gro.sbeak. Adult. From North .\merican Fauna No. 16. Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture. LAND BIRDS. 465 not aroused until daylight streaks the east when they come forth to begin as before. * * * Their ordinary voice when they are engaged in procuring food, consists of a single rather screaming note, which 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 sometimes selects a lofty pine branch, and there attemps a song; but it is a miserable failure. 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 called such, is to me a most weari- some one. Am constantly listening to hear the stave continued and am as constantly disappointed (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, IV, 1879, pp. 70-71). As intimated already, the Evening Grosbeak is merely a winter visitor to Michigan, and not a regular visitor at that. Nevertheless, its ap- pearances seem to have become more frequent in recent years, and there is some reason to believe that the species is extending its range eastward and may eventually become a regular winter resident of the state. After its discovery in 1823 it does not appear to have been noted in the state until 1869, when Dr. Morris Gibbs met with it at Kalamazoo. He also noted it there in 1872, 1873, 1874, 1878 and 1879, sometimes singly and sometimes in flocks. It was reported from Albion in the spring of 1886 by 0. B. Warren, and near Brighton by A. B. Covert in December of the same year. In 1887, Mr. N. A. Eddy of Bay City reported it, and during the winter of 1889-90 it was reported very generally from all over the Lower Peninsula. In 1893, P. A. Taverner found a flock in the city of Port Huron, and it was reported in March, 1897, by Percy Selous at Greenville, and in December, 1899, by W. H. Dunham in Kalkaska county. In April, 1900, Mr. Dunham again reported it in Kalkaska county, and in December of the same year Mr. Melville reported it at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. In December 1903 it was reported from Presque Isle county by B. H. Swales, and in March 1904 from Mt. Pleasant, Isabella county, by Mr. Newberry, also from Goodrich, Genesee county by Samuel Spicer. Mr. Thomas B. Wyman of Munising, Alger county, reports that a large flock remained on Grand Island in Lake Superior from January 23 until March 14, 1906. And they have reappeared in some numbers each succeeding winter. During the winter of 1908-1909 they were quite generally reported from the northern parts of the state, and there were a few reports the following winter, but the winter of 1910-1911 brought the largest numbers seen in recent years, for they appeared everywhere in flocks, even in the most southern counties of the state. Mr. Amos Butler thus sums up the eastern extension of this species during the last fifty years: "It is not every winter that these birds cross the Mississippi, and it is unusual when we note their wide distribution east of that river. Michigan appears to be more often visited than any other state noted here. As has been observed, its first recorded extension of range east of Lake Superior was at Toronto, Ont. in 1854; next it was noted from Ohio in 1860; from Ontario again in 1866 and from Michigan m 1869. * * * The first extensive wanderings of the Evening Grosbeak, as far as we know, appear to have occurred in 1871, when they extended south into Illinois and east into Ontario, and in 1879 they were found in localities as far apart as Charles City, Iowa, and Grand Rapids, Mich. In the winter of 1886-87 they were reported from Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Ontario^ That year they appear to have been most common in the states of Iowa, Indiana 59 466 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. and Illinois and the area of eastern North America covered was the greatest known up to that time, but this was very much exceeded by the wide distribution of the species in the winter of 1889-90, when although they do not appear to have been as numerous in some localities as in the last pre- ceding disper&al, they reached nearly to the Atlantic Coast at several locahties" (Auk, IX, 1892, 246-247). During their winter sojourn in Michigan the Evening Grosbeaks feed largely upon the seeds of maple, box-elder, ash, and of various frozen or dried fruits from trees and vines, and frequently upon the seeds of various cone-bearing trees. According to Mr. L. Whitney Watkins, who observed them carefully at Manchester, Mich, during the winter of 1889-90, they preferred apple seeds, taken from frozen apples, to all other food; next they ate maple seeds, and took the seeds of evergreens only as a last resort. Three male grosbeaks which he kept in captivity for nearly two years re- fused to eat any kind of grain except a few oats when hard-pressed. They also refused to eat insects of any kind that could be procured. Almost all observers agree that the birds are remarkably tame and unsuspicious when they first appear in late autumn or winter, moving about and feeding often in large flocks (very seldom singly) and show little fear of man until after they have been repeatedlj' shot at or otherwise alarmed. Towards spring, however, and especially toward the end of their stay in April and May, they become more shy and more suspicious and are altogether more restless and uncertain. The nest and eggs of this species remained unknown until 1901, when they were found at Willis, New Mexico by Francis J. Birtwell, who collected two nests of three and four eggs respectively and lost his life in attempting to collect a third. The nests were of sticks and Usnea moss, lined with rootlets, and placed near the tips of horizontal branches of large pines, from forty to seventy feet from the ground. The eggs are described as "in color, size, form, texture and markings, indistinguishable from those of the Red-winged Blackbird." The birds appeared to be nesting in a small colony of a dozen pairs or less. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill very large, short and strong, nearly as high at base as long. Adult male : Forehead and stripe over eye bright yellow; crown deep black; rest of head and neck all round, dark olive-brown, fading to lighter olive on the back and changing to rich golden yellow on the scapulars and rump; similarly, the dusky olive of the throat fades on the breast and be- comes bright yellow on the sides, belly, flanks and under tail-coverts; upper tail-coverts and tail deep black, without spots; primaries deep black; most of the secondaries and their coverts snowy white; the tertiaries rather duller white; bill greenish yellow; iris brown. Adult female: Top and sides of head brownish or brownish-gray; throat white, bordered on each side by a black or dusky line; breast and sides gray, marked with yellowish, and becoming pure white on belly and under tail-ooverts ; nape dull yellow, tending to form a collar about the hind neck; back and rump brownish or ashy gray; upper tail-coverts black, tipped with white; tail-feathers black, broadly spotted with white at ends; primaries and secondaries black, boldly spotted with white; lining of wing yellow. Young: Similar to adult female, but duller and more brownish, usually lacking the dark lines at the sides of the throat. Length 7 to 8.50 inches; wing 4.20 to 4.50; tail 2.75 to 3.20; culmen .75 to .80. 207. Pine Grosbeak. Pinicola enucleator leucura (Mull). (SIS) Synonyms: American Pine Grosbeak, Canadian Pine Grosbeak, Canadian Grosbeak, Pine Bullfinch. — Loxia leucura, Muller, 1776. — Loxia enucleator, Wils. — Pinicola cana- densis, Baird, 1858. — Pinicola enucleator canadensis, Ridgw., 1887. ^lales vary from rose-pink to dull yellow, according to age, and females are mainly slate-gray with some dull yellow on head, rump and upper LAND BIRDS. 467 tail-coverts. Two conspicuous white or whitish wing-bars at all ages. Bill very stout, but short and small for a grosbeak. Distribution. — Northern parts of Northern Hemisphere to about the northern limit of trees; south in winter irregularly into the United states east of the Rocky Mountains; breeds mainly north of the United States. The Pine Grosbeak is a winter visitor to Michigan, coming with some regularity into the northern part of the state, and once in a dozen years perhaps appearing in large numbers and extending its range over the whole of the state. As far south as the latitude of Lansing a few individuals are seen almost every winter, but in the two southern tiers of counties, and particularly in the southeastern corner of the state, it is a comparatively rare visitor. At Ann Arbor Mr. Covert states that it was very common during the winter of 1874-75, and a few specimens were taken in December 1878, but that ordinarily it is not seen. In 1881 it was seen in flocks of thousands in Jackson county, but with that exception is considered rare. At Plymouth, Wayne county, Mr. Purdy took a single bird December 9, 1903, which he says is the only one he ever saw there. Mr. Swales does not consider it common about Detroit, but two were killed near there November 9, 1903, and two more were seen March 6, 1904. They were fairly common at Kalamazoo during the first week in December, 1903, and several specimens were taken. A few are seen almost every winter on the campus of the Agricultural College, Ingham county, and two or three times since 1894 they have been present in large numbers, and from December to March. Occasionally they come from the north in November, and in New England they have been noted repeatedly in October, but as a general rule they do not appear until December or later, and a few instances are known in which they have been absent until Februarj^ and then have appeared in large numbers. Though ordinarily seen in flocks, sometimes to the number of one hundred and fifty or two hundred, they also occur singly or in pairs, but these single birds are readily attracted by a whistled imitation of their note and always seem anxious to rejoin others of their kind. Usually they prefer regions where conifers are abundant and much of their food consists of the buds of pine, spruce and tamarack, and of the berries of the Virginia juniper, but they also eat the buds of other trees and are particularly fond of the seeds of maples, the berries of the mountain ash, and a large variety of other berries and seeds. They are quite unsuspicious, allowing a very close approach while feeding, and the writer has frequently taken them alive with a butterfly net or with a noose of wire on the end of a fishing-rod. A great majority of the specimens which we see appear to be young birds, the proportion of old males, as indicated by the rosy color, being seldom greater than one in twenty-five, and not infrequently a flock of fifty or more will not contain a single high-plumaged male. The call-note is a very clear whistle, repeated two or three times, and resembles somewhat the plaintive note of a lost chicken. On sunny days in winter, especially after an abundant repast on seeds and berries, the male frequently warbles a low, sweet song which somewhat resembles that of the Purple Finch. During the nesting season it is said to have a beautiful warbling song of considerable volume and great sweetness. The Pine Grosbeak is not known to nest within our limits; in fact. United States nesting records are few, and mainly uncertain. The only suggestion of possible nesting lies in the fact that M'Creary, who accompanied the University of Michigan party to Isle Royale in 1905, found two Pine 468 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Grosbeaks among the balsam firs on August 14, a rather early date for migrants (An. Rep. Mich. Geol. Surv., 1908. Isle Royale, 364). Probably this island, the northernmost bit of Michigan territory, is as favorable a breeding place for this species as any in the state and it is by no means improbable that the grosbeaks may nest there occasionally, or even regularly. It is said to nest in the tops of evergreens, building a structure which is shallow and thin and consists mainly of rootlets. The eggs are three or four, bluish-green, spotted somewhat thinly with brown and black. They average 1.01 by .74 inches. According to Kumlien and HoUister (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 91) this species is said to nest within the boundaries of the Badger State, but they have been unable to sub- stantiate the claim and think it very doubtful. Aside from the possible distribution of the seeds of valuable trees we know of no benefit which this species confers on the agriculturist. It is, however, almost if not entirely harmless, since the few buds cut from evergreens and shade trees are of little consequence, and the bird is so beautiful and interesting that it deserves protection on this account if for no other. TECHNICAL' DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Upper parts rose-pink, brightest on head and rump, dullest on inter- scapular region, where all the feathers have dusky centers; under parts mainly pink, but duller than above, and shading into ashy gray on the flanks and belly; wings and tail slate- color to slaty-black, the tail unmarked, the wings with two white bars and the tertiaries broadly edged with white; bill and feet brownish black; iris brown. Adult female: General color gray or brownish gray, the head, neck, rump and upper tail-coverts pale greenish yellow to rusty yellow, and the breast and sides often washed with the same; wings and tail as in the male. Young: Similar at first to adult female, but with less yellow, and the wing-bars buffy instead of white. Probably males take more than one year to attain full plumage, and nearly all degrees of coloring occur, from pale yellow through brownish yellow and madder-brown to rose. Length 8.25 to 9 inches; wing 4.50 to 5; tail 3.70 to 4.45; culmen .53 to .59. 208. Purple Finch. Carpodacus purpureus purpureus {Gmel.). (517) Synonyms: Purple Linnet, Red Linnet, Gray Linnet (immature and female). — Fringilla purpurea, Gmelin, 1789. — Carpodacus purpureus of all recent authors. Size of the Enghsh Sparrow. Adult male mostly rosy red, brighter in summer, duller in winter, the back more or less streaked with dusky. Adult female streaked above with brown and gray, below with dusky and white; likely to be mistaken for a sparrow. Distribution. — Eastern North America from the Atlantic coast to the Plains. Breeds from middle states northward. In suitable places throughout the Lower Peninsula north of the Saginaw Grand Valley, as well as in the entire Upper Peninsula, the Purple Finch is a not uncommon summer resident. It haunts the margins of evergreen forests, pours forth its beautiful song from the tops of balsams and junipers along the margins of the Great Lakes and the smaller ponds, and soon after its first arrival in spring may be found frequently in the orchards nip- ping the buds from pear, apple and cherry trees. South of the Saginaw-Grand Valley the bird is mainly a migrant or a rare winter resident, but for that matter a few individuals probably winter in all parts of the state. The writer found it common and in full song on Big Beaver Island, Lake Michigan, in July 1904, and also found it fairly LAND BIRDS. 469 common throughout the Upper Peninsula from Marquette eastward to the Sault. Major Boies states that he saw it on Neebish Island in summer feeding on the seeds of the burdock, and Mr. 0. B. Warren states that it is abundant and breeds in Marquette county. It has also been recorded by Dr. Wolcott as breeding at Charlevoix in the summer of 1894, and Hazelwood states that it sometimes nests at Port Huron, although he has not taken the eggs. There is a nesting record for Lansing, a bird having built its nest in an evergreen tree in a dooryard in that city. Dr. Gibbs records a set of two eggs taken in Kalamazoo county in 1870, '71 or '72, but is unable to give other data. In St. Clair county both Mr. Taverner and Mr. Swales say that it is rather scarce and irregular, occurring only as a migrant. Even at Lansing, where it is a regular spring visitor, it comes singly and in small numbers in the spring, but occurs in flocks of a dozen or two in October, when it is frequently found feeding on the seeds of various trees, most often perhaps on those of the hornbeam or blue beech. This is a bird of somewhat doubtful utility, since it has a pronounced fondness for the blossom-buds of fruit trees and a small flock will some- times nip off nearly all the fruit buds on a good-sized pear tree in the course of a few visits. On the other hand, it eats a good many injurious insects during the summer and is one of our very best singers, its song resembling that of the Canary, and also to a certain extent that of the Warbling Vireo. It is one of the few species which habitually sing on the wing, and an old male in full plumage, floating slowly in a descending spiral and pouring out a perfect flood of melody, makes one of the most attractive experiences which fall to the lot of the bird lover. The males do not acquire the full plumage until at least two years old and many of the yearlings sing and nest while still in the gray plumage. Specimens intermediate in plumage and song are frequently met with, but most breeding pairs are found to consist of a rosy male and gray female. The nest is usually placed in the top of an evergreen tree (often a red cedar or a balsam fir) at a height of twelve to fifty feet, and is compactly built of grasses, roots and usually some hair, and in the writer's experience is deeply hollowed, although other observers describe it as shallow. The eggs are three or four, greenish blue, speckled and sometimes pen-scratched with brown and black. They average .80 by .57 inches. Both nest and eggs closely resemble those of the common Chipping Sparrow, but of course are decidedly larger. This is one of the birds which ought to increase in numbers with the settlement and cultivation of the country, but thus far it does not seem to have done so in Michigan; indeed, several correspondents state that the bird is not as common now as formerly. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: General color rosy red, brightest on crown and rump, fading to whitish on lower breast and belly, but usually tinged with red even there; back and wing-coverts mottled red and brown, owing to brownish centers of the feathers; wings and tail dusky or brownish, the wings usually with two distinct reddish bars formed by tips of middle and greater coverts; bill, feet and iris, brown. Adult female: Without any red; upper parts streaked with gray and olive-brown, the latter predominating; under parts whitish, thickly streaked and spotted with olive- brown; a broad brownish stripe behind the eye, bordered above and below by whitish; wings and tail similar to those of male, but with no reddish edgings, the two wing-bars 470 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. soiled white. Many young males (perhaps all) wear the plumage of the female until at least a year old, perhaps longer, and they sing freely and breed in this plumage. Adult males in winter are darker and more purplish, but at best the bird is never purple, but rather crimson. Length 5.50 to 6.25 inches; wing 3.15 to 3.40; tail 2.30 to 2.50. Female slightly smaller than male. 209. Red Crossbill. Loxia curvirostra minor (Brehm.). (S21) Synonyms: American Red Crossbill, American Crossbill, Common Crossbill. — Cruci- rostra minor, Brehm, 1846. — Curvirostra americana, Wilson. — Loxia americana, Bonap. — Loxia curvivostra minor, Ridgw., 1885, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886. Figure 111. Size of the English Sparrow; both mandibles curved and crossed at the tip (Fig. Ill); no white on the wings. General color brick-red (either dull or bright), greenish-yellow, or brownish-yellow, the rump always either red or yellow. Distribution. — Northern North America, resident sparingly south in the United States to ^Maryland and Tennessee in the Alleghanies. Irregu- larly abundant in winter. In Michigan the distribution of the Red Crossbill is similar to that of the Pine Grosbeak except that it is more common. In other words it is a frequent winter visitor to most parts of the state, occurring often in large flocks and being most abundant in regions where conifers are plentiful. Unlike the Pine Grosbeak, however, the Red Crossbill often spends the summer in the more northern portions of the state, especially in pine and spruce regions, and it probably nests within our limits not infrequently. It often appears in the middle and southern counties, in flocks of fifty or more individuals in October and November, moving restlessly from place to place, feeding mostly on the seeds of cones and buds of evergreens, but also eating weed-seeds and wild fruits of various kinds. Often it is remarkably unsuspicious, and with care specimens may sometimes be caught in the hand, or more readily with a butterfly net. It is very fond of the seeds of the arbor-vita3 (Thuja), as well as those of tamarack and the various "spruces, firs and pines, and the peculiar structure and great strength of the bill enable it to tear open the strongest and toughest cones and liick out the nutritious seeds. A flock of a hundred or more of these bird.s tearing open the cones of the Norway Pine makes noise enough to attract the attention of the most careless observer, and the commotion is increased by the chattering of the birds, which, however, whistle more loudly while on the wing than when at work on the trees. Although the species is almost universally distributed through the state, it is by no means equally common in all parts, or even in the same place in successive winters. In the southeastern part of the state it seems to be rather rare, while in the central and northern portions of the Lower Peninsula, and much of the upper Peninsula, it occurs in some numbers almost every winter and sometimes in enormous flocks. On the other hand, there have been occasional winters when apparently no specimens were noted in any part of the state. LAND BIRDS. 171 There has been a vast amount of dispute as to the nesting habits of the Crossbills and the matter can hardly be considered settled as yet. It has long been believed that the species nested in mid-winter, and in fact positive statements to this effect, supported by fairly conclusive evidence, have been pubUshed many times. Nevertheless, the birds have been found nesting durmg the spring and summer, and birds which were evidently immature have been taken at almost all seasons of the year. The truth seems to be that the food, mainly seeds and buds of coniferous trees, on which they depend, is available in favorable regions during almost the entire vear, and it is possible therefore for the birds to nest at almost any season. That the greater part of them nest in late winter or very early spring seems rather probable, but it is desirable that every actual instance of the Cross- bill's nesting should be published with all possible details, in order that the matter may be thoroughly investigated and the question definitely settled as soon as possible. A nest with two eggs was found at Hillsdale, Mich., on the college campus in February of 1893 or 1894, by Mr. G. E. Douglas. Mr. Adolph Hempel, who was with Mt. Douglas at the time, states that there were many crossbills on the campus that winter and that he is sure of the identity and still has the nest and eggs in his possession. Both Chas. L. Cass of Ann Arbor and Prof. Frank Smith of Urbana, 111., re- member the circumstance ajid are sure there was no mistake about the facts or the identification of the birds. The writer has also been informed that nests of the crossbill (which species is not certain) were found in pine trees on the grounds of the Northern State Normal School at Marquette, Jlich., by Miss Flora Mowbray and others, during late winter, but the details have not been learned. Kumlien and Hollister state that in Wisconsin it nests irregularly in the north central parts of the state and formerly as far south as Dane county. Young just able to fly were procured in a cemetery at Albion, Wis., in August 1869 (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 92). According to Butler they were reported to have nested in the vicinity of Cleveland, Ohio, in the summer of 1878, and a pair is reported to have bred at Bloomington, Inch, in 1885, the nest being placed in a pine tree and made exclusively of pine burrs. Air. R. B. Moffit informed Dr. Butler that they nested at West Lafayette, Ind. in 1885, and that young birds were taken there (Birds of Indiana, 1897, 919-920). The same authority states that Dr. H. A. Atkins is said to have taken their nests near Locke, Ingham county, Mich., July 13, 1880, but we are unable to verify this statement. Early in 1906 Mr. Harold F. Tufts found three nests near Wolfville, Kings county, Nova Scotia, two containing young just hatched, the other three eggs advanced in incubation. These nests were found Jan. 31, 1906, and during the following months many other nests were found, most of them placed on horizontal limbs of spruces from twenty to forty feet from the ground and well out from the trunk, others in spruces, firs and hemlocks at elevations ranging from ten to eighty feet. The birds continued nesting until May 7, at which time flocks of full fledged young were to be seen feeding about the woods, while nests with eggs were still to be found (Auk, XXIII, 1906, 339). While the ordinary call of this bird is a very sharp whistle repeated rapidly three or four times, and sounding as Dr. Gibbs states, hke "cleep- cleep-cleep," the birds also have a very sweet warbUng song during the 472 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. nesting season and during the late winter and spring, and even when not nesting they frequently give snatches of this song. From an economic standpoint the species' has ' little importance. Occa- sionally it may slightly injure an ornamental evergreen by cutting the twigs or destroying the terminal buds, but ordinarily this is of very slight moment. That it eats numerous insects during the summer can hardly be doubted, but we know very little of its summer food. It is possible that it may occasionally attack grain crops, but no report of this kind has come to our notice as yet. The eggs, usually four in number, are described as pale bluish, spotted with various shades of brown mixed with purplish gray, and averaging .75 by .57 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Brick red, usually dull but sometimes almost vermillion, always brightest on rump and crown, dullest on belly and under tail-coverts, the latter often plain dusky; wings dusky, without white markings; tail similar, the tip rather deeply emarginate; bill and feet dark brown; iris light brown. Adult female : Mainly olive or olive-green, brightening to greenish yellow, or occasionally to clear yellow, on the rump, the crown and breast then usually waghed with the same color; ear-coverts, chin, throat and belly usually dusky gray; wings and tail as in male. Young at first resemble the female, but have the head and body, above and below, thickly streaked with dusky. Males probably require more than one year to get the full plumage of the adult, and specimens may be found in every conceivable stage between the yellow and red. Length 5.50 to 6.25 inches; wing 3.20 to 3.60; tail 1.85 to 2.40. 210. White-winged Crossbill. Loxia leucoptera (Gmd.). (522) Synonyms: Crueirostra leucoptera, Brehm, 1827. — Curvirostra leucoptera, Wilson. — Loxia leucoptera of most authors. Similar in general appearance to the Red Crossbill, but somewhat larger, the red of the male rose-red or even crimson instead of brick-red, and the wings in both sexes and at all ages with two conspicuous white wing-bars. The distribution of this species in Michigan is quite similar to that of the Red Crossbill, but it seems to be decidedly less common than that species. In general habits, flight, note, song, and food the two species also are practically identical. Occasionally both forms are found in the same flock, but this is unusual and it often happens that one species will be fairly .abundant for a month or more at a particular place while no individuals of the other species can be found. The nesting habits are even more obscure than those of the Red Crossbill, and so far as we know there is but one record of nesting within our limits. Mr. H. Nerhling states that a nest was found in Delta county, Mich., on April 21, 1891 (Butler, Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 922). The statement in Cook's Birds of Michigan (2d ed., p. 108), that Samuel Spicer of Genesee county, found a nest of this species there September 28, 1888, is an error; the species referred to was the Goldfinch. The account just given of the nesting of the Red Crossbill at Wolfville, Nova Scotia, will serve equally well for the present species, since Mr. Tufts found nests of the White-winged Crossbill at the same time and place, and in considerable numbers. First nests were found in January, and nests with eggs were still to be found on May 7. He states that the nests of both species were composed chiefly LAND BIRDS. 473 of twigs and beard-moss, but sometimes strips of decayed wood and bark, grasses and plant-down, were added. Some of the nests were seventy feet from the ground, while others were placed in low bushes. The eggs are described as "pale blue, dotted chiefly at the larger end with black and lilac; averaging .80 by .56 inches" (Coues). TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: General color rosy red, sometimes almost carmine on head, breast and rump, and generally without any trace of the brick-red color of the preceding species; usually a black patch back of the ear-coverts, sometimes connected with a black stripe from behind the eye; scapulars also black, and this color often extending across the lower back, forming a black bar between the red of the interscapulars and rump; wings black, with two conspicuous white bars, and the tertiaries also often edged and tipped with white; tail black, sometimes very narrowly edged with whitish; bill, feet and iris brown. Adult female: General color olive-green or grayish-olive, washed with yellowish as in the Red Crossbill, but the wings always with the two white bars; the wings also are merely dusky or brownish black, not pure black as in the male. Young at first are streaked above and below, but otherwise resemble the mature female. As they grow older the males change from yellowish to yellow, orange, and finally to crimson, but this probably not until the second year. Length 6 to 6.50 inches; wing about 3.50; tail 2.60. 211. Greenland Redpoll. Acanthis hornemanni hornemanni (Holb.). (527) Synonyms: Greenland Mealy Redpoll. — Linota hornemanni, Holboll, 1843. — Acanthis hornemanni, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most recent writers. — ^Egiothus cancescens, Coues, 1861. The Redpolls (genus Acanthis) are described by Ridgway as "small, streaked, red-capped and often rosy-breasted finches with long and dis- tinctly emarginate tail and small acute bill." Two species and two or more subspecies probably occur in the state, but only one is ever abundant. The adults always have a bright garnet crown (whence the name Redpoll), a blackish spot on chin and upper throat, and the males usually are more or less rosy on breast and rump as well. Redpolls nest only in the far north and are seen within our limits only in winter. From the fact that they are very irregular in their appearance, sometimes coming in flocks of thousands and other winters not appearing at all, they are commonly believed to be driven south by the cold, their numbers here indicating the severity of the winter farther north. More likely, however, their movements depend on abundance or shortage of food supply, although other factors may enter into the problem. All the species and subspecies are so much alike that they can be separated only by the expert. The present species, the Greenland Redpoll, is the largest and lightest colored of all and is restricted in the nesting season to Greenland, Iceland, Spitzbergen, and eastern Arctic America, wandering southward in winter to the northern boundary of the United States. There is a single specimen in the museum of the Sault Ste. Marie High School, taken in that vicinity March 29, 1900, and identified by the Division of Biological Survey at Washington (Letter from W. P. Melville). We find no other record for the state. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. " Adults with top of head bright red and a dusky spot covering chin and upper part of throat. Wing exceeding tail by less than length of tarsus; rump plain white or jiinkish; 474 Michigan bird life. sides very narrowly, or sparsely, or not at all, streaked; under tail coverts with darker shaft-streaks narrow and indistinct, or sometimes altogether wanting; inner webs of tail- feathers very broadly edged with white; plumage in general very light, with whitish or lio-ht grayish prevailing on upper parts, the lower parts almost entirely white; adult males with chest and sides of breast merely tinged with delicate peach-blossom pink. " Length about 5.50 to 6.50 inches. Male: Wing 3.35 to 3.45; tail 2.70 to 2.85; exposed culmen .32 to .37; depth of bill at base .30 to .32; tarsus .62 to .70. Female: Wing 3.25 to 3.35 inches; tail 2.65 to 2.80; bill same as in male; tarsus .62 to .68" (Ridgway). 212. Hoary Redpoll. Acanthis hornemanni exilipes (Coues). (527a) Synonyms: Mealy Redpoll, American Mealy Redpoll. — iEgiothus exilipes, Coues, 1861.— Fringilla borealis, Aud., 1839.— J^giothus canescens var. exilipes, Ridgw., 1874. Similar to the preceding, but smaller. Distribution. — Arctic America and northeastern Asia, south in winter to the northern border of the United States. This subspecies is included in Stockwell's ("Archer") list in Forest and Stream (VII, 18, 276), and in Covert's list in the same publication, but the only Michigan specimen we have been able to locate is a male in the High School museum at Sault Ste. Marie, collected there December 7, 1899, by Mr. Ralph Endress, and identified by the Division of Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture (Letter from W. P. Melville). According to Kumhen and HoUister (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 92) this form was tolerably common in Dunn county. Wis., from January to JMarch, 1896, and has been found several times in other northern counties in that state. It is said they may be readily recognized in flocks of the common Redpoll by their lighter color. Although hghter than the common Redpoll they are darker than the Greenland Redpoll. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Precisely like the preceding, according to Ridgway, except for size, the present subspecies averaging smaller, and with proportionally smaller and more acute bill. "Length 4.50 to 5.25 inches. Male: Wing 2.95 to 3.10 inches; tail 2.50 to 2.55; exposed culmen .30; depth of bill at base .22 to .25; tarsus .52 to .58. Female: Wing 2.80 to 3.05; tail 2.30 to 2.60; exposed culmen .28 to .32; depth of bill at base .20 to .25; tarsus .50 to .57" (Ridgway). 213. Redpoll. Acanthis linaria linaria (Linn.). (528) Synonyms: Common Redpoll, Lesser Redpoll. — Fringilla linaria, Linn., 1758, also of Wilson, Nuttall and Audubon. — Acanthis linaria, Bonap., Stejn., A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, etc. — iEgiothus linaria, Baird, Coues, Ridgw. and many others. — Linaria minor, Aud., 1839. Figure 112. About the size of the Hoary Redpoll, but decidedly darker, the rump never white and the under tail-coverts always distinctly streaked (Ridgw.). Distribution. — Northern portions of the northern Hemisphere, south in winter pretty regularly to the northern United States, and occasionally to the middle states (Virginia, southern Ohio and Indiana, Kansas). This is the common Redpoll which appears frequently in November in large or small flocks and remains until March. Our earliest fall record LAND BIRDS. 475 is November 9, 1889, on which date one was killed on the Spectacle Reef Light- house in northern Lake Huron. In northern Wisconsin it has been observed as early as October 28. It does n(.)t visit the south and scnith- eastern counties of .Michigan so often as the northern parts of the state, probably b e c a u s e it finds abundance of food and suitable condi- tions in the north. It feeds to a large extent on the seeds of the l)irches and alders, Init also attacks the cones of the tamarack and arbor- vitie, and probably to some extent those of other pines. It also feeds freely on grass-seeds ami \\eed-seeds, but takes to the bare ground with some reluctance. Not infrecjuently it is found in company with crossbills and has been known to follow the latter and extract seeds from the cones torn open by the stronger bird. Apparently it has little or no song even at the nesting season, though one observer speaks of a faint warble and another of a "twittering." The nest, found only in arctic and subarctic regions, is built of A'arious gi-asses, plant fibres and moss, lined with feathers and hair, and placed in low bushes, alders, willows, etc., usually but a foot or two above tlie ground. The eggs are three to five, bluish white finely spotted with brown, and average about .69 by .48 inches (Ridgw.). Fig. 112. R From Nuttair.'i Ornithology. ■dpoll. l.ittle. Brown >.<: Oo. TECIINIC-VL DESCRIPTK).V. "Adult: Top of head bright red (usually crimson), and a dusky spot covering chin and upper part of throat; wing exceeding tail by more than length of tarsus; nmip ilistinctly streaked; sides distinctly, often broadly and heavily, streaked with dusky; under tail- coverts with very distinct dusky mesial streaks; inner 'vvebs of tail-feathers very slightly, if at all, edged with white; plumage in general darker, with darker markings prevailing on upper parts, the lower parts never entirely white; adult males with chest and sides of breast deep madder-pink; bill in winter yellow, ti]iped with black. Females lack the red of breast and sides but have tlie red cap. Young of both sexes are without red on crown or elsewhere; whole head streaked with dusky and grayish or brownish white, tlic latter color prevailing on under i)ortions; otherwise much as in adult female, but plumage of much softer, "more 'woolly' texture, and markings less sharply defined" (Ridgway). "Length 4.50 to 5 inches, with proportionally longer and more acute bill. Male: Wing 2.S0 to 3.05 inches; tail 2.20 to 2.50; exposed culmen .32 to .38; depth of bill at base .22 to .27; tarsus .55 to .60. P'emale: Wing 2.75 to 2.9(1; tail 2.20 to 2.40; exjioscd culmen .30 to .37; depth of bill at base .20 to .25; tarsus .55 to .60" (Ridgway). 476 Michigan bird life. 214. Greater Redpoll. Acanthis linaria rostrata (Coues). (528b) Synonyms- jEgiothus rostratus, Coues, 1861. — ^Acanthis linaria rostrata, Stejn., 1884, A. U. O. Check-list, 1886. Similar to the common Redpoll (and also to Holbcell's Redpoll),* but much larger, darker, and the bill relatively shorter, thicker, and less acute (Ridgw.). Distribution.— Greenland and northeastern North America, south irregu- larly in winter to New England, New York, and northern Ilhnois. Apparently a rare winter visitor to Michigan. The first specimen recorded was taken by F. H. Chapin, of Kalamazoo, in the winter of 1878, and referred to Dr. Morris Gibbs, and by him to Robt. Ridgway, for identi- fication. A second specimen, a female, is in the High School Museum of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., taken near that place, December 7, 1899, by W. P. Melville, and identified by the Division of Biological Survey, U. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Two more females were taken near Kalamazoo, one January 23, 1904, and the other March 1, 1904, by W. Wilkowski, Jr., and identified by Ridgway. These were found in flocks of the common Redpoll. In northern Wisconsin, according to Kumlien and Hollister (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 93), more than thirty specimens were collected in Dunn county, in the winter of 1895-96, and examples identified by Ridgway. Others have been taken from time to time in Wisconsin, always associated with the common Redpoll. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Ridgway discriminates between this bird and its nearest relatives as follows: Length about 5.25 to 5.75 inches; with proportionally shorter, thicker, and less acute bill; wing averaging more than 3.15 in males, more than 3.05 in females; color also usually darker than in A. linaria and A. holboelli, the lateral lower parts usually much more broadly or heavily striped. Male; Wing 3.05 to 3.30 inches; tail 2.35 to 2.70; exposed culmen .32 to .42; depth of bill at base .25 to .30; tarsus .60 to .70. Female: Wing 2.95 to 3.25; tail 2.40 to 2.60; exposed culmen .33 to .42; depth of bill at base .25 to .30; tarsus .60 to .68. 215. Goldfinch. Astragalinus tristis tristis {Linn.). (529) Synonyms: American Goldfinch, Yellowbird, Thistle-bird, Lettuce-bird, Wild Canary — Fringilla tristis, Linn., 1758, also of Wilson, Bonap., Audubon, Nuttall. — Spinus tristis' A. O. U. Check-list, 1886. — Chrysomitris tristis, Baird, Allen, Coues and others. Figure 113. The male in summer, with lemon-yellow body, velvet-black cap, and black wings and tail with white edgings, is unmistakable. The female is yellowish brown without strong contrasts of color, although yellow predominates below. Distribution.' — Temperate North America generally, south in winter to lower boundary of lower California; breeds southward to the middle districts of the United States, and winters mainly within the United States. One of the commonest and best known birds throughout the sta-te, *For note on HolboeH's Redpoll, see Appendix. LAND BIRDS. 477 %:i:> Colrlfinch. ill iniilsiimni umvei-sally distributed and found both summer and winter, altliougli the winter plumage is so unhkc that of summer that the birds usually pass unrecognized. IMoreover, it is much less abundant in winter, and often the entire season may pass without any being seen. Undoubtedly all the summer Goldfinches in any one i-egion move southward in autumn, and those \\liich are found in winter have come from more northern regions. Tliesc latter seem to return northward again in spring 1)eforc their plumage has brightened mucli, but very soon tlie Ijirds appear wliich have ^^•intered farther south and these already luxve begun to take on the brighter summer plumage. They reach middle IMichigan in flocks the last of April or first of May and during that month and June are very conspicuous, feeding on the seeds of the elms, often on the ground, or gatheiing by scores on the patches of dandehons to feast on the ripening seeds. They remain in flocks until nesting begins, which is usually not until eai'ly July, and probably many of the birds do not nest until late in that month. Eggs maj' be found all through August and occa.sionally in Sejjtem- ber. Samuel Spicer of Goodrich, Genesee county, records a nest with two fresh eggs found in a corn shock September 28, 1888. The nest is commonly placed in small orchard trees or shade trees, frec[iiently in nurseries or ^\■illow thickets, and at heights varying from two to thirty feet from the ground. It is compactly and very neatly built of grasses and plant fibres, is deeply hollowed and lined with the softest of fibers, often ■with down from thistle, milk-weed, and other plants. The eggs are three to six, very pale blue and usually witlrout spots, l^ut rarely with a few brown specks. Tliey average .66 by .47 inches. The Goldfinch feeds mainly on seeds of various kinds, among which tliose of the Compositaj hold the most important place. Its fondness for lettuce seed has earned for it the name of Lettuce-bird in some sections and the names Thistle-bird and Salad-bird have a similar origin. The fact that the young are fed mainly on the (regurgitated) seeds of these CompositiB, which are mostly late blooming plants, has been given as the pi'oliable explanation of the late nesting, and no better one has been offered thus far. That insects form some small part of the food is proljable, but no great amount of credit can be claimed on this account. The consump- tion of weed seed, however, is a positive benefit, but perhaps hardly more than repays the market gardener and seedsman for the turnip, lettuce, and other valuable seeds taken. Besides the seeds named the Goldfinch eats a host of others and is particularly fond of goldenrod, aster, and the various wild sunflowers; also in winter it eats the seeds of the birch and alder, and, with the Pine Finch or Siskin, visits the arbor-vitaj and scrub pine and extracts such seeds as it is able. Its ordinary call-note when at rest is very similar to that of the common 478 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. canary, but it has another call, loud and characteristic, used mainly on the wing, and consisting of four emphatic notes. Its song is also somewhat canary-hke and is often long continued and varied. Dr. Brewer says of it "It is sweet, brilliant and pleasing; more so indeed when given as a solo with no others of its kindred within hearing. I know of none of our common singers that excel it in either respect. Its notes are higher and more flute- like, and its song is more prolonged than that of the Purple Finch. Where large flocks are found in spring and early summer the males often join in a very curious and remarkable concert, in which the voices of several performers do not always accord. In spite of this frequent want of harmony, these concerts are varied and pleasing, now ringing like the loud voices of the canary, and now sinking into a low soft warble." This bird is always sociable and is found in flocks during the greater part of the year. Even during the nesting season the males frequently gather in little companies about watering-troughs and other drinking places, and frequently a dozen of these bright plumaged birds will be found bathing in a puddle in the middle of the road. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: In summer; forehead and front half of crown velvet black; upper tail- coverts white; rest of upper parts, including scapulars, bright lemon-yellow; entire under parts the same, except the under tail-coverts, which are white; wings deep black, the greater and middle coverts tipped with white, and most of the secondaries and tertiaries edged and tipped with the same; tail clear black, each feather with a broad white spot on inner web near tip; bill yellow; iris brown. Adult female: In summer; upper parts- olive-brown, yellowish on outer edge of scapulars; under parts buffy or yellowish-brown, varying to dull greenish-yellow, and whitening on belly and under tail-coverts; wings and tail about as in male, but duller black or even brownish. In winter the female is similar, but browner above and less yellowish below, the white wing-markings changing to buff. The male in winter resembles the female quite closely, but the wings are much blacker and the light wing-markings broader. Young birds of both sexes resemble the winter female, but are still browner and more buffy. Length 4.45 to 4.50 inches; wing 2.60 to 2.90; tail 1.80 to 2.10; culmen about .35. 216. Pine Finch. Spinus pinus (Wils.). (533) Synonyms: Siskin, Pine Siskin, American Siskin, Pine Linnet. — Fringilla pinus, Wilson, 1810, also of Nuttall and Audubon. — Chrysomitris pinus, Baird, 1858, Coues, 1873, B. B. & R., 1874, and many others.— Spinus pinus, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most recent authors. Size and general appearance of the female Goldfinch, but distinctly " streaked with brown and gray, above and below, and with no yellow except on wings and tail; the half concealed yellow wing patches being characteristic. Distribution. — North America generally, breeding in the British Provinces and sparingly in the northern United States. Like its near relative, the Goldfinch, the Pine Finch is resident throughout the year in ^Michigan, but in a very different way. Over the larger part of the state it occurs only as a winter visitor or as a spring and fall migrant, appearing in flocks from October to March and occasionally lingering well into ^lay and then disappearing northward. Throughout a consider- able part of the northern half of the state, however, it is resident during the summer, and it unquestionably nests in the higher parts of the Lower Peninsula, north of the Saginaw Grand Valley, and probably over the larger part of the Upper Peninsula. Its appearance is quite irregular LAND BIRDS. 479 in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula, some years none appearing, while at other times it is fairly abundant. Often it comes in small or moderate sized flocks by itself, feeding principally on the seeds of the white cedar or arbor-vita;, the larch or tamarack and the various pines and spruces, but also when the ground is bare, eating the fallen seeds of maple, elm and other trees and devouring weed and grass seeds with rehsh. It associates freely with the winter Goldfinches and Redpolls, and not infrequently is seen with the crossbills, and eating the same food. It has been reported frequently in spring as eating dandehon seeds, and the late Percy Selous observed it at Green- ville, Montcalm county, as late as JMay 25, 1897, feeding on these seeds. Peet found it feeding among balsams and tamaracks on Isle Royale, in July, 1905 (Mich. Geol. Surv., Rep. 1908, 365), and Blackwelder states that in late summer, in Iron county, it was seen in small bands and was especially characteristic of cedar swamps (Auk, XXVI, 1909, 368). We do not know of the actual finding of a nest within the hmits of the state, but the University of Michigan expedition found it common in the Porcupine JMountains, Ontonagon county, from July 15 to August 14, 1904, and females were seen to carry nesting material from the camp into the woods, while the reproductive organs of the specimens taken showed that they were breeding. Dr. W. H. Dunham also writes that it is rather common in Kalkaska county and nests in April and early May, but he does not seem to have actually found the nest. Mr. 0. B. Warren states that in Marquette county it is an abundant migrant and breeds. He adds "Although the vast majority of those seen in migration do not stop to breed, yet the better one becomes acquainted with the bird at Palmer the more common is seems in summer" (1898). In Wisconsin, according to Kumlien and Hollister, it is not known to breed, although Dr. Hoy believed that it nested in the pine regions. The nest has been found in other states from about the first of May until July 1. A nest was taken at Sing Sing, New York, May 25, 1883, by Dr. A. K. Fisher. The nest is described by Ridgway as a compact structure of pine twigs, rootlets, hair, plant fibres, etc., lined with fine rootlets and hair. It is placed at moderate heights in evergreen trees. The eggs are three or four, pale bluish or greenish, thinly dotted with brown and black, and average .62 by .50 inches. Even during the summer the birds are usually found in flocks and fly with a wheezy, chattering note which is quite characteristic. Dr. Jonathan Dwight, Jr. speaks of their song as a "soliloquizing gabble interspersed with a prolonged wheeze," and says that their ordinary call-note is much hke the common note of the Enghsh Sparrow. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike) : Entire upper parts brown or brownish-gray, streaked thickly with blackish; under parts grayish white to almost pure white, streaked with brownish or blackish; wings blackish, the primaries narrowly edged with pale yellow on outer margins, and both primaries and secondaries largely sulphur-yellow toward the base; tail like the wings, largely yellow at base and without any white spots at tip; bill dusky; iris brown. Young similar to adults, but wing-coverts usually tipped with deep buff or tan-color. Length 4.50 to 5.25 inches; wing 2.75 to 2.90; tail 1.85 to 1.95; culmen .35 to .40. 480 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 217. English Sparrow. Passer domesticus (Linn.). Synonyms: House Sparrow, European House Sparrow, S|-iarrow.- Linu., 175S. — Passer doniosficus of most authors. -Fringilla domcstioa, Figure 114- The adult male luis a cleai' ash-gray ci'owu, deep bhick tlii'oat and upper bi'ea.st, with white on both sides, and a conspicuous chestnut colhir or cape exten(Unii; IVditi the ej'es along tlie sides and bade of neclc. Tlie wings and baciv are streaked chestnut and blaclv \vith a short wliite )jar on tlie shoulder, the "chip" which the little fighter carries on his shoulder as a challenge to all others of his kind. Distribution. — Nearly the wh(de of Europe and practically all of temperate North America, as well as Australia, New Zeeland and parts of South America. Originally a European bird, it has lieen carried all over the world and has now become naturalized in almost all temperate climates of both the northern and southern hemispheres. The English Sparrow, more properly know'n as the European House Sparrow, was first brought to America, so far as we know, in the fall of 18-50, ^vhen eight pairs were __ brought to Brooklyn, ^ _ ^g_= ^^^g^^ N. Y. and liberated in the spring of the follow- ing yeai'. Since this tiuK^ there have lieen scores, pi'obal)!}' hun- dreds (.)f importations, and small lots of spar- I'ows have been ti'ans- ferred from one city in the United States to another, and sulise- tpiently transfers of these plantings have been made until the 1:)ird is nmv naturalized over ]iractically the whole United States. S(j far- as wc can learn the first l.)irds wei'o brought to .Jackson, i\Iichigan, between 1874 and 1876, and four h)irds were liberated at Owosso in 1876. The place from wdiich these birds were obtained is not known. The Sparrow is now abundant throughout all the larger towns and cities of the entire state and also in most of the smallest villages and hamlets, unless these are situa- ted at considerable distances from any railroad or lake or river port. It.s habits are too well known to need extended mention. It is an unmitigated pest, wdrose good points are so few that they may be summed up in a few lines. The Sparrow remains with us through the winter and his presence does something to enliven that nearly birdless season; it eats Fig. 114. I'Vom Bull. 1. English Sparrow. Adult male. Biol. Survej', U. S. Dept. Agriculture. LAND BIRDS. 481 some insects, a few of which are injurious; it consumes some grass seed and weed seeds. That is all. On the other hand, its bad qualities are numerous and pronounced. It is a natural grain eater and regularly damages grain crops in the field and in the shock; it eats buds, young sprouts, flowers and seeds of almost every green thing which is cultivated ; at certain times and places it does considerable damage to fruit, although this is one of its lesser crimes; it IS a persistent enemy of our native birds, particulariy of those kinds which appear to seek the vicinity of dwellings, or which nest in boxes, holes or other places prepared for them by man. From the fact that the Sparrow remains with us over winter and begins to nest very early in the spring it naturally takes possession of all the available nesting places, so that when the Bluebird, Wren, Phcebe and Tree Swallow arrive they find their h^omes occupied and are compelled to fight for them or go elsewhere. Even the Purple Martin has been dispossessed in many instances and the decrease in its numbers, which has been notice- able in the last two decades, probably is largely attributable to the Sparrow. Not only does the interloper affect these species, but it often directly attacks Robins, Song Sparrows, Chickadees, Flycatchers, Thrushes, Tana- gers, and a host of other birds, annoying them by repeated visits to their nests or by actual attacks on them while feeding. One of the most serious aspects of the Sparrow problem is due to its filthy habits. It gathers in immense flocks to roost and often selects cornices, windowcaps, ornamental work about the eaves and gables of buildings, and the vines which cover the walls of public and private dwel- lings. In these places its presence is soon shown by the defacement of the structures by its droppings, by the destruction of the vines, and the litter which it causes. Often still further damage is caused by its carrying nesting material into gutters, down-spouts, and similar places about the eaves, so that the water of cisterns is defiled, or overflow of pipes results, sometimes causing great damage. The reader who is interested in the details of these charges may consult the author's work on the English Sparrow, published as Bulletin No. 1 of the Division of Economic Ornithology of the United States Department of Agriculture, in 1889. Within the last decade two new and serious charges have been made against the Sparrow; one, that it is frequently concerned in the spread of hog cholera, the other, that it is partly responsible for the distribution of the lice and mites which affect poultry. The evidence in support of the latter charge is direct and convincing. Sparrows are always attracted to poultry yards by the food to be found there. They use feathers freely for lining their nests, both in summer and winter. Thus their nests become infested with the lice and mites of the chickens. Careful experiment has shown that at least one species of chicken mite, Dermanyssus gaUi7i.ce, and probably the worst one, is perfectly at home on the English Sparrow, frequently swarms in its nests, and after multiplying freely on the Sparrow may be transferred again to chickens without any loss of vitahty. A single feather in a Sparrow's nest was found to carry 72 living chicken mites, and at least 250 similar feathers were found in this single nest, giving a probable total of at least 18,000 mites in one nest (Ewing, Auk, XXVIII, 1911, 335-340). In the Ught of such facts the numerous Sparrow's nests about barns and sheds, as well as in trees about the farm yard, should acquire added significance. 61 482 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. Turning now to the question of hog cholera, that modern scourge which has caused losses of millions of dollars to American farmers, we find the evidence less direct but almost equally convincing. Single cases, and even some extensive outbreaks of hog cholera have been traced to the transfer of the germs from farm to farm on the boots of the laborer or the common farm vehicles and stable implements. The manure and mud of an infected hog pen must contain the germs of the disease. What more likely, more inevitable, more certain, than that Sparrows feeding on and in that mud should carry some of it away on bill and feet and so infect other hog yards, perhaps miles away? We do not know that the germs of hog cholera have ever been demonstrated from the mud on Sparrows' feet, but we do know of more than one outbreak of the dreaded disease, from which all ordinary modes of infection were apparently excluded, but where EngHsh Sparrows were known to have passed freely in and out of the yards, and might easily have brought the infection from farms less than a mile away. We have no wish to condemn the Sparrow on mere suspicion, yet the known and proved evils which attend his presence are so real and serious, and the benefits claimed (very few of which have been proved) are so meager and insignificant, that it seems the part of common prudence for everyone interested in agricultural welfare and the beauty of country life to do all that can be done legitimately to exterminate this bird. The English Sparrow when once fairly established increases with phenomenal rapidity. Two broods at least are reared in a season, and usually three, while instances of four or five broods have been reported by competent observers. Moreover, the young seldom number less than four in a brood and the old birds are remarkably successful in getting them safely on the wing, so that in favorable seasons an immense number of Sparrows may be reared in a comparatively small area. Without quoting the sensational figures which are sometimes introduced we may say that a dozen pairs in a city will produce hundreds of thousands in the course of three or four years, and in making plans to exterminate Sparrows this remarkable fecundity must be reckoned with. The dangerous character of the Sparrow has been recognized generally throughout the country for nearly thirty years, and various suggestions for restriction and extermina- tion have been made, but the hopelessness of the attempt to entirely exterminate is now almost universally conceded. Several of the states early resorted to bounties, not only without good results, but with dis- astrous effect upon our native birds. In 1887 Michigan enacted a bounty law allowing one cent apiece for Sparrows in lots of not less than twenty- five. At a subsequent session of the legislature this act was amended so that the bounty was increased to two cents apiece and the birds might be presented in lots of ten or more. Some of the defects of the earlier bounty laws were also corrected and the law remained on the books until repealed in the spring of 1901. The legislature of 1905, however, reenacted practically the same bounty law, with the proviso, however, that it should take effect only in such counties as saw fit to adopt it by a majority vote of the Board of Supervisors. Very few of the counties appear to have made the act efi^ective, in fact, up to the present time we know of but three counties in which such bounties are paid. We have not space to go into the merits of bounty laws in general. It is sufficient to say that except under very unusual conditions they serve no useful purpose, but result in only a slight reduction of the numbers of the animals attacked, while they invariably produce more or less corrup- LAND BIRDS. 483 tion among the people taking advantage of the bounty offer, and usually, as in_ the case of the Sparrow, work much harm to beneficial species. In Michigan the Sparrow laws have served no useful purpose whatever. True, in two or three instances the number of Sparrows has been temporarily reduced, but in no case has the reduction been carried anywhere near the point of extermination, and as soon as active warfare against them was relaxed they speedily regained their former numbers. On the other hand, the taxpayers of the several counties have been called upon to pay out enormous sums for this work and the most scandalous corruption has been developed in certain places. Owing to the fact that the bounty money is paid entirely out of county funds it has proved impossible to get complete figures for the state or even for any single county, but some of the figures obtained by direct corre- spondence with county officers are sufficiently suggestive. Thus complete returns were obtained from nineteen counties, all in the Lower Peninsula, for the year 1898, and they showed amounts ranging from $12.36 in Gladwin county to $3,804.60 in Gratiot county. The total bounties paid in that year by the nineteen counties amounted to $21,416.06, the average being $1,127.16. During that year Eaton county paid $1,386.00, Genesee county $1,697.00, Jacksoncounty$2,370.00, Ingham county, $2,407.00. Remember- ing that these nineteen counties represent less than one-fourth of the state, it would certainly be within bounds to estimate the total Sparrow bounties paid in 1898 at $50,000.00. The increase of bounties paid during successive years in some of the counties is also very suggestive; thus Branch county in 1894, paid $142.00, in 1895 $170.00, in 1896 $352.00, in 1897 $890.00, and in 1898 $1,064.00. Gratiot county in 1896 paid $967.00, in 1897 $2,239.00, and in 1898 $3,805.00. Ingham county in 1896 paid $432.00, in 1897 $1,372.00, and in 1898 $2,407.00. Careful inquiry in all the counties where the largest amounts were paid has satisfied us that there has been no appreciable decrease in the number of Sparrows as a result of the money expended. Moreover, fraud and graft have developed to an alarming degree in connection with the Sparrow bounty law, and serious, and in several cases fatal, accidents have resulted from the use of firearms in the hands of careless and inexperienced people, and particularly in the hands of boys who have used firearms within city limits and in violation of the ordinances. This feature of the case alone should prevent the adoption of the bounty law by any county of the state. The conditions affecting Sparrow increase in Michigan probably are unlike those in most of the states, at all events it is certain that Sparrows will not increase indefinitely in our larger cities. A succession of two or three mild winters will be followed, almost always, by a noteworthy increase in the number of Sparrows; but not all these will remain in the cities or towns where they were bred, a large part of the increase will spread out through the surrounding country and only a part of this increase will return to the cities in winter. An ordinarily severe winter kills off a very large number of Sparrows. Just what is the proportion thus killed it is im- possible to say, but severe winters have a marked effect in cutting down the numbers, and two or three severe winters in succession would doubtless do more to lessen their numbers than the expenditure of several millions of dollars in bounties. It is entirely feasible to kill out one-half to three-fourths of the Sparrows in any city in a single winter, at a very small expense, by the judicious use of poisoned food. This work of course should not be trusted to irre- 4S-1 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. sponsible parties, but certain persons should be designated and paid for the work, and proper precautions should be taken to prevent accident of any- kind. The system which has been successfully used by individuals in various places in the country is as follows: During midwinter, when the Sparrows have congregated in the towns and cities and when heavy snow has covered most of the available food and they are pinched more or less for supphes, they should be baited for several successive days to some- stable yard or inclosed area where they will gather in immense numbers if not needlessly alarmed. When several hundreds have thus been lured to feed regularly, and the amount of food which they will consume com- pletely has been determined, a similar amount of the same food, previously soaked with strychnine and carefully dried, is fed to them at the usual time. Ordinarily the whole of this poisoned grain will be eaten, and four-fifths of the Sparrows will die within a few moments and within a few yards of the feeding place. The remainder will flutter a little farther away, but within a few hours every Sparrow which ate at this place is likely to die. No danger whatever is to be apprehended to cats, dogs, pigs or other animals which might eat the poisoned Sparrows, and if any poisoned grain is left uneaten it can readily be swept up for use at another time or can be de- stroyed by burning if desired. There is far less cruelty in killing Sparrows in this way than by ordinary shooting or trapping, since experiment with caged Sparrows shows that strychnine is very quickly effective and that the Sparrows die from it with practically no pain at all. It is important that the poisoning should be done only during the winter season, when all native birds are absent, and in case poultry or pigeons are attracted by the baiting they may be excluded by the use of coops made of laths, through the spaces of which the Sparrows can pass freely while the pigeons will be kept out. For illustrations of the working of the Michigan law and other bounty laws the reader should consult the work on the English Sparrow already mentioned, or an article by Dr. T. S. Palmer entitled "Extermination of Noxious Animals by Bounties," which may be found in the Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture for 1896, pp. 55-68. If any bounty law is to remain upon the Michigan statute books it is certainly advisable that it should be materially different from the present law. Under the statutes Sparrows may be killed at- any time of year, although bounties may be paid only in December, January and February, and the examination of Sparrows so killed is made by the county clerk of the "township, village or city within which such Sparrows have been killed." While the bounty law provides a fine for the attempt of any person to collect a bounty on birds other than English Sparrows, it is obvious that the aforesaid county clerk must be able to discriminate between EngHsh Sparrows and other birds or there is danger not only that bounties will be illegally paid, but that many of our valuable birds will be destroyed. Under the best conditions bounty laws are expensive and unsatisfactory, and so far as the English Sparrow in Michigan is concerned they are at least extremely unwise and ineffective. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult male: Top of head clear gray; a broad stripe of chestnut runs backward from the eye and spreads on the nape and sides of neck so as to form an imperfect collar or cape; back a,nd scapulars streaked with black and chestnut; rump and upper tail-coverts plain brownish gray; under parts grayish-white or almost white on sides of neck and cheeks, the middle line of throat and a large patch on the chest deep black; most of the wing-^ coverts and outer margins of secondaries and tertiaries bright chestnut, the middle coverts LAND BIRDS. 485 pure white in strong contrast; wing and tail feathers plain dusky; bill and feet black; iris brown. In winter the clear ash gray becomes more brownish, the white under parts de- cidedly brownish gray, and the black throat and chest more or less veiled by gray tips of the feathers. Adult female: General color brownish, darkest above, fading to brownish gray on breast and sides and to soiled whitish on the belly; back, wing-coverts and tertiaries black, streaked or edged with buff or rusty; usually a pale buff or whitish streak behind the eye, and the middle wing-coverts tipped with buiiy or whitish, but no clear black, white, or chestnut about the head.' Young birds at first resemble the females, but within two or three months the young males show traces of the distinctive head markings. Length 5.50 to 6.25 inches; wing 2.85 to 3; tail 2.35 to 3. Female decidedly smaller than male. 218. Snow Bunting. Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis {Linn.). (534) Synonyms: Snowflake, Snowbird, White Snowbird. — Emberiza nivalis, Linn. 1758. — Passerina nivalis, A. O. U. Committee, 1899.^ — Plectrophanes nivalis of most others until 1882. — Plectrophenax nivalis, Stejn., 1882, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most recent authors. Males in winter are mainly white below, mottled white, black and chestnut above, with the wings mainly white, but tipped with clear black. The females are similar, but with brownish black replacing the clear black. Toward spring the amount of brown decreases and the black and white become purer and more prominent. Distribution. — Northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere, breeding in the Arctic regions; in North America south in winter in the Northern United States, irregularly to Georgia, southern Illinois, Kansas and Oregon. This well known bird is a regular winter visitor to all parts of Michigan, but in much greater abundance along the shores of the Great Lakes and about the mouths of the rivers, and in greater numbers some years than in others. Stragglers and small squads appear in the northern counties late in October; Wood took a specimen at Caseville, Huron county, Oct. 12, 1910, and Selous took one at Greenville as early as October 9, 1897. There is also a record for Mason county as early as September 25, 1909 (Chaney, Auk, XXVII, 275). In the middle counties and southern parts of the state it rarely appears in force before November and the largest flocks, often aggregating several thousand, are most often seen after mid- winter. The bird is decidedly gregarious and dehghts in flying in the stormiest weather. Indeed, its appearance in numbers is often considered the harbinger of snow, and during heavy snow storms it seems to be particu- larly active and restless. Its food is obtained almost entirely from the ground and consists mainly of small seeds of various kinds, although Professor Aughey states that in Nebraska it always eats locusts eggs when they are obtainable. Its con- sumption of grass and weed seeds must be enormous, but owing to the desolate character of the regions it frequents, and the brevity of its visits to farming lands, it seems doubtful if this work has any great economic value. The bird has a peculiar rolling twitter or whistle which is quite character- istic and very pretty. In its summer home it is said to have a very musical warble. ■ nr i It usually retires northward with the disappearance of snow m March or early April, but a few linger for some weeks, and occasionally until the end of April. ' A. B. Covert records a large flock at Cadillac on May 11, 1882, but it seems more likely that this was a flock of Lapland Longspurs. 486 MICHIGAN BiRt) LIFE. In the neighborhood of Detroit Mr. Swales records it only as late as March 16, and the latest date on which specimens were killed at Spectacle Reef Light, in northern Lake Huron, was April 23, 1890. According to Mr. Eifrig this species arrived at FuUerton, in the northwestern part of Hudson Bay, from April 7 to April 20, 1904 (Auk, XX, 240), and since these birds nest almost altogether within the Arctic Circle, it is evident that the great majority of them must leave our state long before the first of May. It nests only at the far north, building a somewhat bulky, warm nest on the ground, and laying three or four whitish, brown-spotted eggs which average .91 by .64 inches. Formerly this species was slaughtered commonly for food and also for miUinery purposes, the beauty of the black, white and brown plumage rendering it particularly attractive as a "hat bird." Fortunately wise legislation and growing public sentiment have largely stopped this business, but during the earlier years when bounties were paid on English Sparrows, thousands of heads of Snow Buntings were palmed off on more or less unsuspecting county clerks as those of Sparrows. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Bill yellow, its tip dusky; claw of hind toe longer than the toe itself, curved. Adult male in winter: Top and sides of head, riimp and usually a patch on each side of breast more or less rusty or fawn-colored; back and scapulars mottled with ashy white and pure black, each feather being black centrally, with a broad whitish margin; under parts pure white, often soiled to gray; wings mostly white basally, the terminal half of the primaries clear black, the tertiaries mainly black, edged with rusty; tail with three outer- most pairs of feathers mainly white, the remainder mostly black but with narrow white edgings. There is infinite variation in the relative amounts of black, white and rusty on the upper parts, the forehead and crown being often very dark brown, almost blackish. Adult female in winter : Similar to male, but the black of wings duller, and only two outer pairs of tail-feathers mainly white. As spring approaches the rusty tints lessen in both sexes and the black and white become purer and more strongly contrasted. Young birds resemble the adult females, but have no white at the base of primaries. Length 6 to 7 inches; wing 4 to 4.50; tail 2.70 to 3.15; culmen .39 to .42. Female averag- ing a little smaller than male. ' 219. Lapland Longspur. Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus Linn. (536) Synonyms : Common Longspur. — Fringilla lapponiea, Linn. , 1758. — Emberiza lapponica, Bonap., Aud. — Plectrophanes lapponicus, Baird, Coues, 1873. — Centrophanes lapponicus, Coues, Ridgw. — Calcarius lapponicus, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most recent authors. Similar in size and general appearance to the Snow Bunting, but usually with a large black patch on the throat and upper breast, and a more or less distinct chestnut "collar" about the back of the lower neck. In spring plumage the black patch is very conspicuous, in fall or winter more or less obscured by white tips of the feathers. The bird also has streaked sides and is distinctly darker on the back than the Snow Bunting. Since it often occurs as a straggler in flocks of Snow Buntings it may be picked out by its conspicuously darker color. The name Longspur refers to the lengthened nail or claw on the hind toe, but this is not distinctive, since the Snow Bunting has one nearly or quite as long and the Horned Lark's is even longer. Distribution. — Northern portions of the Northern Hemisphere, breeding far north; in North America south in winter to the northern United States, regularly to the middle states, accidentally to South Carolina, and abund- antly in the interior to Kansas and Colorado. LANb BIRt)^. 48^ This is another winter resident, often found with the Snow Buntings and Horned Larks, but usually singly or in small numbers. On the other hand as a migrant it frequently occurs in October and November, and again in April and May, in large flocks, but apparently these do not use the same route in successive years, for the visits at any one place seem to be quite irregular. It seems to come from the north earher than the Snow Bunting, often as early as the first of October (Charity Island, Saginaw Bay, Sept. 30, 1910, Wood), and frequently lingers until after the first of May. We have records of two specimens killed on Spectacle Reef Light- house, in northern Lake Huron, May 17, 1891, and May 15, 1892. Accord- ing to Swales it does not occur commonly in southeastern Michigan, where he has never observed it personally; on the other hand Mr. J. Claire Wood states that he finds it a common spring migrant near Detroit up to the first week in May. At Houghton, Mich., Mr. Wilbur H. Grant found it by thousands October 1 and 2, 1904, and W. P. Melville found specimens with a flock of Shore Larks at Sault Ste. Marie. October 6, 1898. At Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1904, Mr. WilHam Wilkowski, Jr., states that they were first seen November 11, and were still there in flocks of hundreds on November 19. He also says that they were abundant there during Decem- ber, 1902, and January, 1903. In Ingham county it does not seem to be abundant regularly, but was noted in some numbers by T. L. Hankinson as late as November 15, 1896, and again in large flocks March 21, 1897. Undoubtedly the great majority pass far south in the fall and return again in the spring, while compara- tively few spend the winter with us. At Grand Rapids C. W. Gunn recorded it years ago as a rare winter visitor, appearing in company with Shore Larks and Snow Buntings; and in St. Clair county, Mr. P. A. Taverner states that according to his experience there is always a little bunch of Longspurs with each large floclc of Snowflakes. For an account of the migration of this species, from its breeding grounds north of the 60th parallel to its winter quarters between the 40th and 37th parallel see R. H. Howe, Jr., Auk, XVIII, 1901, 396-397. Its food while with us consists entirely of seeds of various weeds and grasses, and so far as we know is precisely like that of the Snow Bunting. Before leaving us in the late spring it often sings snatches of its beautiful song, but hardly enough to give a good idea of its quality. Of its song in Alaska Mr. E. W. Nelson says: "It is an exquisite jinghng melody, having much less power than that of the BoboUnk, but of the same general character; though shorter it has even more melody" (Nat. Hist. Coll. in Alaska, p. 184). It breeds only in the far north, building its nest of grasses, moss, etc. on the ground and laying three to six eggs, which are dull white, heavily spotted and washed with brown, and averaging .83 by .60 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Claw of hind toe longer than toe itself, gently curved; outer tail-feather with inner web largely blackish. Adult male in spring: Top and sides of head, entire throat, and chest deep black, often with a few white or rusty feathers; a buffy or whitish stripe behind the eye, running down the side of neck to the breast; hind neck with a reddish brown or chestnut collar; rest of upper parts streaked with black and buffy in about equal amounts; breast, belly and under tail-coverts white; sides and flanks streaked with blackish; wings blackish, with two narrow white bars (on tips of greater and middle coverts), the outer primary edged with white on outer vane; two outer pairs of tail-feathers marked obUquely with white. The adult 4S8 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. male in autumn and winter is similar, but the black of head and chest and the chestnut collar are largely obscured by the ashy tips of the feathers. Adult female; Similar to the winter male, but smaller and the black areas more re- stricted and much more obscured, so that the throat and breast show little or no black; the chestnut collar often wanting altogether. , . .„ , ^ ■ , Male: Length 6.10 to 6.90 inches; wing 3.60 to 3.90. Female: Length 5.50 to 6 mches, wing 3.50 to 3.60. „ . , , x . ^ j j Note.— For an account of the Painted Longspur or Smith's Longspur, not yet recorded from Michigan, see Appendix. 220. Vesper Sparrow. Pooecetes gramineus gramineus (Gmel). (540) Synonyms: Grass Finch, Bay-winged Bunting, Pasture Bird, Grass Sparrow, Ground- bird. — Fringilla graminea, Gmelin, 1789, also of Audubon and Nuttall. — Emberiza graminea, Wils. — Zonotrichia graminea, Bonap. — Poocsetes gramineus, A. O. U. Check- list, 1886. — Pooecetes gramineus, Sclater, 1862, and most recent writers. Plate XLVII. One of our larger, streaked, gray-brown sparrows, always recognizable by the white outer tail-feather (the next feather often largely white) and the red-brown shoulders (lesser wing-coverts), which give the bird the name of Bay-winged Bunting. Distribution. — Eastern North America to the Plains, from Nova Scotia and Ontario southward; breeds from Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri northward. This bird is generally distributed in open lands throughout the state from April to October, and nests abundantly, particularly in pasture lands and dry upland fields wherever the grass is not too long. It arrives from the south from the last of March to the middle of April, according to latitude, having been observed at Petersburg as early as March 19, 1894, and at Detroit March 19, 1897, and March 20, 1892; even at Marquette it has been recorded by Miss Mowbray as early as April 10, and we have eggs in the College collection taken at Kalamazoo, April 27, 1879. In autumn the bird leaves the northern part of the state during September, but lingers in the southern counties always until November and occasion- ally later. From the time of its arrival until the first of August it sings almost constantly, and during the hot days of midsummer its pretty chant is one of the refreshing bird voices which is constantly heard. The song is difficult to describe, but is often mistaken by the novice for that of the Song Sparrow, which, however, it only resembles in a general way. Its habit of singing from before sunset until dark has given the appro- priate name of Vesper Sparrow, but it also sings freely at all hours of the day, even in the middle of the hottest days. It is restricted mainly to the open country and is the characteristic bird of pastures, fields, roadsides and lanes, being always recognizable by the white tail-feathers, which show conspicuously as the bird flies away. It most often perches on a fence or a stone when singing, but frequently sings from the bare ground, and occasionally from the top of a tree. The nest is made of weed-stalks and grasses of various kinds, sunk in a hollow scratched in the ground, and often with its upper edge nearly flush with the surface. The eggs are three to five, most often four, and are bluish or pinkish Avhite spotted with brown and purplish, and frequently with a few dots or fine lines of black. They average .81 by .60 inches. Probably two broods are reared by the great majority of the birds, and ^^ Plate XLVII. Vesper Sparrow. From an original drawing by P. A. Taverncr. LAND BIRDS. 491 not infrequently three. We have a set of eggs from Montcalm county taken July 18, 1883, and another from Kalamazoo county taken July 26, 1890, both by Westnedge. The food consists mainly of grass-seeds and weed-seeds, but insects are taken freely, particularly grasshoppers. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike) : Upper parts brownish-gray, streaked with darker brown or blackish, the streaks narrower and sharper on the head (without median light stripe) and neck, broader and more diffuse on the back, almost wanting on the rump; under parts whitish, washed with buff across the breast and along the sides, these parts also streaked with brown or blackish, the streaks often tending to form a spot on the chest; middle of throat and belly unstreaked; a whitish or buffy stripe runs backward from the base of the lower mandi- ble, bounded above by the dark auriculars and below by a series of narrow dark streaks along the sides of the throat; wings and tail brownish-black, the lesser wing-coverts (shoulders) bright reddish-brown or chestnut, the greater and middle coverts tipped with whitish; outer tail-feather mostly white, the next one usually with a httle white; upper mandible brown, lower yellowish; iris brown. Young, similar to adult, but colors softer and markings not so sharp. _ In late summer and autumn all the white areas (except possibly the throat) are strongly tinged with buff, and the tertiaries and secondaries are broadly edged with the same color. Length 5.50 to 6.70 inches; wing 2.95 to 3.40; tail 2.40 to 2.75; culmen .38 to .45. 221. Savanna Sparrow. Passerculus sandwichensis savanna (Wils.). (542a) Synonyms: Ground-bird, Field Sparrow (incorrect). — Fringilla savanna, Wilson, 1811. — Passerina savanna, Vieill. — Passerculus savanna, Bonap., B. B. & R., and many others. — Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna, Ridgw., 1885, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most recent authors. A small gray or gray-brown, streaked sparrow, similar in many respects to the Vesper Sparrow, but distinguished by the absence of the white outer tail-feathers and the almost invariable presence of a yellow line or area above the eye and a more or less distinct yellow edging at the bend of the wing. Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding from the northern United States to Labrador and Hudson Bay territory. This pretty little sparrow is really a rather abundant migrant in all parts of Michigan, arriving between April 1 and 15, according to latitude, and departing from the northern part of the state in September or early October, but lingering indefinitely in the southern counties. Among the birds killed on lighthouses in Michigan waters it has been recorded more frequently probably than any other sparrow. It was reported from Spectacle Reef Light on thirty-four different dates, the earhest being April 23, 1889, and the latest October 4, 1893, the larger part of the dates falling in May and September. Although generally distributed during migrations, the bird seems to nest somewhat sparingly, or else very locally, since it is reported by most observers as not known to nest. However, we know that it breeds somewhat regularly in Wayne county (Swales, Taverner) ; St. Clair county (Swales, Taverner); at Grand Eapids and at Ann Arbor (R. H. Wolcott, L. J. Cole) ; near Lansing (T. L. Hankinson, L. J. Cole, and the author) ; Marquette (0. B. Warren); Isle Royale (Feet). It seems probable from these facts that the bird nests regularly at suitable places in all the in- tervening territory. Its habits are somewhat peculiar; during spring and fall it keeps very closely on the ground, running like a mouse among the long grass (prefer- 4 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. ably in wet places), and when flushed flying rapidly and often in a zigzag manner, and dropping suddenly out of sight to run rapidly away again. There may be scores of the birds scattered through a meadow, yet the inexperienced collector will find but two or three. When nesting begins the male sings rather constantly and is often seen to perch on a low bush, a fence, or even a tree, and repeat his song at intervals of a few seconds for half an hour at a time. But the song itself is so feeble and so devoid of striking characters that it is not likely to attract attention. The nest is doubtless variable in composition and location, but, from the fact that while with us the birds are found almost invariably in damp situations, we should expect the nest to be placed in low grounds, or at least very close to them, and this is the case in the few instances known to us. It is usually described as sunken to the rim in the ground, made of a few grasses and weed stems, and often completely hidden. The eggs are four or five, bluish-white, spotted with reddish brown, usually quite thickly. They average .78 bj^ .56 inches. From the early arrival of this species and the fact that Mr. Hankinson found a nest with young near the College, June 21, 1897, it seems likely that, like most other sparrows, it rears two broods; yet the fact that the male does not appear to sing after midsummer may indicate that a second nest is not a regular thing. The food does not differ materially from that of other ground sparrows so far as we know. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Outer tail-feathers longer than the middle ones. Adult (sexes alike): Upper parts grayish or brownish-gray, thickly streaked with dark brown or black, the streaks on either side of crown so close together as to appear almost solid black and always leaving a distinct median stripe of grayish; a distinct yellow stripe from nostril over eye and backward, and a whitish stripe from base of lower mandible, bounded below by a dark line along the side of throat, and above by a similar line skirting the ear-coverts; chin and throat white or whitish, faintly or not at all spotted; chest and sides boldly streaked with brown or black; lower breast, belly and under tail-coverts white and unspotted; wings and tail blackish, all the feathers with narrow edgings of whitish on the outer webs; the bend of the wing distinctly yellowish. About one specimen in three has the chest streaks somewhat crowded together so as to form an indistinct spot. Autumn specimens are decidedly more brownish above, the sides of the head more buffy and fre- quently washed with pale yellow, while the tertiaries are broadly edged with buff or brown and sometimes the secondaries also; upper mandible dusky, lower yellowish; iris brown. Young birds are similar to adults, but usually browner, the markings not so sharp and distinct, and ordinarily without the yellow stripe over the eye. Length 4.85 to 5.50 inches; wing 2.60 to 2.90; tail 1.90 to 2.20; culmen .38 to .43. 222. Grasshopper Sparrow. Ammodramus savannarum australis Maynard. (546) Synonyms: Yellow-winged Sparrow. — Ammodromus australis, Maynard, 1887. — Frin- gilla passerina, Wilson, Bonap., Aud. — Coturniculus passerinus, Baird, Sclater, Allen, Coues, etc. — Ammodramus savannarum passerinus, Ridgw., 1885, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most recent authors. Streaked above but plain below, the edge of the wing bright yellow, and usually a distinct yellowish spot just in front of and above the eye. Distribution. — Eastern United States and southern Canada, west to the Plains, south in winter to Florida, Cuba, Porto Rico and coast of Central America. This little sparrow appears to be restricted to the southern half of the LAND BIRDS. 493 Lower Peninsula, the northern limit being the Saginaw-Grand Valley. About Lansing it is by no means common, but it was observed between Lansing and Grand Ledge by L. J. Cole, in June 1898, and T. L. Hankinson found it not uncommon near the College, on May 30 of the same year. In the southern and southeastern part of the state it seems to be irregularly distributed, but not uncommon in some places. J. Claire Wood found a nest and four eggs in Wayne county. May 28, 1902. Mr. Purdy says it is increasingly abundant at Plymouth, Wayne county. Mr. Swales states that careful search has revealed it in a number of localities in Wayne, Oakland, Genesee, and St. Clair counties, but that it is extremely local in its distribution. Apparently it occurs in little communities, several pairs nesting within hearing of each other. At Petersburg, Monroe county, Mr. Trombley says it is tolerably common and breeds, and specimens have been taken rather frequently in Kalamazoo county in June and July. The bird gets its name of Grasshopper Sparrow from the shrill whirring song, which is an insect-like trill closely resembling that of some grass- hoppers, and not readily detected by every ear. Mr. Bicknell says: "It is most persistent in song in hot dry summers, when on the most fervid days its fine notes sound sibilant and insect-like about the parched fields" (Auk, I, 330). It nests on the ground, laying three to five eggs, which are nearly white, rather sparsely speckled with brown and black, and more nearly resembling the eggs of some warblers than those of a sparrow. They average .73 by .58 inches. This bird arrives from the south in April, early in the month in the southern part of the state, and from the middle to the end of the month in Ingham county. It seems to prefer somewhat bushy and decidedly barren grass lands more or less overgrown with weeds, briars, etc. Taverner states that he never found it at Port Huron, but that at Pearl Beach, St. Clair county, it is scarce and quite local. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Outer tail-feathers a little shorter than the middle ones. Adult (sexes alike) ; Top of head with a distinct whitish or buffy median stripe between two blackish ones; rest of upper parts brownish-gray, streaked with black (and sometnnes chestnut), most broadly and heavily on the scapulars and middle back, more narrowly and sparsely on the neck and rump; a yellowish spot or short streak above the eye, and a more or less distinct dark line behind the eye; cheeks, throat, sides of neck, chest, sides and under tail-coverts, buffy white to clear buff, unspotted except for a few small streaks occa- sionally on the sides of chest; wings and tail brownish gray, edged externally with whitish but without any spots; the wing sometimes with two rather inconspicuous whitish bars across tips of middle and greater coverts; bend of wing bright yellow; bill brown above, yellowish below iris brown. In worn midsummer plumage the reddish brown of the upper parts is mostly wanting and the buffy chest becomes soiled brownish. Young birds lack the red-brown back markings, the feathers being widely edged with buffy and whitish, the chest distinctly streaked with brownish or blackish, the yellow eye-spot indistinct or ^Tengfh 4.85 to 5.20 inches; wing 2.35 to 2.60; tail 1.80 to 2; culmen .40 to .47. 494 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 223. Henslow's Sparrow. Passerherbulus henslowi henslowi (Aud.). (547) Synonyms: Henslow's Bunting. — Emberiza henslowii, Aud., 1829. — Fringilla henslowii, Ivfutt. — Coturniculus henslowi, Bonap., Baird, Coues, and most others. — Ammodramus henslowi, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and recent writers. Plate XLVIII. Similar in size and general appearance to the Grasshopper Sparrow, and, hke that species, with the bend of the wing yellowish, but the under parts show distinct black streaks on the sides and ])reast, and two black lines between eye and throat. Distribution. — Eastern United States, west to the Plains, north to southern New England and Ontario. Hen.slow's Sparrow is one of the less common sparrows in Michigan and seems to be confined to the southern parts of the state. So far as we can learn it was first taken in the state by James B. Purdy, who found the nest with eggs at Plymouth, Wayne county, July 27, 1893 (Auk, XIV, 1897, 220). The uest was destroyed and the eggs broken by a mowing machine, but the bird was identified by Dr. C. W. Richmond of the National Museum, and enough of the eggs remained for identification by Captain Bendire. The following year (1894) a nest and eggs were taken in Jackson county, near Manchester, by L. Whitney Watkins, and the writer, accom- panied by Mr. Watkins, took a second nest with four eggs at the same place June 6, 1904. Under date of June 11, 1908, Mr. B. H. Swales writes: "Henslow's Sparrow seems to be not uncommon in small colonies all over Wayne, St. Clair, and Oakland counties, as Taverner, Wood and myself have ascertained. I have found a number on^Grosse Isle without special search." The bird has also been found in some numbers in Wayne county by J. Claire Wood and P. A. Taverner, and by Taverner and Swales near Pearl Beach and elsewhere in the southern part of St. Clair county. Speci- mens were taken also on June 26, 1907, by E. R. Kalmbach and H. A. Moorman, near Eaton Rapids, Eaton county, where a colony was located and evidently nesting, although no nests were found. There are several records from western Ontario and it seems to be not uncommon on both sides of Lake St. Clair. It is by no means an easy bird to find, since it frequents wet grounds, often overgrown with long grass, weeds and shrubs, and it runs like a mouse among the thick herbage, flies rapidly and irregularly when flushed and is usually difficult to start a second time. The nest is placed on the ground, and the two nests found in Jackson county were in very wet situations, the water being ankle deep at the time they were taken. The one recorded by Mr. Purdy was in mowing land and in a dryer situation. The nest is composed mainly of grasses, coarse externally and much finer within, is deeply hollowed and rather carefully hidden among the roots of the coarse grasses and weeds. The eggs, com- monly four, are bluish white, flecked and speckled with reddish-brown, and, like those of the Grasshopper Sparrow, i-esemble some of the warblers, for example, the Maryland Yellowthroat, more than those of other sparrows. They average .74 by .57 inches. The male has a rapid insect-like trill or song which is sometimes delivered while perched in plain sight on the top of a weed-stalk, or in a rosebush or Plate XLVIII. Henslow's Sparrow. From an original drawing t)y P. A. Taverner. LAND BIRDS. " 497 Other small shrub, but also not infrequently while entirely hidden in the grass. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Outer tail-feathers much shorter than middle pair. ■^u}^ (sexes alike) : Top and sides of head and neck greenish-olive, streaked narrowly with black except on middle of crown, which thus sho,vs a clear pale stripe; a narrow black line trom base of upper mandible around and behind the ear-coverts to the back of the eye, and a second black line bordering the white throat on each side: back, scapulars and rump mainly chestnut and black, each feather black centrally, surrounded by chestnut and narrowly edged with white; breast and sides buffy, sharply streaked with black- belly white; wings and tail without bars or spots, the secondaries and outer tail-feathers mostly chestnut, the primaries and some of the tail-feathers dusky; bend of the wing yellow bill brownish above, yellowish below; iris brown. Young: Similar to adult, but sides alone streaked, the breast without spots; only a single black streak from base of bill below eye (the one bordering the throat wanting). Length 4.75 to 5.25 inches; wing 2.10 to 2.20; tail 1.90 to 2.05. 224. Leconte's Sparrow. Passerherbulus lecontei (And.). (548) Synonyms.— Leconte's Bunting.— Emberiza leconteii, And., 1844.— Fringilla caudacuta Lath., 1790, Nutt., 1832.— Ammodramus leconteii, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886.— Coturniculus lecontii, Baird, 1858, Coues, 1878. Similar to Henslow's Sparrow, but without any yellow on the bend of the wing. The general appearance of the bird is decidedly more buffy or even yellow. Perhaps the most noticeable difference is in the smaller bill which is really minute for such a bird, the culmen measuring only .35 of an inch. Distribution. — From the Plains eastward to Illinois and Indiana, and from .Manitoba south in winter to South Carolina, Florida and Texas. This is a western bird, only stragglers reaching eastward as far as Indiana, and possibly to southern Michigan. Our only record is a specimen in the Museum of the University of Michigan, said to have been taken near Ann Arbor. According to Kumlien and Holhster this species is sometimes fairly abundant in autumn near Lake Koshkonong, Wis., where in 1895 hundreds could have been taken. A few occur there every year in Septem- ber, but none are found in spring (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 96). The bird is said to be similar in its habits to Henslow's Sparrow and has a similar insect-like voice. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Outer tail-feathers much shorter than middle ones; bill very small and slender. Adult (sexes alike): "No dusky rictal or submalar streaks; median crown-stripe buif anteriorly, the rest pale buffy-grayish or dull buffy whitish; lateral stripes streaked blackish and brownish, the former usually predominating (nearly uniform black in summer); hind neck streaked chestnut and pale buffy or buffy-grayish; sides of head, including broad superciliary stripe, buffy (deeper, almost ochraceous, in winter, paler, sometimes nearly white in summer), the lores and ear-coverts light grayish or brownish, the latter bordered above by a blackish streak, becoming larger posteriorly; anterior and lateral lower parts buffy, the sides and flanks streaked with blackish; belly white; upper parts brownish, spotted or striped with blackish and streaked with whitish or buffy. Young: General color buff, deeper above, paler beneath, the belly whitish; upper parts streaked and striped with blackish, the chest, sides and flanks more narrowly streaked with the same. "Length 4.40 to 5.50 inches; wing L87 to 2.06; tail 1.87 to 2.25; culmen about ..35" (Ridgway). 63 498 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 225. Nelson's Sparrow. Passerherbulus nelsoni nelsoni (^ZZen). (549.1) SyBonyms: Nelson's Finch, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Finch. — ^Ammodramxis caudacutus var. nelsoni, Allen, 1875. — A. c. nelsoni, A. 0. U. Check-list, 1886. — Ammodramus nelsoni, A. O. U. Committee, 1899. Somewhat similar to Henslow's Sparrow, but decidedly browner above and below, the throat, breast and sides strong buffy-brown with few or no streaks of black. Not readily identified except by the expert. Distribution. — Fresh water marshes of the interior, from northern Illinois to North Dakota and Manitoba; south in winter to Texas and drifting eastward to the Atlantic coast during migrations. This rare sparrow was first described in 1874 from specimens obtained in Calumet marsh, northeastern lUinois. Dr. Morris Gibbs states that on October 5, 1878, Mr. William Ely secured two specimens of Nelson's Sparrow, an adult female and a young male, in Kalamazoo county. The young specimen was preserved in the collection of G. B. Sudworth. Another specimen was shot near Detroit September 27, 1893, by J. Claire Wood, and is now in the collection of B. H. Swales, Grosse Isle. The birds frequent wet places, and apparently prefer the margins of lakes, where they delight to run about among the bullrushes which fringe the shores or grow in the water. They are said to be abundant, sometimes exceedingly so, in September and October about Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin, but no specimens are found in spring or summer. It has been found nesting near Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where E. S. Rolfe took a nest and five eggs, sunken in the wet earth and built of fine dry grass. The eggs were grayish-white, thickly sprinkled and clouded with brown, and average .65 by .50 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Tail much graduated, the feathers slender and acute, the outer pair much shorter than the middle ones. Adult (sexes alike) : " Crown without a distinct median pale stripe, at least anteriorly; edge of wing very pale yellowish, supraloral streak deep buff or ochraceous, like the rest of the very distinct superciliary stripe; malar stripe deep buff or ochraceous. Above olivaceous, mixed or glossed with ashy, the sides of the back streaked with ashy, buffy or whitish, the crown with two broad lateral stripes of sepia-brown enclosing a narrower and less distinct one of grayish; chest and sides more or less distinctly washed with buff or ochraceous (often deeply of this color) and streaked with dusky or grayish. Young: Above dull ochraceous, the back broadly streaked with black, and sides of the crown chiefly of the latter color; lower parts entirely buff, streaked on chest with dusky. Colors of upper parts usually very sharply contrasted, especially the chalky white streaks of back, as compared with the rich umber-brown ground color; chest and sides usually very deep buff or ochraceous and not very distinctly or sharply streaked with dusky. Length 4.80 to 5.85 inches; wing 2.12 to 2.35; tail 1.83 to 2.21; culmen .49 to .53" (Ridgway). Males average somewhat larger than females. 226. Lark Sparrow. Chondestes grammacus grammacus (Say.). (552) Synonyms: Lark Finch, Little Meadowlark. — Fringilla grammaca. Say, 1823. — Chon- destes grammaca, Bonap., Baird, Allen, etc. — C. grammica, Brewster, Gibbs, Ridgway. and others. — Chondestes grammacus, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most recent authors. Figure 115. The head, broadly striped with chestnut, white, and black, the small black spot in the center of the breast, and the rounded tail,, most of the LAND BIRDS. 499 feathers broadly white-tipped, combine to mark this sparrow unmistakably. Distribution. — Southern Ontario and Mississippi Valley region, from Ohio, Illinois and Michigan to the Plains, south to eastern Texas and northwestern Alabama. Accidental near the Atlantic coast. This is a prairie sparrow which is said to have invaded Michigan from the west during the last thirty years, but which is just as hkely to have been here in small numbers from time im- memorial, extending its area, however, as the woods were removed and the country came under cultivation. It is nowhere abundant in Michigan, but it is not rare as a summer resident in certain localities, although even there its numbers vary greatly from year to year. We have ^^/^j,> numerous records from Wayne, Washtenaw, pjg. us. j^ark sparrow. Re- Monroe, Lenawee, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent printed from chapman's Handbook J Oi /~ii ■ i- 11 ■ ji .1 1 ii- of the Birds of Eastern North Amer- and bt. Llair counties, all m the southern half ica, by courtesj' of d. Appieton & of the state. The bird must be very local in f^"'"i»"y- its distribution, for the writer has sought for it carefully but unsuccessfully in Oakland, Genesee, Livingston, Eaton, Clinton and Ingham counties, in territory apparently just as favorable as the localities in Jackson, Washtenaw and Lenawee counties where it has been found. It is listed as common at Marquette, on the south shore of Lake Superior, by Miss Mowbray, although no specimens were taken, and it has not been found there by other observers. In the summer of 1906 Mr. W. M. Wolfe reported the Lark Sparrow nesting near Beulah, Benzie county. He writes : " With the Lark Sparrow I am fairly famihar, as with the Cardinal. It did not nest in the timber, but in the brush that grows abundantly on the wide beach of Crystal Lake. The eggs were characteristic. Its note led to its identification." With these two ex- ceptions it has not been found north of a line through Grand Rapids and Port Huron, but since it ranges north to Manitoba, and is by no means un- common over a large part of Minnesota, it is not improbable that it may yet be found in numbers in parts of the western half of the Upper Peninsula. Professor A. J. Cook recorded it from the Agricultural College (Birds of Michigan, 2d ed., 1893, p. 113), but we have been unable to find on what authority, and certainly it has not been seen there during the past eighteen years. In its habits and song it much resembles the Vesper Sparrow, and frequents similar open pasture lands, roadsides, and cultivated fields along the edges of orchards and woods. Ridgway speaks of its song in lUinois as resembling that of the Indigo-bird, but louder, clearer and more metaUic. Its marked colors, and particularly the white in the tail, which invariably suggests the Mourning Dove, render it conspicuous wherever it occurs and it is not likely to be overlooked. While it feeds mainly on seeds of grasses and weeds, it also eats many insects, particularly grasshoppers. It appears to nest wherever found. Mr. Mark B. Mills records a nest with five eggs at Macon, Lenawee county, April 20, 1896, and Mr. Trombley took three eggs at Summerfield, Monroe county. May 7, 1889. We have a set of five eggs in our College collection taken by L. Whitney Watkins at Fairview Farms, Jackson county. May 20, 1896. The nest is most often placed directly on the ground, more rarely in a low bush, and is built of grasses and weed-stalks, and lined with various fibrous materials, usually 500 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. including bristles or hair. The eggs are three to five, white or bluish white, rather thinly spotted with brown, purple and black, and usually with dark irregular pen-scratches. They average .80 by .61 inches. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike) : Top of head with a median stripe of white or grayish-white, bordered on either side with a broader dark stripe, which is black on the forehead, bright chestnut on the crown, and mixed with black on the nape; a narrow black line through the middle of the lores, with a long white stripe above it and over the eye, and a shorter white stripe below it and tlie eye; ear-coverts chestnut, with black spots before and behind; a broad white stripe from the base of lower mandible along side of head, separated from the white throat by a narrow black stripe; back brownish gray, the scapulars and interscapulars streaked with blackish, the hind neck, rump, and upper tail-coverts mostly unstreaked; under parts white or grayish-white, the chest with a patch of five or six small black spots; wings grayish-black, edged with white externally, and with two more or less conspicuous whitish bars; tail rounded, all but the middle feathers black with broad white tips, the outer pair about half white, the amount decreasing regularly on the next four pairs, the middle pair brownish-gray without white tips; bill dusky above, bluish below; iris brown. Young birds are more or less streaked with blackish on the breast, and the head markings are much less distinct, the crown entirely grayish-brown streaked with blackish, and the ear-coverts plain grayish-brown. Length 5.75 to 6.75 inches; wing 3.20 to 3.80; tail 2.70 to 3; culmen about .45. 227. Harris's Sparrow. Zonotrichia querula (Nutt.). (553) Synonyms: Fringilla querula, Nutt., 1840. — Fringilla harisii, Aud., 1843. — Zonotrichia querula of most other authors. With the proportions and general appearance of the White-throat, but rather larger, the top of the head without any stripes, and mainly clear black in the adult, as is also the chin, throat and middle of the breast. In immature birds these black feathers are ashy on bufif tipped, more or less hiding the black. Distribution. — Middle United States from IHinois, Missouri and Iowa west to middle Kansas and the Dakotas, and from Texas north to Manitoba. This appears to be a rather rare straggler from the west, yet from its similarity to the White-throat and White-crown, with which it associates, it may occur more frequently than we suppose. Thus far but three specimens have been recorded from Michigan, as follows: (1) An immature female shot at Palmer, Marquette county, September 30, 1894, by O. B. Warren; the skin now in the Agricultural College collection. (2) A male shot at Battle Creek, Calhoun county, October 12, 1894, by Edward Arnold; this bird was with a flock of White-throated Sparrows. (3) A female collected at Sault Ste. Marie, Chippewa county, February 22, 1900, by Richard Ryan, and identified by the Division of Biological Survey, U. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture. This specimen is now in the museum of the Sault Ste. Marie high school (Melville). Mr. Warren states that he first noticed this species at Palmer in the fall of 1893 among flocks of the White-throated and A¥hite-crowned Sparrows and found it tolerably common in the fall migrations of 1894 and 1895, but was unable to find it in the spring. It appears to be similar in its habits to the other members of the genus, but its nesting habits and eggs are imperfectly known. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult: Whole top of head black, without lighter median stripe; rest of upper parts brownish-gray or grayish-brown, the scapulars and middle of back broadly streaked Plale XLIX. Whiti'-crownod .'sparrow. From North A]n