'^^ii^?^mmsim?M, " " My Dear Sir. " Before setting out on my journey through the wilderness to Natchez, I sit down to give you, according to promise, some account of Lexington, and of my adventures through the state of Kentucky. These I shall be obliged to sketch as rapidly as possible. Neither my time nor my situation enables me to detail' particulars with any degree of regularity ; and you must condescend to receive them in the same random manner in which they occur, altogether destitute of fanciful embellishment; with nothing but their novelty, and the simplicity of truth, to recommend them. " I saw nothing of Lexington till I had approached within half a mile of the place, when the woods opening, I beheld the town before me, on an irregular plain, ornamented with a small white spire, and consisting of several parallel streets, crossed by some others ; many of the houses built of brick ; others of frame, neatly painted ;■ but a great proportion wore a more humble and inferior appearance. The fields around looked clean and well fenced; gently undu- lating, but no hills in view. In a hollow between two of these parallel streets, ran a considerable brook, that, uniting with a larger a little bebw the town, drives several mills. A large quarry of excellent building-stone also attracted my notice as I entered the town. The main street was paved with large masses from this quarry, the foot path neat, and guarded by wooden posts. The numerous shops piled with goods, and the many well dressed females I passed Vol. I.— F Ixxxii LIFE OF WILSON. in the streets; the sound of social industry, and the gay scenery of 'the busy haunts of men,' had a most exhilarating effect on my spirits, after being so long immured in the forest. My own appearance, I believe, was to many equally interesting; and the shopkeepers and other loungers interrogated me with their eyes as I passed, with symptoms of eager and inquisitive curiosity. After fix- ing my quarters, disposing of my arms, and burnishing myself a little, I walked out to have a more particular view of the place. " This little metropolis of the western country is nearly as large as Lancaster in Pennsylvania. In the centre of the town is a public square, partly occupied by the court-house and market-place, and distinguished by the additional orna- ment of the pillory and stocks. The former of these is so constructed as to serve well enough, if need be, occasionally for a gallows, which is not a bad thought; for as nothing contributes more to make hardened villains than the pillory, so notliing so effectually rids society of them as the gallows ; and every knave may here exclaim, " My bane and antidote are both before me." I peeped into the court-house as I passed, and though it was court day, I was struck with the appearance its interior exhibited ; for, though only a plain square brick building, it has all the gloom of the Gothic, so much admired of late, by our modern architects. The exterior walls, having, on experiment, been found too feeble for the superincumbent honors of the roof and steeple, it was found necessary to erect, from the floor, a number of large, circular, and unplastered brick pillars, in a new order of architecture (the thick end upper- most), which, while they serve to impress the spectators with the perpetual dread that they will tumble about their ears, contribute also, by their number and bulk, to shut out the light, and to spread around a reverential gloom, pro- ducing a melancholy and chilling effect ; a very good disposition of mind, , certainly, for a man to enter a court of justice in. One or two solitary indivi- duals stole along the damp and silent floor; and I could just descry, elevated at the opposite extremity of the building, the judges sitting, like spiders in a window corner, dimly distinguishable through the intermediate gloom. The market-place, which stands a little to the westward of this and stretches over the whole breadth of the square, is built of brick, something like that of Phi- ladelphia, but is unpaved and unfinished. In wet weather you sink over the shoes in mud at every step ; and here again the wisdom of the police is mani- fest; as nobody at such times will wade in there unless forced by business or absolute necessity; by which means a great number of idle loungers are, very properly, kept out of the way of the market folks. " I shall say nothing of the nature or quantity of the commodities which I saw exhibited there for sale, as the season was unfavorable to a display of their productions ; otherwise something better than a few cakes of black maple sugar, wrapped up in greasy saddle-bags, some cabbage, chewing tobacco, catmint and turnip tops, a few bags of meal, sassafras-roots, and skinned squirrels cut up into quarters — something better than all this, I say, in the proper season, certainly LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxxiii covers the stalls of this market-place, in the metropolis of the fertile country of Kentucky.* " The horses of Kentucky are the hardiest in the world, not so much by nature as by education and habit. From the commencement of their existence they are habituated to every extreme of starvation and gluttony, idleness and excessive fatigue. In summer they fare sumptuously every day. In winter, when not a blade of grass is to be seen, and when the cows have deprived them of the very bark and buds of every fallen tree, they are ridden into town, fifteen or twenty miles, through roads and sloughs that would become the graves of any common animal, with a fury and celerity incomprehensible by you folks on the other side of the Alleghany. They are there fastened to the posts on the sides of the streets, and around the public square, where * This letter, it should seem, gave offence to some of the inhabitants of Lexington ; and a gentleman residing in that town, solicitous about its repiitation, undertook, in a letter to the editor of the Port Folio, to vindicate it from strictures which he plainly insinuated were the offspring of ignorance, and unsupported by fact. After a feeble attempt at sarcasm and irony, the letter-writer thus proceeds : " I have too great a respect Cor Mr. Wilson, as your friend, not to bel^eTe he had in mind some other market-house than that of Lexington, when he speaks of it as ' unpaved and un- finished I' But the people of Lexington would be gratified to learn what your ornitho- logist means by ' skinned squirrels cut up into quarters,' which curious anatomical prepa- rations he enumerates among the articles he saw in the Lexington market. Does Mr. Wilson mean to joke upon us ? If this is wit we must confess that, however abundant our country may be in good substantial matter-of-fact salt, the attic tart is unknown among us. " I hope, however, soon to see this gentleman's American Ornithology. Its elegance of execution, and descriptive propriety, may assuage the little pique we have taken from the author." The editor of the Port Folio having transmitted this letter to Wilson, previous to send- ing it to press, it was returned with the following note : "To THE Editor of the Port Folio. " Bartram's Gardens, July 16, 1811. "Dear Sir. "No man can have a more respectful opinion of the people of Kentucky, particularly those of Lexington, than myself ; because I have traversed nearly the whole extent of their country, and witnessed the effects of their bravery, their active industry, and daring spirit for enterprise. But they would be gods, and not men, were they faultless. " I am sorry that truth will not permit me to retract, as mere jokes, the few disagreeable things alluded to. I certainly had no other market-place in view, than that of Lexington, in the passage above mentioned. As to the circumstance of ' skinned squirrels, cut up into quarters,' which seems to have excited so much sensibility, I candidly acknowledge myself to have been incorrect in that statement, and I owe an apology for the same. On referring to my notes taken at the time, I find the word 'halves,' not quarters ; that is, those ' curious anatomical preparations' (skinned squirrels) were brought to market in the form of a saddle of venison ; not in that of a leg or shoulder of mutton. " With this correction, I beg leave to assure your very sensible correspondent, that the thing itself was no joke, nor meant for one ; but, like all the rest of the particulars of that sicetch, ' good substantial matter of fact.' "If these explanations, or the perusal of my American Ornithology, should assuage the ' little pique' in the minds of the good people of Lexington, it will be no less honor- able to their own good sense, than agreeable to your humble servant," &c. Port Folio fo> August, 1811. Ixxxiv LIFE OF WILSON. hundreds of them may be seen, on a court day, hanging their heads from morning to night, in deep cogitation, ruminating perhaps on the long-expected return of spring and green herbage. The country people, to their credit bg it spoken, ai-e universally clad in plain homespun; soap, however, appears to be a scarce article ; and Hopkins' double cutters would find here a rich harvest, and produce a very improving effect. Though religion here has its zealous votaries, yet none can accuse the inhabitants of this flourishing place of bigotry, in shutting out from the pa,le of the church or churchyard any human being, or animal whatever. Some of these sanctuaries are open at all hours, and to every visitor. The birds of heaven find a hundred passages through the broken panes ; and the cows and hogs a ready access on all sides. The wall of separation is broken down between the living and the dead; and dogs tug at the carcass of the horse, on the grave of his master. Lexington, how- ever, with all its faults, which a few years will gradually correct, is an honor- able monument of the enterprise, courage, and industry of its inhabitants. Within the memory of a middle aged man, who gave me the information, there were only two log huts on the spot where this city is now erected ; while the surrounding country was a wilderness, rendered hideous by skulking bands of bloody and ferocious Indians. Now, numerous excellent institutions for the education of youth, a public library, and a well-endowed university, under the superintendence of men of learning and piety, are in successful operation. Trade and manufactures are also rapidly increasing. Two manufactories for spinning cotton have lately been erected; one for woollen; several extensive ones for weaving sail-cloth and bagging; and seven ropewalks, which, accord- ing to one of the proprietors, export, annually, ropeyarn to the amount of 150,000 dollars. A taste for neat, and even elegant, buildings is fast gaining ground; and Lexington, at present, can boast of men who do honor to science, and of females whose beauty and amiable manners would grace the first circles of society. "On Saturday, April 14th, I left this place for Nashville, distant about 200 miles. I passed through Nicholasville, the capital of Jessamine county, a small village begun about ten years ago, consisting of about twenty houses, with three shops and four taverns. The woods were scarcely beginning to look green, which to me was surprising, having been led by common report to believe that spring here is much earlier than in the lower parts of Pennsyl- vania. I must further observe, that, instead of finding the woods of Kentucky covered with a profusion of flowers, they were, at" this time, covered with rotten leaves and dead timber, in every stage of decay and^ confusion ; and I could see no difference between them and our own, but in the magnitude of the timber, and superior richness of the soil. Here and there the white blos- soms of the Sanguinaria canadensis, or red root, were peeping through the withered leaves ; and the buds of the buckeye, or horse chestnut, and one or two more, were beginning to expand. Wherever the hackberry had fallen, or been cut down, the cattle had eaten the whole bark from the trunk, even to that of the roots, "Nineteen miles from Lexington, I descended a long, steep, and rocky declivity, to the banks of Kentucky river, which is here about as wide as the LIFE OF WILSON. ' Ixxxv Schuylkill; and winds away between prodigious perpendicular clifis of solid limestone. In this deep and romantic valley the sound of the boat horns, from 8ever3,l Kentucky arks, which were at that instant passing, produced a most charming effect. The river, I was told, had already fallen fifteen feet ; but was still high. I observed great numbers of uncommon plants and flowers, growing among the cliffs; and a few solitary bank swallows were skimming along the surface. Keascending from this, and travelling for a few miles, I again descended a vast depth to another stream called Dick's river, engulfed among the same perpendicular masses of rock. Though it was nearly dark, I found some curious petrifactions, and some beautiful specimens of mother-of- pearl on the shore. The roaring of a mill-dam, and the rattling of the mill, prevented the ferryman from hearing me till it was quite night; and I passed the rest of the road in the dark, over a rocky country, abounding with springs, to Danville; This place stands on a slight eminence, and contains about eighty houses, chiefly log and frame buildings, disposed in two parallel streets, crossed by several others. It has two ropewalks and a woollen manufactory ; also nine shops and three taverns. I observed a great many sheep feeding about here, amidst fields of excellent pasture. It is, however, but a dull place. A Roman Catholic chapel has been erected here, at the expense of one or two individuals. The shopkeepers trade from the mouth of Dick's river down to New Orleans, with the common productions of the country, flour, hemp, tobacco, pork,~corn, and whiskey. " I was now one hundred and eighty miles from Nashville, and, as I was informed, not a town or village on the whole route. Every day, however, was producing wonders in the woods, by the progress of vegetation. The blossoms of the sassafras, dog-wood, and red bud, contrasted with the deep green of the poplar and buckeye, enriched the scenery on every side ; while the voices of the feathered tribes, many of which were to me new and unknown, were continually engaging me in the pursuit. Emerging from the deep solitude of the forest, the rich green of the grain-fields, the farm-house and cabins embosomed amidst orchards of glowing purple and white, gave the sweetest relief to the eye. Not far from the foot of a high mountain, called Mulders Hill, I overtook one of those family caravans so -common in this country, moving to the westward. The procession occupied a length of road, and had a formidable appearance, though, as I afterwards understood, it was composed of the individuals of only a single family. . In the front went a wagon drawn by four horses, driven by a negro, and filled with implements of agriculture; another heavy-loaded wagon, with six horses, followed, attended by two persons; after which came a numerous and mingled group of horses, steers, cows, sheep, hogs, and calves with their bells ; next followed eight boys mounted double, also a negro wench with a white child before her ; then the mother with one child behind her, and another at the breast; ten or twelve colts brought up the rear, now and then picking herbage, and trotting ahead. The father, a fresh, good-looking man, informed me that he was from Washington county, in Kentucky, and was going as far as Cumberland river ; he had two ropes fixed to the top of the wagon, one of which he guided himself, and the other was intrusted to his eldest son, to keep it from oversetting in ascending the mountain. The singu- Ixxxvi LIFE OF WILSON. lar appearance of this moving group, the mingled music of the bells, and the shoutings of the drivers, mixed with the echoes of the mountains, joined to the picturesque solitude of the place, and various reflections that hurried through my mind, interested me greatly ; and I kept company with them for some time, to lend my assistance if necessary. " The country now became mountainous, perpetually ascending and descend- ing; and about forty-nine miles from Danville, I passed through a pigeon Toost, or rather breeding-place, which continued for three miles, and, from information, extended in length for more thau forty miles. The timber was chiefly beech ; every tree was loaded with nests, and I counted, in difierent places, more than ninety nests on a single tree. Beyond this I passed a large company of people engaged in erecting a horse-mill for grinding grain. The few cabins I passed were generally poor ; but much superior in appearance to those I met with on the shores of the Ohio. In the evening I lodged near the banks of Green river. This" stream, like all the re.st, is sunk in a deep gulf, between high, perpendicular walls of limestone; is about thirty yards wide at this place, and runs with great rapidity ; but, as it had fallen consider- ably, I was just able to ford it without swimming. The water was of a pale greenish color, like that of the Licking, and some other streams, from whicb circumstance I suppose it has its name. The rocky banks of this river are hollowed out in many places into caves of enormous size, and of great extent. These rocks abound with the same masses of petrified shells so universal in Kentucky. In the woods, a little beyond this, I met a soldier, on foot, from New Orleans, who had been robbed and plundered by the Choctaws as he passed through their nation. ' Thirteen or fourteen Indians,' said he, 'sur- rounded me before I was aware, cut away my canteen, tore off' my hat, took the handkerchief from my neck, and the shoes from my feet, and all the money I had from me, which was about forty-five dollars.' Such was his story. He was going to Chilicothe, and seemed pretty nearly done up. " In the afternoon I crossed another stream of about twenty-five yards in width, called Little Barren ; after which the country began to assume a new and very singular appearance. The woods, which had hitherto been stately; now degenerated into mere scrubby saplings, on which not a bud was beginning to unfold, and grew so open that I could see for a mile through them. No dead timber or rotting leaves were to be seen, but the whole face of the ground was covered with rich verdure, interspersed with a variety of very beautiful flowers, altogether new to me. It seemed as if the whole country had once been one general level ; but that from some unknown cause, the ground had been undermined^ and had fallen in, in innumerable places, forming regular, funnel-shaped, concavities of all dimensions, from twenty feet in diameter, and six feet in depth, to five hundred by fifty, the surface or verdure generally unbroken. In some tracts the surface was entirely destitute of trees, and the eye was presented with nothing but one general neighborhood of these conca- vities, or, as they are usually called, sink-holes. At the centre, or bottom of some of these, openings had been made for water. In several places these holes had broken in, on the sides, and even middle of the road, to an unknown depth ; presenting their grim mouths as if to swallow up the unwaVy LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxxvii traveller. At the bottom of one of thosp declivities, at least fifty feet below the general level, a large rivulet of pure water issued at once from the mouth of a cave about twelve feet wide and seven high. A number of very singular sweet smelling lichens grew over the entrance, and a pewee had fixed her nest, like a little sentry-box, on a projecting shelf of the rock above the water. The height and dimensions of the cave continued the same as far as I waded in, which might be thirty or forty yards, but the darkness became so great that I was forced to return. I observed numbers of small fish sporting about, and I doubt not but these abound even in its utmost subterranean recesses. The whole of this country from Green to Red river, is hollowed out into these enormous caves, one of which, lately discovered in Warren couiit_), about eight miles from the Dripping Spring, has been explored for upwards of six miles, extending under the bed of the Green river. The entrance to these caves generally commences at the bottom of a sink-hole; and many of them are used by the inhabitants as cellars or spring-houses, having generally a spring or brook of clear water running through them. I descended into one of these belonging to a Mr. Wood, accompanied by the proprietor, who carried the light. At first the darkness was so intense that I could scarcely see a few feet beyond the circumference of the candle; but, after being in for five or six minutes, the objects around me began to make their appearance more dis- tinctly, the bottom, for fifteen or twenty yards at first, was so irregular, that we had constantly to climb over large masses of wet and slippery rocks ; the roof rose in many places to the height of twenty or thirty feet, presenting all the most irregular projections of surface, and hanging in gloomy and silent horror. We passed numerous chambers, or ofi-sets, which we did not explore ; and after three hours' wandering in these profound regions of glooms and silence, the particulars of which would detain me too long, I emerged with a handkerchief filled with bats, including one which I have never seen described; and a number of extraordinary insects of the Gryllus tribe, with antennae upwards of six inches long, and which I am persuaded had never before seen the light of day, as they fled from it with seeming terror, and I believe were- as blind in it as their companions the bats. " Great quantities of native glauber salts are found in these caves, and are used by the country people in the same manner, and with equal efi'ect, as those of the shops. But the principal production is saltpetre, which is procured from the earth in great abundance. The cave in Warren county above men- tioned, has lately been sold for three thousand dollars, to a saltpetre company, an individual of which informed me that, from every appearance, this cave had been known to the Indians many ages ago ; and had evidently been used for the same purposes. At the distance of more than a mile from the entrance, the exploring party, on their first visit, found the roof blackened by smoke, and bundles of half-burnt canes scattered about. A bark moccasin, of curious construction^ besides several other Indian articles, were found among the rub- bish. The earth, also, lay piled in heaps, with great regularity, as if in pre- paration for extracting the saltpetre. " Notwithstanding the miserable appearance of the timber on these barrens, the soil, to my astonishment, produced the most luxuriant fields of corn and Ixxxviii LIFE OF WILSON. wheat I had ever before met with. But one great disadvantage is the want of water, for the whole running streams, with which the surface of this coun- try evidently once abounded, have been drained oflf to a great depth, and -now murmur among these lower regions, secluded from the day. One forenoon I rode nineteen miles without seeing water; while my faithful horse looked round, but in vain, at every hollow, with a wishful and languishing eye, for that precious element. These barrens furnished me with excellent sport in shooting grouse, which abound here in great numbers ; and in the delightful groves that here and there rise majestically from these plains, I found many new subjects for my Ornithology. I observed all this day, far to the right, a range of high rocky detached hills, or knobs, as they are called, that skirt the barrens, as if they had been once the boundaries of the great lake that for- merly covered this vast plain. These, I was told, abound with stone coal and copperas. I crossed Big Barren river in a ferry boat, where it was about one hundred yards wide; and passed a small village called Bowling Green, near which I rode my horse up to the summit of one of these high insulated rocky hills, or knobs, which overlooked an immense circumference of country, spreading around bare and leafless, except where the groves appeared, i-n which there is usually water. " Fifteen miles from this, induced by the novel character of the country, I put up for several days,' at the house of a pious and worthy Presbyterian, whence I made excursions, in all directions, through the surrounding country. Between this and Red river the country had a bare and desolate appearance. Caves continued to be numerous ; and report made some of them places of concealment for the dead bodies of certain strangers, who had disappeared there. One of these lies near the banks -of the Red river, and belongs to a person of the name of , a man of notoriously bad character, and strongly suspected, even by his neighbors, of having committed a foul murder of this kind, which was related to me with all its minutiae of horrors. As this man's house stands by the road side, I was induced, by motives of curiosity, to stop and take a peep of him. On my arrival I found two persons in con- versation under the piazza, one of whom informed me that he was the land- lord. He was a dark mulatto, rather above the common size, inclining to cor- pulency, with legs small in proportion to his size, and walked lame. His countenance bespoke a soul capable of deeds of darkness. I had not been three minutes in company when he invited the other man (who I understood was a traveller), and myself, to walk back and see his cave, to which I imme- -diately consented. The entrance is in the perpendicular front of a rock, behind the house ; has a door with a lock and key to it, and was crowded with pots of milk, placed near the running stream. The roof and sides of solid rock were wet and dropping with water. Desiring to walk before with the lights, I followed with my hand on my pistol, reconnoitering on every side, and listening to his description of its length and extent. After examin- ing this horrible vault for forty or fifty yards, he declined going any further, complaining of a rheumatism ; and I now first perceived that the other person had stayed behind, and that wo two were alone together. Confident in my means of self-defence, whatever mischief the devil might suggest to him, I LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxxix fixed my eyes steadily on his, and observed to him, that he could not be igno- rant of the reports circulated about the country relative to this cave. ' I suppose/ said I, ' you know what I mean ?' ' Yes, I understand you,' re- turned he, without appearing the least embarrassed, 'that I killed somebody and threw them into this cave — I can tell you the whole beginning of that damned lie,' said he ; and, without moving from the spot, he detaile'd to me a long story, which would fill half my letter, to little purpose, and which, with other particulars, I shall reserve for your amusement when we meet. I asked him why he did not get the cave examined by three or four i-eputable neigh- bors, whose report might rescue his character from the suspicion of having committed so horrid a crime. He acknowledged it would be well enough to do so; but did not seem to think it worth the trouble; and we returned as we advanced, walking before with the lights. Whether this man be guilty or not of the transaction laid to his charge I know not; but his manners and aspect are such as by no means to allay suspicion. " After crossing Red river, which is here scarce twenty yards broad, I found no more barrens. The timber was large, and the woods fast thickening with . green leaves. As I entered the state of Tennessee, the face of the country became hilly, and even mountainous. After descending an immense declivity, and coursing along the rich valley of Manskers creek, where I again met with large flocks of paroquets, I stopped at a small tavern, to examine, for three or four days, this part of the country. Here I made some interesting additions to my stock of new subjects for the Ornithology. On the fourth day I crossed the Cumberland, where it is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, and of great depth, bounded as usual with high precipitous banks, and reached the town of Nashville, which towers like a fortress above the river. Here I have been busily employed these eight days ; and send you the enclosed parcel of drawings, the result of every moment of leisure and convenience I could obtain. Many of the birds are altogether new ; and you will find along with them every explanation necessary for your purpose. " You may rest assured of hearing from me by the first opportunity after my arrival at Natchez. In the mean time I receive with much pleasure the accounts you give me of the kind inquiries of my friends. To me nothing could be more welcome ; for whether journeying in this world, or journeying to that which is to come, there is something of desolation and despair in the idea of being for ever forgotten in our absence, by those whom we sincerely esteem and regard." To Mr. Alexander Lawson. Natchez, Mississippi Territory, May 18th, 1810. " Dear Sir. " About three weeks ago I wrote to you from Nashville, enclosing three sheets of drawings, which I hope you have received.* I was at that time on the point of setting out for St Louis ; but being detained a week by constant and heavy rains, and considering that it would add four hundred miles to my jour- * These drawings never came to hand. xc LIFE OP WILSON. ney, and detain me at least a month ; and the season being already far ad- vanced, and no subscribers to be expected there, I abandoned the idea, and prepared for a journey through the wilderness. I was advised by many not to attempt it alone ; that the Indians were dangerous, the swamps and rivers almost impassable without assistance, and a thousand other hobgoblins were conjured up to dissuade me from going alone. But I weighed all these mat- ters in my own mind ; and attributing a great deal of this to vulgar fears and exaggerated reports, I equipped myself for the attempt. I rode an excellent horse, on which I could depend ; I had a loaded pistol in each pocket, a loaded fowling piece belted across my shoulder,- a pound of gunpowder in my flask, and five pounds of shot in Tny belt. I bought some biscuit and dried beef, and on Friday morning. May 4th, I left Nashville. 'About half a mile from town I observed a poor negro with two wooden legs, building himself a cabin in the woods. Supposing that this journey might afford you and my friends some amusement, I kept a particular account of the various occurrences, and shall transcribe some of the most interesting, omitting everything relative to my Ornithological excursions and discoveries, as more suitable for another occasion. " Eleven miles from Nashville, I came to the Great Harpath, a stream of about fifty yards wide, which was running with great violence. I could not discover the entrance of the ford, owing to the rains and inundations. There was no time to be lost, I plunged in, and almost immediately my horse was swimming. I set his head aslant the current, and being strong, he soon landed me on the other side. As the weather was warm, I rode in my wet clothes with- out any inconvenience. The country to-day was a perpetual succession of steep hills and low bottoms ; I crossed ten or twelve large creeks, one of which I swam with my horse, where he was near being entangled among some bad driftwood. Now and then a solitary farm opened from the woods, where the negro children were running naked about the yards. I also passed along the north side of a high hill, where the whole timber had been prostrated by some terrible hurri- cane. I lodged this night in a miner's, who told me he had been engaged in forming no less than thirteen companies for hunting mines, all of whom had left him. I advised him to follow his farm, as the surest vein of ore he could work. " Next day (Saturday) I first observed the cane growing, which increased until the whole woods were full of it. The road this day winded along the high ridges of mountains that divide the waters of the Cumberland from those of the Tennessee. I passed few houses to-day ; but met several parties of boat- men returning from Natchez and New Orleans ; who gave me such an account of the road, and the difficulties they had met with, as served to stiffen my resolution to be prepared for everything. These men were as dirty as Hotten- tots ; their dress a shirt and trowsers of canvas, black, greasy, and sometimes in tatters ; the skin burnt wherever exposed to the sun ; each with a budget, wrapped up in an old blanket ; their beards, eighteen days old, added to the singularity of their appearance, which was altogether savage. These people came from the various tributary streams of the Ohio, hired at forty or fifty dollars a trip, to return back on their own expenses. Some had upwards of LIFE OF WILSON. xci eight hundred miles to travel. When they come to a stream that is unfordable, they coast it for a fallen tree : if. that cannot be had, they enter with their budget on their head, and when they lose bottom, drop it on their shoulders, and take to swimming. They have sometimes fourteen or fifteen of such streams to pass in a day^ and morasses of several miles in length, that I have never seen equalled in any country. I lodged this night at one Dobbins's, where ten or twelve of these men lay on the floor. As they scrambled up in the morning, they very generally complained of being unwell, for which they gave an odd reason, lying within doors, it being the first of' fifteen nights they had been so indulged. " Next morning (Sunday) I rode six miles to a man's, of the name of Grinder, where our poor friend Lewis perished.* In the same room where he expired, I took down from Mrs. Grinder the particulars of that melancholy event, which afi'ected me extremely. This house, or cabin, is seventy-two miles from Nashville, and is the last white man's as you enter the Indian country. Governor Lewis, she said, came hither about sunset, alone, and inquired if he could stay for the night; and, alighting, brought his saddle into the house. He was dressed in a loose, gown, white, striped with blue. On being asked if he came alone, he replied that there were two servants behind, who would soon be up. He called for some spirits, and drank a very little. When the servants arrived, one of whom was a negro, he inquired for his powder, saying he was sure he had some powder in a canister. The servant gave no distinct reply, and Lewis, in the meanwhile, walked backwards and forwards before the door, talking to himself. Sometimes, she said, he would seem as if he were walking up to her; and would suddenly wheel round, and walk back as fast as he could. Supper being ready, he sat down, but had eaten only a few mouthfuls when he started up, speaking to himself in a violent manner. At these times, she says, she observed his face to flush as if it had come on him in a fit. He lighted his pipe, and drawing a chair to the door sat down, saying to Mrs. Grinder, in a kind tone of voice, ' Madam, this is a very pleasant even- ing.' He smoked for some time, but quitted his seat and traversed the yard as before. He again sat down to his pipe, seemed again composed, and casting his eyes wistfully towards the west, observed what a sweet evening it was. Mrs. Grinder was preparing a bed for him ; but he said he would sleep on the floor, and desired the servant to bring the bear-skins and buffalo robe, which were immediately spread out for him; and, it being now dusk, the women went oflF to the kitchen, and the two men to the barn, which stands about two hundred yards ofi'. The kitchen is only a few paces from the room where Lewis was, and the woman, being considerably alarmed by the behavior of her guest, could not sleep, but listened to him walking backwards and for- * It is hardly necessary to state, that this was the brare and enterprising traveller, whose journey across the Kooky Mountains, to the Pacific Ocean, has obtained for him well-merited celebrity. The true cause of his committing the rash deed, so feelingly detailed above, is not yet known to the public ; but his friends will not soon forget the base imputations and cruel neglect, which the honorable mind of the gallant soldier knew not how to brook. xcu i.lJ!'i!l OF WILSO . wards, she thinks, for several hours, and talking aloud, as she said, ' like a lawyei.' She then heard the report of a pistol, and something fall heavily on the floor, and the words ' Lord I' Immediately afterwards she heard another pistol, and in a few minutes she heard him at her door calling out ' 0, madam 1 give me some water, and heal my wounds' The logs being open, and un- plastered, she saw him stagger hack and fall against a stump that stands between the kitchen and room. He crawled for some distance, and raised himself by the side of a tree, where he sat about a minute. He once more got to the room; afterwards. he came to the kitchen door, but did not speak: she then heard him scraping the bucket with a gourd for water ; but it appears that this cooling element was denied the dying man ! As soon as day broke, and not before, the terror of the woman having permitted him to remain for two hours in this most deplorable situation, she sent two of her children to the barn, her husband not being at home, to bring the servants; and on going in they found him lying on the bed; he uncovered his side, and showed them where the bullet had entered; a piece of the forehead was. blown off, and had exposed the brains, without having bled much. He begged they would take his rifle and blow out his brains, and he would give them all the money he had in his trunk. He often said, 'I am no coward ; but I am so strong, so hard to die.' He begged the servant not to be afraid of him, foi that he would not hurt him. He expired in about two hours, or just as the sun rose above the trees. He lies buried close by the common path, with a few loose rails thrown over his grave. I gave Grinder money to put a post fence round it, to shelter it from the hogs, and from the wolves ; and he gave me his written promise he would do it. I left this place in a very melancholy mood, which was not much allayed by the prospect of the gloomy and savage wilderness which I was just enteringialone. ******** " I was roused from this melancholy reverie by the roaring of Buffalo river, which I forded with considerable difficulty. I passed two or three solitary Indian huts in the course of the day, with a few acres of open -land at each ; but 60 wretchedly cultivated, that they just make out to raise maize enough to keep in existence. They pointed me out the distances by holding up their fingers. This is the country of the Chickasaws, though erroneously laid down in soibe maps as that of the Cherokees. I slept this night in one of their huts ; the Indians spread a deer skin for me on the floor, I made a pillow of my portmanteau, and slept tolerably well ; an old Indian laid himself down near me. " On Monday morning I rode fifteen miles, and stopped at an Indian's to feed my horse. The sight of my paroquet brought the whole family around me. The women are generally naked from the middle upwards; and their heads, in many instances, being rarely combed, look like a large mop ; they have a yard or two of blue cloth wrapped round by way of petticoat, that reaches to their knees — the boys were generally naked; except a kind of bag of blue cloth, by way oi fig-leaf . Some of the women have a short jacket, with sleeves, drawn over their naked body, and the rag of a blanket is a general appendage. I met to-day two officers of the United States army, who gave me LIFE OF WILSON. xciii a better account of the road than I had received. I passed through many bad swamps to-day ; and at about five in the evening came to the banks of the Tennessee, which was swelled by the rains, and is about half a mile wide thirty miles below the Muscle Shoals, and just below a long island laid down in your small map. A growth of canes, of twenty and thirty feet high, covers the low bottoms ; and these cane swamps are the gloomiest and most desolate looking places imaginable. I hailed for the boat as long as it was light, with- out effect; I then sought out a place to encamp, kindled a large fire, stripped the canes for my horse, eat a bit of supper, and lay down to sleep ; listening to the owls, and the Chuck- Wills- Widow, a kind of Whip-poor- Will, that is very numerous here. I got up several times during the night to recruit my fire, and see how my horse did ; and, but for the gnats, would have slept tolerably well. These gigantic woods have a singular effect by the light of a large fire ; the whole scene being circumscribed by impenetrable darkness, except that in front, where every leaf is strongly defined, and deeply shaded. " In the morning I hunted until about six, when I again renewed my shout- ings for the boat, and it was not until near eleven that it made its appearance. I was so enraged at this delay, that, had I not been cumbered with baggage, I believe I should have ventured to swim the river. I vented my indignation on the owner of the boat, who is a half-breed, threatening to publish hiin in the papers, and advise every traveller I met to take the upper ferry. This man charges one dollar for man and horse, and thinks, because he is a chief, he may do in this way what he pleases. The country now assumed a new appearance ; no brushwood-^no fallen or rotten timber ; one cowld see a mile through the woods, which were covered with high grass fit for mowing. These woods are burnt every spring, and thus are kept so remarkably clean, that they look like the most elegant noblemen's parks. A profusion of flowers, altogether new to me, and some of them very elegant, presented themselves to my view as I rode along. This must be a heavenly place for the botanist. The most observable of these flowers was a kind of Sweet William, of all tints, from white, to the deepest crimson. A superb Thistle, the most beautiful I had ever seen. A species' of Passion flower, very beautiful. A stately plant of the Sunflower family — the button of the deepest orange, and thejadiating petals bright carmine, the breadth of the flower about four inches. A large white flower like a deer's tail. Great quantities of the Sensitive plant, that shrunk instantly on being touched, covered the ground in some places. Almost every flower was new to me, except the Carolina Pink-root, and Colombo, which grew in abun- dance on every side. At Bear creek, which is a large and rapid stream, I first observed the Indian boys with their blow-guns. These are tubes of cane seven feet long, and perfectly straight, when well made. The arrows are made of slender slips of cane, twisted, and straightened before the fire, and covered for several inches at one end with the down of thistles, in a spiral form, so as just to enter the tube. By a puff' they can send these with such violence as to enter the body of a partridge, twenty yards off. I set several of them a hunting birds by promises of reward, but not one of them could succeed. I also tried some of the blow-guns myself, but found them generally defective in straight- ness. I met six parties of boatmen to-day, and many straggling Indians, and xciv LIFE OF WILSON. encamped about sunset near a small brook, where I shot a turkey, and on returning to my fire found four boatmen, who stayed with me all night, and helped to pick the bones of the turkey. In the morning I heard the turkeys gobbling all round me, but not wishing to leave my horse, having no great faith in my guests' honesty, I proceeded on my journey. " This day (Wednesday) I passed through the most horrid swamps I had ever seen. These are covered with a prodigious growth of canes, and high woods, which together, shut out almost the whole light of day for miles. The banks of the deep and sluggish creeks, that occupy the centre, are precipitous, where I had often to plunge my horse seven feet down, into a bed of deep clay up to his belly ; from which nothing but great strength and exertion could have rescued him ; the opposite shore was equally bad, and beggars all descrip- tion. For an extent of several miles, on both sides of these' creeks, the dark- ness of night obscures every object around. On emerging from one of the worst of these, I met General Wade Hampton, with two servants, and a pack- horse, going, as he said, towards Nashville. I told him of the mud campaign immediately before him ; I was covered with mire and wet, and I thoiight he looked somewhat serious at the diflSculties he was about to engage. He has been very sick lately. About half an hour before sunset, being within sight of the Indian's where I intended to lodge, the evening being perfectly clear and calm, I laid the reins on my horse's neck, to hsten to a Mocking-bird, the first I had heard in the western country, which, perched on the top of a dead tree before the door, was pouring out a torrent of melody. I think I never heard so excellent a^ performer. I had alighted, and was fastening my horge, when hearing the report of a rifle immediately beside me, I looked up and saw the poor Mocking-bird fluttering to the ground. One of the savages had marked his elevation, and barbarously shot him. I hastened over into the yard, and walking up to him, told him that was bad, very bad ! That this poor bird had come from a far distant country to sing to him, and that in return he had cruelly killed him. I told him the Great Spirit was offended at such cruelty, and that he would lose many a deer for doing so. The old Indian, father-in- law to the bird-killer, understanding by the negro interpreter what I said, -replied, that when these birds come singing and making a noise all day near the house, somebody will surely die — which is exactly what an old superstitious German, near Hampton in Virginia, once told me. This fellow had married the two eldest daughters of the old Indian, and presented one of them with the bird he had killed. " The next day I passed through the Chickasaw Big-town, which stands on the high open plain, that extends through theif country, three or four miles in breadth, by fifteen in length. Here and there you perceive little groups of miserable huts, formed of saplings, and plastered with mud and clay ; about these are generally a few peach and plum trees. Many ruins of others stand scattered about, and I question whether there were twenty inhabited huts within the whole range of view. The ground was red with strawberries ; and the boatmen were seen in straggling parties feasting on them. Now and then a solitary Indian, wrapped in his blanket, passed sullen and silent. On this plain are beds of shells, of a large species of clam, some of which are almost LIFE OF WILSON. XCT entire. I this day stopped at the house of a white man, who had two Indian wives, and a hopeful string of young savages, all in their fig-leaves; not one of them could speak a word of English. This man was hy hirth a Virginian, and had been forty years among the Chickasaws. His countenance and man- ners were savage and worse than Indian. I niet many parties of boatmen to-day, and crossed a number of bad swamps. The woods continued to exhibit the same open luxuriant appearance, and at night I lodged at a white man's, who has also two wives, and a numerous progeny of young savages. Here I met with a lieutenant of the United States army, anxiously inquiring for General Hampton. " On Friday the same open woods continued ; I met several parties of Indians, and passed two or three of their hamlets. At one of these were two fires in the yard, and at each, eight or ten Indians, men and women, squat on the ground. In these hamlets there is generally one house built of a circular form, and plastered thickly all over without and within with clay. This they call a hot house, and it is the general winter quarters of the hamlet in cold weather. Here they all kennel, and having neither window nor place for the smoke to escape, it must be a sweet place while forty or fifty of them have it in occupancy. Round some of theSe hamlets were great droves of cattle, horses and hogs. I lodged this night on the top of a hill far from water, and sufiFered severely for thirst. " On Saturday I passed a number of most execrable swamps, the weather was extremely warm, and I had been attacked by something Ijke the dysentery, which occasioned a constant burning thirst, and weakened me greatly. I stopped this day frequently to wash my head and throat in the water, to allay the burn- ing thirst, and putting on my bat, without wiping, received considerable relief from it. Since crossing the Tennessee the woods have been interspersed with pine, and the soil has become more sandy. This day I met a Captain Hughes, a traveller, on his return from Santa Fe. My complaint increased so much that I could scarcely sit on horseback, and all night my mouth and throat were parched with a burning thirst and fever. " On Sunday I bought some raw eggs which I ate. I repeated the dose at mid-day, and towards evening, and found great benefit from this simple remedy. I inquired all along the road for fresh eggs, and for nearly a week made them almost my sole food, till I completed my cure. The water in these cane swamps is little better than poison; and under the heat of a burning sun, and the fatigues of travelling, it is difiicult to repress the urgent calls of thirst. On the Wednesday following, I was assailed by a tremendous storm of rain, wind and lightning, until I and my horse were both blinded by the deluge, and unable to go on. I sought the first most open place, and dismounting stood for half an hour under the most profuse heavenly shower-hath I ever enjoyed. The roaring of the storm was terrible; several trees around me were broken ofi^, and torn up by the roots, and those that stood were bent almost to the ground : limbs of trees of several hundred weight flew past within a few yards of me, and I was astonished how I escaped. I would rather take my chance in a field of battle, than in such a tornado again. " On the fourteenth day of my journey, at noon, I arrived at this place xcvi LIFE OF WILSON. having overcome every obstacle, alone, and without being acquainted with the country; and what surprised the boatmen more, without whiskey. On. an average I met from forty to sixty boatmen every day, returning from this place and New Orleans. The Chickasaws are a friendly, inoffensive people, and the Choetaws, though more reserved, are equally harmless. Both of them treated me with civility, though I several times had occasion to pass through their camps, where many of them were drunk. The paroquet which I carried with me was a continual fund of amusement to all ages of these people ; and as they crowded around to look at it, gave me an opportunity of studying their physiognomies, without breach of good manners. '• In thus hastily running over the particulars of this journey, I am obliged to omit much that would amuse and interest you ; but my present situation, a noisy tavern, crowded in every corner, even in the room where I write, with the sons of riot and dissipation, prevents me from enlarging on particulars. I could also have wished to give you some account of this place, and of the celebrated Mississippi, of which you have heard so much. On these subjects, however, I can at present only offer you the following slight sketch, taken the morning after my arrival here. " The best view of this place and surrounding scenery, is from the old Span- ish fort on the south side of the town, about a quarter of a mile distant. From thi.s- high point, looking up the river, Natchez lies on your right, a mingled group of green trees, and white and red houses, occupying an uneven plain, much washed into ravines, rising as it recedes from the bluff or high precipitous bank of the river. There is, however, neither steeple, cupola, nor distinguished object to add interest to its appearance. The country beyond it to the right is thrown up into the same irregular knolls ; and at the distance of a mile, in the same direction, you have a peep of some cultivated farms, bounded by the general forest. On your left you look down, at a depth of two or three hundred feet, on the river, winding majestically to the south; the intermediate space Exhibiting wild perpendicular precipices of brown earth. This part of the river and shore is the general rendezvous of all the arks or Kentucky boats, several hundreds of which are at present lying moored there, loaded with the produce of the thousand shores of this noble river. The busy multitudes below present a perpetually varying picture of industry; and the noise and uproar, softened by the distance, with the continual crowing of the poultry with which many of these arks are filled, produce cheerful and exhila- rating ideas. The majestic Mississippi, swelled by his ten thousand tributary streams, of a pale brown color, half a mile wide, and spotted with trunks of trees, that show the different threads of the current and its numerous eddies, bears his depth of water past in silent grandeur. Seven gun-boats, anchored at equal distances along the stream, with their ensigns displayed, add to the effect. A few scattered houses are seen on the low opposite shore, where a narrow strip of cleared land exposes the high gigantic trunks of some dead- ened timber that bound the woods. The whole country beyond the Missis- sippi, from south round to west, and north, presents to the eye one universal level ocean of forest, bounded only by the horizon. So perfect is this vast level, that not a leaf seems to rise above the plain, as if shorn by tho hands LIFE OF "WILSON. xcvii of heaven. At this moment, while I write, a terrific thunder storm, with all its towering assemblage of black alpine clouds, discharging lightning in every direction, overhangs this vast level, and gives a magnificence and sublime efibct to the whole." The foregoing letters present us with an interesting account of our author's journey, until his arrival at Natchez, on the seventeenth of May. In his diary he says — " This journey, four hundred and seventy-eight miles from Nashville, I have performed alone, through difficulties, which those who have never passed the road could not have a conception of." We may readily sup- pose that he had not only difficulties to encounter, encumbered as he neces sarily was with his shooting apparatus, and bulky baggage, but also dangers, in journeying through a frightful wilderness, where almost impenetrable cane- swamps and morasses present obstacles to the progress of the traveller, which require all his resolution and activity to overcome. Superadded to which, as we are informed, he had a severe attack of the dysentery, when remote from any situation which could be productive of either comfort or relief; and he was under the painful necessity of trudging on, debilitated and dispirited with a disease, which threatened to put a period to his exiptence. An Indian, hav- ing been made acquainted with his situation, recommended the eating of straw- berries, which were then fully ripe, and in great abundance. On this delight- ful fruit, and newly laid eggs, taken raw, he wholly lived for several days; and he attributed his restoration to health to these simple remedies. On the sixth of June our traveller reached New Orleans, distant from Nat- chez two hundred and fifty-two miles. As the sickly season was fast approach- ing, it was deemed advisable not to tarry long in this place; and his afiairs being despatched, he sailed on the twenty-fourth in a ship bound to New York, at which place he arrived on the thirtieth of July; and soon reached Philadelphia, enriched with a copious stock of materials for his work, including several beautiful and hitherto unknown birds.* , In the newly settled country through which Wilson had to pass in his last journey, it was reasonable not to expect much encouragement in the way of * The editor of Wilson's Poems, which were published at Paisley in 1816, gives what he states to be an extract from one of our author's letters to his father, wherein it is said that he had travelled through West Florida to New Orleans, and had "sailed thence to East Florida, furnished with a letter to the Spanish governor." This passage needs ex- planation. Wilson was never either in East or West Florida (except a small part of the latter province, through which the road to New Orleans passed) ; but, in the event of his going thither, had provided himself with a letter of introduction from Don Luis de Onis, the Spanish ambassador to the United States, to Don Enrique White, Governor of East Florida, and another to Don Vincente Folche, Governor of West Florida. In his pass- age from New Orleans to New York, he merely landed, for a few minutes, upon one~or two desert islands lying in the Florida Gulf. He departed from Philadelphia on the thirtieth of January, 1810 ; and returned on the second of August, of the same year. It is stated in his diary that the total amount of his expenses, until his arrival in New York, was the sum of four hundred and fifty-five dol- lars. This particular is given as a proof of how much may be performed, by a good eco- nomist, with slender means. Vol. I.— G xcviii LIFE OF WILSON. subscriptions. Yet he was not only honored with the names of some respecta- ble individuals ; but also received hospitable treatment from several persons, and those, too, to whom he had not been introduced. It -is a singular fact, that from those to whom he had letters of introduction, and from whom most had been expected, he received the fewest acts of civility. The principal events of his journey have been given in his letters; but I might select from his diary many interesting passages, if the limits allotted to this memoir would admit of copiousness of detail. It is not unusual for scholars to keep diaries when they travel. These wri- . tings are commonly the objects of great curiosity, as we are all anxious to know what were the impressions which the incidents of a journey made upon the mind, when it was in the fittest state to receive them. Eor the gratification of the reader, I will make a few short extracts from Wilson's journal, as specimens of his mode of writing these unstudied narra- tives. March 9. — Visited a number of the literati and wealthy of Cincinnati, who all told me that they would think of it, viz. of subscribing : they are a very thoughtful people. " March 17. — Rained and hailed all last night, set off at eight o'clock, after emptying my boat of the deluge of water. Rowed hard all day; at noon re- cruited myself with some biscuits, cheese and American wine. Reach the falls — night sets in — hear the roaring of the rapids. After excessive hard work arrive at Beargrass creek, and fasten my boat to a Kentucky one. Take my baggage and grope my way to Louisville — put up at the Indian Queen tavern, and gladly sit down to rest myself. " March 18. — Rose quite refreshed. Found a number t)f land speculators here. Titles to lands in Kentucky, subject to great disputes. " March 19. — Rambling round the town with my gun. Examined Mr. 's drawings in crayons — very good. Saw two new birds he had, both Motacillx. " March 20. — Set out this afternoon with the gun — killed nothing new. People in taverns here devour their meals. Many shopkeepers board in taverns — also boatmen, land speculators, merchants, &c. No naturalist to keep me compant/. " March 21. — Went out this afternoon shooting with Mr. A. Saw a num- ber of sandhill cranes. Pigeons numerous. " March 23. — Packed up my things which I left in the care of a merchant here, to be sent on to Lexington ; and having parted, with great regret, with my paroquet, to the gentlemen of the tavern, I bade adieu to Louisville, to which place I had four letters of recommendation, and was taught to expect much of everything there ; but neither received one act of civility from those to whom I was recommended, one subscriber, nor one new bird; though I de- livered my letters, ransacked the woods repeatedly, and visited all the charac- ters likely to subscribe. Science or literature has not one friend in this place. Every one is so intent on making money that they can talk of nothing else ; LIFE OF WILSON. xcix and they absolutely devour their meals that they may return the sooner to their business. Their manners correspond with their features. " Good country this for lazy fellows : they plant corn, turn their pigs into the woods, and in the autumn feed upon corn and pork — they lounge about the rest of the year. " March 24. — Weather cool. Walked to Shelbyville to breakfast. Passed some miserable log-houses in the midst of rich fields. Called at a 'Squire C.'s, who was rolling logs. Sat down beside him, but was not invited in, though it was about noon. " March 29. — Finding my baggage not likely to come on, I set out from Frankfort for Lexington. The woods swarm with pigs, squirrels, and wood- peckers. Arrive exceedingly fatigued. " Wherever you go you hear people talking of buying and selling land ; no readers, all traders. The Yankees, wherever you find them, are all traders. Found one here, a house carpenter, who came from Massachusetts, and brought some barrels of apples down the river from Pennsylvania to this town, where he employs the negro women to hawk them about the streets, at thirty-seven and a half cents per dozen. " Restless, speculating set of mortals here, full of lawsuits, no great readers, even of politics or newspapers. " The sweet courtesies of life, the innumerable civilities in deeds and con- versation, which cost one so little, are seldom found here. Every man you meet with has either some land to bay or sell, some lawsuit, some coarse hemp or corn to dispose of; and if the conversation do not lead to any of these he will force it. Strangers here receive less civilities than in any place I have ever been in. The respect due to the fatigues and privations of travellers is nowhere given, because every one has met with as much, and thinks he has seen more than any other. No one listens to the adventures of another, with- out interrupting the narrative with his own ; so that, instead of an auditor, he becomes a competitor in adventure-telling. So many adventurers, also, con- tinually wandering about here, injure the manners of the people, for avarice and knavery prey most freely and safely upon passengers whom they may never meet again. " These few observations are written in Salter White's garret, with little or no fire, wood being a scarce article here— the forests being a full lialf mile distant. "April 9. — Court held to-day, large concourse of people ; not less than one thousand horses in town, hitched to the side-posts — no food for them all day. Horses selling by auction. Negro woman sold same way : my reflections while standing by and hearing her cried, ' three hundred and twenty-five dollars for this woman and boy ! going ! going !' Woman and boy afterwards weep. Damned, damned slavery ! this is one infernal custom which the Virginians have brought into this country. Rude and barbarous appearance of the crowd. Hopkins's double cutters much wanted here. " April 10. — Was introduced to several young ladies this afternoon, whose agreeable society formed a most welcome contrast to that of the lower orders of the other sex. Mrs. * * *, an amiable, excellent lady ; think that savage c ■ LIFE OF WILSON. ignorance, rudeness, and boorishness, were never so contrasted by female sweetness, affability, and intelligence. "April 12. — Went this evening to drink tea with Mr. * * *j was intro- duced to Mrs. * * *j a most lovely, accomplished and interesting woman. Her good sense and lively intelligence of a cast far superior to that of almost any woman I have ever seen. She is most unfortunately unwell with a ner- vous complaint, which affects her head. She told me, most feelingly, that the spring, which brings joy to every other being, brings sorrow to her, for in wiuter she is always well. " April 25. — Breakfasted at Walton's, thirteen miles from Nashville. This place is a fine, rich hollow, watered by a charming, clear creek, that never fails. Went up to Madison's Lick, where I shot three paroquets and some small birds. " April 26. — Set out early, the hospitable landlord, Isaac Walton, refus- ing to take anything for my fare, or that of my horse, saying : ' You seem to he travelling for the good of the loorld; and I canvot, I will not charge you anything. Whenever you come this way, call and stay with me, you shall be welcome!' This is the first instance of such* hospitality which I have met with in the United States. "Wednesday, May 23. — Left Natchez, after procuring twelve subscribers; and having received a kind letter of invitation from William Dunbar, Esq., I availed myself of his goodness, and rode nine miles along the usual road to his house; where, though confined to his bed by a severe indisposition, I was received with great hospitality and kindness; had a neat bedroom assigned ■me ; and was requested to consider myself as at home during the time I should find it convenient to stay in exploring this part of the country." The letter above mentioned, which is now before me, is worthy of tran- scription : "Forest, 20th May, 1810. " Sir. " It is very unfortunate that I should be so much indisposed as to be con- fined to my bedroom ; nevertheless, I cannot give up the idea of having the pleasure of seeing you as soon as you find it convenient ; the perusal of your first volume of Ornithology, lent me by General Wilkinson, has produced in me a very great desire of making your acquaintance. " I understand, from my boy, that you propose going in a few days to New Orleans, where you will see some small cabinets of natural history that may interest you. But, as I presume it is your intention to prosecute your inquiries into the interior of our country, this cannot be done better than from my house, as your head-quarters; where everything will be made convenient to your wishes. My house stands literally in the forest, and your beautiful orioles, with other elegant birds, are our courtyard companions. * The editor of Wilson's Poems, in quoting this paragraph, omitted the word such, thereby intending to convey a charge of the want of hospitality in the American charac- ter, which our author rarely experienced. Wilson's meaning is suflficientiy obvious without comment. LIFE OF WILSON. . ci " The bearer attends you, with a couple of horses, on the supposition that it may be convenient for you to visit us to-day ; otherwise he shall wait upon you any other day that you shall appoint. "I am respectfully, &c., " William Dunbar." This excellent gentleman, whose hospitality was thus promptly excited, has since paid the debt of nature ; and his grateful guest fondly cherished, to the last hour of his existence, the remembrance of those happy moments which had been passed in his society, and that of his amiable and accomplished family. To Mr. William Bartram. , ''Philadelphia, September 2d, 1810. " Incessant labor since my return, to make up my loss of drawings, which were sent by post from Nashville, has hitherto prevented me from paying you a visit. I am closely engaged on my third volume. Any particulars relative to the history of the meadow-lark, crow black-bird, snow-bunting, cuckoo, paroquet, nonpareil, pinnated grouse, or blue grosbeak, if interesting, would be received by me with much pleasure. I have lately received from Michaux a number of rich specimens of birds, printed in colors. I have since made some attempts at this kind of printing, and have succeeded tolerably ^ell. " Michaux has published several numbers of his American Sylva, in Paris, with colored plates. I expect them here soon. " I collected a number of entire new species in my south-western tour; and in my return I visited several of the islaads off the Florida shore, where I met with some very curious land birds. "Mr. Dunbar, of Natchez, remembered you very well, and desired me to carry his good wishes to you." To Mr. Wm. Duncan, Frankford, Penn. "Philadelphia, February 12th, 1811. " So you have once more ascended the preceptor's rostrum, to wield the terrors of the taws and hickory/. Trying as this situation is, and various and distracting as its avocations sometimes undoubtedly are, it is elysium to the scenes which you have lately emerged from ; and as far transcends these lat- ter, as honorable independence towers abcTve despised and insulted servitude. You wish me to suggest any hints I may think proper for your present situa- tion. Your own experience and prudence render anything I could advise unnecessary, as it is all included in the two resolutions which you have already taken ; first, to distinguish, as clearly as possible, the whole extent of your duty; and, secondly, to fulfil every item of that to the best of your abilities. Accordingly, the more extensive and powerful these are, the greater good you will be capable of doing; the higher and more dignified will your reputation be ; and the easier and calmer will your deportment be, under every circum- stance of duty. You have but these two things to surmount, and the whole routine of teaching will become an agreeable amusem-ent ; and every closing day will shed over your mind that blissful tranquillity, ' which nothing earthly gives or can destroy.' cii • LIFE OF WILSON. "Devote your whole time, except what is proper for needful exercise, tc rendering yourself completely master of your business. For this purpose rise by the peep of dawn ; take your regular walk ;• and then commence your stated studies. Be under no anxiety to hear what people think of you, or of your tutorship ; but study the improvement, and watch over the good conduct, of their children consigned to your care, as if they were your own. Mingle respect and affability with your orders and arrangements. Never show your- self feverish or irritated; but preserve a firm and dignified, a just and ener- getic deportment, in every emergency. To be completely master of one's business, and ever anxious to discharge it with fidelity and honor, is to be great, beloved, respectable, and happy. " 1 could have wished that you had been accommodated with a room and boarding in a more private and retired situation, where your time and jreflec- tions would have been more your own ; and perhaps these may be obtained hereafter. Try to discover your own defects, and labor with all your energy to supply them. Respect yourself, and fear nothing but vice and idleness. If one had no other reward for doing one's duty, but the grateful sensations arising therefrom on the retrospection, the recompense would be abundant, as these alone are able to bear us up amidst every reverse. " At present I cannot enlarge further, my own mind being harassed with difficulties relative to my publication. I have now no further dependence on Murray ; and I mean to make it consistent both with the fame, and the inter- est, of Lawson to do his best for me. I hope you will continue to let me hear from you, from time to time. I anticipate much pleasure from the improve- ments which I have no doubt you will now make in the several necessary departments of your business. Wishing you every success in your endeavors to excel, I remain, with sincere regard, &c." In the early part of the year 1812, Wilson published his fifth volume; and, as the preface is interesting, we here insert an extract from it, for the gratifi- cation of the reader. " The fifth volume of this extensive work is submitted to the public with all due deference and respect; and the author having now, as he conjectures, reached the middle stage of his journey, or in traveller's phrase, the ' half-way house,' may be permitted to indulge himself with a slight retrospect of the ground he has already traversed, and a glimpse of that which still lies before him. " The whole of our Land Birds (those of the sixth volume included, which are nearly ready for the press) have now been figured and described, probably a very few excepted, which, it is hoped, will also shortly be obtained. These have been gleaned up from an extensive territory of woods and fields, unfre- quented forests, solitary ranges of mountains, swamps and morasses, by succes- sive journeys and excursions of more than ten thousand miles. With all the industry which a single individual could possibly exert, several species have doubtless escaped him. These, future expeditions may enable him. to procure ; or the kindness of his distant literary friends obligingly supply him with. LIFE OF WILSON. ciii " In endeavoring to collect materials for describing truly and fully our feathered tribes, he has frequently had recourse to the works of those p]uropean naturalists who have written on the subject ; he has examined their pages with an eager and inquisitive eye; but his researches in that quarter have been but too fre((uently repaid with disappointment, and often with disgust. On the subject of the manners and migrations of our birds, which in fact con- stitute almost the only instructive and interesting parts of their history, all is a barren and a dreary waste. A few vague and formal particulars of their size, specific marks, &c., accompanied sometimes with figured representations that would seem rather intended to caricature than to illustrate their originals, is all that the greater part of them can boast of. Nor are these the most exceptionable parts of their performances; the novelty of fable, and the wild- ness of fanciful theory, are frequently substituted for realities ; and conjectures instead of facts called up for their support. Prejudice, as usual, has in numerous instances united with its parent, ignorance, to depreciate and treat with contempt what neither of them understood ; and the whole interesting assemblage of the feathered tribes of this vast continent, which in richness of plumage, and in strength, sweetness and variety of song, will be found to exceed those of 6ny other quarter of the globe, are little known save in the stufied cabinets of the curious, and among thcabstruse pages and technical catalogues of dry systematic writers. " From these barren and musty records, the author of the present work has a thousand times turned with a delight bordering on adoration, to the magni- ficent repository of the woods and fields — the Grand Aviary of Nature. In this divine school he has studied from no vulgar copy ; but from the works of the Great Master of Creation himself; and has read with rapture the lessons of his wisdom, his goodness and his love, in the conformation, the habi- tudes, melody and migrations of this beautiful portion of the work of his hands. To communicate as correct ideas of these as his feeble powers were capable of, and thus, from objects, that, in our rural walks, almost everywhere present themselves, to deduce not only amusement and instruction, but the highest incitements to virtue and piety, have been the author's most anxious and ardent wish. On many of his subjects, indeed, it has not been in his power to say much. The recent discovery of some, and the solitary and secluded habits of others, have opposed great obstacles to his endeavors in this respect. But a time is approaching when these obstacles will no longer exist. When the population of this immense western Republic will have diffused itself over every acre of ground fit for the comfortable habitation of man — when farms, villages, towns and glittering cities, thick as the stars in a winter's evening, overspread the face of our beloved country, and every hill, valley and stream has its favorite name, its native flocks and rural inhabitants ; then, not a warbler shall flit through our thickets, but its name, its notes and habits will be familiar to all ; repeated in their sayings, and celebrated in their village songs. At that happy period, should any vestige or memory of the present publication exist, be it known to our more enlightened posterity, as some apology for the deficiencies of its author, that in the period in which he wrote, three- fourths of our feathered tribes were altogether unknown even to the proprietor? civ LIFE OF WILSON. of the woods wtich ttey frequented — that without patron, fortune or recom- pense, he brought the greater part of these from the obscurity of ages, gave to each ' a local habitation and a name' — collected from personal observation whatever of their characters and manners seemed deserving of attention; and delineated their forms and features, in their native colors, as faithfully as he could, as records, at least, of their existence. " In treating of those birds more generally known, I have endeavored to do impartial justice to their respective characters. Ignorance and stubborn- rooted opinions, even in this country, have rendered some odious that are eminently useful; and involved the manners of others in fable and mystery, which in themselves are plain and open as day. To remove prejudices when they oppose themselves to the influence of humanity is a difiScult, but, when effected, a most pleasing employment. If therefore, in divesting this part of the natural history of our country of many of its fables and most forbidding features, and thus enabling our youth to become more intimately acquainted with this charming portion of the feathered creation, I should have succeeded in multiplying their virtuous enjoyments, and in rendering them more humane to those little choristers, how gratifying to my heart would be the reflection ! For to me it appears that, of all inferior creatures, Heaven seems to have intended birds as the most cheerful associates of man ; to soothe and exhilarate him in his labors by their varied melody, of which no other creature, but man, is capable ; to prevent the increase of those supernumerary hosts of insects that would soon consume the products of his industry; to glean up the refuse of his fields, ' that nothing be lost,' and, what is of much more interest, to be to him the most endearing examples of the tenderest connubial love and parental afi^ction." To Mr. F. a. Michaux. " Philadelphia, June 6th, 1812. " My Dear Friend. " I had the pleasure of receiving a letter from you, dated April 10, 1812; but, living at Mr. Bartram's, I have not yet seen Mr. Correa, the gentleman who brought it over. I have also had the great satisfaction of examining the plates of your four numbers of Forest Trees, which are beautifully executed ; and I regret most sincerely that my little knowledge of the French language* pre- vents me from perusing with equal satisfaction the interesting particulars you relate of their history, I expected long before this to be able to congratulate you on the publication of a translation of your work here, and [ announced the same in the preface to one of my volumes ; but sorry I am to inform you that no steps have yet been taken to put that design in execution, and I fear none will be taken for many months to come. Unless there be an evident certainty of profit, booksellers, in general, are very indiff'erent to publish * Wilson's ignorance of French was a great disadvantage to him ; and he never ceased to regret his want of instruction in a tongue, which is considered not only important to the fcholar, but indispensable to the naturalist. The number of works, in the various depnrtmpnts of Nntural History, which France annually produces, is truly astonishing ; and fortunate is that student whose acquirements in her language enable him to profit of the knowledge of this illustrious nation. LIFE OF WILSON. cv works of any kind, however great their merits may be ; and the poor author's feelings are little regarded. Pew men have known this more experimentally than myself. I have sacrificed everything to publish my Ornithology — have written six volumes, and am engaged on the seventh. * * * " I have frequently conversed with Mr. Bradford about publishing a trans- lation of your Forest Trees ; and you may rest assured that, should it be under- tfiken, I will use all my influence in its favor. Were you here yourself, I have no doubt but it would be undertaken, and I think with success, for all who have seen it admire it. I procured our good frifend, Mr. Wm. Bartram, a sight of it, and he was greatly delighted with its appearance. One of my friends read a great part of it in English to him, and he was highly satis- fied. * * * " Dr. Barton has not yet published his General Zoology* which he has been announcing, from time to time, for so many years. It is much easier to say these things than do them. * * * " Mr. Wm. Bartram is still as you left him, and you are frequently the subject of our conversation at table. I have made many extensive excursions lately, and have discovered, in all, about forty new species of Land Birds, never taken notice of by any other writer. I am now engaged on the Water Birds ; and had just returned yesterday from the seashore when your letter was presented to me. Pr. H. and Mr. P. have both publicly announced your work, but, as no translation has been yet made, it has not been reviewed by any of our writers. * * * "Wishing you all the success which is justly due to the labors, journeys, and investigations, you have made in behalf of Natural History, I remain, &c." In September, 1812, Wilson undertook a journey into the eastern states, for the purpose cff visiting his subscribers, and settling accounts with his agents. To Mr. George Ord. " Boston, October 13th, 1812. " Dear Sir. " It is not in my power at present to give you anything more than a slight sketch of my rambles since leaving Philadelphia. My route up the Hudson afforded great pleasure, mingled with frequent regret that you were not along with me, to share the enjoyment. About thirty miles south of Albany we passed within ten miles of the celebrated Catskill Mountains, a gigantic group, clothed with forest to the summits. In the river here I found our common * This work, -which it was the intention of the late learned professor to entitle " Ele- ments of Zoology," after being ten years in the press, was advanced no further ihaxi fifty- six pages, in octavo, at the death of the author. It does not appear that he left much manuscript matter in continuation, consequently the public will derive no benefit from a work, which is too incomplete for publication. The printed sheets I have read, not only with satisfaction, but instruction-, and cannot forbear expressing my regret that an under- taking, which Dr. Barton certainly knew how to perform, and to which his learning was adequate, should have been suffered to perish in embryo. The art of concentrating his talents, was one for which the professor was not greatly distinguished. cvi LIFE OF WILSON. reed (Zizania aquaticu) growing in great abundance in shoals extending along the middle of the river. I saw flocks of Ked-wings, and some Black Ducks, but no Rail, or Reed-birds. ^ll •(» "t- 'f " From this place my journey led me over a rugged, mountainous country, to Lake Champlain, along which I coasted as far as Burlington, in Vermont. Here I found the little Coot-footed. Tringa or Phalaro^e* that you sent to Mr. Peale ; a new and elegantly-marked Hawk ; and observed some Black Ducks. The shores are alternate sandy bays, and rocky headlands running into the lake. Every tavern was crowded with officers, soldiers, and travellers. Eight of us were left without a bed ; but having an excellent great-coat, I laid my- self down in a corner, with a determination of sleeping in defiance of the uproar of the house, and the rage of my companions, who would not disgrace themselves by a prostration of this sort. ^ If> ^ JfC " From Lake Champlain I traversed a rude mountainous region to Connecti- cut river, one hundred miles above Dartmouth College. I spent several days with the gun in Groton, and Ryegate townships, and made some discoveries. From this I coasted along the Connecticut to a place called Haverhill, ten miles from the foot of Moose-hillock, one of the highest of the White Moun- tains of New Hampshire. I spent the greater part of a day in ascending to the peak of one of these majestic mountains, whence I had the most sublime and astonishing view that was ever afforded me. One immensity of forest lay below, extended on ' all sides to the farthest verge of the horizon ; while the only prominent objects were the columns of smoke from burning woods, that rose from various parts of the earth beneath to the heavens ; for the day was beautiful and serene. Hence I travelled to Dartmouth, and thence in a direct course to Boston. From Boston I passed through Portsmouth to Portland, and got some things new ; my return was by a different route. I have pro- cured three new and beautiful Hawks ; and have gleaned up a stock of remarks that will be useful to me hereafter. " I hope, my dear sir, that you have been well since I left you. I have myself been several times afflicted with a violent palpitation of the heart,f and want to try whether a short voyage by sea will not be beneficial. " In New England the rage of war, the virulence of politics, and the pur- suit of commercial speculations, engross every faculty. The voice of Science, and the charms of Nature, unless these last present themselves in the form of prize sugars, coffee, or rum, are treated with contempt." The excursion to the White Mountains, above mentioned, was succeeded by rather an unpleasant occurrence. The good people of Haverhill perceiving a stranger among them of very inquisitive habits, and who evinced great zeal in ■ exploring^ the country, sagaciously concluded that he was a spy from Canada, * P. Fulicarins. t This distressing disease, so well known to the literary student, Wilson was often afflicted with. LIFE OF WILSON. cvii employed in taking sketches of the place, to facilitate the invasion of the enemy. Under these impressions it was thought conducive to the public safety that Wilson should be apprehended; and he was accordingly taken into the custody of a magistrate, who, on being made acquainted with his character, and the nature of his visit, politely dismissed him, with many apologies for the mistake. The publication of the Ornithology now advanced as rapidly as a due regard ' to correctness and elegance would admit. In order to become better acquainted with the feathered tribes, and to observe their migrations with more accuracy, as well as to enjoy the important advantages of a rural retirement, Wilson re- sided the better part of the years 1811-12 at the Botanic Garden of his friend, , Mr. Bartram. There removed from the noise, bustle, and interruption of the metropolis, he was enabled to dispose of his- time to the best advantage ; for when fatigued with close application within doors, to recruit his mind and body he had only to cross the threshold of his abode, and he at once found himself surrounded with those acquaintance, the observing of whose simple manners not only afforded the most agreeable recreation, but who were perpetually con- tributing to the great undertaking which he was earnestly laboring to complete. In the month of March, 1812, Wilson was chosen a member of the Society of Artists of the United States ; but in the spring of the succeeding year, a greater honor was conferred- upon him, by his being elected a member of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. To Me. Wm. Bartram. " Philadelphia, April 21st, 1813. " My Dear Friend. " I have been extremely busy these several months, my colorists having all left me ; so I have been obliged to do extra duty this last winter. Next week I shall publish my seventh volume; and sha,ll send you your copy with the ear- liest opportunity. I am now engaged with the ducks, all of which, that I am acquainted with, will be comprehended in the eighth volume. " Since I had the pleasure of seeing you, I have hardly left the house half an hour ; and I long most ardently to breathe once more the fresh air of the country, and gaze on the lovely face of Nature. Will it be convenient for the family to accommodate me (as I shall be alone) this summer ? Please to let me know. " I lately received from the celebrated Mr. West, a proof impression of his grand historical picture of the death of Admiral Nelson — a present which I highly value. " Th€ Philosophical Society of Philadelphia have done me the honor to elect me a member, for which I must certainly, in gratitude, make them a commu- ^nication on some subject, this summer. I long very much to hear from you; and, with my best wishes for your health and happiness, am very truly . " Your sincere friend." As soon as the seventh volume of the Ornithology was published, its author, and the writer of this sketch, set out on their last expedition to Great Egg cviii LIFE OF WILSON. Harbor.* There they remained for nearly four weeks, constantly occupied in collecting materials for the eighth volume, which Wilson had resolved should in no respects fall short of the preceding ; but which should, if possible, enhance his reputation, by the value of its details, and the beauty of its embellishments. Immediately on his return to Philadelphia, he engaged anew in his arduous avocation ; and by the month of August he had succeeded in completing the letter-press of th^ eighth volume, though the whole of the plates were not finished. But unfortunately his great anxiety to conclude the work, condemned him to an excess of toil, which, inflexible as was his mind, his bodily frame was unable to bear. He was likewise, by this flood of business, prevented from residing in the country, where hours of mental lassitude might have been beguiled by a rural walk, or the rough but invigorating exercise of the gun. At length he was attacked by a disease, which, perhaps, at another period of his life might not have been attended with fatal eifects, but which now, in his debilitated state of body, and harassed mind, proved a mighty foe, whose assaults all the combined efibrts of friendship, science and skill, could not repel. The dysentery, after a sickness of ten days, closed the mortal career of Alexan- der Wilson, on the twenty-third of August, 1813. It may not be going too far to maintain, that in no age or nation has there ever arisen one more eminently qualified for a naturalist than the subject of these memoirs. He was not only an enthusiastic admirer of the works of creation, but he was consistent in research ; and permitted no dangers or fatigues to abate his ardor, or relax his exertions. He inured himself to hardships by frequent and laborious exercise ; and was never more happy than when employed in some enterprise, which promised from its difficulties the novelties of disco- very. Whatever was obtained with ease, to him appeared to be attended, comparatively speaking, with small interest : the acquisitions of labor alone seemed worthy of his ambition. He was no closet philosopher — exchanging the frock of activity for the night-gown and slippers. He was indebted for his ideas, not to books, which err, but to Nature which is infallible ; and the inestimable transcript of her works, which he has bequeathed to us, possesses a charm which aifects us the more, the better acquainted we become with the delightful original. His inquisitive habits procured him from others a vast heterogeneous mass of information ; but he had the happy talent of selecting from this rubbish whatever was valuable. His perseverance was uncommon ; and when engaged in pursuit of a particular object, he would never relinquish it, while there was a chance of success. His powers of observation were very acute, and he seldom erred in judgment, when favored with a fair opportunity of investigation. Credulity has been aptly termed " the vice of naturalists ;" but it may be said, to the honor of our author, that it would be difficult to find one less infected with this vice than himself. His mind, strongly imbued with common sense, and familiar with the general laws of nature, could not be imposed upon ■ 5 — * .Wilson ">aiJe six journeys to the coast of New Jersey, in pursuit of water-birds, whict abound in the neighborhood of Great Egg Harbor. LIFE OF WILSON. cis by appearances ; and marvellous narratives, in that science which he had so much at heart, were the objects of his decided disapprobation. The ridicule and scorn with which he treated the hypothesis of the annual torpidity of swallows are well known j and he regarded with equal contempt those tales of the fascinating faculty attributed to serpents, which are yet but too well adapted to the taste of the multitude to be effectively discredited. Having been " something of a traveller," it would be reasonable to conclude that Wilson had been familiar with " novel sights;" but we nowhere find that he ever beheld a toad leaping into day from its rocky domicil of five thousand years, or a mermaid " sleeking her soft alluring locks" in the sun. That won- der of the " vasty deep," the Sea Serpent of Grioucester, had not attracted the attention of the public in his time; but if it had, there is little doubt that he would have promptly exerted himself to expose one of the grossest fictions that was ever palmed upon the credulity of mankind. That the industry of Wilson was great, his work will for ever testify. And our admiration is excited, that so much should have been performed in so short a time. When we take into consideration the state of our country, as respects the cultivation of the physical sciences ; and that in the walk of Ornithology, particularly, no one, deserving the title of a Naturalist, had yet presumed to tread; when we view the labors of foreigners, who had interested themselves in our natural productions, and find how incompetent they were, through a defi- ciency of correct -information, to instruct; and then when we reflect that a single individual, " without patron, fortune, or recompense," accomplished, in the space of seven years, as much as the combined' body of European natural- ists took a century to achieve, we feel almost inclined to doubt the evidence upon which this conclusion is founded. But it is a fact, which we feel a pride in asserting, that we have as faithful, complete, and interesting, an account. of our birds, in the volumes of the American Ornithology, as the Europeans can at this moment boast of possessing of theirs. Let those who question the cor- rectness of this opinion examine for themselves, and determine according to the dictates of an unbiassed judgment. We need no other evidence of the unparalleled industry of our author, than the fact, that of two hundred and seventy-eight species, which have been figured and described in his Ormtbohgy, * Jl/ty-six had not been taken notice of by any former naturalist yf and several of the latter number are so extremely rare, * The whole numher of hirds figured is three hundred and twenty. t In this statement of the number of new species, I followed Wilson's own catalogue, wherein they are indicated. But it is proper to observe, that Vieillot's " Oiseaux de L'AmMque Septentrionale" was never seen by our author ; otherwise he would have taken notice that some of his supposed nondescripts were figured and described in the above-mentioned costly work, which was published in Paris in the year 1807. Vieillot travelled in the United States, with the view of giving an account of our birds ; he pub- lished only two folio volumes, with colored plates ; his publisher failed ; and the copper- plates of the work, including those intended for the third volume, were sold at public sale for old copper ; and are now (1825) in Philadelphia, and the property of William Ma- clnre, Esq., the President of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. ex LIFE OF WILSON. that the specimens, from which the figures were taken, were the only ones that he was ever enabled to obtain. This expensive collection of birds was the result of many months of unwearied research, amongst forests, swamps and morasses, exposed to all the dangers, privations and fatigues, incident to such an undertaking. What but a remarkable passion for the pursuit, joined with the desire of fame, could have supported a solitary individual, in labors of body and mind, compared to which the bustling avocations of common life are mere holiday activity or recreation ! Independent on that part of his work which was Wilson's particular province, viz. the drawing and describing of his subjects, he was necessitated to occupy much of his time in coloring the plates ; his sole resource for support being in this employment, as he had been compelled to relinquish the superintendence of the Cyclopaedia. This drudgery of coloring the plates is a circumstance much to be regretted, as the work would have proceeded more rapidly if he could have avoided it. One of his principal difficulties, in effect, and that which caused him no small uneasiness, was the process of coloring. If this could have been done solely by himself; or, as he was obliged to seek assistance therein, if it could have been performed immediately under his eye, he would have been relieved of much anxiety; and would have better maintained a due equanimity ; his mind being daily ruffled by the negligence of his assistants, who too often, through a deplorable want of skill and taste, made disgusting caricatures of what were intended to be modest imitations of simple nature.* Hence much of his precious time was spent in the irksome employment of in- specting and correcting the imperfections of others. This waste of his stated periods of labor, he felt himself constrained to compensate, by encroachments on those hours which Nature, tenacious of her rights, claims as her own : hours which she consecrates to rest — which she will not forego without a strug- gle ; and which all those, who would preserve unimpaired the vigor of their mind and body, must respect. Of this intense and destructive application his friends failed not to admonish him; but to their kind remonstrances he would reply, that " life is short, and without exertion nothing can be performed." * In the preface to the third volume, Wilson states the anxiety which he had suffered on account of the coloring of the plates ; and of his having made an arrangement, whereby his difficulties on that score had been surmounted. This arrangement proved in the end of greater injury than benefit. The art of printing in colors is but little known in our country, and seldom practised ; and the few attempts that have been made have only partially succeeded. An experiment of this nature was undertaken upon several plates of this work, but with a success by no means satisfactory. When Wilson commenced his labors, everything relating to them was new to him ■ and the difficulty of fixing the proper tints, upon an uniform black ground, was the greater, inasmuch as he had to experiment himself, unaided by the coun- sel or example of those to whom the process was familiar. The writer of this narrative .has thought it his duty to state some of the embarrassments under which Wilson labored, in the department of coloring the plates, in order to obviate criticisms, which too many are disposed to make, on supposed faults ; but if all the diffi- culties were made known, there would be no fear for the result, aihong readers of cando' and understanding. ' LIFE OF WILSON. cxi But the true cause of this extraordinary toil was his poverty. By the terms of agreement with his publisher, he was to furnish at his own cost, all the drawings and literary matter for the work ; and to have the whole under his control and superintendence. The publisher stipulated to find funds for the completion of the volumes. To support the heavy expense of procuring ma^ terials, and other unavoidable expenditures, Wilson's only resource, as has been stated, was in coloring the plates. In the preface to the fifth volume he observes : " The publication of an original work of this kind, in this country, has been attended with difficulties, great, and, it must be confessed, sometimes discouraging to the author, whose only reward hitherto has been the favorable opinion of his fellow-citizens, and the pleasure of the pursuit. " Let but the generous hand of patriotism be stretched forth to assist and cherish the rising arts and literature of our country, and both will most assuredly, and that at no remote period, shoot forth, increase and flourish, with a vigor, a splendor and usefulness, inferior to no other on earth." We have here an affirmation that the author had -labored without reward, except what was conferred by inefficient praise ; and an eloquent appeal to the generosity and patriotism of his fellow-citizens. Seven illustrious cities disputed the honor of having given birth to the Prince of Epic song. Philadelphia first beheld that phenomenon, the " American Ornithology," rising amidst her boasted opulence, to vindicate the claims of a calumniated portion of creation ; and to furnish her literary pride with a subject of exultation for ages to come. Yet duty calls upon us to record a fact, which may cause our native city to feel the glow of shame. Of all her literati, her men of benevolence, taste and riches, seventy only, to the period of the author's decease, had the liberality to countenance him by a subscription, more than half of whom were tradesmen, artists, and persons of the middle class of society ; whilst the little city of New Orleans, in the short space of seventeen days, furnished SIXTY subscribers to the " American Ornithology !" Wilson was possessed of the nicest sense of honor. In all his dealings he was not -only scrupulously just, but highly generous. His veneration for truth was exemplary. His disposition was social and affectionate. His benevolence was extensive. He was remarkably temperate in eating and drinking, his love of study and retirement preserving him from the contaminating influence of the convivial circle. But as no one is perfect, Wilson in a small degree partook of the weakness of humanity. He was of the genus irritabile, and was obstinate in opinion. It ever gave him pleasure to acknowledge error, when the convic- tion resulted from his own judgment alone, but he could not endure to be told of his mistakes. Hence his associates had to be sparing of their criticisms, through a fear of forfeiting his friendship. With almost all his friends he had occasionally, arising from a collision of opinion, some slight misunderstanding, which was soon passed over, leaving no disagreeable impression. But an act of disrespect he could ill brook, and a wilful injury he would seldom forgive. In his person he was of a middle stature, of a thin habit of body ; his cheek- bones projected, and his eyes, though hollow, displayed considerable vivacity cxii LITE OF WILSON. and intelligence; his complexion was sallow, his mien thoughtful; his features were coarse, and there was a dash of vulgarity in his physiognomy, which struck the observer at the first view, but which failed to impress one on acquaintance. His walk was quick when travelling, so much so that it was difiBcult for a companion to keep pace with him ; but when in the forests, in pursuit of birds, he was deliberate and attentive — he was, as it were, all eyes, and all ears. Such was Alexander Wilson. When the writer of this humble biography indulges in retrospection, he again finds himself in the society of that individual, whose life was a series of those virtues which dignify human nature ; he attends him in his wild-wood rambles, and listens to those pleasing observations, which the magnificence of creation was wont to give birth to; he sits at his feet, and receives the instructions of one, in science, so competent to teach; he beholds him in the social circle, and notes the complacency which he inspired in all around. But the transition from the past to the present quickens that anguish with which his heart must be filled, who casts a melancholy look on those scenes, a few years since endeared by the presence of one, united to him by a conformity of taste, disposition and pursuit, and who reflects that that beloved friend can revisit them no more. It was the intention of Wilson, on the completion of his Ornithology, to publish an edition in four volumes octavo ; the figures to be engraved in wood, somewhat after the manner of BewicTc's British Birds ; and colored with all the care that had been bestowed on the original plates. If he had lived to effect this scheme, the public would have been put in possession of a work of considerable elegance, as respects typography and illustrations ; wherein the subjects would have been arranged in systematical order ; and the whole at the cost of not more than one-fifth part of the quarto edition. He likewise meditated a work on the quadrupeds of the United States;, to be printed in the same splendid style of the Ornithology ; the figures to be engraved with the highest finish, and by the best artists of our country. How much has science lost in the death of this ingenious and indefatigable naturalist ! His remains were deposited in the cemetery of the Swedish church, in the district of Southwark, Philadelphia. While in the enjoyment of health, he had conversed with a friend on the subject of his death, and expressed a wish to be buried in some rural spot, sacred to peace and' solitude, whither the charms of nature might invite the steps of the votary of the Muses, and the lover of science, and where the birds might sing over his grave. It has been an occasion of regret to those of his friends, to whom was con- fided the mournful duty of ordering his funeral, that his desire had not been made known to them, otherwise it should have been piously observed. A plain marble tomb marks the spot where lie the ashes of this celebrated man ; it bears the following inscription : LIFE OF WILSON. cxiii " This Monument Covers the Remains of ALEXANDER "WILSON, Author of the AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. He was born in Renfrewshire, Scotland, On the 6 July, 1766 ; Emigrated to the United States In the Year 1794 ; And Died in Philadelphia Of the Dysentery, On the 23 August, 1813, / Aged 47." I shall now offer some brief remarks upon those writings of Wilson, which have fallen under my notice ; and in the performance of this task, it will become my duty to speak of a work, which I had hoped would be permitted to lie in oblivion, but which either the indiscreet partiality of friends, or the avarice of a publisher, has lately dragged forth to the view of the public. From the volume which the author published himself, in the year 1791, and which is entitled " Poems, Humorous, Satirical, and Serious," a selection was made, and published, in 1816, at Paisley and at London, under the title of " Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect; by Alexander Wilson, Author of American Ornithology." When I commenced reading this selection, it was my intention to note its beauties and defects; but when I found how greatly the latter predominated, it occurred to me that no good could result from a critical examination of a work which few would read, which contains nothing deserving of applause; and which, if it has hitherto escaped criticism, it is because it has been deemed unworthy of a deliberate investigation. The early writings of but few authors are worthy of being read, except for the purpose of tracing the progress of the mind. When one surveys the work in question with this view, one is astonished to find no indication of that genius which is so conspicuous in after-life; "a barrenness of invention, a poverty of expression, a deficiency of taste and judgmeat, are its characteristics. The author of the " Biographical Sketch," appended to the Selection* above * It appear.? by the advertisement affixed to this selection, that it " was made and printed under the direction of a gentleman who has since paid the debt of nature ;" and that "it was his intention to give the life of Wilson." If one were allowed to form a conjecture of the abilities of this editor, by the judgment displayed in his choice, one would have no reason to regret that his task was never accomplished. How he could admit such productions as " The Wasp's Revenge," and the " Verses on the Death of a Favorite Spaniel," one may well inquire. That Wilson himself entertained a mean opinion of his boyish publication, I am authorized to assert from the circumstance, that, though possessing a copy, he would never allow me to read it, notwithstanding I frequently urged him to grant me this favor. An itinerant Scotchman once called upon Wilson's executors, with a request that he might be allowed the privilege of printing an edition of his poems, urging, in justifica- tion of the proposition, his peculiar fitness, by his knowledge of the Scottish dialect, for Vol. I.— H cxiv LIFE OF "WILSON. mentioned, says, " We liave it from Wilson's acquaintance, that many of the poems he had written were committed to the flames, without a moment's con- sideration, because the subject had lost its interest with himself" ' The writer thus gravely accounts for this conduct : " This instability of conduct was, no doubt, the result of untoward circumstances, operating upon a mind ardent in the pursuit of something yet undefined, or uncertain of the path it should fol- low, to attain that eminence and independence after which it so ardently aspired." Would it not be a more rational supposition, that, as he advanced in knowledge, he was taught to reject what he could not but be convinced was unworthy of the public eye ? If we may form a conjecture of what was destroyed, by what was sanctioned by his own act of publication, there is cer- tainly no cause to mourn the loss; and one can hardly forbear wishing that the whole had met a similar fate. Of all the poetical productions of Wilson, written while in Scotland, his tale of "Watty and Meg" is the only one that has obtained popularity. In Cromek'a " Select Scottish Songs" it is thus introduced : " The reader is here presented with an exquisite picture from low life, drawn with all the fidelity and exact- ness of Teniers, or Ostade, and enlivened with the humor of Hogarth. The story excites as much interest as if it had been written in a dramatic form, and really represented. The interest heightens as it proceeds, and is supported with wonderful spirit to the close of the poem. "It must, have been in no small degree gratifying to the feelings of the author, who published it anonymously, that, during a rapid sale of seven or eight editions, the public, universally, ascribed it to the pen of Burns. The author of ' Will and Jean ; or, Scotland's Soaith,' had the candor to acknow- ledge to the editor that he was indebted to this exquisite poem for the founda- tion of that popular performance." This tale is certainly told in a spirited manner; but whether it is entitled to all the encomiums which have been lavished upon it or not, n^ay admit of a question. The incidents are all common-place : a dram-drinking husband seek- ing refuge, in an ale-house, from a scolding wife, who pursues him thither, and upbraids him, in no gentle terms, for deserting his home and family, and spend- ing his time and substance among drunken blackguards. A pot companion had advised him to try the experiment of threatening to abandon her, in order to bring her into subjection : a scheme which had had a happy effect in taming extending the fame of the author of the American Ornithology ! It is needless to add that this poor schemer was dismissed with the reply, that the fame of W'lson did not stand in need of his assistance. It is much to the honor of tlie American press, that it has abstained from reprinting the work, which, with unfeigned sorrow, I have been compelled, by a sense of duty, to animadvert so severely upon. But I must confess, that when a orother weaver, Eobcrt Tannahill, was introduced to our notice, I trembled for the fate of Wilson. As has been stated, "Wilson's poem of the "Foresters" was first published in the Port- Folio. Shortly after the decease of its author, a very modest and honest gentleman, living in Pennsylvania, undertook its republication ; and actually took oat a copyright for the same. That the poem was reprinted need not excite our wonder ; but that its sale should have been monopolized by a patent, is a trick of trade well worthy of remark. LIFE OF WILSON. cxv his own wife, who had given evidence of a shrewish disposition. The experi- ment being made by Watty, Meg is brought to terms. She solemnly promises to keep her temper — never again to scold her husband — never to follow him to the beer-house — never to put drunken to his name — never to look sad when he shall come home late — never to kick his shins, or pull his hair; — and lastly she consents, with tears, that their hard earnings shall be kept solely by him- self. The husband, rejoiced at this evidence of her humility and contrition, kisses her, and so the story ends. In the management of this tale there is little art displayed ; there is some natural description, it is true ; but the laws of poetical justice are but ill observed, when misconduct so glaring as that of Watty's is passed over with- out censure; and he is' allowed to triumph over the subjection of a poor woman, whose temper had become soured by his idleness and debauchery. Such stories are not calculated to do good; on the contrary, they may pro- mote vice ; and surely the vice of intemperance is no trifling evil in society. To blend instruction with amusement, we are told, should be the aim of all writers of fiction, particularly poets, whose influence over the mind has always been predominant. It is juFtly remarked, by an elegant writer,* that "there seems to be something in poetry that raises the possessors of that very singular talent far higher in the estimation of the world in general, than those who excel in any other of the refined arts." Then let poets take heed lest they misapply those talents, which, if properly directed, may be made subservient to the best interests of society. In justice to our author, I would remark, that, though fond of describing scenes of Jow life, with which his education and habits had rendered him familiar, yet he appeared to have escaped the contaminating influence of vulgar associates, when arrived at manhood. _ His conduct, in this country, was truly exemplary. This observation, though out of place, I here make, as it seems to belong, incidentally, to the subject upon which I have been commenting. The last edition of Watty and Meg, published under the inspection of the author, and by him corrected, was that given in the Port Polio for October, 1810. The poetic effusions of Wilson, after he came to America, afford evidence of an improved taste. He acquired a facility of versification by practice ; as his mind expanded with knowledge, his judgment received an accession of strength ; and he displays a fancy which we look for in vain in his juvenile essays. But we must be understood as comparing him only with himself, at different periods of his life. Whether or not he ever attained to positive excellence in poetry, may be a subject of dispute. In his " Solitary Tutor," we are presented with a picture of himself, while occupied in teaching a country school. The description of his place of resi- dence, his school-house, the adjoining forest, where many of his leisure hours were passed, and where he first commenced studying the manners of those birds, which he subsequently immortalized in his splendid work, is animated and graphical. The fabric of these verses reminds us of the Minstrel ; and * Melmoth's Fitzosborne, letter 53. exvi LIFE OF WILSON. that he had this delightful poem in his eye, we are convinced by some of the descriptions and sentiments. The stanza beginning, "In these green solitudes, one favorite spot," is accurately descriptive of a place, in Bartram's woods, whither he used to retire for the purposes of reading and contemplation, and where he planned his Ornithology. Of the faults of this little poem I will merely remark, that the initial quatrain is prosaic ; and that the last line betrays an unaccountable deficiency of taste. The lovers of rural scenery will learn with regret, that this fine piece of forest, consecrated to the Muses of poetry and natural history, by Wilson, is fast disappearing beneath the axe of the husbandman. Already is the brook, which was " o'erhung with alders and mantling vines," exposed to the glare of day; the favorite haunts of the Wood Thrush are invaded; and, ere long, like his lamented historian, his place will be known there no more. His poetical description of the Blue-bird, which originally appeared in the first volume of the Ornithology, has been copied into many publications, and still maintains its popularity. It contains some ill-constructed lines, and some rhymes so grossly defective, that we wonder how he could have tole- rated them in a production of only half a dozen stanzas. The last quatrain of the fourth stanza contains false syntax ; the construction is not regular and dependent, the adverb so being out of place. In the third stanza there is a grammatical error. Yet in this little poem, Wilson's happy talent of describ- ing rural scenery, and the habits of birds, is conspicuous. The picture is charming, and more so to an American, who knows how beautifully accurate are its outlines. We see the disappearing of the snows of Winter ; the busy labors of the fishermen ; the Wild geese laboring their airy way to the north ; the lone butterfly fluttering over the meadows ; the red maple buds bursting into life ; and, finally, " the herald of Spring," the well-known blue-bird, hailing " with his warblings the charms of the season." The warm sunshine brings out the frogs from their retreats, and their piping is heard throughout the marshes; the woodland flowers unfold their charms to the eye ; and the indus- trious housewives repair to their gardens. The useful bird is beheld flitting through the orchard in search of noxious insects, he drags the devouring grub from the newly-planted maize, and the caterpillars from their webs. The ploughman is pleased to behold him gleaning in his furrows, and the gardener suspends his labors to listen to his simple song. " When all the gay scenes of the summer are o'er," we observe him lingering about his native home, like a solitary outcast; we hear his melancholy adieu from the leafless branch, and mourn his departure as that of a beloved friend. Of all Wilson's minor effusions this pleases me the most. Its imagery is de- rived from objects that are familiar to us, but yet it is not trite ; none but an at- tentive observer of nature could have conceived it, and expressed it so naturally. It appears to have been his intention to concentrate all his poetical powers in his " Foresters," resting his hope of fame chiefly upon this production. That the time spent in constructing it, might have been better employed in writing a simple prose narrative of a journey, which was fruitful of interesting LIFE OF WILSON. cxvii events, must be obvious to many of the readers of this poem, who are ac- quainted with the author's talents for. description, and his appropriate diction, of which we are presented with examples in his letters and his Ornithology. On first reading this production such was my impression, and a reperusal has not induced me to change my opinion. In his exordium he is not very happy : " Sons of the city I ye whom crowds and noise Bereave of peace, and Nature's rural joys." The noise of a crowded city may bereave its inhabitants of peace, but it is dif- ficult to conceive how it can have a tendency to deprive them of the delights of the country. In the account of his companions and himself he is too circumstantial, details of this kind correspond not well with the dignity of poetry : "An oilskin covering glittered round his head." "A knapsack crammed by Friendship's generous care With cakes and cordials, drams and dainty fare ; Flasks filled with powder, leathern belts with shot, Clothes, colors, paper, pencils, — and what not." Also in another place : " Full loaded peach trees drooping hung around, Their mellow fruit thick scattered o'er the ground ; Six cents procured us a sufficient store, Our napkins crammed and pockets running o^er.^' Many of his rhymes are bad, particularly in the latter part of the poem, from the carelessness of the composition of which, one is led to conjecture that he was weary of his protracted labor. We have tale and smile; sent and want; blest and past; bespread &nd. clad; and many other similar imperfec- tions. The conclusion of the poem is a specimen of slovenly and inaccurate com- position : " And when some short and broken slumbers came Still round us roaring swept th' outrageous stream; Whelmed in the deep we sunk engulfed, forlorn ; Or down the dreadful rapids helpless borne ; 1 Groaning we start I and at the loudening war. Ask our bewildered senses where we are." In common with those who are ignorant of naval affairs, he commits a blunder in the use of the technical term main-sheet, mistaking it for a sail : " They trim their thundering sail. The boom and main-sheet bending to the gale." The main-sheet is the rope by means of which the boom is governed, either eased ofF, or drawn in, as suits the state of the wind. cxviii LIFE OF WILSON. In a poem consisting of more than two thousand lines, it would be strange if some touches of excellence could not be found, some passages which prove that the author not only possessed poetical ideas, but also was familiar with the art of poetical expression. In his description of the calm, smoky, autumnal weather, which, in America, is usually denominated the Indian Summer, we are presented with a beautiful image, which I do not recollect to have seen elsewhere : " Slow sailed the thistle-down along the lawn." The description of the Dutch farmer, and his habitation, would not disgrace the author of Rip Van Winkle. In the enumeration of the miseries of a country schoolmaster there is much truth j and the picture is vividly and feelingly drawn from nature. Few had more experience than Wilson of the degraded condition of a teacher, when under, the control of the vulgar and ignorant; a state compared with which the lot of the hewer of wood, and drawer of water, is truly enviable. The account of daddy Squares, the settler, and that of Pat Dougherty, the shopkeeper and publican, contain some humor. The latter is a disgusting exhibition of one of those barbarians, whom the traveller often meets with in the interior of our country ; and whose ignorance, bestiality and vice, have the tendency to disabuse one on the subject of the virtue and happiness usually attributed to the inhabitants remote from our large cities, which, instead of being the only nurseries of corruption, as is believed and affirmed, are the great schools wherein science, literature, piety and manners, are most effectively taught, and most beneficially practised. The sketch of the Indian hunter is entitled to praise, as being vigorous and picturesque ; and the description of the Bald or Gray Eagles, sailing amid the mist of the Cataract of Niagara, is a picture drawn with fidelity — it is poetical and sublime. After -this superficial review of the poems of Wilson, the question will naturally arise, ought we to consider him as one endued with those requisites, which entitle his productions to rank with the works of the poets, properly so called ? To write smooth and agreeable verses is an art of no very difficult purchase ; we see it daily exemplified by persons of education, whose leisure permits them to beguile a lonely hour with an employment at once delightful and instructive. But when one considers the temporary nature of the great mass of these fugitive essays, that they are read and remembered just so long as is the ephemeral sheet, or magazine, the columns of which they adorn ; one can form no high expectations of the long life of that poetry which seldom rises beyond mediocrity, which sometimes sinks greatly below it; and which is indebted, in no small degree, to the adventitious aid of a name, resplendent in another walk of literature, for that countenance and support, which its own intrinsic merits, singly, could never claim. I am aware that these brief observations on the poetry of Wilson, are not calculated to give pleasure to those of his friends, who have been in the habit of regarding him as one possessing no small claim to the inspiration of the Muses. But let such remember the determination of a profound critic, that LIFE OF WILSON. cxix " no question can be more innocently discussed than a dead poet's pretensions to renown ; and little regard is due to that bigotry which sets candor higher than truth."* When Wilson commenced the publication of his History of the Birds of the United States, he was quite a novice in the study of the Science of Ornithology. This arose from two causes : his poverty, which prevented him from owning the works of those authors, who had particularly attended to the classification and nomenclature of birds ; and his contempt of the labors of closet naturalists, whose dry descriptions convey anything but pleasure to that mind, which has been disciplined in the school of Nature. But the diflSculties under which he labored soon convinced him of the necessity of those helps, which only books can supply; and his repugnance to systems, as repulsive as they are at the first view, gradually gave place to more enlarged notions, on the course to be pursued by him, who would not only attain to knowledge, by the readiest means, but who would impart that knowledge, in the most effective manner, to others. As far as I can learn, he had access but to two systems of Ornithology — that of Linnaeus, as translated by Dr. Turton, and the " General Synopsis" of Dr. Latham.f The arrangement of the latter he adopted in his " General Index" of Land Birds, appended to the sixth volume ; and he intended to pursue the aame system for the Water Birds, at the conclusion of his work. The nature of his plan prevented him from proceeding in regular order, according to the system adopted, it being his intention to publish as fast as the materials accumulated ; and he being in some measure compelled, by motives of economy, to apportion his figures to the space they would occupy in the plates, he thereby brings to our view, birds not only of different genera, but of different habits, associated in a manner not wholly unnatural, but abhorrent from the views of those systematists, who account every deviation from method an inexcusable fault. With the art of perspective, it would appear, he was imperfectly acquainted ; hence there are errors in his drawings, which the rigid critic cannot overlook. These errors occur most frequently in the feet and the tails of his birds, the latter of which, with the view of being characteristically displayed, are fre- quent distorted in a manner, which no expediency can justify. One can hardly forbear smiling at the want of correspondence between the figure of the Sharp- shinned Hawk, and the fence upon which it is mounted, the former, instead of appearing of the size of nature, for which the author intended it, absolutely assuming the bulk of an elephant. But notwithstanding these defects, there is a spirit in some of his drawings which is admirable. Having been taught drawing from natural models, he of course became familiar with natural attitudes : hence his superiority, in this * Johnson's Preface to Shakspeare. f The library of Wilson occupied but a small space. On casting my eyes, after his decease, over the ten or a dozen volumes of which it was composed, I was grieved to find that he had been the owner of only one work on Ornithology, and that was Bewick's British Birds. For the use of the first volume of Turton's Linnffius, he was indebted to the friendship of Mr. Thomas Say ; the Philadelphia Library supplied him with Latham. cxx LIFE OF WILSON. respect, to all authors extant. Among his figures most worthy of notice, I would particularize the Shore Lark, Brown Creeper, House and Winter Wrens, Mocking-Bird, Cardinal Grosbeak, Cow Buntings, Mottled Owl, Mea- dow Lark, Barn Swallows, Snipe and Partridge, Rail and Woodcock, and the Rufied Grrouse; The introduction of appropriate scenery, into a work of this kind, can have no good effect, unless it be made to harmonize, both as to design and execu- tion, with the leading subjects; hence Wilson's landscapes, in the eye of taste, must always be viewed as a blemish, as he was not skilful in this branch of the art of delineation ; and, even if he had been dexterous, he was not author- ized to increase the expenditures of a work, which, long before its termination, its publisher discovered to be inconveniently burdensome. The principal objections which I have heard urged against the Ornithology, relate to the coloring ; but as the difficulties to which its author was subjected, on this score, have been already detailed, I will merely observe, that he found them too great to be surmounted. Hence a generous critic will not impute to him as a fault, what, in truth, ought to be viewed in the light of a misfortune. In his specific definitions he is loose and unsystematic. He does not appear to have been convinced of the necessity of precision on this head ; his essential and natural characters are not discriminated ; and, in some instances, he con- founds generic and specific characters, which the laws of methodical science do not authorize. There is a peculiarity in his orthography, which it is proper that I should take notice of, for the purpose of explaining his motive for an anomaly, at once inelegant and injudicious. 1 have his own authority for stating, that he adopted this mode of spelling, at the particular instance of the late Joel Bar- low, who vainly hoped to give currency, in his heavy Epic, to an innovation, which greater names than his own had been unable to efl'ect. J' Some ingenious men," says Johnson, " have endeavored to deserve well of their country by writing honor and labor for honour and labour, red for read in the preter-tense, sais for says, repete for repeat, explane for explain, or declame for declaim. Of these it may be said, that as they have done no good, they have done little harm ; both because they have innovated little, and because few have followed them." The recommendation of the learned lexicographer, above cited, ought to be laid to heart by all those whose " vanity seeks praise by petty reformation." " I hope I may be allowed," says he, " to recommend to those, whose thoughts have been perhaps employed too anxiously on verbal singularities, not to dis- turb upon narrow views, or for minute propriety, the orthography of their fathers. There is in constancy and ability a general and lasting advantage, which will always overbalance the slow improvements of gradual correction." As it must be obvious that, without books, it would be impossible to avoid error in synonymes and nomenclature, so we find that our author, in these respects, has rendered himself obnoxious to reproach. That he was not ambitious of the honor of forming new genera, appears from the circumstance, that, although he found the system of Latham needed reformation, yet he ventured to propose but one genus, the Curvirostra, the LIFE OF WILSON. cxxi characters of which are so obvious, that one is astonished that so learned an ornithologist as Latham, should have contented himself with arranging the species appertaining to it with others, the conformation of whose bills is so dissimilar. ~It may be necessary to state that the Crossbills had been erected into a separate genus, under the denomination of Crucirostra, by an author whose works Wilson had no knowledge of; and I have reason to believe that even the generic appellation of Gurvirostra had been anticipated, by a writer on the ornithology of the northern parts of Europe. Brisson limited his genus Loxia to the Crossbills, and this judicious restriction appears to be now sanctioned by all naturalists of authority. There is a species of learning, which is greatly affected by puny minds, and for which our author entertained the most hearty contempt : this is the names by which certain nations of Indians designated natural objects. Hence we nowhere find his work disfigured by those " uncouth and unmanageable words," which some writers have recorded with a solemnity, which should seem to prove a conviction of their importance; but which, in almost every instance, are a reproach to their vanity and their ignorance. Can anything be more preposterous than for one to give a catalogue of names in a language, the grammatical construction of which has never been ascertained, and with the idiom of which one is totally unacquainted ? Among literate nations it is a rule, which has received the sanction of prescription, that when one would write upon a tongue, it is indispensable that one should qualify one's self for the task, by a careful investigation of its principles. But when the language of barbarians becomes the subject of attention, the rule is reversed, and, pro- vided a copious list of names be given, it is not required of the collector, that 'he should have explored the sources whence they are derived : his learning is estimated by the measure of his labor, and our applause is taxed in propor- tion to his verbosity. The style of Wilson appears to be well adapted to the subjects upon ^hich he wrote. It is seldom feeble, it is sometimes vigorous, and it is generally neat. He appears to have " understood himself, and his readers always under- stand him." That he was capable of graceful writing, he has given us, in the preface to his first volume, which we here insert, a remarkable instance ; which is one of the happiest, and most appropriate, compositions that our literature can boast of. " The whole use of a preface seems to be, either to elucidate the nature and origin of the work, or to invoke the clemency of the reader. Such observa- tions as have been thought necessary for the former, will be found in the intro- duction ; extremely solicitous to obtain the latter, I beg leave to relate the following anecdote. " In one of my late visits to a friend's in the country, I found their young- est son, a fine boy of eight or nine years of age, who usually resides in town for his education, just returning from a ramble through the neighboring woods and fields, where he had collected a large and very handsome bunch of wild flowers, of a great many different colors; and presenting them to his mother, said, with much animation in his countenance, ' Look, my dear 'ma, what beautiful flowers I have found growing on our place ! Why all the woods cxxii LIFE OF WILSON. are full of them ! red, orange, blue, and most every color. 0, 1 can gather you a whole parcel of them, much handsomer than these, all growing in our own woods ' Shall I, 'ma ? Shall I go and bring you more V The good woman received the bunch of flowers with a smile of affectionate complacency; and after admiring for some time the beautiful simplicity of nature, gave her wil- ling consent ; and the little fellow went off, on the wings of ecstasy, to execute his delightful commission. " The similitude of this little boy's enthusiasm to my own, struck me ; and the reader will need no explanations of mine to make the application. Should my country receive with the same gracious indulgence the specimens which I here humbly present her ; should she express a desire for me to go and bring her more, the highest wishes of my ambition will be gratified ; for, in the language of my little friend, our whole woods are full of them, I and I can collect hun- dreds more, much handsomer than, these!' In a work abounding with so many excellencies, it would not be difficult to point out passages of merit, any one of which would give the author a just claim to the title of a describer of no ordinary powers. We select the following description, from the history of the Wood Thrush : "At whatever time the wood thrush may arrive, he soon announces his presence in the woods. With the dawn of the succeeding morning, mounting to the top of some tall tree, that rises from a low thick-shaded part of the woods, he pipes his few, but clear and musical, notes in a kind of ecstasy ; the prelude or symphony to which strongly resembles the double-tongueing of a German flute, and sometimes the tinkling of a small bell. The whole song consists of five or six parts, the last note of each of which is in such a tone, as to leave the conclusion evidently suspended; the finale is finely managed, and with such charming effect, as to soothe and tranquillize the mind, and to seem sweeter and mellower at each successive repetition. Rival songsters, of the same species, challenge each other from different parts of the wood, seeming to vie for softer tones, and more exquisite responses. During the burning heat of the day they are comparatively mute; but in the evening the same melody is renewed, and continued long after sunset. Even in dark, wet and gloomy weather, when scarce a single chirp is heard from any other bird, the clear notes of the wood thrush thrill through the dropping woods, from morning to night ; and it may truly be said that the sadder the day the sweeter is his song." Perhaps my admiration of this passage may be dependent, in some measure, upon the association of ideas, having been accustomed to frequent the favorite haunts of this exquisite musician, which are "low thick-shaded hollows, through which a small brook or rill meanders, overhung with alder bushes that are mantled with vines." But I can truly declare that I could never read it in an audible voice, the intenseness of my feelings always overpowering me. He thus delightfully introduces his history of the Barn Swallow : " There are but few persons in the United States unacquainted with this gay, innocent, and active little bird. Indeed the whole tribe are so distinguished from the rest of small birds by their sweeping rapidity of flight, their peculiar aerial evolution' of wing over our fields and rivers, and through our very streets, LIFE OF WILSON. cxxiii from morning to night, that the light of heaven itself, the sky, the trees, or any other common ohjects of nature, are not better known than the swallows. We welcome their first appearance with delight, as the faithful harbingers and companions of flowery spring, and ruddy summer ; and when, after a long, frost-bound and "boisterous winter, we hear it announced that the 'Swallows are come !' what a train of charming ideas are associated with the simple tidings !" The following remarks on the current doctrine of the hybernation of Swal- lows are worthy of note. My object in introducing them into this place is twofold : to exemplify our author's talent for copious and equable composition ; and to afford myself an opportunity of adding my feeble testimony to his, on a subject which one should suppose would have been long ago definitively ascer- tained. " The wonderful activity displayed by these birds, forms a striking contrast to the slow habits of most other animals. It may be fairly questioned whether among the whole feathered tribes, which Heaven has formed to adorn this part of creation, there be any that, in the same space of time, pass over an equal extent of surface with the Swallow. Let a person take his stand on a fine summer evening, by a new-mown field, meadow or river shore, for a short time, and among the numerous individuals of this tribe that flit before him, fix his eye on a particular one, and follow, for a while, all its circuitous labyrinths — its extensive sweeps — its sudden, rapidly reiterated, zigzag excursions, and then attempt, by the powers of mathematics, to calculate the length of the va- rious lines it describes ; alas ! even his omnipotent fluxions would avail him little here, and he would soon abandon the task in despair. Yet, that some conception may be formed of this extent, let us suppose that this little bird flies, in his usual way, at the rate of one mile in a minute, which, from the many experiments that I have made, I believe to be within the truth ; and that he is so engaged for ten hours every day; and further, that this active life is extended to ten years (many of our small birds being known to live much longer, even in a state of domestication), the amount of all these, allowing three hundred and sixty-five days to a year, would give us two millions one hundred and ninety thousand miles : upwards of eighty-seven times the cir- cumference of the globe ! Yet this winged seraph, if I may so speak, who, in a few days, and at will, can pass from the borders of the arctic regions to the torrid zone, is forced, when winter approaches, to descend to the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and mill-ponds, to bury itself in the mud with eels and snapping turtles ; or to creep ingloriously into a cavern, a rat-hole, or a hollow tree, there to doze with snakes, toads, and other reptiles, until the return of spring ! Is not this true, yc wise men of Europe and America, who have published so many credible narratives upon this subject ? "The geese, the ducks, the catbird, and even the wren, which creeps about our outhouses in summer like a mouse, are all acknowledged to be migratory, and to pass into southern regions at the approach of winter; — the swallow alone, on whom Heaven has conferred superior powers of wing, must sink into torpidity at the bottom of our rivers, or doze all winter in the caverns of the earth. I am myself something of a traveller, and foreign countries afford many novel sights : should I assert, that in some of my peregrinations I had cxxiv I-I^E OF WILSON. met with a nation of Indians, all of whom, old and young, at the commen*e- ment of cold weather, descend to the bottom of their lakes and rivers, and there remain until the breaking up of frost ; nay, should I affirm, that thou- sands of people in the neighborhood of this city, regularly undergo the same semi-annual submersion — that I myself had fished up a whole family of these from the bottom of the Schuylkill, where they had lain torpid all winter, car- ried them home, and brought them all comfortably to themselves again ; — should I even publish this in the learned pages of the Transactions of our Philosophical Society,* who would believe me ? Is then the organization of a swallow less delicate than that of a man ? Can a bird, whose vital functions are destroyed by a short privation of pure air, and its usual food, sustain, for six months, a situation where the most robust man would perish in a few hours, or minutes ?f Away with such absurdities ! they are unworthy of a serious refutation. I should be pleased to meet with a man who has been personally more conversant with birds than myself, who has followed them in their wide and devious routes — studied their various manners — mingled with them, and marked their peculiarities more than I have done ; yet the miracle of a resus- citated swallow, in the depth of winter, from the bottom of a mill-pond, is, I confess, a phenomenon in ornithology that I have never met with." The subject of the supposed torpidity of swallows has employed many writ- ers, but unfortunately too few of those, whose practical knowledge enabled them to speak with that certainty, which should always give authority to writ- ings on natural history. Reasoning d priori ought to have taught mankind a * Here there is a palpable allusion to a paper on the hybernation of swallows, which was published in the sixth volume of the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. This paper was written by one Frederick Antes, and was communicated to the Society by the late Professor Barton. It is probable that Wilson had also read, the "letter on the retreat of house-swallows in winter, from the Honorable Samuel Dexter, Esq., to the Honorable James Bowdoin, Esq. ;" and that "from the Reverend Mr. Pack- ard to the Honorable Samuel Dexter, Esq.," both of them published in the Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of Boston, vols. 1 and 2. Such communications are not calculated to do honor to any learned institution ; and they ought to be rejected with scorn and reprehension. f Carlisle, in his lecture on muscular motion, observes, that, "animals of the class Mammalia, which hybernate and become torpid in the winter, have at all times a power of subsisting under a confined respiration, which would destroy other animals not having this peculiar habit. In all the hybernating Mammalia there is a peculiar structure of the heart and its principal veins." Philosophical Transactions for 1805, p. 17. "If all birds, except swallows," says Reeve, " are able to survive the winter, and they alone are so overcome by the cold as to be rendered torpid, the difference must be found in their anatomical structure, and in their habits of life. "Now, in the first place, it is certain that they have, in common with other birds, the three great functions of respiration, circulation, and assimilation : the similarity of their organs, and every circumstance in their mode of living, prove that they are subject to the same laws : they have also a very high temperature ; and are peculiarly organized for rapid and long flight. The size of their liings, the lightness of their bones, and the buoyancy of their feathers, render it absolutely impossible to sink them in water without a considerable weight ; and they die instantly for want of air." Reeve on Torpidity, p. 43. LIFE OF WILSON. cxxv more rational opinion, than that which the advocates of hybernation have un- thinkingly promulgated. And it is not surprising that as experiments are so easy to be instituted, they should have been so seldom resorted to, in order to determine a problem which many may suppose to be intricate, but which, in effect, is one of the simplest, or most easy to be ascertained, of any in the whole animal kingdom. It is a fact, that all the experiments which have been . made, on the subject of the hybernation of birds, have failed to give counte- nance, in the most remote degree, to this irrational doctrine. From my personal experience, and from my earliest youth, I have been con- versant with the habits of birds, I feel myself justified in asserting, that, in the whole class Aves, there has never been an authenticated instance known of a single individual capable of entering into that peculiar state denominated torpidity. Be it observed, that the narratives of credulous travellers, and superficial observers, and newspaper tales, on this subject, are of no authority, and must be utterly rejected. And yet these are the only sources whence naturalists have drawn their opinions on the question of torpidity. It is to be regretted that the authority of Linnaeus himself should have given credit and currency to this opinion, and the more so since his example of sanctioning vulgar narratives by his acquiescence, without examination, has been followed by the majority of writers on ornithology, particularly those of Sweden, in which country, if we may place reliance on the transactions of the Academy of Upsal, the submersion of swallows is received as an acknowledged fact. Linnaeus nowhere tells us that he had ever seen a torpid swallow ; but what shall we say of the English translator of Kalm's Travels, the learned John Reinhold Forster, who positively asserts that he himself had been an eye wit- ness to the fact of swallows being fished up out of the lake of Lybshau, in Prussia, in the winter, and being restored to animation ! a circumstance as impossible, if we are allowed to consider anatomical structure as having any influence on animal existence, as that a human being could be resuscitated after such a submersion.* * I am unwilling to object falsehood to this accomplished traveller, and therefore must conclude that, in trusting to his memory, after a considerable lapse of time, he must have given that which he had received of another, as the result of his own experience. Men- tal hallucinations of this kind are not of rare occurrence. That persons of the strictest veracity are frequently deceived by appearances, there can be no doubt ; and therefore it becomes a source of regret when such individuals, in record- ing their remarks upon the phenomena of nature, omit those considerations, which, if observed, could hardly fail to guard them from error. Had our illustrious countryman, I'ranklin, when he thought he had succeeded in resuscitating a fly, after it had been, for several months, or perhaps years, embalmed in a bottle of Madeira wine, but exercised that common sense, of which he possessed so large a share, and bethought him to repeat the experiment, he would have soon discovered, that when the vital juices of an animal become decomposed by an acid, and thijir place supplied by a spirituous fluid, something more than the influence of solar heat will be requisite to reanimate a fabric, which has, in effect, lost that upon which existence mainly depends. The writer of this sketch has made several experiments upon flies, with the view of ascertaining the possibility of their being resuscitated after having been drowned in Madeira wine ; bit in every instance his experiments had a different result from Dr. Franklin's. cxxvi LIFE OF WILSON. Dr. Keeve, in treating of the migration of birds, makes the following judicious observations : " It is singular that this subject should still admit of doubt, when it seems so easy to be decided ; yet every month we see queries and answers about the migration of swallows; and every year our curiosity is tempted to be amused with marvellous histories of a party of these birds diving under water in some remote quarter of America. No species of birds, except the swallow, the cuckoo, and the woodcock, have been supposed to remain torpid during the winter months. And what is the evidence in favor of so strange and monstrous a supposition ? Nothing -but the most vague testimonies, and his- tories repugnant to reason and experience. " Other birds are admitted to migrate, and why should swallows be exempt from the general law of their nature ? When food fails in one quarter of the world, their instinct prompts them to seek it in another. We know, in fact, that such is their natural habit: we have the most unexceptionable proofs that swallows do migrate ; they have been seen at sea on the rigging of ships ; and Adanson, the celebrated naturalist, is said to have caught four European swallows fifty leagues from land, between the coast of Goree and Senegal, in the month of October. " Spallanzani saw swallows in October on the island of Lipari, and he was told that when a warm southerly breeze blows in winter they are frequently seen skimming along the streets, in the city. He concludes that they do not pass into Africa at the approach of winter, but remain in the island, and issue from their retreat on warm days in quest of food."* The late Professor Barton of Philadelphia, in a letter to the editor of the Philosophical Magazine, thus comments upon the first paragraph of the above remarks of Dr. Reeve : " It appears somewhat surprising to me, that an author He submerged them in the wine for different periods, viz. six months, eighteen hours, six hours, one hour ; and in the last instance they showed signs of life until ten minutes before they were removed for the benefit of the air and sun. Of three flies used in the last expe- riment, only one was reanimated, but after a few convulsive struggles it expired. Three flies were afterwards drowned in pure water ; and after having been kept in that state for seventeen hours, they were exposed to the sun for several hours, but they gave no signs of life. Upon a reperusal of Franklin's " Observations upon the Prevailing Doctrines of Life and Death," in which the story of the flies is inserted, it appears obvious to me, that the flies which "fell into the first glass that was filled," were either accidentally thrown into it, or had been in it unperceived, and on this supposition a recovery from suspended animation would have nothing in it which might be thought marvellous. * An Essay on the Torpidity of Animals, by Henry Reeve, M. D., p. 40. The author of this narrative, in the middle of December, 1820, was at Nice, on the Mediterranean ; and had the gratification of beholding the common European Swallow (.Hhundo rustica) flying through the streets in considerable numbers. M. Kisso, a well- known naturalist} and a resident of the place, informed him that swallows remained there all winter. ^ On the 20th February, 1818, being at the mouth of the river St. John, in East Florida, I observed several swallows of the species viridia of Wilson ; and, on the 26th, a flight of them, consisting of several hundreds, coming from the sea. They are the first which reach us in the spring from the south. They commonly arrive in Pennsylvania in the early part of March. LIFE OF WILSON.^ cxxvii who had so long had the subject of the torpidity of animals under his conside- ration, should have hazarded the assertion contained in the preceding para- graph. Dr. Keeve has certainly read of other birds besides the swallow, the cuckoo, and the woodcock, which are said to have been found in a torpid state. And ought he not to have mentioned these birds ? '■ In my ' Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania,' I have men- tioned the common humming-bird ( Trochilus colubris) as one of those American birds which do occasionally become torpid. " In regard to the swallows, I shall say but little at present. I have, at this time, in the press, a memoir on the migration and torpidity of these birds. / am confident that I shall he abls to convince every candid philosopher, that great numbers of swallows, 0/ different species, do occasionally/ pass into a state of torpidity, more or less profound, not merely 'in some remote quarter of America,' but in the vicinity of our capital cities, where there are some men of genuine observation and inquiry, and who are as little prepense to believe the marvellous in natural history, as any philosophers elsewhere. "I do not suppose that all the swallows of North America become torpid. It is my present opinion, and it was my opinion when I published the ' Frag- ments' in 1799, that the swallows, in general, are migratory, birds. But sub- sequent and very extensive inquiries have convinced me, that the instances of torpid swallows are much more frequent than I formerly supposed they were ; and that there are two species of the genus Hirundo, which are peculiarly dis- posed to pass the brumal season in the cavities of rocks, in the hollows of trees, and in other similar situations, where they have often been found in a soporose state. These species are the Hirundo riparia, or sand swallow; and the S. pelasgia, which we call chimney swallow. There is no fact in orni- thology letter established than tbte pact of the occasional torpidity of these two species of Hirundo!"* It is not strange that the " very extensive" inquiries of our learned professor should have had a result so different from those of Wilson, an ornithologist infinitely better qualified than himself to investigate a question of this kind, by his zeal, his capacity, and his experience. Who those men oi genuine observa- tion and inquiry were, who resided in the vicinity o'f our capital cities, he did not condescend to inform us; if he had done so, we should be enabled to de- termine, whether or not they were capacitated to give an opinion on a subject, which requires qualifications of a peculiar kind. At the time in which the professor wrote the above-cited letter, I know of but two naturalists in the United States whose opinions ought to have any weight on the question before us, and these were William Bartram and Alex- ander Wilson, both of whom have recorded their testimony, in the most posi- tive manner, against torpidity. * Tilloch's Philosophical Magazine, toI. 35, p. 241. " Naturalists," says Dr. Barton in another place, "have not always been philosophers. The slight and superficial manner in which they hare examined many of the subjects of their science ; the credulity which has accompanied them in their researches after truth ; and the precipitancy with which they have decided upon many questions of importance ; are proofs of this assertion." Memoir concerning the fascinating faculty of serpents. cxxviii LIFE OF WILSON. The " Memoir on the Migration and Torpidity of Swallows," wherein Dr. Barton was confident he should be able to convince every candid philosopher of the truth of his hypothesis concerning these birds, never issued from the press, although so publicly announced. And who will venture to say that he did not, by this suppression, manifest his discretion ? When Wilson's volume, wherein the swallows are given, appeared, it is probable that the author of the "Fragments" was made sensible that he had been writing upon subjects of which he had little personal knowledge ; and therefore he wisely relinquished the task of instructing philosophers, in these matters, to those more capable than himself of such discussions. Naturalists have not been sufficiently precise when they have had occasion to speak of torpidity. They have employed the term to express that torpor or numbness, which is induced by a sudden change from heat to cold, such as is annually experienced in our climate in the month of March, and which fre- quently affects swallows to so great a degree as to render them incapable of flight. From the number of instances on record of these birds having been found in this state, the presumption has been that they were capable of passing into a state of torpidity, similar to that of the Marmots, and other hybernating animals. ^ Smellie, though an advocate for migration, yet admits that swallows may become torpid. " That swallows," says he, " in the winter months, have sometimes, though very rarely, been found in a torpid state, is unquestionably true. Mr. Collinson gives the evidence of three gentlemen who were eye-wit- nesses to a number of sand-martins being drawn out of a cliff on the Rhine, in the month of March, 1762." * One should suppose that Smellie was too good a logician to infer that, because swallows had been found in the state de- scribed, they had remained in that state all winter. A little more knowledge of the subject would have taught the three gentlemen observers, that the poor swallows had been driven to their retreat by cold weather, which had surprised them in their vernal migration ; and that this state of numbness, falsely called torpidity, if continued for a few days, would for ever have destroyed them. It is now time to resume the subject of Wilson's Ornithology, as the reader will, probably, consider that we have transgressed the limits which our digres- sion required. Dr. Drake, in his observations upon the descriptive abilities of the poet Bloomfield, thus expresses himself: " Milton and Thomson have both intro- duced the flight of the sky-lark, the first with his accustomed spirit and sublimity; but probably no poet has surpassed, either in fancy or expression, the following prose narrative of Dr. Goldsmith. ' Nothing,' observes he, ' can be more pleasing than to see the Lark warbling upon the wing; raising its note as it soars, until it seems lost in the immense heights above us ; the note continuing, the bird itself unseen ; to see it then descending with a swell as it comes from the clouds, yet sinking by degrees as it approaches its nest; the spot where all its affections are centred ; the spot that has prompted all * Philosophy of Natural History, chap. 20. LIFE OF WILSON. cxxix this joy.' This description of the descent of the bird, and the pleasures of it.s little nest, is conceived in a strain of the most exquisite delicacy and feeling."* I am not disposed to dispute the beauty of the imagery of the above, or the delicacy of its expression ; but I should wish the reader to compare it with Wilson's description of the Mocking-bird, unquestionably the most accomplished songster of the feathered race. " The plumage of the Mocking-bird, though none of the homeliest, has nothing gaudy or brilliant in it; and, had he nothing else to recommend him, would scarcely entitle him to notice; but his figure is well proportioned, and even handsome. The ease, elegance and rapidity of his movements, the anima- tion of his eye,"}" and the intelligence he displays in listening, and laying up lessons from almost every species of the feathered creation within his hearing, are really surprising, and mark the peculiarity of his genius. To these qualities we may add that of a voice full, strong, and musical, and capable of almost every modulation, from the clear mellow tones of the Wood Thrush, to the savage scream of the Bald Eagle. In measure and accent he faithfully follows his originals. In force and sweetness of expression he greatly improves upon them. In his native groves, mounted upon the top of a tall bush or half-grown tree, in the dawn of dewy morning, while the woods are already vocal with a multitude of warblers, his admirable song rises pre-eminent over every compe- titor. The ear can listen to his music alone, to which that of all the others seems a mere accompaniment. Neither is this strain altogether imitative.' His own native notes, which are easily distinguishable by such as are well acquainted with those of our various song birds, are bold and full, and varied seemingly beyond all limits. They consist of short expressions of two, three, or at the most five or six syllables ; generally interspersed with imitations, and all of them uttered with great emphasis and rapidity; and continued, with undimi- nished ardor, for half an hour, or an hour at a time. His expanded wings and tail, glistening with white, and the buoyant gayety of his action, arresting the eye, as his song most irresistibly does the ear. He sweeps round with enthu- siastic ecstasy — he mounts and descends as his song swells or dies away ; and, as my friend Mr. Bartram has beautifully expressed it, ' He bounds aloft with the celerity of an arrow, as if to recover his very soul, which expired in the last elevated strain.' While thus exerting himself, a bystander, destitute of sight, would suppose that the whole feathered tribes had assembled together, on a trial of skill, each striving to produce his utmost effect, so perfect are his imitations. He many times deceives the sportsman, and sends him in search )f birds that perhaps are not within miles of him ; but whose notes he exactly imitates. Even birds themselves are frequently imposed on by this admirable mimic, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their mates; or dive, with precipitation, into the depths of thickets, at the scream of what they suppose to be the Sparrow Hawk. " The Mocking-bird loses little of the power and energy of his song by con- * Drake's Literary Hours, No. 39, edition of 1820. f The reader is referred to our author's figure of this bird, which is one of the mott spirited drawings that the records of natural history can produce. Vol. I.— I cxxx LIFE OF WILSON. finement. In his domesticated state, when he commences his career of song, it is impossible to stand by uninterested. He whistles for the dog : Csesai starts up, wags his tail, and runs to meet his master. He squeaks out like a hurt chicken, and the hen hurries about with hanging wings, and bristled feathers, clucking to protect her injured brood. He runs over the quiverings of the Canary, and the clear whistlings of the Virginia Nightingale or Red- bird, with such superior execution and effect, that the mortified songsters feel their own inferiority, and become altogether silent; while he seems to triumph in their defeat by redoubling his exertions. " This excessive fondness for variety, however, in the opinion of some, injures his song. His elevated imitations of the Brown Thrush are frequently interrupted by the crowing of cocks; and the warblings of the Blue-bird, which he exquisitely manages, are mingled with the screaming of Swallows, or the cackling of hens ; amidst the simple melody of the Robin we are sud- denly surprised by the shrill reiterations of the Whip-poor-will, while the notes of the Killdeer, Blue Jay, Martin, Baltimore, and twenty others, succeed, with such imposing reality, that we look round for the originals, and discover, with astonishment, that the sole performer in this singular concert is the admirable bird now before us. During this exhibition of his powers, he spreads his wings, expands his tail, and throws himself around the cage in all the ecstasy of enthusiasm, seeming not only to sing, but to dance, keeping time to the measure of his own music. Both in his native and domesticated state, during the solemn stillness of night, as soon as the moon rises in silent majesty, he begins his delightful solo ; and serenades us with a full display of his vocal powers, making the whole neighborhood ring with his inimitable medley." I will give but one example more of our author's descriptive powers, and that will be found in his history of the Bald Eagle. As a specimen of nervous writing, it is excellent ; in its imagery, it is unsurpassed ; and in the accuracy of its detail, it transcends all praise. " This distinguished bird, as he is the most beautiful of his tribe in this part of the world, and the adopted emblem of our country, is entitled to par- ticular notice. He has been long known to naturalists, being common to both continents, and occasionally met with from a very high northern latitude, to the borders of the torrid zone, but chiefly in the vicinity of the sea, and along the shores and cliffs of our lakes and large rivers. Formed by nature for braving the severest cold ; feeding equally on the produce of the sea, and of the land ; possessing powers of flight capable of outstripping even the tempests themselves; unawed by anything but man ; aod from the ethereal heights to which he soars, looking abroad, at one glance, on an immeasurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes, and ocean, deep below him; he appears indifferent to the little localities of change of seasons ; as in a few minutes he can pass from summer to winter, from the lower to the higher regions of the atmosphere, the abode of eternal cold; and thence descend at will to the torrid or the arctic regions of the earth. He is therefore found at all seasons in the countries which he inhabits ; but prefers such places as have been mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for fish. " In procuring these, he displays, in a very singular manner, the genius and LIFE OP WILSON. cxxxi energy of his character, which is fierce, contemplative, daring and tyrannical : attributes not exerted but on particular occasions; but, when put forth, over- powering all opposition. Elevated upon a high dead limb of some gigantic tree, that commands a wide view of the neighboring shore and ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below: the snow-white Gulls slowly winnowing the air; the busy Tringse coursing along the sands ; trains of Ducks streaming over the surface; silent and watchful Cranes, intent and wading; clamorous Crows, and all the winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid maga- zine of nature. High over all these hovers one, whose action instantly arrests all his attention. By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspension in air, he knows him to be the Fish-hawk settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight, and balancing himself, with half- opened wings, on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around. At this moment the looks of the Eagle are all ardor; and levelling his neck for flight, he sees the Fish-hawk emerge, struggling with his prey, and mount- ing into the air with screams of exultation. These are the signal for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly gives chase, soon gains on the Fish- hawk, each exerts his utmost to mount above the other, displaying in these rencontres the most elegant and sublime aerial evolutions. The unencumbered Eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent, when with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest execration, the latter drops his fish ; the Eagle poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods." Perhaps there is no similar work extant which can so justly lay claim to the merit of originality as Wilson's Ornithology. In books on natural history, in general, we rarely meet with much that is new ; and it is not unusual to behold labored performances, which are undistinguished by any fact, which might prove that their authors are entitled to any other praise than that of diligent compilers. But in the work before us, we are presented with a fund of in- formation of so uncommon a kind, so various, and so interesting, that we are at no loss to perceive that the whole is the result of personal application, directed to the only legitimate source of knowledge — Nature, not as she ap- pears in the cabinet of the collector, but as she reveals herself in all the grace and loveliness of animated existence. Independent of those pleasing descriptions, which will always insure the work a favorable reception, it has higher claims to our regard, by the philo- sophical view which it takes of those birds which mankind had, with one con- sent, proscribed as noxious, but which now we are induced to consider as aux- iliaries in agriculture, whose labors could not be dispensed with without detri- ment. A vagrant chicken, now and then, may well be spared to the hawk or owl who clears our fields of swarms of destructive mice; the woodpecker, whose taste induces him to appropriate to himself the first ripe apple or cherry, has well earned the delicacy, by the myriads of pestilential worms of which he exxxii LIFE OF AVILSON. has rid our orchards, and whose ravages, if not counteracted, would soon de- prive us of all fruit; if the crow and the black-bird be not too greedy, we may surely spare them a part of what they have preserved to us, since it is ques- tionable, if their fondness for grubs or cut-worms did not induce them to destroy these enemies of the maize, whether or not a single stalk of this ines- timable corn would be allowed to greet the view of the American farmer. The beauties of this work are so transcendent, that its faults, which are, in truth, mere peccadillos, are hardly perceptible j they may be corrected by one of ordinary application, who needs not invoke to his aid either much learning or much intelligence. A book superior in its typographical execution, and graphical illustrations, it would be no difficult matter to produce, since the in- genuity of man has advanced the fine arts to a state of perfection, sufficient to gratify the most fastidious choice ; but who could rival it in those essentials which distinguish it from all other similar undertakings, and which constitute it one of the most valuable offerings to natural science which taste and genius has ever produced ? CATALOGUE J^ORTH AMERICA]^ BIRDS. Bt Prop. SPENCER F. BAIRD, Of the Smithsonian Institution. The following " Catalogue of North American Birds" has heen reprinted from the octavo edition issued by the Smithsonian Institution, in October, 1858. It was originally published in quarto, forming a jiortion of the report on North American Birds, in vol. iv. of the Reports of the Pacific Railroad Survey. Its republication in 8vo. had for its object to facilitate the labelling of the specimens of birds and eggs in the Museum of the Institu- tion ; we reprint it, as it serves most admirably the purposes of a cheek list of the species of American Birds. 1. Caihartes Avra. Illig. Turkey Buzzard. 2. Oaiharie.i Californianus. Cuv. California Vulture. 3. Caihartes Atraius. Lesson. Black Vulture. 4. Caihartes Burrovianvs. Cassin. Mexican Vulture. 5. Falco Analum. Bonap. Duck Hawk. 6. Falco Nigriceps. Cassin. Black Capped Hawk. 7. Eypotriorchis Colnmbarius. Gray. Pigeon Hawk. 8. Hi/poiri orchis Aurantius. Kaup. Orange-breasted Hawk. 9. Hypotriorchis Femoralis. Gray. Aplomado. 10. Falco Polyagms. Cassin. Prairie Falcon. 11. Falco Candicans. Gmelin. Jer Falcon. 12. Falco hlandicus. Sabine. Jer Falcon. I '5. Tinnunculus Sparverius. VieiH. S'PARRow Hawk. 14. Astur Atricapillus. Bonap. Goshawk. 15. Accipiier Cooperii. Bonap. Cooper's Hawk. 16. Accipiier Mexicanus. Swains. Blue-backed Hawk. 17. Accipiier Fuscus. Bonap. Sharp-shinned Hawk. 18. 19. Btiteo Swainsoni. Bonap. Swainson's Hawk. Buteo Bairdii. Hoy. Baird's Hawk. 20. Buteo Calurus. Cassin. Black Red-tail. 21. Buteo Insignatus. Cassin. Brown Hawk. 22. Buteo Harlani. Bonap. Harlan's Hawk. 23. Buteo Borealis. Vieill. Red-tailed Hawk. 24. Buteo Montanus. Nuttall. Western Red-tail. 25. Buteo Lineatus. Jardine. Red-shouldered Hawk. 26. Buteo Elegaus. Cassin. Red-bellied Hawk. 27. Buteo Pennsylvanicus. Bonap, Broad-winged Hawk. 28. Buteo Oxypte)-us. Cassin. Sharp-winged Hawk. 29. Buteo Cooperi. Cassin. California Hawk. 30. Archibuieo Lagopus. Gray. Rough-legged Hawk. 31. Archibuieo Sancti-Johannis. Black Hawk. 32. Archibuieo Ferrugineus. Gray. Squirrel Hawk. 33. Asturina Nitida. Bonap. Mexican Hawk. 34. Nauclerus Fiircaius. Vigors. Swallow-tailed Hawk. (i) Gray. CATALOGUE OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 35. Etanus Leucurvs. Bonap. White-tailed Hawk. 36. Ictinia Mississippiensis. Gray. Mississippi Kite. 37. Rostrhamus Sociahilis. D'Orb. Black Kite. 38. Circus Eudsonivs. Vieillot. Marsh Hawk. 39. Aquila Canadensis. Cassin. Golden Eagle ; Ring-tailed Eagle. 40. Haliaetus Pelagicus. Siebold. Northern Sea Eagle. 41. Saliaetus Washingtnnii. -Jard. Washington Eagle. 42. Maliaeius Albicilla. Cuvier. Gray Sea Eagle. 43. Haliaetus Leucocephalus. Savigny. Bald Eagle. 44. Pandion Carolinensis. Bonap. Fish Hawk. 45. Polyhorus Tharus. Cassin. Caracara Eagle. 46. Craxirex Vnicinctus. Cassia. Harris' Buzzard. Strix Pratineola. Bonap. Barn Owl. 47. 48, Bubo Virginianus. Bonap. Great Horned Owl. 49. Scops Asia. Bonap. Mottled Owl. 50. Scops McCallii. Cassin. Western Mottled Owl. 51. Olus Wilsonianus. Lesson. Long-Eared Owl. b'2. Brachyotus Cassinii. Brewer. Short-Eared Owl. 53. Syrnium Cinereum. Aud. Great Gray Owl. 54. Si/rnium Nebulosum. Gray. Barred Owl. 55. Nyciale Richardsonii. Bonap. Sparrow Owl. 50. Nyciale Albifrons. Cassin. Kirtland's Owl. 57. Nyctale Acadica. Bonap. Saw-whet Owl. 58. Athene Hypugaea. Bonap, Prairie Owl. 59. Athene Cunicularia. Bonap. Burrowing Owl. 60. Glaiicidium Gnomn. Cassin. Pigmy Owl. 61. Nyctea Nivea. Gray. Snowy Owl. 62. Surnia XJlula. Bonap. Hawk Owl. 63. Conurua Carolinensis. Kuhl. Parakeet. 64. Rhynchopsitta Pachyrhyncha. Bonap. Thick-billed Parrot. 65. Trogon Mexicanus. Swainson. Mexican Trogon. 66. Crotophaya Rvgirn. rounded at the end, of the same length with the wings, beautifully barred and marbled with dull white and pale rusty, on a dark brown ground ; throat and breast clouded with rusty, cream, black and white; belly beautifully streaked with large arrow-heads of black ; legs and thighs plain pale rusty, feathered to the claws, which are blue black, large and sharp ; inside of the wing brownish yellow, with a large spot of black at the root of the primaries. This was a female. Of the male I cannot speak precisely ; though from the numbers of these birds which I have examined in the Autumn, when it is difficult to ascertain their sex, I conjecture that they differ very little in color. About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far from the Delaware, is a low swamp,* thickly covered with trees, and inundated during great part of the year. This place is the resort of great numbers of the Qua-bird, or Night Raven (Ardea nyeticorax), where they build in large companies. On the twenty-fifth of April, while wading among the dark recesses of this forest, observing the habits of these birds, I discovered a Long-eared Owl, which had taken possession of one of their nests, and was sitting ; on mounting to the nest, I found it contained four eggs, and breaking one of these, the young appeared almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of the Qua-birds' nests on the adjoining trees all around, and one of them actually on the same tree. Thus we see how unvarying are the manners of this species, however remote and different the countries may be where it has taken up its residence. * Commonly known by the name of Cocker's swamp, from time immemorial a noted pi ice for the shooting of Woodcocks. Species IX. ^TRIX NJEVIA* MOTTLED OWL. [Plate XIX. Fig. 1, Female.] Arct. Zool. 231, No. 118.— Latham, i., 126.— Turton, i., 167. On contemplating the grave and antiquated figure of this night wanderer, so destitute of everything like gracefulness of shape, I can scarcely refrain from smiling at the conceit, ©f the ludicrous appear- ance this bird must have made, had nature bestowed on it the powers of song, and given it the faculty of warbling out sprightly airs, while robed in such a solemn exterior. But the great God of Nature hath, in his wisdom, assigned to this class of birds a more unsocial, and less noble, though, perhaps, not less useful, disposition by assimilating them, not only in form of countenance, but in voice, manners, and appetite, to some particular beasts of prey ; secluding them from the enjoyment of the gay sunshine of day, and giving them little more than the few solitary hours of morning and evening twilight, to procure their food, and pursue their amours ; while all the tuneful tribes, a few excepted, are wrapped in silence and repose. That their true character, however, should not be concealed from those weaker animals on whom they feed (for Heaven abhors deceit and hypocrisy). He has stamped their coun- tenance with strong traits of their murderer the Cat ; and birds in this respect are, perhaps, better physiognomists than men. The Owl now before us is chiefly a native of the northern regions, arriving here, with several others, about the commencement of cold weather ; frequenting the uplands and mountainous districts, in prefer- ence to the lower parts of the country ; and feeding on mice, small birds, beetles, and crickets. It is rather a scarce species in Pennsyl- vania ; flies usually in the early part of night and morning ; and is sometimes observed sitting on the fences during day, when it is easily caught ; its vision at that time being very imperfect. The bird represented in the plate was taken in this situation, and pre- sented to me by a friend. I kept it in the room beside me for some time ; during which its usual position was such as I have given it. Its eyelids were either half shut, or slowly and alternately opening and * Strix asio. This is the adult of the following species, and the name asio given to the young, must be retained for the species, as the young was first described. See Linn. Syst. i., p. 92, No. 3, ed. 10. (99) 100 MOTTLED OWL. shutting, as if suffering from the glare of day; but no sooner was the sun set, than its whole appearance became lively and animated ; its full and globular eyes shone like those of a cat ; and it often lowered its head, in the manner of a cock when preparing to fight, moving it from side to side, and also vertically, as if reconnoitring you with great sharpness. In flying through the room, it shifted from place to place with the silence of a spirit, (if I may be allowed the expression), the plumage of its wings being so extremely fine and soft as to occasion little or no friction with the air ; a wise provision of nature, bestowed on the whole genus, to enable them, without giving alarm, to seize their prey in the night. For an hour or two in the evening, and about break of day, it flew about with great activity. When angry, it snapped its bill repeatedly with violence, and so loud as to be heard in the adjoining room, swelling out its eyes to their full dimensions, and lowering its head as before described. It swallowed its food hastily, in large mouthfuls ; and never was observed to drink. Of the eggs and nest of this species I am unable to speak. The Mottled Owl is ten inches long, and twenty-two in extent ; the upper part of the head, the back, ears and lesser wing-coverts, are dark brown, streaked and variegated with black, pale brown, and ash ; wings lighter, the greater coverts and primaries spotted with white ; tail short, even, and mottled with black, pale brown, and whitish, on a dark brown ground ; its lower side gray ; horns (as they are usually called) very prominent, each composed of ten feathers ; increasing in length from the front backwards, and lightest on the inside ; face whitish, marked with small touches of dusky, and bounded on each side with a circlet of black ; breast and belly white, beautifully variegated with ragged streaks of black, and small transverse touches of brown ; legs feathered nearly to the claws, with a kind of hairy down, of a pale brown color ; vent and under tail-coverts white, the latter slightly marked with brown ; iris of the eye a brilliant golden yellow ; bill and claws bluish horn color. This was a female. The male is considerahly less in size ; the gene- ral colors darker ; and the white on the wing-coverts not so observable. Hollow trees, either in the woods or orchard, or close evergreens, in retired situations, are the usual roosting places of this and most of our other species. These retreats, however, are frequently discovered by the Nuthatch, Titmouse, or Blue Jay, who instantly raise the alarm ; a promiscuous group of feathered neighbors soon collect round the spot, like crowds in the streets of a large city, when a thief or murderer is detected ; and by their insults and vociferation oblige the recluse to seek for another lodging elsewhere. This may account for the circum- stance of sometimes finding them abroad during the day, on fences and other exposed situations. 8TRIX ASIO* RED OWL. [Plate XLII. rig. 1, Female.] Little Owl, Catesb. i., 7. — Lath, i., 123. — Linn. Syst. 132. Aret. Zool. ii., No. 117. TuRT. Syst. I., p. 166. This is another of our nocturnal wanderers, well known by its com- mon name, the Little Screech Owl ; and noted for its melancholy qui- vering kind of wailing in the evenings, particularly towards the latter part of summer and autumn, near the farm-house. On clear moonlight nights, they answer each other from various parts of the fields or orchard ; roost during the day in thick evergreens, such as cedar, pine, or juniper trees, and are rarely seen abroad in sunshine. In May they construct their nest in the hollow of a tree, often in the orchard, in an old apple tree ; the nest is composed of some hay and a few feathers ; the eggs are four, pure white and nearly round. The young are at first covered with a whitish down. The bird represented in the plate, I kept for several weeks in the room beside me. It was caught in a barn, where it had taken up its lodging, probably for the greater convenience of mousing ; and being unhurt, I had an opportunity of remarking its manners. At first it stfuck itself so forcibly against the window, as frequently to deprive it, seemingly, of all sensation for several minutes ; this was done so repeatedly, that I began to fear that either the glass, or the Owl's skull, must give way. In a few days, however, it either began to comprehend something of the matter, or to take disgust at the glass, for it never repeated its attempts ; and soon became quite tame and familiar. Those who have seen this bird only in the day, can form but an imperfect idea of its activity, and even sprightliness, in its proper season of exercise. Throughout the day, it was all stillness and gravity ; its eyelids half shut, its neck contracted, and its head shrunk seemingly into its body ; but scarcely was the sun set, and twilight began to approach, when its eyes became full and sparkling, like two living globes of fire ; it crouched on its perch, recon- noitred every object around with looks of eager fierceness ; alighted and fed ; stood on the meat with clenched talons, while it tore it in morsels with its bill; flew round the room with the silence of thought, and * This is the young bird. fion 102 GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. perching, moaned out its melancholy notes, with many lively gesticula- tions; not at all accordant with the pitiful tone of its ditty, which reminded one of the shivering meanings of a half-frozen puppy. This species is found generally over the United States, and is not migratory. The Red Owl is eight inches and a half long, and twenty-one inches in extent ; general color of the plumage above, a bright nut brown or lawny red ; the shafts black ; exterior edges of the outer row of scapu- lars white ; bastard wing, the five first primaries and three or four of the first greater; coverts, also spotted with white ; whole wing quills spotted with dusky on their exterior webs ; tail rounded, transversely barred with dusky and pale brown ; chin, breast, and sides, bright red- dish brown, streaked laterally with black, intermixed with white ; belly and vent white, spotted with bright brown ; legs covered to the claws with pale brown hairy down ; extremities of the toes and claws pale bluish, ending in black ; bill a pale bluish horn color ; eyes vivid yel- low ; inner angles of the eyes, eyebrows, and space surrounding the bill, whitish ; rest of the face nut brown ; head horned or eared, each consisting of nine or ten feathers, of a tawny red, shafted with black. ORDER ll. VICE. PIES. Genus4. LANIUS. shrike. Species I. LANIUS EXCUBITOB?* GEEAT AMERICAN SHRIKE, or BUTCHER-BIRD. [Hate V. Fig. 1.] La Pie-griiche grise, Burr, i., 296. PI. enl. U5.— White Whisky-John, Phil. Trans. Lxn., p. Z86.—Arct. Zool. ii., No. 127. The form and countenance of this bird bespeak him full of courage and energy ; and his true character does not belie his appearance, for he possesses these qualities in a very eminent degree. He is represented in the plate rather less than his true size ; but in just proportion ; and with a fidelity that will enable the European naturalist to determine, whether this be really the same with the great Cinereous Shrike {Lanius excubitor, Linn.), of the eastern continent or not ; though the progressive variableness of the plumage, passing, according to age, and sometimes to * Lanius septentrionalis, Gmel. GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. IQS climate, from ferruginous to pale ash, and even to a bluish white, ren- ders it impossible that this should be an exact representation of every individual. This species is by no means numerous in the lower parts of Pennsyl- vania ; though most so during the months of November, December and March. Soon after this it retires to the north, and to the higher inland parts of the country to breed. It frequents the deepest forests ; builds a large and compact nest in the upright fork of a small tree, composed outwardly of dry grass, and whitish moss, and warmly lined within with feathers. The female lays six eggs, of a pale cinereous color, thickly marked at the greater end with spots and streaks of rufous. She sits fifteen days. The young are produced early in June, sometimes towards the latter end of May ; and during the greater part of the first season are of a brown ferruginous color on the back. When we compare the beak of this species, with his legs and claws, they appear to belong to two very different orders of birds ; the former approaching, in its conformation, to that of the Accipitrine ; the latter to those of the Pies ; and, indeed, in his food and manners, he is assimi- lated to both. For though man has arranged and subdivided this nu- merous class of animals into' separate tribes and families, yet nature has united these to each other by such nice gradations, and so intimately, that it is hardly possible to determine where one tribe ends, or the suc- ceeding .commences. We therefore find several eminent naturalists classing this genus of birds with the Accipitrine, others with the Pies. Like the former he preys, occasionally, on other birds ; and like the latter on insects, particularly grasshoppers, which I believe to be his principal food ; having at almost all times, even in winter, fqund them in his stomach. In the month of December, and while the country was deeply covered with snow, I shot one of these birds, near the head waters of the Mohawk river, in the state of New York, the stomach o'" which was entirely filled with large black spiders. He was of a much purer white, above, than any I have since met with ; though evidently of the same species with the present ; and I think it probable, that the males become lighter colored as they advance in age, till the minute transverse lines of brown on the lower parts almost disappear. In his manners he has more resemblance to the pies than to birds of prey, particularly in the habit of carrying ofi" his surplus food, as if to hoard it for future exigences ; with this difierence, that Crows, Jays, Magpies, &c., conceal theirs a^ random, in holes and crevices, where perhaps it is forgotten or never again found ; while the Butcher-bird sticks his on thorns and bushes, where it shrivels in the sun, and soon becomes equally useless to the hoarder. Both retain the same habits in a state of confinement, whatever the food may be that is presented to them. 104 GKEAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. This habit of the Shrike of seizing and impaling grasshoppers, and other insects, on thorns, has given rise to an opinion, that he places their carcasses there, by way of baits, to allure small birds to them, while he himself lies in ambush to surprise and destroy them. In this, however, they appear to allow him a greater portion of reason and con- trivance than he seems entitled to, or than other circumstances will altogether warrant ; for we find that he not only serves grasshoppers in this manner, but even small birds themselves, as those have assured me who have kept them in cages in this country, and amused themselves with their manoeuvres. If so, we might as well suppose the farmer to be inviting Crows to his corn, when he hangs up their carcasses around it, as the Butcher-bird to be decoying small birds by a display of the dead bodies of their comrades. In the " Transactions of the American Philosophical Society," vol. IV., p. 124, the reader may find a long letter on this subject, from Mr. John Heckewelder, of Bethlehem, to Dr. Barton; the substance of which is as follows : That on the 17th of December, 1795, he (Mr. Heckewelder) went to visit a young orchard, which had been planted a few weeks before, and was surprised to observe on every one of the trees one, and on some, two and three grasshoppers, stuck down on the sharp thorny branches ; that on inquiring of his tenant the reason of this, he informed him, that they were stuck there by a small bird of prey called by the Germans Neuntoedter (Ninekiller), which caught and stuck nine grasshoppers a day ; and he supposed that as the bird itself never fed on grasshoppers, it must do it for pleasure. Mr. Heckewelder now recollected that one of those Ninekillers had, many years before, taken a favorite bird of his out of his cage, at the window ; since which he had paid particular attention to it ; and being perfectly satisfied that it lived entirely on mice and small birds, and, moreover, observing the grasshoppers on the trees all fixed in natural positions, as if alive, he began to conjecture that this was done to decoy such small birds as feed on these insects to the spot, that he might have an opportunity of devouring them. "If it were true," says he, "that this little hawk had stuck them up for himself, how long would he be in feeding on one or two hundred grasshoppers? But if it be intended to seduce the smaller birds to feed on these insects, in order to have an opportunity of catching them, that number, or even one-half, or less, may be a good bait all winter," &c., &c. This is indeed a very pretty fanciful theory, and would entitle our bird to the epithet Fowler, perhaps with more propriety than Laniu», or Butcher ; but, notwithstanding the attention which Mr. Heckewelder professes to have paid to this bird, he appears not only to have been unacquainted that grasshoppers were in fact the favorite food of this Ninekiller, but never once to have considered, that grasshoppers would GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. 105 be but a very insignificant and tasteless bait for our -winter birds, which are chiefly those of the Finch kind, that feed almost exclusively on hard seeds and gravel ; and among whom five hundred grasshoppers might be stuck up on trees and bushes, and remain there untouched by any of them for ever. Besides, where is his necessity of having recourse to such refined stratagems, when he can at any time seize upon small birds by mere force of flight ? I have seen him, in an open field, dart after one of our small sparrows, with the rapidity of an arrow, and kill it almost instantly. Mr. William Bartram long ago informed me, that one of these Shrikes had the temerity to pursue a Snow-bird {F. Hud- sonia), into an open cage, which stood in the garden ; and before they could arrive to its assistance, had already strangled and scalped it, though he lost his liberty by the exploit. In short I am of opinion, that his resolution and activity are amply sufficient to enable him to procure these small birds whenever he wants them, which I believe is never but when hard pressed by necessity, and a deficiency of his favorite insects ; and that the Crow or the Blue Jay may, with the same probability, be supposed to be laying baits for mice and flying squirrels, when they are hoarding their Indian corn, as he for birds while thus disposing of the exuberance of his favorite food. Both the former and the latter retain the same habits in a state of confinement ; the one filling every seam and chink of his cage with grain, crumbs of bread, &c., and the other stickingnip, not only insects, but flesh, and the bodies of such birds as are thrown in to him, on nails or sharpened sticks, fixed up for the purpose. Nor, say others, is this practice of the Shrike difficult to be accounted for. Nature has given to this bird a strong, sharp, and powerful beak, a broad head, and great strength in the mus- cles of his neck ; but hife legs, feet and claws, are by no means propor- tionably strong ; and are unequal to the task of grasping and tearing his prey, like those of the Owl and Falcon kind. He therefore wisely avails himself of the powers of the former, both in strangling his prey, and in tearing it to pieces while feeding. The character of the Butcher-bird is entitled to no common degree of respect. His activity is visible in all his motions ; his courage and intrepidity beyond every other other bird of his size (one only excepted, the King-bird, L. tyrannus, Linn.), and in affection for his young he is surpassed by no other. He associates with them in the latter part of summer, the whole family hunting in company. He attacks the largest Hawk, or Eagle, in their defence, with a resolution truly astonishing ; so that all of them respect him ; and on every occasion decline the contest. As the snows of winter approach, he descends from the mountainous forests, and from the regions of the north, to the more cultivated parts of the country, hovering about our 106 GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. hedge-ro-ws, orchards and meadows, and disappears again early in April. The Great American Shrike is ten inches in length, and thirteen in extent ; the upper part of the head, neck and back, is pale cinereous ; sides of the head nearly white, crossed with a bar of black, that passes from the nostril through the eye to the middle of the neck ; the whele under parts, in some specimens, are nearly white, and thickly marked with minute transverse curving lines of light brown; the wings are black, tipped with white, with a single spot of white on the primaries, just below their coverts ; the scapulars, or long downy feathers that fall over the upper part of the wing, are pure white ; the rump and tail-coverts a very fine gray or light ash ; the tail is cuneiform, con- sisting of twelve feathers, the two middle ones wholly black, the others tipped more and more with white to the exterior ones, which are nearly all white ; the legs, feet and claws, are black ; the beak straight, thick, of a light blue color ; the upper, mandible furnished with a sharp pro- cess bending down greatly at the point, where it is black, and beset at the base with a number of long black hairs or bristles ; the nostrils are also thickly covered with recumbent hairs ; the iris of the eye is a light hazel, pupil black. The figure in the plate will give a perfect idea of the bird. The female is easily distinguished by being ferru- ginous on the back and head ; and having the band of black extend- ing only behind the eye, and of a dirty brown or burnt color, the under parts are also something rufous, and the curving lines more strongly marked ; she is rather less than the male, which is different from birds of prey in general, the females of which are usually the larger of the two. In the Arctic Zoology we are told that this species is frequent in Eussia, but does not extend to Siberia ; yet one was taken withir Behring's straits, on the Asiatic side, in lat. 66° ; and the species pro- bably extends over the whole continent of North America, from the western ocean. Mr. Bell, while on his travels through Russia, had one of these birds given him, which he kept in a room, having fixed up a sharpened stick for him in the wall ; and on turning small birds loose in the room, the Butcher-bird instantly caught them by the throat in such a manner as soon to sufibcate them ; and then stuck them on the stick, pulling them on with bill and claws ; and so served as many as were turned loose, one after another, on the same stick.* * Edwards, v. rii., p. 231, Species II. LANIUS CABOLTNENSIS* LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. [Plate XXII. rig. 5.] This species has a considerable resemblance to the Great American Shrike. It differs, however, from that bird in size, being a full inch shorter, and in color, being much darker on the upper parts ; and in having the frontlet black. It also inhabits the warmer parts of the United States ; while the Great American Shrike is chiefly confined to the northern regions, and seldom extends to the south of Virginia. This species inhabits the rice plantations^ of Carolina and Georgia, where it is protected for its usefulness in destroying mice. It sits, for hours together, on the fence, beside the stacks of rice, watching like a cat ; and as soon as it perceives a mouse, darts on it like a Hawk. It also feeds on crickets and grasshoppers. Its note, in March, resembled the clear creaking of a sign board, in windy weather. It builds its nest, as I was informed, generally in a detached bush, much like that of the Mocking-bird ; but as the spring was not then sufiiciently advanced, I had no opportunity of seeing its eggs. It is generally known by the name of the Loggerhead. This species is nine inches long and thirteen in extent ; the color above is cinereous or dark ash; scapulars, and line over the eye, whitish; wings black, with a small spot of white at the base of the primaries, and tipped with white; a stripe of black passes along the front through each eye, half way down the side of the neck ; eye dark hazel, sunk below the eyebrow ; tail cuneiform, the four middle feathers wholly black, the four exterior ones on each side tipped more and more with white to the outer one which is nearly all white ; whole lower parts white, and in some specimens, both of males and females, marked with transverse lines of very pale brown ; bill and legs black. The female is considerably darker both above and below, but the black does not reach so high on the front ; it is also rather less in size. * Laniur lAtdovicianus, Linn., which name must be adopted. In Buffon, pi. enl. 528, there is a figure of a young bird. — Synonymes : La Pie-griesche de la Louisiane, Bbiss. 2, p. 162.— Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 69. (107) Genus V. PSITTACUS. PAKROT. P. CABOLINENSIS. CAROLINA PARROT. [Plate XXVI. Fig. 1.] Linn. Syst. i., p. 97, ed. 10. — Catesbt, i., 11. — Latham, i., 227. — Arct. Zool. 242, No. 132. Ibid. 133.* Of one hundred and sixty-eight kinds of Parrots, enumerated by European writers as inhabiting the various regions of the globe, this is the only species found native within the territory of the United States. The vast and luxuriant tracts lying within the torrid zone, seem to be the favorite residence of those noisy, numerous, and richly-plumaged tribes. The Count de BufiFon has, indeed, circumscribed the whole genus of Par- rots to a space not extending more than twenty-three degrees on each side of the equator ; but later discoveries have shown this statement to be incorrect ; as these birds have been found on our continent as far south as the Straits of Magellan, and even on the remote shores of Van Diemen's Land, in Terra Australasia. The species now under consider- ation is also known to inhabit the interior of Louisiana, and the shores of the Mississippi and Ohio, and their tributary waters, even beyond the Illinois river, to the neighborhood of Lake Michigan, in lat. 42° North ; and, contrary to the generally received opinion, is chiefly resident in all these places. Eastward, however, of the great range of the Alleghany, it is seldom seen farther north than the State of Maryland ; though straggling parties have been occasionally observed among the valleys of the Juniata ; and according to some, even twenty-five miles to the north- west of Albany, in the State of New York.f But such accidental visits furnish no certain criteria by which to judge of their usual extent of range ; those aerial voyagers, as well as others who navigate the deep, being subject to be cast away, by the violence of the elements, on dis- tant shores and unknown countries. From these circumstances of the northern residence of this species, we might be justified in concluding it to be a very hardy bird, more capable of sustaining cold than nine-tenths of its tribe ; and so I believe * We add the following synonymes : La Perruche de la Caroline, Beiss. 4, p. 350. — Orange-headed Parrot, Lath. Gen. Syn. i., p. 304. Ind. Orn. p. 93. t Barton's Fragments, &c., p. 6, Introd. (108) CAROLINA PARROT. 109 it is ; having myself seen them, in the month of February, along the banks of the Ohio, in a snow storm, flying about like pigeons, and ir full cry. The preference, however, which this bird gives to the western coun- tries, lying in the same parallel of latitude with those eastward of the Alleghany mountains, which it rarely or never visits, is worthy of re- mark ; and has been adduced, by different writers, as a proof of the superior mildness of climate in the former to that of the latter. But there are other reasons for this partiality equally powerful, though hitherto overlooked; namely, certain peculiar features of country, to which these birds are particularly and strongly attached ; these are, low, rich, alluvial bottoms, along the borders of creeks, covered with a gigan- tic growth of sycamore trees or button-wood — deep and almost impene- trable swamps, where the vast and towering cypress lift their still more majestic heads ; and those singular salines, or, as they are usually called, licks, so generally interspersed over that country, and which are regularly and eagerly visited by the Paroquets. A still greater induce- ment is the superior abundance of their favorite fruits. That food which the Paroquet prefers to all others, is the seeds of the cockle-burr, a plant rarely found in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, or New York ; but which unfortunately grows in too great abundance along the shores of the Ohio and Mississippi, so much so as to render the wool of those sheep, that pasture where it most abounds, scarcely worth the cleaning, covering them with one solid mass of burrs, wrought up and imbedded into the fleece, to the great annoyance of this valuable animal. The seeds of the cypress-tree and hackberry, as well as beech-nuts, are also great favorites with these birds ; the two former of which are not com- monly found in Pennsylvania, and the latter by no means so general cr so productive. Here then are several powerful reasons, more dependent on soil than climate, for the preference given by these birds to the luxu- riant regions of the west. Pennsylvania, indeed, and also Maryland, abound with excellent apple orchards, on the ripe fruit of which the Paroquets occasionally feed. But I have my doubts whether their depre- dations in the orchard be not as much the result of wanton play and mischief, as regard for the seeds of the fruit, which they are supposed to be in pursuit of. I have known a flock of these birds alight on an apple tree, and have myself seen them twist off the fruit, one by one, strewing it in every direction around the tree, without observing that ?>ny of the depredators descended to pick them up. To a Paroquet which I wounded, and kept for some considerable time, I very often offered ap- ples, which it uniformly rejected ; but burrs, or beech-nuts never. To another very beautiful one, which I brought from New Orleans, and which is now sitting in the room beside me, I have frequently offered this fruit, and also the seeds separately, which I never knew it to taste. 110 CAROLINA PARROT. Their local attachments also prove that food more than climate deter mines their choice of country. For even in the states of Ohio, Ken- tucky, and the Mississippi territory, unless in the neighborhood of such places as have been described, it is rare to see them. The inhabitants of Lexington, as many of them assured me, scarcely ever observe them in that quarter. In passing from that place to Nashville, a distance of two hundred miles, I neither heard nor saw any, but at a place called Madison's Lick. In passing on, I next met with them on the banks and rich flats of the Tennessee river ; after thie I saw no more till I reached Bayo St. Pierre, a distance of several hundred miles ; from all which circumstances, I think we cannot, from the residences of these birds, establish with propriety, any correct standard by which to judge of the comparative temperatures of different climates. In descending the river Ohio, by myself, in the month of February, I met with the first flock of Paroquets at the mouth of the Little Scioto. I had been informed, by an old and respectable inhabitant of Marietta, that they were sometimes, though rarely, seen there. I observed flocks of them, afterwards, at the mouth of the Great and Little Miami, and in the neighborhood of numerous creeks, that discharge themselves into the Ohio. At Big-Bone Lick, thirty miles above the mouth of Ken- tucky river, I saw them in great numbers. They came screaming through the woods in the morning, about an hour after sunrise, to drink the salt water, of which they, as well as the pigeons, are remarkably fond. When they alighted on the ground, it appeared, at a distance, as if covered with a carpet of the richest green, orange and yellow. They afterwards settled, in one body, on a neighboring tree, which stood de- tached from any other, covering almost every twig of it, and the sun shining strongly on their gay and glossy plumage, produced a very beau- tiful and splendid appearance. Here I had an opportunity of observing some very particular traits of their character. Having shot down a number, some of which were only wounded, the whole flock swept re- peatedly around their prostrate companions, and again settled on a low tree, within twenty yards of the spot where I stood. At each successive discharge, though showers of them fell, yet the afiection of the survi- vors seemed rather to increase ; for after a few circuits around the place, they again alighted near me, looking down on their slaughtered compa- nions, with such manifest symptoms of sympathy and concern, as entirely disarmed me. I could not but take notice of the remarkable contrast between their elegant manner of flight, and their lame and crawling gait among the branches. They fly very much like the Wild Pigeon, in close, compact bodies, and with great rapidity, making a loud and outrageous screaming, not unlike that of the Red-headed Woodpecker. Their flight is sometimes in a direct line ; but most usually circuitous, making a great variety of elegant and easy serpentine meanders, as if for pleasure. CAROLINA PARROT. HI They are particularly attached to the large sycamores, in the hollow of the trunks, and branches of which, they generally roost, thirty or forty, and sometimes more, entering at the same hole. Here they cling close to the sides of the tree, holding fast by the claws, and also by the bills. They appear to be fond of sleep, and often retire to their holes during the day, probably to take their regular siesta. They are extremely so- ciable with and fond of each other, often scratching each other's heads and necks, and always at night nestling as close as possible to each other, preferring, at that time, a perpendicular position, supported by their bill and claws. In the fall, when their favorite cockle-burrs are ripe, they swarm along the coast, or high grounds of the Mississippi, above New Orleans, for a great extent. At such times they are killcv* and eaten by many of the inhabitants ; though I confess I think their flesh very indifferent. I have several times dined on it from necessity in the woods ; but found it merely passable, with all the sauce of a keen appetite to recommend it.* A very general opinion prevails, that the brains and intestines of the Carolina Paroquet are a sure and fatal poison to cats. I had deter- mined, when at Big-Bone, to put this to the test of experiment ; and for that purpose collected the brains and bowels of more than a dozen of them. But after close search Mrs. Puss was not to be found, being en- gaged perhaps on more agreeable business. I left the medicine with Mr. Colquhoun's agent, to administer it by the first opportunity, and write me the result ; but I have never yet heard from him. A respect- able lady near the town of Natchez, and on whose word I can rely, assured me, that she herself had made the experiment, and that, what- ever might be the cause, the cat had actually died either on that or the succeeding day. A French planter near Bayo Fourche pretended to account to me for this effect, by positively asserting that the seeds of the cockle-burrs, on which the Paroquets so eagerly feed, were deleterious to cats ; and thus their death was produced by eating the intestines of the bird. These matters might easily have been ascertained on the spot, which, however, a combination of trifling circumstances prevented me from doing. I several times carried a dose of the first description in my pocket, till it became insufierable, without meeting with a suitable patient, on whom, like other professional gentlemen, I might conve- niently make a fair experiment. I was equally unsuccessful in my endeavors to discover the time of * Had our author been provided with proper apparatus to cook these birds, and suitable condiments, he would, doubtless, have been of a different opinion. Mr. T. Peale and myself, when in East Florida, where this species is found in great num- bers, thought them excellent eating. In Florida the Paroquets are migratory. We saw the first flock of them, at the Cowford, on the river St. John, on the first of March : the greater part of them were males. — G. Ord. 112 CAROLINA PARROT. incubation or manner of building among these birds. All agreed that they breed in hollow trees ; and several afiSrmed to me that they had seen their nests. Some said they carried in no materials ; others that they did. Some made the eggs white; others speckled. One man assured me that he had cut down a large beech-tree, which was hollow, and in which he found the broken fragments of upwards of twenty Paroquets' eggs, which were of a greenish yellow color. The nests, though destroyed in their texture by the falling of the tree, appeared, he said, to be formed of small twigs glued to each other, and to the side of the tree, in the manner of the Chimney Swallow. He added, that if it were the proper season, he could point out to me the weed from which they procured the gluey matter. From all these contradictory accounts, nothing certain can be deduced, except that they build in companies, in hollow trees. That they commence incubation late in summer, or very early in the spring, I think highly probable, from the numerous dissections I made in the months of March, . April, May and June ; and the great variety which I found in the color of the plumage of the head and neck, of both sexes, during the two former of these months, convinces me, that the young birds do not receive their full colors until the early part of the succeeding summer. While Parrots and Paroquets, from foreign countries, abound in almost every street of our large cities, and become such great favorites, Ko attention seems to have been paid to our own, which in elegance of figure, and beauty of plumage, is certainly superior to many of them. It wants, indeed, that disposition for perpetual screaming and chatter- ing, that renders some of the former, pests, not only to their keepers, but to the whole neighborhood in which they reside. It is alike docile and sociable ; soon becomes perfectly familiar ; and until equal pains be taken in its instruction, it is unfair to conclude it incapable of equal improvement in the language of man. As so little has hitherto been known of the disposition and manners of this species, the reader will not, I hope, be displeased at my detail- ing some of these, in the history of a particular favorite, my sole com- panion in many a lonesome day's march, and of which the figure in the plate is a faithful resemblance. Anxious to try the effects of education on one of those which I pro- cured at Big-Bone Lick, and which was but slightly wounded in the wing, I fixed up a place for it in the stern of my boat, and presented it with some cockle-burrs, which it freely fed on in less than an hour after being on board. The intermediate time, between eating and sleeping, was occupied in gnawing the sticks that formed its place of confinement, in order to make a practicable breach, which it repeatedly effected. When I abandoned the river, and travelled by land, I wrapped it up closely in a silk handkerchief, tying it tightly around, and carried it in CAROLINA PARROT. 113 my pocket. When I stopped for refreshment, I unbound my prisoner, and gave it its allowance, which it generally despatched with great dexterity, unhusking the seeds from the burr in a twinkling ; in doing which it always employed its left foot to hold the burr, as did several others that I kept for some time. I began to think that this might be peculiar to the whole tribe, and that the whole were, if I may use the expression, left-footed; but by shooting a number afterwards, while engaged in eating mulberries, I found sometimes the left, sometimes the right foot, stained with the fruit ; the other always clean ; from which, and the constant practice of those I kept, it appears, that like the human species in the use of their hands, they do not prefer one or the other indiscriminately, but are either left or rightfooted. But to return to my prisoner. In recommitting it to " durance vile," we generally had a quarrel ; during which it frequently paid me in kind for the wound I had inflicted, and for depriving it of liberty, by cutting and almost disabling several of my fingers with its sharp and powerful bill. The path through the wilderness, between Nashville and Natchez, is in some places bad beyond description. There are dangerous creeks to swim, miles of morass to struggle through, rendered almost as gloomy as night by a prodigious growth of timber, and an underwood of canes and other evergreens ; while the descent into these sluggish streams is often ten or fifteen feet perpendicular into a bed of deep clay. In some of the worst of these places, where I had, as it were, to fight my way through, the Paroquet frequently escaped from my pocket, obliging me to dismount and pursue it through the worst of the morass, before I could regain it. On these occasions I was several times tempted to abandon it; but I persisted in bringing it along. When at night I encamped in the woods, I placed it on the baggage beside me, where it usually sat, with great composure, dozing and gazing at the fire till morning. In this manner I carried it upwards of a thousand miles in my pocket, where it was exposed all day to the jolting of the horse, but regularly liberated at meal times, and in the evening, at which it always expressed great satisfaction. In passing through the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, the Indians, wherever I stopped to feed, collected around me, men, women and children, laughing and seeming wonder- fully amused with the novelty of my companion. The Chickasaws called it in their language ^^ Kelinhy ;" but when they heard me call it Poll, they soon repeated the name ; and wherever I chanced to stop among these people, we soon became familiar with each other through the medium of Poll. On arriving at Mr. Dunbar's, below Natchez, I procured a cage, and placed it under the piazza, where by its call it soon attracted the passing flocks, such is the attachment they have for each other. Numerous parties frequently alighted on the trees imme- diately above, keeping up a constant conversation with the prisoner Vol. I.— 8 114 CAROLINA PARROT. One of these I wounded slightly in the wing, and the pleasure Poll expressed on meeting with this new companion was really amusing. She crept close up to it, as it hung on the side of the cage, chattered to it in a low tone of voice, as if sympathizing in its misfortune, scratched about its head and neck with her bill ; and both at night nestled as close as possible to each other, sometimes Poll's head being thrust among the plumage of the other. On the death of this com- panion, she appeared restless and inconsolable for several days. On reaching New Orleans, I placed a looking-glass beside the place where she usually sat, and the instant she perceived her image, all her former fondness seemed to return, so that she could scarcely absent herself from it a moment. It was evident that she was completely deceived. Always when evening drew on, and often during the day, she laid her head close to that of the image in the glass, and began to doze with great composure and satisfaction. In this short space she had learnt to know her name ; to answer and come when called on ; to climb up my clothes, sit on my shoulder, and eat from my mouth. I took her with me to sea, determined to persevere in her education ; but, destined to another fate, poor Poll, having one morning about day-break wrought her way through the cage, while I was asleep, instantly flew overboard, and perished in the gulf of Mexico. The Carolina, or Illinois Parrot (for it has been described under both these appellations), is thirteen inches long, and twenty-one in extent ; forehead and cheeks orange red ; beyond this, for an inch and a half, down and round the neck, a rich and pure yellow ; shoulder and bend of the wing also edged with rich orange red ; the general color of the rest of the plumage is a bright yellowish silky green, with light blue reflections, lightest and most diluted with yellow below ; greater wing- coverts, and roots of the primaries, yellow, slightly tinged with green ; interior webs of the primaries deep dusky purple, almost black, exterior ones bluish green ; tail long, cuneiform, consisting of twelve feathers, the exterior one only half the length, the others increasing to the middle ones, which are streaked along the middle with light blue ; shafts of all the larger feathers, and of most part of the green plumage, black ; knees and vent orange yellow ; feet a pale whitish flesh color ; claws black ; bill white, or slightly tinged with pale cream ; iris of the eye hazel ; round the eye is a small space, without feathers, covered with a whitish skin ; nostrils placed in an elevated membrane at the base of the bill, and covered with feathers ; chin wholly bare of feathers, but concealed by those descending on each side ; from each side of the palate hangs a lobe or skin of a blackish color ; tongue thick and fleshy ; inside of the upper mandible, near the point, grooved exactly like a file, that it may hold with more security. The female differs very little in her colors and markings from the CAROLINA PARROT. 115 male. After examining numerous specimens, the following appear to be the principal differences. The yellow on the neck of the female does not descend quite so far ; the interior vanes of the primaries are brownish instead of black ; and the orange red on the bend and edges of the wing is considerably narrower ; in other respects the colors and markings are nearly the same. The young birds of the preceding year, of both sexes, are generally destitute of the yellow on the head and neck, until about the beginning or middle of March, having those parts wholly green, except the front and cheeks, which are orange red in them, as in the full grown birds. Towards the middle of March, the yellow begins to appear in detached feathers, interspersed among the green, varying in different individuals. In some which I killed about the last of that month, only a few green feathers remained among the yellow ; and these were fast assuming the yellow tint; for the color changes without change of plumage. What is called by Europeans the Illinois Parrot [Psittacus pertinax), is evidently the young bird in its imperfect colors. Whether the present species be found as far south as Brazil, as these writers pretend, I am unable to say; but from the great extent of country in which I have myself killed and examined these birds, I am satisfied that the present species, now described, is the only one inhabiting the United States. Since the foregoing was written, I have had an opportunity, by the death of a tame Carolina Paroquet, to ascertain the fact of the poisonous effects of their head and intestines on cats. Having shut up a cat and her two kittens (the latter only a few days old), in a room with the head, neck, and whole intestines of the Paroquet, I found on the next morning the whole eaten, except a small part of the bill. The cat exhibited no symptom of sickness ; and at this moment, three days after the experiment has been made, she and her kittens are in their usual health. Still, however, the effect might have been different, had the daily food of the bird been cockle burrs, instead of Indian corn. N^ote. — From Mr. T. Peale, who was attached to the expedition com- manded by Major Long, I learn, that during the time the party wintered at Engineer Cantonment, nearly eight hundred miles up the Missouri, they observed this species, at various periods, from the beginning of December, until the middle of February, although the thermometer (Fahrenheit) once sunk as low as 22° below zero. Mr. Peale is of opinion that the Paroquet migrates rather in quest of food, than in consequence of the cold. Being, like the Wild Pigeon, a bird of vigorous wing, and of a roving disposition, a journey of a few hundred miles can occasion it but a very little trouble. — Cr. Ord. Genus XIII. CORVUS. CROW. Species I. C. CORAX. KAVEN. [Plate LXXV. Kg. 3.] Qmel. Syst. I., p. 364. — Ind. Orn. p. 150. — Le Corbeau, Bwss. 2, p. 8, et var. — Buff. Ois. 3, p. 13. PI. enl. 495. — Temm. Man. d' Om. p. 107. — Raven, Lath. Gen. Syn. i., p. 367- Id. sup. p. 74. — Penn. Brit. Zool. No. 74. Ard. Zool. No. 134. — Shaw, Oen. Zool. 7, p. 341. — Bevtick, i., p. 100. — Low, Fauna Orcadensis, p. 45. A KNOWLEDGE of this Celebrated bird has been handed down to us from the earliest ages ; and its history is almost coeval with that of man. In the best and most ancient of all books, we learn, that at the end of forty days, after the great flood had covered the earth, Noah, wishing to ascertain whether or not the waters had abated, sent forth a Raven, which did not return into the ark.* This is the first notice that is taken of this species. Though the Raven was declared unclean by the law of Moses, yet we are informed, that when the prophet Elijah pro- voked the enmity of Ahab, by prophesying against him, and hid himself by the brook Cherith, the Ravens were appointed by Heaven to bring him his daily food.f The color of the Raven gave rise to a similitude in one of the most beautiful of eclogues, which has been perpetuated in all subsequent ages, and which is not less pleasing for being trite or proverbial. The favorite of the royal lover of Jerusalem, in the en- thusiasm of affection, thus describes the object of her adoration, in reply to the following question : " What is thy beloved more than another beloved, thou fairest among women ?" " My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks cure, hushy, and hlack as a Haven ?"X The above mentioned circumstances taken into consideration, one should suppose that the lot of the subject of this chapter would have been of a different complexion from what history and tradition inform us is the fact. But in every country, we are told, the Raven is con- * Genesis, viii. 7. f 1 Kings, xvii. 6, 6. J Song of Solomon, v. 9, 10, 11. (116) RAVEN. IIT sidered an ominous bird, whose croakings foretell approaching evil ; and many a crooked beldam has given interpretation to these oracles, of a nature to infuse terror into a whole community. Hence this ill-fated bird, immemorially, has been the innocent subject of vulgar obloquy and detestation. Augury, or the art of foretelling future events by the flight, cries, or motions of birds, descended from the Chaldeans to the Greeks, thence to the Etrurians, and from them it was transmitted to the Romans.* The crafty legislators of these celebrated nations, from a deep know- ledge of human nature, made superstition a principal feature of their religious ceremonies ; well knowing that it required a more than ordi- nary policy to govern a multitude, ever liable to the fatal influences of passion ; and who, without some timely restraints, would burst forth like a torrent, whose course is marked by wide-spreading desolation. Hence, to the purposes of polity the Raven was made subservient ; and the Romans having consecrated it to Apollo, as to the god of divination, its flight was observed with the greatest solemnity ; and its tones and inflec- tions of voice were noted with a precision, which intimated a belief in its infallible prescience. But the ancients have not been the only people infected with this species of superstition ; the moderns, even though favored with the light of Christianity, have exhibited as much folly, through the impious curiosity of prying into futurity, as the Romans themselves. It is true that modern nations have not instituted their sacred colleges or sacer- dotal orders, for the purposes of divination ; but in all countries there have been self-constituted augurs, whose interpretations of omens have been received with religious respect by the credulous multitude. Even at this moment, in some parts of the world, if a Raven alight on a vil- lage church, the whole fraternity is in an uproar ; and Heaven is im- portuned, in all the ardor of devotion, to avert the impending calamity. The poets have taken advantage of this weakness of human nature, and in their hands the Raven is a fit instrument of terror. Shakspeare puts the following malediction into the mouth of his Caliban : * That the science of augury is very ancient, we learn from the Hebrew lawgiver, who prohibits it, as well as every other kind of divination. Deut. chap, xviii. The Romans derived their knowledge of augury chiefly from the Tuscans or Etru- rians, who practised it in the earliest times. This art was known in Italy before the time of Romulus, since that prince did not commence the building of Rome till he had taken the auguries. The successors of Romulus, from a conviction of the usefulness of the science, and at the same time not to render it contemptible by becoming too familiar, employed the most skilful augurs from Etruria, to intro- duce the practice of it into their religious ceremonies. And by a decree of the senate, some of the youth of the best families in Rome were annually sent into Tuscany, to be instructed in this art. Vide Ciceron. de Divin. Also Calmet, and the Abb6 Banier. 118 RAVEN. " As wicked dew, as e'er my mother brushed, With Eaven's feather, from unwholesome fen, Drop on you both 1"* The ferocious wife of Macbeth, on being advised of the approach of Duncan, -whose death she had conspired, thus exclaims : " The Haven himself is hoarse. That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan, Under my battlements l-'f The Moor of Venice says : "It comes o'er my memory. As doth the Haven o'er the infected house, Boding to all."t The last quotation alludes to the supposed habit of this bird's flying over those houses which contain the sick, whose dissolution is at hand, and thereby announced. Thus Marlowe, in the Jew of Malta, as" cited by Malone : " The sad presaging Haven tolls The sick man's passport in her hollow beak. And in the shadow of the silent night Doth shake contagion from her sable wing." But it is the province of philosophy to dispel those illusions which bewilder the mind, by pointing out the simple truths which Nature has been at no pains to conceal, but which the folly of mankind has shrouded in all the obscurity of mystery. The Raven is a general inhabitant of the United States, but is more common in the interior. On the lakes, and particularly in the neigh- borhood of the Falls of the river Niagara, they are numerous ; and it is a remarkable fact, that where they so abound, the Common Crow, 0. corone, seldom makes its appearance'; being intimidated, it is conjec- tured, by the superior size and strength of the former, or by an antipa- thy which the two species manifest towards each other. This I had an opportunity of observing myself, in a journey during the months of August and September, along the lakes Erie and Ontario. The Ravens were seen every day, prowling about in search of the dead fish, which the waves are continually casting ashore, and which afiford them an abundance of a favorite food ; but I did not see or hear a single Crow within several miles of the lakes ; and but very few through the whole of the Genesee country. * Tempest, act i., scene 2. \ Act i., scene 5. X Othello, act iv., scene 1. RAVEN. 119 The food of this species is dead animal matter of all kinds, not ex- cepting the most putrid carrion, which it devours in common with the Vultures ; worms, grubs, reptiles and shell-fish, the last of which, in the manner of the Crow, it drops from a considerable height in the air, on the rocks, in order to break the shells ; it is fond of birds' eggs, and is often observed sneaking around the farm-house, in search of the eggs of the domestic poultry, which it sucks with eagerness ; it is likewise charged with destroying young ducks and chickens, and lambs which have been yeaned in a sickly state. The Raven, it is said, follows the hunters of deer, for the purpose of falling heir to the oifal ;* and the huntsmen are obliged to cover their game, when it is left in the woods, with their hunting frocks, to protect it from this thievish connoisseur, who, if he have an opportunity, will attack the region of the kidneys, and mangle the saddle without ceremony. Bufifon says that " the Raven plucks out the eyes of Buffaloes, and then, fixing on the back, it tears off the flesh deliberately ; and what renders the ferocity more detestable, it is not incited by the cravings of hunger, but by the appetite for carnage ; for it can subsist on fruits, seed of all kinds, and indeed may be considered as an omnivorous ani- mal." This is mere fable, and of a piece with many other absurdities of the same agreeable, but fanciful author. This species is found almost all over the habitable globe. We trace it in the north from Norway to Greenland, and hear of it in Kamtschatka. It is common everywhere in Russia and Siberia, except within: the Arctic circle ;f and all through Europe. Kolben enumerates the Raven among the birds of the Cape of Good Hope ;% -^^ Grandprd represents it as numerous in Bengal, where they are said to be protected for their usefulness ;§ and the unfortunate La P^rouse saw them at Bale de Chastries, on the east coast of Tartary ; likewise at Port des Francois ; 58° 37' north latitude, and 139° 50' west longitude ; and at Monterey Bay, North California. || The English circumnavigators met with them at Nootka Sound ;Tf and at the Sandwich Islands, two being seen in the village of Kakooa ; also at Owhyhee, and supposed to be adored there, as they were called Eatoos.** Our intrepid American travellers, under the command of Lewis and Clark, shortly after they embarked on the river Columbia, saw abundance of Havens, which were attracted thither * This is the case in those parts of the United States where the deer are hunted without dogs : where these are employed, they are generally rewarded with the offal. t Latham. J Medley's Kolben, vol. ii., p. 136. 2 Voy. in the Indian Ocean, p. 148. II Voy. par I. F. G. De la P^rouse, ii., p. 129, 203, 443. ii Cook's last Voy. ii., p. 236. Am. ed. ** Idem, iii., p. 329. 120 RAVEN. by the immense quantity of dead salmon which lined the shores.* They are found at all seasons at Hudson's Bay ; f are frequent in Mexico ; J and it is more than probable that they inhabit the whole continent of America. The Raven measures, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, twenty-six inches, and is four feet in extent; the bill is large and strong, of a shining black, notched near the tip, and three inches long, the setaceous feathers which cover the nostrils extend half its length ; the eyes are black ; the general color is a deep glossy black, with steel- blue reflections ; the lower parts are less glossy ; the tail is rounded, and extends .about two inches beyond the wings ; the legs are two inches and a half in length, and, with the feet, are strong and black ; the claws are long. This bird is said to attain to a gr^at age ; and its plumage to be sub- ject to change, from the influence of years and of climate. It is found in Iceland and Greenland entirely white. The Raven was the constant attendant of Lewis and Clark's party, in their long and toilsome journey. During thie winter, at Fort Man- dan, they were observed in immense numbers, notwithstanding the cold was so excessive, that, on the seventeenth of December, 1804, the ther- mometer of Fahrenheit stood at 45° below 0. Like the Crow, this species may be easily domesticated, and in that state would afford amusement, by its familiarity, frolics and sagacity. But such noisy and mischievous pets, in common with Parrots and Mon- keys, are not held in high estimation in this quarter of the globe ; and are generally overlooked for those universal favorites, which either grat- ify the eye by the neatness or brilliancy of their plumage, or delight the ear by the simplicity or variety of their song. * Gasa's Journal, p. 153. f Charlevoix. Ealm. Hearne's Journey. } Fernandez. Species II. COBVUS CORONE* CROW. [Plate XXXV. Fig. 3.] This is perhaps the most generally known, and least beloved, of all our land birds ; having neither melody of song, nor beauty of plumage, nor excellence of flesh, nor civility of manners, to recommend him : on the contrary, he is branded as a thief and a plunderer ; a kind of black- coated vagabond, who hovers over the fields of the industrious, fattening on their labors ; and by his voracity often blasting their expectations. Hated as he is by the farmer, watched and persecuted by almost every bearer of a gun, who all triumph in his destruction, had not Heaven be- stowed on him intelligence and sagacity far beyond common, there is reason to believe that the whole tribe (in these parts at least) would long ago have ceased to exist. The Crow is a constant attendant on agriculture, and a general in- habitant of the cultivated parts of North America. In the interior of the forest he is more rare, unless during the season of breeding. He is particularly attached to low flat corn countries, lying in the neighbor- hood of the sea or of large rivers ; and more numerous in the northern than southern states, where Vultures abound, and with whom the Crows are unable to contend. A strong antipathy, it is also said, prevails be- tween the Crow and the Raven, insomuch that, where the latter are numerous, the formerly rarely resides. Many of the first settlers of the Genesee country informed me, that, for a long time. Ravens were nu- merous with them, but no Crows ; and even now the latter are seldom observed in that country. In travelling from Nashville to Natchez, a distance of four hundred and seventy miles, I saw few or no Crows, but Ravens frequently, and Vultures in great numbers. The usual breeding time of the Crow, in Pennsylvania, is in March, April, and May, during which season they are dispersed over the woods in pairs, and roost in the neighborhood of the tree they have selected for their nest. About the middle of March they begin to build, gene- rally choosing a high tree ; though I have also known them prefer a middle sized cedar. One of their nests, now before me, is formed ex- * We give the following synonymes : Cormis corone, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, i., p. 105. — Gmel. Syst. 1, p. 365. — Lath. Ind. Om. p. 151. — Temm. Man. cP Orn. i., p. 108. (121) 122 CKOW. ternally of sticks, wet moss, thin bark mixed with mossy earth, and lined with large quantities of horse hair, to the amount of more than half a pound, some cow hair, and some wool, forming a very soft and elastic bed. The eggs are four, of a pale green color, marked with numerous specks and blotches of olive. During this interesting .season, the male is extremely watchful, making frequent excursions of half a mile or so in circuit, to reconnoitre ; and the instant he observes a person approaching, he gives the alarm, when both male and female retire to a distance, till the intruder has gone past. He also regularly carries food to his mate while she is sitting ; occasionally relieves her ; and when she returns, again resigns up his post, i^t this time also, as well as until the young are able to fly, they preserve uncommon silence, that their retreat may not be suspected. It is in the month of May, and until the middle of June, that the Crow is most destructive to the corn-fields, digging up the newly planted grains of maize, pulling up by the roots those that have begun to vegetate, and thus frequently obliging the farmer to replant, or lose the benefit of the soil ; and this sometimes twice, and even three times, occasioning a considerable additional expense and inequality of harvest. No mercy is now shown him. The myriads of worms-, moles, mice, caterpillars, grubs and beetles, which he has destroyed, are altogether overlooked on these occasions. Detected in robbing the hens' nests, pulling up the corn, and killing theyoung chickens, he is considered as an outlaw, and sentenced to destruction. But the great difiiculty is, how to put this sentence in execution. In vain the gunner skulks along the hedges and fences ; his faithful sentinels, planted on some commanding point, raise the alarm, and disappoint vengeance of its object. The coast again clear, he returns once more in silence to finish the repast he had begun. Sometimes he approaches the farm-house by stealth, in search of young chickens, which he is in the habit of snatching off, when he can elude the vigilance of the mother hen, who often proves too formidable for him. A few days ago a Crow was observed eagerly attempting to seize some young chickens in an orchard, near the room where I write ; but these clustering close round the hen, she resolutely defended them, drove the Crow into an apple-tree, whither she instantly pursued him with such spirit and intrepidity, that he was glad to make a speedy retreat, and abandon his design. The Crow himself sometimes falls a prey to the superior strength and rapacity of the Great Owl, whose weapons of oflence are by far the more formidable of the two.* * "A few years ago," says an obliging correspondent; "I resided on the banks of the Hudson, about seven miles from the city of New York. Not far from the place of my residence was a pretty thick wood or swamp, in which great numbers of Crows, who used to cross the river from the opposite shore, were accustomed to CROW 123 Towards the close of summer, the parent Crows, with their new families, forsaking their solitary lodgings, collect together, as if hy previous agreement, when evening approaches. Ahout an hour before sunset, they are first observed, flying somewhat in Indian file, in one direction, at a short height above the tops of the trees, silent and steady, keeping the general curvature of the ground, continuing to pass some- times till after sunset, so that the whole line of march would extend for many miles. This circumstance, so familiar and picturesque, has not been overlooked by the poets, in their descriptions of a rural evening. Burns, in a single line, has finely sketched it " The black'ning train of Crows to their repose." The most noted Crow-roost with which I am acquainted is near Newcastle, on an island in the- Delaware. It is there known by the name of the Pea-Patch, and is a low flat alluvial spot, of a few acres, roost. Returning homeward one afternoon from a shooting excursion, I had occa- sion to pass through this swamp. It was near sunset, and troops of Crows were flying in all directions over my head. While engaged in observing their flight, and endeavoring to select from among them an object to shoot at, my ears were sud- denly assailed by the distressful cries of a Crow, who was evidently struggling under the talons of a merciless and rapacious enemy. I hastened to the spot whence the sound proceeded, and to my great surprise, found a Crow lying on the ground, just expiring, and, seated upon the body of the yet warm and bleeding quarry, a large brown Owl, who was beginning to make a meal of the unfortunate robber of corn-fields. Perceiving my approach, he forsook his prey with evident reluctance, and flew into a tree at a little distance, where he- sat watching all my movements, alternately regarding, with longing eyes, the victim he had been forced to leave, and darting at me no very friendly looks, that seemed to reproach me for having deprived him of his expected regale. I confess that the scene before me was alto- gether novel and surprising. I am but little conversant with natural history ; but I had always understood, that the depredations of the Owl were confined to the smaller birds, and animals of the lesser kind ; such as mice, young rabbits, &c ; and that he obtained his prey rather by fraud and stratagem, than by open rapacity and violence. I was the more confirmed in this belief, from the recollection of a passage in Macbeth, which now forcibly recurred to my memory. The courtiers of King Duncan are recounting to each other the various prodigies that preceded his death, and one of them relates to his wondering auditors, that ' An Eagle, tow'riqg in his pride of place. Was, by a mousing Owl, hawked at and killed.' But to resume my relation. That the Owl was the murderer of the unfortunate Crow, there could be no doubt. No other bird of prey was in sight ; I had not fired my gun since I entered the wood ; nor heard any one else shoot : besides, the unequivocal situation in which I found the parties, would have been sufficient before any 'twelve good men and true,' or jury of Crows, to have convicted him of his guilt. It is proper to add, that I avenged the death of the hapless Crow, by a well- aimed shot at the felonious robber, that extended him breathless on the ground." 124 CROW. elevated but a little above higb-water mark, and covered vritb a thick growtb of reeds. This appears to be the grand rendezvous, or head- quarters of the greater part of the Crows within forty or fifty miles of the spot. It is entirely destitute of trees, the Crows alighting and nestling among the reeds, which by these means are broken down and matted together. The noise created by those multitudes, both in their evening assembly, and re-ascension in the morning ; and the depreda- tions they commit in the immediate neighborhood of this great resort, are almost incredible. Whole fields of corn are sometimes laid waste, by thousands alighting on it at once, with appetites whetted by the fast of the preceding night ; and the utmost vigilance is unavailing to pre- vent, at least, a partial destruction of this their favorite grain. Like the stragglers of an immense, undisciplined, and rapacious army, they spread themselves over the fields, to plunder and destroy wherever they alight. It is here that the character of the Crow is universally exe- crated ; and to say to the man who has lost his crop of corn by these birds, that Crows are exceedingly useful for destroying vermin, would be as consolatory as to tell him who had just lost his house and furni- ture by the flames, that fires are excellent for destroying bugs. The strong attachment of the Crows to this spot may be illustrated by the following circumstance. Some years ago, a sudden and violent north-east storm came on during the night, and the tide rising to an uncommon height inundated the whole island. The darkness of the night, the suddenness and violence of the storm, and the incessant torrents of rain that fell, it is supposed, so intimidated the Crows, that they did not attempt to escape, and almost all perished. Thousands of them were next day seen floating in the river ; and the wind shifting to the north-west, drove their dead bodies to the Jersey side, where for miles they blackened the whole shore. This disaster, however, seems long ago to have been repaired ; for they now congregate on the Pea-Patch in as immense multitudes as ever.* So universal is the hatred to Crows, that few states, either here or * Tho following is extracted from a late number of a newspaper printed in that neighborhood: "The farmers of Red Lion Hundred held a meeting at the village of St. Georges, in the state of Delaware, on Monday, the 6th inst., to receive pro- posals of John Deputy, on a plan for banishing or destroying the Crows. Mr. Deputy's plan, being heard and considered, was approved, and a committee appointed to contract with him, and to procure tho necessary funds to carry the same into effect. Mr. Deputy proposes that for five hundred dollars he will engage to kill or banish the Crows from their roost on the PearPatch, and give security to return the money on failure. " The sum of five hundred dollars being thus required, the committee beg leave to address the farmers and others of Newcastle county, and elsewhere, on the subject." CROW. 125 in Europe, have neglected to offer rewards for their destruction. In the United States they have been repeatedly ranked in our laws with the wolves, the panthers, foxes and squirrels, and a proportionable premium offered for their heads, to be paid by any justice of the peace to whom they are delivered. On all these accounts various modes have been invented for capturing them. They have been taken in clap-nets com- monly used for taking pigeons ; two or three live Crows being previously procured as decoys, or as they are called Stool-crows. Corn has been steeped in a strong decoction of hellebore, which when eaten by them produces giddiness, and finally, it is said, death. Pieces of paper, formed into the shape of a hollow cone, besmeared within with birdlime, and a grain or two of corn dropped on the bottom, have also been adopted. Numbers of these being placed on the ground, where corn has been planted, the Crows attempting to reach the grains are instantly hoodwinked, fly directly upwards to a great height ; but generally descend near the spot whence they rose, and are easily taken. The reeds of their roosting places are sometimes set on fire during a dark night, and the gunners having previously posted themselves around, the Crows rise in great uproar, and amidst the general consternation, by the light of the burnings, hundreds of them are shot down. Crows have been employed to catch Crows, by the following stratagem. A live crow is pinned by the wings down to the ground on his back, by means of two sharp, forked sticks. Thus situated, his cries are loud and incessant, particularly if any other Crows are within view. These sweeping down about him, are instantly grappled by the prostrate prisoner, by the same instinctive impulse that urges a drowning person to grasp at everything within his reach. Having disengaged the game from his clutches, the trap is again ready for another experiment ; and by pinning down each captive, successively, as soon as taken, in a short time you will probably have a large flock screaming above you, in con- cert with the outrageous prisoners below. Many farmers, however, are content with hanging up the skins, or dead carcasses, of Crows, in their corn-fields by way of terrorem ; others depend altogether on the gun, keeping one of their people supplied with ammunition, and constantly on the lookout. In hard winters, the Crows suffer severely, so that they have been observed to fall down in the fields, and on the roads, exhausted with cold and hunger. In one of these winters, and during a long-continued deep snow, more than six hundred Crows were shot on the carcass of a dead horse, which was placed at a proper distance from the stable, from a hole of which the discharges were made. The pre- miums awarded for these, with the price paid for the quills, produced nearly as much as the original value of the horse, besides, as the man himself assured me, saving feathers sufficient for filling a bed. The Crow is easily raised and domesticated ; and it is only when thu8 126 CROW. rendered unsuspicious of, and placed on terms of familiarity with, man, that the true traits of his genius, and native disposition, fully develop themselves. In this State he soon learns to distinguish all the members of the family; flies towards the gate, screaming at the approach of a stranger ; learns to open the door by alighting on the latch ; attends regularly at the stated hours of dinner and breakfast ; which he appears punctually to recollect ; is extremely noisy and loquacious ; imitates the sound of various words, pretty distinctly ; is a great thief and hoarder of curiosities, hiding in holes, corners and crevices, every loose article he can carry off, particularly small pieces of metal, corn, bread, and food of all kinds ; is fond of the society of his master, and will know him even after a long absence; of which the following is a remark- able instance, and may be relied on as a fact. A very worthy gen- tleman, now living in the Genesee country, but who, at the time alluded to, resided on the Delaware, a few miles below Easton, had raised a Crow, with whose tricks and society he used frequently to amuse himself. This Crow lived long in the family ; but at length disappeared, having, as was then supposed, been shot by some vagrant gunner, or de- stroyed by accident. About eleven months after this, as the gentleman, one morning, in company with several others, was standing on the river shore, a number of Crows happening to pass by, one of them left the flock, and flying directly towards the company, alighted on the gentle- man's shoulder, and began to gabble away with great volubility, as one long-absent friend naturally enough does on meeting with another. On recovering from his surprise, the gentleman instantly recognised his old acquaintance ; and endeavored by several civil but sly manoeuvres to lay hold of him ; but the Crow, not altogether relishing quite so much familiarity, having now had a taste of the sweets of liberty, cautiously eluded all his attempts ; and suddenly glancing his eye on his distant companions, mounted in the air after them, soon overtook and mingled with them, and was never afterward seen to return. The habits of the Crow, in his native state, are so generally known, as to require little further illustration. His watchfulness, and jealous sagacity in distinguishing a person with a gun, are notorious to every one. In spring, when he makes his appearance among the groves and low thickets, the whole feathered songsters are instantly alarmed, well knowing the depredations and murders he commits on their nests, eggs and young. Few of them, however, have the courage to attack him, except the King-bird, who on these occasions teases and pursues him from place to place, diving on his back while high in the air, and harass- ing him for a great distance. A single pair of these noble-apirited birds, whose nest was built near, have been known to protect a whole field of corn from the depredations of the Crows, not permitting one to ap- proach it. CROW. 127 The Crow is eighteen inches and a half long, and three feet two inches in extent ; the general color is a shijiing glossy blue black, with purplish reflections ; the throat and lower parts are less glossy ; the bill and legs a shining black, the former two inches and a quarter long, very strong, and covered at the base with thick tufts of recumbent feathers ; the wings, when shut, reach within an inch and a quarter of the tip of the tail, which is rounded ; fourth primary the longest ; secondaries scal- lopped at the ends, and minutely pointed, by the prolongation of the shaft ; iris dark hazel. The above description agrees so nearly with the European species as to satisfy me that they are the same ; though the voice of ours is said to be less harsh, not unlike the barking of a small spaniel ; the pointedness of the ends of the tail feathers, mentioned by European naturalists, and occasioned by the extension of the shafts, is rarely observed in the pre- sent species, though always very observable in the secondaries. The female differs from the male in being more dull colored, and rather deficient in the glossy and purplish tints and reflections. The difierence, however, is not great. Besides grain, insects, and carrion, they feed on frogs, tadpoles, small fish, lizards, and shell-fish ; with the latter they frequently mount to a great height, dropping them on the rocks below, and descending after them to pick up the contents. The same habit is observable in the Gull, the Raven, and Sea-side Crow. Many other aquatic insects, as well as marine plants, furnish them with food ; which accounts for their being so generally found, and so numerous, on the sea-shore, and along the banks of our large rivers. Species III. CORVVS COLUMBIANUS. CLARK'S CROW. [Plate XX. Fig. 2.] This species resembles, a little, the Jackdaw of Europe [Corvus monedula) ; but is remarkable for its formidable claws, which approach to those of the Falco genus ; and would seem to intimate, that its food consists of Hving animals, for whose destruction these weapons must be necessary. In conversation with different individuals of Lewis and Clark's party, I understood that this bird inhabits the shores of the Columbia, and the adjacent country, in great numbers, frequenting the rivers and seashore, probably feeding on fish ; and that it has all the gregarious and noisy habits of the European species, several of the party supposing it to be the same. The figure in the plate was drawn with particular care, after a minute examination and measurement of the only preserved skin that was saved. This bird measures thirteen inches in length ; the wings, the two mid- dle tail feathers, and the interior vanes of the next (except at the tip) are black, glossed with steel blue ; all the secondaries, except the three next the body, are white for an inch at their extremities, forming a large spot of white on that part, when the wing is shut ; the tail is rounded ; yet the two middle feathers are somewhat shorter than those adjoining ; all the rest are pure white, except as already described' ; the general color of the head, neck, and body, above and below, is a light silky drab, darkening almost to a dove color on the breast and belly ; vent white ; claws black, large, and hooked, particularly the middle and hind-claws ; legs also black ; bill a dark horn color ; iris of the eye unknown. ■ In the state of Georgia, and several parts of the Mississippi Terri- tory, I discovered a Crow,* not hitherto taken notice of by naturalists, rather larger than the present species ; but much resembling it in the form and length of its wings, in its tail, and particularly its claws. This bird is a constant attendant along the borders of streams and stag- nating ponds, feeding on small fish and lizards, which I have many times seen him seize as he swept along the surface. A well preserved specimen of this bird was presented to Mr. Peale. It is highly proba- ble that, with these external resemblances, the habits of both may be nearly alike. * The Crow above alluded to is the Fish-Crow. See the next article. (128) Species IV. CORVUS 08SIFRA0US. FISH-CROW. [Plate XXXVII. Fig. 2.] This is another roving inhabitant of our coasts, ponds, and river shores ; though a much less distinguished one than the preceding,* this being the first time,- as far as I can learn, that he has ever been intro- duced to the notice of the world. I first met with this species- on the coast of Georgia, and observed that they regularly retired to the interior as evening approached, and came down to the shores of the river Savannah, by the first appearance of day. Their voice first attracted my notice, being very different from that of the common Crow, more hoarse and guttural, uttered as if some- thing stuck in their throat, and varied into several modulations as they flew along. Their manner of flying was also unlike the others, as they frequently sailed about, without flapping the wings, something in the manner of the Raven ; and I soon perceived that their food, and their mode of procuring it, were also both difierent ; their favorite haunts being about the banks of the river, along which they usually sailed, dex- terously snatching up, with their claws, dead fish, or other garbage, that floated on the surface. At the country seat of Stephen Elliot, Esq., near the Ogeechee river, I took notice of these Crows frequently perching on the backs of the cattle, like the Magpie and Jackdaw of Britain ; but never mingling with the common Crows ; and differing from them in this particular, that the latter generally retire to the shore, the reeds and marshes, to roost ; while the Fish-Crow, always a little before sunset, seeks the interior high woods to repose in. In my journey through the Mississippi Territory, last year, I resided for some time at the seat of my hospitable friend, Dr. Samuel Brown, a few miles from Fort Adams, on the Mississippi. In my various excur- sions there among the lofty fragrance-breathing magnolia woods, and magnificent scenery, that adorn the luxuriant face of nature in those southern regions, this species of Crow frequently made its appearance, distinguished by the same voice and habits it had in Georgia. There is in many of the ponds there, a singular kind of lizard, that swims about with its head above the surface, making a loud sound, not unlike the * The Fish-Hawk, figured in the same plate, and which immediately precedes the Fish-Crow, in the text of the original edition. Vol. I.— 9 (129) 130 FISH-CROW. harsh jarring of a door. These the Crow now before us would fre- quently seize with his claws, as he flew along the surface, and retire to the summit of a dead tree to enjoy his repast. Here I also observed him a pretty constant attendant at the pens, where the cows were usually milked, and much less shy, less suspicious, and more solitary, than the common Crow. In the county of Cape May, New Jersey, I again met with these Crows, particularly along Egg Harbor river ; and latterly on the Schuylkill and Delaware, near Philadelphia, during the season of shad and herring fishing, viz., from the middle of March till the beginning of June. A small party of these Crows, during this period, regularly passed Bartram's gardens, to the high woods, to roost, every evening a little before sunset, and as regularly returned at or before sunrise every morning, directing their course towards the river. The fishermen along these rivers also inform me, that they have particularly remarked this Crow, by his croaking voice, and his fondness for fish ; almost always hovering about their fishing places, to glean up the" re- fuse. Of their manner of breeding I can only say, that they separate into pairs, and build in tall trees, near the sea or river shore ; one of their nests having been built this season in a piece of tall woods, near Mr. Beasley's, at Great Egg Harbor. The male of this nest furnished me with the figure in the plate, which was drawn of full size, and afterwards reduced to one-third the size of life, to correspond with the rest of the figures in the same plate. From the circumstance of six or seven being usually seen here together, in the month of July, it is probable that they have at least four or five young at a time. I can find no description of this species by any former writer. Mr. Bartram mentions a bird of this tribe, which he calls the Great Sea- side Crow ; but the present species is considerably inferior in size to the common Crow ; and having myself seen and examined it in so many, and remotely situated, parts of the country, and found it in all these places alike, I have no hesitation in pronouncing it to be a new and hitherto undescribed species. The Eish-Crow is sixteen inches long, and thirty-three in extent; black all over, with reflections of steel-blue and purple ; the chin is bare of feathers around the base of the lower mandible;* upper mandible notched near the tip, the edges of both turned inwards about the middle ; eye very small, placed near the corner of the mouth, and of a dark hazel color ; recumbent hairs or bristles large and long ; ear feathers promi- nent ; first primary little more than half the length of the second, fourth * This must have been an accidental circumstance, as I have seen specimens, the chin of which was entirely covered. In the month of April, I shot a fine male, on the Delaware, seventeen inches long, thirty-three broad. The chin covered. This species is greatly infested with lice, insomuch that when one handles them, one gets covered with these disagreeable vermin. — 0. Ord. MAGPIE. 131 the longest ; wings, when shut, reach within two inches of the tip of the tail ; tail rounded, and seven inches long from its insertion ; thighs very long ; legs stout ; claws sharp, long and hooked, hind one the largest, all jet black. Male and female much alike. I would beg leave to recommend to the watchful farmers of the United States, that in their honest indignation against the common Crow, they would spare the present species, and not shower destruc- tion, indiscriminately, on their black friends and enemies ; at least on those who sometimes 'plunder them, and those who never molest or injure their property. Species V. COBVUS PICA. MAGPIE. [Plate XXXV. Fig. 2.] Arct. Zool. No. 136.— Lath. Syn. i., 392.— Bitfp. hi., 85. PI. Unl. 488.* This bird is much better known in Europe than in this country, where it has not been long discovered ; although it is now found to inhabit a wide extent of territory, and in great numbers. The drawing was taken from a very beautiful specimen, sent from the Mandan nation, on the Missouri, to Mr. Jefferson, and by that gentleman to Mr. Peale of this city, in whose Museum it lived for several months, and where I had--an opportunity of examining it. On carefully comparing it with the European Magpie in the same collection, no material difference could be perceived. The figure in the plate is reduced to exactly half the size of life. This bird unites in its character courage and cunning, turbulency, and rapacity. Not inelegantly formed, and distinguished by gay as well as splendid plumage, he has long been noted in those countries where he commonly resides, and his habits and manners are there familiarly known. He is particularly pernicious to plantations of young oaks, tearing up the acorns ; and also to birds, destroying great numbers of their eggs and young, even young chickens, partridges, grouse, and pheasants. It is perhaps on this last account that the whole vengeance of the game laws has lately been let loose upon him, in some parts of * We add the following synonymes : — Corvus pica, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, i., p. 106. — Gmel. Syst. I., p. 373,— Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 162.— ia Pie, Briss. Orn. vol. ii., p. 35. — Temm. Man. d' Oi-n. i., p. 113. 132 MAGPIE. Britain ; as appears by accounts from that quarter, where premiums, it is said, are offered for his head, as an arch poacher ; and penalties in- flicted on all those who permit him to breed on their premises. Under the lash of such rigorous persecution, a few years will probably exter- minate the whole tribe from the island. He is also destructive to gardens and orchards ; is noisy and restless, almost constantly flying from place to place ; alights on the backs of the cattle, to rid them of the larvae that fester in the skin ; is content with carrion when nothing better oifers ; eats various kinds of vegetables, and devours greedily grain, worms, and insects of almost every description. When domes- ticated, he is easily taught to imitate the human voice, and to articulate words pretty distinctly ; has all the pilfering habits of his tribe, filling every chink, nook, and crevice with whatever he can carry ofi"; is subject to the epilepsy, or some similar disorder ; and is, on the whole, a crafty, restless, and noisy bird. He generally selects a tall tree adjoining the farm-house, for his nest, which is placed among the highest branches ; this is large, composed outwardly of sticks, roots, turf, and dry weeds, and well lined with wool, cow hair, and feathers ; the whole is surrounded, roofed, and barrica- doed with thorns, leaving only a narrow entrance. The eggs are usually five, of a greenish color, marked with numerous black or dusky spots. In the northern parts of Europe, he migrates at the commencement of winter. In this country the Magpie was first taken notice of at the factories or trading houses on Hudson's Bay, where the Indians used sometimes to bring it in, and gave it the name of Heart-hird, for what reason is uncertain. It appears, however, to be rather rare in that quarter. These circumstances are taken notice of by Mr. Pennant and other British naturalists. In 1804, the exploring party under the command of Lewis and Clark, on their route to the Pacific Ocean across the continent, first met with the Magpie somewhere near the great bend of the Missouri, and found that the number of these birds increased as they advanced. Here also the Blue Jay disappeared ; as if the territorial boundaries and jurisdic- tion of these two noisy and voracious families of the same tribe had been mutually agreed on, and distinctly settled. But the Magpie was found to be far more daring than the Jay, dashing into their very tents, and carrying off the meat from the dishes. One of the hunters, who accompanied the expedition, informed me that they frequently attended him while he was engaged in skinning and cleaning the carcass of the deer, bear, or buffalo he had killed, often seizing the meat that hung within a foot or two of his head. On the shores of the Kooskoos-ke river, on the west side of the great range of the Rocky Mountains, they were found to be equally numerous. MAGPIE. 133 It is higUy probable tbat those vast plains Or prairies, abounding with game and cattle, frequently killed for the mere hides, tallow, or even marrow-bones, may be one great inducement for the residency of these birds, so fond of flesh and carrion. Even the rigorous severity of winter in the high regions along the head waters of Rio du Nord, the Arkansas and Red river, seems insufficient to force them from those favorite haunts ; though it appears to increase their natural voracity to a very uncommon degree. Pike relates, that, in the month of Decem- ber, in the neighborhood of the North Mountain, N. lat. 41°, W. long. 34°, Reaumur's thermometer standing at 17° below 0, these birds were seen in great numbers. " Our horses," says he, " were obliged to scrape the snow away to obtain their miserable pittance ; and to increase their misfortunes, the poor animals were attacked by the Magpies, who, at- tracted by the scent of their sore backs, alighted on them, and in defi- ance of their wincing and kicking, picked many places quite raw. The difficulty of procuring food rendering those birds so bold as to light on our men's arms, and eat meat out of their hands."* The Magpie is eighteen inches in length ; the head, neck, upper part of the breast and back, are a deep velvety black ; primaries brownish black, streaked along their inner vanes with -white ; secondaries rich purplish blue ; greater coverts green blue ; scapulars, lower part of the breast and belly, white ; thighs and vent black ; tail long, the two exte- rior feathers scarcely half the length of the longest, the others increas- ing to the two middle ones, which taper towards their extremities. The color of this part of the plumage is very splendid, being glossy green, dashed with blue and bright purple ; this last color bounds the green ; nostrils covered with a thick tuft of recumbent hairs, as are also the sides of the mouth ; bill, legs and feet, glossy black. The female dif- fers only in the less brilliancy of her plumage. * Pike's Journal, p. 170. Species VI. CORVUS CRISTATUS. BLUE JAY. [Plate I. Fig. 1.] « Linn, Syst. i., p. 106, No. 8, ed. 10. — Garrulus canadensis coeruleus, Bkiss. ii., p. 55. — Pica glandariacristata, Klein, p. 61, Z. — Le Geai bleu de VAmerique Sep- tentrionale, Buff, hi., p. 120. PL Enl. 529.r — Blue Jay, Catesb. Car. i., 15. — Edw. 239.— Jrd. Zool. ii., No. 138.— Lath. Syn. i., p. 386, 20.— Baktram, p. 290. This elegant bird, which, as far as I can learn, is peculiar to North America, is distinguished as a kind of beau among the feathered tenants of our woods, by the brilliancy of his dress ; and like most other cox- combs, makes himself still more conspicuous by his loquacity,- and the oddness of his tones and gestures. The Jay measures eleven inches in length ; the head is ornamented with a crest of light blue or purple feathers, which he can elevate or depress at pleasure ; a narrow line of black runs along the frontlet, rising on each side higher than the eye, but not passing over it, as Catesby has represented, and as Pennant and many others have described it ; back and upper part of the neck a fine light purple, in which the blue predominates ; a collar of black proceed- ing from the hind-head, passes with a graceful curve down each side of the neck, to the upper part of the breast, where it forms a crescent ; chin, cheeks, throat and belly, white, the three former slightly tinged with blue ; greater wing coverts a rich blue ; exterior sides of the pri- maries light blue, those of the secondaries a deep purple, except the three feathers next the body, which are of a splendid light blue ; all these, except the primaries, are beautifully barred with crescents of black, and tipped with white ; the interior sides of the wing feathers are dusky black ; tail long and cuneiform, composed of twelve feathers of a glossy light blue, marted at half inches with transverse curves of black, each feather being tipped with white, except the two middle ones, which deepen into a dark purple at the extremities. Breast and sides under the wings a dirty white, faintly stained with purple ; insid« of the mouth, the tongue, bill, legs, and claws, black ; iris of the eye hazel. The Blue Jay is an almost universal inhabitant of the woods, fre- quenting the thickest settlements, as well as the deepest recesses of the forest, where his squalling voice often alarms the deer, to the disap- pointment and mortification of the hunter ; one of whom informed me, that he made it a point, in summer, to kill every Jay he could meet (134) BLUE JAY. 13* with. In the charming season of spring, when every thicket pours forth harmony, the part performed by the Jay always catches the ear. He appears to be, among his fellow-musicians what the trumpeter is in a band, some of his notes having no distant resemblance to the tones of that instrument. These he has the faculty of changing through a great variety of modulations, according to the particular humor he happens to be in. When disposed for ridicule, there is scarce a bird whose pecu- liarities of song he cannot tune his notes to. When engaged in the blandishments of love, they resemble the soft chatterings of a duck ; and while he nestles among the thick branches of the cedar, are scarce heard at a few paces distant ; but no sooner does he discover your ap.- proach, than he sets up a- sudden and vehement outcry, flying off, and screaming with all his might, as if he called the whole feathered tribes of the neighborhood to witness some outrageous usage he had received. When he hops undisturbed among the high branches of the oak and hickory, they become soft and musical ; and his calls of the female, a stranger would readily mistake for the repeated creakings of an un- greased wheelbarrow. All these he accompanies with various nods, jerks, and other gesticulations, for which the whole tribe of Jays are so remarkable-, that, with some other peculiarities, they might have very well justified the great Swedish naturalist in forming them into a sepa- rate genus by themselves. The Blue Jay builds a large nest, frequently in the cedar, sometimes in an apple-tree, lines it with dry fibrous roots, and lays five eggs, of a dull olive, spotted with brown. The male is particularly careful of not being heard near the place, making his visits as silently and secretly as possible. His favorite food is chestnuts, acorns, and Indian corn. He occasionally feeds on bugs and caterpillars, and sometimes pays a plundering visit to the orchard, cherry-rows, and potato-patch ; and has been known, in times of scarcity, to venture into the barn, through openings between the weather-boards. In these cases he is extremely active and silent, and if surprised in the fact makes his escape with precipitation, but without noise, as if conscious of his criminality. Of all birds he is the most bitter enemy to the Owl. No sooner has he discovered the retreat of one of these, than he summons the whole feathered fraternity to his assistance, who surround the glimmering solitaire, and attack him from all sides, raising such a shout, as may be heard, in a still day, more than half a mile off. When in my hunting excursions I have passed near this scene of tumult, I have imagined to myself that I heard the insulting party venting their respective charges with all the virulency of a Billingsgate mob ; the owl, meanwhile, returning every compliment with a broad goggling stare. The war becomes louder and louder, and the Owl, at length forced to betake 136 BLUE JAY. himself to flight, is followed by the whole train of his persecutors, until driven beyond the boundaries of their jurisdiction. But the Blue Jay himself is not guiltless of similar depredations with the Owl, and becomes, in his turn, the very tyrant he detested, when he sneaks through the woods, as he frequently does, and among the thickets and hedge-rows, plundering every nest he can find of its eggs, tearing up the callow young by piecemeal, and spreading alarm and sorrow around him. The cries of the distressed parents soon bring together a number of interested spectators (for birds, in such circum- stances, seem truly to. sympathize with each other), and he is sometimes attacked with such spirit, as to be under the necessity of making a speedy retreat. He will sometimes assault small birds, with the intention of killing and devouring them ; an instance of which I myself once witnessed, over a piece of woods, near the borders of Schuylkill ; where I saw him engaged for more than five minutes pursuing what I took to be a species of Motacilla, wheeling, darting, and doubling in the air, and at last, to my great satisfaction, got disappointed, by the escape of his intended prey. In times of great extremity, when his hoard or maga- zine is frozen up, buried in snow, or perhaps exhausted, he becomes very voracious, and will make a meal of whatever carrion or other animal substance comes in the way ; and has been found regaling himself on the bowels of a Robin, in less than five minutes after it was shot. There are, however, individual exceptions to this general character for plunder and outrage, a proneness for which is probably often occa- sioned by the wants and irritations of necessity. A Blue Jay, which I have kept for some time, and with whom I am on terms of familiarity, is in reality a very notable example of mildness of disposition, and sociability of maniiers. An accident in the woods first put me in pos- session of this bird, while in full plumage, and in high health and spirits ; I carried him home with me, and put him into a cage already occupied by a Gold-winged Woodpecker, where he was saluted with such rudeness, and received such a drubbing from the lord of the manor, for entering his premises, that, to save his life, I was obliged to take him out again. I then put him into another cage, where the only tenant was a female Orchard Oriole. She also put on airs of alarm, as if she considered herself endangered and insulted by the intrusion ; the Jay, meanwhile, sat mute and motionless on the bottom of the cage, either dubious of his own situation, or willing to allow time for the fears of his neighbor to subside. Accordingly, in a few minutes, after displaying various threatening gestures (like some of those Indians we read of, in their first interviews with the whites), she began to make her approaches, but with great circumspection, and readiness for retreat. Seeing, how- ever, the Jay begin to pick up some crumbs of broken chestnuts, in a BLUB JAY. 137 humble and peaceable way, she also descended, and began to do the same ; but at the slightest motion of her new guest, wheeled round and put herself on the defensive. All this ceremonious jealousy vanished before eveping, and they now roost together, feed, and play together, in perfect harmony and good humor. When the Jay goes to drink, his messmate very impudently jumps into the water to wash herself, throw- ing the water in showers over her companion, who bears it all patiently ; venturing now and then to take a sip between every splash, without betraying- the smallest token of irritation. On the contrary, he seems to take pleasure in his little fellow-prisoner, allowing her to pick (which she does very gently) about his whiskers, and to clean his claws from the minute fragments of chestnuts which happen to adhere to them. This attachment on the one part, and mild condescension on the other, may, perhaps, be partly the effect of mutual misfortunes, which are found not only to knit mankind, but many species of inferior animals, more closely together ; and shows that the disposition of the Blue Jay may be humanized, and rendered susceptible of affectionate impressions, even for those birds, which, in a state of nature,"he would have no hesitation in making a meal of. He is not only bold and vociferous, but possesses a considerable talent for mimicry, and seems to enjoy great satisfaction in mocking and teasing other birds, particularly the little hawk (F. sparverius), imitating his cry wherever he sees him, and squealing out as if caught ; this soon brings a number of his own tribe around him, who all join in the frolic, darting about the hawk, and feigning the cries of a bird sorely wounded, and already under the clutches of its devourer ; while others lie con- cealed in bushes, ready to second their associates in the attack. But this ludicrous farce often terminates tragically. The hawk singling out one of the most insolent and provoking, sweeps upon him in an un- guarded moment, and offers him up a sacrifice to his hunger and resent- ment. In an instant the tune is changed ; all their buffoonery vanishes, and loud and incessant screams proclaim their disaster. Wherever the Jay has had the advantage of education from man, he has not only shown himself an apt scholar, but his suavity of manners seems equalled only by his art and contrivances ; though it must be confessed that his itch for thieving keeps pace with all his other acquire- ments. Dr. Mease, on the authority ^ of Colonel Postell, of South Carolina, informs me, that a Blue Jay, which was brought up in the family of the latter gentleman, had all the tricks and loquacity of a parrot ; pilfered ^everything he could conveniently carry off, and hid them in holes and crevices ; answered to his name with great sociability, when called on ; could articulate a number of words pretty distinctly ; and when he heard any uncommon noise or loud talking, seemed impatient to contribute his share to the general festivity (as he probably 138 BLUE JAY. thought, it), by a display of all the oratorial powers he was pos- sessed of. Mr. Bartram relates an instance of the Jay's sagacity, worthy of remark. " Having caught a Jay in the winter season," says he, "I turned him loose in the green-house, and fed him with corn (zea, maize), the heart of which they are very fond of. This grain being ripe and hard, the bird at first found a diificulty in breaking it, as it would start from his bill when he struck it. After looking about, and as if con- sidering for a moment, he picked up his grain, carried and placed it close up in a corner on the shelf, between the wall and a plant-box, where being confined on three sides he soon eflPected his purpose, and continued afterwards to make use of this same practical expedient. The Jay," continues this judicious observer, "is one of the most useful agents in the economy of nature, for disseminating forest trees, and other ruciferous and hard-seeded vegetables on which they feed. Their chief employment during* the autumnal season is foraging to supply their winter stores. In performing this necessary duty, they drop abundance of seed in their flight over fields, hedges, and by-fences, where they alight to deposit them in the post holes, &c. It is remark- able what numbers of young trees rise up in fields and pastures after a wet winter and spring. These birds alone are capable, in a few years' time, to replant- all the cleared lands."* The Blue Jays seldom associate in any considerable numbers, except in the months of September and October, when they hover about in scattered parties of from forty to fifty, visiting the oaks, in search of their favorite acorns. At this season they are less shy than usual ; and keep chattering to each other in a variety of strange and querulous notes. I have counted fifty-three, but never more, at one time ; and these generally following each other in straggling irregularity from one range of woods to another. Yet we are told by the learned Dr. Latham, and his statement has been copied into many respectable European pub- lications, that the Blue Jays of North America " often unite into flocks of twenty thousand at least ! which alighting on a field of ten or twelve acres, soon lay waste the whole."t If this were really so, these birds would justly deserve the character he gives them, of being the most destructive species in America. But I will venture the assertion, that the tribe Oriolus phoeniceus, or red-winged Blackbirds, in the environs of the river Delaware alone, devour and destroy more Indian corn than the whole Blue Jays of North America. As to their assembling in such immense multitudes, it may be sufficient to observe, that a flock of * Letter of Mr. W illiam Bartram to the Author. t Synopsis of Birds, vol. i., p. 387. See also Bnoyolopedia Britannica, art. Corvus. BLUE JAY. 139 Blue Jays of twenty thousand, would be as extraordinary an appearance in America, as the same number of Magpies or Cuckoos would be in Britain. It has been frequently said, that numbers of birds are common to the United States and Europe ; at present, however, I am not certain of many. Comparing the best descriptions and delineations of the European ones with those of our native birds, said to be of the same species, either the former are very erroneous, or the difference of plu- mage and habits in the latter justify us in considering a great proportion of them to be really distinct species. Be this however as it may, the Blue Jay appears to belong exclusively to North America. I cannot find it mentioned by any writer or traveller among the birds of Guiana, Brazil, or any other part of South America. It is equally unknown in Africa. In Europe, and even in the eastern parts of Asia, it is never seen in its wild state. To ascertain the exact limits of its native regions would be difficult. These, it is highly probable, will be found to be bounded by the extremities of the temperate zone. Dr. Latham has indeed asserted, that the Blue Jay of America is not found farther north than the town of Albany.* This, however, is a mistake. They are common in the Eastern States, and are mentioned by Dr. Belknap in his eilumeration of the birds of New Hampshire."}" They are also natives of Newfoundland. I myself have seen them in Upper Canada. Blue Jays and Yellow-birds were found by Mr. McKenzie, when on his journey across the continent, at the head waters of the Unjigah, or Peace river, in N. lat. 54°, W. long. 121°, on the west side of the great range of Stony Mountains.! Steller, who in 1741 accompanied Captain Behring in his expedition for the discovery of the north-west coast of America, and who wrote the journal of the voyage, relates, that he himself went on shore near Cape St. Elias, in N. lat. 58° 28' W., long. 141° 46', according to his estimation, where he observed several species of birds not known in Siberia ; and one, in particular, described by Catesby under the name of the Blue Jay.§ Mr. William Bartram informs me, that they are numerous in the peninsula of Florida, and that he also found them at Natchez, on the Mississippi. Captains Lewis and Clark, and their intrepid companions, in their memorable expedi- tion across the continent of North America to the Pacific Ocean, con- tinued to see Blue Jays for six hundred miles up the Missouri. || From these accounts it follows, that this species occupies, generally or par- * Synopsis, vol. i., p. 387. t Hist. N. Hamp. vol. iii., p. 163. X Voyage from Montreal, &c., p. 216, quarto, Lond. 1801. I See Steller' s Journal apud Pallas. II This fact I had from Captain Lewis. 140 CANADA JAY. tially, an extent of country stretching upwards of seventy degrees from east to west, and more than thirty degrees from north to south ; though, from local circumstances, there may be intermediate tracts in this immense range, which they seldom visit. Species VII. COBVUS CANADENSIS. CANADA JAY. [Plate XXI. Fig. 1.] LiKN. Syst 158. — Cinereous Crow, Arct. Zool. p. 248, No. 137. — Latham, i., 389. — Le Geay Brun de Canada, Brisson, ii., 54. — Bdffon, m. 117. Were I to adopt the theoretical reasoning of a celebrated French naturalist, I might pronounce this bird to be a debased descendant from the common Blue Jay of the United States, degenerated by the influ- ence of the bleak and chilling regions of Canada ; or perhaps a spurious production, between the Blue Jay and the Cat-bird ; or what would be more congenial to the Count's ideas, trace its degradation to the circum- stance of migrating, some thousand years ago, from the genial shores of Europe, where nothing like degeneracy or degradation ever takes place among any of Grod's creatures. I shall, however, on the present occasion, content myself with stating a few particulars better supported by facts, and more consonant to the plain homespun of common sense. This species inhabits the country extending from Hudson's Bay, and probably farther north, to the river St. Lawrence ; also in winter the inland parts of the district of Maine, and northern tracts of the states of Vermont and New York. When the season is very severe, with deep snow, they sometimes advance farther south ; but generally return northward as the weather becomes more mild. The character given of this bird by the people of those parts of the country where it inhabits, is, that it feeds on black moss, worms, and even flesh ; — when near habitations or tents, pilfers everything it can come at — is bold, and comes even into the tent to eat meat out of the dishes ; watches the hunters while baiting their traps for martens, and devours the bait as soon as their backs are turned ; that they breed early in spring, building their nests on pine trees, forming them of sticks and grass, and lay blue eggs ; that they have two, rarely three young at a time, which are at first quite black, and continue so for some time ; that they fly in pairs; lay up hoards of berries in hollow trees; are seldom seen in January, unless near houses ; are a kind of Mock -bird ; and when caught pine away, though their appetite never fails them ; CANADA JAY. 141 notwithstanding all which ingenuity and good qualities, they are, as we are informed, detested by the natives."* The only individuals of this species that I ever met with in the United States were on the shores of the Mohawk, a short way above the Little Falls. It was about the last of November, and the ground deeply covered with snow. There were three or four in company, or within a small distance of each other, flitting leisurely along the road side, keep- ing up a kind of low chattering with one another, and seemed nowise apprehensive at my approach. I soon secured the whole ; from the best of which the drawing in the plate was carefully made. On dissec- tion I found their stomachs occupied by a few spiders and the aurelise of some insects. I could perceive no difference between the plumage of the male and female. The Canada Jay is eleven inches long, and fifteen in extent ; back, wings, and tail, a dull leaden gray, the latter long, cuneiform, and tipped with dirty white ; interior vanes of the wings brown, and also partly tipped with white ; plumage of the head loose and prominent ; the fore- head and feathers covering the nostril, as well as the whole lower parts, a dirty brownish white, which also passes round the bottom of the neck like a collar ; part of the crown and hind-head black ; bill and legs also black ; eye dark hazel. The whole plumage on the back is long, loose, unwebbed, and in great abundance, as if to protect it from the rigors of the regions it inhabits. A gentleman of observation, who resided for many years near the North river, not far from Hudson, in the state of New York, informs me, that he has particularly observed this bird to arrive there at the commencement of cold weather — he has often remarked its solitary habits ; it seemed to seek the most unfrequented shaded retreats, keep- ing almost constantly on the ground, yet would sometimes, towards evening, mount to the top of a small tree, and repeat its notes (which a little resemble those of the Baltimore) for a quarter of an hour to- gether ; and this it generally did immediately before snow, or falling weather. * Heakne's Journey, p. 405. Genus XV. ORIOLUS.* Species I. ORIOL US BA L TIMOR US.f BALTIMORE ORIOLE. [Plate I. Fig. 3— Male.] Linn. Syst. 1, p. 162, 10. — Icterus minor, Bkiss. ii., p. 109, pi. 12, fig. 1. — Le Bal- timore, Buff, hi., p. 231. PL Enl. 506, flg. 1. — Baltimore Bird, Catesb. Car. 1, ii.—Arct. Zool. ir., p. 142.— Lath. Sijn. ii., p. 432, 19.— Bartram, p. 290. This is a bird of passage, arriving in Pennsylvania, from the south, about the beginning of May, and departing towards the latter end of - August, or beginning of September. From the singularity of its colors, the construction of its nest, and its preferring the apple-trees, weeping- willows, walnut, and tulip-trees, adjoining the farm-house, to build on, it is generally known, and, as usual, honored with a variety of names, such as Hang-nest, Hanging-bird, Golden Robin, Fire-bird (from the bright orange seen through the green leaves, resembling a flash of fire), &c., but more generally the Baltimore-bird, so named, as Catesby informs us, from its colors, which are black and orange, being those of the arms or livery of Lord Baltimore, formerly proprietary of Maryland. The Baltimore Oriole is seven inches in length ; bill almost straight, strong, tapering to a sharp point, black, and sometimes lead colored above, the lower mandible light blue towards the base. Head, throat, upper part of the back and wings, black ; lower part of the back, rump, and whole under parts, a bright orange, deepening into vermilion on the breast ; the black on the shoulders is also divided by a band of orange ; exterior edges of the greater wing-coverts, as well as the edges of the secondaries, and part of those of the primaries, white ; the tail feathers, under the coverts, orange ; the two middle ones thence to the tips are black, the next five, on each, side, black near the coverts, and orange toward the extremities, so disposed, that when the tail is ex- panded, and the coverts removed, the black appears in the form of a pyramid, supported on an arch of orange, tail slightly forked, the ex- * This genus has been variously divided by modern ornithologists. Temminck has separated it into four sections, viz. : Cassicus, Quiseala, Icterus, and JEmberi- zoides. The two species described by Wilson, belong to the third section, Icterus. t Coracias Galhula, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, torn, i., \0i.— Oriolus Baltimore, Lath. Ind. Orn. 180. (142) BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 143 terior feather on eact side a quarter of an inch shorter than the others ; legs and feet light blue or lead color ; iris of the eye hazel. The female has the head, throat, upper part of the neck and back, of a dull black, each feather being skirted with olive yellow, lower part of the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and whole lower parts, orange yellow, but much duller than that of the male ; the whole wing feathers are of a deep dirty brown, except the quills, which are exteriorly edged, and the greater wing-coverts, and next superior row, which are broadly tipped, with a dull yellowish white ; tail olive yellow ; in some specimens the two middle feathers have been found partly black, in others wholly so ;' the black on the throat does not descend so far as in the male, is of a lighter tinge, and more irregular ; bill, legs, and claws light blue. Buffon, and Latham, have both described the male of the bastard Bal- timore {Oriolus spurius), as the female Baltimore. Pennant has com- mitted the same mistake; and all the ornithologists of Europe, with whose works I am acquainted, who have undertaken to figure and describe these birds, have mistaken the proper males and females, and confounded the two species together in a very confused and extraor- dinary manner, for which indeed we ought to pardon them, on account of their distance from the native residence of these birds, and the strange alterations of color which the latter are subject to. This obscurity I have endeavored to clear up in the present volume of this work, PI. IV., by exhibiting the male and female of the Oriolus spu- rius in their different changes of dress, as well as in their perfect plu- mage ; and by introducing representations of the eggs of both, have, I hope, put the identity of these two species beyond all further dispute or ambiguity. Almost the whole genus of Orioles belong to America, and with a few exceptions build pensile nests. Few of them, however, equal the Balti- more in the construction of these receptacles for their young, and in giving them, in such a superior degree, convenience, warmth, and secu- rity. For these purposes he generally fixes on the high bending extremi- ties of the branches, fastening strong strings of hemp or flax round two forked twigs, corresponding to the intended width of the nest ; with the same materials, mixed with quantities of loose tow, he interweaves or fabricates a strong firm kind of cloth, not unlike the substance of a hat in its raw state, forming it into a pouch of six or seven inches in depth, lining it substantially with various soft substances, well interwoven with the outward netting, and lastly, finishes with a layer of horse hair ; the whole being shaded from the sun and rain by a natural pent-house, or canopy of leaves. As to a hole being left in the side for the young to be fed, and void their excrements through, as Pennant and others relate, it is certainly an error : I have never met with anything of the kind in the nest of the Baltimore. 144 BALTIMORE ORIOLE. Though birds of the same species have, generally speaking, a common form of building, yet, contrary to the usually received opinion, they do not build exactly in the same manner. As much difference will be found in the style, neatness, and finishing of the nests of the Baltimores, as in their voices. Some appear far superior workmen to others ; and proba- bly age may improve them in this as it does in their colors. I have a number of their nests now before me, all completed, and with eggs. One of these, the neatest, is in the form of a cylinder, of five inches diameter, and seven inches in depth, rounded at bottom. The opening at top is narrowed, by a horizontal covering, to two inches and a half in diameter. The materials are flax, hemp, tow, hair, and wool, woven into a complete cloth ; the whole tightly sewed through and through with long horse-hairs, several of which measure two feet in length. The bottom is composed of thick tufts of cow-hair, sewed also with strong horse-hair. This nest was hung on the extremity of the horizontal branch of an apple-tree, fronting the south-east ; was visible one hun- dred yards off, though shaded by the sun ; and was the work of a very beautiful and perfect bird. The eggs are five, white, slightly tinged with flesh color, marked on the greater end with purple dots, and on the other parts with long hair -like lines, intersecting each other in a variety of directions. I am thus minute in these particulars, from a wish to point out the specific difference between the true and bastard Baltimore, which Dr. Latham and some others suspect to be only the same bird in different stages of color. So solicitous is the Baltimore to procure proper materials for his nest, that, in the season of building, the women in the country are under the necessity of narrowly watching their thread that may chance to be out bleaching, and the farmer to secure his young grafts ; as the Baltimore finding the former, and the strings which tie the latter, so well adapted for his purpose, frequently carries off both ; or should the one be too heavy, and the other too firmly tied, he will tug at them a considerable time before he gives up the attempt. Skeins of silk, and hanks of thread, have been often found, after the leaves were fallen, hanging round the Baltimore's nest ; but so woven up, and entangled, as to be entirely irreclaimable. Before the introduction of Europeans, no such material could have been obtained here ; but with the sagacity of a good archi- tect, he has improved this circumstance to his advantage ; and the strongest and best materials are uniformly found in those parts by which the whole is supported. Their principal food consists of caterpillars, beetles and bugs, particu- larly one of a brilliant glossy green, fragments of which I have almost always found in their stomach, and sometimes these only. The song of the Baltimore is a clear mellow whistle, repeated at short intervals as he gleans among the branches. There is in it a certain BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 145 wild plaintiveness and nawetS, extremely interesting. It is not uttered with the rapidity of the ferruginous thrush [Turdus rufus), and some other eminent songsters ; but with the pleasing tranquillity of a care- less ploughboy, whistling merely for his own amusement. When alarmed by an approach to his nest, or any such circumstances, he makes a kind of rapid chirruping, very different from his usual note. This, however, is always succeeded by those mellow tones, which seem so congenial to his nature. High on yon poplar, clad in glossiest green, The orange, black-capped Baltimore is seen, The broad extended boughs still please him best; Beneath their bending skirts he hangs his nest ; There his sweet mate, secure from every harm. Broods o'er her spotted store, and wraps them warm ; Lists to the noontide hum of busy bees. Her partner's mellow song, the brook, the breeze ; These, day by day, the lonely hours deceive, Trom dewy morn to slow descending eve. Two weeks elapsed, behold a helpless crew I Claim all her care and her affection too ; On wings of love the assiduous nurses fly, Flowers, leaves and boughs, abundant food supply ; Glad chants their guardian as abroad he goes, And waving breezes rock them to repose. The Baltimore inhabits North America, from Canada to Mexico, and is even, found as far south as Brazil. Since the streets of our cities have been planted with that beautiful and stately tree, the Lombardy poplar, these birds are our constant visitors during the early part of summer ; and amid the noise and tumult of coaches, drays, wheelbar- rows, and the din of the multitude, they are heard chanting " their native wood-notes wild ;" sometimes too within a few yards of an oyster- man, who stands bellowing with the lungs of a Stentor, under the shade of the same tree ; so much will habit reconcile even birds to the roar of the city, and to sounds and noises, that in other circumstances, would put a whole grove of them to flight. These birds are several years in receiving their complete plumage. Sometimes the whole tail of a male individual, in spring, is yellow, sometimes only the two middle feathers are black, and frequently the black on the back is skirted with orange, and the tail tipped with the same color. Three years, I have reason • to believe, are necessary to fix the full tint of the plumage, and then the male bird appears as already described. Vol. I.— 10 OBIOLUS BALTIMOBUS. BALTIMORE ORIOLE. [Plate IIII. Fig. 4— Female.] The Ustory of this beautiful species has been already particularly detailed ; to this representation of the female, drawn of half the size of nature, a few particulars may be added. The males generally arrive several days before the females, saunter about their wonted places of residence, and seem lonely and less sprightly than after the arrival of their mates. In the spring and summer of 1811, a Baltimore took up its abode in Mr. Bartram's garden, whose notes were so singular as particularly to attract my attention ; they were as well known to fiie as the voice of my most intimate friend. On the thirtieth of April, 1812, I was again surprised and pleased at hearing this same Baltimore in the garden, whistling his identical old chant ; and I observed that he par- ticularly frequented that quarter of the garden where the tree stood, on the pendent branches of which he had formed his nest the preceding year. This nest had been taken possession of by the House Wren, a few days after the Baltimore's brood had abandoned it ; and, curious to know how the little intruder had furnished it within, I had taken it down early in the fall, after the Wren herself had also raised a brood of six young in it, and which was her second that season. I found it Btripped of its original lining, floored with sticks, or small twigs, above which were laid feathers ; so that the usual complete nest of the Wren occupied the interior of that of the Baltimore. The chief diflFerence between the male and female Baltimore Oriole, is the superior brightness of the orange color of the former to that of the latter. The black on the head, upper part of the back and throat, of the female, is intermixed with dull orange; whereas in the male those parts are of a deep shining black ; the tail of the female also wants the greater part of the black, and the whole lower parts are of a much duskier orange. I have observed that these birds are rarely seen in pine woods, or where these trees generally prevail. On the ridges of our high moun- tains, they are also seldom to be met with. In orchards, and on well cultivated farms, they are most numerous, generally preferring such places to build in, rather than the woods or forest. (146) Species II. ORIOLUS MUTATUS* ORCHARD ORIOLE/ [Plate IV.] Bastard Baltimore, Catesbt, i., 49. — Le Baltimore hatard, Btjffon, hi., 233, PI. Enl. 506. — Oriolas spurius, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 389. — Lath. Syn. ii., p. 433, 20, p. 437, 24.— Bartram, p. 290. There are no circumstances, relating to birds, which tend so much to render their history obscure and perplexing, as the various changes of color -which many of them undergo. These changes are in some cases periodical, in others progressive ; and are frequently so extraor- dinary, that, unless the naturalist has resided for years in the country where the birds inhabit, and has examined them at almost every season, he is extremely liable to be mistaken and imposed on by their novel ap- pearance. Numerous instances of this kind might be cited, from the pages of European writers, in which the same bird has been described two, three, and even four different times, by the same person ; and each time~as a different kind. The species we are now about to examine is a remarkable example of this ; and as it has never to my knowledge been either accurately figured or described, I have devoted one plate to the elucidation of its history. The Count de Buffon, in introducing what he supposed to be the male of this bird, but which appears evidently to have been the female of the Baltimore Oriole, makes the following observati6ns, which I give in the words of his translator : " This bird is so called (Spurious Baltimore,) because the colors of its plumage are not so lively as in the preceding (Baltimore 0.) In fact, when we compare these birds, and find an exact correspondence in everything except the colors, and not even in the distribution of these, but only in the different tints they assume, we cannot hesitate to infer, that the Spurious Baltimore is a variety of a more generous race, degenerated by the influence of climate, or some other accidental cause." * 0. Spurius, Linn., which name must be adopted. Icterus minor spurius, Briss. II., Ill, pi. 10, fig. 3. — Carouge de Cayenne, Buff. PI. Enl. 607, fig. 1, (adult male.) Carouge du Cap de bonne Espirance, Buff. PI. Enl. 607, fig. 2, (female.) MerU & gorge noire de St. Domingue, Burr. PI. Enl. 559, (young male.) (147) 148 ORCHARD ORIOLE. How the influence of climate could affect one portion of a species and not the other, when hoth reside in the same climate, and feed nearly on the same food ; or what accidental cause could produce a difference so striking, and also so regular, as exists between the two, are, I confess, matters beyond my comprehension. But, if it be recollected, that the bird which the Count was thus philosophizing upon, was nothing more than the female Baltimore Oriole, which exactly corresponds to the descrip- tion of his male Bastard Baltimore, the difficulties at once vanish, and with them the whole superstructure of theory founded on this mistake. Dr. Latham also, while he confesses the great confusion and uncertainty that prevail between the true and bastard Baltimore and their females, considers it highly probable that the whole will be found to belong to one and the same species, in their different changes of color. In this conjecture, however, the worthy naturalist has likewise been mistaken ; and I shall endeavor to point out the fact as well as the source of this mistake. And here I cannot but take notice of the name which naturalists have bestowed on this bird, and which is certainly remarkable. Specific names, to be perfect, ought to express some peculiarity, common to no other of the genus ; and should, at least, be consistent with truth ; but in the case now before us, the name has no one merit of the former, nor even that of the latter to recommend it, and ought henceforth to be re- jected as highly improper, and calculated, like that of Goatsucker, and many others equally ridiculous, to perpetuate that error from which it originated. The word bastard among men has its determinate meaning ; but when applied to a whole species of birds, perfectly distinct from any other, originally deriving their peculiarities of form, manners, color, &c., from the common source of all created beings, and perpetuating them, by the usual laws of generation, as unmixed and independent as any other, is, to call it by no worse a name, a gross absurdity. Should the reader be displeased at this, I beg leave to remind him, that as the faith- ful historian of our feathered tribes, I must be allowed the liberty of vindicating them from every misrepresentation whatever, whether origi- nating in ignorance or prejudice ; and of allotting to each respective species, as far as I can distinguish, that rank and place in the great order of nature, to which it is entitled. To convince the foreigner (for Americans have no doubt on the sub- ject) that the present is a distinct species from the Baltimore, it might be sufficient to refer to the figure of the latter, in Plate I., and to fig. 4, Plate IV., of this work. I will however add, that I conclude this bird to be specifically different from the Baltimore, from the following cir- cumstances : its size — it is less, and more slender ; its colors, which are different, and very differently disposed ; the form of its bill, which is sharper pointed, and more bent ; the form of its tail, which is not even ORCHARD ORIOLE. 149 but wedged ; its notes, which are neither so full nor so mellow, and uttered with much more rapidity ; its mode of building, and the mate- rials it uses, both of which are different ; and lastly, the shape and color of the eggs of each (see figs, a and 6), which are evidently unlike. If all these circumstances, and I could enumerate a great many more, be not sufficient to designate this as a distinct species, by what criterion, I would ask, are we to discriminate between a variety and an original species, or to assure ourselves, that the Great Horned Owl is not in fact a bastard Goose, or the Carrion Crow a mere variety of the Humming Bird? These mistakes have been occasioned by several causes. Principally by the changes of color, to which the birds are subject, and the distance of Europeans from the country they inhabit. Catesby, it is true, while in Carolina, described and figured the Baltimore, and perhaps was the first who published figures of either species ; but he entirely omitted saying anything of the female ; and instead of the male and female of the present species, as he thought, he has only figured the male in two of his different dresses ; and succeeding compilers have followed and re- peated the same error. Another cause may be assigned, viz., the ex- treme shyness of the female Orchard Oriole, represented at fig. 1. This bird has hitherto escaped the notice of European naturalists, or has been mistaken for another species, or perhaps for a young bird of the first season, which it almost exactly resembles. In none of the nu- merous works on ornithology has it ever before appeared in its proper character ; though the male has been known to Europeans for more than a century, and has usually been figured in one of his dresses as male, and in another as female ; these varying according to the fluctuating opinions of different writers. It is amusing to see how gentlemen have groped in the dark in pairing these two species of Orioles, of which the following examples may be given : Buffon's and Latham's \ Male — Male JJaltimore. Baltimore Oriole. j Female — Male Orchard Oriole, fig. 4. ' Spurious Baltimore of ) Male — Female Baltimore. Ditto. j Female — Male Orchard Oriole, fig. 2. T) i' T) li- r\ } Male — Male Baltimore, rennant s Baltimore 0. > 777 7 v at 1 -n i^- ( Jbemale — loung Male Baltimore. Q • n c -n-ix ) Male — Male Orchard 0., fig. 4. Spurious O.-of Ditto. } Female-Ditto, dittq, fig. 2^ n i* 1, ' T) li- r\ ) Male — Male Baltimore. Uatesby s Baltimore 0., ^ i, , t.j . ,. ■■ '' ' j ±emale — JNot mentioned. «,^ ■ -a e -nvx ) JIfafe— Male Orchard 0., fig. 2. Spurious B. of Ditto. [ pemale-Ditto, ditto, fig. i Among all these authors, Catesby is doubtless the most inexcusable, having lived for several years in America, where he had an opportunity 150 ORCHARD ORIOLE. of being more correct ; yet when it is considered, that the female of thia bird is so much shyer than the male, that it is seldom seen ; and that while the males are flying around and bewailing an approach to their nest, the females keep aloof, watching every movement of the enemy in restless but silent anxiety ; it is less to be wondered at, I say, that two birds of the same kind, but different in plumage, making their appear- ance together at such times, should be taken for male and female of the same nest, without doubt or examination, as from that strong sympathy for each other's distress, which .prevails so universally among them at this season, it is difficult sometimes to distinguish between the sufferer and the sympathizing neighbor. The female of the Orchard Oriole, fig. 1, is six inches and a half in length, and eleven inches in extent, the color above is a yellow olive, inclining to a brownish tint on the back ; the wings are dusky brown, lesser wing-coverts tipped with yellowish white, greater coverts and secondaries exteriorly edged with the same, primaries slightly so ; tail rounded at the extremity, the two exterior feathers three-quarters of an inch shorter than the middle ones ; whole lower parts yellow ; bill and legs light blue, the former bent a little, very sharp pointed, and black towards the extremity ; iris of the eye hazel, pupil black. The young male of the first season corresponds nearly with the above description. But in the succeeding spring, he makes his appearance with a large patch of black marking the front, lores and throat, as represented in fig. 2. In this stage, too, the black sometimes makes its appearance on the two middle feathers of the tail ; and slight stains of reddish are seen commencing on the sides and belly. The rest of the plumage as in the female. This continuing nearly the same on the same bird during the remainder of the season. At the same time other individuals are found as represented by fig. 3, which are at least birds of the third summer. These are mottled with black and olive on the upper parts of the back, and with reddish bay and yellow on the belly, sides and vent, scattered in the most irregular manner, not alike in any two individuals ; and generally the two middle feathers of the tail are black, and the others centred with the same color. This bird is now evidently approaching to its perfect plumage, as represented in fig. 4, where the black spreads over the whole head, neck, upper part of the back, breast, wings and tail, the reddish bay or bright chestnut occupying the lower part of the breast, the belly, vent, wimp, tail-coverts, and three lower rows of the lesser wing-coverts. The black on the head is deep and velvety ; 'that of the wings inclining to brown ; the greater wing-coverts are tipped with white. In the same orchard, and at the same time, males in each of these states of plumage may be found, united to their respective plain-colored mates. In all these the manners, mode of building, food and notes are, gen- ORCHARD ORIOLE. 151 erally speaking, the same, differing no more than those of any other in- dividuals belonging to one common species. The female appears always nearly the same. I have said that these birds construct their nests very differently from the Baltimore's. They are so particularly fond of frequenting orchards, that scarcely one orchard in summer is without them. They usually suspend their nest from the twigs of the apple tree ; and often from the extremities of the outward branches. It is formed exteriorly of a par- ticular species of long, tough and flexible grass, knit or sewed through and through in a thousand directions, as if actually done with a needle. An old lady of my acquaintance, to whom I was one day showing this curious fabrication, after admiring its texture for some time, asked me in a tone between joke and earnest, whether I did not think it possible to learn these birds to darn stockings. This nest is hemispherical, three inches deep by four in breadth ; the concavity scarcely two inches deep by two in diameter. I had the curiosity to detach one of the fibres, or stalks, of dried grass from the nest, and found it to measure thirteen inches in length, and in that distance was thirty-four times hooked through and returned, winding round and round the nest ! The inside is usually composed of wool, or the light downy appendages attached ~to the seeds of the Platanus occidentalis, or button-wood, which form a very soft and commodious bed. Here and there the outward work is extended to an adjoining twig, round which it is strongly twisted, to give more stability to the whole, and prevent it from being overset by the wind. When they choose the long pendent branches of the weeping-willow to build in, as they frequently do, the nest, though formed of the same materials, is made much deeper, and of slighter texture. The circum- ference is marked out by a number of these pensile twigs, that descend on each side like ribs, supporting the whole ; their thick foliage, at the same time, completely concealing the nest from view. The depth in this case is increased to four or five inches, and the whole is made much slighter. These long pendent -branches, being sometimes twelve and even fifteen feet in length, have a large sweep in the wind, and render the first of these precautions necessary, to prevent the eggs or young from being thrown out ; and the close shelter afforded by the remarkable thickness of the foliage, is, no doubt, the cause of the latter. Two of these nests, such as I have here described, are now lying before me, and exhibit not only art in the construction, but judgment in adapting their fabrication so judiciously to their particular situations. If the actions of birds proceeded, as some would have us believe, from the mere im- pulses of that thing called instinct, individuals of the same species would uniformly build their nest in the same manner, wherever they might happen to fix it; but it is evident from these just mentioned, and a 152 ORCHARD ORIOLE. thousand such circumstances, that they reason d priori from cause to consequence ; providently managing with a constant eye to future necessity and convenience. The eggs, one of which is represented in the same plate (fig. a), are usually four, of a very pale bluish tint, with a few small specks of brown and spots of dark purple. An egg of the Baltimore Oriole is exhibited beside it (fig. h) ; both of these were minutely copied from nature, and are sufiicient of themselves to determine, beyond all possibility of doubt, the diversity of the two species. I may add, that Charles W. Peale, proprietor of the Museum in Philadelphia, who, as a practical naturalist, stands deservedly first in the first rank of American connoisseurs, has expressed to me his perfect conviction of the changes which these birds pass through ; having himself examined them both in spring, and towards the latter part of summer, and having, at the present time, in his pos- session thirty or forty individuals of this species, in almost every grada- tion of change. The Orchard Oriole, though partly a dependent on the industry of the farmer, is no sneaking pilferer, but an open and truly beneficent friend. To all those countless multitudes of destructive bugs and cater- pillars, that infest the fruit trees in spring and summer, preying on the leaves, blossoms, and embryo of the fruit, he is a deadly enemy ; devour- ing them wherever he can find them ; and destroying, on an average, some hundreds of them every day; without offering the slightest injury to the fruit, however much it may stand in his way. I have witnessed instances where the entrance to his nest was more than half closed up by a cluster of apples, which he could have easily demolished in half a minute ; but, as if holding the property of his patron sacred, or con- sidering it as a natural bulwark to his own, he slid out and in with the greatest gentleness and caution. I am not sufficiently conversant in entomology to particularize the difierent species of insects on which he feeds; but I have good reason for believing that they are almost altogether such as commit the greatest depredations on the fruits of the orchard ; and, as he visits us at a time when his services are of the greatest value, and, like a faithful guardian, takes up his station where the enemy is most to be expected, he ought to be held in respectful esteem, and protected by every considerate husbandman. Nor is the gaiety of his song one of his least recommendations. Being an exceedingly active, sprightly, and restless bird, he is on the ground — on the trees — flying and carolling in his hurried manner, in almost one and the same instant. His notes are shrill and lively, but uttered with such rapidity and seeming confusion, that the ear is unable to follow them distinctly. Between these he has a single note, which is agreeable and interesting. Wherever he is protected, he shows his confidence and gratitude, by his numbers and familiarity. In the Botanic Garden of my worthy and ORCHARD ORIOLE. 153 scientific friends, the Messrs. Bartrams, of Kingsess, — whicli present an epitome of almost everything that is rare, useful, and beautiful in the vegetable kingdom of this western continent, and where the murderous gun scarce ever intrudes, — the Orchard Oriole revels without restraint, through thickets of aromatic flowers and blossoms ; and heedless of the busy gardener that labors below,' hangs his nest, in perfect security, on the branches over his head. The female sits fourteen days ; the young remain in the nest ten days afterwards,* before they venture abroad, which is generally about the middle of June. Nests of this species, with eggs, are sometimes found so late as the twentieth of July, which must belong to birds that have lost their first nest ; or it is probable that many of them raise two broods in the same season, though I am not positive of the fact. The Orchard Orioles arrive in Pennsylvania rather later than the Baltimores, commonly about the first week in May ; and extend as far as the province of Maine. They are also more numerous towards the mountains than the latter species. In traversing the country near the Blue Ridge, in the month of August, I have seen at least five of this species for one of the Baltimore. Early in September, they take their departure for the south ; their term of residence here being little more than four months. Previous to their departure, the young birds become gregarious, and frequent the rich extensive meadows of the Schuylkill, below Philadelphia, in flocks of from thirty to forty or upwards. They are easily raised from the nest, and soon become agreeable domestics. One which I reared and kept through the winter, whistled with great clearness and vivacity at two months old. It had an odd manner of moving its head and neck slowly and regularly, and in various direc- tions, when intent on observing anything, without stirring its body. This motion was as slow and regular as that of a snake. When at night a candle was brought into the room, it became restless and evidently dis- satisfied, fluttering about the cage as if seeking to get out ; but when the cage was placed on the same table with the candle, it seemed extremely well pleased, fed and drank, dressed, shook, and arranged its plumage, sat as close to the light as possible, and sometimes chanted a few broken irregular notes in that situation, as I sat writing or reading beside it. I also kept a young female of the same nest, during the greatest part of winter, but could not observe, in that time, any change in its plumage. * There is evidently some mistake here, as the young could hardly be fledged in ten days. Genus XVI. GRACULA. GRAKLE. Species I. GRACULA FEBBUGINEA. RUSTY GRAKLE.* [Plate XXI. Fig. 3.] Black Oriole, Arct. Zool. p. 259, No. \^.— Rusty Oriole, Ibid. p. 260, No. 146.— New York Thrush, Ibid. p. 339, No. 205.— Hudsonian Thrush, Ibid. No. 234, female. — Labrador Thrush, Ibid. p. 340, No. 206. Herb is a single species described by one of the most judicious naturalists of Great Britain no less than five different times ! The greater part of these descriptions is copied by succeeding naturalists, whose synonymes it is unnecessary to repeat. So great is the uncertainty in judging, from a mere examination of their dried or stuffed skins, of the particular tribes of birds, many of which, for several years, are con- stantly varying in the colors of their plumage ; and at different seasons, or different ages, assuming new and very different appearances. Even the size is by no means a safe criterion, the difference in this respect between the male and female of the same species (as in the one now before us) being sometimes very considerable. This bird arrives in Pennsylvania, from the north, early in October ; associates with the Ked-wings, and Cow-pen Buntings, frequents corn- fields, and places where grasshoppers are plenty ; but Indian corn, at that season, seems to be its principal food. It is a very silent bird, having only now and then a single note, or chuck. We see them occa- sionally until about the middle of November, when they move off to the south. On the twelfth of January I overtook great numbers of these birds in the woods near Petersburgh, Virginia, and continued to see occasionaf parties of them almost every day as I advanced southerly, particularly in South Carolina, around the rice plantations, where they were numerous ; feeding about the hog-pens, and wherever Indian corn was to be procured. They also extend to a considerable distance west- ward. On the fifth of March, being on the banks of the Ohio, a few miles below the mouth of the Kentucky river, in the midst of a heavy snow-storm, a flock of these 'birds alighted near the door of the cabin * The Genus Gracula, as at present restricted, consists of only a single species ; the others formerly included in it have been distributed in other genera. The two species desciibed by Wilson belong to the genus Icterus as adopted by Temminck. (154) RUSTY GRAKLB. 155 where I had taken shelter, several of which I shot, and found their stomachs, as usual, crammed with Indian corn. Early in April they pass hastily through Pennsylvania, on their return to the north to breed. From the accounts of persons who have resided near Hudson's Bay, it appears, that these birds arrive there in the beginning of June, as soon as the ground is thawed sufficiently for them to procure their food, which is said to be worms and maggots; sing with a fine note till the time of incubation, when they have only a chucking noise, till the young take their flight : at which time they resume their song. They build their nests in trees ; about eight feet from the ground, forming them with moss and grass, and lay five eggs of a dark color, spotted with, black. It is added, they gather in great flocks, and retire southerly in September.* The male of this species, when in perfect plumage, is nine inches in length, and fourteen in extent ; at a small distance appears wholly black ; but on a near examination is of a glossy dark green ; the irides of the eye are silvery, as in those of the Purple Grakle ; the bill is black, nearly of the same form with that of the last-mentioned species ; the lower mandible a little rounded, with the edges turned inward, and the upper one furnished with a sharp bony process on the inside, exactly like that of the purple species. The tongue is slender, and lacerated at the tip ; legs and feet black and strong, the hind claw the largest ; the tail is slightly rounded. This is the color of the male when of full age ; but three-fourths of these birds which we meet with, have the whole plumage of the breast, head, neck, and back, tinctured with brown, every feather being skirted with ferruginous ; over the eye is a light line of pale brown, below that one of black passing through the eye. This brownness gradually goes off towards spring, for almost all those I shot in the southern states were but slightly marked with ferruginous. The female is nearly an inch shorter ; head, neck, and breast, almost wholly brown ; a light line over the eye, lores black ; belly and rump ash ; upper and under tail-coverts skirted with brown ; wings black, edged with rust color ; tail black, glossed with green ; legs, feet and bill, as in the male. These birds might easily be domesticated. Several that I had winged, and kept for some time, became in a few days quite familiar, seeming to be very easily reconciled to confinement. * Arct. Zool. p. 259. Species II. GBACULA QUI SO ALA. PURPLE GRAKLE. [Plate XXI. Fig. 4.] La Pie de la Jamaique, Brisson, u., 41.— Buffon, hi., 97, PI. Enl. bZ%.—Arct. Zool. p. 309, No. \bA:.— Gracula purpurea, the lesser Purple Jackdaw, or Crow Black- bird, Bartram, p. 291.* This noted depredator is well known to every farmer of the northern and middle states. About the twentieth of March the Purple Grakles visit Pennsylvania from the south, fly in loose flocks, frequent swamps and meadows, and follow in the furrows after the plough ; their food at this season consisting of worms, grubs, and caterpillars, of which they destroy prodigious numbers, as if to recompense the husbandman before- hand for the havock they intend to make among his crops of India^j corn. Towards evening they retire to the nearest cedars and pine trees to roost ; making a continual chattering as they fly along. On the tallest of these trees they generally build their nests in company, about the beginning or middle of April ; sometimes ten or fifteen nests being on the same tree. One of these nests, taken from a high pine tree, is now before me. It measures full five inches in diameter within, and four in depth ; is composed outwardly of mud, mixed with long stalks and roots of a knotty kind of grass, and lined with fine bent and horse hair. The eggs are five, of a bluish olive color, marked with large spots and straggling streaks of black and dark brown, also with others of a fainter tinge. They rarely produce more than one brood in a season. The trees where these birds build are often at no great distance from the farm-house, and pverlook the plantations. From thence they issue, in all directions, and with as much confidence, to make their daily depredations among the surrounding fields^, as if the whole were intended for their use alone. Their chief attention, however, is directed to the Indian corn in all its progressive stages. As soon as the infant blade of this grain begins to make its appearance above ground, the Grakles hail the welcome signal with screams of peculiar satisfaction ; and with- out waiting for a formal invitation from the proprietor, descend on the * We add the following synonymes : Boat-tailed GraJcle, Lath. Gen. Syn. 1, p. 460, No. 5. — Maize-thief, Kalm's Travels. — Siurnus quiscala, Daudin, 2, p. 316. — Gracula harita. Journal Acad. Nat. Sciences ofPhilad. vol. 1, p. 254. — Quiscala versicolor, Bonaparte's Ornithology, vol. i., p. 42, pi. V., female. (156) PURPLE GRAKLB. 157 fields, and begin to pull up and regale themselves on the seed, scatterr ing the green blades around. While thus eagerly employed, the ven- geance of the gun sometimes overtakes them ; but these disasters are soon forgotten, and those ■ who live to get away, Return to steal, another day." About the beginning of August, when the young ears are in their milky state, they are attacked with redoubled eagerness by the Grakles and Red-wings, in formidable and combined bodies. They descend like a blackening, sweeping tempest, on the corn, dig off the external covering of twelve or fifteen coats of leaves, as dexterously as if done by the hand of man, and having laid bare the ear, leave little behind to the farmer but the cobs, and shrivelled skins that contained their favorite fare. I have seen fields of corn of many acres, where more than one- half was thus ruined. Indeed the farmers in the immediate vicinity of the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, generally allow one-fourth of this crop to the Blackbirds, among whom our Grrakle comes in for his full share. During these depredations, the gun is making great havoc among their numbers, which has no other effect on the survivors' than to send them to another field, or to another part of the same field. This system of plunder and of retaliation continues until November, when towards the middle of that month they begin to sheer off towards the south. The lower parts of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, are the winter residences of these flocks. Here numerous bodies, collecting together from all quarters of the interior and northern districts, and darkening the air with their numbers, sometimes form one congregated multitude of many hundred thousands. A few miles from the banks of the Roanoke, on the twentieth of January, I met with one of those prodigious armies of Grakles. They rose from the surround- ing fields with a noise like thunder, and descending on the length of road before me, covered it and the fences completely with black ; and when they again rose, and after a few evolutions descended on the skirts of the high timbered woods, at that time destitute of leaves, they produced a most singular and striking effect ; the whole trees for a con- siderable extent, from the top to the lowest branches, seeming as if hung in mourning ; their notes and screaming the meanwhile resembling the distant sound of a great cataract, but in more musical cadence, swelling and dying away on the ear according to the fluctuation of the breeze. In Kentucky, and all along the Mississippi, from its junction with the Ohio to the Balize, I found numbers of these birds, so that the Purple Grakle may be considered as a very general inhabitant of the territory of the United States. Every industrious farmer complains of the mischief committed on his 158 PURPLE GRAKLB. corn by the Crow Blaehhirds, as they are usually called ; though were the same means used, as with pigeons, to take them in clap-nets, multi- tudes of them might thus be destroyed ; and the products of them in market, in some measure, indemnify him for their depredations. But they are most numerous and most destructive at a time when the various harvests of the husbandman demand all his attention, and all his hands to cut, cure, and take in ; and so they escape with a few sweeps made among them by some of the younger boys, with the gun ; and by the gunners from the neighboring towns and villages ; and return from . their winter quarters, sometimes early in March, to renew the like scenes over again. As some consolation, however, to the industrious cultivator, I can assure him, that were I placed in his situation, I should hesitate whether to consider these birds most as friends or enemies, as they are particularly destructive to almost all the noxious worms, grubs, and caterpillars, that infest his fields, which, were they allowed to mul- tiply unmolested, would soon consume nine-tenths of all the production of his labor, and desolate the country with the miseries of famine ! Is not this another striking proof that the Deity has created nothing in vain ; and that it is the duty of man, the lord of the creation, to avail himself of their usefulness, and guard against their bad effects as securely as possible, without indulging in the barbarous, and even impious, wish for their utter extermination ? ThciPurple Grakle is twelve inches long, and eighteen in extent; on a slight view seems wholly black, but placed near, in a good light, the whole head, neck, and breast appear of a rich glossy steel blue, dark violet,* and silky green ; the violet prevails most on the head and breast, and the green on the hind part of the neck ; the back, rump, and whole lower parts, the breast excepted, reflect a strong coppery gloss ; wing- coverts, secondaries, and coverts of the tail, rich light violet, in which the red prevails ; the rest of the wings, and cuneiform tail, are black, glossed with steel blue. All the above colors are extremely shining, varying as differently exposed to the light ; iris of the eye silvery ; bill more than an inch long, strong, and furnished on the inside of the upper mandible with a sharp process, like the stump of the broken blade of a penknife, intended to assist the bird in masticating its food ; tongue thin, bifid at the end, and lacerated along the sides. The female is rather less ; has the upper part of the head, neck, and the back, of a dark sooty brown ; chin, breast, and belly dull pale brown, lightest on the former ; wings, tail, lower parts of the back and vent black, with a few reflections of dark green ; legs, feet, bill, and eyes as in the male. The Purple Grakle is easily tamed, and sings in confinement. They have also, in several instances, been taught to articulate some few words pretty distinctly. PURPLE GRAKLE. 159 A singular attachment frequently takes place between this bird and the Fish-Hawk. The nest of this latter is of very large dimensions, often from three to four feet in breadth, and from four to five feet high ; composed, externally, of large sticks or faggots, among the interstices of which sometimes three or four pairs of Crow Blackbirds will con- struct their nests, while the Hawk is sitting or hatching above. Here each pursues the duties of incubation, and of rearing their young ; living in the greatest harmony, and mutually watching and protecting each other's property from depredators. Note. — The Gracula quiscala of the tenth edition of the Systema Naturce was established upon Catesby's Purple Jackdaw. This bird is common in Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, where it is still known by the name of Jackdaw ; whereas the Purple Grakle of Wilson is called Blackbird, or Crow Blackbird. The latter is also common in the states south of Virginia ; but the Jackdaw, after rearing its young, retires further south on the approach of winter ; whereas the Purple Grakle hyemates in the southern section of our Union, and migrates, in the spring, to the Middle and Northern States to breed. The female of the Crow Blackbird is dark sooty-brown and black ; the female of the Jack- daw is " all over brown," agreeably to Catesby's description. This author states the weight of the Jackdaw to be six ounces ; the weight of the Crow Blackbird seldom exceeds four ounces and a half. That the two species have been confounded there is no doubt ; and it is not easy to disembroil the confusion into which they have been thrown by naturalists, who have never had an opportunity of visiting the native regions of both. It is evident that Catesby thought there was but one species of these birds in Carolina, otherwise he would have discovered that those which he observed during the winter in great flocks, were dif- ferent from his Jackdaws, which is the proper summer resident of that State, although it is probable that some of the Crow Blackbirds are also indigenous. The true Gracula harita of Linnaeus is not yet satisfac- torily ascertained ; the Boat-tailed Grakle of Latham's General Synop- sis is unquestionably the Purple Grakle of Wilson. The best figures of the Purple Jackdaw which we have seen, are those given in Bona- parte's Ornithology, vol. 1, pi. 4. They were drawn by Mr. Alexander Rider of Philadelphia, (not by Mr. Audubon, as is stated,) from speci- mens brought from East Florida by Mr. Titian Peale and myself. — a. Ord. Genus XX. CUCULUS. CUCKOO * Species I. CUCULVS CAROLINENSIS. YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. [Plate XXVIII. Fig. 1.] Cuculus Amaricanus, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, p. 111. — Catesb. i., 9. — Lath, i., 537. — Le Coucou de la Caroline, Briss. ir., Wi.—Ard. Zool. 265, No. 155. A STRAN&ER who visits the United States for the purpose of examin- ing their natural productions, and passes through our woods in the month of May or June, will sometimes hear as he traverses the borders of deep, retired, high timbered hollows, an uncouth guttural sound or note, re- sembling the syllables Icowe, Icowe, kowe kowe kowe ! beginning slowly, but ending so rapidly, that the notes seem to run into each other, and vice versa ; he will hear this frequently without being able to discover the bird or animal from which it proceeds, as it is both shy and solitary, seeking always the thickest foliage for concealment. This is the Yel- low-billed Cuckoo, the subject of the present account. From the imita- tive sound of its note, it is known in many parts by the name of the Cow-Urd ; it is also called in Virginia the Rain-Crow, being observed to be most clamorous immediately before rain. This species arrives in Pennsylvania, from the south, about the twenty- second of April, and spreads over the country as far at least as Lake Ontario ; is numerous in the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations ; and also breeds in the upper parts of Georgia ; preferring in all these places the borders of solitary swamps and apple-orchards. It leaves us, on its return southward, about the middle of September. The singular, I will not say unnatural, conduct of the European Cuckoo, ( Cuculus canorus), which never constructs a nest for itself, but drops its eggs in those of other birds, and abandons them to their mercy and management, is so universally known, and so proverbial, that the whole tribe of Cuckoos have, by some inconsiderate people, been stigmatized as destitute of all parental care and affection. Without attempting to account for this remarkable habit of the European species, far less to consider as an error what the wisdom of Heaven has imposed as a duty * This genus has been considerably restricted by recent ornithologists. The two species referred by Wilson to their genus belong to the genus Coccycus of Vieillot, adopted by Temminck. (160) YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 161 on the species, I will only remark, that the bird now before us builds its own nest, hatches its own eggs, and rears its own young ; and in conju- gal and parental affection seems nowise behind any of its neighbors of the grove. Early in May they begin to pair, when obstinate battles take place among the males. About the tenth of that month they commence building. The nest is usually fixed among the horizontal branches of an apple-tree ; sometimes in a solitary thorn, crab or cedar, in some retired part of the woods. It is constructed with little art, and scarcely any concavity, of small sticks and twigs, intermixed with green weeds, and blossoms of the common maple. On this almost flat bed, the eggs, usually three or four in number, are placed ; these are of a uniform greenish blue color, and of a size proportionable to that of the bird. While the female is sitting, the male is generally not far distant, and gives the alarm by his notes, when any person is approaching. The female sits so close, that you may almost reach her with your hand, and then precipitates herself to the ground, feigning lameness, to draw you away from the spot, fluttering, trailing her wings, and tumbling over, in the manner of the Partridge, Woodcock, and many other species. Both parents unite in providing food for the young. This consists for the most part of caterpillars, particularly such as infest apple-trees. The same insects constitute the chief part of their own sustenance. They are accused, and with some justice, of sucking the eggs of other birds, like the Crow, the Blue Jay, and other pillagers. They also occasion- ally eat various kinds of berries. But from the circumstance of destroy- ing such numbers of very noxious larvae, they prove themselves the friends of the farmer, and are highly deserving of his protection. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is thirteen inches long, and sixteen inches in extent ; the whole upper parts are of a dark glossy drab, or what is usually called a Quaker color, with greenish silky reflections ; from this must however be excepted, the inner vanes of the wings, which are bright reddish cinnamon ; the tail is long, composed of ten feathers, the two middle ones being of the same color as the back, the others which gra- dually shorten to the exterior ones, are black, largely tipped with white ; the two outer ones are scarcely half the length of the middle one ; the whole lower parts are pure white ; the feathers covering the thighs being large like those of the Hawk tribe ; the legs and feet are light blue, the toes placed two before, and two behind, as in the rest of the genus ; the bill is long, a little bent, very broad at the base, dusky black above, and yellow below ; the eye hazel, feathered close to the eyelid, which is yel- low. The female differs little from the male; the four middle tail- feathers in her are of the same uniform drab ; and the white, with which the others are tipped, not so pure as in the male. In examining this bird by dissection, the inner membrane of the giz- VOL. I.— 11 162 BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. zard, -wliicli in many other species is so hard and muscular, in this ia extremely lax and soft, capable of great distension ; and, what is re- markable, is covered with a growth of fine down or hair, of a light fawn color. It is difiicult to ascertain the particular purpose which nature intends by this excrescence ; perhaps it may serve to shield the tender parts from the irritating effects produced by the hairs of certain cater- pillars, some of which are said to be almost equal to the sting of a nettle. Species II. CVCULUS ERTTHROPETHALMUS. BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. [Plate XXVIII. Fig. 2.] This Cuckoo is nearly as numerous as the former ; but has hitherto escaped the notice of European naturalists ; or from its general resem- blance has been confounded with the preceding. Its particular mark- ings, however, and some of its habits, sufficiently characterize it as a distinct species. Its general color above is nearly that of the former, inclining more to a pale ash on the cheeks and front ; it is about an inch less in length ; the tail is of a uniform dark silky drab, except at the tip, where each feather is marked with a spot of white, bordered above with a slight touch of dull black ; the bill is wholly black, and much smaller than that of the preceding ; and it wants the bright cinnamon on the wings. But what constitutes its most distinguishing trait is a bare wrinkled skin, of a deep red color, that surrounds the eye. The female differs little in external appearance from the male. The Black-billed Cuckoo is particularly fond of the sides of creeks, feeding on small shell-fish, snails, &c. I have also often found broken pieces of oyster-shells in its gizzard, which, like that of the other, is covered with fine downy hair. The nest of this bird is most commonly built in a cedar, much in the same manner, and of nearly the same materials, as that of the other ; but the eggs are smaller, usually four or five in number, and of a rather deeper greenish blue. This bird is likewise found in the state of Georgia, and has not escaped the notice of Mr. Abbot, who is satisfied of its being a distinct species from the preceding. Genus XXII. PICUS. WOODPECKER. Species I. PICUS PRINCIPALIS. IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKEE. [Plate XXIX. Fig. 1.] Picus principalis, Linn. Syst. i., p. 173, 2. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 425. — Picus niger CaroUnensis cristatus, Beiss. iv., p. 26, 9. — Pic noir d bee blanc, Buff, vir., p. 46. — PI. Enl. 690, — King of the Woodpeckers. Kai.m, vol. ii., p. 85. — White- billed Woodpecker, Catesb. Car. i., 16. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 156. — Lath. Syn. ii., p. 553. — Bartram, p. 289. This majestic and formidable species, in strength and magnitude, stands at the head of the "whole class of Woodpeckers hitherto dis- covered. He may be called the king or chief of his tribe ; and Nature seems to have designed him a distinguished characteristic, in the superb carmine crest, and bill of polished ivory, with which she has ornamented him. His eye is brilliant and daring ; and his whole frame so admira- bly adapted for his mode of life, and method of procuring subsistence, as to impress on the mind of the examiner the most reverential ideas of the Creator. His manners have also a dignity in them superior to the common herd of Woodpeckers. Trees, shrubbery, orchards, rails, fence- posts, and old prostrate logs, are alike interesting to those, in their humble and indefatigable search for prey ; but the royal hunter now before us, scorns the humility of such situations, and seekg the most towering trees of the forest ; seeming particularly attached to those pro- digious cypress swamps, whose crowxled giant sons stretch their bare and blasted, or moss-hung, arms midway to the skies. In these almost inaccessible recesses, amid ruinous piles of impending timber, his trum- pet-like note, and loud strokes, resound through the solitary, savage wilds, of which he seems the sole lord and inhabitant. Wherever he frequents, he leaves numerous monuments of his industry behind him. We there see enormous pine-trees, with cart-loads of bark lying around their roots, and chips of the trunk itself in such quantities, as to suggest flie idea that half a dozen of axemen had been at work for the whole morning. The body of the tree is also disfigured with such numerous and so large excavations, that one can hardly conceive it possible for the whole to be the work of a Woodpecker. With such strength, and an apparatus so powerful, what havoc might he not commit, if numerous, on the most useful of our forest trees ; and yet with all these appear- (163) 164 IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. ances, and mucli of vulgar prejudice against him, it may fairly be ques- tioned wlietlier he is at all injurious ; or, at least, whether his exertions do not contribute most powerfully to the protection of our timber. Examine closely the tree where he has been at work, and you will soon perceive, that it is neither from motives of mischief nor amusement that he slices off the bark, or digs his way into the trunk. For the sound and healthy tree is not in the least the object of his attention. The diseased, infested with insects, and hastening to putrefaction, are Ms favorites ; there the deadly crawling enemy have formed a lodgment, between the bark and tender wood, to drink up the very vital part of the tree. It is the ravages of these vermin which the intelligent pro- prietor of the forest deplores, as the sole perpetrators of the destruction of his timber. Would it be believed that the larvae of an insect, or fly, no larger than a grain of rice, should silently, and in one season, destroy some thousand acres of pine trees, many of them from two to three feet in diameter, and a hundred and fifty feet high ! Yet whoever passes along the high road from Georgetown to Charleston, in South Carolina, about twenty miles from the former place, can have striking and melan- choly proofs of this fact. In some places the whole woods, as far as you can see around you, are dead, stripped of the bark, their wintry- looking arms and bare trunks bleaching in the sun, and tumbling in ruins before every blast, presenting a frightful picture of desolation. And yet ignorance and prejudice stubbornly persist in directing their indignation against the bird now before us, the constant and mortal enemy of these very vermin, as if the hand that probed the wound, to extract its cause, should be equally detested with that which inflicted it ; or as if the thief-catcher should be confounded with the thief. Until some effectual preventive, or more complete mode of destruction, can be devised against these insects, and their larvae, I would humbly suggest the propriety of protecting, and receiving with proper feelings of grati- tude, the services of this and the whole tribe of Woodpeckers, letting the odium of guilt fall to its proper owners. In looking over the accounts given of ,the Ivory-billed Woodpecker by the naturalists of Europe, I find it asserted, that it inhabits from New Jersey to Mexico. I believe, however, that few of them are ever seen to the north of Virginia, and very few of them even in that state. The first place I observed this bird at, when on my way to the south, was about twelve miles north of Wilmington, in North Carolina. There I found the bird from which the drawing of the figure in the plate wa's taken. This bird was only wounded slightly in the wing, and on being caught, uttered a loudly-reiterated, and most piteous note, exactly re- sembling the violent crying of a young child ; which terrified my horse so, as nearly to have cost me my life. It was distressing to hear it. I carried it with me in the chair, under cover, to Wilmington. In passing IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. 165 through the streets, its affecting cries surprised every one within hearing, particularly the females, who hurried to the doors and windows, with looks of alarm and anxiety. I drove on, and on arriving at the piazza of the hotel, where I intended to put up, the landlord came forward, and a number of other persons who happened to be there, all equally alarmed at what they heard ; this was greatly increased by my asking whether he could furnish me with accommodations for myself and my baby. The man looked blank, and foolish, while the others stared with still greater astonishment. After diverting myself for a minute or two at their expense, I drew my Woodpecker from under the cover, and a general laugh took place. I took him up stairs, and locked him up in my room, while I went to see my horse taken care of. In less than an hour I returned, and on opening the door he set up the same distressing shout, which now appeared to proceed from the grief that he had been discovered in his attempts at escape. He had mounted along the side of the window, nearly as high as the ceiling, a little below which he had begun to break through. The bed was covered with large pieces of plaster ; the lath was exposed for at least fifteen inches square, and a hole, large enough to admit the fist, opened to the weather-boards ; so that in less than another hour he would certainly have succeeded in making his way through. I now tied a string round his leg, and fasten- ing it to the table, again left him. I wished to preserve his life, and had gone off in search of suitable food for him. As I reascended the stairs, I heard him again hard at work, and on entering had the morti- fication to perceive that he had almost entirely ruined the mahogany table to which he was fastened, and on which he had wreaked his whole vengeance. While engaged in taking the drawing, he cut me severely in several places, and on the whole, displayed such a noble and uncon- querable spirit, that I was frequently tempted to restore him to his native woods. He lived with me nearly three days, but refused all sustenance, and I witnessed his death with regret. The head and bill of this bird is in great esteem among the southern Indians, who wear them by way of amulet or charm, as well as orna- ment ; and, it is said, dispose of them to the northern tribes at consider- able prices. An Indian believes that the head, skin, or even feathers of certain birds, confer on the wearer all the virtues or excellencies of those birds. Thus I have seen a coat made of the skins, heads and claws of the Raven ; caps stuck round with heads of Butcher-birds, Hawks and Eagles ; and as the disposition and courage of the Ivory- billed Woodpecker are well known to the savages, no wonder they should attach great value to it, having both beauty, and, in their estimation, distinguished merit to recommend it. This bird is not migratory, but resident in the countries where it in- habits. In the low counties of the Carolinas, it usually prefers the large- 166 IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. timbered cypress swamps for breeding in. In the trunk of one of thesb trees, at a considerable height, the male and female alternately, and in conjunction, dig out a large and capacious cavity for their eggs and young. Trees thus dug out have frequently been cut down, with some- times the eggs and young in them. This hole according to information, for I have never seen one myself, is generally a little winding, the better to keep out the weather, and from two to five feet deep. The eggs are said to be generally four, sometimes five, as large as a pullet's, pure white, and equally thick at both ends ; a description that, except in size, very nearly agrees with all the rest of our Woodpeckers. The young begin to be seen abroad about the middle of June. Whether they breed more than once in the same season is uncertain. So little attention do the people of the countries where these birds inhabit, pay to the minutiae of natural history, that, generally speaking, they make no distinction between the Ivory-billed and Pileated Wood- pecker, represented in the same plate ; and it was not till I showed them the two birds together, that they knew of any difference. The more intelligent and observing part of the natives, however, distinguish them by the name of the large and lesser Logcocks. They seldom ex- amine them but at a distance, gunpowder being considered too precious to be thrown away on Woodpeckers ; nothing less than a Turkey being thought worth the value of a load. The food of this bird consists, I believe, entirely of insects and their larvae. The Pileated Woodpecker is suspected of sometimes tasting the Indian corn ; the Ivory-billed never. His common note, repeated every three or four seconds, very much resembles the tone of a trumpet, or the high note of a clarionet, and can plainly be distinguished at the distance of more than half a mile ; seeming to be immediately at hand, though perhaps more than one hundred yards off. This it utters while mount- ing along the trunk, or digging into it. At these times it has a stately and novel appearance ; and the note instantly attracts the notice of a stranger. Along the borders of the Savannah river, between Savannah and Augusta, I found them very frequently ; but my horse no sooner heard their trumpet-like note, than remembering his former alarm, he became almost ungovernable. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is twenty inches long,- and thirty inches in extent ; the general color is black, with a considerable gloss of green when exposed to a good light ; iris of the eye vivid yellow ; nostrils covered with recumbent white hairs ; fore part of the head black, rest of the crest of a most splendid red, spotted at the bottom with white, which is only seen when the crest is erected, as represented in the plate ; this long red plumage being ash-colored at its base, above that white, and ending in brilliant red ; a stripe of white proceeds from a point, about half an inch below each eye, passes down each side of the neck, PILEATED WOODPECKEK. 167 and along tlie back, -where they are about an ineh apart, nearly to the rump ; the first five primaries are wholly black, on the next five the white spreads from the tip higher and higher to the secondaries, which are wholly white from their coverts downwards : these markings, when the wings are shut, make the bird appear as if his back were white, hence he has been called, by some of our naturalists, the large White- backed Woodpecker ; the neck is long ; the beak an inch broad at the base, of the color and consistence of ivory, prodigiously strong, and ele- gantly fluted ; the tail is black, tapering from the two exterior feathers, which are three inches shorter than the middle ones, and each feather has the singularity of being greatly concave below ; the wing is lined with yellowish white ; the legs are about an inch and a quarter long, the exterior toe about the same length, the claws exactly semicircular and remarkably powerful, the whole of a light blue or lead color. The female is about half an inch shorter, the bill rather less, and the whole plumage of the head black, glossed with green ; in the other parts of the plumage she exactly resembles the male. In' the stomachs of three which I opened, I found large quantities of a species of worm called borers, two or three inches long, of a dirty cream-color, with a black head ; the stomach was an oblong pouch, not muscular like the gizzards of some others. The tongue was worm-shaped, and for half an inch at the tip as hard as horn, flat, pointed, of the same white color as the bill, and thickly barbed on each side. Species II. PIOUS PILEATUS. PILEATED WOODPECKER. [Plate XXIX. Fig. 2.j Picus pileatus, Latb. Tnd. Orn. i., p. 225, 4. — Linn. Syst. i., p. 173, 3. — Gmel. Syst. I., p. 425. — Picus niger Virginianus cristatus, Briss. it., p. 29, 10. — Picnoir A huppe rouge, Bufp. til, p. 48. — Pic noir huppe de la Louisiane, PL Enl. 718. — Larger crested Woodpecker, Catesb. Car. i., 17. — Pileated Woodpecker, Arct. Zool. II., No. 157.— Lath. Syn. ii., p. 554, 3.— Id. Sup. p. 105.— Baktkam, p. 289. This American species is the second in size among his tribe, and may be styled the Great Northern Chief of the Woodpeckers, though, in fact, his range extends over the whole of the United States, from the interior of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. He is very numerous in the Genesfee country, and in all the tracts of high-timbered forests, particu- larly in the neighborhood of our large rivers, where he is noted for making a loud and almost incessant cackling before wet weather ; flying 168 PILEATBD WOODPECKER. at such times in a restless ijneasy manner from tree to tree, making the woods echo to his outcry. In Pennsylvania, and the Northern States, he is called the Black Woodcock ; in the Southern States, the Logcock. Almost every old trunk in the forest, where he resides, bears the marks of his chisel. Wherever he perceives a tree beginning to decay, he ex- amines it round and round with great skill and dexterity, strips oiF the bark in sheets of five or six feet in length to get at the hidden cause of the disease, and labors with a gayety and activity really surprising. I have seen him- separate the greatest part of the bark from a large dead pine-tree, for twenty or thirty feet, in less than a quarter of an hour. Whether engaged in flying from tree to tree, in digging, climbing or barking, he seems perpetually in a hurry. He is extremely hard to kill, clinging close to the tree even after he has received his mortal wound ; nor yielding up his hold but' with his expiring breath. If slightly wounded in the wing, and dropped while flying, he instantly makes for the nearest tree, and strikes, with great bitterness, at the hand stretched out to seize him ; and can rarely be reconciled to confinement He is sometimes observed among the hills of Indian corn, and it is said by some that he frequently feeds on it. Complaints of this kind are, how- ever, not general ; many farmers doubting the fact, and conceiving that at these times he is in search of insects which lie concealed in the husk. I will not be positive that they never occasionally taste maize ; yet I have opened and examined great numbers of these birds, killed in va- rious parts of the United States, from Lake Ontario to the Altamaha river, but never found a grain of Indian corn in their stomachs.' The Pileated Woodpecker is not migratory, but braves the extremes of both the arctic and torrid regions. Neither is he gregarious, for it is rare to see more than one or two, or at the most three, in company. For- merly they were numerous in the neighborhood of Philadelphia ; but gradually as the old timber fell, and the country became better cleared, they retreated to the forest. At present few of these birds are to be found within ten or fifteen miles of the city. Their nest is built, or rather the eggs are deposited, in the hole of a tree, dug out by themselves, no other materials being used but the soft chips of rotten wood. The female lays six large eggs of a snowy white- ness ; and, it is said, they generally raise two broods in the same season. This species is eighteen inches long, and twenty-eight in extent ; the general color is a dusky brownish black ; the head is ornamented with a conical cap of bright scarlet ; two scarlet mustaches proceed from the lower mandible ; the chin is white ; the nostrils are covered with brown- ish white hair-like feathers, and this stripe of white passes thence down the side of the neck to the sides, spreading under the wings ; the upper half of the wings, is white, but concealed by the black coverts ; the lower extremities of the wings are black ; so that the white on the wing GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 169 is not seen when the bird is flying, at which time it is very prominent ; the tail is tapering, the feathers being very convex above and strong ; the legs are of a leaden gray color, very short, scarcely half an inch, the toes very long, the claws strong and semicircular, and of a pale blue ; the bill is fluted, sharply ridged, very broad at the base, bluish black above, below and at the point bluish white ; the eye is of a bright golden color ; the pupil black ; the tongue, like those of its tribe, is worm-shaped, except near the tip, where for one-eighth of an inch it is horny, pointed, and beset with barbs. The female has the forehead, and nearly to the crown, of a light brown color, and the mustaches are dusky instead of red. In both, a fine line of white separates the red crest from the dusky line that passes over the eye. Species III. PICUS AURATUS. GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. [Plate III. Fig. 1.] Le Pic aux ailes dories, Bupfon, vii., 39. PI. Enl. 693. — Picus amratus, Linn. Syst. 174. — Cuculus alls de auratis, Klein, p. 30. — Catesbt, i., 18. — Latham, ii., 597. Baktram, p. 289.* This elegant bird is well known to our farmers and junior sports- men, who take every opportunity of destroying him ; the former for the supposed trespasses he commits on their Indian corn, or the trifle he will bring in market, and the latter for the mere pleasure of destruction, and perhaps for the flavor of his flesh, which is in general esteem. In the state of Pennsylvania he can scarcely be called a bird of passage, as even in severfe winters they may be found within a few miles of the city of Philadelphia ; and I have known them exposed for sale in market every week during the months of November, December and January, and that too in more than commonly rigorous weather. They, no doubt, partially migrate, even here ; being much more numerous in spring and fall than in winter. Early in the month of April they begin to prepare their nest, which is built in the hollow body or branch of a tree, some- times, though not always, at a considerable height from the ground ; for I have frequently known them fix on the trunk of an old apple-tree, * We add the following synonymes: — Cuculus auratus, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, 1, 112. — Gmel. Syst. I., 430. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 242. — Picus Canadensis striatus, Bkiss, 4, 72.— Penn, Arct. Zool. No. 158. 170 GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. at not more than six feet from the root. The sagacity of this bird in dis- covering, under a sound bark, a hollow limb or trunk of a tree, and its perseverjince in perforating it for the purpose of incubation, are truly surprising ; the male and female alternately relieving and encouraging each other by mutual caresses, renewing their labors for several days, till the object is attained, and the place rendered sufficiently capacious, convenient and secure. At this employment they are so extremely intent, that they may be heard till a very late hour in the evening, thumping like carpenters. I have seen an instance where they had dug first five inches straight forwards, and^'then downwards more than twice that dis-' tance, through a solid black oak. They carry in no materials for their nest, the soft chips, and dust of the wood, serving for this purpose. The female lays six white eggs, almost transparent. The young early leave the nest, and, climbing to the higher branches, are there fed by their parents. The food of this bird varies with the season. As the common cher- ries, bird-cherries, and berries of the sour gum, successively ripen, he regales plentifully on them, particularly on the latter ; but the chief food of this species, or that which is most usually found in his stomach, is wood-lice, and the young and larvae of ants, of which he is so immo- derately fond, that I have frequently found his stomach distended with a mass of these, and these only, as large nearly as a plum. For the procuring of these insects, nature has remarkably fitted him. The bills of Woodpeckers, in general, are straight, grooved or channelled, wedge- shaped, and compressed to a thin edge at the end, that they may the easier penetrate the hardest wood ; that of the Golden-winged Wood- pecker is long, slightly bent, ridged only on the top, and tapering almost to a point, yet still retaining a little of the wedge form there. Both, however, are admirably adapted to the peculiar manner each has of pro- curing its food. The former, like a powerful wedge, to penetrate the dead and decaying branches, after worms and insects ; the latter, like a long and sharp pick-axe, to dig up the hillocks of pismires, tRat inhabit old stumps in prodigious multitudes. These beneficial services would entitle him to some regard from the husbandman, were he not accused, and perhaps not without just cause, of being too partial to the Indian corn, when in that state which is usually called roasting-ears. His visits are indeed rather frequent about this time ; and the farmer, sus- pecting what is going on, steals through among the rows with his gun, bent on vengeance, and forgetful of the benevolent sentiment of the poet; that ■ Just as wide of Justice he must fall Who thinks all made for One, not one for all." But farmers, in general, are not much versed in poetry, and pretty well GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 171 acquainted with the value of corn, from the hard labor requisite in raising it. In rambling through the woods one day, I happened to shoot at one of these birds, and wounded him slightly in the wing. Finding him in full feather, and seemingly but little hurt, I took him home, and put him into a large cage, made of willows, intending to keep him in my own room, that we might become better acquainted. As soon as he found himself enclosed on all sides, he lost no time in idle fluttering, but throwing himself against the bars of the cage, began instantly to de- molish the willows, battering them with great vehemence, and uttering a loud piteous kind of cackling, similar to that of a hen when she is alarmed, and takes to wing. Poor Baron Trenck never labored with more eager diligence at the walls of his prison, than this son of the forest in his exertions for liberty ; and he exercised his powerful bill with such force, digging into the sticks, seizing and shaking them so from side to side, that he soon opened for himself a passage ; and though I repeatedly repaired the breach, and barricadoed every opening in the best manner I could, yet on my return into the room, I always found him at large, climbing up the chairs, or running about the floor, where, from the dexterity of his motions, moving backwards, forwards, and sidewise, with the same facility, it became difiicult to get hold of him again. Having placed him in a strong wire cage, he seemed to give up all hopes of making his escape, and soon became very tame ; fed on young ears of Indian corn ; refused apples, but ate the berries of the sour gum greedily, small winter grapes, and several other kinds of berries ; exercised himself frequently in climbing, or rather hopping perpendicularly along the sides of the cage ; and as evening drew on, fixed himself in a high hanging or perpendicular position, and slept with his head in his wing. As soon as dawn appeared, even before it was light enough to perceive him distinctly across the room, he descended to the bottom of the cage, and began his attack on the ears of Indian corn, rapping so loud as to be heard from every room in the house. After this he would sometimes resume his former position, and take another nap. He was beginning to become very amusing, and even sociable, when, after a lapse of several weeks, he became drooping, and died, as I conceived, from the effects of his wound. Some European naturalists (and among the rest Linnaeus himself, in his tenth edition of the Systema Naturae), have classed this bird with the genus Cuculus, or Cuckoo, informing their readers that it possesses many of the habits of the Cuckoo ; that it is almost always on the ground ; is never seen to climb trees like the other Woodpeckers, and that its bill is altogether unlike theirs ; every one of which assertions I must say is incorrect, and could have only proceeded from an entire unac- quaintance with the manners of the bird. Except in the article of the 172 GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. bill, and that, as been before observed, is still a little wedge-formed at the point, it differs in no one characteristic from the rest of its genus. Its nostrils are covered with tufts of recumbent hairs or small feathers ; its tongue is round, worm-shaped, flattened towards the tip, pointed, and furnished with minute barbs ; it is also long, missile, and can be instantaneously protruded to an uncommon distance. The os hyoides, or internal parts of the tongue, like those of its tribe, is a substance for strength and elasticity resembling whalebone, divided into two branches, each the thickness of a knitting-needle, that pass, one on each side of the neck, to the hind-head, where they unite, and run up along the skull in a groove, covered with a thin membrane or sheath ; descend into the upper mandible by the right side of the right nostril, and reach to within half an inch of the point of the bill, to which they are attached by another extremely elastic membrane, that yields when the tongue is thrown out, and contracts as it is retracted. In the other Woodpeckers we behold the same apparatus, differing a little in different species. In some these cartilaginous substances reach only to the top of the cranium ; in others they reach to the nostril ; and in one species they are wound round the bone of the right eye, which projects considerably more than the left for its accommodation. The tongue of the Golden-winged Woodpecker, like the others, is also supplied with a viscid fluid, secreted by two glands, that lie under the ear on each side, and are at least five times larger in this species than in any other of its size ; with this the tongue is continually moistened, so that every small insect it touches instantly adheres to it. The tail, in its strength and pointedness, as well as the feet and claws, prove that the bird was designed for climbing ; and in fact I have scarcely ever seen it on a tree five minutes at a time without climbing ; hopping not only up- wards and downwards, but spirally ; pui:suing and playing with its fellow, in this manner, round the body of the tree. I have also seen them a hundred times alight on the trunk of the tree ; though they more fre- quently alight on the branches ; but that they climb, construct like nests, lay the same number, and the like colored eggs, and have the manners and habits of the Woodpeckers, is notorious to every American natural- ist ; while neither in the form of their body, nor any other part, except in the bill being somewhat bent, and the toes placed two before, and two behind, have they the smallest resemblance whatever to the Cuckoo. It may not be improper, however, to observe, that there is another species of Woodpecker, called also Golden- Winged,* which inhabits the. country near the Cape of Good Hope, and resembles the, present, it is said, almost exactly in the color and form of its bill, and in the tint and markings of its plumage ; with this difference, that the moustaches are * Picus cafer, Turton's Linn. GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKEK. 173 red instead of black, and the lower side of the wings, as well as theii shafts, are also red, where the other is golden yellow. It is also con- siderably less. With respect to the habits of this new species, we have no particular account ; but there is little doubt that they will be founa to correspond with the one we are now describing. The abject and degraded character which the Count de Buffon, with equal eloquence and absurdity, has drawn of the whole tribe of Wood- peckers, belongs not to the elegant and sprightly bird now before us. How far it is applicable to any of them will be examined hereafter. He is not " constrained to drag out an insipid existence in boring the bark and hard fibres of trees to extract his prey," for he frequently finds in the loose mouldering ruins of an old stump (the capital of a nation of pismires), more than is sufiicient for the wants of a whole week. He cannot be said to " lead a mean and gloomy life, without an intermission of labor," who usually feasts by the first peep of dawn, and spends the early, and sweetest hours of morning, on the highest peaks of the tallest trees, calling on his mate or companions ; or pursuing and gamboling with them round the larger limbs and body of the tree for hours toge- ther ; for such are really his habits. Can it be said that " necessity never grants an interval of sound repose" to that bird, who, while other tribes are exposed to all the peltings of the midnight storm, lodges dry and secure in a snug chamber of his own constructing ? or that " the narrow circumference of a tree circumscribes Ms dull round of life," who, as seasons and inclination inspire, roams from the frigid to the torrid zone, feasting on the abundance of various regions ? Or is it a proof that " his appetite is never softened by delicacy of taste," because he-so often varies his bill of fare, occasionally preferring to animal food the rich milkiness of young Indian corn, and the wholesome and nourish- ing berries of the Wild Cherry, Sour Gum, and Red Cedar ? Let the reader turn to the faithful representation of him given in the plate, and say whether his looks be " sad and melancholy !" It is truly ridiculous and astonishing that such absurdities should escape the lips or pen of one so able to do justice to the respective merits of every speqies ; but Buffon had too often a favorite theory to prop up, that led him insen- sibly astray ; and so, forsooth, the whole family of Woodpeckers must look sad, sour, and be miserable, to satisfy the caprice of a whimsical philosopher, who takes it into his head that they are, and ought to be, so. « But the count is not the only European who has misrepresented and traduced this beautiful bird. One has given him brown legs,* another a yellow neck ;t a third has declared him a Cuckoo,J and in an English translation of- Linnaeus' s System of Nature, lately published, he is char- * See Encyl. Brit. Art. Picus. t Latham. % Klein. 174 GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. acterized as follows : " transversely striate with black and gray ; chin and breast black ; does not climb trees;"* which is just as correct as if, in describing the human species, we should say — skin striped with black and green ; cheeks blue ; chin orange ; never walks on foot, &c. The pages of natural history should resemble a faithful mirror, in which mankind may recognise the true images of the living originals ; instead of which we find this department of them, too often, like the hazy and rough medium of wretched window-glass, through whose crooked pro- tuberances everything appears so strangely distorted, that one scarcely knows his most intimate neighbors and acquaintance. The Golden-winged Woodpecker has the back and wings above of a dark umber, transversely marked with equidistant streaks of black ; upper part of the head an iron gray ; cheeks and parts surrounding the eyes, a fine cinnamon color ; from the lower mandible a strip of black, an inch in length, passes down each side of the throat, and a lunated spot, of a vivid blood red, covers the hindhead, its two points reaching within half an inch of each eye ; the sides of the neck, below this, in- cline to a bluish gray ; throat and chin a very light cinnamon or fawn color ; the breast is ornamented with a broad crescent of deep black ; the belly and vent white, tinged with yellow, and scattered with innu- merable round spots of black, every feather having a distinct central spot, those on the thighs and vent being heart-shaped and largest ; the lower or inner side of the wing and tail, shafts of all the larger feathers, and indeed of almost every feather, are of a beautiful golden yellow — that on the shafts of the primaries being very distinguishable, even when the wings are shut ; the rump is white, and remarkably prominent ; the tail-coverts white, and curiously serrated with black ; upper side of the tail, and the tip below, black, edged with light loose filaments of a cream color, the two exterior feathers serrated with whitish ; shafts black towards the tips, the two middle ones nearly wholly so ; bill an inch and a half long, of a dusky horn color, somewhat bent, ridged only on the top, tapering, but not to a point, that being a little wedge-formed ; legs and feet light blue ; iris of the eye hazel ; length twelve inches, extent twenty. The female difi"ers from the male chiefly in the greater obscurity of the fine colors, and in wanting the black moustaches on each side of the throat. This description, as well as the drawing, was taken from a very beautiful and perfect specimen. Though this species, generally speaking, is migratory, yet they often remain with us in Pennsylvania during the whole winter. They also in- habit the continent of North America, from Hudson's Bay to Georgia ; and have been found by voyagers on the northwest coast of America. They arrive at Hudson's Bay in April, and leave it in September. Mr. * Turton's Linnseus, vol. i., p. 264. KED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 175 Hearne, however, informs us that the " Grolden-winged Woodpecker is almost the only species of Woodpecker that winters near Hudson's Bay." The natives there call it Ou-ihee-quan-nor-ow, from the golden color of the shafts and lower side of the wings. It has numerous pro- vincial appellations in the different States of the Union, such as " High- hole," from the situation of its nest, and " Hittock," " Tucker," " Pint," "Flicker," by which last it is usually known in Pennsylvania. These names have probably originated from a fancied resemblance of its notes to the sound of the words ; for one of its most common cries consists of two notes or syllables, frequently repeated, which, by the help of the hearer's imagination, may easily be made to resemble any or all of them. Species IV. PIOUS EBYTHROCEPHALUS. EED-HEADED WOODPECKER. [Plate IX. Fig. 1.] Picus erythrocephalus, Linn. Syst. i., 174, 7. — Gmel. Syst. i., 429. — Pic noir d domino rouge, Bufpon, vii., 55. PI. Enl. 117. — Catesbt, I., 20. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 160.— Lath. Syn. ii., 561.* There is perhaps no bird in North America more universally known r.han this. His tri-colored plumage, red, white, and black glossed with steel blue, is so striking, and characteristic ; and his predatory habits in the orchards and corn-fields, added to his numbers, and fondness for hovering along the fences, so very notorious, that almost every child is iicquainted with the Red-headed Woodpecker. In the immediate neigh- borhood of our large cities, where the old timber is chiefly cut down, he is not so frequently found; and yet at this present time, June, 1808, I know of several of their nests, within the boundaries of the city of Philadelphia. Two of these are in button-wood trees {Platanus occi- denialis), and another in the decayed limb of an elm. The old ones, I (ibserve, make their excursions regularly to the woods beyond the Kchuylkill, about a mile distant ; preserving great silence and circum- spection in visiting their nests ; precautions not much attended to by them in the depths of the woods, because there the prying eye of man is less to be dreaded. Towards the mountains, particularly in the vicin- ity of creeks and rivers, these birds are extremely abundant, especially in the latter end of summer. Wherever you travel in the interior, at * We add the following synonymes :— Picus ohscurus, Gmel. Syst. I., 429, young —Lath. Tnd. Orn. 228. — Picus Virginianus erythrocephalus, Bbiss. 4, p. 52. 176 RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. that season, you tear them screaming from the adjoining woods, rattling on the dead limbs of trees or on the fences, where they are perpetually seen flitting from stake to stake, on th-e roadside before you. Wherever there is a tree, or trees, of the wild-cherry, covered with ride fruit, there you see them busy among the branches ; ' and in passing orchards, you may easily know where to find the earliest, sweetest apples, by observ- ing those trees, on or near which the Red-headed Woodpecker is skulk- ing ; for he is so excellent a connoisseur in fruit, that wherever an apple or pear is found broached by him, it is sure to be amongst the ripest and best flavored. When alarmed, he seizes a capital one by striking his open bill deep into it, and bears it ofi" to the woods. When the Indian corn is in its rich, succulent, milky state, he attacks it with great eagerness, opening a passage through the numerous folds of the husk, and feeding on it with voracity. The girdled, or deadened timber, so common among corn-fields, in the back settlements, are his favorite retreats, whence he sallies out to make his depredaiions. He is fond of the ripe berries of the sour gum ; and pays pretty regular visits to the cherry- trees, when loaded with fruit. Towards fall, he often approaches the barn, or farm-house, and raps on the shingles and weather-boards. He is of a gay and frolicksome disposition ; and half a dozen of the frater- nity are frequently seen diving and vociferating around the high dead limbs of some large tree, pursuing and playing with each other, and amusing the passenger with their gambols. Their note or cry is shrill and lively, and so much resembles that of a species of tree frog, which frequents the same tree, that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the one from the other. Such are the vicious traits, if I may so speak, in the character of the Red-headed Woodpecker ; and I doubt not but from what has been said on this subject, that some readers would consider it meritorious to exter- minate the whole tribe, as a nuisance ; and in fact the legislatures of some of our provinces, in former times, off"ered premiums, to the amount of twopence per head, for their destruction.* But let us not condemn the species unheard. They exist; they must therefore be necessary. If their merits and usefulness be found, on examination, to preponderate against their vices, let us avail ourselves of the former, while we guard, as well as we can, against the latter. Though this bird occasionally regales himself on fruit, yet his natu- ral, and most useful, food is insects, particularly those numerous and destructive species that penetrate the bark and body of the tree, to de- posit their eggs and larvae, the latter of which are well known to make immense havoc. That insects are his natural food, is evident from the construction of his wedge-formed bill, the length, elasticity, and figure * Kalm. BED-HEADED "WOODPECKER. 177 of His tongue, and the strength and position of his claws ; as well as from his usual habits. In fact, insects form at least two-thirds of his subsistence ; and his stomach is scarcely ever found without them. He searches for them with a dexterity and intelligence, I may safely say, more than human ; he perceives by the exterior appearance of the bark where they lurk below ; when he is dubious, he rattles vehemently on the outside with his bill, and his acute ear distinguishes the terrified vermin shrinking within to their inmost retreats, where his pointed and barbed tongue soon reaches them. The masses of bugs, caterpillars, and other larvae, which I have taken from the stomachs of these birds, have often surprised me. These larvae, it should be remembered, feed not only on the buds, leaves and blossoms, but on the very vegetable life of the tree, the alburnum, or newly forming bark and wood ; the consequence is, that whole branches, and whole trees, decay, under the silent ravages of these destructive vermin ; witness the late destruction of many hundred acres of pine-trees in the north-eastern parts of South Carolina;* and the thousands of peach-trees that yearly decay from the same cause. Will any one say, that taking half a dozen, or half a hundred, apples from a tree, is equally ruinous with cutting it down ? or, that the services of a useful animal should not be rewarded with a small portion of that which it has contributed to preserve ? We are told, in the benevolent language of the Scriptures, not to muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn; and why should. not the same generous liberality be extended to this useful family of birds, which forms so powerful a phalanx against the inroads of many millions of destructive vermin. The Red-headed Woodpecker is, properly speaking, a bird of passage ; though even in the Eastern States, individuals are found during moderate winters, as well as in the states of New York and Pennsylvania; in Carolina they are somewhat more numerous during that season ; but not one-tenth of what are found in summer. They make their appear- ance in Pennsylvania about the first of May ; and leave us about the mid- dle of October. They inhabit from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and are also found on the western coast of North America. About the mid- dle of May they begin to construct their nests, which, like the rest of the genus, they form in the body, or large limbs, of trees, taking in no materials, but smoothing it within to the proper shape and size. The female lays six eggs, of a pure white ; and the young make their first appearance about the twentieth of June. During the first season, the head and neck of the young birds are blackish gray, which has occa- * In one place, on a tract of two thousand acres of pine land, on the Sampit river, near Georgetown, at least ninety trees in every hundred were destroyed by this pernicious insect, a small, black, winged bug, resembling the weevil, but some- what longer. Vol. I.— 12 178 RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. sioned some European writers to mistake them for females ; the white on the wing is also spotted with black ; but in the succeeding spring they receive their perfect plumage, and the male and female then differ only in the latter being rather smaller, and her colors not quite so vivid ; both have the head and neck deep scarlet ; the bill light blue, black towards the extremity, and strong ; back, primaries, wing-coverts and tail, black, glossed with steel blue; rump, lower part of the back, secondaries, and whole under parts, from the breast downwards, white ; legs and feet bluish green ; claws light blue ; round the eye a dusky nar- row skin, bare of feathers ; iris dark hazel ; total length nine inches and a half, extent seventeen inches. The figure in the plate was drawn and colored from a very elegant living specimen. Notwithstanding the care which this bird, in common with the rest of its genus, takes to place its young beyond the reach of enemies, within the hollows of trees ; yet there is one deadly foe, against whose depre- dation's neither the height of the tree, nor the depth of the cavity, is the least security. This is the Black Snake [Coluber constrictor), who frequently glides up the trunk of the tree, and, like a skulking savage, enters the Woodpecker's peaceful apartment, devours the eggs or help- less young, in spite of the cries and flutterings of the parents ; and, if the place be large enough, coils himself up in the spot they occupied, where he will sometimes remain for several days. The eager school-boy, after hazarding his neck to reach the Woodpecker's hole, at the triumph- ant moment when he thinks the nestlings his own, and strips his arm, lanching it down into the cavity, and grasping what he conceives to be the callow young, starts with horror at the sight of a hideous snake, and almost drops from his giddy pinnacle, retreating down the tree with terror and precipitation. Several adventures of this kind have come to my knowledge ; and one of them that was attended with serious con- sequences ; where both snake and boy fell to the ground ; and a broken thigh, and long confinement, cured the adventurer completely of his ambition for robbing Woodpeckers' nests. Species V. PICUS VARIUS. YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. [Plate IX. Fig. 2.] Picus varius, Linn. Syst. i., 176, 20. — Gmel. Syst. i., 438. — Lepic varie de la Caro- line, Buff, vii., 77. PI. Enl. 785. — Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, Catesb. i., 21: — Arci. Zool. II., No. 166.— Lath. Syn. ii., 574, 20. Id. Sup. p. 109. This beautiful species is one of ^ our resident birds. It visits our orchards in tbe month of October, in great numbers ; is occasionally seen during the whole winter and spring ; but seems to seek the depths of the forest, to rear its young in ; for during summer, it is rarely seen among our settlements ; and even in the intermediate woods, I have seldom met with it in that season. According to Brisson, it inhabits the continent from Cayenne to Virginia ; and I may add, as far as to Hudson's Bay ; where according to Hutchins, they are called Mekisewe Pawpastaow ;* they are also common in the states of Kentucky and Ohio, and have been seen in the neighborhood of St. Louis. They are reckoned by Georgi, among the birds that frequent the Lake Baikal, in Asia,f but their existence there has not been satisfactorily ascertained. The habits of this species are similar to those of the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, with which it generally associates ; and which are both represented in the same plate. The only nest of this bird which I have met with, was in the body of an old pear-tree, about ten or eleven feet from the ground. The hole was almost exactly circular, small for the size of the bird, so that it crept in and out with difficulty, but suddenly widened, descending by a small angle, and then running downwards about fifteen inches. On the smooth solid wood lay four white eggs. This was about the twenty-fifth of May. Having no opportunity of visiting it afterwards, I cannot say whether it added any more eggs to the number ; I rather think it did not, as it appeared, at that time, to be sitting. The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker is eight inches and a half long, and in extent fifteen inches ; whole crown a rich and deep scarlet, bordered with black on each side, and behind forming a slight crest, which it frequently erects ; % from the nostrils, which are thickly covered with * Latham. t Ibid. % This circumstance seems to have been overlooked by naturalists. (179) 180 YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. recumbent hairs, a narrow strip of white runs downward, curving round the breast, mixing with the yellowish white on the lower part of the breast ; throat the same deep scarlet as the crown, bordered with black, proceeding from the lower mandible on each side, and spreading into a broad rounding patch on the breast ; this black, in birds of the first and second year, is dusky gray, the feathers being only crossed with circular touches of black ; a line of white, and below it another of black, proceed, the first from the upper part of the eye, the other from the posterior half of the eye, and both lose themselves on the neck and back ; back dusky yellow, sprinkled and elegantly waved with black ; wings black, with a large oblong spot of white ; the primaries tipped and spotted with white ; the three secondaries, next the body, are also variegated with white ; rump white, bordered with black ; belly yellow ; sides under the wings more dusky yellow, marked with long arrow-heads of black ; legs and feet greenish blue ; tail black, consisting of ten feathers, the two outward feathers, on each side tipped with white, the next totally black, the fourth edged on its inner vane, half way down, with white, the middle one white on its interior vane, and spotted with black ; tongue flat, horny for half an inch at the tip, pointed, and armed along its sides with reflected barbs ; the other extremities of the tongue pass up behind the skull in a groove, and end near the right nostril ; in birds of the first and second year, they reach only to the crown ; bill an inch long, channelled, wedge-formed at the tip, and of a dusky horn color. The female is marked nearly as the male, but wants the scarlet on the throat, which is whitish ; she is also darker under the wings, and on the sides of the breast. The young of the first season, of both sexes, in October, have the crown sprinkled with black and deep scar- let ; the scarlet on the throat may be also observed in the young males. The principal food of these birds is insects ; and they seem particularly fond of frequenting orchards, boring the trunks of the apple-trees, in their eager search after them. On opening them, the liver appears very large, and of a dirty gamboge color ; the stomach strongly mus- cular, and generally filled with fragments of beetles and gravel. In the morning they are extremely active in the orchards, and rather shyer than the rest of their associates. Their cry is also diff'erent, but though it is easily distinguishable in the woods, cannot be described by words. Species VI. PICUS VILLOSUS. HAIRY WOODPECKER. [Plate IX. Fig. 3.] Picus villosus, Linn. Syat. i., 175, 16. — Pic cTievelu de Virginie, Bupfon, tii. 74. — Pic varie mdle de Virginie, PI. enl. 754. — Hairy Woodpecker, Catesbt, i., 13, fig. %~Arct. Zool. II., No. 164.— Lath. Syn. ii., 572, 18. Id. Sup. 108. This is another of our resident birds, and, like the former, a haunter of orchards, and borer of apple-trees, an eager hunter of insects, their eggs and larvae, in old stumps, and old rails, in rotten branches, and crevices of the bark ; having all the characters of the Woodpecker strongly marked. In the month of May, he retires with his mate to the woods, and either seeks out a branch already hollow, or cuts out an opening for himself. In the former case, I have known his nest more than five feet distant from the mouth of the hole ; and in the latter, he digs first horizontally, if in the body of the tree, six or eight inches, and then downwards, obtusely, for twice that distance ; carrying up the chips with his bill, and scraping them out with his feet. They also not unfrequently choose the orchard for breeding in ; and even an old stake of the fence, which they excavate for this purpose. The female lays five white eggs, and hatches in June. This species is more numerous than the last in Pennsylvania, and more domestic ; frequently approach- ing the farm-house, and skirts of the town. In Philadelphia, I have many times observed them examining old ragged trunks of the willow and poplar, while people were passing immediately below. Their cry is strong, shrill and tremulous ; they have also a single note or chuck, which they often repeat, in an eager manner, as they hop about, and dig into the crevices of the trees. They inhabit the continent, from Hudson's Bay to Carolina and Georgia. The Hairy Woodpecker is nine inches long, and fifteen in extent ; crown black ; line over and under the eye white ; the eye is placed in a black line, that widens as it descends to the back ; hind-head scarlet, sometimes intermixed with black ; nostrils hid under remarkably thick, bushy, recumbent hairs or bristles ; under the bill are certain long hairs thrown forward, and upwards, as represented in the figure ; bill a bluish horn color, grooved, wedged at the end, straight, and about an inch and a quarter long ; touches of black, proceeding from the lower man- dible, end in a broad black stripe, that joins the black on the shoulder ; {181) 182 HAIRY WOODPECKER. back black, divided by a broad lateral strip of white, the feathers com- posing which are loose and unwebbed, resembling hairs, whence its name ; rump and shoulders of the wing, black ; wings black, tipped and spotted with white, three rows of spots being visible on the secondaries, and five on the primaries ; greater wing-coverts also spotted with white ; tail as in the others, cuneiform, consisting of ten strong-shafted and pointed feathers, the four middle ones black, the next partially white, the two exterior ones white, tinged at the tip with a brownish burnt color ; tail-coverts black ; whole lower side pure white ; legs, feet and claws, light blue, the latter remarkably large and strong ; inside of the mouth flesh-colored ; tongue pointed, beset with barbs, and capable of being protruded more than an inch and a half; the 08 hyoides, in this species, pass on each side of the neck, ascend the skull, pass down toward the nostril, and are wound round the bone of the right eye, which projects considerably more than the left for its accommodation. The great mass of hairs, that cover the nostril, appears to be designed as a protection to the front of the head, when the bird is cQgaged in digging holes into the wood. The membrane, which encloses the brain, in this, as in all the other species of Woodpeckers, is also of extraordinary strength, no doubt to prevent any bad effects from violent concussion, while the bird is employed in digging for food. • The female wants the red on the hind-head ; and the white below is tinged with brownish. The manner of flight of these birds has been already described, under a former species, as consisting of alternate risings and sinkings. The Hairy Woodpeckers generally utter a loud tremulous scream, as they set off, and when they alight. They are hard to kill, and, like the Eed- headed Woodpecker, hang by the claws, even of a single foot, as long as a spark of life remains, before they drop. This species is common at Hudson's Bay ; and has lately been found in England. Dr. Latham examined a pair, which were shot near Halifax, in Yorkshire ; and on comparing the male with one brought from North America, could perceive no difference, but in a slight interruption of the red that marked the hind-head of the former ; a circumstance which I have frequently observed in our own. The two females corresponded exactly. Species VII. PICUS PUBESCEN8. DOWNY WOODPECKER. [Plate IX. Fig. 4.] Picus pubescens, Linn. Sysi. i., 175, 15. — Gmel. Sysi. i., 435. — Petit Pic varie de Virginie, Bufpon, til, 76. — Smallest Woodpecker, Catesb. i., 21. — Arct. Zool. II., No. 165. — Little Woodpecker, Lath. Syn. ii., 573, 19. Id. Sup. 109. This is the smallest of our Woodpeckers, and so exactly resembles the former in its tints and markings, and in almost everything, except its diminutive size, that I -wonder how it passed through the Count de Buffon's hands, without being branded a,s " a spurious race, degenerated by the influence of food, climate, or some unknown cause." But though it has escaped this infamy, charges of a much more heinous nature have been brought against it, not only by the writer above-mentioned, but by the whole venerable body of zoologists in Europe, who have treated of its history, viz. that it is almost constantly boring and digging into apple-trees ; and that it is the most destructive of its whole genus to the orchards. The first part of this charge I shall not pretend to deny ; how far the other is founded in truth will appear in the sequel. Like the two former species, it remains with us the whole year. About the middle of May, the male and female look out for a suitable place for the reception of their eggs and young. An apple, pear or cherry tree, often in the near neighborhood of the farm-house, is generally pitched upon for this purpose. The tree is minutely reconnoitred for several days, previous to the operation, and the work is first begun by the male, who cuts out a hole in the solid wood, as circular as if described with a pair of compasses. He is occasionally relieved by the female, both parties working with the most indefatigable diligence. The direction of the hole, if made in the body of the tree, is generally downwards, by an angle of thirty or forty degrees, for the distance of six or eight inches, and then straight down for ten or twelve more ; within roomy, capacious, and as smooth as if polished by the cabinet-maker ; but the entrance is judiciously left just so large as to admit the body of the owner. During this labor, they regularly carry out the chips, often strewing them at a distance to prevent suspicion. This operation some- times occupies the chief part of a week. Before she begins to lay, the female often visits the place, passes out and in, examines every part, both of the exterior and interior, with great attention, as every pru- (183) 184 DOWNY WOODPECKER. dent tenant of a new house ought to do, and at length takes complete possession. The eggs are generally six, pure white, and laid on the smooth bottom of the cavity. The male occasionally supplies the female with food, while she is sitting ; and about the last week in June, the young are perceived making their way up the tree, climbing with considerable dexterity. All this goes on with great regularity, where no interruption is met with ; but the House Wren, who also builds in the hollow of a tree, but who is neither furnished with the necessary tools, nor strength for excavating such an apartment for himself, allows the Woodpeckers to go on, till he thinks it will answer his purpose, then attacks him with violence and generally succeeds in driving them off. I saw, some weeks ago, a striking example of this, where the Wood- peckers we are now describing, after commencing in a cherry-tree, within a few yards of the house, and having made considerable progress, were turned out by the Wren : the former began again on a pear-tree in the garden, fifteen or twenty yards off, whence, after digging out a most complete apartment, and one egg being laid, they were once more assaulted by the same impertinent intruder, and finally forced to abandon the place. The principal characteristics of this little bird are diligence, famil- iarity, perseverance, and a strength and energy in the head, and muscles of the neck, which are truly astonishing. Mounted on the infected branch of an old apple-tree, where insects have lodged their corroding and destructive brood, in the crevices between the bark and wood, he labors, sometimes for half an hour, incessantly at the same spot, before ■ he has succeeded in dislodging and destroying them. At these times you may walk up pretty close to the tree, and even stand immediately below it, within five or six feet of the bird, without in the least embar- rassing him ; the strokes of his bill are distinctly heard several hundred yards off ; and I have known him to be at work for two hours together on the same tree. Buffon calls this, "incessant toil and slavery," — their attitude, " a painful posture," — and their life, " a dull and insipid existence;" expressions improper, because untrue; and absurd, because contradictory. The posture is that for which the whole organization of his frame is particularly adapted ; and though to a Wren, or a Humming-bird, the labor would be both toil and slavery, yet to him it is, I am convinced, as pleasant, and as amusing, as the sports of the chase to the hunter, or the sucking of flowers to the Humming-bird. The eagerness with which he traverses the upper and lower sides of the branches ; the cheerfulness of his cry, and the liveliness of his motions while digging into the tree, and dislodging the vermin, justify this belief. He has a single note, or chink, which, like the former species, he frequently repeats. And when he flies off, or alights on another tree, he utters a rather shriller cry, composed DOWNY WOODPECKER. 185 of nearly the same kind of note, quickly reiterated. In fall and ■winter, he associates ■with the Titmouse, Creeper, &c., both in their ■wood and orchard excursions ; and usually leads the van. Of all our Woodpeckers, none rid the apple-trees of so many vermin as this, digging off the moss, ■which the negligence of the proprietor had suffered to accumulate, and probing every crevice. In fact, the orchard is his favorite resort in all seasons; and his industry is unequalled, and almost incessant, ■which is more than can be said of any other species we have. In fall, he is particularly fond of boring the apple- trees for insects, digging a circular hole through the bark, just sufficient to admit his bill, after that a second, third, &c., in pretty regular horizontal circles round the body of the tree ; these parallel circles of holes are often not more than an inch, or an inch and a half, apart, and sometimes so close together, that I have covered eight or ten of them at once ■with a dollar. From nearly the surface of the ground, up to the first fork, and sometimes far beyond it, the whole bark of many apple- trees is perforated in this manner, so as to appear as if made by successive discharges of buck-shot; and our little Woodpecker, the subject of the present account, is the principal perpetrator of this supposed mischief. I say supposed, for so far from these perforations of the bark being ruinous, they are not only harmless, but, I have good reason to believe, really beneficial to the health and fertility of the tree. I leave it to the philosophical botanist to account for this ; but the fact I am confident of. In more than fifty orchards, which I have myself carefully examined, those trees which were marked by the Woodpecker (for some trees they never touch, perhaps because not "penetrated by insects), ■were uniformly the most thriving, and seemingly the most pro- ductive ; many of these were upwards of sixty years old, their trunks completely covered with holes, ■while the branches were broad, luxuri- ant, and loaded with fruit. Of decayed trees, more than three-fourths were untouched by the Woodpecker. Several intelligent farmers, with whom I have conversed, candidly acknowledge the truth of these observations, and with justice look upon these birds as beneficial ; but the most common opinion is, that they bore the tree to suck the sap, and so destroy its vegetation ; though pine and other resinous trees, on the juices of which it is not pretended they feed, are often found equally perforated. Were the sap of the tree their object, the saccharine juice of the birch, the sugar-maple, and several others, would be much more inviting, because more sweet_ and nourishing, than that of either the pear or apple-tree ; but I have not observed one mark on the former, for ten thousand that ma,j be seen on the latter ; besides, the early part of spring is the season when the sap flows most abundantly ; where- as it is only during the months of September, October, and November, that Woodpeckers are seen so indefatigably engaged in orchards, probing 186 DOWNY WOODPECKER. every crack and crevice, boring through the bark, and, what is worth remarking, chiefly on the south and south-west sides of the tree, for the eggs and larvae deposited there, by the countless swarms of summer insects. These, if sufi"ered to remain, would prey upon the very vitals, if I may so express it, of the tree, and in the succeeding summer, give birth to myriads more of their race, equally destructive. Here then is a whole species, I may say genus, of birds, which Pro- vidence seems to have formed for the protection of our fruit and forest trees, from the ravages of vermin ; which every day destroy millions of those noxious insects, that would otherwise blast the hopes of the husbandman ; and which even promote the fertility of the tree ; and, in return, are proscribed by those who ought to have been their pro- tectors ; and incitements and rewards held out for their destruction ! Let us examine better into the operations of nature, and many of our mistaken opinions, and groundless prejudices, will be abandoned for more just, enlarged, and humane modes of thinking. The length of the Downy Woodpecker is six inches ' and three- quarters, and its extent twelve inches ; crown black ; hind-head deep scarlet ; stripe over the eye white ; nostrils thickly covered with re- cumbent hairs, or small feathers, of a cream color : these, as in the preceding species, are thick and bushy, as if designed to preserve the forehead from injury during the violent action of digging ; the back is black, and divided by a lateral strip of white, loose, downy, unwebbed feathers ; wings black, spotted with white ; tail-coverts, rump, and four middle feathers of the tail, black ; the other three on each side white, crossed with touches of black ; whole under parts, as well as the sides of the neck, white ; the latter marked with a streak of black, proceed- ing from the lower mandible, exactly as in the Hairy Woodpecker ; legs and feet bluish green ; claws light blue, tipped with black ; tongue formed like that of the preceding species, horny towards the tip, where for one-eighth of an inch it is barbed; bill of a bluish horn color, grooved, and wedge-formed, like most of the genus ; eye dark hazel. The female wants the red on the hind-head, having that part white ; and the breast and belly are of a dirty white. This, and the two former species, are generally denominated Sap- suckers ; they have also several other provincial appellations, equally absurd, which it may, perhaps, be more proper to suppress, than to sanction by repeating. Species VIII. PIOUS QUERULUS. RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER. [Plate XV. Fig. 1.] This new species I first discovered in the pine woods of North Caro- lina. The singularity of its voice, which greatly resembles the chirping of young nestlings, and the red streak on the side of its head, suggested the specific name I have given it. It also extends through South Caro- lina and Georgia, at least as far as the Altamaha river. Observing the first specimen I found to be so slightly marked with red, I suspected it to be a young bird, or imperfect in its plumage, but the great numbers I afterwards shot, satisfied me that this is a peculiarity of the species. It appeared exceedingly restless, active, and clamorous; and every- where I found its manners the same. This bird seems to be an intermediate link between the Red-bellied and the Hairy Woodpecker, represented in Plates VII. and IX. of this work. It has the back of the former, and the white belly and spotted neck of the latter ; but wants the breadth of red in both, and is less than either. A preserved specimen has been deposited in the Museum of this city. This Woodpecker is seven inches and a half long, and thirteen broad ; the upper part of the head is black ; the back barred with twelve white, transversely, 'semicircular lines, and as many of black, alternately ; the cheeks and sides of the neck are white ; whole lower parts the same ; from the lower mandible, a list of black passes towards the shoulder of the wing, where it is lost in small black spots on each side of the breast ; the wings are black, spotted with white ; the four middle tail feathers black, the rest white spotted with black ; rump black, variegated with white ; the vent white, spotted with black ; the hairs that cover the nos- trils are of a pale cream color ; the bill deep slate ; but what forms the most distinguishing peculiarity of this bird, is a fine line of vermilion, on each side of the head, seldom occupying more than the edge of a single feather. The female is destitute of this ornament ; but in the rest of her plumage difi"ers in nothing from the male. The iris of the eye, in both, was hazel. The stomachs of all those I opened were filled with small black in- sects, and fragments of large beetles. The posterior extremities of the tongue reached nearly to the base of the upper mandible. (187) Species IX. PIOUS TOBQUATUS. LEWIS'S WOODPECKER. [Plate XX. Fig. 3.] Of this very beautiful, and singularly marked, species, I am unable to give any farther account than as relates to its external appearance. Several skins of this species were preserved ; all of which I examined with care ; and found little or no difference among them, either in the tints or disposition of the colors. The length of this was eleven inches and a half; the back, wings, and tail, were black, with a strong gloss of green ; upper part of the head the same ; front, chin, and cheeks, beyond the eyes, a dark rich red : round the neck passes a broad collar of white, which spreads over the breast, and looks as if the fibres of the feathers had been silvered ; these feathers are also of a particular structure, the fibres being separate, and of a hair-like texture ; belly deep vermilion, and of the same strong hair-like feathers, intermixed with silvery ones ; vent black ; legs and feet dusky, inclining to greenish blue ; bill dark horn color. For a more particular, and, doubtless, a more correct account of this, and the two preceding species,* the reader is referred to General Clark's History of the Expedition, now preparing for the press. The three birds I have here introduced, are but a, small part of the valuable col- lection of new subjects in natural history, discovered, and preserved, amidst a thousand dangers and diflSculties, by th#se two enterprising travellers, whose intrepidity was only equalled by their discretion, and by their active and laborious pursuit of whatever might tend to render their journey useful to science and to their country. It was the request, and particular wish, of Captain Lewis, made to me in person, that I should make drawings of such of the feathered tribes as had been pre- served, and were new. That brave soldier, that amiable and excellent man, over whose solitary grave in the wilderness I have since shed tears of afiliction, having been cut off in the prime of his life, I hope I shall be pardoned for consecrating this humble note to his memory, until a more able pen shall do better justice to the subject. * Wilson here alludes to Clark's Crow, and the Louisiana Tanager, both of which are figured in the same plate with Lewis's Woodpecker. (188) Species X. PICUS CABOLINUS. RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. [Plate VII. Fig. 2.] Picus Carolinus, Linn. Syst. i., 174, 10. — Pic varie de la Jamaique, Bupfon, til, 72, PI. Enl. 597. — Picus varius medius Jamaicensis, Sloan. Jam. 299, 15. — Ja- maica Woodpecker, Bdw. 244. — Catesb. i., 19, fig. 2. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 161. — Lath. Syn. ii., 570, 17. Id. 571, 17. A. Id. B. — Pic raye de la Louisiane, Buff. VII., 73, PI. Enl. 692. This species possesses all the restless and noisy habits so characteris- tic of its tribe. It is more shy, and less domestic, than the Red-headed Woodpecker, (P. erythroee.phalus), or any of the other spotted Wood- peckers. It is also more solitary. It prefers the largest, high-timbered woods, and tallest decayed trees of the forest ; seldom appearing near the ground, on the fences, or in orchards, or open fields ; yet where the trees have been deadened, and stand pretty thick, in fields of Indian corn, as is common in new settlements, I have observed it to be very numerous ; and have found its stomach sometimes completely filled with that grain. Its voice is hoarser than any of the others ; and its usual note, ehow, has often reminded me of the barking of a little lap-dog. It is a most expert climber, possessing -extraordinary strength in the muscles of its feet and claws, and moves about the body, and horizontal limbs, of the trees, with equal facility in all directions. It rattles, like the rest of the tribe, on the dead limbs, and with such violence as to be heard, in still weather, more than half a mile ofi"; and listens to hear the insects it has alarmed. In the lower side of some lofty branch, that makes a considerable angle with the horizon, the male and female, in conjunction, dig out a circular cavity for their nest, sometimes out of the solid wood, but more generally into a hollow limb, twelve or fifteen inches above where it becomes solid. This is usually performed early in April. The female lays five eggs, of a pure white, or almost semi- transparent ; and the young generally make their appearance towards the latter end of May, or beginning of June, climbing up to the higher parts of the tree, being as yet unable to fly. In this situation they are fed for several days, and often become the prey of the Hawks. From seeing the old ones continuing their caresses after this period, I believe that they often, and perhaps always, produce two broods in a season. During the greater part of the summer, the young have the ridge of the (189) 190 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. neck and head of a dull brownisli ash ; and a male of the third year has received his complete colors. The Eed-bellied Woodpecker is ten inches in length, and seventeen in extent ; the bill is nearly an inch and a half in length, wedged at the point, but not quite so much grooved as some others, strong, and of a bluish-black color ; the nostrils are placed in one of these grooves, and covered with curving tufts of light brown hairs, ending in black points ; the feathers on the front stand more erect than usual, and are of a dull yellowish red ; from thence along the whole upper part of the head and neck, down the back, and spreading round to the shoulders, is of the most brilliant golden glossy red ; the whole cheeks, line over the eye, and under side of the neck, is a pale buff color, which on th'j breast and belly deepens into a yellowish ash, stained on the belly with a blood red ; the vent and thigh feathers are dull white, marked down their cen- tres with heart-formed, and long arrow-pointed, spots of black. The back is black, crossed with transverse curving lines of white ; the wings are also black, the lesser wing-coverts circularly tipped, and the whole primaries and secondaries beautifully crossed with bars of white, and also tipped with the same ; the rump is white, interspersed with touches of black ; the tail-coverts white near their extremities ; the tail consists of ten feathers, the two middle ones black, their interior webs or vanes white, crossed with diagonal spots of black ; these, when the edges of the two feathers just touch, coincide, and form heart-shaped spots ; a narrow sword-shaped line of white runs up the exterior side of the shafts of the same feathers ; the next four feathers, on each side, are black, the outer edges of the exterior oneg barred with black and white, which, on the lower side, seems to cross the whole vane as in the figure ; the extremities of the whole tail, except the outer feather, are black, sometimes touched with yellowish or cream color ; the legs and feet are of a bluish green, and the iris of the eye red. The tongue, or OS liyoides, passes up over the hind-head, and is attached by a very elastic retractile membrane, to the base of the right nostril ; the ex- tremity of the tongue is long, horny, very pointed, and thickly edged with barbs, the other part of the tongue is worm-shaped. In several specimens, I found the stomach nearly filled with pieces of a species of fungus, that grows on decayed wood, and in all with great numbers of insects, seeds, gravel, &c. &c. The female differs from the male, in having the crown, for an inch, of a fine ash, and the black not so intense ; the front is reddish as in the male, and the whole hind-head, down to the back, likewise of the same rich red as his. In the bird, from which this latter description was taken, I found a large cluster of minute eggs, to the number of fifty or upwards, in the beginning of the month of Llarch. This species inhabits a large extent of country, in all of which it WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 191 seems to be resident, or nearly so. I found them abundant in Upper Canada, and in the northern parts of the state of New York, in the month of November ; they also inhabit the whole i^tlantic states as far as Georgia, and the southern extremity of Florida; as well as the interior parts of the United States, as far west as Chilicothe, in the state of Ohio, and, according to Buffon, Louisiana. They are said to be the only Woodpeckers found in Jamaica ; though I question whether this be correct ; and to be extremely fond of the capsicum, or Indian pepper.* They are certainly much hardier birds, and capable of sub- sisting on coarser, and more various fare, and of sustaining a greater degree of cold, than several others of our Woodpeckers. They are active and vigorous ; and being almost continually in search of insects, that injure our forest trees, do not seem to deserve the injurious epithets that almost all writers have given them. It is true, they frequently perforate the timber in pursuit of these vermin, but this is almost always in dead and decaying parts of the tree, which are the nests and nurseries of millions of destructive insects. Considering matters in this light I do not think their services overpaid by all the ears of Indian corn they consume ; and would protect them within my own premises as being more useful than injurious. Genus XXV. SITTA. NUTHATCH. Specieb I. S. CAROLINENSIS. WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. [Plate II. Fig. 3.] Sitta CaroUnensis, Briss. iir., p. 596. — Catesb. i., 22, fig. 2. — Lath, i., 650, B. — Sitta Europea, Gray hlack-capped Nuthatch, Bartram, p. 289. The bill of this bird is black, the upper mandible straight, the lower one rounded upwards, towards the point, and white near the base ; the nostrils are covered with long curving black hairs ; the tongue is of a horny substance, and ending in several sharp points ; the general color above is of a light blue or lead ; the tail consists of twelve feathers, the two middle ones lead color, the next three are black, tipped with white for one-tenth, one-fourth, and half of an inch ; the two next are also black, tipped half an inch or more with white, which runs nearly an inch up their exterior edges, and both have the white at the tips touched with black ; the legs are of a purple or dirty flesh color ; tlie * Sloane. 192 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. hind claw is mucli the largest ; the inside of the wing at the bend is black ; below this is a white spot spreading over the roots of the first five primaries ; the whole length is five inches and a half, extent eleven. Mr. Pennant considers this bird as a mere variety of the European Nuthatch; but if difference in size, color and habits, be sufficient characteristics of a distinct species, this bird is certainly entitled to be considered as such. The head and back of the European species is of a uniform bluish gray ; the upper parts of the head, neck, and shoulders of ours are a deep black, glossed with green ; the breast and belly of the former is a dull orange, with streaks of chestnut, those parts in the latter are pure white. The European has a line of black passing through the eye, half way down the neck ; the present species has nothing of the kind; but appears with the inner webs of the three shortest secondaries, and the primaries, of a jet black ; the latter tipped with white, and the vent and lower parts of the thighs of a rust color ; the European therefore, and the present, are evidently two distinct and different species. This bird builds its nest early in April, in the hole of a tree ; in a hollow rail in the fence ; and sometimes in the wooden cornice under the eaves ; and lays five eggs, of a dull white, spotted with brown at the greater end. The male is extremely attentive to the female while sit- ting, supplying her regularly with sustenance, stopping frequently at the mouth of the hole, calling and offering her what he has brought, in the most endearing manner. Sometimes he seems to stop merely to in- quire how she is, and to lighten the tedious moments with his soothing chatter. He seldom rambles far from the spot, and when danger appears, regardless of his own safety, he flies instantly to alarm her. When both are feeding on the trunk of the same tree, or of adjoining ones, he is perpetually calling on her ; and, from the momentary pause he makes, it is plain that he feels pleased to hear her reply. The White-breasted Nuthatch is common almost everywhere in the woods of North America ; and may be known at a distance by the notes quanJc, quanh, frequently repeated, as he moves upward and down, in spiral circles, around the body, and larger branches, of the tree, prob- ing behind the thin scaly bark of the white-oak, and shelling off con- • siderable pieces of it, in search after spiders, ants, insects and their larvse. He rests and roosts with his head downwards ; and appears to possess a degree of curiosity not common to many birds ; frequently descending, very silently, within a few feet of the root of the tree where you happen to stand, stopping, head downward, stretching out his neck in a horizontal position, as if to reconnoitre your appearance ; and after several minutes of silent observation, wheeling round, he again mounts, with fresh activity, piping his unisons as before. Strongly attached to his native forests, he seldom forsakes them ; and amidst the WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 193 rigors of the severest winter weather, his note is still heard in the bleak and leafless woods, and among the howling branches. Sometimes the rain, freezing as it falls, encloses every twig, and even the trunk of the tree, in a hard transparent coat or shell of ice. On these occasions, I have observed his anxiety and dissatisfaction, at being with difficulty able to make his way along the smooth surface ; at these times generally abandoning the trees, gleaning about the stables around the house, mix- ing among the fowls, entering the barn, and examining the beams and rafters, and every place where he may pick up a subsistence. The name Nuthatch has been bestowed on this family of birds from their supposed practice of breaking nuts by repeated hatchings, or ham- merings with their bills. Soft-shelled nuts, such as chestnuts, chinko- pins, and hazel-nuts, they may probably be able to demolish, though I have never yet seen them so engaged ; but it must be rather in sealrch of maggots that sometimes breed there, than for the kernel. It is how- ever said that they lay up a large store of nuts for winter ; but as I have never either found any of their magazines, or seen them collecting them, I am inclined to doubt the fact. From the great numbers I have opened at all seasons of the year, I have every reason to believe that ants, small seeds, insects and their larvae, form their chief subsistence, such matters alone being uniformly found in their stomachs. Neither can I see what necessity they could have to circumambulate the trunks of trees, with such indefatigable and restless diligence, while bushels of nuts lay scattered round their roots. As to the circumstance mentioned by Dr. Plott, of the European Nuthatch " putting its bill into a crack in the bough of a tree, and making such a violent sound, as if it was rending asunder," this, if true, would be sufficient to distinguish it from the species we have- been just describing, which possesses no such faculty. The female differs little from the male in color, chiefly in the black being less deep on the head and wings. Vol. I.— 13 Species II. SITTA YARIA. KED-BELLIED NUTHATCH. [Plate II. Fig. 4.] SiUa Canadensis, Briss. hi., p. 592. — Small Nuthatch, Lath, i., 651. — Sitta Varia, Bart. p. 289. This bird is mucli smaller than the last, measuring only four inches and a half in length, and eight inches in extent. In the form of its bill, tongue, nostrils, and in the color of the back and tail-feathers, it exactly agrees with the former ; the secondaries are not relieved with the deep black of the other species, and the legs, feet, and claws, are of a dusky greenish yellow ; the upper part of the head is black, bounded by a stripe of white passing round the frontlet ; a line of black passes through the eye to the shoulder ; below this is another line of white ; the chin is white ; the other under parts a light rust color ; the primaries and whole wings a dusky lead color. The breast and belly of the female is not of so deep a brown, and the top of the head less intensely black. This species is migratory, passing from the north, where they breed, to the southern states in October, and returning in April. Its voice is sharper, and its motions much quicker than those of the other, being so rapid, restless and small, as to make it a difficult .point to shoot one of them. When the two species are in the woods together, they are easily distinguished by their voices, the note of the least being nearly an oc- tave sharper than that of its companion, and repeated more hurriedly. In other respects their notes are alike unmusical and monotonous. Ap- proaching so near to each other in their colors and general habits, it is probable that their mode of building, &c., may be also similar. Buifon's Torchepot du Canada, Canada Nuthatch of other European writers, is either a young bird of the present species, in its imperfect plumage, or a different sort that rarely visits the United States. If the figure (PI. Enl. 623) be correctly colored, it must be the latter, as the tail and head appear of the same bluish gray or lead color as the back. The young birds of this species, it may be observed, have also the crown of a lead color during the first season ; but the tail-feathers are marked nearly as those of the old ones. Want of precision in the figures and descriptions of these authors, makes it difficult to determine ; but I think it very probable, that Sitta Jamaicensis minor, Briss. ; the Least (194) BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH. I95 Loggerhead of Brown, Sitta Jamaicensia, Linn. ; and Sitta Uanadensis of Linn., Gmel., and Briss., are names that have been originally applied to different individuals of the species- we are now describing. This bird is particularly fond of" the seeds of pine-trees. You may traverse many thousand acres of oak, hickory and chestnut woods, dur- ing winter, without meeting with a single individual ; but no sooner do you enter among the pines than, if the air be still, you have only to listen for a few moments, and their note will direct • you where to find them. They usually feed in pairs, climbing about in all directions, generally accompanied by the former spefcies, as well as by the Black- Capped Titmouse, Parus atricapillus, and the Crested Titmouse, Parus bicolor, and not unfrequently by the small Spotted Woodpecker, Picus pubescens ; the whole company proceeding regularly from tree to tree through the woods, like a corps of pioneers ; while in a calm day the rattling of their bills, and the rapid motions of their bodies, thrown like so many tumblers and rope-dancers into numberless positions, toge- ther with the peculiar chatter of each, are altogether very amusing ; conveying the idea of hungry diligence, bustle and activity. Both these little birds, from the great quantity of destructive insects and larvae they destroy, both under the bark, and among the tender buds of our fruit and forest trees, are entitled to, and truly deserving of, our esteem and protection. Species III. SITTA PUSILLA. BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH. [Plate XV. Fig. 2.] Sitta pusilla, Lath. Ind. Orn. 263. — Small Nuthatch, Catesbt, Car. i., 22, upper figure. — La Petite Siiielle d tete brune, Burr, v., 474, — Bkiss. hi., 598. — Lath. I., 661, C. This bird 'is chiefly an inhabitant of Virginia, and the southern states, and seems particularly fond of pine-trees. I have never yet discovered it either in Pennsylvania, or any of the regions north of this. Its manners are very similar to those of the Eed-bellied Nuthatch, represented in Plate II. of this work ; but its notes are more shrill and chirping. In the countries it inhabits it is a constant resident ; and in winter associates with parties, of eight or ten, of its own species, who hunt busily from tree to tree, keeping up a perpetual screeping. It is a frequent companion of the Woodpecker figured beside it ; and you rarely find the one in the woods without observing or hearing the other 196 BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH. not far off. It climbs equally in every direction, on the smaller branches, as well as on the body of the tree, in search of its favorite food, small insects and their larvse. It also feeds on the seeds of the pine-tree. I have never met with its nest. This species is four inches and a quarter long, and eight broad ; the whole upper part of the head and neck, from the bill to the back, and as far down as the eyes, is light brown, or pale ferruginous, shaded with darker touches, with the exception of a spot of white near the back ; from the nostril through the eyes the brown is deepest, making a very observable line there ; the chin, and sides of the neck, under the eyes, are white ; the wings dusky ; the coverts and three secondaries next the body a slate or lead color ; which is also the color of the rest of the upper parts ;, the tail is nearly even at the end, the two middle feathers slate color, the others black, tipped with slate, and crossed diagonally with a streak of white ; legs and feet dull bltie ; upper mandible black, lower blue at the base ; iris hazel. The female differs in having the brown on the head rather darker, and the line through the eye less conspicuous. This diminutive bird is little noticed in history, and what little has been said of it, by Europeans, is not much to its credit. It is charac- terized as " a very stupid bird," which may easily be knocked down, from the sides of the tree, with one's cane. I confess I found it a very dexterous climber ; and so rapid and restless in its motions, as to be shot with difficulty. Almost all very small birds seem less suspicious of man than large ones ; but that activity and restless diligence should consti- tute stupidity, is rather a new doctrine. Upon the whole, I am of opinion, that a person who should undertake the destruction of these birds, at even a dollar a head for all he knocked down with his cane, would run a fair chance of starving by his profession. Genus XXIV. ALCEDO. KINGFISHER. Species. A. ALCTON. BELTED KINGFISHER. [Plate XXIII. Kg. 1— Female.] Bartram, p. 289.— TuBTON, p. 278.* This is a general inhabitant of the banks and shores of all our fresh- water rivers from Hudson's Bay to Mexico ; and is the only species of its tribe found within the United States. This last circumstance, and its characteristic appearance, make it as universally known here, as its elegant little brother, the common Kingfisher of Europe, is in Britain. Like the love-lorn swains of whom poets tell us, he delights in murmur- ing streams and falling waters ; not however merely that they may soothe his ear, but for a gratification somewhat more substantial. Amidst the roar of the cataract, or over the foam of a torrent, he sits perched upon an overhanging bough, glancing his piercing eye in every direction be- low for his scaly prey, which with a sudden circular plunge he sweeps from their native element, "and swallows in an instant. His voice, which is not unlike the twirling of a watchman's rattle, is naturally loud, harsh, and sudden ; but is softened by the sound of the brawling streams and cascades among which he generally rambles. He courses along the windings of the brook or river, at a small height above the surface, sometimes suspending himself by the rapid action of his wings, like cer- tain species of Hawks, ready to pounce on the fry below ; now and then settling on an old dead overhanging limb to reconnoitre. Mill-dams are particularly visited by this feathered fisher ; and the sound of his pipe is as well known to the miller as the rattling of his own hopper. Rapid streams, with high perpendicular banks, particularly if they be of a hard clayey or sandy nature, are also favorite places of resort for this bird ; Dot only because in such places the small fish are more exposed to view ; but because those steep and dry banks are the chosen situations for his nest. Into these he digs with bill and claws, horizontally, sometimes to the extent of four or five feet, at the distance of a foot or two from the surface. The few materials he takes in are not always placed at the * We add the following synonymes : — Alcedo alcyon, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, vol. i., 115._Gmel. Syst. i., 451.— Lath. Ind. Orn. 257.— Catesby, i., 69.— Buff. PI. Enl. 593-715. (197) 198 BELTED KINGFISHER. extremity of the hole ; that he and his mate may have room to turn with convenience. The eggs are five, pure white, and the first brood usually comes out about the beginning of June, and sometimes sooner, according to that part of the country where they reside. On the shores of Kentucky river, near the town of Frankfort, I found the female sit- ting early in April. They are very tenacious of their haunts, breeding for several successive years in the same hole, and do not readily forsake it, even though it be visited. An intelligent young gentleman informed me, that having found where a Kingfisher built, he took away its eggs, from time to time, leaving always one behind, until he had taken no less than eighteen from the same nest. At some of these visits, the female being within, retired to the extremity of the hole while he withdrew the egg, and next day, when he returned, he found she had laid again as usual. The fabulous stories related by the ancients of the nest, manner of hatching, &c., of the Kingfisher, are too trifling to be repeated here. Over the winds and the waves the humble Kingfishers of our days, at least the species now before us, have no control. Its nest is neither con- structed of glue nor fish-bones ; but of loose grass and a few feathers. It is not thrown oh the surface of the water to float about, with its pro- prietor, at random ; but snugly secured from the winds and the weather in the recesses of the earth ; neither is its head or its feathers believed, even by the most illiterate of our clowns and seamen, to be a charm for love, a protection against witchcraft, or a security for fair weather. It is neither venerated like those of the Society Isles, nor dreaded like those of some other countries ; but is considered merely as a bird that feeds on fish ; is generally fat ; relished by some as good eating ; and is now and then seen exposed for sale in our markets. Though the Kingfisher generally remains with us, in Pennsylvania, until the commencement of cold weather, it is seldom seen here in winter ; but returns to us early in April. In North and South Carolina, I observed numbers of these birds in the months of February and March. I also frequently noticed them on the shores of the Ohio, in February, as high up as the mouth of the Muskingum. I suspect this bird to be a native of the Bahama Islands, as well as of our continent. In passing between these isles and the Florida shore, in the month of July, a Kingfisher flew several times round our ship, and afterwards shot ofi" to the south. The length of this species is twelve inches and a half, extent twenty ; back and whole upper parts a light bluish slate color ; round the neck is a collar of pure white, which reaches before to the chin ; head large, crested, the feathers long and narrow, black in the centre, and generally erect; the shafts of all the feathers, except the white plumage, are black; belly and vent white; sides under the wings variegated with BROWN CKEEPBR. 199 blue ; round the upper part of the breast passes a band of blue, inter- spersed with some light brown feathers ; before the eye is a small spot of white, and another immediately below it ; the bill is three inches long, from the point to the slit of the mouth, strong, sharp pointed, and black, except near the base of the lower mandible, and at the tip, where it is of a horn color ; primaries, and interior webs of the seconda- ries, black, spotted with white ; the interior vanes of the tail feathers elegantly spotted with white on a jet black ground; lower side light colored; exterior vanes blue; wing-coverts and secondaries marked with small specks of white; legs extremely short; when the bird perches it generally rests on the lower side of the second joint, which is thereby thick and callous ; claws stout and black ; whole leg of a dirty yellowish color ; above the knee bare of feathers for half an inch ; the two exterior toes united together for nearly their whole length. The female is sprinkled all over with specks of white ; the band of blue around the upper part of the breast is nearly half reddish brown ; and a little below this passes a band of bright reddish bay, spreading on each side under the wings. The blue and rufous feathers on the breast are strong like scales. The head is also of a much darker blue than the back ; and the white feathers on the chin and throat of an .exquisite fine glossy texture, like the most beautiful satin. Genus XXIX. CBETHIA. CEEEPER. Species I. C. FAMILIARIS. BROWN CREEPER. [Plate VIII. Fig. 1, Male.] lAttle Brown variegated Creeper, Bartram, 289.* This bird agrees so nearly with the common European Creeper (OertMa familiaris), that I have little doubt of their being one and the same species. I have examined, at different times, great numbers of these birds, and have endeavored to make a correct drawing of' the male, that Europeans and others may judge for themselves ; and the excellent artist to whom the plate was intrusted has done his part so well in the engraving, as to render the figure a perfect resemblance of the living original. * We add the following synonymes : Oerthia familiaris, Linn. Sysl. ed. 10, vol. I., 118. — Gmel. Syst. I., 469. — Lath. Ind. Orn. 280. — Le Grimpereau, Buff. PI Enl. 681. 200 BROWN OKEEPER. The Brown Creeper is an extremely active and restless little bird. In winter it associates with the small Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Titmouse, &c., and often follows in their rear, gleaning up those insects which their more powerful hills had alarmed and exposed ; for its own slender incurvated bill seems unequal to the task of penetrating into even the decayed wood, though it may into holes and behind scales of thfe bark. Of the Titmouse there are generally present the individuals of a whole family, and seldom more than one or two of the others. As the party advances through the woods, from tree to tree, our little gleaner seems to observe a good deal of regularity in his proceedings ; for I have almost always observed that he alights on the body near the root of the tree, and directs his course with great nimbleness upwards to the higher branches, sometimes spirally, often in a direct line, moving rapidly and uniformly along, with his tail bent to the tree, and not in the hopping manner of the Woodpecker, whom he far surpasses in dexterity of climbing, running along the lower side of the horizontal branches with surprising ease. If any person be near when he alights, he is sure to keep the opposite side of the tree, moving round as he moves, so as to prevent him from getting more than a transient glimpse of him. The best method of outwitting him, if you are alone, is, as soon as he alights and disappears behind the trunk, take your stand- behind an adjoining one, and keep a sharp lookout twenty or thirty' feet up the body of the tree he is upon, for he generally mounts very regularly to a considerable height, examining the whole way as he advances. In a minute or two, hearing all still, he will make his appearance on one side or other of the tree, and give you an opportu- nity of observing him. These birds are distributed over the whole United States ; but are most numerous in the Western and Northern States, and particularly so in the depth of the forests, and in tracts of large timbered woods, where they usually breed ; visiting the thicker settled parts of the country in fall and winter. They are more abundant in the flat woods of the lower district of New Jersey than in Pennsylvania ; and are frequently found among the pines. Though their customary food appears to con- sist of those insects of the coleopterous class, yet I have frequently found in their stomachs the seeds of the pine-tree, and fragments of a species of fungus that vegetates in old wood, with generally a large proportion of gravel. There seems to be scarcely any difference between the colors and markings of the male and female. In the month of March I opened eleven of these birds, among whom were several females, as appeared by the clusters of minute eggs with which their ovaries were filled, and also several well-marked males, and, on the most careful comparison of their plumage, I could find little or no dif- ference ; the colors indeed were rather more vivid and intense in some BROWN CREEPER. 201 than in otliers; but sometimes this superiority belonged to a male, sometimes to a female, and appeared to be entirely owing to difference in age. I found, however, a remarkable and very striking difference in their sizes ; some were considerably larger, and had the bill at least one-third longer and stronger than the others, and these I uniformly found to be males. I also received two of these birds from the country bordering on the Cayuga lake, in New York state, from a person who killed them from the tree in which they had their nest. The male of this pair had the bill of the same extraordinary size with several others I had examined before, the plumage in every respect the same. Other males, indeed, were found at the same time of the usual size. Whether this be only an accidental variety, or whether the male, when full grown, be naturally so much larger than the female (as is the case with many birds), and takes several years in arriving at his full size, I can- not positively determine, though I think the latter most probable. The Brown Creeper builds his nest in the hollow trunk or branch of a tree, where the tree has been shivered, or a limb broken off, or where squirrels or Woodpeckers have wrought out an entrance : for nature has not provided him with the means of excavating one for himself. I have known the female begin to lay by the seventeenth of April. The eggs are usually seven, of a dull cinereous, marked with small dots of reddish yellow, and streaks of dark brown. The young come forth with great caution, creeping about long before they venture on wing. From the early season at which they begin to build, I have no doubts of their raising two broods during summer, as I have seen the old ones entering holes late in July. The length of this bird is five inches, and nearly seven from the extremity of one wing to that of the other ; the upper part of the head is of a deep brownish black ; the back brown, and both streaked with white, the plumage of the latter being of a loose texture, with its filaments not adhering ; the white is in the centre of every feather, and is skirted with brown ; lower part of the back, rump, and tail-coverts, rusty brown, the last minutely tipped with whitish ; the tail is as long as the body, of a light drab color, with the inner webs dusky, and con- sists of twelve quills each sloping off and tapering to a point in the manner of the Woodpeckers, but proportion ably weaker in the shafts ; in many specimens the tail was very slightly marked with transverse undulating waves of dusky, scarce observable ; the two middle feathers the longest, the others on each side shortening by one-sixth of an inch to the outer one ; the wing consists of nineteen feathers, the first an incli long, the fourth and fifth the longest, of a deep brownish bkck, and crossed about its middle with a curving band of rufous white, a quarter of an inch in breadth, marking ten of the quills ; below this the quills are exteriorly edged to within a little of their tips with rufous 202 BLACK AND WHITE CREEPER. ■white, and tipped with white ; the three secondaries next the body are dusky white on their inner webs, tipped on the exterior margin with white, and above that alternately streaked laterally with black and dull white ; the greater and lesser wing-coverts are exteriorly tipped with white, the upper part of the exterior edges of the former rufous white ; the line over the eye and whole lower parts are white, a little brownish toward the vent, but on the chin and throat pure, silky and glistening ; the white curves inwards about the middle of the neck ; the bill is half an inch long, slender, compressed sidewise, bending downwards, tapering to a point, dusky above and white below ; the nostrils are oblong, half covered with a convex membrane, and without hairs or small feathers ; the inside of the mouth is reddish ; the tongue tapering gradually to a point, and horny towards the tip ; the eye is dark hazel ; the legs and feet a dirty clay color ; the toes placed three before and one behind, the two outer ones connected with the middle one to the first joint ; the claws rather paler, large, almost semicircular, and extremely sharp pointed ; the hind claw the largest. The figure in the plate represents a male of the usual size in its exact proportions, and, but for the satisfac- tion of foreigners, might have rendered the whole of this prolix description unnecessary. Species II. CEBTRIA MACULATA* BLACK AND WHITE CREEPEE. [Plato XIX. Fig. 3.] Edwards, pi. 300. — White poll Warbler, Arcf. Zool. 402, No. 293. — Lefiguienr varig, BuFP. V, 305. — Lath, ii., 488. — Turton, i., p. 603. This nimble and expert little species seldom perches on the small twigs ; but circumambulates the trunk, and larger branches, in quest of ants and other insects, with admirable dexterity. It arrives in Pennsylvania, from the south, about the twentieth of April, the young begin to fiy early in July ; and the whole tribe abandon the country about the beginning of October. Sloane describes this bird as an inhabitant of the West India Islands, where it proba"bly winters. It was first figured by Edwards from a dried skin sent him by Mr. William Bartram, who gave it its present name. Succeeding naturalists have classed it with the warblers ; a mistake which I have endeavored to rectify. The genus of Creepers comprehends about thirty difi"erent species, many of which are richly adorned with gorgeous plumage; but, like * Linnaeus placed this bird in his genus Motacilla, and Latham arranged it in Sylvia. It does not helong to the genus Certhia as at present restricted. GREAT CAROLINA WREN. 203 their congenial tribe the Woodpeckers, few of them excel in song ; theii tongues seem better calculated for extracting noxious insects from the bark of trees, than for trilling out sprightly airs ; as the hardened hands of the husbandman are better suited for clearing the forest or guiding the plough, than dancing among the keys of a forte-piano. Which of the two is the most honorable and useful employment is not difficult to determine. Let the farmer, therefore, respect this little bird for its useful qualities, in clearing his fruit and forest trees from destructive insects ; though it cannot serenade him with its song. The length of this species is five inches and a half, extent seven and a half ; crown white, bordered on each side with a band of black, which is again bounded by a line of white passing over each eye, below this is a large spot of black covering the ear feathers ; chin and throat black ; wings the same, crossed transversely by two bars of white ; breast and back streaked with black and white ; tail, upper and also under coverts, black, edged and bordered with white ; belly white ; legs and feet dirty yellow ; hind claw the longest, and all very sharp pointed ; bill a little compressed sidewise, slightly curved, black above, paler below ; tongue long, fine-pointed, and horny at the extremity. These last circum- stances, joined to its manners, characterize it, decisively, as a creeper. The female and young birds of the first year want the black on the throat, having that part of a grayish white. Species III. CERTHIA CAROLINIANA* GREAT CAROLINA WREN. [Plate XII. Fig. 6.] Le Roitelet de la Louisiane, PI. Enl. 730, Fig. 1. — Lath. B/n. vii., p. 507, var. B. — Le Troglodytes de la Louisiane, Bufp. Ois. v., p. 361. — Motacilla Caroliniana [regulus magnus), Baetbam, p. 291.-f- This is another of those equivocal species that so often occur to puz- zle the naturalist. The general appearance of this bird is such, that the most ilhterate would at first sight call it a Wren; but the common Wren of Europe, and the Winter Wren of the United States, are both warblers, judging them according to the simple principle of Linnaeus. The present species, however, and the following (the Marsh Wren), * This and the two following species were placed by Latham in the genus Sylvia, whence they have been removed by Wilson, without, apparently, sufficient reason. f We add the following synonymes : Motacilla troglodytes, var. y Gmel. vol. r., p. 994. — Sylvia ludoviciana. Lath. Index Orn. sp. 150. 204 GREAT CAROLINA WREN. though possessing great family likeness to those above mentioned, are decisively Creepers, if the bill, the tongue, nostrils and claws are to be the criteria by which we are to class them. The color of the plumage of birds is but an uncertain and inconstant guide ; and though in some cases it serves to furnish a trivial or specific appellation, yet can never lead us to the generic one. I have, there- fore, notwithstanding the general appearance of these birds, and the practice of former ornithologists, removed them to the genus Certhia, from that of Motacilla, where they have hitherto been placed. This bird is frequently seen, early in May, along the shores of the Delaware, and other streams that fall into it on both sides, thirty or forty miles below Philadelphia ; but is rather rare in Pennsylvania. This circumstance is a little extraordinary ; since, from its size, and stout make, it would seem more capable of braving the rigors of a northern climate than any of the others. It can, however, scarcely be called migratory. In the depth of winter I found it numerous in Vir- ginia along the shores and banks of the James river and its tributary streams, and- thence as far south as Savannah. I also observed it on the banks of the Ogechee ; it seemed to be particularly attached to the borders of cypress swamps, deep hollows, among piles of old decaying timber, and by rivers and small creeks. It has all the restless jerking manners of the Wrens, skipping about with great nimbleness, hopping into caves, and disappearing into holes and crevices like a rat, for seve- ral minutes, and then reappearing in another quarter. It occasionally utters a loud, strong, and singular twitter, resembling the word chirr- rup, dweUing long and strongly on the first syllable ; and so loud that I at first mistook it for the Red-bird, L. eardinalis. It has also another chant, rather more musical, like " Sweet William, Sweet William," much softer than the former. Though I cannot positively say, from my own observations, that it builds in Pennsylvania, and have never yet been so fortunate as to find its nest ; yet, from the circumstance of hav- ing several times observed it within a quarter of a mile of the Schuyl- kill, in the month of August, I have no doubt that some few breed here, and think it highly probable that Pennsylvania and New York may be the northern boundaries of their visits, having sought for it in vain among the states of New England. Its food appears to consist of those insects and their larvae that frequent low damp caves, piles of dead tim- ber, old roots, projecting banks of creeks, &c., &c. It certainly pos- sesses the faculty of seeing in the dark better than day birds usually do ; for I have observed it exploring the recesses of caves, where a good acute eye must have been necessary to enable it to distinguish its prey. In the Southern States, as well as in Louisiana, this species is gener- ally resident ; though in summer they, are more numerous, and are found rather farther north than in winter. In this last season their chirrup- GREAT CAROLINA "WREN. 205 ing is frequently heard in gardens soon after daybreak, and along the borders of the great rivers of the Southern States, not far from the sea- coast. The Great Wren of Carolina is five inches and a quarter long, and seven broad ; the whole upper parts are reddish brown, the wings and tail being barred with black ; a streak of yellowish white runs from the nostril over the eye, down the side of the neck, nearly to the back ; below that a streak of reddish brown extends from the posterior part of the eye to the shoulder ; the chin is yellowish white ; the breast, sides and belly a light rust color, or reddish buff; vent feathers white, neatly barred with black ; in the female plain ; wing coverts minutely tipped with white ; legs and feet flesh colored, and very strong ; bill three- quarters of an inch long, strong, a little bent, grooved and pointed, the upper mandible bluish black, lower light blue; nostrils oval, partly covered with a prominent convex membrane ; tongue pointed and slen- der ; eyes hazel ; tail cuneiform, the two exterior feathers on each side three quarters of an inch shorter, whitish on their exterior edges, and touched with deeper black ; the same may be said of the three outer primaries. The female wants the white on the wing coverts ; but differs little in color from the male. In this species I have observed a circumstance common to the House and Winter Wren, but which is not found in the Marsh Wren ; the feathers of the lower part of the back, when parted by the hand, or breath, appear spotted with white, being at bottom deep ash, reddish brown at the surface, and each feather with a spot of white between these two colors. This, however, cannot be perceived without parting the feathers. Species IV. CERTHIA PALUSTBIS. MARSH WEEN. [Plate XII. Fig. 4.] Motaeilla palustris (regulus minor), Bartkam, p. 291. This obscure but spirited little species bas been almost overlooked by tbe naturalists of Europe, as well as by tbose of its own country. Tbe singular attitude in whicb it is represented will be recognised by those acquainted with its manners, as one of its most common and favorite ones, while skipping through among the reeds and rushes. The Marsh Wren arrives in Pennsylvania about the middle of May, or as soon as the reeds and a species of Nymphea, usually called splatter- docks, which grow in great luxuriance along the tide water of our rivers, are sufficiently high to shelter it. To such places it almost wholly limits its excursions, seldom venturing far from the river. Its food consists of flying insects, and their larvae, and a species of green grasshoppers that inhabit the reeds. As to its notes it would be mere burlesque to call them by the name of song. Standing on the reedy borders of the Schuylkill or Delaware, in the month of June, you hear a low crackling sound, something similar to that produced by air bub- bles forcing their way through mud or boggy ground when trod upon ; this is the song of the Marsh Wren. But as among the human race it is not given to one man to excel in everything, and yet each, perhaps, has something peculiarly his own ; so among birds we find a like dis- tribution of talents and peculiarities. The little bird now before us, if deficient and contemptible in singing, excels in the art of design, and constructs a nest, which, in durability, warmth and convenience, is scarcely inferior to one, and far superior to many, of its more musical brethren. This is formed outwardly of wet rushes mixed with mud, well intertwisted, and fashioned into the form of a cocoa nut. A small hole is left two-thirds up, for entrance, the upper edge of which projects like a pent house over the lower, to prevent the admission of rain. The inside is lined with fine soft grass, and sometimes feathers ; and the outside, when hardened by the sun, resists every kind of weather. This nest is generally suspended among the reeds, above the reach of the highest tides, and is tied so fast in every part to the surrounding reeds, as to bid defiance to the winds and the waves. The eggs are (206) MARSH WREN. 207 usually six, of a dark fawn color, and very small. The young leave the nest about the twentieth of June, and they generally have a second brood in the same season. The size, general color, and habit of this bird of erecting its tail, gives it, to a superficial observer, something of the appearance of the common House Wren, represented in Plate VIII. of this work ; and still more that of the Winter Wren, figured in the same plate ; but with the former of these it never associates ; and the latter has left us some time before the Marsh Wren makes his appearance. About the middle of August they begin to go off, and on the first of September very few of them are to be seen. How far north the migrations of this species extend I am unable to say; none of them to my knowledge winter in Georgia, or any of the Southern States. The Marsh Wren is five inches long, and six in extent ; the whole upper parts are dark brown, except the upper part of the head, back , of the neck, and middle of the back, which are black, the two last streaked with white ; the tail is short, rounded, and barred with black ; wings slightly barred ; a broad strip of white passes over the eye half way down the neck ; the sides of the neck are also mottled with touches of a light clay color on a whitish ground ; whole under parts pure silvery white, except the vent, which is tinged with brown ; the legs are light brown ; the hind claw large, semicircular, and very sharp ; bill slender, slightly bent ; nostrils prominent ; tongue narrow, very taper- ing, sharp pointed, and horny at the extremity ; eye hazel. The female almost exactly resembles the male in plumage. From the above description, and a view of the figure, the naturalist will perceive that this species is truly a Certhia or Creeper ; and indeed its habits confirm this, as it is continually climbing along the stalks of reeds and other aquatic plants, in search of insects. Gentjs XXX. TROCHILUS. HUMMING BIRD. Species. T. COLVBRIS. HUMMING BIRD. [Plate X. Figs. 3, 4.] Trochilus colubris. Linn. Syst. i., p. 191, No. 12. — L'Oiseau mouche & gorge rougt de la Caroline, Briss. Orn. iii., p. 710, No. 13, t. 36, fig. 6. — Le Rubis, Buff. Ois. ri., p. 13. — Humming Bird, Catesb. Car. i., 65. — Red-throafed Humming Bird, Edw. I., 38, male and female. — Lath. Syn. ii., 769, No. 35. Nattjkb in every department of her works seems to delight in variety ; and the present subject of our history is almost as singular for its minuteness, beauty, want of song and manner of feeding, as the Mocking-bird is for unrivalled excellence of notes, and plainness of plumage. Though this interesting and beautiful genus of birds com- prehends upwards of seventy species, all of which, with a very few exceptions, are natives of America and its adjacent islands, it is yet singular, that the species now before us should be the only one of its tribe that ever visits the territory of the Upited States. According to the observations of my friend Mr. Abbot, of Savannah, in Georgia, who has been engaged these thirty years in collecting and drawing subjects of natural history in that part of the country, the Humming Bird makes its first appearance there, from the south, about the twenty-third of March ; two weeks earlier than it does in the county of Burke, sixty miles higher up the country towards the interior ; and at least five weeks sooner than it reaches this part of Pennsylvania. Ab it passes on to the northward as far as the interior of Canada, where it is seen in great numbers,* the wonder is excited how so feebly con- structed and delicate a little creature can make its way over such extensive regions of lakes and forests, among so many enemies, all its superiors in strength and magnitude. But its very minuteness, the rapidity of its flight, which almost eludes the eye, and that admirable instinct, reason, or whatever else it may be called, and daring courage which Heaven has implanted in its bosom, are its guides and protectors. In these we may also perceive the reason, why an all-wise Providence has made this little hero an exception to a rule which prevails almost *Mr. M'Kenzie speaks of seeing a "beautiful Humming Bird" near the head of the Dnjigah or Peace river, in lat. 54° ; but has not particularized the species. (208) HUMMING BIRD. 209 universally through nature, viz., that the smallest species of a tribe are the most prolific. The Eagle lays one, sometimes two, eggs ; the Crow five ; the Titmouse seven or eight ; the small European Wren fifteen ; the Humming-bird two : and yet this latter is abundantly more numer- ous in America than the Wren is in Europe. About the twenty-fifth of April, the Hummng Bird usually arrives in Pennsylvania ; and about the tenth of May begins to build its nest, This is generally fixed on the upper side of a horizontal branch, not among the twigs, but on the body of the branch itself. Yet I have known instances where it was attached by the side to an old moss-growh trunk ; and others where it was fastened on a strong rank stalk, or weed, in the garden ; but these cases are rare. In the woods it very often chooses a white oak sapling to build on ; and in the orchard, or garden, selects a pear-tree for that purpose. The branch is seldom more than ten feet from the ground. The nest is about an inch in diameter, and as much in depth. A very complete one is now lying before me, and the materials of which it is composed are as fol- lows : — The outward coat is formed of small pieces of a species of bluish gray lichen that vegetates on old trees and fences, thickly glued on with the saliva of the bird, giving firmness and consistency to the whole, as well as keeping out moisture. Within this are thick matted layers of the fine wings of certain flying seeds, closely laid together ; and, lastly, the downy substance from the great mullein, and from the stalks of the common fern, lines the whole. The base of the nest is continued round the stem of the branch, to which it closely adheres ; and, when viewed from below, appears a mere mossy knot or accidental protuberance. The eggs are two, pure white and of equal thickness at both ends. The nest and eggs in the plate were copied with great precision and by actual measurement, from one just taken in from the woods. On a person's approaching their nest, the little proprietors dart around with a humming sound, passing frequently within a few inches of one's head; and should the young be newly hatched, the female will resume her place on the nest even while you stand within a yard or two of the spot. The precise period of incubation I am unable to give ; but the young are in the habit, a short time before they leave the nest, of thrusting their bills into the mouths of their parents, and sucking what they have brought them. I never could perceive that they carried them any animal food; though, from circumstances that will presently be mentioned, I think it highly probable they do. As I have found their nests with eggs so late as the twelfth of July, I do not doubt but that they frequently, and perhaps usually, raise two broods in the same season. The Humming Bird is extremely fond of tubular flowers, and I have Vol. I.— 14 210 HUMMING BIRD. often stopped, with pleasure, to observe his manoeuvres among the blos- soms of the trumpet flower. When arrived before a thicket of these that are full blown, he poises, or suspends himself on wing, for the space of two or three seconds, so steadily, that his wings become invisible, or only like a mist ; and you can plainly distinguish the pupil of his eye looking round with great quickness and circumspection ; the glossy golden green of his back, and the fire of his throat, dazzling in the sun, form altogether a most interesting appearance. The position into which his body is usually thrown while in the act of thrusting his slender tubular tongue into the flower, to extract its sweets, is exhibited in the figure on the plate. When he alights, which is frequently, he always prefers the small dead twigs of a tree, or bush, where he dresses and arranges his plumage with great dexterity. His only note is a single chirp, not louder than that of a small cricket or grasshopper, generally uttered while passing from flower to flower, or when engaged in fight with his fellows ; for when two males meet at the same bush, or flower, a battle instantly takes place ; and the combatants ascend in the air, chirping, darting and circling round each other, till the eye is no longer able to follow them. The conqueror, however, generally returns to the place to reap the fruits of his victory. I have seen him attack, and for a few moments tease the King Bird ; and have also seen him in his turn, assaulted by a humble-bee, which he soon put to flight. He is one of those few birds that are universally beloved ; and amidst the sweet dewy serenity of a summer's morning, his appearance among the ar- bors of honeysuckles, and beds of flowers, is truly interesting. When morning dawns, and the blest sun, again Lifts his red glaries from the Eastern main, Then through our woodbines, wet with glittering dews, The flower-fed Humming-bird his round pursues ; Sips with inserted tube, the honeyed blooms, And chirps his gratitude as round he roams; While richest roses, tho-ugh in crimson drest, Shrink from the splendor of his gorgeous breast ; What heay'nly tints in mingling radiance % I Each rapid movement gives a different dye ; Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show, Now sink to shade — now like a furnace glow I The singularity of this little bird has induced many persons to attempt to raise them from the nest, and accustom them to the cage. Mr. Coffer of Fairfax county, Virginia, a gentleman who has paid great attention to the manners and peculiarities of our native birds, told me, that he raised and kept two, for some months, in a cage ; supplying them with honey dissolved in water, on which they readily fed. As the sweetness HUMMING BIRD. 211 of the liquid frequently brought small flies and gnats about the cage, and cup, the birds amused themselves by snapping at them on wing, and swallowing them with eagerness, so that these insects formed no incon- siderable part of their food. Mr. Charles Wilson Peale, proprietor of the Museum, tells me, that he had two young Humming Birds which he raised from the nest. They used to fly about the rooms ; and would frequently perch on Mrs. Peale's shoulder to be fed. When the sun shone strongly into the chamber, he has observed them darting after the motes that floated in the light, as Flycatchers would after flies,. In the summer of 1803 a nest of young Humming Birds was brought me, that were nearly fit to fly. One of them actually flew out by the window the same evening, and falling against a wall, was killed. The other refused food, and the next morning I could but just perceive that it had life. A lady in the house undertook to be its nurse, placed it in her bosom, and as it began to revive, dissolved a little sugar in her mouth, into which she thrust its bill, and it sucked with, great avidity. In this manner it was brought up until fit for the cage. I kept it upwards of three months, supplied it with loaf sugar dissolved in water which it preferred to honey and water, gave it fresh flowers every morning sprinkled with the liquid, and surrounded the space in which I kept it with gauze, that it might not injure itself. It appeared gay, active, and full of spirit, hovering from fiower to flower as if in its native wilds, and always expressed by its motions and chirping, great pleasure at seeing fresh flowers introduced to its cage. Numbers of people visited it from motives of curiosity, and I took every precaution to preserve it, if possible, through the winter. Unfortunately, however, by some means it got at large, and, flying about the room, so injured itself that it soon after died. This little bird is extremely susceptible of cold, and if long deprived of the animating influence of the sunbeams, droops and soon dies. A very beautiful male was brought me this season, which I put into a wire cage, and placed in a retired shaded part of the room. After fluttering about for some time, the weather being uncommonly cool, it clung by the wires, and hung in a seemingly torpid state for a whole forenoon. No motion whatever of the lungs could be perceived, on the closest inspection, though at other times this is remarkably observable ; the eyes were shut ; and when touched by the finger it gave no signs of life or motion. I carried it out to the open air, and placed it directiv in the rays of the sun, in a sheltered situation. In a few second,-: respiration became very apparent ; the bird breathed faster and faster, opened its eyes, and began to look about, with as much seeming vivacity as ever. After it had completely recovered, I restored it to liberty ; and it flew ofi" to the withered top of a pear tree, where it sat for 212 HUMMING BIRD. some time dressing its disordered plumage, and then shot off like a meteor. The flight of the Humming Bird from flower to flower, greatly resem- bles that of a bee, but is so much more rapid, that the latter appears a mere loiterer to him. He poises himself on wing, while he thrusts his long slender tubular tongue into the flowers in search of food. He sometimes enters a room by the window, examines the bouquets of flowers, and passes out by the opposite door or window. He has been known to take refuge in a hot-house during the cool nights of autumn ; to go regularly out in the morning, and to return as regularly in the evening, for several days together. The Humming Bird has, hitherto, been supposed to subsist altogether on the honey, or liquid sweets, which it extracts from flowers. One or two curious observers have indeed remarked, that they have found evi- dent fragments of insects in the stomach of this species ; but these have been generally believed to have been taken in by accident. The few opportunities which Europeans have to determine this point by observa- tions made on the living bird, or by dissection of the newly-killed one, have rendered this mistaken opinion almost general in Europe. For myself I can speak decisively on this subject. I have seen the Hum- ming Bird for half an hour at a time darting at those little groups of insects that dance in the air in a fine summer evening, retiring to an adjoining twig to rest, and renewing the attack with a dexterity that sets all our other Flycatchers at defiance. I have opened from time to time great numbers of these birds ; have examined the contents of the stomach with suitable glasses, and in three cases out of four, have found these to consist of broken fragments of insects. In many subjects entire insects of the coleopterous class, but very small, were found ur.broken. The observations of Mr. Coffer as detailed above, and the remarks of my worthy friend Mr. Peale, are corroborative of these facts. It is well known that the Humming Bird is particularly fond of tubular flowers where numerous small insects of this kind resort to feed on the farina, &c., and there is every reason for believing that he is as often in search of these insects as of honey; and that the former compose at least as great a portion of his usual sustenance as the latter. If this food be so necessary for the parents there is no doubt but the young also occasionally partake of it. To enumerate all the flowers of which this little bird is fond, would be to repeat the names of half our American Flora. From the blos- soms of the towering poplar, or tulip tree, through a thousand inter- mediate flowers to those of the humble larkspur, he ranges at will, and almost incessantly. Every period of the season produces a fresh multi- tude of new favorites. Towards the month of September there is a HUMMING BIRD. 213 yellow flower which grows in great luxuriance along the sides of creeks and rivers, and in low moist situations ; it grows to the height of two or three feet, and the flower which is about the size of a thimble, hangs in the shape of a cap of liberty above a luxuriant growth of green leaves. It is the Balsamina noli me tangere of botanists, and is the greatest favorite with the Humming Bird of all our other flowers. In some places where these plants abound you may see at one time ten or twelve Humming Birds darting about, and fighting with and pursuing each other. About the twentieth of September they generally retire to the south. I have, indeed, sometimes seen a solitary individual on the twenty-eighth and thirtieth of that month, and sometimes even in Octo- ber ; but these cases are rare. About the beginning of November they pass the southern boundary of the United States into Florida. The Humming Bird is three inches and a half in length, and four and a quarter in extent ; the whole back, upper part of the neck, sides under the wings, tail coverts, and two middle feathers of the tail, are of a rich golden green ; the tail is forked, and, as well as the wings, of a deep brownish purple ; the bill and eyes are black ; the legs and feet, both of which are extremely small, are also black ; the bill is straight, very slender, a little inflated at the tip, and very incompetent to the exploit of penetrating the tough sinewy side of a crow, and precipitat- ing it from the clouds to the earth, as Charlevoix would persuade his readers to believer* The nostrils are two small oblong slits, situated at the base of the upper mandible, scarcely perceivable when the bird is dead, though very distinguishable and prominent when living ; the sides of the belly and belly itself dusky white, mixed with green ; but what constitutes the chief ornament of this little bird, is the splendor of the feathers of his throat, which when placed in a proper position, glow with all the brilliancy of the ruby. These feathers are of singular strength and texture, lying close together like scales, and vary when moved before the eye from a deep black to a fiery crimson and burning orange. The female is destitute of this ornament ; but diflers little in other appearance from the male ; her tail is tipped with white, and the whole lower parts are of the same tint. The young birds of the first season, both male and female, have the tail tipped with white, and the whole lower parts nearly white ; in the month of September the orna- mental feathers on the throat of the young males begin to appear. On dissection the heart was found to be remarkably large, nearly as big as the cranium ; and the stomach, though distended with food, uncommonly small, not exceeding the globe of the eye, and scarcely more than one-sixth part as large as the heart ; the fibres of the last * Hist, de la Nov. France, III., p. 185, 214 HUMMING BIRD. were also exceedingly strong. The brain -was in large quantity, and very thin ; the tongue, from the tip to an extent equal with the length of the bill, was perforated, forming two closely attached parallel and cylindrical tubes; the other extremities of the tongue corresponded exactly to those of the Woodpecker, passing up the hind head, and reaching to the base of the upper mandible. These observations were verified in five diff'erent subjects, all of whose stomachs contained frag- ments of insects, and some of them whole ones. END OF VOL. I. AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY; OR, THE NATURAL HISTORY Birds of the United States, ILLUST'RATE(D WITH TLATES ENGRAVED FROM DRAWINGS FROM NATURE. BY ALEXANDER WILSON AND CHARLES LUCIAN BONAPARTE. POPULAR EDITION. Vol. II. PHILADELPHIA : PORTER & CO ATES, 822 CHESTNUT STREET. CONTENTS OF VOL. II. Sturnus prxdatorius, Red-winged Starling, Turdus polyglottus, Mocking-bird, rufus, Ferruginous Thrush, melodus, Wood Thrush, soUtarius, Hermit Thrush, mustelimis, Tawny Thrush, aquaiicvs, Water Thrush, aurocapillus, Golden-crowned Thrush, lividus, Cat-bird, migratorius, Robin, Ampelis Americana, Cedar-bird, Loxia Oardinalis, Cardinal Grosbeak, Ludovicia-na, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, cserulea, Blue Grosbeak, enudeator, Pine Grosbeak, Gurvirostra Americana, American Crossbill, leucoplera, White-winged Crossbill Emheriza Americana, Black-throated Bunting, eryihrophthalma, Towhe Bunting, male, female oryzivora, Rice Bunting, pecoris. Cow Bunting, nivalis, Snow Bunting, ciris, Painted Bunting, leucoplirys, White-crowned Bunting, grominea, Bay-winged Bunting, Tanagra rubra, Scarlet Tanager, obstiva. Summer Red-bird, Imdovictana, Louisiana Tanager, Fringilla fristis, Yellow-bird or Goldfinch, purpurea. Purple Finch, adult male, male in winter plumage, pusilla. Field Sparrow, 9 16 25 28 32 34 35 36 38 43 46 51 54 55 56 58 61 62 63 65 66 71 84 87 90 91 92 96 99 101 103 105 106 (V) CONTENTS OF VOL. II. Fringilla arhorea^ Tree Sparrow, melodia, Song Sparrow, socialis, Chipping Sparrow, Hudsonia, Snow-bird, pinus, Pine Finch, albicoINs, White-throated Sparrow, palustris, Swamp Sparrow, maritima, Sea-side Finch, caudacuta, Sharp-tailed Finch, Savanna, Savannah Finch, male, female, /erruffinea, Fox-colored Sparrow, linaria, Lesser Red-poll, . . passerina, Yellow-winged Sparrow, cyanea, Indigo-bird, Muscicapa tyrannvs, Tyrant Flycatcher, or King-bird, crmi'to,' Great Crested Flycatcher, nunciola, Pewit Flycatcher, rapax, Wood Pewee Flycatcher, guerula, Small Green Crested Flycatcher, ruticilla, American Redstart, male, young bird, ccerulea, Blue-gray Flycatcher, sylvicola, Yellow-throated Flycatcher, solitaria, Solitary Flycatcher, cantatrix, White-eyed Flycatcher, melodia, Warbling Flycatcher, olivacea, Red-eyed Flycatcher, cucullata. Hooded Flycatcher, Canadensis, Canada Flycatcher, vusilla, Green Black-capped Flycatcher, minuta, Small-headed Flycatcher, Alauda magna, Meadow Lark, alpestris. Shore Lark, rufa, Brown Lark, Sylvia sialis. Bluebird, calendula, Ruby-crowned Wren, . , Marylandica, Maryland Yellow-throat, male, female, regulus, Golden-crested Wren, domestica, House Wren, troglodytes, Winter Wren, Jlavicollis, Yellow-throat Warbler, castanea, Bay-breasted Warbler, Pennsylvnnicri , Chestnut-sided Warbler, Philadelphia, Mourning Warbler, PASX 107 109 110 111 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 128 134 135 137 138 139 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 149 150 151 152 153 155 157 158 165 167 168 169 171 174 176 177 178 179 CONTENTS OF VOL. IL vu Sylvia solUaria, Blue-winged Yellow Warbler, chrysoptera, Golden-winged Warbler, . citrinclla, Blue-eyed Yellow Warbler, Canadensis, Black-throated Blue Warbler, virens, Black-throated Green Warbler, coronata, Yellow-rump Warbler, full plumage winter dress, ccerulea, Cserulean Warbler, pinus, Pine-creeping Warbler, magnolia, Black and Yellow Warbler, Blackhurnia, Blackburnian Warbler, autumnalis, Autumnal Warbler, protonotarius, Prothonotary Warbler, vermivora, Worm-eating Warbler, peregrina, Tennessee Warbler, . . formosa, Kentucky Warbler, minuta, Prairie Warbler, rara, Blue-green Warbler, ruhricapilla, Nashville Warbler, pvsilla, Blue Yellow-back Warbler, petechia, Yellow Red-poll Warbler, striata, Black-poll Warbler, male, female, agilis, Connecticut Warbler, leucoptera. Pine-swamp Warbler, montana, Blue-mountain Warbler, parvs. Hemlock Warbler, . maritima, Cape-May Warbler, Pipra polyglotta, Yellow-breasted Chat, Parus atricapillus, Black-capped Titmouse, bicolor. Crested Titmouse, Sirundo purpurea. Purple Martin, Americana, Barn Swallow, viridis, White-bellied Swallow, riparia. Bank Swallow or Sand Martin, pelasgia, Chimney Swallow, Caprimulgus Carolinensis, Chuck- Will's-Widow, Americanus, Night Hawk, voci/erus. Whip-poor-will, Columha migratoria, Passenger Pigeon, Carolinensis, Carolina Pigeon, or Turtle Dove, passerina. Ground Dove, Tetrao umhellus. Ruffed Grouse, . Cupido, Pinnated Grouse, Perdix Virginianus, Quail or Partridge, Introduction to the Water" Birds, PA02 180 182 183 184 185 186 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 213 215 216 221 228 229 231 238 241 245 253 261 263 265 270 280 285 VIU CONTENTS OF VOL. II. Platalea Ajaja, Roseate Spoonbill, Ardea minor, American Bittern, Cseruka, Blue Heron, Serodias, Great Heron, Egretta, Great White Heron, virescens, Green Heron, exilis, Least Bittern, I/udoviciana, Louisiana Heron, nyclicoiax, Night-Heron, or Qua-bird, candidissima, Snowy Heron, . Americana, Whooping Crane, violacea, Yellow-crowned Heron, Tantalus Loculalor, Wood Ibis, ruber. Scarlet Ibis, albus, White Ibis, Numenius longirostris, Long-billed Curlew, horealis, Esquimaux Curlew, Scolopax Fedoa, Great Marbled Godwit, minor, Woodcock, Galinago, Snipe, Noveboracensis, Red-breasted Snipe, semipalmata, Semipalmated Snipe, vociferus, Tell-tale Godwit, or Snipe, flavipes. Yellow-shanks Snipe, Tringa Bartramia, Bartram's Sandpiper, solitaria, Solitary Sandpiper, maculata, Spotted Sandpiper, semipalmata, Semipalmated Sandpiper- pusilla, Little Sandpiper, alpina, Red-backed Sandpiper, cinclus, The Purre, rufa. Red-breasted Sandpiper, cinerea, Ash-colored Sandpiper, interpres, Turnstone, Charadrius Hiaticula, Ringed Plover, Hiaticula, Ring Plover, . Wilsonius, Wilson's Plover, vociferus, Kildeer Plover, Pluvialis, Golden Plover, apricarivs, Black-bellied Plover, Calidris, Sanderling Plover, rubidus, Ruddy Plover, Sbsmatopus ostralegus. Pied Oyster-catcher, Rallus crepitans, Clapper Rail, Virginianus, Virginian Rail, Carolinus, Rail, Gallinula Martinica, Martinico Gallinule, PAGE 289 291 292 294 299 301 303 304 305 309 312 314 316 317 319 320 322 324 326 329 331 333 335 337 339 341 342 344 345 346 347 349 350 352 355 357 359 360 862 364 368 370 371 374 378 380 389 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. ORDER III. PASSERE8. PASSERINE. Gentjs XXXI. STUENUS. STABLING. Species. S. PREDATORIUS. RED-WINGED STAELING. [Plate XXX. Fig. 1, Male.— Fig. 2, Female.] Oriolus phoeniceus, Linn. Syst. 161. — Red-winged Oriole, Arct.Zool. 255, No. 140. — Icterus pterophcenicieua, Briss. ii., 97. — Le Commandeur, Buff, hi., 214, PI. Enl. 402. — Lath, i., 428. — Acolchichi, Fernand. Nov. Eisp. p. 14. Red-winged Starling, Catesb. p. 13. This notorious and celebrated corn-thief, the long-reputed plunderer and pest of our honest and laborious farmers, now presents himself before us, with his copartner in iniquity,* to receive the character due for their very active and distinguished services. In investigating the nature of these, I shall endeavor to render strict historical justice to this noted pair ; adhering to the honest injunctions of the poet, " Nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice." Let the reader divest himself equally of prejudice, and we shall be at no loss to ascertain accurately their true character. The Red-winged Starlings, though generally migratory in the states north of Maryland, are found during winter in immense flocks, some- times associated with the Purple Grakles, and often by themselves, along the whole lower parts of Virginia, both Carolinas, Georgia, and Loui- siana, particularly near the sea-coast, and in the vicinity of large rice and corn fields. In the months of January and February, while passing through the former of these countries, I was frequently entertained with * Wilson here alludes to the Pileated Woodpecker, which in the original edition precedes the Red-winged Starling. (9) 10 RED-WINGED STARLING. the aerial evolutions of those great bodies of Starlings. Sometiues they appeared driving about like an enormous black cloud carried before the wind, varying its shape every moment. Sometimes suddenly rising from the fields around me with a noise like thunder ; while the glittering of innumerable wings of the brightest vermilion amid the black cloud they formed, produced on these occasions a very striking and splendid effect. Then descending like a torrent, and covering the branches of some detached grove, or clump of trees, the whole congregated multi- tude commenced one general concert or chorus, that I have plainly dis- tinguished at the distance of more than two miles, and when listened to at the intermediate space of about a quarter of a mile, with a slight breeze of wind to swell and soften the flow of its cadences, was to me grand and even sublime. The whole season of winter; that with most birds is past in struggling to sustain life, in silent melancholy, is with the Red-wings one continued carnival. The profuse gleanings of the old rice, corn, and buckwheat fields, supply them with abundant food, at once ready and nutritious ; and the intermediate time is spent either in aerial manoeuvres, or in grand vocal performances, as if solicitous to supply the absence of all the tuneful summer tribes, and to cheer the dejected face of nature with their whole combined powers of harmony. About the twentieth of March, or earlier if the season be open, they begin to enter Pennsylvania in numerous though small parties. These migrating flocks are usually observed from daybreak to eight or nine in the morning, passing to the north, chattering to each other as they fly along ; and, in spite of all our antipathy, their well known notes and appearance, after the long and dreary solitude of winter, inspire cheer- ful and pleasing ideas of returning spring warmth and verdure. Select- ing their old haunts, every meadow is soon enlivened by their presence. They continue in small parties to frequent the low borders of creeks, swamps and ponds, till about the middle of April, when they separate in pairs to breed ; and about the last week in April, or first in May, begin to construct their nest. The place chosen for this is generally within the precincts of a marsh or swamp, meadow or other like watery situation. The spot usually a thicket of alder bushes, at the height of six or seven feet from the ground ; sometimes in a detached bush in a meadow of high grass ; often in a tussock of rushes or coarse rank grass ; and not unfrequently in the ground. In all of which situations I have repeatedly found them. When in a bush they are generally composed outwardly of wet rushes picked from the swamp, and long tough grass in large quantity, and well lined with very fine bent. The rushes, forming the exterior, are generally extended to several of the adjoining twigs, round which they are repeatedly and securely twisted ; a precaution absolutely necessary for its preservation, on account of the flexible nature of the bushes in which it is placed. The same caution EED-WINGED STARLING. H is observed when a tussock is chosen, by fastening the tops together, and intertwining the materials of which the nest is formed with the stalks of rushes around. When placed in the ground, less care and fewer materials being necessary, the nest is much simpler and slighter than before. The female lays five eggs, of a very pale light blue, marked with faint tinges of light purple and long straggling lines and dashes of black. It is not uncommon to find several nests in the same thicket, within a few feet of each other. During the time the female is sitting, and still more particularly after the young are hatched, the male, like most other birds that build in low. situations, exhibits the most violent symptoms of apprehension and alarm on the approach of any person to its near neighborhood. Like the Lapwing of Europe he flies to meet the intruder, hovers at a short height over head, uttering loud notes of distress ; and while in this situation displays to great advantage the rich glowing scarlet of his wings, heightened by the jetty black of his general plumage. As the danger increases, his cries become more shrill and incessant, and his motions rapid and restless ; the whole meadow is alarmed, and a col- lected crowd of his fellows hover around, and mingle their notes of alarm and agitation with his. When the young are taken away, or destroyed, he continues for several days near the place, restless and dejected, and generally recommences building soon after, in the same meadow.. Towards the beginning or middle of August, the young birds begin to fly in flocks, and at that age nearly resemble the female, with the exception of some reddish or orange, that marks the shoulders of the males, and which increases in space and brilliancy as winter ap- proaches. It has been frequently remarked that at this time the young birds chiefly associate by themselves, there being sometimes not more than two or three old males observed in a flock of many thousands. These, from the superior blackness and rich red of their plumage, are very conspicuous. Before the beginning of September these flocks have become numer- ous and formidable, and the young ears of maize, or Indian corn, being then in their soft, succulent, milky state, present a temptation that can- not be resisted. Reinforced by numerous and daily flocks from all parts of the interior, they pour down on the low countries in prodigious mul- titudes. Here they are seen, like vast clouds, wheeling and driving over the meadows and devoted corn fields, darkening the air with their numbers. Then commences the work of destruction on the corn, the husks of which, though composed of numerous envelopments of closely wrapped leaves, are soon completely or partially torn ofi'; while from all quarters myriads continue to pour down like a tempest, blackening half an acre at a;time ; and, if not disturbed, repeat their depredations till little remains but the cob and the shrivelled skins of the grain ; what 12 RED-WINGED STARLING. little is left of the tender ear being exposed to the rains and weather is generally much injured. All the attacks and havoc made at this time among them with the gun, and by the Hawks, several species of which are their constant attendants, has little effect on the remainder. When the Hawks make a sweep among them they suddenly open on all sides, but rarely in time to disappoint them of their victims; and though repeatedly fired at, with mortal effect, they only remove from one field to an adjoining one, or to another quarter of the same enclosure. From dawn to nearly sun-set, this open and daring devastation is carried on, under the eye of the proprietor ; and a farmer who has any considerable extent of corn would require half a dozen men at least with guns to guard it ; and even then, all their vigilance and activity would not pre- vent a good tithe of it from becoming the prey of the Blackbirds. The Indians, who usually plant their corn in one general field, keep the whole young boys of the village, all day patrolling round and among it ; and each being furnished with bow and arrows, with which they are very expert, they generally contrive to destroy great numbers of them. It must, however, be observed, that this scene of pillage is principally carried on in the low countries, not far from the sea-coast, or near the extensive flats that border our large rivers ; and is also chiefly confined to the months of August and September. After this period the corn having acquired its hard shelly coat, and the seeds of the reeds or wild oats, with a profusion of other plants that abound along the river shores, being now ripe, and in great abundance, present a new and more exten- sive field for these marauding multitudes. The reeds also supply them with convenient roosting places, being often in almost unapproachable morasses ; and thither they repair every evening from all quarters of the country. In some places, however, when the reeds become dry, advantage is taken of this circumstance to destroy these birds by a party secretly approaching the place under cover of a dark night, set- ting fire to the reeds in several places at once, which being soon envel- oped in one general flame the uproar among the Blackbirds becomes universal, and by the light of the conflagration they are shot down in vast numbers, while hovering and screaming over the place. Sometimes straw is used for the same purpose, being previously strewed near the reeds and alder bushes where they are known to roost, which being instantly set on fire, the consternation and havoc is prodigious ; and the party return by day to pick up the slaughtered game. About the first of aSTovember they begin to move off towards the south ; though near the sea-coast, in the states of New Jersey and Delaware, they continue long after that period. Such are the general manners and character of the Red-winged Star- ling ; but there remain some facts to be mentioned, no less authentic, RED-AVINGED STARLING. 13 and well deserving the consideration of its enemies, more especially of those whose detestation of this species would stop at nothing short of total extirpation. It has heen already stated that they arrive in Pennsylvania late in March. Their general food at this season, as well as during the early part of summer (for the Crows and Purple Grakles are the principal pests in planting time), consists of grub-worms, caterpillars, and various other larvae, the silent but deadly enemies of all vegetation, and whose secret and insidious attacks are more to be dreaded by the husbandman than the combined forces of the whole feathered tribes together. For these vermin the Starlings search with great diligence ; in the ground, at the roots of plants, in orchards, and meadows, as well as among buds, leaves and blossoms ; and from their known voracity the multitudes of these insects which they destroy must be immense. Let me illustrate this by a short computation. If we suppose each bird, on an average, to devour fifty of these larvae in a day (a very moderate allowance), a single pair in four months, the usual time such food is sought after, will consume upwards of twelve thousand. It is believed, that not less than a million pair of these birds are distributed over the whole extent of the United States in summer ; whose food being nearly the same, would swell the amount of vermin destroyed to twelve thousand millions. But the number of young birds may be fairly estimated at double that of their parents, and as these are constantly fed on larvae for at least three weeks, making only the same allowance for them as for the old ones, their share would amount to four thousand two hundred millions ; mak- ing a grand total of sixteen thousand two hundred millions of noxious insects destroyed in the space of four months by this single species ! The combined ravages of such a hideous host of vermin would be suffi- cient to spread famine and desolation over a wide extent of the richest and best cultivated country on earth. All this, it may be said, is mere supposition. It is, however, supposition founded on known and acknow- ledged facts. I have never dissected any of these birds in spring with- out receiving the most striking and satisfactory proofs of those facts ; and though in a matter of this kind it is impossible to ascertain pre- cisely the amount of the benefits derived by agriculture from this and many other species of our birds ; yet in the present case I cannot resist the belief, that the services of this species, in spring, are far more im- portant and beneficial than the value of all that portion of corn which a careful and active farmer permits himself to lose by it. The great range of country frequented by this bird extends from Mexico on the south, to Labrador. Our late enterprising travellers across the continent to the Pacific Ocean observed it numerous in several of the valleys at a great distance up the Missouri. When taken alive, or reared from the nest, it soon becomes familiar, sings frequently. 14 RED-WINGED STARLING. bristling out its feathers something in the manner of the Cow Builting. These notes, though not remarkably various, are very peculiar. The most common one resembles the syllables conk-quer ree ; others the shrill sounds produced by filing a saw ; some are more guttural ; and others remarkably clear. The usual note of both male and female is a single chuck. Instances have been produced where they have been taught to articulate several words distinctly ; and contrary to that of many birds the male loses little of the brilliancy of his plumage by confinement. A very remarkable trait of this bird is the great diiference of size between the male and female ; the former being nearly two inches longer than the latter, and of proportionate magnitude. They are known by various names in the different states of the Union ; such as the Swamp Blackbird, Marsh Blackbird, Bed-winged Blackbird, Corn or Maize- thief, Starling, &c. Many of them have been carried from this to dif- ferent parts of Europe, and Edwards relates that one of them, which had no doubt escaped from a cage, was shot in the neighborhood of London ; and on being opened, its stomach was found to be filled with grub worms, caterpillars and beetles ; which Bufibn seems to wonder at, as " in their own country," he observes, " they feed exclusively on grain and maize." Hitherto this species has been generally classed by naturalists with the Orioles. By a careful comparison, however, of its bill with those of that tribe, the similarity is by no means suflBcient to justify this arrangement ; and its manners are altogether different. I can find no genus to which it makes so near an approach, both in the structure of the bill and in food, flight and manners as those of the Stare, with which, following my judicious friend Mr. Bartram, I have accordingly placed it. To the European the perusal of the foregoing pages will be sufficient to satisfy him of their similarity of manners. For the satis- faction of those who are unacquainted with the common Starling of Europe, I shall select a few sketches of its character, from the latest and most accurate publication I have seen from that quarter.* Speak- ing of the Stare or Starling, this writer observes, " In the winter season these birds fly in vast flocks, and may be known at a great distance by their whirling mode of flight, which Buffon compares to a sort of vortex, in which the collective body performs a uniform circular revolution, and at the same time continues to make a progressive advance. The even- ing is the time when the Stares assemble in the greatest numbers, and betake themselves to the fens and marshes, where they roost among the reeds : they chatter much in the evening and morning, both when they assemble and disperse. So attached are they to society that they not Bewick's British Birds, part i., p. 119, Newcastle. 1809. RED-WINGED STARLING. 15 only join those of their own species, but also birds of a diiferent kind ; and are frequently seen in company with Red-wings (a species of Thrush), Fieldfares, and even with Crows, Jackdaws and Pigeons. Their principal food consists of worms, snails and caterpillars ; they likewise eat various kinds of grain, seeds and berries." He adds, that " in a confined state they are very docile, and may easily be taught to repeat short phrases, or whistle tunes with great exactness." The Red-winged Starling, fig. 1, is nine inches long, and fourteen inches in extent ; the general color is a glossy black, with the exception of the whole lesser wing coverts, the first or lower row of which is of a reddish cream color, the rest a rich and splendid scarlet ; legs and bill glossy brownish black ; irides hazel ; bill cylindrical above, compressed at the sides, straight, running considerably up the forehead, where it is prominent, rounding and flattish towards the tip, though sharp pointed ; tongue nearly as long as the bill, tapering and lacerated at the end ; tail rounded, the two middle feathers also somewhat shorter than those imme- diately adjoining. The female, fig. 2, is seven inches and a quarter in length, and twelve inches in extent ; chin a pale reddish cream ; from the nostril over the eye, and from the lower mandible run two stripes of the same, speckled with black ; from the posterior angle of the eye backwards, a streak of brownish black covers the auriculars ; throat, and whole lower parts, thickly streaked with black and white, the latter inclining to cream on the breast ; whole plumage above black, each feather bordered with pale brown, white or bay, giving the bird a very mottled appearance ; lesser coverts the same ; bill and legs as in the male. The young birds at first greatly resemble the female ; but have the plumage more broadly skirted with brown. The red early shows itself on the lesser wing-coverts of the males, at first pale, inclining to orange, and partially disposed. The brown continues to skirt the black plumage for a year or two, so that it is rare to find an old male altogether desti- tute of some remains of it ; but the red is generally complete in breadth and 'brilliancy by the succeeding spring. The females are entirely destitute of that ornament. The flesh of these birds is but little esteemed, being in general black, dry and tough. Strings of them are, however, frequently seen exposed for sale in our markets. Genus XXXII. TUEDUS. THRUSH. Species I. T. P0LTGL0TTU8. MOCKING-BIRD. [Plate X. rig. 1.] Mimic Thrush, Lath. Syn. m., p. 40, No. 42. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 194. — Ikirdus polyglottus, Linn. Syst. i., p. 293, No. 10. — Le grand Moqueur, Briss. Orn. ii., p. 266, 29. — Buff. Ois. iii., p. 325. PI. Enl. 558, fig. 1. — Singing-bird, Mocking- bird, or Nightingale, Rail Syn. p. 64, No. 5, p. 185, 31. — Sloan, Jam. ii., 306, No. ii.—The Mock-bird, Catesb. Car. u, PI. 27. This celebrated and very extraordinary bird, in extent and variety of vocal powers, stands unrivalled by tlie whole feathered songsters of this or perhaps any other country ; and shall receive from us, in this place, all that attention and respect which superior merit is justly entitled to. Among the many novelties which the discovery of this part of the western continent first brought into notice, we may reckon that of the Mocking-bird ; which is not only peculiar to the new world, but inhabits a very considerable extent of both North and South America ; having been traced from the states of New England to Brazil ; and also among many of the adjacent islands. They are, however, much more numer- ous in those states south, than in those north, of the river Delaware ; being generally migratory in the latter, and resident (at least many of them) in the former. A warm climate, and low country, not far from the sea, seem most congenial to their nature ; accordingly we find the species less numerous to the west than east of the great range of the Alleghany, in the same parallels of latitude. In the severe winter of 1808-9, I found these birds, occasionally, from Fredericksburg in Vir- ginia, to the southern parts of Georgia ; becoming still more numerous the farther I advanced to the south. The berries of the red cedar, myrtle, holly, Cassine shrub, many species of smilax, together with gum berries, gall berries, and a profusion of others with which the luxuriant swampy thickets of those regions abound, furnish them with a perpetual feast. Winged insects, also, of which they are very fond, and remarkably expert at catching, abound there even in winter, and are an additional inducement to residency. Though rather a shy bird in the Northern States, here he appeared almost half domesticated, feeding on the cedars and among the thickets of smilax, that lined the roads, while I passed (16) MOCKING-BIRD. 17 within a few feet ; playing around the planter's door, and hopping along the shingles. During the month of February I sometimes heard a soli- tary one singing ; but on the second of March, in the neighborhood of Savannah, numbers of them were heard on every hand, vying in song with each other, and, with the Brown Thrush, making the whole woods vocal with their melody. Spring was at that time considerably advanced ; and the thermometer ranged between 70 and 78 degrees. On arriving at New York, on the twenty-second of the same month, I found many parts of the country still covered with snow, and the streets piled with ice to the height of two feet ; while neither the Brown Thrush nor Mocking-bird was observed, even in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, until the twentieth of April. The precise time at which the Mocking-bird begins to build his nest varies according to the latitude in which he resides. In the lower parts of Georgia he commences building early in April ; but in Pennsylvania rarely before the tenth of May ; and in New York, and the states of New England, still later. There are particular situations to which he gives the preference. A solitary thorn bush, an almost impenetrable thicket; an orange-tree, cedar, or holly-bush, are favorite spots, and frequently selected. It is no great objection with him that these happen, sometimes, to be near the farm or mansion house : always ready to defend, but never over anxious to conceal, his nest, he very often builds within a small distance of the house; and not unfrequently in a pear or apple tree; rarely at a greater height than six or seven feet from the ground. The nest varies a little with diflferent individuals, according to the conveniency of collecting suitable materials. A very complete one is now lying before me, and is composed of the following substances. First a quantity of dry twigs and sticks, then withered tops of weeds of the preceding year, intermixed with fine straws, hay, pieces of wool and tow ; jind lastly, a thick layer of fine fibrous roots, ■of a light brown color, lines the whole. The eggs, one of which is represented at fig. 2, are four, sometimes five, of a cinereous blue, marked with large blotches of brown. The female sits fourteen days, and generally produces two broods in the season, unless robbed of her eggs, in which case she will even build and lay the third time. She is however, extremely jealous of her nest, and very apt to forsake it if much disturbed. It is even asserted by some of our bird dealers, that the old ones will actually destroy the eggs, and poison the young, if either the one or the other have been handled. But I cannot give credit to this unnatural report. I know from my own experience, at least, that it is not always their practice; neither have I ever witnessed a case of the kind above mentioned. During the period of incubation neither cat, dog, animal or man, can approach the nest without being attacked. The cats, in particular, are persecuted whenever they make Vol. 11.^2 18 MOCKING-BIRD. their appearance, till obliged to retreat. But his whole vengeance ia most particularly directed against that mortal enemy of his eggs and young, the black snake. Whenever the insidious approaches of this reptile are discovered, the male darts upon it with the rapidity of an arrow, dexterously eluding its bite, and striking it violently and inces- santly about the head, where it is very vulnerable. The snake soon becomes sensible of its danger, and seeks to escape ; but the intrepid defender of his young redoubles his exertions, and, unless his antagonist be of great magnitude, often succeeds in destroying him. All its pre- tended powers of fascination avail it nothing against the vengeance of this noble bird. As the snake's strength .begins to flag the Mocking- bird seizes it and lifts it up, partly from the ground, beating it with his wings, and when the business is completed, he returns to the repository of his young, mounts the summit of the bush, and pours out a torrent of song in token of victory. As it is of some consequence to be able to distinguish a young male bird from a female, the following marks may be attended to ; by which some pretend to be able to distinguish them in less than a week after they are hatched.. These are, the breadth and purity of the white on the wings, for that on the tail is not so much to be depended on. This white, in a full grown male bird, spreads over the whole nine primaries, down to, and considerably below, their coverts, which are also white, sometimes slightly tipped with brown. The white of the primaries also extends equally far on both vanes of the feathers. In the female the white is less pure, spreads over only seven or eight of the primaries, does not extend so far, and extends considerably farther down on the broad than on the narrow side of the feathers. The black is also more of a brownish cast. The young birds, if intended for the cage, ought not to be • left till they are nearly ready to fly ; but should be taken rather young than otherwise ; and may be fed, every half hour, with milk thickened with Indian meal ; mixing occasionally with it a little fresh meat, cut or minced very fine. After they begin to eat of their own accord, they ought still to be fed by hand, though at longer intervals, and a few cherries, strawberries, &c., now and then thrown in to them. The same sort of food, adding grasshoppers and fruit, particularly the various kinds of berries in which they delight ; and plenty of clear fine gravel, is found very proper for them after they are grown up. Should the bird at any time appear sick or dejected,' a few spiders thrown in to him will generally remove these symptoms of disease. If the young bird is designed to be taught by an old one, the best singer should be selected for this ofiice, and no other allowed to be beside him. Or if by the bird organ, or mouth-whistling, it should be begun early, and continued, pretty constantly, hy the same person, until the MOCKING-BIRD. 19 acholar, who is seldom inattentive, has completely acquired his lesson. The best singing birds, however, ift my own opinion, are those that have been reared in the country, and educated under the tuition of the feathered choristers of the surrounding fields, groves, woods, and meadows. The plumage of the Mocking-bird, though none of the homeliest, has nothing gaudy or brilliant in it, and, had he nothing else to recommend him, would scarcely entitle him to notice, but his figure is well propor- tioned, and even handsome. The ease, elegance and rapidity of his movements, the animation of his eye, and the intelligence he displays in listening and laying up lessons from almost every species of the fea- thered creation within his hearing, are really surprising, and mark the peculiarity of his genius. To these qualities we may add that of a voice full, strong, and musical, and capable of almost every modulation, from the clear mellow tones of the Wood Thrush, to the savage scream of the Bald Eagle. In measure and accent he faithfully follows his originals. In force and sweetness of expression he greatly improves upon them. In his native groves, mounted on the top of a tall bush or half-grown tree, in the dawn of dewy morning, while the woods are already vocal with a multitude of warblers, his admirable song rises pre-eminent over every competitor. The ear can listen to his music alone, to which that of all the others seems a mere accompaniment. Neither is this strain altogether imitative. His own native notes, which are easily distin- guishable by such as are well acquainted with those of our various song birds, are bold and full, and varied seemingly beyond all limits. They consist of short expressions of two, three, or at the most five or six syllables ; generally interspersed with imitations, and all of them uttered with great emphasis and rapidity ; and continued, with undiminished ardor, for half an hour, or an hour at a time. His expanded wings and tail, glistening with white, and the buoyant gayety of his action, arrest- ing the eye, as his song most irresistibly does the ear. He sweeps round with enthusiastic ecstasy — he mounts and descends as his song swells or dies away •; and, as my friend Mr. Bartram has beautifully expressed it, " He bounds aloft with the celerity of an arrow, as if to recover or recall his very soul, expired in the last elevated strain."* While thus exerting himself, a bystander destitute of sight, would suppose that the whole feathered tribes had assembled together, on a trial of skill ; each striving to produce his utmost effect ; so perfect are his imitations. He many times deceives the sportsman, and sends him in search of birds that perhaps are not within miles of him ; but whose notes he exactly imitates : even birds themselves are frequently imposed on by this ad- mirable mimic, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their mates ; or * Travels, p. 32. Introd. 20 MOOKING-BIKD. dive, with precipitation, into the depth of thickets, at the scream of what they suppose to be the Sparrow Hawk. The Mocking-bird loses little of the power and energy of his song bj confinement. In his domesticated state, when he commences his career of song, it is impossible to stand by uninterested. He whistles for the dog ; Csesar starts up, wags his tail, and runs to meet his master. He squeaks out like a hurt chicken, and the hen hurries about with hang- ing wings, and bristled feathers, clucking to protect its injured brood; The barking of the dog, the mewing of the cat, the creaking of a pass- ing wheelbarrow, follow, with great truth and rapidity. He repeats the tune taught him by his master, though of considerable length, fully and faithfully. He runs over the quiverings of the Canary, and the clear whistlings of the Virginia Nightingale, or Red-bird, with such superior execution and efi"ect, that the mortified songsters feel their own inferior- . ity, and become altogether silent ; while he seems to triumph in their defeat by redoubling his exertions. This excessive fondness for variety, however, in the opinion of some, injures his song. His elevated imitations of the Brown Thrush are fre- quently interrupted by the crowing of cocks ; and the warblings of the Blue-bird, which he exquisitely manages, are mingled with the scream- ing of Swallows, or the cackling of Hens ; amidst the simple melody of the Robin we are suddenly surprised by the shrill reiterations of the Whippoorwill ; while the notes of the Kildeer, Blue Jay, Martin, Balti- more, and twenty others, succeed, with such imposing reality, that we look round for the originals, atid discover, with astonishment, that the sole performer in this singular concert is the admirable bird now before us. During this exhibition of his powers he spreads his wings, expands his tail, and throws himself around the cage in all the ecstasy of enthu- siasm, seeming not only to sing, but to dance, keeping time to the mea- sure of his own music. Both in his native and domesticated state, during the solemn stillness of night, as soon as the moon rises in silent majesty, he begins his delightful solo ; and serenades us the live-long night with a full display of his vocal powers, making the whole neigh- borhood ring with his inimitable medley.* * The hunters in the Southern States, when setting out upon an excursion by night, as soon as they hear the Mocking-bird begin to sing know that the moon is rising. A certain anonymous author, speaking of the Mocking-birds in the island of Jamaica, and their practice of singing by moonlight, thus gravely philosophizes, and attempts to account for the habit. " It is not certain," says he, " whether they are kept so wakeful by the clearness of the light, or by any extraordinary attention and vigilance, at such times, for the protection of their nursery from the piratical assaults of the Owl and the Night Hawk. It is possible that fear may operate upon them, much in the same manner as it has been observed to affect some cow- ardly persons, who whistle stoutly in a lonesome place, while their mind is agitated with the terror of thieves or hobgoblins.'' Hist, of Jam. v. in., p. 894, quarto. MOCKING-BIRD. 21 Were it not to seem invidious in the eyes of foreigners, I might in this place make a comparative stateraent between the powers of the Mocking-bird, and the only bird I believe in the world worthy of being compared with him, the European Nightingale. This, however, I am unable to do from my own observation, having never myself heard the song of the latter ; and even if I had, perhaps something might be laid to the score of partiality, which, as a faithful biographer, I am anxious to avoid. I shall, therefore, present the reader with the opinion of a distinguished English naturalist, and curious observer, on this subject, the Hon. Daines Barrington, who at the time he made the communica- tion was vice president of the Royal Society, to which they were addressed.* "It may not be improper, here," says this gentleman, "to consider whether the Nightingale may not have a very formidable competitor in the American Mocking-bird ; though almost all travellers agree, that the concert in the European woods is superior to that of the other parts of the globe. I have happened, however, to hear the American Mock- ing-bird,, in great perfection, at Messrs. Vogels and Scotts, in Love-lane, Eastcheap. This bird is believed to be still living, and hath been in England these six years. During the space of a minute he imitated the Wood-lark, Chaffinch, Blackbird, ThrusE, and Sparrow ; I was told also that he would bark like a dog ; so that the bird seems to have no choice in his imitations, though his pipe comes nearest to our Nightin- gale of any bird I have yet met with. With regard to the original notes, however, of this bird, we are still at a loss, as this can only be known by those who are accurately acquainted with the song of the other American birds. Kalm indeed informs us, that the natural song is excellent ;f but this traveller seems not to have been long enough in America to have distinguished what were the genuine notes : with us mimics do not often succeed but in imitations. I have little doubt, however, but that this bird would be fully equal to the song of the Nightingale in its whole compass ; but then from the attention which the Mocker pays to any other sort of disagreeable noise, these capital notes would be always debased by a bad mixture." On this extract I shall make a few remarks. If, as is here conceded, the Mocking-bird be fully equal to the song of the Nightingale ; and, as I can with confidence add, not only to that but to the song of almost every other bird; besides being capable of exactly imitating various other sounds and voices of animals, his vocal powers are unquestionably superior to tl^ose of the Nightingale, which possesses its own "native * Phil. Trans, vol. Lxii., part ii., p. 284. t Travels, vol. i., p. 219. 22 MOCKING-BIRD. notes alone. Further ; if we consider, as is asserted by Mr. Barrington, that " one reason of the Nightingale's being more attended to than others is, that it sings in^the night;" and if we believe with Shaks- peare, that " The Nightingale, if she should sing by day When every goose is cackling, would be thought No better a musician than a Wren," what must we think of that bird, who in the glare of day, when a mul- titude of songsters are straining their throats in melody, overpowers all competition ; and by the superiority of his voice, expression and action, not only attracts every ear, but frequently strikes dumb his mortified rivals ; — when the silence of night as well as the bustle of day, bear witness to his melody ; and when even in captivity, in a foreign country, he is declared by the best judges in that country, to be fully equal to the song of their sweetest bird in its whole compass? The supposed degradation of his song by the introduction of extraneous sounds, and unexpected imitations, is, in fact, one of the chief excel- lencies of this bird ; as these changes give a perpetual novelty to his strain, keep attention constantly awake, and impress every hearer with a deeper interest in what is to follow. In short, if we believe in the truth of that mathematical axiom, that the whole is greater than a part, all that is excellent or delightful, amusing or striking, in the music of birds, must belong to that admirable songster, whose vocal powers are equal to the whole compass of their whole strains. The native notes of the Mocking-bird have considerable resemblance to those of the Brown Thrush, but may easily be distinguished by their greater rapidity, sweetness, energy of expression and variety. Both, however, have in many parts of the United States, particularly in those to the south, obtained the name of Mocking-bird. The first, or Brown Thrush, from its inferiority of song being called the French, and the other the English Mocking-bird. A mode of expression probably originating in the prejudices of our forefathers ; with whom everything French was inferior to everything English.* The Mocking-bird is frequently taken in trap-cages, and by proper management may be made sufficiently tame to sing. The upper parts of the cage (which ought to be of wood) should be kept covered, until the bird becomes a little more reconciled to confinement. If placed in a wire cage, uncovered, he will soon destroy himself in attempting to * The observations of Mr. Barrington, in the paper above referred to, make this supposition still more probable. " Some Nightingales," says he, " are so vastly inferior, that the bird-catchers will not keep them, branding them with the name of Frenchmen," P. 283. MOCKING-BIRD. 23 get out. These birds, however,'' by proper treatment may be brought to sing perhaps superior to those raised by hand, and cost less trouble. The opinion which the naturalists of Europe entertain of the great diiS- culty of raising the Mocking-bird, and, that not one in ten survives, is very incorrect. A person called on me a few days ago, with twenty- nine of these birds, old and young, which he had carried about the fields with him for several days, for the convenience of feeding them while engaged in trapping others. He had carried them thirty miles, and intended carrying them ninety-six miles farther, viz., to New York ; and told me, that he did not expect to lose one out of ten of them. Cleanli- ness, and regularity in feeding, are the two principal things to be attended to, and these rarely fail to succeed. The eagerness with which the nest of the Mocking-bird is Sought after in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, has rendered this bird extremely -scarce for an extent of several miles around the city. In the country round Wilmington and Newcastle, they are very numerous, from whence they are frequently brought here for sale. The usual price of a singing bird is from seven to fifteen, and even twenty dollars. I have known fifty dollars paid for a remarkably fine singer ; and one instance where one hundred dollars were refused for a still more extraordinary one. Attempts have been made to induce these charming birds to pair, and rear their young in a state of confinement, and the result has been such as to prove it, by proper management, perfectly practicable. In the spring of 1808, a Mr. Klein, living in North Seventh street, Philadel- phia, partitioned ofi" about . twelve feet square in the third story of his house. This was lighted by a pretty large wire-grated window. In the centre of this small room he planted a cedar bush, five or six feet high, in a box of earth ; and scattered about a sufiScient quantity of materials suitable for building. Into this place a male and female Mocking-bird were put, and soon began to build. The female laid five eggs, all of which she hatched, and fed the young with great afiection until they were nearly able to fly. -Business calling the proprietor from home, for two weeks, he left the birds to the care of his domestics ; and on his return found, to his great regret, that they had been neglected in food. The young ones were all dead, and the parents themselves nearly famished. The same pair have again commenced building this season, in the same place, and have at this time, July 4, three young likely to do well. The place might be fitted up with various kinds of shrubbery, so as to resemble their native thickets ; and ought to be as remote from noise and interruption of company as possible, and strangers rarely allowed to disturb or even approach them. The Mocking-bird is nine and a half inches long, and thirteen in breadth. Some individuals are, however, larger,, and some smaller, 24 MOCKING-BIRD. those of the first hatch being uniformly the biggest and stoutest.* The upper parts of the head, neck and back^ are a dark, brownish ash ; and when new moulted, a fine light gray ; the wings and tail are nearly black, the first and second rows of coverts tipped with white; 'the primary coverts, in some males, are wholly white, in others tinged with brown. The three first primaries are white from their roots as far as their coverts ; the white on the next six extends from an inch to one and three-fourths farther down, descending equally on both sides of the feather ; the tail is cuneiform, the two exterior feathers wholly white, the rest, except the middle ones, tipped with white ; the chin is white ; sides of the neck, breast, belly and vent a brownish white, much purer in wild birds than in those that have been domesticated ; iris of the eye yellowish cream colored, inclining to golden ; bill black,- the base of the lower mandible whitish ; legs and feet black, and strong. The female very much resembles the male ; what difierence there is has been already pointed out in a preceding part of this account. The breast of the young bird is spotted like that of the Thrush. Mr. William Bartram observes of the Mo,cking-bird, that " formerly, say thirty or forty years ago, they were numerous, and often stayed all winter with us, or the year through, feeding on the berries of ivy, smilax, grapes, persimmons, and other berries. The ivy [Hedera helex) they were particularly fond of, though a native of Europe. We have an ancient plant adhering to the wall of the house, covering many yards of surface ; this vine is very fruitful, and here many would feed and lodge during the winter, and in very severe cold weather sit on the top of the chimney to warm themselves." He also adds, "I have observed that the Mocking-bird ejects from his stomach through his mouth the hard kernels of berries, such as smilax, grapes, &c., retaining the pulpy part."t * Many people are of opinion that there are two sorts, the large and the small Mocking-bird ; but after examining great numbers of these birds in various regions of the United States, I am satisfied that this variation of size is merely accidental, or owing to the circumstance above mentioned. t tetter from Mr. Bartram to the author. Species II. TURDU8 BUFUS. FEKRUGINOUS THRUSH. [Plate XIV. Fig. 1.] Fox-colored Thrush, Catesby, i., 28. — Turdus rvfua, Linn. Syst. 293. — Lath, hi., 39. — La Grioe de la Caroline, Beiss. ii., 223. — Le Moqueur Frangois, De Bdef. in., 323, PI. Enl. U^.—Arct. Zool. p. 335, No. 195. This is the Brown Thrush, or Thrasher of the Middle and Eastern States ; and the French Mocking-bird of Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas. It is the largest of all our Thrushes, and is a well known and very distinguished songster. About the middle or twentieth of April, or generally about the time the cherry-trees begin to blossom, he arrives in Pennsylvania ; and from the tops of our hedge rows, sassafras, apple or cherry-trees, he salutes the opening morning with his charming song, which is loud, emphatical, and full of variety. At that serene hour you may plainly distinguish his voice full half a mile off. These notes are not imitative, as his name would import, and as some people believe, but seem solely his own ; and have considerable resemblance to the notes of the Song Thrush {Turdus musicus) of Britain/ Early in May he builds his nest, choosing a thorn bush, low cedar, thicket of briars, dogwood sapling, or cluster of vines for its situation, generally within a few feet of the ground. Outwardly it is constructed of small sticks ; then layers of dry leaves ; and lastly lined with fine fibrous roots ; but without any plaster. The eggs are five, thickly sprinkled with ferruginous grains on a very pale bluish ground. They generally have two broods in a season. Like all birds that' build near the ground, he shows great anxiety for the safety of his nest and young, and often attacks the black-snake in their defence, generally too with success ; his strength being greater and his bill stronger and more powerful than any other of his tribe within the United States. His food consists of worms, which he scratches from the ground, caterpillars, and many kinds of berries.^ Beetles and the whole race of coleopterous insects, wherever he can meet with them, are sure to suffer. He is accused, by some people, of scratching up the hills of Indian corn, in planting time ; this may be partly true ; but for every grain of maize he pilfers I am persuaded he destroys five hundred insects ; particularly a large dirty-colored grub, with a black head, which is more pernicious to the corn and other grain and vegetables, than nine-tenths of the whole feathered race. He is an (25) 26 FERRUGINOUS THRUSH. active, vigorous bird, flies generally low, from one thicket to another, with his long broad tail spread like a fan ; is often seen about briar and bramble bushes, along fences ; and has a single note or chuck, when you approach his nest. In Pennsylvania they are numerous, but never fly in flocks. About the middle of September, or as soon as they have well recovered from moulting, in which they suff'er severely, they dis- appear for the season. In passing through the southern parts of Vir- ginia, and south as far as Georgia, in the depth of winter, I found them lingering in sheltered situations, particularly on the border of swamps and rivers. On the first of March they were in full song round the commons at Savannah, as if straining to outstrip the Mocking-bird, that prince of feathered musicians. The Thrasher is a welcome visitant in spring to every lover of rural scenery and rural song. In the months of April and May, when our woods, hedge-rows, orchard and cherry trees are one profusion of blos- soms, when every object around conveys the sweet sensations of joy, and heaven's abundance is as it were showering around us, the grateful heart beats in unison with the varying elevated strains of this excellent bird ; we listen to its notes with a kind of devotional ecstasy, as a morn- ing hymn to the great and most adorable Creator of all.- The human being who, amidst such scenes, and in such seasons of rural serenity and delight, can pass them with cold indifi"erence, and even contempt, I sincerely pity ; for abject must that heart be and callous those feelings, and depraved that taste, which neither the charms of nature, nor the melody of innocence, nor the voice of gratitude or devotion can reach. This bird inhabits North America from Canada to the point of Florida. They are easily reared, and become very familiar when kept in cages ; and though this is rarely done, yet I have known a few instances where they sung in confinement with as much energy as in their native woods. They ought frequently to have earth and gravel thrown in to them, and have plenty of water to bathe in. The Ferruginous Thrush is eleven inches and a half long, and thir- teen in extent ; the whole upper parts are of a bright reddish brown ; wings crossed with two bars of white, relieved with black ; tips and inner vanes of the wings dusky ; tail very long, rounded at the end, broad, and of the same reddish brown as the back ; whole lower parts yellowish white ; the breast,- and sides under the wings, beautifully marked with long pointed spots of black, running in chains ; chin white ; bill very long and stout, not notched, the upper mandible overhanging the lower a little, and beset with strong bristles at the base, black above, and whitish below near the base; legs remarkably strong and of a dusky clay color ; iris of the eye brilliant yellow. The female may be distinguished from the male by the white on the wing being much nar- FERRUGINOUS THRUSH. 27 rower, and the spots on the breast less. In ,other respects their plumage is nearly alike. Concerning the sagacity and reasoning faculty of this bird my vener- able friend Mr. Bartram writes me as follows : " I remember to have reared one of these birds from the nest ; which when full grown became very tame and docile. I frequently let him out of his cage to give him a taste of liberty ; after fluttering and dusting himself in dry sand and earth, and bathing, washing and dressing himself, he would proceed to hunt insects, such as beetles, crickets, and other shelly tribes ; but being very fond of wasps, after catching them and knocking them about to break their wings, he would lay them down, then examine if they had a sting, and with his bill squeeze the abdomen to clear it of the reser- voir of poison, before he would swallow his prey. When in his cage, being very fond of dry crusts of bread, if upon trial the corners of the crumbs were too hard, and sharp for his throat, hewould throw them up, carry and put them in his water-dish to soften ; then take them out and swallow them. Many other remarkable circumstances might be men- tioned that would fully demonstrate faculties of mind ; not only innate, but acquired " ideas (derived from necessity in a state of domestication) which we call understanding and knowledge. We see that this bird could associate those ideas, arrange and apply them in a rational man- ner, according to circumstances. For instance, if he knew that it was the hard sharp corners of the crumb of bread that hurt his gullet, and prevented him from swallowing it, and that water would soften and render it easy to be swallowed, this knowledge must be acquired by observation and experience ; or some other bird taught him. Here the bird perceived by the effect the cause, and then took the quickest, the most effectual, and agreeable method to remove that cause. What could the wisest man have done better ? Call it reason, or instinct, it is the same that a sensible man would have done in this case. " After the same manner this bird reasoned with respect to the wasps. He found, by experience and observation, that the first he attempted to swallow hurt his throat, and gave him extreme pain ; and upon examina- tion observed that the extremity of the abdomen was armed with a poi- sonous sting ; and after this discovery, never attempted to swallow a wasp until he first pinched his abdomen to the extremity, forcing out the sting with the receptacle of poison." It is certainly a circumstance highly honorable to the character of birds, and corroborative of the foregoing sentiments, that those who have paid the most minute attention to their manners are uniformly their advocates and admirers. " He must," said a gentleman to me the other day, when speaking of another person, " he must be a good man ; for those who have long known him and are most intimate with him respect him greatly and always speak well of him." Species III. TURBUS MELODUS* WOOD THRUSH. [Plate II. Fig. 1.] Baktram, p. 290. This bird is represented on the plate of its natural size ; and par- ticular attention 'tas been paid to render the figure a faithful likeness of the original. It measures eight inches in length, and thirteen from tip to tip of the expanded wings ; the bill is an inch long, the upper mandible of a dusky brown, bent it the point, and slightly notched ; the lower a flesh color towards the base ; the legs are long, and, as well as the claws, of a pale flesh color, or almost transparent. The whole upper parts are of a brown fulvous color brightening into reddish on the head, and inclining to an olive on the rump and tail ; chin white ; throat and breast white, tinged with a light bufi" color, and beautifully marked with pointed spots of black or dusky, running in chains from the sides of the mouth, and intersecting each other all over the breast to the belly, which, with the vent, is of a pure white ; a narrow circle of white surrounds the eye, which is large, full, the pupil black, and the iris of a dark chocolate color ; the inside of the mc^uth is yellow. The male and female of this species, as indeed of almost the whole genus of Thrushes, difi'er so little as scarcely to be distinguished from each other. It is called by some the Wood Robin, by others the Ground Robin, and by some of our American ornithologists Turdus minor, though, as will hereafter appear, improperly. The present name has been adopted from Mr. William Bartram, who seems to have been the first and almost only naturalist who has taken notice of the merits of this bird. This sweet and solitary songster inhabits the whole of North America from Hudson's Bay to the peninsula of Florida. He arrives in Penn- sylvania about the 20th of April, or soon after ; and returns to the south about the beginning of October. The lateness or earliness of the season seems to make less difference in the times of arrival of our birds of * Turdus mustelinus, Gmelin, which name must be adopted. — We add the following synonymes : — T. mustelinus, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 817. — Lath. Syn. Iii., p. 28.— ViEiLL.' 0j« de I'Am. Sept. pi. 62.— Tawny Thrush, Arct. Zool. ii., p. 337. No. 198. (28) WOOD THKUSH. 29 passage than is generally imagined. Early in April. tte.woods are often in considerable forwardness, and scarce a summer bird to be seen. On the other hand vegetation is sometimes no farther advanced on the 20th of April, at which time (e. g. this present year 1807) numbers of Wood Thrushes are seen flitting through the moist woody hollows, and a variety of the Motacilla genus chattering from almost every bush, with scarce an expanded leaf to conceal them. But at whatever time the Wood Thrush may arrive, he soon announces his presence in the woods. With the dawn of the succeeding morning, mounting to the top of some tall tree that rises from a low thick-shaded part of the woods, he pipes his few but clear and musical notes in a kind of ecstasy ; the prelude, or symphony to which, strongly resembles the double tongueing of a German flute, and sometimes the tinkling of a small bell; the whole song consists of five or six parts, the last note of each of which is in such a tone as to leave the conclusion evidently suspended ; the finale is finely managed, and with such charming effect as to soothe and tran- quillize the mind, and to seem sweeter and mellower at each successive repetition. Rival songsters, of the same species, challenge each other from different parts of the wood, seeming to vie for softer tones and more exquisite responses. During the burning heat of the day, they are comparatively mute ; but in the evening the same melody is renewed, and continued long after sunset. Those who visit our woods, or ride out into the country at these hours, during the months of May and June, will be at no loss to recognise, from the above description, this pleasing musician. Even in dark, wet and gloomy weather, when scarce a single chirp is heard from any other bird, the clear notes of the Wood Thrush thrill through the dropping woods from morning to night ; and it may truly be said that, the sadder the day the sweeter is his song. The favorite haunts of the Wood Thrush are low, thick-shaded hol- lows, through which a small brook or rill meanders, oveiiung with alder bushes that are mantled with wild vines. Near such a scene he gene- rally builds his nest, in a laurel or alder bush. Outwardly it is composed of withered beech leaves of the preceding year, laid at bottom in con- siderable quantities, no doubt to prevent damp and moisture from ascending through, being generally built in low wet situations ; above these are layers of knotty stalks of withered grass, mixed with mud, and smoothly plastered, above which is laid a slight lining of fine black fibrous roots of plants. The eggs are four, sometimes five, of a uniform light blue, without any spots. The Wood Thrush appears always singly or in pairs, and is of a shy retired unobtrusive disposition. With the modesty of true merit he charms' you with his song, but is content and even solicitous to be con- cealed. He delights to trace the irregular windings of the brook, where by the luxuriance 'of foliage the sun is completely shut out, or only 30 WOOD THRUSH. plays in a few interrupted beams on the glittering surface of the water. He is also fond of a particular species of lichen which grows in such situations, and which, towards the fall, I have uniformly found in their stomachs ; berries, however, of various kinds, are his principal food, as well as beetles and caterpillars. The feathers on the hind head are longer than is usual with birds which have no crest ; these he some- times erects ; but this particular cannot be observed but on a close! examination. Those who have paid minute attention to the singing of birds know well, that the voice, energy, and expression, in the same tribe, diifer as widely, as the voices of different individuals of the human species, or as one singer does from another. The powers of song in some indi- viduals of the Wood Thrush have often surprised and delighted me. Of these I remember one, many years ago, whose notes I could instantly recognise on entering the woods, and with whom I had been as it were acquainted from his first arrival. The top of a large white-oak that overhung part of the glen, was usually the favorite pinnacle from whence he poured the sweetest melody ; to which I had frequently listened till night began to gather in the woods ; and the fire-flies to sparkle among the branches. But alas ! in the pathetic language of the poet, "One morn I missed him on the accustomed hill, Along the vale, and on his favorite tree — Another came, nor yet beside the rill, Nor up the glen nor in the wood was he." A few days afterwards, passing along the edge of the rocks, I found fragments of the wings and broken feathers of a Wood Thrush killed by the Hawk, which I contemplated with unfeigned regret, and not without a determination to retaliate on the first of these murderers I could meet with. That I may not seem singular in my estimation of this bird, I shall subjoin an extract of a letter from a distinguished American gentleman to whom I had sent some drawings, and whose name, were I at liberty to give it, would do honor to my humble performance, and render any further observations on the subject from me unnecessary. " As you are curious in birds, there is one well worthy your attention, to be found, or rather heard, in every part of America, and yet scarcely ever to be seen. It is in all the forests from spring to fall, and never but on the tops of the tallest trees, from which it perpetually serenades us with some of the sweetest notes, and as clear as those of the Nightin- gale. I have followed it for miles without ever but once getting a good view of it. It is of the size and make of the Mocking-bird, lightly thrush-colored on the back, and a grayish white on the breast and belly. Mr. , my son-in-l9,w, was in possession of one which had been shot WOOD THRUSH. 3] by a neighbor, he pronounced it a Muscieapa, and I think it much resembles the Moucherolle de la Martinique, 8 Buffon 374, PI. Enlum. 568. As it abounds in all the neighborhood of Philadelphia, you may, perhaps, by patience and perseverance (of which much will be requisite) get a sight, if not a possession of it. I have for twenty years interested the young sportsmen of my neighborhood to shoot me one ; but as yet without success." It may seem strange that neither Sloane,* Catesby, Edwards nor Buffon, all of whom are said to have described this bird, should say anything of its melody ; or rather, assert that it had only a single cry or scream. This I cannot account for in any other way than by sup- posing, what I think highly probable, that this bird has never been figured or described by any of the above authors. Catesby has, indeed, represented a bird, which he calls Turdus mini- mMS,t but it is difficult to discover, either from the figure or description, what particular species is meant ; or whether it be really intended for the Wood Thrush we are now describing. It resembles, he says, the English Thrush ; but is less, never sings ; has only a single note, and abides all the year in Carolina. It must be confessed that, except the first circumstance, there are few features of the Wood Thrush in this description. I have myself searched the woods' of Carolina and Georgia, in winter, fcr this bird, in vain, nor do I believe that it ever winters in these states. If Mr. Catesby found his bird mute during spring and summer, it was not the Wood Thrush ; otherwise he must have changed his very nature. But Mr. Edwards has also described and delineated the Little Thrush,J and has referred to Catesby as hav- ing drawn and engraved it before. Now this Thrush of Edwards I know to be really a different species ; one not resident in Pennsylvania, but passing to the north in May, and returning the same way in Octo- ber, and may be distinguished from the true Song Thrush {Turdus melodus) by the spots being much broader, brown, and not descending below the breast. It is also an inch shorter, with the cheeks of a bright tawny color. Mr. William Bartram, who transmitted this bird, more than fifty years ago, to Mr. Edwards, by whom it was drawn and engraved, examined the two species in my presence ; and on comparing them with the one in Edwards, was satisfied that the bird there figured and described is not the Wood Thrush {Turdus melodus), but the tawny- cheeked species above mentioned. This species I have never seen in Pennsylvania but in spring and fall. It is still more solitary than- the former, and utters, at rare times, a single cry, similar to that of a * Hist. Jam. ii., 305. t Catesby, Nat. Hist. Car. i., 31. t Edwards, 296. 32 ' HERMIT THRUSH. chicken which has lost its mother. This very hird I found numerous in the myrtle swamps of Carolina in the depth of winter, and I have not a doubt of its being the same which is described by Edwards an^ Catesby. As the Count de Buffon has drawn his description from those above mentioned, the same observations apply equally to what he has said on the subject ; and the fanciful theory which this writer had formed to account for its want of song, vanishes into empty air ; viz., that the Song Thrush of Europe ( Turdus musicus) had, at some time after the creation, rambled round by the Northern Ocean, and made its way to America; that advancing to the south it had there (of consequence) become degenerated by change of food and climate, so that its cry is now harsh and unpleasant, " as are the cries of all birds that live in wild countries inhabited by savages."* , For a figure and description of this passenger Thrush see the follow- ing species. Species IV. TURDUS SOLITARIUS.^ HERMIT THRUSH. [Plate XIIII. Fig. 2.] Little Thrush, Catesbt, i., 31. — Edwards, 296. — Brown Thrush, Arct. Zool. 337, No. 199. The dark solitary cane and myrtle swamps of the Southern States are the favorite native haunts of this silent and recluse species, ahd the more deep and gloomy these are, the more certain we are to meet with this bird flitting among them. This is the species mentioned while treating of the Wood Thrush, as having been figured and described more than fifty years ago by Edwards, from a dried specimen sent him by my friend Mr. William Bartram, under the supposition that it was the Wood Thrush [Turdut melodua). It is however considerably less, very difierently marked, and altogether destitute of the clear voice and musi- cal powers of that charming minstrel. It also difi'ers in remaining in the Southern States during the whole year ; whereas the Wood Thrush does * Buffon, vol. iii., 289. The figure in PI. Enl. 398, has little or no resemblance to the Wood Thrush, being of a deep green olive above, and spotted to the very- vent, with long streaks of brown. \ Turdus minor, Gmelin, which name having the priority must be adopted. We add the following synonymes: — T. minor, Gm. Syst. i., p. 809. — Lath. Syn. HI., p. 20, No. 5. — Mauvis de la Caroline, Bdff. PI. Enl. 556, fig. 2. Turdus fuscus, Gmel. Syst. I., p. 817. — Lath. Syn. m., p. 28, No. 16. HERMIT THRUSH. 33 not winter even in Georgia ; nor arrives within the southern boundary of that state until some time in April. The Hermit Thrush is rarely seen in Pennsylvania, unless for a few weeks in spring and late in the fall, long after the Wood Thrush has left us, and when scarcely a summer bird remains in the woods. In both seasons it is mute, having only, in spring, an occasional squeak like that of a young stray chicken. Along the Atlantic coast in New Jersey they remain longer and later, as I have observed them there late in November. In the cane swamps of the Choctaw nation they were frequent in the month of May, on the twelfth of which I examined one of their nests on a horizontal branch immediately over the path. The female was sitting, and left it with great reluctance, so that I had nearly laid my hand on her before she flew. The nest was fixed on the upper part of the iody of the branch, and constructed with great neat- ness ; but without mud or plaster, contrary to the custom of the Wood Thrush. The outside was composed of a considerable quantity of coarse rooty grass, intermixed with horse-hair, and lined with a fine green colored, thread-like grass, perfectly dry, laid circularly with particular neatness. The eggs were four, of a pale greenish blue, marked with specks and blotches of olive, particularly at the great end. I also observed this bird on the banks of the Cumberland river in April. Its food consists chiefly of berries, of which these low swamps furnish a perpetual abundance, such as those of the holly, myrtle, gall bush (a species of vaccinium), yapon shrub, and many others. A superficial observer would instantly pronounce this to be only a variety of the Wood Thrush ; but taking into consideration its difierence of size, color, manners, want of song, secluded habits, difierently formed nest, and spotted eggs, all unlike those of the former, with which it never associates, it is impossible not to conclude it to be a distinct and separate species, however near it may approach to that of the former. Its food, and the country it inhabits for half the year, being the same, neither could have produced those diiferences ; and we must believe it to be now, what it ever has and ever will be, a distinct connecting link in the great chain of this part of animated nature ; all the sublime reason- ing of certain theoretical closet" philosophers to the contrary notwith- standing. Length of the Hermit Thrush seven inches, extent ten inches and a half ; upper parts plain deep olive brown, lower dull white ; upper part of the breast and throat dull cream color, deepest vhere the plumage falls over the shoulders of the wing, and marked wita large dark brown pointed spots ; ear feathers and line over the eye cream, the former mottled with olive ; edges of the wings lighter, tips dusky ; tail coverts and tail inclining to a reddish fox color. In the Wood Thrush these ^arts incline to greenish olive. Tail slightly forked ; legs dusky ; bill Vol,. IL— 3 34 TAWNY THRUSH. black above and at the tip, -wbitish below ; iris black and very full ; cbin whitish. The female differs very little, chiefly in being generally darker in the tints, and having the spots on the breast larger and more dusky. Species V. TUBDUS MU8TELINUS. TAWNY THRUSH. [Plate XLIII. rig. 3.] This species makes its appearance in Pennsylvania from the south regularly about the beginning of May, stays with us^ week or two, and passes on to the north and to the high mountainous districts to breed. It has no song, but a sharp chuck. About the twentieth of May I met with numbers of them in the great Pine swamp, near Pocano ; and on the twenty-fifth of September, in the same year, I shot several of them in the neighborhood of Mr. Bartram's place. I have examined many of these birds in spring, and also on their return in fall, and found very little difference among them between the male and female. In some specimens the wing coverts were brownish yellow ; these appeared to be young birds. I have no doubt but they breed in the northern high districts of the United States ; but I have not yet been able to discover their nests. The Tawny Thrush is ten inches long, and twelve inches in extent ; the whole upper ' parts are a uniform tawny brown ; the lower parts white ; sides of the breast and under the wings slightly tinged with ash ; chin white ; throat and upper parts of the breast cream colored, and marked with pointed spots of brown ; lores pale ash, or bluish white ; cheeks dusky brown ; tail nearly even at the end, the shafts of all, as well as those of the wing quills, continued a little beyond their webs ; bill black above and at the point, below at the base flesh colored ; corners of the mouth yellow ; eye large and dark, surrounded with a white ring ; legs long, slender and pale brown. Though I have given this bird the same name that Mr. Pennant has applied to onie of our Thrushes, it must not be considered as the same ; the bird which he has denominated the Tawny Thrush being evidently from its size, markings, &c. No description of the bird here figured, has, to my knowledge, ap- peared in any former publication.* * As Wilson supposed, this bird had not been previously described ; he has how- ever (jreated some confusion by giving to it the name of an old species. That namti Species VI. TURDUS AQUATICUS* WATER THRUSH. [Plate XXIII. Fig. 5.] This lird is remarkable for its partiality to brooks, rivers, shores, ponds, and streams of water; wading in the shallows in search of aquatic insects, wagging the tail almost continually, chattering as it flies, and, in shori, possesses many strong traits and habits of the Water Wagtail. It is also exceedingly shy, darting away on the least attempt to approach it, and uttering a sharp chip, repeatedly, as if greatly alarmed. Among the mountain streams in the state of Tennessee, I found a variety of this bird pretty numerous, with legs of a bright yellow color ; in other respects it differed not from the rest. About the beginning of May it passes through Pennsylvania to the north ; is seen along the channels of our solitary streams for ten or twelve days ; afterwards ^ disappears until August. It is probable that it breeds in the higher mountainous districts even of this state, as do many other of our spring visitants that regularly pass a week or two with us in the lower parts, and then retire to the mountains and inland forests to breed. But Pennsylvania is not the favorite resort of this species. The cane-brakes, swamps, river shores, and deep watery solitudes of Loui- siana, Tennessee, and the Mississippi Territory, possess them in abund- ance ; there they are eminently distinguished by the loudness, sweetness and expressive vivacity of their notes, which begin very high and clear, (musielinus) must be restored to the bird to which it was originally applied, the Wood Thrush, and the Turdus Wilsonii as proposed by Prince Musignano, be adopted for this. Synonymes : T. Wilsonii, Bonaparte, 06s. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. vol. iv., p. 34. — Id. Synop. Annales Lye. Nat. Hist. vol. ii., p. 75. * Prince Musignano asserts that this is the Sylvia noveboracensis, Latham, and quotes the following synonymes : — Motacilla noveboracensis, Gmel, — Sylvia nove- boracensis, Lath. — Vieill. pi. 82. — Motacilla tigrina, var. fi, Gmel. female and young.— Sylvia tigrina, var. P, Lath, female and young. — Sylvia anthoides, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. — Ficedula dominicensis fusca, Briss. female and young. — Fauvette tachetie de la Louisiane, Buff. PL Enl. 752, f. 1, a very bad figure. — New York warbler, Penn. Arct. Zool. — Lath. Syn. It resembles in habits and appearance, and is we believe, also, the Turdus mota- cilla of ViEI] LOT, pi. 65. (35). 36 GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH. falling with an almost imperceptible gradation till they are scarcely articulated. At these times the musician is perched on the middle branches of a tree over the brook or riVer bank, pouring out his charming melody, that may be distinctly heard for nearly half a mile. The voice of this little bird appeared to me so exquisitely sweet and expressive, that I was never tired of listening to it, while traversing the deep shaded hollows of those cane-brakes where it usually resorts. I have never yet met with its nest. The Water Thrush is six inches long, and nine and a half in extent ; the whole upper parts are of a uniform and very dark olive, with a line of white extending over the eye, and along the sides of the neck ; the lower parts are white, tinged with yellow ochre ; the whole breast and sides are marked with pointed spots or streaks of black or deep brown ; bill dusky brown; legs flesh-colored; tail nearly even; bill formed almost exactly like the Golden-crowned Thrush {Turdus aurocapillus), and except in frequenting the water, much resembling it in manners. Male and female nearly alike. Species VII. TURD US AVBO CA PILL US. GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH. [Plate XIV. Fig. 2.] Edw. 252. — Lath, hi., 21. — La figuier d, Hie d'or, Bbiss. hi., 504. — La Grivelette de St. Domingue, Buff, hi., 317, P2. Enl. 59S.—Arct. Zool. p. 339, No. 203.— Turdus minimum, veriice Aurio, the least Golden-erown Thrush, Bartram, p. 290. Though the epithet golden-crowned, is not very suitable, for this bird, that part of the head being rather of a brownish orange, yet, to avoid confusion, I have retained it. This is also a migratory species, arriving in Pennsylvania late in April, and leaving us again late in September. It is altogether an inhabitant of the woods, runs along the ground like a lark, .and even along the horizontal branches, frequently moving its tail in the manner of the Wagtails. It has no song ; but a shrjU, energetic twitter, formed by the rapid reiteration of 'two notes, peche, peohe, peche, for a quarter of a minute at a time. It builds a snug, somewhat singular nest, on the ground, in the woods, generally on a declivity facing the south. This is formed of leaves and dry grass, and lined with hair. Though sunk below the surface, it is arched over, and only a small hole left for entrance ; the eggs are four, sometimes five, white, irregularly spotted GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH. 37 with reddish brown, chiefly near the great end. When alarmed it escapes from the nest with great silence and rapidity, running along the ground like a mouse, as if afraid to tread too heavily on the leaves ; if you stop to examine its nest, it also stops, droops its wings, flutters and tumbles along, as if hardly able to crawl, looking back now and then to see whether you are taking notice of it. If you slowly follow, it leads you fifty or sixty yards ofi", in a direct line from its nest, seeming at every advance to be gaining fresh strength ; and when it thinks it has decoyed you to a sufBcient distance, it suddenly wheels ofi" and dis- appears. This kind of deception is practised by many other species of birds that build "On the ground ; and is sometimes so adroitly performed as actu^/Uy to have the desired effect of securing the safety of its nest and young. This is one of those birds frequently selected by the Cowpen Bunting to be the foster-parent of its young. Into the nest of this bird the Cow Bird deposits its egg, and leaves the result to the mercy and man- agement of the Thrush, who generally performs the part of a faithful and affectionate nurse to the foundling. The Golden-crowned Thrush is six inches long, and nine in extent ; the whole upper parts, except the crown and hind head, are' a rich yellow olive ; the tips of the wings and inner vanes of the quills, are dusky brown ; from the nostrils a black strip passes to the hind head on each side, between which lies a bed of brownish orange ; the sides of the neck are whitish ; the whole lower parts white, except the breast, which is handsomely marked with pointed spots of black, or deep brown, as in the figure ; round the eye is a narrow ring of yellowish white ; legs pale flesh color ; bill dusky above, whitish below. The female has the orange on the crown considerably paler. This bird might with propriety be ranged with the Wagtails, its notes, manners, and habit of building on the ground being similar to these. It usually hatches twice in the season ; feeds on small bugs, and the larvae of insects, which it chiefly gathers from the ground. It is very generally diffused over the United States; and winters in Jamaica, Hispaniola, and other islands of the West Indies. Species VIII. TUIWUS LIVWUS. C A T - B I E D. [Plate XIV. Fig. 3.] Muscicapa Carolinensis, Linn. Syst. 328. — Le gobe-mouche brun de Virginie, Briss. II., 365. — Ca/-6tV(i, Catesb. I., 66. — Latham, ii., .353. — Le moucherolle de Virginie, Bcrr. IV., 562. — Lucar lividus, apice nigra, the Cat-bird, or Ohicleen-bird, Babtram, p. 290. We tave here before us a very common and very numerous species, in this part of the United States ; and one as well known to all classes of people, as his favorite briars, or blackberry bushes. In spring or summer, on approaching thickets of brambles, the first salutation you receive is from the Cat-bird ; and a stranger, unacquainted with its note, would instantly conclude that some vagrant orphan kitten had got bewildered among the briars, and wanted .assistance ; so exactly does the call of the bird resemble the voice of that animal. Unsuspicious, and extremely familiar, he seems less apprehensive of man than almost any other of our summer visitants ; for whether in the woods, or in the garden, where he frequently builds his nest, he seldom allows you to pass without approaching to pay his respects, in his usual way. This humble familiarity and deference, from a stranger too, who comes to rear his young, and spend the summer with us, ought to entitle him to a full share of our hospitality. Sorry I am, however, to say, that this, in too many instances, is cruelly the reverse. Of this I will speak more jyarticularly in the sequel. About the twenty-eighth of February the Cat-bird first arrives in the lower parts of Georgia from the south, consequently winters not far distant, probably in Florida. On the second week in April he usually reaches this part of Pennsylvania ; and about the beginning of May has already succeeded in building his nest. The place chosen for this purpose is generally a thicket of briars or brambles, a thorn bush, thick vine or the fork of a small sapling ; no great solicitude is shown for concealment ; though few birds appear more interested for the safety of their nest and young. The materials are dry leaves and weeds, small twigs and fine dry grass, the inside is lined with the fine black fibrous roots of some plant. The female lays four, sometimes five eggs, of a uniform greenish blue color, without any spots. They generally raise two, and sometimes three broods in a season. (38) CAT-BIRD. 39 In passing through the woods in summer I have sometimes amused myself with imitating the violent chirping or squeaking of young birds, in order to observe what different species were around me, for such sounds, at such a season in . the woods, are no less alarming to the feathered tenants of the bushes than the cry of fire or murder in the streets, is to the inhabitants of a large and populous city. On such occasions of alarm and consternation, the Cat-bird is the first to make his appearance, not singly, but sometimes half a dozen at a time, flying from different quarters to the spot. At this time those who are disposed to play with his feelings may almost throw him into fits, his emotion and agitation are so great, at the distressful cries of what he supposes to be his suffering young. Other birds are variously affected ; but none show symptoms of such extreme suffering. He hurries backwards and for- wards, with hanging wings and open mouth, calling out louder and faster, and actually screaming with distress, till he appears hoarse with his exertions. He attempts no offensive means ; but he bewails, he im- plores, in the most pathetic terms with which nature has supplied him, and with an agony of feeling which is truly affecting. Every feathered neighbor within hearing hastens to the place to learn the cause of the alarm, peeping about with looks of consternation and sympathy. But their own powerful parental duties and domestic concerns soon oblige each to withdraw. At any other season, the most perfect imitations have no effect whatever on him. The Cat-bird will not easily desert its nest. I took two eggs from one which was sitting, and in their place put two of the Brown Thrush, or Thrasher ; and took my stand at a convenient distance to see how she would behave. In a minute or two the male made his approaches, stooped down and looked earnestly at the strange eggs ; then flew off to his mate, who was not far distant, with whom he seemed to have some conversation, and instantly returning, with the greatest gentleness took out both the Thrasher's eggs, first one and then the other, carried them singly about thirty yards, and dropped them among the bushes. I then returned the two eggs I had taken, and soon after the female resumed her place on the nest as before. From the nest of another Cat-bird I took two half fledged young, and placed them in that of another which was sitting on five eggs. She soon turned them both out. The place where the nest was, not being far from the ground, they were little injured, and the male observing their helpless situation, began to feed them with great assiduity and tenderness. I removed the nest of a Cat-bird, which contained four eggs, nearly hatched, from a fox-grape vine, and fixed it firmly and carefully in a thicket of briars close by, without injuring its contents. In less than half an hour I returned, and found it again occupied by the female 40 CAT-BIRD. The Cat-bird is one of our earliest morning songsters, beginning generally before break of day, and hovering from bush to bush, with great sprightliness, when there is scarce light sufficient to distinguish him. His notes are more remarkable for singularity than for melody. They consist of short imitations of other birds, and other sounds ; but his pipe being rather deficient in clearness and strength of tone, his imitations fail where these are requisite. Yet he is not easily discour- aged, but seems to study certain passages with great perseverance; uttering them at first low, and as he succeeds, higher and more free ; no ways embarrassed by the presence of a spectator even within a few yards of him. On attentively listening for some time to him one can perceive considerable variety in his performance, in which he seems to introduce all the odd sounds and quaint passages he has been able to collect. Upon the whole, though we cannot arrange him with the grand leaders of our vernal choristers, he well merits a place among the most agree- able general performers. This bird, as has been before observed, is very numerous in summer, in the Middle States. Scarcely a thicket in the country is without its Cat-birds ; and were they to fly in flocks, like many other birds, they would darken the air with their numbers. But their migrations are seldom observed, owing to their gradual progress and recession, in spring and autumn, to and from their breeding places. They enter Georgia late in February ; and reach New England about the beginning of May. In their migrations they keep pace with the progress of agri- culture ; and the first settlers in many parts of the Genesee country have told me, that it was several years after they removed there before the Cat-bird made his appearance among them. With all these amiable qualities to recommend him few people in the country respect the Cat- bird. On the contrary, it is generally the object of dislike ; and the boys of the United States entertain the same prejudice and contempt for this bird, its nest and young, as those of Britain do fpr the Yellow Hammer and its nest, eggs and young. I am at a loss to account for this cruel prejudice. Even those by whom it is entertained, can scarcely tell you why ; only they "hate Cat-birds;" as some persons tell you they hate Frenchmen, they hate Dutchmen, &c., expressions that bespeak their own narrowness of understanding, and want of liberality. Yet, after ruminating over in my own mind all the probable causes, I think I have at last hit on some of them ; the principal of which seems to me to be a certain similarity of taste, and clashing of interest, be- tween the Cat-bird and the farmer. The Cat-bird is fond of large ripe garden strawberries ; so is the farmer, for the good price they bring in market. The Cat-bird loves the best and richest early cherries; so does the farmer, for they are sometimes the most profitable of his early fruit. The Cat-bird has a particular partiality for the finest ripe mellow CAT-BIRD. 41 pears ; and these are, also particular, favorites ■with the farmer. But the Cat-bird has frequently the advantage of the farmer by snatching off the first-fruits of these delicious productions ; and the farmer takes revenge by shooting him down with his gun, as he finds old hats, wind- mills and scarecrows are no impediments in his way to these forbidden fruits ; and nothing but this resource, the ultimatum of farmers as well as kings, can restrain his visits. The boys are noAV set to watch the cherry trees with the gun ; and thus commences a train of prejudices and antipathies that commonly continue through life. Perhaps, too, the common note of the Cat-bird, so like the mewing of the animal whose name it bears, and who itself sustains no small share of prejudice, the homeliness of his plumage, and even his familiarity, so proverbially known to beget contempt, may also contribute to this mean, illiberal and persecuting prejudice ; but with the generous and the good, the lovers of nature and of rural charms, the confidence which this familiar bird places in man by building in his garden, under his eye, the music of his song, and the interesting playfulness of his manners, will always be more than a recompense for all the little stolen morsels he snatches. The Cat-bird measures nine inches in length ; at a small distance he appears nearly black ; but on a closer examination is of a deep slate color above, lightest on the edges of the primaries, and of a consider- ably lighter slate color below, except the under tail coverts, which are very dark red ; the tail, which is rounded, and upper part of the head, as well as the legs and bill, are black. The female differs little in color from the male. Latham takes notice of a bird exactly resembling this, being found at Kamtschatka ; only it wanted the red under the tail : probably it might have been a young bird, in which the red is scarcely observable. This bird .has been very improperly classed among the Fly-Catchers. As he never seizes his prey on wing, has none of their manners, feeds principally on fruit, and seems to differ so little from the Thrushes, I think he more properly belongs to the latter tribe- than to any other genus we have. His bill, legs and feet, place and mode of building, the color of the eggs, his imitative notes, food and general manners, all justify me in removing him to this genus. The Cat-bird is one of those unfortunate victims, and indeed the principal, against which credulity and ignorance have so often directed the fascinating quality of the blacksnake. A multitude of marvellous stories have been told me by people who have themselves seen the poor Cat-birds drawn, or sucked, as they sometimes express it, from the tops of the trees (which, by-the-bye, the Cat-bird rarely visits) one by one, into the yawning mouth of the immovable snake. It has so happened with me that in all the adventures of this kind that I have personally 42 CAT-BIRD. witnessed, the Cat-bird was actually the assailant, and always the suc- cessful one. These rencontres never take place but during the breeding time of birds ; for whose eggs and young the snake has a particular partiality. It is no wonder that those species whose nests are usually built near the ground, should be the greatest sufferers, and the most solicitous for their safety ; hence the cause why the Cat-bird makes such a distinguished figure in most of these marvellous narrations. That a poisonous snake will strike a bird or mouse, and allow it to remain till nearly expiring before he begins to devour it, our observa- tions on the living rattlesnake kept by Mr. Peale, satisfy us is a fact ; but that the same snake, with eyes, breath, or any other known quality he possesses, should be capable of drawing a bird, reluctantly, from the tree tops to its mouth, is an absurdity too great for me to swallow. I am led to these observations by a note which I received this morn- ing from my worthy friend Mr. Bartram. "Yesterday," says this gentleman, " I observed a conflict, or contest, between a Cat-bird and a snake. It took place in a gravel walk, in the garden, near a dry wall of stone. I was within a few yards of the combatants. The bird pounced or darted upon the snake, snapping his bill ; the snake would then draw himself quickly into a coil, ready for a blow ; but the bird would cautiously circumvent him at a little distance, now and then run- ning up to and snapping at him ; but keeping at a suflicient distance to avoid a blow. After some minutes it became a running fight, the snake retreating; and at last took shelter in the wall. The Cat-bird had young ones in the bushes near the field of battle. " This may show the possibility of poisonous snakes biting birds, the operation of the poison causing them to become as it were fascinated." Species IX. TUBDVS MIGRATORIUS. ROBIN. [Kate II. Fig. 2.] Linn. Syst. i., p. 292, 6. — Turdus Canadensis, Briss. ii., p. 225, 9. — La Litorne de Canada, Bdff. hi., p. 307. — Orive de Canada, PI. Enl. 556, 1. — Fieldfare of Carolina, Cat. Car. 1, 29. — Sed-breasied Thrush, Arct. Zool. ii.. No. 196. — Lath. Syn. II., p. 26. — Bartram, p. 290. This well known bird, being familiar to almost every body, will require but a short description. It measures nine inches and a half in length; the bill is strong, an inch long, and of a full yellow, though sometimes black, or dusky near the tip of the upper mandible; the head, back of the neck and tail is black ; the - back and rump an ash color ; the wings are black edged with light ash ; the inner tips of the two exterior tail feathers are white ; three small spots of white border the eye ; the throat and upper part of the breast is black, the former streaked with white ; the whole of the rest of the breast, down as far as the thighs, is of a dark orange ; belly and vent white, slightly waved with dusky ash ; legs dark brown ; claws black and strong. The colors of the female are more of the light ash, less deepened with black ; and the orange on the breast is much paler, and more broadly skirted with white. The name of this bird bespeaks him a bird of passage, as are all the different species of Thrushes we have ; but the one we are now describing being more unsettled, and continually roving about from one region to another, during fall and winter, seems particularly entitled to the appellation. Scarce a winter passes but innumerable thousands of them are seen in the lower parts of the whole Atlantic states, from New Hampshire to Carolina, particularly in the neighborhood of our towns ; and from the circumstance of their leaving, during that season, the country to the north-west of the great range of the Alleghany, from Maryland northward, it would appear that they not only migrate from north to south, but from west to east, to avoid the deep snows that generally prevail on these high regions for at least four months in the year. The Robin builds a large nest, often on an apple tree, plasters it in the inside with mud, and lines it with hay or fine grass. The female lays five eggs of a beautiful sea green. Their principal food is berries, worms and caterpillars. Of the first he prefers those of the sour gum (43) 44 ROBIN. {M/ssa sylvatiea). So fond are they of gum berries, that wherever there is one of these trees covered with fruit, and flocks of Robins iii the neighborhood, the sportsman need only take his stand near it, load, take aim, and fire ; one flock succeeding another with little interruption, almost the whole day ; by this method prodigious slaughter has been made among them with little fatigue. When berries fail they disperse themselves over the fields, and along the fences, in search of worms and other insects. Sometimes they will disappear for a week or two, and return again in greater numbers than before ; at which time the cities pour out their sportsmen by scores, and the markets are plentifully supplied with them at a cheap rate. In January 180T, two young men, in one excursion after them, shot thirty dozen. In the midst of such devastation, which continued many weeks, and by accounts extended from Massachusetts to Maryland, some humane person took advantage of a circumstance common to these birds in winter, to stop the general slaughter. The fruit called poke-berries (Phytolacca decandra, Linn.) is a favorite repast with the Robin, after they are" mellowed by the frost. The juice of the berries is of a beautiful crimson, and they are eaten in such quantities- by these birds,' that their whole stomachs are strongly tinged with the same red color. A paragraph appeared in the public papers, intimating, that from the great quantities of these berries which the Robins had fed on, they had become unwholesome, and even dangerous food ; and that several persons had sufiered by eating of them. The strange appearance of the bowels of the .birds seemed to corroborate this account. The demand for, and use of them ceased almost instantly ; and motives of self-preservation produced at once what all the pleadings of humanity could not efiect.* When fat they are in considerable esteem for the table, and probably not inferior to the turdi of the ancients, which they bestowed so much pains on in feeding and fattening. The young birds are frequently and easily raised, bear the confinement of the cage, feed on bread, fruits, &c., sing well, readily learn to imitate parts of tunes, and are very pleasant and cheerful domestics. In these I have always observed that the orange on the breast is of a much deeper tint, often a dark mahogany or chestnut color, owing no doubt to their food and confinement. The Robin is one of our earliest songsters ; even in March, while snow yet dapples the fields, and flocks of them are dispersed about, some few will mount a post or stake of the fence, and make short and * Governor Drayton, in his "View of South Carolina," p. 86, observes that "the Robins in winter devour the berries of the Bead tree (Melia Azedarach), in such large quantities, that after eating of them they are observed to fall down, and are readily taken. This is ascribed more to distension from abundant eating than from any deleterious qualities of the plant." The fact, however, is, that they are lite- rally choked, many of the berries being too large to be swallowed. ROBIN. 46 frequent attempts at their song. Early in April, they are only to be seen in pairs, and deliver their notes with great earnestness, from the top of some tree detached from the woods. This song has some resem- blance to, and indeed is no bad imitation of the notes of the Thrush or Thrasher [Turdus rufus); but if deficient in point of execution, he possesses more simplicity; and makes up in zeal what he wants in talent ; so that the notes of the Robin, in spring, are universally known, and as universally beloved. They are as it were the prelude to the grand general concert, that is about to burst upon us from woods, fields and thickets, whitened with blossoms, and breathing fragrance. By the usual association of ideas, we therefore listen with more pleasure to this cheerful bird than to many others possessed of far superior powers, and much greater variety. Even his nest is held more sacred among schoolboys than that of some others ; and while they will exult in plundering a Jay's or a Cat-bird's, a general sentiment of respect pre- vails on the discovery of a Robin's. Whether he owes not some little of this veneration to the well known and long established character of his namesake in Britain, by a like association of ideas, I will not pretend to determine. He possesses a good deal of his suavity of manners ; and almost always seeks shelter for his young in summer, and subsistence for himself in the extremes of winter, near the habitations of man. The Robin inhabits the whole of North America from Hudson's Bay to Nootka Sound, and as far south as Georgia, though they rarely breed on this side the mountains farther south than Virginia. Mr. Forster says, that about the beginning of May they make their appearance in pairs at the settlements of Hudson's Bay, at Severn river ; and adds, a circumstance altogether unworthy of belief, viz. that at Moose Fort they build, lay and hatch in fourteen days ! but that at the former place, four degrees more north, they are said to take twenty-six days.* They are also common in Newfoundland, quitting these northern parts in October. The young during the first season are spotted with white on the breast, and at that time have a good deal of resemblance to the Fieldfare of Europe. Mr. Hearne informs us, that the Red-breasted Thrushes, are commonly called at Hudson's Bay the Red-birds; by some the Blackbirds, on account of their note ; and by others the American Fieldfares. That they make their appearance at Churchill river about the middle of May, and migrate to the south early in the fall. They- are seldom seen there but in pairs ; and are never killed for their flesh except by the Indian boys.f Several authors have asserted, that the Red-Breasted Thrush cannot * Phil. Trans. Ixii., 399. t Journey to the Northern Ocean, p. 418, quarto. Lond. 1795. 46 CEDAR-BIRD. brook the confinement of the cage ; and never sings in that state. But, except the Mocking-bird {Turdus polyglottos), I know of no native bird which is so frequently domesticated, agrees better with confinement, or sings in that state more agreeably than the Robin. They generally suffer severely in moulting time, yet often live to a considerable age. A lady who resides near Tarrytown, on the banks of the Hudson, in- formed me, that she raised, and kept one of these birds for seventeen years ; which sung as well, and looked as sprightly, at that age as ever ; but was at last unfortunately destroyed by a cat. The morning is their favorite time for song. In passing through the streets of our large cities, on Sunday, in the months of April and May, a little after daybreak, the general silence which usually prevails without at that hour, will enable you to distinguish every house where one of these songsters resides, as he makes it then ring with his music. Not only the plumage of the Robin, as of many other birds, is sub- ject to slight periodical changes of color, but even the .legs, feet, and bill : the latter, in the male, being frequently found tipped and ridged for half its length with black. In the depth of winter their plumage is generally best ; at which time the full grown bird, in his most perfect dress, appears as exhibited in the plate. Gentjs XXXIII. AMPBLIS. CHATTERER. Species. A. AMERICANA* CEDAR-BIRD. [Plate VII. Fig. 1.] Ampelis garrulus, Ltnn. Syst. i., 297, 1. /?. — Bombycilla Carolinensis, Brisson ii., 337, 1. Id.ivo. 1, 251. — Chatterer of Carolina, Catesb. i., 46. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 207.— Lath. &yn. in., 93, 1. ^.— Edw. 242.— Cook's Last Voyage, ii.,518.— Ellis's Voyage, ii., 13. The figure of the Cedar-bird which accompanies this description was drawn from a very beautiful specimen ; and exhibits the form of its crest when erected, which gives it so, gay and elegant an appearance. At pleasure it can lower and contract this so closely to its head and neck, as not to be observed. The plumage of these birds is of an exquisitely * This species does not belong to the genus Ampelis as at present restricted, hut to the genus Bombycilla of Bripson, adopted hy most modern Ornithologists. Brisson's specific name, Carolinensis, having the priority, must be adopted for this bird. Wilson was wrong in quoting Ampelis garrulus, Linn., as a synonyme. CEDAR-BIRD. 47 fine and silky texture, lying extremely smooth and glossy. Notwith- standing the name Chatterers given to them, they are perhaps the most silent species we have ; making only a feeble, lisping sound, chiefly as they rise or alight. They fly in compact bodies, of from twenty to fifty ; and usually alight so close together on the same tree, that one half are frequently shot down at a time. In the months of July and August, they collect together in flocks, and retire to the hilly parts of the state, the Blue Mountains and other collateral ridges of the Alleghany, to enjoy the fruit of the Vaccinium uliginosum, whortle-berries,' which grow there in great abundance ; whole mountains, for many miles, being al- most entirely covered with them ; and where in the month of August I have myself found the Cedar-birds numerous. In October they descend to the lower cultivated parts of the country, to feed on the berries of the sour gum, and red cedar, of which last they are immoder- ately fond ; and thirty or forty may sometimes be seen fluttering among the branches of one small cedar tree, plucking ofi" the berries. They are also found as far south as Mexico, as appears from the accounts of Fernandez, Seba, and others.* Fernandez saw them near Tetzeuco, and calls them Coquantotl ; says they delight to dwell in the mountain- ous parts of the country ; and that their flesh and song are both indifferent. f Most of our epicures here, are, however, of a different opinion, as to their palatableness ; for in the fall, and beginning of sum- mer, when they become very fat, they are in considerable esteem for the table ; and great numbers are brought to the market of Philadelphia, where they are sold from twelve to twenty-five cents per dozen. During the whole winter and spring they are occasionally seen ; and about the twenty-fifth of May appear in numerous parties, making great havoc among the early cherries, selecting the best and ripest of the fruit. Nor are they easily intimidated by the presence of Mr. Scarecrow ; for I have seen a flock deliberately feasting on the fruit of a loaded cherry tree, while on the same tree one of these guardian angels, and a very formi- dable one too, stretched his stiffened arms, and displayed his dangling legs, with all the pomposity of authority ! At this time of the season most of our resident birds, and many of our summer visitants, are sit- ting, or have young ; while even on the first of June, the eggs in the ovary of the female Cedar-bird are no larger than mustard seed ; and it is generally the eighth or tenth of that month before they begin to build. These last are curious circumstances, which it is difficult to ac- count for, unless by supposing, that incubation is retarded by a scarcity of suitable food in spring; berries and other fruit being their usual * The figure of this bird in Seba's voluminous work is too wretched for criticism ; it is there called " Oiseau Xomotl d'Amerique huppee." Seb. ii., p. 66, t. 65, fig. 5. t Hist. Av. Nov. Hisp. 55. 48 CEDAR-BIRD. fare. In May, before the cherries are ripe, they are lean, and little else is found in their stomachs than a few shrivelled cedar berries, the refuse of the former season, and a few fragments of beetles and other insects, which do not appear to be their common food ; but in June, while cherries and strawberries abound, they become extremely fatj and about the tenth or twelfth of that month, disperse over the country in pairs to breed ; sometimes fixing on the cedar, but generally choosing the orchard for that purpose. The nest is large for the size of the bird, fixed in the forked or horizontal branch of an apple tree, ten or twelve feet from the ground ; outwardly, and at bottom, is laid a mass of coarse dry stalks of grass, and the inside is lined wholly with very fine stalks of the same material. The eggs are three or four, of a dingy bluish white, thick at the great end, tapering suddenly, and becoming very narrow at the other ; marked with small roundish spots of black of various sizes and shades ; and the great end is of a pale dull purple tinge, marked likewise with touches of various shades of purple and black. About the last week in June the young are hatched, and are at first fed on insects and their larvae ; but as they advance in growth, on berries of various kinds. These facts I have myself been an eye witness to. The female, if disturbed, darts from the nest in silence to a considerable dis- tance ; no notes of wailing or lamentation are heard from either parent, nor are they even seen, notwithstanding you are in the tree examining the nest and young. These nests are less frequently found than many others ; owing not only to the comparatively few numbers of the birds, but to the remarkable muteness of the species. The season of love, which makes almost every other small bird musical, has no such effect on them ; for they continue at that interesting period as silent as before. This species is also found in Canada, where it is called Recollet, probably, as Dr. Latham supposes, from the color and appearance of its crest resembling the hood of an order of friars of that denomination ; it has also been met with by several of our voyagers on the north-west coast of America, and appears to have an extensive range. Almost all. the ornithologists of Europe persist in considering this bird as a variety of the European Chatterer (A. garrulus), with what justice or propriety, a mere comparison of the two will determine. The European species is very nearly twice the cubic bulk of ours ; has the whole lower parts of an uniform dark vinous bay ; the tips of the wings streaked with lateral bars of yellow; the nostrils covered with bristles;* the feathers on the chin loose and tufted ; the wings black ; and the markings of white and black on the sides of the head difi"erent from the American, which is as follows : — Length seven inches, extent eleven inches ; head, neck, breast, upper part of the back, and wing-coverts, a * Turton. CEDAR-BIRD. 19 dark fawn color ; darkest on the back, and brightest on the front ; head ornamented with a high pointed almost upright crest ; line from the nostril over the eye to the hind head velvety black, bordered above with a fine line of white, and another line of white passes from the lower mandible; chin black, gradually brightening into fawn color, the feathers there lying extremely close ; bill black, upper mandible nearly triangular at the base, without bristles, short, rounding at the point, where it is deeply notched ; the lower scolloped at the tip and turning up ; tongue, as in the rest of the genus, broad, thin, cartilaginous, and lacerated at the end ; belly yellow ; vent white ; wings deep slate, except the two secondaries next the body, whose exterior vanes are of a fawn color, and interior ones white ; forming two whitish strips there, which are very conspicuous ; rump and tail coverts pale light blue, tail the same, gradually deepening into black, and tipped for half an inch with rich yellow. Six or seven, and sometimes the whole nine, secondary feathers of the wings, are ornamented at the tips with small red oblong appendages, resembling red sealing-wax ; these appear to be a prolonga- tion of the shafts, and to be intended for preserving the ends, and conse- quently the vanes, of the quills from being broken and worn away, by the almost continual fluttering of the bird among thick branches of the cedar. The feathers of those birds which are without these appendages are uni- formly found ragged on the edges ; but smooth and perfect in those on whom the marks are full and numerous. These singular marks have been usually considered as belonging to the male alone, from the circum- stance, perhaps, of finding female birds without them. They are, how- ever, common to both male and female. Six of the latter are now lying before me, each with large and numerous clusters of eggs, and having the waxen appendages in full perfection. The young birds do not receive them until the second fall, when, in moulting time, they may be seen fully formed, as the feather is developed from its sheath. I have once or twice found a solitary one on the extremity of one of the tail feathers. The eye is of a dark blood color ; the legs and claws black ; the inside of the mouth orange ; gap wide ; and the gullet capable of such disten- tion as often to contain twelve or fifteen cedar berries, and serving as a kind of craw to prepare them for digestion. No wonder then that this gluttonous bird, with such a mass of food almost continually in his throat, should want both the inclination and powers for vocal melody, which would seem to belong to those only of less gross and voracious habits. The chief difference in the plumage of the male and female consists in the dullness of the tints of the latter, the inferior appearance of the crest, and the narrowness of the yellow bar on the tip of the tail. Though I do not flatter myself with being able to remove that preju- dice from the minds of foreigners, which has made them lock on this Vol. II.— 4 50 CEDAR-BIRD. bird, also, as a degenerate and not a distinct species from their own , yet they must allow that the change has been very great, very uniform, and universal, all over North America, where I have never heard that' the European species has been found ; or even if it were, this would only show more clearly the specific difference of the two, by proving that climate or food could never have produced these differences in either, when both retain them, though confined to the same climate. But it is not only in the color of their plumage that these two birds difier, but in several important particulars, in their manners and habits. The breeding place of the European species is absolutely unknown ; supposed to be somewhere about the polar regions ; from whence, in winter, they make different and very irregular excursions to different parts of Europe ; seldom advancing farther south than the north of England, in lat. 54° N., and so irregularly, that many years sometimes elapse between their departure and reappearance ; which in more super- stitious ages has been supposed to portend some great national calamity. On the other hand, the American species inhabits the whole extensive range between Mexico and Canada, and perhaps much farther both northerly and southerly, building and rearing their young in all the intermediate regions, often in our gardens and orchards, within a few yards of our houses. In some parts of the country they are called Crown-birds ; in others Cherry-birds, from their fondness for that fruit. They also feed on ripe persimmons, small winter grapes, bird-cherries, and a great variety of other fruits and berries. The actLon of the stomach on these seeds and berries does not seem to injure their vegetative powers ; but rather to promote them, by imbedding them in a calcareous case, and they are thus transported to and planted in various and distant parts by these little birds. In other respects, however, their usefulness to the farmer may be questioned ; and in the general chorus of the feathered songsters they can scarcely be said to take a part. "We must therefore rank them far below many more homely and minute warblers, their neighbors, whom Providence seems to have formed, both as allies to protect the property of the husbandman from devouring insects, and as musicians to cheer him, while engaged in the labors of the field, with their innocent and delightful melody. Genus XXXV. LOXIA* GROSBEAK. Species I. L. CARDINALIH. CARDINAL GROSBEAK. [Plate XI. Figs. 1, 2.] Linn. Syst. i , p. 300, No. 5. — Le Gros-hec de Virginie, Briss. Orn. iii., p. 255, No. 17.— Buff, hi., p. 458, pi. 28. PI. Enl. 37.— Lath. Syn. ii., p. 118, No. 13.- Cardinal, Brown's Jam. p. 647.t This is one of our most common cage birds ; ^nd is very generally known, not only in North America, but even in Europe ; numbers of them having been carried over both to France and England, in which last country they are usually called Virginia Nightingales. To this name, Dr. Latham observes, "they are fully entitled," from the clear- ness and variety of their notes, which, both in a wild and domestic state, are very various and musical ; many of them resemble the high notes of a fife, and are nearly as loud. They are in song from March to September, beginning at the first appearance of dawn, and repeating a favorite stanza, or passage, twenty or thirty times successively ; some- times with little intermission for a whole morning together ; which, like a good story too often repeated, becomes at length tiresome and insipid. But the sprightly figure, and gaudy plumage of the Red-bird, his vivacity, strength of voice, and actual variety of note, and the little expense with which he is kept, will always make him a favorite. This species, like the Mocking-bird, is more numerous to the east of the great range of the Alleghany Mountains ; and inhabits from New England to Carthagena. Michaux the younger, son to the celebrated botanist, informed me, that he found this bird numerous in the Bermu- das. In Pennsylvania and the Northern States it is rather a scarce species ; but through the whole lower parts of the Southern States, in the neighborhood of settlements, I found them much more numerous ; their clear and lively notes, in the months of January and February, * This genus, as constituted by Brisson and at present adopted, does not include the four species described under it by Wilson. The three first have been referred to the genus FringiUa, and the fourth, according to Temminck, belongs to the genus Pyrrhula of Brisson. t Wo add the following synonymes : — Loxia cardinalis, Gmel. I^st. i., p. 847, Cardinal Gt tsbeak, Arct. Zool. No. 210. Catesb. Car. i., t. p. 38. (51) 52 CARDINAL GROSBEAK. being, at that time, almost the only music of the season. Along the road sides and fences I found them hovering in half dozens together, associated with snow birds and various kinds of sparrows. In the Northern States they are migratory ; but in the lower parts of Penn- sylvania they reside during the whole year, frequenting the borders of creeks and rivulets, in sheltered hollows covered with holly, laurel, and other evergreens. They love also to reside in the vicinity of fields of Indian corn, a grain that constitutes their chief and favorite food. The seeds of apples, cherries, and of many other sorts of fruit, are also eaten by them ; and they are accused of destroying bees. In the months of March and April the males have many violent engagements for their favorite females. Early in May in Pennsylvania they begin to prepare their nest, which is very often fixed in a hollow, cedar or laurel bush. Outwardly it is constructed of small twigs, tops of dry weeds, and slips of vine bark, and lined with stalks of fine grass. The female lays four eggs thickly marked all over with touches of brownish olive, on a dull white ground, as represented in the figure ; and they usually raise two broods in the season. These birds are rarely raised from the nest for singing, being so easily taken in trap cages, and soon domesticated. By long confinement, and perhaps unnatural food, they are found to fade in color, becoming of a pale whitish red. If well taken care of, however, they will live to a considerable age. There was in Mr. Peale's museum, the stuffed skin of one of these birds, which was there said to have lived in a cage upward of twenty-one years. The opinion which so generally prevails in England, that the music of the groves and woods of America is far inferior to that of Europe, I, who have a thousand times listened to both, cannot admit to be cor- rect. We cannot with fairness draw a comparison between the depth of the forest in America, and the cultivated fields of England ; because it is a well known fact, that singing birds seldom frequent the former, in any country. But let the latter places be compared with the like situations in the United States, and the superiority of song, I am fully persuaded, would justly belong to the western continent. The few of our song birds that have visited Europe extort admiration from the best judges. " The notes of the Cardinal Grosbeak," says Latham, " are almost equal to those of the Nightingale." Yet these notes, clear, and excellent as they are, are far inferior to those of the Wood Thrush ; and even to those of the Brown Thrush or Thrasher. Our inimitable Mocking-bird is also acknowledged, by themselves, to be fully equal to the song of the Nightingale "in its whole compass." Yet these are not one-tenth of the number of our singing birds. Could these people be transported to the borders of our woods and settlements, in the CARDINAL GROSBEAK. 53 month of May, about half an hour before sunrise, such a ravishing concert would greet their ear as they have no conception of. The males of the Cardinal Grosbeak, when confined together in a cage, fight violently. On placing a looking-glass before the cage, the gesticulations of the tenant are truly laughable ; yet with this he soon becomes so well acquainted, that, in a short time, he takes no notice whatever of it ; a pretty good proof that he has discovered the true cause of the appearance to proceed from himself. They are hardy birds, easily kept, sing six or eight months in the year, and are most lively in wet weather. They are generally known by the names, Red- bird, Virginia Red-bird, Virginia Nightingale, and Crested Red-bird, to distinguish them from another beautiful species which is represented on the same plate. I do not know that any successful attempts have been made to induce these birds to pair and breed in confinement ; but I have no doubt of its practicability by proper management. Some months ago I placed a young unfledged Cow-bird (the Fringilla pecoris of Turton), whose mother, like the Cuckoo of Europe, abandons her eggs and progeny to the mercy and management of other smaller birds, in the same cage with a Red-bird, which fed and reared it with great tenderness. They both continue to inhabit the same cage, and I have hopes that the Red- bird will finish his pupil's education by teaching him his song. I must here remark, for the information of foreigners, that the story told by Le Page du Pratz, in his History of Louisiana, and which has been so often repeated by other writers, that the Cardinal Grosbeak " collects together great hoards of maize and buckwheat, often as much as a bushel, which it artfully covers with leaves and small twigs, leaving only a small hole for entrance into the magazine," is entirely fabulous. This species is eight inches long, and eleven in extent ; the whole upper parts are a dull dusky red, except the sides of the neck and head, which, as well as the whole lower parts, are bright vermilion ; chin, front and lores, black ; the head is ornamented with a high, pointed crest, which it frequently erects in an almost perpendicular position ; and can also flatten at pleasure, so as to be scarcely perceptible ; the tail extends three inches beyond the wings, and is nearly even at the end ; the bill is of a brilliant coralline color, very thick and powerful for breaking hard grain and seeds ; the legs and feet a light clay color (not blood red as Bufibn describes them) ; iris of the eye dark hazel. The female is less than the male, has the upper parts of a brownish olive or drab color, the tail, wings and tip of the crest excepted, which are nearly as red as those of the male ; the lores, front and chin, are light ash ; breast and lower parts a reddish drab ; bill, legs and eyes, as those of the male ; the crest is shorter and less frequently raised. One peculiarity in the female of this species is, that she often sings 54 EOSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. nearly as well as the male. I do not know whether it be owing to some little jealousy on this score or not, that the male, when both occupy the same cage, very often destroys the female. Species II. LOXIA LUDOVICIANA. ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. [Plate XVII. Fig. 2, Male.] Loxia Ludoviciana, Gmel. Syst. i., p. i^\.-^Red-hreasted Grosbeak, Arct. Zool. p. 350, No. 212.— Bed-breasted Finch, Id. 372, No. 245.— Le Rose gorge. Buff, hi., 460. — Gros-bec de la Louisiane, PI. Enl. 153, fig. 2. — Lath. Syn. ii., 126. This elegant species is rarely found in the lower parts Of Pennsyl- vaniti ; in the state of New York, and those of New England, it is more frequently observed ; particularly in fall when the berries of the sour gum are ripe, on the kernels of which it eagerly feeds. Some of its trivial names would import that it is also an inhabitant of Louisiana ; but I have not heard of its being seen in any of the Southern States. A gentleman of Middleton, Connecticut, informed me, that he kept one of these birds for some considerable time in a cage, and observed that it frequently sung at night, and all night ; that its notes were extremely clear and mellow, and the sweetest of any bird with which he is acquainted. The bird from which the figure on the plate was taken, was shot, late in April, on the borders of a swamp, a few miles from Philadelphia. Another male of the same species was killed at the same time, consider- ably different in its markings ; a proof that they do not acquire their full colors until at least the second spring or summer. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is eight inches and a half long, and thirteen inches in extent ;' the whole upper parts are black except the second row of wing coverts, which are broadly tipped with white ; a spot of the same extends over the primaries, immediately below their coverts ; chin, neck and upper part of the breast black ; lower part of the breast, middle of the belly, and lining of the wings, a fine light carmine or rose-color ; tail forked, black, the three exterior feathers, on each side, white on their inner vanes for an inch or more from the tips ; bill, like those of its tribe, very thick and strong, and pure white ; legs and feet light blue ; eyes hazel. The young male of the first spring has the plumage of the back variegated with light brown, white and black ; a line of white extends over the eye ; the rose color also reaches to the base of the bill where it is speckled with black and white. The female BLUE GROSBEAK. 55 is of a light yellowish flaxen color, streaked with dark olive and whitish ; the breast is streaked with olive, pale flaxen, and white ; the lining of the wings is pale yellow ; the bill more dusky than in the male, and the white on the wing less. Species III. LOXIA C^RULEA. BLUE GROSBEAK. [Plate XXIV. Fig. 6.] Linn. Syst. 304. — Latham, Syn. in., p. 116. — Arct. Zool. p. 351, No. 217. — Catesbt, Car. I., 39.— BuFFON, iii., 454. PI. Enl. 154. This solitary and retired species inhabits the warmer parts of Ame- rica, from Guiana, and probably farther south,* to Virginia. Mr. Bartram also saw it during a summer's residence near Lancaster, Penn- sylvania. In the United States, however, it is a scarce species ; and having but few notes, is more rarely observed. Their most common note is a loud cliuclc ; they have -also at times a few low sweet toned notes. They are sometimes kept in cages in Carolina ; but seldom sing in confinement. The individual represented in the plate was a very elegant specimen, in excellent order, though just arrived from Charles- ton, South Carolina. During its stay with me, I fed it on Indian corn, which it seemed to prefer, easily breaking with its powerful bill the hardest grains. They also feed on hemp seed, millet, and the kernels of several kinds of berries. They are timid birds, watchful, silent and active, and generally neat in their plumage. Having never yet met with their nest, I am unable at present to describe it. The Blue Grosbeak is six inches long, and ten inches in extent ; lores and frontlet black ; whole upper parts a rich purplish blue, more dull on the back, whiere it is streaked with dusky ; greater wing coverts black, edged at the tip with bay ; next superior row wholly chestnut ; rest of the wing black, skirted with blue ; tail forked, black, slightly edged with bluish, and sometimes minutely tipped with white ; legs and feet lead color ; bill a dusky bluish horn color ; eye large, full and black. The female is of a dark drab color, tinged with blue, and considerably lightest below. I suspect the males are subject to a change of color during winter. The young, as usual with many other species, do not * Latham, ii., p. 116. 56 PINE GROSBEAK. receive the blue color until the ensuing spring ; and till then very much resemble the female. Latham makes two varieties of this species ; the first -wholly blue, except a black spot between the bill and eye ; this bird inhabits Brazil, and is figured by Brisson, Orn. III., 321, .No. 6, pi. 17, fig. 2. The other is also generally of a fine deep blue, except the quills, tail and legs, which are black ; this is Edwards' " Blue Grosbeak from Angola," pi. 125 ; which Dr. Latham suspects to have been brought from some of the Brazilian settlements, and considers both as mere varieties of the first. I am sorry I cannot at present clear up this matter, but shall take some farther notice of it hereafter. Species IV. LOXIA ENUOLEATOR. PINE GROSBEAK. [Plato V. rig. 2.] Loxia EnucUator, Linn. Syst. i., p. 299, Z.—Le Dur-bec, ou Gros-bec de Canada, BuproN, III., p. 457. PI. Enl. 135, ].— Edw. -123, 124.— Lath. Syn. in., p. 111,5. This is perhaps one of the gayest plumaged land birds that frequent the inhospitable regions of the north, whence they are driven, as if with reluctance, by the rigors of winter, to visit Canada, and some of the Northern and Middle States ; returning to Hudson's Bay so early as April. The specimen from which our drawing was taken, was shot on a cedar tree, a few miles to the north of Philadelphia, in the month of December ; and a faithful resemblance of the original, as it then ap- peared, is exhibited in the plate. A few days afterwards, another bird of the same species was killed not far from Gray's Ferry, four miles south of Philadelphia, which proved to be a female. In this part of the state of Pennsylvania, they are rare birds, and seldom seen. As they do not, to my knowledge, breed in any part of this state, I am unable, from personal observation, to speak of their manners or musical talents. Pennant, says, they sing on their first arrival in the country round Hud- son's Bay, but soon become silent ; make their nest on trees, at a small height from the ground, with sticks, and line it with feathers. The female lays four white eggs, which are hatched in June. Foster observes, that they visit Hudson's Bay only in May, on their way to the north ; and are not observed to return in the autumn ; and that their food consists of birch-willow buds, and others of the same nature.* * Phil. Trans. LXII., p. 402. PINE GROSBEAK. 57 The Pine Grosbeak measures nine inches in length, and fourteen inches in extent ; the head, neck, breast and rump is of a rich crimson, palest on the breast ; the feathers on the middle of the back are centered with arrow-shaped spots of black, and skirted with crimson, which gives the plumage a considerable flush of red there ; those on the shoulders are of a deep slate color, partially skirted with red and light ash. The greater wing-coverts and next superior row are broadly tipped with white, and slightly tinged with reddish ; wings and tail black, edged with light brown ; tail considerably forked ; lower part of the belly ash color ; vent feathers skirted with white, and streaked with black ; legs glossy black ; bill a brownish horn color, very thick, short and hooked at the point ; the upper mandible overhanging the lower considerably, approaching in its form to that of the Parrot ; base of the bill covered with recumbent hairs of a dark brown color. The whole plumage, near the roots, as in most other birds, is of a deep bluish ash color. The female was half an inch shorter, and answered nearly to the above description ; only, those parts that in the male were crimson, were in her of a dirty yellowish color. The female, according to Foster, referred to above, has those parts which in the male are red, more of an orange tint; and he censures Edwards for having represented the female of too bright a red. It is possible, that my specimen of the female might have been a bird of the first season, not come to its full colors. Those figured by Mr. Edwards * were both brought from Hud- son's Bay, and appear to be the same with the one now before us, though his coloring of the female differs materially from his description. If this, as Mr. Pennant asserts, be the same species with that of the eastern continent, it would seem to inhabit almost the whole extent of the arctic regions. It is found in the north of Scotland, where Pennant suspects it breeds. It inhabits Europe as far north as Dronthiem ; is common in all the pine forests of Asia, in Siberia, and the north of Russia, is taken in autumn about Petersburgh, and brought to market in great" numbers. It returns to Lapland in spring ; is found in New- foundland ; and on the western coast of North America, f Were I to reason from anology, I would say, that from the great resemblance of this bird to the Purple-finch (Fringilla purpurea), it dofeft not attain its full plumage until the second summer ; and is subject to oonsfderable change of color in moulting, which may have occasioned all the differences we find concerning it in different authors. But this is actually ascertained to be the case ; for Mr. Edwards saw two of these birds alive in London, in cages ; the person in whose custody they were, said they came from Norway ; that they had moulted their feathers, » Edw. Vol. III., p. 124. t Pennant. 58 AMERICAN CROSSBILL. and were not afterwards so beautiful as they were at first. One of them, he says, was colored very much like the Green-finch {Loxia Ohloris). The Purple-finch, though much smaller, has the rump, head, back and breast nearly of the same color as the Pine Grosbeak, feeds in the same manner, on the same food, and is also subject to like changes of color. Since writing the above I have kept one of these Pine Grosbeaks, a male, for more than half a year. In the month of August those parts of the plumage which were red became of a greenish yellow, and con- tinue so still. In May and June its song, though not so loud as some birds of its size, was extremely clear, mellow and sweet. It would warble out this for a whole morning together, and acquired several of the notes of a Red-bird {L. cardinalii), that hung near it. It is exceed- ingly tame and familiar, and when it wants food or water utters a con- tinual melancholy and anxious note. It was caught in winter near the North river, thirty or forty miles above New York. Genus XXXV. CUEVIKOSTRA. CROSSBILL. Species I. C. AMERICANA* AMERICAN CROSSBILL. [Plate XXXI. Fig. 1, Male.— Fig. 2, Female. f] On first glancing at the Wll of this extraordinary bird one is apt to pronounce it deformed and monstrous ; but on attentively observing the use to which it is applied by the owner, and the dexterity with which he detaches the seeds of the pine tree from the cone, and from the husks that enclose them, we are obliged to confess on this as on many other occasions where we have judged too hastily of the operations of nature, that no other conformation could have been so excellently adapted to the purpose ; and that its deviation from the common form, instead of being a defect or monstrosity, as the celebrated French naturalist insinuates, is a striking proof of the wisdom and kind superintending care of the great Creator. • This species is a regular inhabitant of almost all our pine forests situated north of 40°, from the beginning of September to the middle of April. It is not improbable that some of them remain during sum- * This is not a new species, as supposed by Wilson, but the Loxia curvirostra, Linn. Ed. 10, p. 171. f This is an adult male ; fig. 1 is a young bird. AMERICAN CROSSBILL. 59 mer within the territory of the United States to breed. Their numbers must, however, be comparatively few, as I have never yet met with any of them in summer ; though I lately took a journey to the Great Pine Swamp beyond Pocano Mountain, in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, in the month of May, expressly for that purpose ; and ransacked for six or seven days the gloomy recesses of that extensive and desolate morass, without being able to discover a single Crossbill. In fall, how- ever, as well as in winter and spring, this tract appears to be their favorite rendezvous ; particularly about the head waters of the Lehigh, the banks of the Tobyhanna, Tunkhannock, and Beaj- creek, where I have myself killed them at these seasons. They then appear in large flocks, feeding on the seeds of the hemlock and white pine, have a loud, sharp, and not unmusical note ; chatter as they fly ; alight during the prevalence of deep snows before the door of the hunter, and around the house, picking ofi" the clay with which the logs are plastered, and search- ing in corners where urine or any substance of a saline quality had been thrown. At such times they are so tame as only to settle on the roof of the cabin when disturbed, and a moment after descend to feed as before. They are then easily caught in traps ; and will frequently per- mit one to approach so near as to knock them down with a stick. Those killed and opened at such times, are generally found to have the stomach filled with a soft greasy kind of earth or clay. When kept in a cage they have many of the habits of the Parrot ; often climbing along the wires ; and using their feet to grasp the cones in, while taking out the seeds. This same species is found in Nova Scotia, and as far north as Hud- son's" Bay, arriving at Severn river about the latter end of May; and, according to accounts, proceeding farther north to breed. It is added, that " they return at the first setting in of frost." * Hitherto this bird has, as usual, been considered a mere variety of the European species ; though differing from it in several respects ; and being nearly one-third less ; and although the singular conformation of the bill of these birds and their peculiarity of manners are strikingly different from those of the Grosbeaks, yet many, disregarding these plain and obvious discriminations, still continue to consider them as belonging to the genus Loxia ; as if the particular structure of the bill should, in all cases but this, be the criterion by which to judge of a species ; or perhaps conceiving themselves the wiser of the two, they have thought proper to associate together what Nature has, in the most pointed manner, jflaced apart. In separating these birds, therefore, from the Grosbeaks, and classing them as a family by themselves, substituting the specific for the generic * Pennant. 60 AMERICAN CROSSBILL. appellation, I have only followed the steps and dictates of that great Original, whose arrangements ought never to be disregarded by any who would faithfully follow her. The Crossbills are subject to considerable changes of color ; the young males of the present species being, during the first season, olive yellow mixed with ash ; then bright greenish yellow intermixed with spots of dusky olive ; all of which yellow plumage becomes, in the second year, of a light red, having the edges of the tail inclining to yellow. When confined in a cage they usually lose the red color at the first moulting, that tint changing to a brownish yellow, which remains permanent. The same circumstance happens to the Purple Finch and Pine Grosbeak, both of which, when in confinement, exchange their brilliant crimson for a motley garb of light brownish yellow ; as I have had frequent opportunities of observing. The male of this species, when in perfect plumage, is five inches and three quarters long, and nine inches in extent ; the bill is a brown horn color, sharp, and single edged towards the extremity, where the mandi- bles cross each other ; the general color of the plumage is a red-lead color, brightest on the rump, generally intermixed on the other parts with touches of olive ; wings and tail brown black, the latter forked, and edged with yellow ; legs and feet brown ; claws large, much curved, and very sharp ; vent white, streaked with dark ash ; base of the bill covered with recumbent down, of a pale brown color ; eye hazel. The female is rather less than the male ; the bill of a paler horn color ; rump, tail coverts and edges of the tail golden yellow ; wings and tail dull brownish black ; the rest of the plumage olive yellow mixed with ash ; legs and feet as in the male. The young males during the first season, as is usual with most other birds, very much resemble the female. In moulting, the males exchange their red for brownish yellow, which gradually brightens into red. Hence at different seasons they differ greatly in color. Species II. CURVIROSTBA LEU COPTER A. WHITE- WINGED CROSSBILL. [Plate XXXI. Fig. 3.] TuRTON, Syst. I., p. 515.* This is a mucli rarer species than the preceding; though found frequenting the same places, and at the same seasons ; differing, however, from the former in the deep black wings and tail, the large bed of white on the wing, the dark crimson of the plumage, and a less and more slen- der conformation of body. The bird represented in the plate was shot in the neighborhood of the Great Pine Swamp, in the month of Septem- ber, by my friend Mr. Ainsley, a German naturalist, collector in this country for the Emperor of Austria. The individual of this species mentioned by Turton and Latham, had evidently been shot in moulting time. The present specimen was a male in full and perfect pluma.ge.t The White-winged Crossbill is five inches and a quarter long, and eight inches and a quarter in extent ; wings and tail deep black, the former crossed with two broad bars of white ; general color of the plum- age dark crimson, partially spotted with dusky ; lores and frontlet pale brown ; vent white, streaked with black ; bill a brown horn color, the mandibles crossing each other as in the preceding species, the lower sometimes bending to the right, sometimes to the left, usually to the left in the male, and to the right in the female of the American Cross- bill. The female of the present species will be introduced as soon as a good specimen can be obtained, with such additional facts relative to their manners as may then be ascertained. * We add the following synonymes : — Loxia leucoptera, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 844. — Loxiafalcirostra, Lath. Ind. Orn. i., p. 371. — White-winged Cross-bill, Lath. Syn. III., p. 108, 2. Id. Sup. p. 148. Arct. Zool. ii., No. 208. t This ia a mistake ; it was a young male. (61) Genxjs XXXVI. EMBEKIZA. BUNTING-. Species I. E. AMERICANA. BLACK-THROATED BUNTING. [Plate in. Fig. 2.] Calandra pratensis, the May Bird, Bartram, p. 291. — Ard. Zool. 228. — Emberiza Americana, hid. Orn. p. 411, 42.* Of this bird I have but little to say. They arrive in Pennsylvania, from the south, about the middle of May ; abound in the neighborhood of Philadelphia ; and seem to prefer level fields, covered with rye-grass, timothy, or clover, where they build their nest, fixing it in the ground, and forming it of fine dried grass. The female lays five white eggs, sprinkled with specks and lines of black. Like most part of their genus, they are nowise celebrated for musical powers. Their whole song consists of five notes, or, more properly, of two notes ; the first repeated twice and slowly, the second thrice, and rapidly, resembling chip, chip, ehe che che. Of this ditty, such as it is, they are by no means parsimonious, for, from their first arrival, for the space of two or three months, every level field of grain or grass is perpetually serenaded with chip, chip, che ehe che. In their shape and manners they very much resemble the Yellow-Hammer of Britain (JJ. citrinella) ; like them they are fond of mounting to the top of some half-grown tree, and there chirrupping for half an hour at a time. In travelling through difierent parts of New York and Pennsylvania, in spring and summer, wherever I came to level fields of deep grass, I have constantly heard these birds around me. In August they become mute, and soon after, that is, towards the beginning of September, leave us altogether. The Black-throated Bunting is six inches and a half in length ; the upper part of the head is of a dusky greenish yellow ; neck dark ash ; breast, inside shoulders of the wing, line over the eye p,nd at the lower angle of the bill yellow ; chin, and space between the bill and eye white ; throat covered with a broad, oblong, somewhat heart-shaped patch of black, bordered on each side with white ; back, rump and tail ferruginous, the first streaked with black ; wings deep dusky, edged with a light clay color ; lesser coverts and whole shoulder of the wing * We add the following synonymes : — Emberiza Americana, Gmel. Syst. 1, p. 872.— Lath. Syn. 2, p. 197, pi. 44. Fringilla flaricollis, Gmel. SysL i., 926. (62) TOWHE BUNTING. 63 bright bay ; belly and vent dull white ; bill light blue, dusky above, strong and powerful for breaking seeds ; legs and feet brown ; iris of the eye hazel. The female diflfers from the male in having little or no black on the breast, nor streak of yellow over the eye; beneath the eye she has a dusky streak, running in the direction of the jaw. In all those I opened the stomach was filled with various seeds, gravel, eggs of insects, and sometimes a slimy kind of earth or clay. This bird has been figured by Latham, Pennant, and several others. The former speaks of a bird which he thinks is either the same, or nearly resembling it, that resides in summer in the country about Hud- son's Bay, and is often seen associating in flights with the geese;* this habit, however, makes me suspect that it must be a difierent species ; for while with us here the Black-throated Bunting is never gregarious ; but is almost always seen singly, or in pairs, or, at most, the individuals of one family together. Species III EMBERIZA ERYTHROPHTHALMA. TOWHE BUNTING. [Plate Z. Fig. S, Kale.] Fringilla erythrophihalma, Linn. Syst. p. 318, 6. — Le Pinson de la Caroline, Briss. Orn. III., p. 169, 44. — Bufp. Ois. iv., p. 141. — Lath, ii., p. 199, No. 43. — Catesb. Car. I., PI. 34. This is a very common, but humble and inofi'ensive species, frequent- ing close sheltered thickets, where it spends most of its time in scratch- ing up the leaves for worms, and for the larvae and eggs of insects. It is far from being shy, frequently suffering a person to walk round the bush or thicket where it is at work, without betraying any marks of alarm ; and when disturbed, uttering the notes TowM, repeatedly. At times the male mounts to the top of a small tree, and chants his few simple notes for an hour at a time. These are loud, not unmusical, something resembling those of the Yellow-hammer of Britain, but more mellow, and more varied. He is fond of thickets with a southern expo- sure, near streams of water, and where there is plenty of dry leaves , and is found, generally, over the whole United States. He is not gregarious, and you seldom see more than two together. About the middle or twentieth of April they arrive in Pennsylvania, and begin building about the first week m May. The nest is fixed on the ground * Lath. Syn. Suppl. p. 158. 64 TOWHB BUNTING. among the dry leaves, near, and sometimes under, a thicket of briars, and is large and substantial. The outside is formed of leaves and pieces of grape-vine bark, and the inside of fine stalks of dry grass, the cavity completely sunk beneath the surface of the ground, and sometimes half covered above with dry grass or hay. The eggs are usually five, of a pale flesh color, thickly marked with specks of rufous, most numerous near the great end (see fig. 6). The young are produced about the beginning of June ; and a second brood commonly succeeds in the same season. This bird rarely winters north of the state of Maryland ; retiring from Pennsylvania to the south about the twelfth of October. Yet in the middle districts of Virginia, and thence south to Florida, I found it abundant during the months of January, February and March. Its usual food is obtained by scratching up the leaves ; it also feeds, like the rest of its tribe, on various hard seeds and gravel ; but rarely commits any depredations on the harvest of the husbandman ; generally preferring the woods, and traversing the bottom of fences sheltered with briars. He is generally very plump and fat ; and when confined in a cage soon becomes familiar. In Virginia he is called the Bulfinch ; in many places the Towhe-bird ; in Pennsylvania the Che- wink, and by others the Swamp Robin. He contributes a little to the harmony of our woods in spring and summer ; and is remarkable for the cunning with which he conceals his nest. He shows great affection for his young ; aij.d the deepest marks of distress on the appearance of their mortal enemy the black-snake. The specific name which Linnaeus has bestowed on this bird is deduced from the color of the iris of its eye, which, in those that visit Pennsyl- vania, is dark red. But I am suspicious that this color is not permanent, but subject to a periodical change. I examined a great number of these birds in the month of March, in Georgia, every one of which had the iris of the eye white. Mr. Abbot of Savannah assured me, that at this season, every one of these birds he shot had the iris white, while at other times it was red ; and Mr. Elliot, of Beaufort, a judicious natu- ralist, informed me, that in the month of February he killed a Towhe Bunting with one eye red and the other white ! It should be observed that the iris of the young bird's eye is. of a chocolate color, during its residence in Pennsylvania ; perhaps this may brighten into a white dur- ing winter, and these may have been all birds of the preceding year, which had not yet received the full color of the eye. The Towhe Bunting is eight inches and a half long, and eleven broad ; above black, which also descends rounding on the breast, the sides of which are bright bay, spreading along under the wings ; the belly is white, the vent pale rufous ; a spot of white marks the wing just below the coverts, and another a little below that extends obliquely across the primaries ; the tail is long, nearly even at the end ; the three exterior TOWHE BUNTING. 65 feathers white for an inch or so from the tips, the outer one wholly white, the middle ones black ; the bill is black ; the legs and feet a dirty flesh color, and strong for scratching up the ground. The female diifers in being of a light reddish brown in those parts where the male is black ; and in having the bill more of a light horn color. EMBERIZA ERTTHROPHTHALMA. TOWHE BUNTING. [Plate LIII. Fig. 6, Female.] TcKT. Syst. p. 534. This bird -differs considerably from the male in color ; and has, if I mistake not, been described as a distinct species by European naturalists, under the appellation of the '■^ Rusty Bunting." The males of this species, arrive several days sooner than the females. In one afternoon's walk through the woods, on the twenty-third of April, I counted ' more than fifty of the former, and did not observe any of the latter, though I made a very close search for them. This species frequents, in great numbers, the barrens covered with shrub oaks ; and inhabits even to the tops of our mountains. They are almost perpetually scratching among the fallen leaves, and feed chiefly on worms, beetles and gravel. They fly low, flirting out their broad white-streaked tail, and uttering their common note TowM. They build always on the ground, and raise two broods in the season. For a particular account of the manners of this species, see our history of the male. The female Towhe is eight inches long, and ten inches in extent ; iris of the eye a deep blood color ; bill black ; plumage above, and on the breast, a dark reddish drab, reddest on the head and breast; sides under the wings light chestnut; belly white; vent yellow ochre; exterior vanes of the tertials white ; a small spot of white marks the primaries immediately below their coverts, and another slighter streak crosses them in a slanting direction ; the three exterior tail feathers are tipped with white ; the legs and feet flesh-colored. This species seems to have a peculiar dislike to the sea coast, as in the most favorable situations, in other respects, within several miles of the sea, it is scarcely ever to be met with. Scarcity of its particular kinds of a favorite food in such places may probably be the reason ; as it is well known that many kinds of insects, on the larvae of which it usually feeds, carefully avoid the neighborhood of the sea. Vol. II.— 5 Species III. EM-BERIZA ORYZIVORA. RICEBUNTING. [Plate XII. Figs. 1 and 2.] Emheriza oryzivora, Linn. Syst. p. 311, 16. — Le Ortolan de la Caroline, Briss. Orn. III., p. 282, 8, pi. 15, fig. 3. PI. Enl. 388, fig. \.—L' Agripenne, ou L' Ortolan de JRiz, Buff. Ois. iT.,lp. 337. — Rice-bird, Catesb. Car. i., pi. 14. — Edw. pi. 2. — Latham ii., p. 188, No. 2-5. This is, the Bobolink of the Eastern and Northern States, and the Mice and Reed-bird of Pennsylvania and the Southern States. Though small in size, he is not so in consequence; his coming is hailed by the sportsman with pleasure ; while the careful planter looks upon him as a devouring scourge, and worse than a plague of locusts. Three good qualities, however, entitle him to our notice, particularly as these three are rarely found in the same individual ; — his plumage is beautiful, his song highly musical, and his flesh excellent. I might also add, that the immense range of his migrations, and the havoc he commits, are not the least interesting parts of his history. The winter residence of this species I suppose to be from Mexico to the mouth of the Amazon, from whence in hosts innumerable he regu- larly issues every spring, perhaps to both hemispheres, extending his migrations northerly as far as the banks of the Illinois and the shores of the St. Lawrence. Could the fact be ascertained, which has been asserted by some writers, that the emigration of these birds was altogether unknown in this part of the continent, previous to the intro- duction of rice plantations, it would certainly be interesting. Yet, why should these migrations reach at least a thousand miles beyond those places where rice is now planted ; and this not in occasional excursions, but regularly to breed, and rear their young, where rice never was, and probably never will be cultivated ? Their so recent arrival on this part of the continent I believe to be altogether imaginary, because, though there were not a single grain of rice cultivated within the United States, the country produces an exuberance of food of which they are no less fond. Insects of various kinds, grubs, May-flies and caterpillars, the young ears of Indian corn, and the seeds of the wild oats, or, as it is called in Pennsylvania, reeds (the Zizania aquatica of Linnseus), which grows in prodigious abundance along the marshy shores of our large rivers, fur- (66) RICE BUNTING. 67 nish, not only them, but millions of Rail, with a delicious subsistence for several weeks. I do not doubt, however, that the introduction of rice, but more particularly the progress of agriculture in this part of America, has greatly increased their numbers, by multiplying their sources of subsistence fifty fold within the same extent of country. In the month of April,- or very early in May, the Rice Bunting, male and female, in the dresses in which they are figured on the plate, arrive within the southern boundaries of the United States; and are seen around the town of Savannah, in Georgia, about the fourth of May, sometimes in separate parties of males and females; but more generally promiscuously. They remain there but a short time ; and about the twelfth of May make their appearance in the lower parts of Pennsyl- vania, as they did at Savannah. While here the males are extremely gay and full of song ; frequenting meadows, newly ploughed fields, sides of creeks, rivers, and watery places, feeding on May-flies and cater- pillars, of which they destroy great quantities. In their passage, how- ever, through Virginia at this season, they do great damage to the early wheat and barley, while in its milky state. About the twentieth of May they disappear on their way to the north. Nearly at the same time they arrive in the state of New York, spread over the whole New England States as far as the river St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario to the sea ; in all of which places north of Pennsylvania they remain during the summer, building, and rearing their young. The nest is fixed on the ground, generally in a field >»C grass ; the outside is composed of dry leaves and coarse grass, the inside is lined with fine stalks of the same, laid in considerable quantity. The female lays five eggs, of a bluish white, marked with numerous irregular spots of blackish brown. The song of the male, while the female is sitting, is singular, and very agreeable. Mounting and hovering on wing, at a small height above the field, he chants out such a jingling medley of short variable notes, uttered with such seeming confusion and rapidity, and continued for a considerable time, that it appears as if half a dozen birds of different kinds were all singing together. Some idea may be formed of this song by striking the high keys of a piano-forte at random, singly, and quickly, making as many sudden contrasts of high and low notes as possible.- Many of the tones are, in themselves, charming ; but they succeed each other so rapidly that the ear can hardly separate them. Nevertheless the general effect is good ; and when ten or twelve are all singing on the same tree, the concert is singularly pleasing. I kept one of these birds for a long time, to observe its change of color. During the whole of April, May, and June, it sang almost continually. In the month of June the color of the m'ale begins to change, gradually assimilating to that of the female, and before the beginning of August it is difficult to distinguish the one from the other, both being then in the dress of 68 RICE BUNTING. fig. 2. At this time, also, the young birds are so muph like the female, or rather like both parents, and the males so difi"erent in appearance from what they were in spring, that thousands of people in Pennsylvania, to this day, persist in believing them to be a different species altogether. While others allow them indeed to be the same, but confidently assert that they are all females — none but females, arccording to them, return- ing in the fall ; what becomes of the males they are totally at a loss to conceive. Even Mr. Mark Catesby, who resided for years, in the country they inhabit, and who, as he himself informs us,_examined by dissection great numbers of them in the fall, and repeated his experi- ment the succeeding year, lest he should have been mistaken, declares that he uniformly found them to be females. These assertions must appear odd to the inhabitants of the Eastern States, to whom the change of plumage in these birds is familiar, as it passes immediately under their eye ; and also to those, who like myself, have kept them in cages, and witnessed their gradual change of color. That accurate observer, Mr. William Bartram, appears, from the following extract, to have taken notice of, or at least suspected this change of color in these birds more than forty years ago. "Being in Charleston," says he, "in the month of June, I observed a cage full of Rice-birds, that is of the yellow or female color, who were very merry and vociferous, having the same variable music with the pied or male bird, which I thought extraordinary, and observing it to the gentleman, he assured me that they were all of the male kind, taken the preceding spring ; but had changed their color, and would be next spring of the color of the pied, thus changing color with the seasons of the year. If this is really the case, it appears they are both of the same species intermixed, spring and fall." Without, however, implicating the veracity of Catesby, who, I have no doubt, believed as he wrote, a few words will easily explain why he was deceived. The internal organization of undomesticated birds of all kinds, under- goes a remarkable change, every spring and summer ; and those who wish to ascertain this point by dissection will do well to remember, that in this bird those parts that characterize the male are, in autumn, no larger than the smallest pin's head, and in young birds of the first year can scarcely be discovered ; though in spring their magnitude in each is at least one hundred times greater. To an unacquaintance with this extraordinary circumstance I am persuaded has been owing the mistake of !Mr. Catesby that the females only return in the fall ; for the same opinion I long entertained myself, till a more particular examination showed me the source of my mistake. Since thaf, I have opened and examined many hundreds of these birds, in the months of September and October, and, on the whole, have found about as many males as females among them. The latter may be distinguished from the former RICE BUNTING. 69 by being of a rather more shining yellow on the breast and belly ; it is the same with the young, birds of the first season. During the breeding season they are dispersed over the country ; but as soon as the young are able to fly, they collect together in great multi-, tudes, and pour down on the oat fields of New England like a torrent, depriving the proprietors <>f a good tithe of their harvest ; but in return often supply his table with a very delicious dish. From all parts of the north and western regions they direct their course towards the south ; and' about the middle of August revisit Pennsylvania on their route to winter quarters. For several days they seem to confine themselves to the fields and uplands ; but as soon as the seeds of the reed are ripe they resorl; to the shores of the Delaware and Schuylkill in multitudes ; and these places, during the remainder of their stay, appear to be their grand rendezvous. The reeds, or wild oats, furnish them with such abundance of nutritious food, that in a short time they become extremely fat ; and are supposed by some of our epicures, to be equal to the famous Ortolans of Europe. Their note at this season is a single chink, and is heard over head, with little intermission, from morning to night. These are halcyon days for our gunners of all descriptions, and many a lame and rusty gun barrel is put in requisition for the sport. The re- port of musketry along the reedy shores of the Schuylkill and Delaware is almost incessant, resembling a running fire. The markets of Phila- delphia, at this season, exhibit proofs of the prodigious havoc made among these birds ; for almost every stall is ornamented with strings of Reed-birds. This sport, however, is considered inferior to that of Rail- shooting, which is carried on at the same season and places with equal slaughter. Of this, as well as of the Rail itself, we shall give a par- ticular account in its proper place. Whatever apology the people of the Eastern and Southern States may have for the devastation they spread among the Rice and Reed- Birds, the Pennsylvanians, at least those living in this part of it, have little to plead in justification, but the pleasure of destruction, or the savory dish they furnish their tables with ; for the oat harvest is gener- ally secured before the great body of these birds arrive, the Indian corn too ripe and hard, and the reeds seem to engross all their attention. - But in the states south of Maryland, the harvest of early wheat and barley in spring, and the numerous plantations of rice in fall, sufi'er severely. Early in October, or as soon as the nights begin to set in cold, they disappear from Pennsylvania," directing their course to the south. At this time they swarm among the rice fields ; and appear in the island of Cuba in immense numbers, in search of the same delicious grain. About the middle of October they visit the island of Jamaica in equal numbers, where they are called Butter-birds. They feed on 70 KigE BUNTING. the seed of the Guinea grass, and are also in high esteem there for the table.* Thus it appears, that the regions north of the fortieth degree of lati tude are the breeding places of these birds ; that their migrations north- erly are performed from March to May, and their return southerly from August to November ; their precise winter quarters, or farthest retreat southerly, is not exactly known. The Rice Bunting is seven inches and a half long, and eleven and a half in extent ; his spring dress, is as follows ; upper part of the head, wings, tail and sides of the neck, and whole lower parts black ; the feathers frequently skirted with brownish yellow as he passes into the colors of the female; back of the head a cream color; back black, seamed with brownish yellow; scapulars pure white, rump and tail coverts the same ; lower part of the back bluish white ; tail formed like those of the Woodpecker genus, and often used in the same manner, being thrown in to support it while ascending the stalks of the reed ; this habit of throwing in the tail it retains even in the cage ; legs a brownish flesh color ; hind heel very long ; bill a bluish horn color ; eye hazel ; see fig. 1. In the month of June this plumage gradually changes to a brownish yellow, like that of the female, fig. 2, which has the back streaked with brownish black ; whole lower parts dull yellow ; bill reddish flesh color ;» legs and eyes as in the male. The young birds retain the dress of the female until the early part of the succeeding spring ; the plumage of the female undergoes no material change of color. * Bennel's Hist. Jam. Species IV. EMBERIZA PECOBIS. COW BUNTING.* [Plate XVIII. Figs. 1, 2, and 3.] Le Brunei, Bdff. it., 138. — Le Pingon de Virginie, Briss. hi., 165. — Cowpen-bird, Catesb. I., 34.— Lath, ii., 269.— ^rci. Zool. ii., p. 371, No. 241. — Sturnus stereo- rarius, Bartbam, p. 291.t ' There is one striking peculiarity in the works of the great Creator, which becomes more amazing the more we reflect on it ; namely, that he has formed no species of animals so minute, or obscure, that are not invested with certain powers and peculiarities, both of outward con- formation and internal faculties, exactly suited to their pursuits, sufiS- cient to distinguish them from all others ; and forming for them a character solely and exclusively their own. This is particularly so among the feathered race. If there be any case where these charac- teristic features are not evident, it is owing to our want of observation ; to our little intercourse with that particular tribe ; or to that contempt for inferior animals and all their habitudes which is but too general, and which bespeaks a morose, unfeeling and unreflecting mind. These pecu- liarities are often surprising, always instructive where understood, and (as in the subject of our present chapter) at least amusing, and worthy of being farther investigated. The most remarkable trait in the character of this species is the unaccountable practice it has of dropping its eggs into the nests of other birds, instead of building and hatching for itself; and thus entirely abandoning its progeny to, the care and mercy of strangers. More than two thousand years ago it was well known, in those countries where the bird inhabits, that the Cuckoo of Europe {Cuculus canorus) never built * The American Cuckoo ( Cuculvs Carolinenais) is by many people called the Cow-bird, from the sound of its notes resembling the words cow, cow. This bird builds its own nest very artlessly in a cedar or an apple tree, and lays four greenish blue eggs, which it hatches, and rears its young with great tenderness. t Prince Musignano quotes the following Synonymes : — FringiUa pecoris, Gmel. Lath, female and young. — Oriohisfuscus, Gmel. adult male. — Oriohis minor, Gmel. species. No. 46, Lath, adult male. — Sturnus ohscurus, Gmel. adult male. — Sturnus junceti. Lath, adult male. — TroupiaU de la Caroline, Bufp. Pl.'~Enl. 606, fig. 1, adult male. This figure is, no doubt, intended for this bird, although the bill is incorrect. — Brisson calls it FringiUa Virginiana ; Vieillot, Passerina pecoris. (71) 72 COW BUNTING. herself a nest, but dropped her eggs in the nests of other birds ; but among the thousands of dififerent species that spread over that and other parts of the globe, no other instance of the same uniform habit has been found to exist, until discovered in the bird now before us. Of the reality of the former there is no doubt ; it is known to every schoolboy in Britain ; of the truth of the latter I can myself speak with confi- dence, from personal observation, and from the testimony of gentlemen, unknown to each other, residing in different and distant parts of the United States. The circumstances by which I became first acquainted with this peculiar habit of the bird are as follows. I had, in numerous instances, found in the nests of three or four par- ticular species of birds, one egg, much larger and difi"erently marked from those beside it ; I had remarked that these odd-looking eggs were all of the same color, and marked nearly in the same manner, in what- ever nest they lay ; though frequently the eggs beside them were of a quite difi"erent tint ; and I had also been told, in a vague way, that the Cow-bird laid in other birds' nests. At length I detected the female of this very bird in the nest of the Red-eyed Flycatcher, which nest is very small, and very singularly constructed ; suspecting, her purpose, I cau- tiously withdrew without disturbing her ; and had the satisfaction to find, on my return, that the egg which she had just dropped corresponded as nearly as eggs of the same species usually do, in its size, tint and mark- ings to those formerly taken notice of. Since that time I have found the young Cow Bunting, in many instances, in the nests of one or other of these small birds ; I have seen these last followed by the young Cow- bird calling out clamorously for food, and often engaged in feeding it ; and I have now, in a cage before me, a very fine one which six months ago I took from the nest of the Maryland Yellow-throat, and from which the figures of the young bird, and male Cow-bird in the plate were taken; the figure in the act of feeding it is the female Maryland Yellow-throat, in whose nest it was found. I claim, however, no merit for a discovery not originally my own, these singular habits having long been known to people of observation resident in the country, whose information, in this case, has preceded that of all our school philosophers and closet naturalists ; to whom the matter has till now been totally unknown. About the twenty-fifth of March, or early in April, the Cowpen-bird makes his first appearance in Pennsylvania from the south, sometimes in company with the Red-winged Blackbird, more frequently in de- tached parties, resting early in the morning, an hour at a time, on the tops of trees near streams of water, appearing solitary, silent and fa- tigued. They continue to be occasionally seen, in small solitary par- ties, particularly along creeks and banks of rivers, so late as the middle of June ; after which we see no more of them until about the beginning cow BUNTING. 73 or middle .of October, wlieii they reappear in much larger flocks, gen- erally accompanied by numbers of the Red-wings ; between whom and the present species there is a considerable similarity of manners, dialect, and personal resemblance. In these aerial voyages, like other expe- rienced navigators, they take advantage of the direction of the wind ; and always set out with a favorable gale. My venerable and observing friend, Mr. Bartram, writes me on the 13th of October, as follows : " The day before yesterday, at the height of the north-east storm, pro- digious numbers of the Cowpen-birds came by us, in several flights of some thousands in a flock ; many of them settled on trees in the garden to rest themselves ; and then resumed their voyage southward. There were a few of their cousins, the Red-wings, with them. We shot three, a male and two females." From the early period at which these birds pass in the spring, it is highly probable that their migrations extend very far north. Those which pass in the months of March and April can have no opportunity of depositing their eggs here, there being not more than one or two of our small birds which build so early. Those that pass in May and June, are frequently observed loitering singly about solitary thickets, reconnoitering, no doubt, for proper nurses, to whose care they may commit the hatching of their eggs, and the rearing of their helpless orphans. Among the birds selected for this duty are the following, all of which are figured and described .in this and the preceding volume : the Blue-bird, which builds in a hollow tree ; the Chipping Sparrow, in a cedar bush ; the Golden-crowned Thrush, on the ground, in the shape of an oven ; the Red-eyed Flycatcher, a neat pensile nest, hung by the two upper edges on a small sapling, or drooping branch ; the Yellow-bird, in the fork of an alder ; the Maryland Yellow-throat, on the ground at the roots of briar bushes ;. the White-eyed Flycatcher, a pen- "sile nest on the bending of a smilax vine ; and the small Blue Gray Flycatcher, also a pensile nest, fastened to the slender twigs of a tree, sometimes at the height of fifty or sixty feet from the ground. The three last mentioned nurses are represented on the same plate with the bird now under consideration. There are, no doubt, others to whom the same charge is committed ; but all these I have myself met with acting in that capacity. Among these the Yellow-throat, and the Red-eyed Flycatcher, ap- pear to be particular favorites ; and the kindness and afiectionate atten- tion which these two little birds seem to pay to their nurslings, fully justify the partiality of the parents. It is well known to those who have paid attention to the'manners of birds, that after their nest is fully finished, a day or two generally elapses before the female begins to lay. This delay is in most cases ne- cessary to give firmness to the yet damp materials and allow them time to 74 COW BUNTING. dry. In this state it is sometimes met with, and laid in hy_ the Cow Bunting ; the result of which I have invariably found to be the deser- tion of the nest by its rightful owner, and the consequent loss of the egg thus dropped in it by the intruder. But when the owner herself has begun to lay, and there are one or more eggs in the nest before the Cow Bunting deposits hers, the attachment of the proprietor is secured, and reinains unshaken until incubation is fully performed, and the little stranger is able to provide for itself. The well known practice of the young Cuckoo of Europe in turning out all the eggs and young which it feels around it, almost as soon as it is hatched, has been detailed in a very satisfactory and amusing man- ner by the amiable Dr. Jenner,* who has since risen to immortal cele- brity, in a much nobler pursuit ; and to whose genius and humanity the whole human race are under everlasting obligations. In our Cow Bunt- ing, though no such habit has been observed, yet still there is something mysterious in the disappearance of the nurse's own eggs soon after the foundling is hatched, which happens regularly before all the rest. From twelve to fourteen days is the usual time of incubation with our small birds ; but although I cannot exactly fix the precise period requisite for the egg of the Cow Bunting, I think I can say almost positively, that it is a day or two less than the shortest of the above-mentioned spaces ! In this singular circumstance we see a striking provision of the Deity ; for did this egg require a day or two more instead of so much less than those among which it has been dropped, the young it contained would in every instance most inevitably perish ; and thus in a few years the whole species must become extinct. On the first appearance of the young Cow Bunting, the parent being frequently obliged to leave the nest to provide sustenance for the foundling, the business of incubation is thus necessarily interrupted ; the disposition to continue it abates ; nature has now given a new direction to the zeal of the parent, and the remaining eggs, within a day or two at most, generally disappear. In some instances, indeed, they have been found on the ground near, or below, the nest; but this is rarely the case. I have never known more than one egg of the Cow Bunting dropped in the same nest. This egg is somewhat larger than that of the Blue- bird, thickly sprinkled with grains of pale brown on a dirty white ground. It is of a size proportionable to that of the bird. So extraordinary and unaccountable is this habit, that I have some- times thought it might not be general among the whole of this species in every situation ; that the extreme heat of our summers, though suita- ble enough for their young, might be too much for the comfortable resi- dence of the parents ; that, therefore, in their way to the north, through * See Philosophical Transactions for 1788, Part II. cow BUNTING. 75 our climate, they were induced to secure suitable places for their pro- geny ; and that in the regions where they more generally pass the sum- mer, they might perhaps build nests for themselves, and rear their own young, like every other species around them. On the other hand, when I consider that many of them tarry here so late as the middle of June, dropping their eggs, from time to time, into every convenient receptacle ; that in the states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, they uniformly retain the same habits ; and, in short, that in all these places I have never yet seen or heard of their nest ; — reasoning from these facts, I think I may safely conclude, that they never build one ; and that in those remote northern regions their man- ners are the same as we find them here. What reason Nature may have for this extraordinary deviation from her general practice, is, I confess, altogether beyond my comprehension. There is nothing singular to be observed in the anatomical structure of the bird that would seem to prevent or render it incapable of incubation. The extreme heat of our climate is probably one reason why in the months of July and August they are rarely to be seen here. Yet we have many other migratory birds that regularly pass through Pennsyl- vania to the north, leaving a few residents behind them ; who, without exception, build their own nests and rear their own young. This part of the country also abounds with suitable food, such as they usually subsist on. Many conjectures indeed might be formed as to the proba- ble cause ; but all of them, that have occurred to me, are unsatisfactory ' and inconsistent. Future, and more numerous observations, made with care, particularly in those countries where they most usually pass the summer, may throw more light on this matter ; till then we can only rest satisfied with the reality of the fact. This species winters regularly in the lower parts of North and South Qarolina, and Georgia ; I have also met with them near Williamsburg, and in several other parts of Virginia. In January, 1809, I observed strings of them for sale in the market of Charleston, South Carolina. They often frequent corn and rice-fields in company with their cousins, as Mr. Bartram calls them, the Red- winged Blackbirds ; but are more commonly found accompanying the cattle, feeding on the seeds, worms, &c., which they pick up amongst the fodder and from the excrements of the cattle, which they scratch up for this purpose. Hence they have pretty generally obtained the name of Oowpen-hirds, Cow-birds, or Cow Blackbirds. By the naturalists of Europe they have hitherto been classed with the Finches ; though improperly, as they have no family resemblance to that tribe sufficient to justify that arrangement. If we are to be directed by the conformation of their bill, nostrils, tongue, and claws, we cannot hesitate a moment in classing them with the Red- winged Blackbirds, Oriolus Phomiceus ; not, however, as Orioles, but as 76 COW BUNTING. JBuntings, or some new intermediate genus ; the notes or dialect of the Cow Bunting and those of the Red-wings, as well as some other pecu- liarities of voice and gesticulation, being strikingly similar. Respecting this extraordinary bird I have received communications from various quarters, all corroborative of the foregoing particulars. Among these is a letter from Dr. Potter of Baltimore, which as it con- tains some new and interesting facts, and several amusing incidents, illustrative of the character of the bird, I shall with pleasure lay before the reader, apologizing to the obliging writer for a few unimportant omissions, which have been anticipated in the preceding pages. " I regret exceedingly that professional avocations have put it out of my power to h^ave replied earlier to your favor of the 19th of Septem- ber ; and although I shall not now reflect all the light you desire, a faith- ful transcript from memoranda noted at the moment of observation, may not be altogether uninteresting. " The Fringilla pecoris, is generally known in Maryland by the name of the Cow Blackbird ; and none but the naturalist view it as a distinct species. It appears about the last of March, or first week in April ; though sometimes a little earlier when the spring is unusually forward. It is less punctual in its appearance than many other of our migratory birds. " It commonly remains with us till about the last of October ; though unusually cold weather sometimes banishes it much earlier. It how- ever sometimes happens that a few of them remain with us all win- ter, and are seen hovering about our barns and farm-yards when straitened for sustenance by snow or hard frost. It is remarkable that in some years I have not been able to discover one of them during the months of July and August ; when they have suddenly appeared in September in great numbers. I have noticed this fact always immedi- ately after a series of very hot weather, and then only. The general opinion is that they then retire to the deep recesses of the shady forest ; but if this had been the fact, I should probably^have discovered them in my rambles in every patt of the woods. I think it more likely that they migrate further north till they find a temperature more congenial to their feelings, or find a richer repast in following the cattle in a better pasture.* * " It may not be improper to remark here, that the appearance of this bird in spring is sometimes looked for with anxiety by the farmers. If the horned cattle happen to be diseased in spring they ascribe it to worms, and consider the pursuit of the birds as an unerring indication of the necessity of medicine. Although this hypothesis of the worms infesting the cattle so as to produce much disease is problematical, their superabundance at this season cannot be denied. The larvse of several species are deposited in the vegetables when green, and the cattle are fed on them as fodder in winter. This furnishes the principal inducement for the cow BUNTING. 77 " In autumn we often find them congregated mtli the Marsh Black- birds, committing their common depredations upon the. ears of the In- dian corn ; and at other seasons the similarity of their pursuits in feeding introduces them into the same company. I could never observe that they would keep the company of any other bird. " The Cowpen finch difi"ers moreover in another respect from all the birds with which I am acquainted. After an observance of many years I could never discover anything like pairing or a mutual attachment between the sexes. Even in the season of love, when other birds are separated into pairs, and occupied in the endearing office of providing a receptacle for their ofispring, the Fringillae are seen feeding iir odd as well as even numbers, from one to twenty, and discovering no more dis- position towards perpetuating their species than birds of any other spe- cies at other seasons, excepting a promiscuous concubinage which per- va'des the whole tribe. When the female separates from the company, her departure is not noticed ; no gallant partner accompanies her, nor manifests any solicitude in her absence ; nor is her return greeted by that gratulatory tenderness that so eminently characterizes the males of other birds. The male profi"ers the same civilities to any female in- discriminately, and they are reciprocated accordingly, without exciting either resentment or jealousy in any of the party. This want of sexual attachment is not inconsistent with the general economy of -this singular bird ; for as they are neither their own architect, nor nurse of their own young, the degree of attachment that governs others would be superfluous. " That the Fringilla never builds a nest for itself you may assert without the hazard of a refutation. I once ofi"ered a premium for the nest, and the negroes in the neighborhood brought me a variety of nests, but they were always traced to some other bird. The time of deposit- ing their eggs is from the middle of April to the last of May, or nearly so ; corresponding with the season of laying observed by the small birds, on whose property it encroaches. It never deposits but one egg in the • same nest, and this is generally after the rightful tenant begins to deposit hers, but never I believe after she has commenced the process of incubation. It is impossible to say how many they lay in a season, unless they could be watched when confined in an aviary. " By a minute attention to a number of these birds when they Teed in a particular field in the laying season, the deportment of the female, when the time of laying draws near, becomes particularly interesting. bird to follow the cattle in spring, when the aperient effect of the green grasses evacuates great numbers of worms. At this season the pecoris often stuffs its crop with them till it can contain no more. There are several species, but the most numerous is a small white one similar to, if not the same as^ the ascaris of the hu- man species.'' 78 cow BUNTING. She deserts her associates, assumes a drooping sickly aspect, and perches upon some eminence where she can reconnoitre the operations of other birds in the process of nidification. If a discovery suitable to her pur- pose cannot be made from her stand, she becomes more restless, and is seen flitting from tree to tree, till a place of deposit can be found. I once had an opportunity of witnessing a scene of this sort which I can- not forbear to relate. Seeing a female prying into a bunch of bushes in search of a nest, I determined to see the result, if practicable ; and knowing how easily they are disconcerted by the near approach of man, I mounted my horse, and proceeded slowly, sometimes seeing and some- times losing sight of her, till I had travelled nearly two Jniles along the margin of a creek. She entered every thick place, prying with the strictest scrutiny into places where the small birds usually build, .and at last darted suddenly into a thick copse of alders and briars, where she remained five or six minutes, when she returned, soaring above the underwood, and returned to the company she had left feeding in the field. Upon entering the covert I found the nest of a Yellow-throat, with an egg of each. Knowing the precise time of deposit, I noted the spot and date with a view of determining a question of importance, the time required to hsitch the egg of the Cow-bird, which I supposed to commence from the time of the Yellow-throat's laying the last egg. A few days after, the nest was removed I knew not how, and I was disap- pointed. In the progress of the Cow-bird along the creek's side she entered the thick boughs of a small cedar, and returned several times before she could prevail on herself to quit the place ; and upon exami- nation, I found a Sparrow sitting on its nest, on which she no doubt would have stolen in the absence of the owner. It is, I believe certain, that the Cowpen finch never makes a forcible entry upon the premises by attacking other birds and ejecting them from their rightful tene- ments, although they are all perhaps inferior in strength, except the Blue-bird, which, although of a mild as well as affectionate disposition, makes a vigorous resistance when assaulted. Like most other tyrants and thieves they are cowardly, and accomplish by stealth what they can- not obtain by force. " The deportment of the Yellow-throat on this occasion is not to be omitted. She returned while I waited near the spot, and darted into her nest, but retiirned immediately and perched upon a bough near the place, remained a minute or two and entered it again, returned and dis- appeared. In ten minutes she returned with the male. They chattered with great agitation for half an hour, seeming to participate in the affront, and then left the place. I believe all the birds thus intruded on manifest more or less concern at finding the egg of a stranger in their own nests. Among these the Sparrow is particularly punctilious ; for she sometimes chirps her complaints for a day or two, and often deserts the cow BUNTING. 79 premises altogether, even after she has deposited one or more eggs. The following anecdote will show not only that the Cowpen finch insinuates herself slily into the nests of other birds, but that even the most pacific of them will resent the insult. A Blue-bird had built for three succes- sive seasons in the cavity of a mulberry tree near my dwelling. One day when the nest was nearly finished, I discovered a female Cow-bird perched upon a fence stake near it, with her eyes apparently fixed upon the spot while the builder was busy in adjusting her nest. The moment she left it the intruder darted into it, and in five minutes returned and sailed off to her companions with seeming delight, which she expressed by her gestures and notes. The Blue-bird soon returned and entered the nest, but instantaneously fluttered back with much apparent hesita- tion, and perched upon the highest branch of the tree, uttering a rapidly repeated note of complaint and resentment, which soon brought the male, who reciprocated her feelings by every demonstration of the most vindictive resentment. They entered the nest together and returned several times, uttering their uninterrupted complaints for ten or fifteen minutes. The male then darted away to the neighboring trees as if in quest of the offender, and fell upon a Cat-bird, which he chastised severely, and then turned to an innocent Sparrow that was chanting its ditty in a peach tree. Notwithstanding the affront was so passionately resented, I found the Blue-bird had laid an egg the next day. Perhaps a tenant less attached to a favorite spot would have acted more fastidi- ously, by deserting the premises altogether. In this instance, also, I determined to watch the occurrences that were to follow, but on one of my morning visits I found the common enemy of the eggs and young of all the small birds had despoiled the nest, a Coluber was found coiled in the hollow, and the eggs sucked. " Agreeably to my observation, all the young birds destined to cherish the young Cow-bird are of a mild and affectionate disposition ; and it is not less remarkable, that they are all smaller than the intruder ; the Blue-bird is the only one nearly as large. This is a good-natured mild creature, although it makes a vigorous defence when assaulted. The Yellow-throat, the Sparrow, the Goldfinch, the Indigo-bird, and the Blue- bird, are the only birds in whose nests I have found the eggs or the young of the Cowpen finch, though doubtless there are some others. " What becomes of the eggs or young of the proprietor ? This is the most interesting question that appertains to this subject. There must be some special law of nature which determines that the young of the proprietors are never to be found tenants in common with the young Cow-bird. I shall offer the result of my own experience on this point, and leave it to you and others better versed in the mysteries of nature than I am to draw your own conclusions. Whatever theory may be adopted the facts must remain the same. Having discovered a 80 COW BUNTING. Sparrow's nest with five eggs, four and one, and the Sparrow sitting, I watched the nest daily. The egg of the Cow-bird occupied the centre, and those of the Sparrow were pushed a little up the sides of the nest. Five days after the discovery I perceived the shell of the Finch's egg broken, and the next the bird was hatched. The Sparrow returned while I was near the nest, with her mouth full of food with which she fed the young Cow-bird with every possible mark of affection, and dis- covered the usual concern at my approach. On the succeeding day only two of the Sparrow's eggs remained, and the next day there were none. I sought in vain for them on the ground and in every direction. " Having found the eggs of the Cow-bird in the nest of a Yellow- throat, I repeated my observations. The process of incubation had commenced, and on the seventh day from the discovery I found a young Cow-bird that had been hatched during my absence of twenty-four hours, all the eggs of the proprietor remaining. I had not an oppor- tunity of visiting the nest for three days, and on my return there was only one egg remaining, and that rotten. The Yellow-throat attended the young interloper with the same apparent care and affection as if it had been its own offspring. " The next year my first discovery was in a Blue-bird's nest built in a hollow stump. The nest contained six eggs, and the process of incu- bation was going on. Three or four days after my first visit I found a young Cow-bird, and three eggs remaining. I took the eggs out ; two contained young birds apparently come to their full time, and the other was rotten. I found one of the other eggs on the ground at the foot of the stump, differing in no respect from those in the nest, no signs of life being discoverable in either. " Soon after this I found a Goldfinch's nest with one egg of each only, and I attended it carefully till the usual complement of the owner were laid. Being obliged to leave home, I could not ascertain precisely when the process of incubation commenced ; but from my reckoning, I think the egg of the Cow-bird must have been hatched in nine or ten days from the commencement of incubation. On my return I found the young Cow-bird occupying nearly the whole nest, and the foster mother as attentive to it as she could have been to her own. I ought to acknowledge here, that in none of these instances could I ascertain exactly the time required to hatch the Cow-bird's eggs ; and that of course none of them are decisive ; but is it not strange that the egg of the intruder should be so uniformly the first hatched ? The idea of the egg being larger, and therefore from its own gravity finding the centre of the nest, is not sufficient to explain the phenomenon ; for in this situation the other eggs would be proportionably elevated at the sides, and therefore receive as much or more warmth from the body of the cow BUNTING. 81 incumbent than the other.* This principle would scarcely apply to the eggs of the Blue-bird, for they are nearly of the same size ; if there be any diiference it would be in favor of the eggs of the builder of the nest. How do the eggs get out of the nest '. Is it by the size and nestling of the young Cow-bird ? This cannot always be the case ; because in the instance of the Blue-bird's nest in the hollow stump, the cavity was a foot deep, the nest at the bottom, and the ascent perpen- dicular ; nevertheless the eggs were removed although filled with young ones ; moreover, a young Cowpen finch is as helpless as any othei young bird, and so far from having the power of ejecting others from the nest, or even the eggs, that they are sometimes found on the ground under the nest, especially when the nest happens to be very small. I will not assert that the eggs of the builder of the nest are never hatched ; but I can assert that I have never been able to find one instance to prove the afiirmative. If all the eggs of both birds were to be hatched, in some cases the nest would not hold half of them ; for instance, those of the Sparrow, or Yellow-bird. I will not assert that the supposititious egg is brought to perfection in less time than those of the bird to which the nest belongs ; but from the fact stated, I am inclined to adopt such an opinion. How are the eggs removed after the accouchement of the spurious occupant ? By the proprietor of the nest unquestionably ; for this is consistent with the rest of her economy. After the power of hatching them is taken away by her attention to the young stranger, the eggs would be only an encumbrance, and there- fore instinct prompts her to remove them. I might add, that I have sometimes found the eggs of the Sparrow, in which were unmatured young ones, lying near the nest, containing a Cow- bird, and therefore I cannot resist this conclusion. Would the foster parent feed two species of young at the same time ? I believe not. I have never seen an instance of any bird feeding the young of another, unless immedi- ately after losing her own. I -should think the sooty looking stranger would scarcely interest a mother while the cries of her own offspring, always intelligible, were to be heard. Should such a competition ever take place, I judge the stranger would be the sufferer, and probably the species soon become extinct. Why the lex naturce conservatrix should decide in favor of the surreptitious progeny is not for me to determine. " As to the vocal powers of this bird, I believe its pretensions are very humble, none of its notes deserving the epithet musical. The sort of simple cackling complaint it utters at being disturbed, constitutes also the expression of its pleasure at finding its companions, varying * The ingenious writer seems not to be aware that almost all birds are in the habit, while sitting, of changing the eggs from the centre to the circumference, and vice versa, that all of them may receive an equal share of warmth. Vol. II.— 6 82 COW BUNTING. only in a more rapidly repeated monotony. The deportment of the male, during his promiscuous intercourse with the other sex, resembles much that of a pigeon in the same situation. He uses nearly the same gestures ; and by attentively listening you will hear a low, gut- tural sort of muttering, which is the most agreeable of his notes, and not unlike the cooing of a pigeon. This, sir, is the amount of my information on this subject ; and is no more than a transcript from my notes made several years ago. For ten years past since I have lived in this city, many of the impressions of nature have been effaced, and artificial ideas have occupied theii- places. The pleasure I formerly received in viewing and examining the objects of nature, are, however, not entirely forgotten ; and those which remain, if they can interest you, are entirely at your service. With the sincerest wishes for the success of your useful and arduous undertaking, " I am, dear sir, " Yours, very respectfully, "Nathaniel Potter." To the above very interesting detail I shall add the following recent fact which fell under my own observation, and conclude my account of this singular species. In the month of July last I took from the nest of the Maryland Yellow- throat, which was built among the dry leaves at the root of a briar bush, a young male Cow Bunting, which filled and occupied the whole nest. I had previously watched the motions of the foster parents for more than an hour, in order to ascertain whether any more of their young were lurking about or not ; and was fully satisfied that there were none. They had in all probability perished in the manner before mentioned. I took this bird home with me, and placed it in the same cage with a Red-bird (Loxia cardinalis), who, at first, and for several minutes after, examined it closely, and seemingly with great curiosity. It soon became clamorous for food, and from that moment the Red-bird seemed to adopt it as his own, feeding it with all the assiduity and ten- derness of the most affectionate nurse. When he found that the grass- hopper which he had brought it was too large for it to swallow, he took the insect from it, broke it in small portions, chewed them a little to soften them, and with all the gentleness and delicacy imaginable put them separately into its mouth. He often spent several minutes in looking at and examining it all over, and in picking off any particles of dirt that he observed on its plumage. In teaching and encouraging it to learn to eat of itself, he often reminded me of the lines of Goldsmith, He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, Allured to ^'fav' rite food," and led the way. cow BUNTING. 83 This Cow-bird is now six months old, is in complete plumage ; and re- pays the affectionate services of his foster parent with a frequent display of all the musical talents with which nature has gifted him. These, it must be confessed, are far from being ravishing ; yet for their singularity are worthy of notice. He spreads his wings, swells his body into a globular form, bristling every feather in the manner of a turkey cock, and with great seeming difficulty utters a few low, spluttering notes, as if proceeding from his belly ; always, on these occasions, strutting in front of the spectator with great consequential affectation. To see the Red-bird, who is himself so excellent a performer, silently listening to all this guttural splutter, reminds me of the great Handel contemplating a wretched cat-gut scraper. Perhaps, however, these may be meant for the notes of love and gratitude, which are sweeter to the ear, and dearer to the heart, than all the artificial solos or concertos on this side heaven. The length of this species is seven inches, breadth eleven inches ; the head and neck is of a very deep silky drab ; the upper part of the breast a dark changeable violet ; the rest of the bird is black, with a considerable gloss of green when exposed to a good light ; the form of the bill is faithfully represented in the plate ; it is evidently that of an Emberiza ; the tail is slightly forked ; legs and claws glossy black, strong and muscular ; iris of the eye dark hazel. Catesby says of this bird, "it is all over of a brown color, and something lighter below; " a description that applies only to the female, and has been repeated in nearly the same words, by almost all succeeding ornithologists. The young male birds are at first altogether brown, and for a month, or more, are naked of feathers round the eye and mouth ; the breast is also spotted like that of a Thrush, with light drab and darker streaks. In about two months after they leave the nest, the black commences at the shoulders of the wings, and gradually increases along each side, as the young feathers come out, until the bird appears mottled on the back and breast with deep black and light drab. At three months the colors of the plumage are complete, and, except in moulting, are subject to no periodical change. Species V. EMBERIZA NIVALIS. SNOW BUNTING. [Plate XXI. Fig. 2.] Linn. Syst. Z^ii.—Arct. Zool. p. 355, No. 212.—Tavmy Bunting, Br. Zool. No. 121. ^V Ortolan de Ndge, Bcffon, it. 329. PI. Enl. 497. ■ This being one of those birds common to both continents, its migra- tions extending almost from the very pole, to a distance of forty or fifty degrees around ; and its manners and peculiarities having been long familiarly known to the naturalists of Europe, I shall in this place avail myself of the most interesting parts of their accounts ; subjoining such particulars as have fallen under my own observation. " These birds," says Mr. Pennant, "inhabit not only Greenland* but even the dreadful climate of Spitzbergen, where vegetation is nearly ex- tinct, and scarcely any but eryptogamous plants are found. It there- fore excites wonder, how birds, which are graminivorous in every other than those frost-bound regions, subsist : yet are there found in great flocks both on the land and ice of Spitzbergen. f They annually pass to this country by way of Norway ; for in the spiring, flocks innumer- able appear, especially on the Norwegian isles; continue only three weeks, and then at once disappear.^ As they do not breed in Hud- son's Bay it is certain that many retreat to this last of lands, and totally uninhabited, to perform in full security the duties of love, incubation, and nutrition. That they breed in Spitzbergen is very probable ; but we are assured that, they do so in Greenland. They arrive there in April, and make their nests in the fissures of the rocks, on the moun- tains, in May ; the outside of their nest is grass, the middle of feathers ; and the lining the down of the Arctic fox. They lay five eggs, white spotted with brown : they sing finely near their nest. " They are caught by the boys in autumn when they collect near the shores in great flocks, in order to migrate, and are eaten dried.§ "In Europe they inhabit during summer the most naked Lapland Alps ; and descend in rigorous seasons into Sweden, and fill the roads and fields ; on which account the Dalecarlians call them illwarsfogel, or * Crantz, 1, 77. f Lord Mulglave's Voyage, 188. Martin's Voyage, 73. J Leems, 256. gFaun. Greenl. 118. (84) SNOWBUNTING. 85 bad-weather birds. The Uplanders hardwarsfogel, expressive of the same. The Laplanders style them Alaipg. Leems* remarks, I know not with what foundation, that they fatten on the flowing of the tides in Finmark ; and grow lean on the ebb. The Laplanders take them in great numbers in hair-springs for the tables, their flesh being very delicate. " They seem to make the countries within the whole Arctic circle their summer residence, from whence they overflow the more southern countries in amazing multitudes, at the setting in of winter in the frigid zone. In the winter of 1778-9, they came in such multitudes into Birsa, one of the Orkney islands, as to cover the whole barony ; yet of all the numbers hardly two agreed in colors. " Lapland, and perhaps Iceland, furnishes the north of Briton with the swarms that frequent these parts during winter, as low as the Che- viot Hills, in lat. 52° 32'. Their resting places the Feroe isles, Schet- land and the Orkneys. The highlands of Scotland, in particular, abound with them. Their flights are immense, and they mingle so closely together in form of a ball that the fowlers make great havoc among them. They arrive lean, soon become very fat, and are deli- cious food. They either arrive in the highlands very early, or a few breed there, for I had one shot for me at Invercauld, the fourth of August. But there is a certainty of their migration ; for multitudes of them fall, wearied with their passage, on the vessels that are sailing through the Pentland frith, f " In their summer dress they are sometimes seen in the south of England ;J the climate not having severity sufficient to aff"ect the co- lors ; yet now and then a milk white one appears, which is usually mis- taken for a white Lark. " Russia and Siberia receive them in their severe seasons annually, in amazing flocks, overflowing almost all Russia. They frequent the villages, and yield a most luxurious repast. They vary there infinitely in their winter colors, are pure white, speckled, and even quite brown. § This seems to be the influence of difference of age more than of season. Germany has also its share of them. In Austria they are caught and fed with millet, and afford the epicure a treat equal to that of the Ortolan "|| These birds appear in the northern districts of the United States, early in December, or with the first heavy snow, particularly if drifted ,by high winds. They are usually called the White Snow-bird, to dis- tinguish them from the small dark bluish Snow-bird already described. Their numbers increase with the increasing severity of weather, and depth of snow. Flocks of them sometimes reach as far south as the * Finmark, 255. § Bell's Travel's, 1, 198. t Bishop Pocook's Journal, MS. || Kramer, Anim. Austr. 372. X Morton's Northamp. p. 427t 8fi SNOW BUNTING. borders of Maryland ; and the whiteness of their plumage is observed to be greatest towards the depth of winter. They spread over the Ge- nesee country and the interior of the district of Maine, flying in close compact bodies, driving about most in a high wind ; sometimes alighting near the doors^ but seldom sitting long, being a roving, restless bird. In these plentiful regions, where more valuable game is abundant, they hold out no temptation to the sportsman or hunter ; and except the few caught by boys in snares, no other attention is paid to them. They are, however, universally considered as the harbingers of severe cold weather. How far westward they extend I am unable to say. One of the most intelligent and expert hunters who accompanied Captains Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean, informs me, that he has no recollection of seeing these birds in any part of their tour, not even among the bleak and snowy regions of the Stony Mountains ; though the little blue one was in abundance. The Snow Bunting derives a considerable part of its food from the seeds of certain aquatic plants, which may be one reason for its prefer- ring these remote northern countries, so generally intersected with streams, ponds, lakes and shallow arms of the sea, that probably abound with such plants. In passing down the Seneca river towards Lake Ontario, late in the month of October, I was surprised by the appear- ance of a large flock of these birds feeding on the surface of the water, supported on the tops of a growth of weeds that rose from the bottom, growing so close together that our boat could with great difficulty make its way through them. They were running about with great activity ; and those I shot and examined were filled, not only with the seeds of this plant, but with a minute kind of shell fish that adheres to the leaves. In these kind of aquatic excursions they are doubtless greatly assisted by the length of their hind heel and claws. I also observed a few on Table Rock, above the Falls of Niagara, seemingly in search of the same kind of food. According to the statements of those traders who have resided near Hudson's Bay, the Snow Buntings are the earliest of their migratory birds, appearing there about the eleventh of April, staying about a month or five weeks, and proceeding farther north to breed. They re- turn again in September ; stay till November, when the severe frosts drive them southward.* The summer dress of the Snow Bunting is a tawny brown, inter- spersed with white, covering the head, neck and lower parts ; the back is black, each feather being skirted with brown ; wings and tail also black, marked in the following manner : — the three secondaries next the body are bordered with bay, the next with white, and all the rest of the * Lond. Phil. Trans. LXII. 403. PAINTED BUNTING. 87 secondaries, as well as their coverts, and shoulder of the wing, pure white ; the first six primaries are black from their coverts downwards to their extremities ; tail forked, the three exterior feathers, on each side, white, marked on the outer edge, near the tip, with black ; the rest nearly all black ; tail coverts reddish brown, fading into white ; bill pale brown ; legs and feet black ; hind claw long like that of the Lark, though more curved. In winter they become white on the head, neck and whole under side, as well as great part of the wings and rump, the back continues black skirted with brown. Some are even found pure white. Indeed so much does their plumage vary according to age and season, that no two are found at any time alike. Species VI. EMBERIZA CIRIS. PAINTED BUNTING. [Plate XXIV. Fig. 1, Male— Fig. 2, Female.] Linn. Syst. 313. — Painted Finch, Catesbt, i., 44. — Edtt. 130, 173. — Arct. Zool. p. 362, No. 226. — Le Yerdier de la Louisiane, dit vulgairemeni le Pape, Brisson, hi., 200, App. 74. — Buffon, iv., 76, Pd. Enl. 159. — Lath, ii., 206. — Linaria ciris, the Painted Finch, or Nonpareil, Bartram, p. 291. This is one of the most numerous of the little summer birds of Lower Louisiana, where it is universally known among the French inhabitants, and called by them " Le Fape," and by the Americans the Nonpareil. Its gay dress and docility of manners have procured it many admirers ; for these qualities are strongly attractive, and carry their own recom- mendations always along with them. The low countries of the Southern States, in the vicinity of the sea, and along the borders of our large rivers, particularly among the rice plantations, are the favorite haunts of this elegant little bird. A few are seen in North Carolina ; in South Carolina they are more numerous ; and still more so in the lower parts of Georgia. To the westward I first met them at Natchez, on the Mis- sissippi, where they seemed rather scarce. Below Baton Rouge, along the levee, or embankment of the river, they appeared in greater num- bers; and continued to become more common as I approached New Orleans, where they were warbling from almost every fence, and cross- ing the road before me every few minutes. Their notes very much resemble those of the Indigo Bird (Plate VI., fig. 6) ; but want the strength and energy of the latter, being more feeble and more concise. I found these birds very commonly domesticated in the houses of the French inhabitants of New Orleans ; appearing to be the most common 88 PAINTED BUNTING. cage bird they have. The negroes often bring them to market from the neighboring plantations, for sale ; either in cages, taken in traps, or in the nest. A wealthy French planter, who lives on the banks of the Mississippi, a few miles below Bayo Fourche^ took me into his garden, which is spacious and magnificent, to show me his aviary ; where, among many of our common birds, I observed several Nonpareils, two of which had nests, and were then hatching. Were the same attention bestowed on these birds as on the Canary, I have no doubt but they would breed with equal facility, and become equally numerous and familiar, while the richness of their plumage might compensate for their inferiority of song. Many of them have been transported to Europe ; and I think I have somewhere read that in Holland attempts have been made to breed them and with success. When the employments of the people of the United States become more sedentary, like those of Europe, the innocent and agreeable amusement of keeping and rearing birds in this manner, will become more general than it is at present, and their manners better known. And I cannot but think, that an intercourse with these little innocent warblers is favorable to delicacy of feeling, and sentiments of humanity ; for I have observed the rudest and most savage softened into benevolence while contemplating the interesting manners of these inoflfensive little creatures. Six of these birds, which I brought with me from New Orleans by sea, soon became reconciled to the cage. In good weather the males sung with great sprightliness, though they had been caught only a few days before my departure. They were greedily fond of flies, which accompanied us in great numbers during the whole voyage ; and many of the passengers amused themselves with catching these and giving them to the Nonpareils; till at length the birds became so well acquainted with this amusement, that as soon as they perceived any of the people attempting to catch flies, they assembled at the front of the cage, stretching out their heads through the wires with eager expecta- tion, evidently much interested in the issue of their success. These birds arrive in Louisiana from the south about the middle of April, and begin to build early in May. In Savannah, according to Mr. Abbot, they arrive about the twentieth of April. Their nests are usually fixed in orange hedges, or on the lower branches of the orange tree ; I have also found them in a common bramble or blackberry bush. They are formed exteriorly of dry grass, intermingled with the silk of caterpillars, lined with hair, and lastly with some extremely fine roots of plants. The eggs are four or five, white, or rather pearl colored, marked with purplish brown specks. As some of these nests had eggs 80 late as the twenty-fifth of June, I think it probable that they some- times raise two broods in the same season. The young birds of both PAINTED BUNTING. 89 sexes, during the first season, are of a fine green olive above, and dull yellow below. The females undergo little or no change, but that of becoming of a more brownish cast. The males, on the contrary, are long and slow in arriving at their full variety of colors. In the second season the blue on the head begins to make its appearance, intermixed with the olive green. The next year the yellow shows itself on the back and rump ; and also the red, in detached spots, on the throat and lower parts. All these colors are completed in the fourth season, except, sometimes, that the green still continues on the tail. On the fourth and fifth season the bird has attained his complete colors, and appears then as represented in the plate (fig. 1). No dependence, however, can be placed on the regularity of this change in birds confined in a cage, as the want of proper food, sunshine, and variety of climate, all con- spire against the regular operations of nature. The Nonpareil is five inches and three quarters long, and eight inches and three quarters in extent ; head, neck above, and sides of the same, a rich purplish blue ; eyelid, chin, and whole lower parts, vermilion ; back and scapulars glossy yellow, stained with rich green, and in old birds with red ; lesser wing coverts purple ; larger green ; wings dusky red, sometimes edged with green ; lower part of the back, rump and tail coverts deep glossy red, inclining to carmine ; tail slightly forked, purplish brown (generally green) ; legs and feet leaden gray ; bill black above, pale blue below ; iris of the eye hazel. The female (fig. 2) is five and a half inches long, and eight inches in extent ; upper parts green olive, brightest on the rump ; lower parts a dusky Naples yellow, brightest on the belly, and tinged considerably on the breast with dull green, or olive ; cheeks or ear-feathers marked with lighter touches ; bill wholly a pale lead color, lightest below ; legs and feet the same. The food of these birds consists of rice, insects, and various kinds of seeds that grow luxuriantly in their native haunts. I also observed them eating the seeds or internal grains of ripe figs. They frequent gardens, building within a few paces of the house ; are particularly attached to orangeries ; and chant occasionally during the whole summer. Early in October they retire to more southern climates, being extremely susceptible of cold. Species VII. EMBERIZA LEUCOPHBYS. WHITE-CROWNED BUNTING. [Plate XXXI. Fig. 4.] TuRTON, Syst. p. 536.* This beautifully marked species is one of the rarest of itg tribe in the United States, being chiefly confined to the northern districts, or higher interior parts of the country, except in severe winters, when some few wanderers appear in the lower parts of the state of Pennsyl- vania. Of three specimens of this bird, the only ones I have yet met with, the first was caught in a trap near the city of New York, and lived with me several months. It had no song, and, as I afterwards discovered, was a female. Another, a male, was presented to me by Mr. Michael, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The third, a male, and in com- plete plumage, was shot in the Great Pine Swamp, in the month of May, and is faithfully represented in the plate. It appeared to me to be unsuspicious, silent and solitary; flitting in short flights among the underwood and piles of prostrate trees torn up by a tornado, that some years ago passed through the swamp. All my endeavors to discover the female or nest were unsuccessful. From the great scarcity of this species our acquaintance with. its manners is but very limited. Those persons who have resided near Hudson's Bay, where it is common, inform us, that' it makes its nest in June, at the bottom of willows, and lays four chocolate-colored eggs. Its flight is said to be short and silent ; but when it perches it sings very melodiously.f The White-crowned Bunting is seven inches long, and ten inches in extent ; the bill a cinnamon brown ; crown from the front to the hind head pure white, bounded on each side by a stripe of black proceeding from each nostril ; and these again are bordered by a stripe of pure white passing over each eye to the hind head, where they meet ; below this another narrow stripe of black passes from the posterior angle of the eye, widening as it descends to the hind head ; chin white ; breast, sides * Synonymes : Emberiza leucophrys, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 874. — Lath. Syn. iii., p. 200, 44. Id. Sup. p. 159. — Id. Ind. i., p. 413. — White- Crowned Bunting, Arct. Zool. II., No. 22. t Arct. Zool. (90) BAY-WINGED BUNTING. 91 of the neck, and upper parts of the same, very pale ash ; back streaked laterally with dark rusty brown and pale bluish white ; wings dusky, edged broadly with brown ; the greater and lesser coverts tipped broadly with white, forming two handsome bands across the wing ; tertials black, edged with brown and white ; rump and tail coverts drab, tipped with a lighter tint ; tail long, rounded, dusky, and edged broadly with drab ; belly white ; vent pale yellow ochre ; legs and feet reddish brown ; eye reddish hazel, lower eyelid white. The female may easily be distinguished from the male, by the white on the head being less pure, the black also less in extent, and the ash on the breast darker ; she is also smaller in size. There is a considerable resemblance between this species and the White- throated Sparrow, yet they rarely associate together ; the latter remain- ing in the lower parts of Pennsylvania in great numbers, until the beginning of May, when they retire to the north and to the high inland regions to breed ; the former inhabiting much more northern countries ; and though said to be common in Canada, rarely visiting this part of the United States. Species VIII. EMBERIZA GR AMINE A. BAY-WINGED BUNTING. [Plate XXXI. Fig. 5.] Grass Finch, Arct. Zool. No. 253.— Lath, hi., 273.— Turton, Syst. 1, p. 565. The manners of this bird bear great aflSnity to those of the common Bunting of Britain. It delights in frequenting grass and clover fields, perches on the tops of the fences, singing from the middle of April to the beginning of July, with a clear and pleasant note,' in which particu- lar it far excels its European relation. It is partially a bird of passage here, some leaving us and others remaining with us during the winter. In the month of March I observed them numerous in the lower parts of Georgia, where, according to Mr. Abbot, they are only winter visitants. They frequent the middle of fields more than hedges or thickets ; run along the ground like a Lark, which they also resemble in the great breadth of their wings ; they are timid birds ; and rarely approach the farm house. Their nest is built on the ground, in a grass or clover field, and formed of old withered leaves and dry grass ; and lined with hair. The female lays four or five eggs of a grayish white. On the first week in May I 92 SCARLET TANAGER. found one of their nests witli four young, from which circumstance I think it probable that they raise two or more broods in the same.season. This bird measures five inches and three quarters in length, and ten inches and a half in extent ; the upper parts are cinereous brown, mottled with deep brown or black ; lesser wing coverts bright bay, greater black, edged with very pale brown ; wings dusky, edged with brown ; the exterior primary edged with white ; tail sub-cuneiform, the outer feather white on the exterior edge, and tipped with white, the next tipped and edged for half an inch with 'the same, the rest dusky, edged with pale brown ; bill dark brown above, paler below ; round the eye is a narrow circle of white ; upper part of the breast yellowish white, thickly streaked with pointed spots of black that pass along the sides ; belly and vent white ; legs and feet flesh colored ; third wing feather from the body nearly as long as the tip of the wing when shut. I can perceive little or no difference between the colors and markings of the male and female. Genus XXXVII. TANAGRA. TANAGER. Species I. T. RUBRA. SCAB LET TANAGER. [Plate XI. Figs. 3 and 4.] Tanagra rubra, Linn. Syst. i., p. 314, 3. — Cardinal de Canada, Briss. Orn. lu., p. 48, PL 2, fig. .5.— Lath, ii., p. 217, No. 3.— Scarlet Sparrow, Edw. PI. 343.— Canada Tanager, and Olive Tanager, Arct. Zool. p. 369, No. 237-238. This is one of the gaudy foreigners (and perhaps the most showy) that regularly visit us from the torrid regions of the south. He is dressed in the richest scarlet, set off with the most jetty black, and comes, over extensive countries, to sojourn for a time among us. While we consider him entitled to all the rights of hospitality, we may be per- mitted to examine a little into his character, and endeavor to discover, whether he has anything else to recommend him besides that of having a fine coat, and being a great traveller. On or about the first of May this bird makes his appearance in Penn- sylvania. He spreads over the United States, and is found even in Canada. He rarely approaches the habitations of man, unless perhaps to the orchard, where he sometimes builds ; or to the cherry trees in search of fruit. The depth of the woods is his favorite abode. There, among the thick foliage of the tallest trees, his simple and almost monotonous notes, chip, cliurr, repeated at short intervals, in a pensive SCARLET TANAGER. 9S tone, may be occasionally heard ; which appear to proceed from a con- siderable distance though the bird be immediately above you ; a faculty bestowed on him by the beneficent Author of Nature, no doubt for his protection ; to compensate in a degree for the danger to which his glow- ing color would often expose him. Besides this usual note, he has, at times, a more musical chant, something resembling in mellowness that of the Baltimore Oriole. His food consists of large, winged insects, such as wasps, hornets and humble-bees, and also of fruit, particularly those of that species of Vaecinium usually called huckle-berries, which in their season form almost his whole fare. His nest is built about the middle of May, on the horizontal branch of a tree, sometimes an apple tree, and is but slightly put together ; stalks of broken flax, and dry grass, so thinly wove together that the light is easily perceivable through it, form the repository of his young. The eggs are three, of a dull blue, spotted with brown or purple. They rarely raise more than one brood in a season, and leave us for the south about the last week in August. Among all the birds that inhabit our woods there is none that strike the eye of a stranger, or even a native, with so much brilliancy as this. Seen among the green leaves, with the light falling strongly on his plumage, he really appears beautiful. If he has little of melody in his notes to charm us, he has nothing in them to disgust. His manners are modest, easy, and inoffensive. He commits no depredations on the pro- perty of the husbandman ; but rather benefits him by the daily destruc- tion in spring of many noxious insects ; and when winter approaches he is no plundering dependant, but seeks in a distant country for that sus- tenance which the severity of the season denies to his industry in this. He is a striking ornament to our rural scenery, and none of the meanest of our rural songsters. Such being the true traits of his character, we shall always with pleasure welcome this beautiful, inoffensive stranger, to our orchards, groves and forests. The male of this species, when arrived at his full size and colors, is six inches and a half in length, and ten and a half broad. The whole plumage is of a most brilliant scarlet, except the wings and tail, which are of a deep black ; the latter handsomely forked, sometimes minutely tipped with white, and ' the interior edges of the wing feathers nearly white ; the bill is strong, considerably inflated like those of his tribe, the edge of the upper mandible somewhat irregular, as if toothed, and the whole of a dirty gamboge or yellowish horn color ; this however, like that of most other birds, varies according to the season. About the first of August he begins to moult ; the young feathers coming out of a greenish yellow color, until he appears nearly all dappled with spots of scarlet and greenish yellow. In this state of plumage he leaves us. How long it is before he recovers his scarlet dress, or whether he con- tinues of this greenish color all winter, I am unable to say. The iris 94 SCARLET TANAGER. of the eye is of a cream color, the legs and feet light blue. The female (now I believe for the first time figured) is green above and yellow below; the wings and tail brownish black, edged with green. The young birds, during their residence here the first season, continue nearly of the same color with the female. In this circumstance we again recognise the wise provision of the Deity, in thus clothing the female and the inex- perienced young, in a garb so favorable for concealment among the foli- age ; as the weakness of the one, and the frequent visits of the other to her nest, would greatly endanger the safety of all. That the young males do not receive their red plumage until the early part of the suc- ceeding spring, I think highly probable, from the circumstance of fre- quently-finding their red feathers, at that season, intermixed with green ones, and the wings also broadly edged with green. These facts render it also probable that the old males regularly change their color, and have a summer and winter dress ; but this, farther observations must determine. There is in the Brazils a bird of the same genus with this, and very much resembling it, so much so as to have been frequently confounded with it by European writers. It is the Tanagra Brazilia of Turton ; and though so like, is a yet very distinct species from the present, as I have myself had the opportunity of ascertaining, by examining two very perfect specimens from Brazil, now in the possession of Mr. Peale, and comparing them with this. The principal difi"erences are these: the plumage of the Brazilian is almost black at bottom, very deep scarlet at the surface, and of an orange tint between ; ours is ash colored at bot- tom, white in the middle, and bright scarlet at top. The tail of ours is forked, that of the other cuneiform or rounded. The bill of our species is more inflated, and of a greenish yellow color — the other's is black above, and whitish below towards the base. The whole plumage of the southern species is of a coarser, stiffer quality, particularly on the head. The wings and tail, in both, are black. In the account which BuflFon gives of the Scarlet Tanager, and Car- dinal Grosbeak, there appears to be very great confusion, and many mistakes ; to explain which it is necessary to observe, that Mr. Edwards in his figure of the Scarlet Tanager, or Scarlet Sparrow as he calls it, has given it a hanging crest, owing no doubt to the loose disordered state of the plumage of the stuiFed or dried skin from which he made his drawing. Bufibn has afterwards confounded the two together by apply- ing many stories originally related of the Cardinal Grosbeak, to the Scarlet Tanager ; and the following he gravely gives as his reason for so doing: " We may presume," says he, "that when travellers talk of the warble of the Cardinal they mean the Scarlet Cardinal, for the other Cardinal is of the genus of the Grosbeaks, consequently a silent bird."* * Buffon, vol. iv., p. 209, SCARLET TANAGER. 95 This silent bird, however, has been declared by an eminent English natu- ralist, to be almost equal to their own Nightingale ! The Count also quotes the following passage from Charlevoix to prove the same point, which if his translator had done him justice, evidently proves the reverse: "It is scarcely more than a hundred leagues," says this traveller, " south of Canada, that the Cardinal begins to be seen. Their song is sweet, their plumage beautiful, and their head wears a crest." But the Scarlet Tanager is found even in Canada, as well as an hun- dred leagues to the south, while the Cardinal Grosbeak is not found in any great numbers north of Maryland. The latter therefore, it is highly probable, was the bird meant by Charlevoix, and not the Scarlet Tana- ger. Buffon also quotes an extract of a letter from Cuba, which, if the circumstance it relates be true, is a singular proof of the estimation in which the Spaniards hold the Cardinal Grosbeak. " On Wednesday arrived at the port of Havana a bark from Florida, loaded with Cardi- nal birds, skins and fruit. The Spaniards bought the Cardinal birds at so high a price as ten dollars a piece ; and notwithstanding the public distress spent on them the sum of 18,000 dollars !"* With a few facts more I shall conclude the history of the Scarlet Tanager. When you approach the nest, the male keeps cautiously at a distance, as if fearful of being seen ; while the female hovers around in the greatest agitation and distress. When the young leave the nest the male parent takes a most active part in feeding and attending them, and is then altogether indifferent of concealment. Passing through an orchard one morning I caught one of these young birds that had but lately loft the nest. I carried it with me about half a mile, to show it to my friend Mr. William Bartram; and having pro- cured a cage, hung it up on one of the large pine trees in the Botanic garden; within a few feet of the nest of an Orchard Oriole, which also contained young ; hoping that the charity, or tenderness of the Orioles, would induce them to supply the cravings of the stranger. But charity with them, as with too many of the huinan race, began and ended at home. The poor orphan was altogether neglected, notwithstanding its plaintive cries ; and, as it refused to be fed by me, I was about to return it back to the place where I found it ; when, towards the afternoon, a Scarlet Tanager, no doubt its own parent, was seen fluttering round the cage, endeavoring to get in. Finding this impracticable he flew off', and soon returned with food in his bill ; and continued to feed it till after sunset, taking up his lodgings on the higher branches of the same tree. In the morning, almost as soon as day broke, he was again seen most actively engaged in the same affectionate manner ; and, notwith- standing the insolence of the Orioles, continued his benevolent ofiBces * Gmelli Careri. 96 SUMMER RED-BIRD. the whole day, roosting at night as before. On the third or fourth day, he appeared extremely solicitous for the liberation of his cha,rge, using every expression of distressful anxiety, and every call and invi- tation that nature had put in his power for him to come out. This was too much for the feelings of my venerable friend ; he procured a ladder, and mounting to the spot where the bird was suspended, opened the cage, took out the prisoner, and restored him to liberty and to his parent, who with notes of great exultation accompanied his flight to the woods. The happiness of my good friend was scarcely less complete, and showed itself in his benevolent countenance ; and I could not refrain saying to myself — If such sweet sensations can be derived from a simple circumstance of this kind, how exquisite, how unspeakably rapturous must the delight of those individuals have been, who have rescued their fellow beings from death, chains and imprisonment, and restored them to the arms of their friends and relations ! Surely in such godlike actions virtue is its own most abundant reward. Species II. TAN AGRA ESTIVA. SUMMER RED-BIRD. [Plate VI. rig. 3, Male. Fig. 4, Female.] Tanagra Mississippensis, Lath. Ind. Orn. i., 421, 5. — Mexican Tanager, Latham, Syn. III., 219, 5, B. — Tanagra variegata, Ind. Orn. i., 421, 6. — Tanagra cestiva, Ind. Orn. i., 422, 7. — Muscicapa rubra, Linn. Syst. i., 326, 8. — Burr. vi. 252, PI. Enl. 741.— Catesb. Oar. i., 56. — Merula Jlammula, Sandhill Bed-bird, Bar- tram, 299. The change of color which this bird is subject to during the first year, and the imperfect figure first given of it by Catesby, have deceived the European naturalists so much, that four difi"erent species have been formed out of this one, as appears by the above synonymes, all of which are referable to the present species, the Summer Red-bird. As the female differs so much in color from the male, it has been thought pro- per to represent them both ; the female having never to my knowledge appeared in any former publication ; and all the figures of the other, that I have seen, being little better than caricatures, from which a foreigner can form no just conception of the original. The male of the Summer Red-bird (fig. 3), is wholly of a rich ver- milion color, most brilliant on the lower parts, except the inner vanes and tips of the wings, which are of a dusky brown ; the bill is dispro- portionably large, and inflated, the upper mandible furnished with a process, and the whole bill of a yellowish horn color ; the legs and feet SUMMER RED-BIRD. 97 are light blue, inclining to purple ; the eye large, the iris of a light hazel color ; the length of the whole bird seven inches and a quarter, and between the tips of the expanded wings twelve inches. The female (fig. 4), differs little in size from the male ; but is above of a brownish yellow olive, lightest over the eye ; throat, breast, and whole lower part of the body of a dull orange yellow ; tips and interior vanes of the wings brown ; bill, legs, and eye as in the male. The nest is built in the woods on the horizontal branch of a half-grown tree, often an ever- green, at the height of ten or twelve feet from the ground, composed outwardly of broken stalks of dry flax, and lined w'ith fine grass ; the female lays three light blue eggs ; the young are produced about the middle of June ; and I suspect that the same pair raise no more than one brood in a season, for I have never found their nests but in May or June. Towardsthe middle of August they take their departure for the south, their residence here being scarcely four months. The young are at first of a green olive above, nearly the same color as the female below, and do not acquire their full tints till the succeeding spring or summer. The change, however, commences the first season before their de- parture. In the month of August the young males are distinguished from the females by their motleyed garb ; the yellow plumaga below, as well as the olive green above, first becoming stained with spots of a buff color, which gradually brighten into red ; these being irregularly scat- tered over the whole body, except the wings and tail, particularly the former, which I have often found to contain four or five green quills in the succeeding June. The first of these birds I ever shot was green- winged ; and conceiving it at that time to be a nondescript, I made a drawing of it with care ; and on turning to it at this moment I find the whole of the primaries, and two of the secondaries yellowish green, the rest of the plumage a full red. This was about the middle of May. In the month of August, of the same year, being in the woods with the gun, I perceived a bird of very singular plumage, and having never before met with such an oddity, instantly gave chase to it. It appeared to me, at a small distance, to be sprinkled all over with red, green, and yellow. After a great deal of difficulty, for the bird had taken notice of my eagerness, and had become extremely shy, I succeeded in bring- ing it down ; and found it to be a young bird of the same species with the one I had killed in the preceding May, but less advanced to its fixed colors ; the wings entirely of a greenish yellow, and the rest of the plumage spotted in the most irregular manner, with red, yellow, brown, and greenish. This is the variegated Tanager, referred to in the synonymes prefixed to this article. Having, since that time, seen them in all their stages of Color, during their residence here, I have the more satisfaction in assuring the reader that the whole four species mentioned Vol. II.— 7 9h SUMMER RED-BIRD. by Dr. Latham are one and the same. The two figures in our plate represent the male and female in their complete plumage, and of their , exact size. The food of these birds consists of various kinds of bugs, and large black beetles. In several instances I have found the stomach entirely filled with the broken remains of humble bees. During the season of whortle-berries they seem to subsist almost entirely on these berries ; but in the early part of the season on insects of the above description. In Pennsylvania they are a rare species, having myself sometimes passed a whole summer without seeing one of them ; while in New Jersey, even within, half a mile of the shore opposite the city of Philadelphia, they may generally be found during the season. The note of the male is a strong and sonorous whistle, resembling a loose trill or shake on the notes of a fife, frequently repeated ; that of the female is rather a kind of chattering, approaching nearly to the rapid pronunciation of chicky-tucky-tuck, ehicky-tucky-tuck, when she sees any person approaching the neighborhood of her nest. She is, however, rarely seen, and usually mute, and scarcely to be distinguished from the color of the foliage at a distance ; while .the loquacity and brilliant red of the male make him very conspicuous ; and when seen among the green leaves, particularly if the light falls strongly on his pluinage, he has a most beautiful and elegant appearance. It is worthy of remark, that the females of almost all our splendid feathered birds are dressed in plain and often obscure colors, as if Providence meant to favor their personal concealment, and consequently that of their nest and young from the depredations of birds of prey ; while among the latter, such as Eagles, Owls, Hawks, &c., which are" under no such apprehension, the females are uniformly covered with richer colored plumage than the males. The Summer Red-bird delights in a flat sandy country covered with wood, and interspersed with pine trees, and is consequently more nume- rous towards the shores of the Atlantic than in the interior. In both Carolinas, and in Georgia and Florida, they are in great plenty. In Mexico some of them are probably resident, or at least winter there ; as many other of our summer visitants are known to do. In the Northern States they are very rare; and I do not know that they have been found either in Upper or Lower Canada. Du Pratz, in his History of Louisiana, has related some particulars of this bird, which have been repeated by almost every subsequent writer on the subject, viz. that " it inhabits the woods on the Mississippi, and collects against winter a vast magazine of maize, which it carefully conceals with dry leaves, leaving only a small hole for entrance ; and is so jealous of it, as never to quit its neighborhood except to drink." It* is probable, though I cannot corroborate the fact, that individuals of this species may winter LOUISIANA TANAGBR. 99 near the Mississippi ; but that in a climate so moderate, and where such an exuberance of fruits, seeds, and berries are to be found, even during winter, this or any other bird should take so much pains in hoarding a vast quantity of Indian corn, and attach itself so closely to it, is rather apocryphal. The same writer, vol. ii. p. 24, relates similar particulars of the Cardinal Grosbeak [Loxia Cardinalig), which, though it winters in Pennsylvania, where the climate is much more severe, and where the length and rigors of that season would require a far larger magazine, and be a three-fold greater stimulus to hoarding, yet has no such habit here. Besides I have never found a single grain of Indian corn in the stomach of the Summer Red-bird ; though I have examined many indi- viduals of both sexes. On the whole, I consider this account of Du Pratz's in much the same light with that of his countryman Charlevoix, who gravely informs us, that the Owls of Canada lay up a store of live mice for winter, the legs of which they first break, to prevent them from running away, and then feed them carefully, and fatten them, till wanted for use.* ' Its manners, though neither its bill nor tongue, partake very much of those of the Flycatcher ; for I have frequently observed both male and female, a little before sunset, in parts of the forest clear of under- wood, darting after winged insects, and continuing thus engaged till it was almost dusk. Species III. TANAGRA LUDOVICIANA. LOUISIANA TANAGER. [Plate XX. Fig. 1.] This bird, and the two others that occupy the same plate, were dis- covered in the remote regions of Louisiana, by an exploring party under the command of Captain George Merriwether Lewis, and Lieutenant, now General, William Clark, in their memorable expedition across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. They are entitled to a distinguished place in the pages of American Ornithology, both as being till now, alto- gether unknown to naturalists, and as natives of what is, or at least will be, and that at no distant period, part of the western territory of the United States. The frail remains of the bird now under consideration, as well as of the other two, have been set up by Mr. Peale, in his Museum, with as * Travels in Canada, Vol. I, p. 239. Lond. 1761, 8to. 100 LOUISIANA TANAGER. much neatness as the state of the skins would permit. Of three of these, which were put into my hands for examination, the most perfect was selected for the drawing. Its size and markings were as follow. Length six inches and a half; back, tail, and wings black ; the greater wing-coverts tipped with yellow, the next superior row wholly yellow ; neck, rump, tail-coverts and whole lower parts greenish yellow ; fore- part of the head to and beyond the eyes, light scarlet ; bill yellowish horn color ; edges of the upper mandible ragged, as in the rest of its tribe ; legs light blue ; tail slightly forked, and edged with dull whitish : the whole figure about the size, and much resembling in shape, the Scarlet Tanager (Plate Xl, fig. 3.) ; but evidently a different species, from the black back, and yellow coverts. Some of the feathers on the upper part of the back were also skirted with yellow. A skin of what I suppose to be the female, or a young bird, differed in having the wings and back brownish ; and in being rather less. The family, or genus, to which this bird belongs, is particularly sub- ject to changes of color, both progressively, during the first and second seasons ; and also periodically, afterwards. Some of those that inhabit Pennsylvania change from an olive green to a greenish yellow ; and, lastly, to a brilliant scarlet ; and I confess when the preserved specimen of the present species was first shown me, I suspected it to have been passing through a similar change at the time it was taken. But having examined two more skins of the same species, and finding them all marked very nearly alike, which is seldom the case with those birds that change while moulting, I began to think that this might be its most- permanent, or at least its summer or winter dress. The little information I have been able to procure of the species generally, or at what particular season these were shot, prevents me from being able to determine this matter to my wish. I can only learn, that they inhabit the extensive plains or prairies of the Missouri, between the Osage and Mandan nations ; building their nests in low bushes, and often among the grass. With us the Tanagers usually build on the branches of a hickory or white oak sapling. These birds delight in various kinds of berries with which those rich prairies are said to abound. Genus XXXVIII. FEINGILLA. FINCH. Species I. F. TRISTIS. YELLOW-BIRD, or GOLDFINCH. [Plate I. Fig. 8.] Link. Syst. i., p. 320. — Carduelis Americana, Briss. hi., p. 64. — Le Chardonneret jaune, Bcff. iv., p. 112, PL Enl. 202, f. 2. — American Goldfinch, Arct. Zool. II., No. 242.— EwD. 274.— Lath. Syn. iii., p. 288, 57.— M. Sup. p. 166.— Bar- tram, p. 290. • This bird is four inches and a half in length, and eight inches in extent ; of a rich lemon yellow, fading into white towards the rurnp and vent. The wings and tail are black, the former tipped and edged with white, the interior webs of the latter are also white ; the fore part of the head is black ; the bill and legs of a reddish cinnamon color. This is the summer dress of the male ; but in the month of September, the yellow gradually changes to a brown olive, and the male and female are then nearly alike. They build a very neat and delicately formed little nest, which they fasten to the twigs of an apple tree, or to the strong branching stalks of hemp, covering it on the outside with pieces of lichen, which they find on the trees and fences ; ^these they glue together with their saliva, and afterwards line the inside with the soft- est downy substances they can procure. The female lays five eggs, of a dull white,- thickly marked at the greater end ; and they generally raise two broods in a season. The males do not arrive at their perfect plum- age until the succeeding spring ; wanting, during that time, the black on the head ; and the white on the wings being of a cream color. In the month of April they begin to change their winter dress, and before the middlei of May appear in brilliant yellow : the whole plumage to- wards its root is of a dusky bluish black. The song of the Yellow-bird resembles that of the Goldfinch of Britain ; but is in general so weak as to appear to proceed from a con- siderable distance, when perhaps the bird is perched on the tree over your head. I Tiave, however, heard some sing in cages with great energy and animation. On their first arrival in Pennsylvania, in February, and until early in April, they associate in flocks, frequently assembling in great numbers on the same tree to bask and dress themselves in the morning sun, singing in concert for half an hour together ; the confused (101) 102 GOLDFINCH. mingling of their notes forming a kind of harmony not at all unpleasant About the last of November, and sometimes sooner, they generally leave Pennsylvania, and proceed to the south ; some, however, are seen even in the midst of the severest winters. Their flight is not direct, but in alternate risings and sinkings, twittering as they fly, at each successive impulse of the wings. During the latter part of summer they are almost constant visitors in our gardens, in search of seeds, which they dislodge from the husk with great address, while hanging, frequently head downwards, in the manner of the Titmouse. From these circumstances, as well as from their color, they are very generally known, and pass by various names expressive of their food, color, &c., such as Thistle-bird, Lettuce-bird, Salad-bird, Yellow-bird, &c., &c. The gardeners who supply the city of Philadelphia with vegetables often take them in trap-cages, and expose them for sale in the market. They are easily familiarized to conflnement, and feed with seeming in- difference a fey hours after being taken. The great resemblance which the Yellow-bird bears to the Canary, has made many persons attempt to pair individuals of the two species together. An ingenious French gentleman who resides in Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, assured me that he had tried the male Yellow-bird with the female Canary, and the female Yellow-bird with the male Canary, but without effect, though he kept them for several years together, and supplied them with proper materials for building. Mr. Hassey, of NeT? York, however, who keeps a great number of native as well as foreign birds, informed me, that a Yellow-bird paired with a Canary in his pos- session, and laid eggs, but did not hatch, which he attributed to the lateness of the season. These birds, as has been before observed, were seen by Mr. McKen- zie, in his route across the continent of North America, as far north as lat. 54° ; they are numerous in all the Atlantic states north of the Caro- linas ; abound in Mexico, and are also found in great numbers in the savannahs of Guiana. The seeds of the lettuce, thistle, hemp, &c., are their favorite food, and it is pleasant to observe a few of them at work on a calm day, detaching the thistle-down in search of the seeds, making it fly in clouds around them. The flgure on the plate represents this bird of its natural size. The American Goldfinch has been figured and described by Catesby,* who says that the back part of the head is a dirty green, &c. This description must have been taken while the bird was changing its plum- age. At the approach of fall, not only the rich yellow fades into a brown olive ; but the spot of black on the crown and forehead, becomes * Nat. Hist. Car. vol. i., p. 43. PURPLE FINCH. 103 also of the same olive tint. Mr. Edwards has also erred in saying that the young male bird has the spot of black on the forehead ; this it does not receive until the succeeding spring. The figure in Edwards is con- siderably too large ; and that by Catesby has the wings and tail much longer than in nature, and the body too slender ; very different from the true form of the living bird. Mr. Pennant also tells us, that the legs of this species are hlach ; they are, however, of a bright cinnamon color ; but the worthy naturalist, no doubt, described them as he found them in the dried and stuffed skin, shrivelled up and blackened with decay ; and thus too much of our natural history has been delineated. Species II. FRINOILLA PURPUREA. PURPLE FINCH. [Plate VII. Fig. 4, adult male.] Fringilla purpurea, Gmel. Syst. i, 923. — Bouvreuil violet de la Caroline, Buff. it. '6'ib. -^Purple Finch, Arct. Zool. ii., No. 258. — Catesb. i., 41. — Lath. Syn. iii., 299, 39. — Crimson-headed Finch, Arct. Zool. ii., No. 257. — Lath. Syn. iii., 275, 39. — Hemp-bird, Bartram, 291. Fringilla purpurea, Id. 291. This is a winter bird of passage, coming to us in large flocks from the north, in September and October, great numbers remaining with us in Pennsylv&.nia during the whole winter, feeding on the seeds of the pop- lar, button-wood, juniper, cedar, and on those of many rank weeds that flourish in rich bottoms, and along the margin of creeks. When the season is very severe they proceed to the south, as far at least as Geor- gia, returning north early in April. They now frequent the elm trees, feeding on the slender but sweet covering of the flowers ; and as soon as the cherries put out their blossoms, feed almost exclusively on the stamina of the flowers ; afterwards the apple blossoms are attacked in the same manner ; and their depredations on these continue till they disappear, which is usually about the tenth or middle of May. I have been told that they sometimes breed in the northern parts of New York, but have never met with their nests. About the middle of September I found these birds numerous on Long Island, and round Newark, in New Jersey. They fly at a considerable height in the air, and their note is a single chink like that of the Rice-bird. They possess great boldness and spirit, and when caught bite violently, and hang by the bill from your hand, striking with great fury ; but they are soon recon- ciled to confinement, and in a day or two are quite at home. I have kept a pair of these birds upwards of nine months, to observe their manners. One was caught in a trap, the other was winged with the 104 PURPLE FINCH. gun ; botli are now as familiar as if brought up from the nest by the hand, and seem to prefer hempseed and cherry blossoms to all other kinds of food. Both male and female, though not crested, are almost constantly in the habit of erecting the feathers of the crown ; they appear to be of a tyrannical and domineering disposition, for they nearly killed an Indigo-bird, and two or three others that were occa- sionally placed with them, driving them into a corner of the cage, standing on them and tearing out their feathers, striking them on the head, munching their wings, &c., &c., till I was obliged to interfere ; and even if called to, the aggressor would only turn up a malicious eye to me for a moment, and renew his outrage as before. They are a hardy, vigorous bird. In the month of October, about the time of their first arrival, I shot a male, rich in plumage, and plump in flesh, but which wanted one leg, that had been taken off a little above the knee ; the wound had healed so completely, and -was covered with so thick a skin, that it seemed as though it had been so for years. Whether this mutilation was occasioned by a shot, or in party quarrels of its own, I could not determine ; but our invalid seemed to have used his stump either in hopping or resting, for it had all the appearance of having been brought in frequent contact with other bodies harder than itself. This bird is a striking example of the truth of what I have frequently repeated in this work, that in many instances the same bird has been more than once described by the same person as a different species ; for it is a fact which time will establish, that the Crimson-headed Finch of Pennant and Latham, the Purple Finch of the same and other natu- ralists, the Hemp-bird of Bartram, and the Fringilla rosea of Pallas, are one and the same, viz., the Purple Finch, the subject of the present article. The Purple Finch is six inches in length and nine in extent ; headj neck, back, breast, rump, and tail coverts, dark crimson, deepest on the head and chin, and lightest on the lower part of the breast ; the back is streaked with dusky ; the wings and tail are also dusky black, edged with reddish ; the latter a good deal forked ; round the base of the bill the recumbent feathers are of a light clay or cream color ; belly and vent white ; sides under the wings streaked with dull reddish ; legs a dirty purplish flesh color ; bill short, strong, conical, and of a dusky horn color ; iris dark hazel ; the feathers covering the ears are more dusky red than the other parts of the head. This is the male, when arrived at its full colors. The female is nearly of the same size, of a brown olive or flaxen color, streaked with dusky black ; the head seamed with lateral lines of whitish ; above and below the hind part of the ear feathers, are two streaks of white ; the breast is whitish, streaked with a light flax color ; tail and wings as in the male, only both edged with dull brown instead of red; belly and vent white. This is also the ^ PURPLE FINCH. 106 color of the young during the first, and to at least the end of the second, season, when the males begin to become lighter yellowish, which gradually brightens to crimson ; the female always retains nearly the same appearance. The young male bird of the first year may be dis- tinguished from the female by the tail of the former being edged with . olive green, that of the latter with brown. A male of one of these birds which I kept for some time, changed in the month of October, from red to greenish yellow, but died before it recovered its former color. FRINGILLA PURPUREA. PURPLE FINCH. " (Plate XLII. Fig. 3, Male in winter plumage.] This bird is represented as he appears previous to receiving his crim son plumage, and also when moulting. By recurring to PI. VII., fig. 4, which exhibits him in his full dress, the great difference of color will be observed to which this species is annually subject. It is matter of doubt with me whether this species ought not to be classed with Loxia ; the great thickness of the bill, and similarity that prevails between this and the Pine Grosbeak, almost induced me "to adopt it into that class. But respect for other authorities has prevented me from making this alteration. When these birds are taken in their crimson dress, and kept in a cage till they moult their feathers, they uniformly change to their present appearance, and sometimes never after receive their red color. They are also subject, if well fed, to become so fat as literally to die of cor- pulency, of which I have seen several instances ; being at these times subject to something resembling apoplexy, from which they sometimes recover in a few minutes, but oftener expire in the same space of time. The female is entirely without the red, and differs from the present only in having less yellow about her. These birds regularly arrive from the north, where they breed, in September; and visit us from the south again early in April, feeding on the cherry blossoms as soon as they appear. The individual figured in the plate measured six inches and a quarter in length, and ten inches in extent ; the bill was horn colored ; upper parts of the plumage brown olive strongly tinged with yellow, particu- larly on the rump, where it was brownish yellow ; from above the eye, backwards, passed a streak of white, and another more irregular one 106 FIELD SPARROW. from the lower mandible ; feathers of the crown narrow, rather long, and generally erected, but not so as to form a crest ; nostrils and base of the bill covered with reflected brownish hairs ; eye dark hazel ; wings and tail dark blackish brown, edged with olive ; first and second row of coverts tipped with pale yellow ; chin white ; breast pale cream, marked with pointed spots of deep olive brown ; belly and vent white ; legs brown. This bird, with several others marked nearly in the same manner, was shot, April twenty-fifth, while engaged in eating the buds from the beech tree. Species III. FRINGILLA PUSILLA. ■ FIELD SPARROW. [Plate XVI. Fig. 2.] Passer agrestis, Bartram, p. 291. This is the smallest of all our Sparrows, and in Pennsylvania is generally migratory. It arrives early in April, frequents dry fields covered with long grass, builds a small nest on the ground, generally at the foot of a briar, lines it with horse-hair ; lays six eggs so thickly sprinkled with ferruginous as to appear altogether of that tint ; and raises two, and often three, broods in a season. It is more frequently found in the middle of fields and orchards than any of the other species, which usually lurk along hedge rows. It has no song ; but a kind of chirrupping not much different from the chirpings of a cricket. Towards fall they assemble in loose flocks in orchards and corn fields, in search of the seeds of various rank weeds ; and are then very numerous. As the weather becomes severe, with deep snow, they disappear. In the lower parts of North and South Carolina I found this species in multi- tudes in the months of January and February. "When disturbed they take to the bushes, clustering so close together that a dozen may easily be shot at a time. I continued to see them equally numerous through the whole lower parts of Georgia ; from whence, according to Mr. Abbot, they all disappear early in the spring. None of our birds have been more imperfectly described than that family of the Finch tribe usually called Sparrows. They have been considered as too insignificant for particular notice, yet they possess distinct characters, and some of them peculiarities, well worthy of notice. They are innocent in their habits, subsisting chiefly on the small seeds of wild plants, and seldom injuring the property of the farmer. In the dreary season of winter some of them enliven the prospect by. hopping TKEE SPARROW. 107 familiarly about our doors, humble pensioners on the sweepings of the threshold. The present species has never before, to my knowledge, been figured. It is five inches and a quarter long, and eight inches broad ; bill and legs a reddish cinnamon color ; upper part of the head deep chestnut, divided by a slight streak of drab widening as it goes back ; cheeks, line over the eye, breast and sides under the wings a brownish clay color, lightest on the chin, and darkest on the ear feathers ; a small streak of brown at the lower angle of the bill ; back streaked with black, drab, and bright bay, the latter being generally centered with the former ; rump dark drab, or cinereous ; wings dusky black, the primaries edged with whitish, the secondaries bordered with bright bay ; greater wing- coverts black, edged and broadly tipped with brownish white; tail dusky black, edged with clay color : male and female nearly alike in plumage ; the chestnut on the crown of the male rather brighter. Species IT. FRINGILLA ARBOREA* TREE SPARROW. [Plate XVI. Fig. 3.] Le Soulciet, Burr, in., 500. — Moineau de Canada, Bbiss. in., 101. — PI. Enl. 223. —Lath, ii., 252.— Edw. 2m.—Arct. Zool. p. 373, No. 246. This Sparrow is a native of the north, who takes up his winter quarters in Pennsylvania, and most of the Northern States, as well as several of the Southern ones. He arrives here about the beginning of November ; and leaves us again early in April ; associates in flocks with the Snow-birds, frequents sheltered hollows, thickets, and hedge-rows, near springs of water ; and has a low warbling note, scarcely audible at the distance of twenty or thirty yards. If disturbed takes to trees, like the White-throated Sparrow, but contrary to the habit of most of the others, who are inclined rather to dive into thickets. Edwards errone- ously represented this as the female of the Mountain Sparrow ; but that judicious and excellent naturalist. Pennant, has given a more correct account of it, and informs us, that it inhabits the country bordering on Hudson's Bay during summer ; comes to Severn settlement in May ; * The specific name, Canadensis', given by Brisson and adopted by Latham, must be restored to this bird. The following synonymes may -be quoted. Fringilla monticola, Gmel. Sysi. i., p. 9l2.-!-Passer Canadensis, Briss. hi., p. 102, 15.— Id. 8to. i., p. SZ5.— Mountain Finch, Lath. Syn. in., p. 265, 16. Fringilla Canaden- sis, Lath. Ind. Orn. i., p. 434. 108 TREE SPARROW. advances farther north to breed ; and returns in autumn on its way southward. It also visits Newfoundland.* By some of our own naturalists this species has been confounded with the Chipping Sparrow (fig. 5), which it very much resembles ; but is larger and handsomer ; and is never found with us in summer. The former departs for the south about the same time that the latter arrives from the north ; and from this circumstance, and their general resem- blance, has arisen the mistake. The Tree Sparrow is six inches and a half long, and nine and a half in extent ; the whole upper part of the head is of a bright reddish chest- nut, sometimes slightly skirted with gray ; from the nostrils over the eye passes a white strip fading into pale ash as it extends back ; sides of the neck, chin and breast very pale ash ; the centre of the breast marked with an obscure spot of dark brown ; from the lower angle of the biU proceeds a slight streak of chestnut ; sides under the wings pale brown ; back handsomely streaked with pale drab, bright bay and black ; lower part of the back and rump brownish drab ; lesser wing coverts black, edged with pale ash ; wings black, broadly edged with bright bay ; the first and second row of coverts tipped with pure white ; tail black, forked, and exteriorly edged with dull white ; belly and vent brownish white ; bill black above, yellow below ; legs a brownish clay color ; feet black. The female is about half an inch shorter ; the chest- nut or bright bay on the wings, back and crown is less brilliant ; and the white on the coverts narrower, and not so pure. These are all the differences I can perceive. * Arct. Zool. Vol. II., p. 373. Species V. FRINOILLA MELODIA. SONG SPARROW. [Plate XVI. Fig. 4.] Fasciated Finch ? Arct. Zool. p. 375, No. 252. So nearly do many species of our Sparrows approximate to each other in plumage, and so imperfectly have they been taken notice of, that it is absolutely impossible to say, with certainty, whether the present species has ever been described or not. And yet, of all our Sparrows, this is the most numerous, the most generally diffused over the United States, and by far the earliest, sweetest, and most lasting song- ster. It may be said to be partially migratory, many passing to the south in the month of November ; and many of them still remaining with us, in low close sheltered meadows and swamps, during the whole of winter. It is the first singing bird in spring, taking precedence even of the Pewee and Blue-bird. Its song continues occasionally during the whole sunimer and fall ; and is sometimes heard even in the depth of winter. The notes, or chant, are short but very sweet, resembling the beginning of the Canary's song, and frequently repeated, generally from the branches of a bush or small tree, where it sits chanting for an hour together. It is fond of frequenting the borders of rivers, mea- dows, swamps, and such like watery places ; and if wounded, and un- able to fly, will readily take to the water, and swim with considerable rapidity. In the great cypress swamps of the Southern States in the depth of winter, I observed multitudes of these birds mixed with several other species ; for these places appear to be the grand winter rendez- vous of almost all our Sparrows. I have found this bird in every dis- trict of the United States from Canada to the southern boundaries of Georgia ; but Mr. Abbot informs me, that he knows of only one or two species that remain in that part of Georgia during the summer. The Song Sparrow builds in the ground, under a tuft of grass ; the nest is formed of fine dry grass, and lined with horse hair ; the eggs are four or five, thickly marked with spots of reddish brown on a white, sometimes bluish white ground ; if not interrupted, he raises three broods in the season. I have found his nest with young as early as the 26th of April, and as late as the 12th of August. What is singular, the same bird often fixes his nest in a cedar tree, five or six feet from (109) 110 CHIPPING SPARROW. the ground. Supposing this to have been a variety, or different species, I have examined the bird, nest and eggs, with particular care, several times ; but found no difference. I have observed the same accidental habit in the Red-winged Blackbird, which sometimes builds among the grass, as well as on alder bushes. This species is six inches and a half long, and eight and a half in extent ; upper part of the head dark chestnut, divided, laterally, by a line of pale dirty white ; spot at each nostril yellow ochre ; line over the eye inclining to ash ; chin white ; streak from the lower mandible, slit of the mouth, and posterior angle of the eye, dark chestnut ; breast and sides under the wings thickly marked with long pointed spots of dark chestnut, centered with black, and running in chains ; belly white ; vent yellow ochre, streaked with brown ; back streaked with black, bsly, and pale ochre ; tail brown, rounded at the end, the two middle feathers streaked down their centres with black ; legs flesh colored ; wing coverts black, broadly edged with bay, and tipped with yellowish white ; wings dark brown. The female is scarcely distinguishable by its plumage from the male. The bill in both horn colored. Species VI. FRINGILLA SOOIALIS. CHIPPING SPARROW. [Plate XVI. Fig. 5.] Passer domesHcus, the little House Sparrow, or Chipping-hird, Bartkam, p. 291. This species, though destitute of the musical talents of the former, is perhaps more generally known, because more familiar and even domes- tic. He inhabits, during sumnier, the city, in common with man, build- ing in the branches of the trees with which our streets and gardens are ornamented ; and gleaning up crumbs from our yards, and even our doors, to feed his more advanced young with. I have known one of these birds attend regularly every day, during the whole summer, while the family were at dinner, under a piazza, fronting the garden, and pick up the crumbs that were thrown to him. This sociable habit, which continues chiefly during the summer, is a singular characteristic. To- wards the end of summer he takes to the fields, and hedges, until the weather becomes severe, with snow, when he departs for the south. The Chipping-bird builds his nest most commonly in a cedar bush, and lines it thickly with cow-hair. The female lays four or five eggs of a light blue color, with a few dots of purplish black near the great end. SNOW-BIRD. Ill This species may easily be distinguished from the four preceding ones, by his black bill and frontlet, and by his familiarity in summer ; yet, in the month of August and September, when they moult, the black on the front and partially on the bill disappears. The young are also without the black during the first season. The Chipping Sparrow is five inches and a quarter long, and eight inches in extent ; frontlet black ; chin and line over the eye whitish ; crown chestnut ; breast and sides of the neck pale ash ; bill in winter black, in summer the lower mandible flesh colored ; rump dark ash ; belly and vent white ; back variegated with black and bright bay ; wings black, broadly edged with bright chestnut ; tail dusky, forked, and slightly edged with pale ochre ; legs and feet a pale flesh color. The female difi"ers in having less black on the frontlet, and the bay duller. Both lose the black front in moulting. Species VII. FRINGILLA HUDSONIA* SNOW-BIRD. [Plate XTI. Fig. 6.] Fringilla Eudsonia, Turton, Syst. i., 568. — Emberiza hyemalis, Id. 531. — Lath, i., 66. — Catesby, I., 36. — Arct. Zool. p. 359, No. 22Z.— Passer nivalis, Babtram, p. 291. This well known species, small and insignificant as it may appear, is by far the most numerous, as well as the most extensively disseminated, of all the feathered tribes that visit us from the frozen regions of the north. Their migrations extending from the Arctic Circle, and pro- bably beyond it, to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, spreading over the whole breadth of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to Louisiana ; how much farther westward I am unable to say. About the twentieth of October they make their first appearance in those parts of Pennsylvania east of the Alleghany Mountains. At first they are most generally seen on the borders of woods among the falling and decayed leaves, in loose flocks of thirty or forty together, always taking to the trees when disturbed. As the weather sets in colder they approach nearer the farm-house and villages ; and on the appearance of ^vhat i.s usually called falling weather, assemble in larger flocks, and seem doubly diligent in searching for food. This increased activity is gene- rally a sure prognostic of a storm. When deep snow covers the ground * Fringilla hyemalis, Linn. Syst. Ed. 10, i., p. 183, 30. 112 SNOW-BIRD. they become almost half domesticated. They collect about the barn, stables, and other outhouses, spread over the yard, and even round the steps of the door ; not only in the country and villages, but in the heart of our large cities ; crowding around the threshold early in the morn- ing, gleaning up the crumbs ; appearing very lively and familiar. They have also recourse, at this severe season, when the face of the earth is shut up from them, to the seeds of many kinds of weeds that still rise above the snow, in corners of fields, and low sheltered situations along the borders of creeks and fences, where they associate with several species of Sparrows, particularly those represented on the same plate. They are at this time easily caught with almost any kind of traps ; are generally fat, and, it is said, are excellent eating. I cannot but consider this bird as the most numerous of its tribe of any within the United States. From the northern parts of the district of Maine, to the Ogechee river in Georgia, a distance by the circuitous route in which I travelled of more than 1800 miles, I never passed a day, and scarcely a mile, without seeing numbers of these birds, and frequently large flocks of several thousands. Other travellers, with whom I conversed, who had come from Lexington in Kentucky, through Virginia, also declared that they found these birds numerous along the whole road. It should be observed, that the road sides are their favorite haunts, where many rank weeds that grow along the fences furnish them with food, and the road with gravel. In the vicinity of places whel-e they were most numerous, I observed the small Hawk, represented in the same plate, and several others of his tribe, watching their opportu- nity, or hovering cautiously around, making an occasional sweep among them, and retiring to the bare branches of an old cypress to feed on their victim. In the month of April, when the weather begins to be warm, they are observed to retreat to the woods ; and to prefer the shaded sides of hills and thickets ; at which time the males warble out a few very low sweet notes ; and are almost p'erpetually pursuing and fighting with each other. About the twentieth of April they take their leave of our humble regions, and retire to the north, and to the high ranges of the Alleghany to build their nests, and rear their young. In some of those ranges, m the interior of Virginia, and northward about the waters of the west branch of the Susquehanna, they breed in great numbers. The nest is fixed in the ground or among the grass, sometimes several being within a small distance of each other. Accord- ing to the observations of the gentlemen residing &t Hudson's Bay factory, they arrive there about the beginning of June, stay a week or two, and proceed farther north to breed. They return to that settlement in the autumn on their way to the south. In some parts of New England I found the opinion pretty general, that the Snow-bird in summer is transformed into the small Chipping SNOW-BIRD. 113 Sparrow, wliich we find so common in that season, and which is repre- sented in the same plate. I had convinced a gentleman of New York of his mistake in this matter, by taking him to the house of a Mr. Gautier, there, who amuses himself by keeping a great number of native as well as foreign birds. This was in the month of July, and the Snow- bird appeared there in the same colored plumage he usually has. Several individuals of the Chipping Sparrow were also in the same apartment. The evidence was therefore irresistible ; but as I had not the same proofs to offer to the eye in New England, I had not the same success. There must be something in the temperature of the blood or consti- tution of this bird which unfits it for residing, during summer, in the lower parts of the United States ; as the country here abounds with a great variety of food, of which, during its stay here, it appears to be remarkably fond. Or, perhaps, its habit of associating in such numbers to breed, and building its nest with so little precaution, may, to insure its safety, require a solitary region, far from the intruding footsteps of man. The Snow-bird is six inches long, and nine in extent, the head, neck, and upper parts of the breast, body and wings, are of a deep slate color ; the plumage sometimes skirted with brown, which is the color of the young birds ; the lower parts of the breast, the whole belly and vent, are pure white ; the three secondary quill feathers next the body are edged with brown, the primaries with white ; the tail is dusky slate, a little forked, the two exterior feathers wholly white, which are flirted out as it flies, and appear then very prominent ; the bill and legs are of a reddish flesh color ; the eye bluish black. The female difi"ers from the male in being considerably more brown. In the depth of winter the slate color of the male becomes more deep and much purer, the brown disappearing nearly altogether. Vol. II.— 8 Species VIII. FRINGILLA PINUS. PINE FINCH. [Plate XVII. Pig. 1.] This little northern stranger visits us in the month of November, and seeks the seeds of the black alder, on the borders of swamps, creeks and rivulets. As the weather becomes more severe, and the seeds of the Pinus canadensis are fully ripe, these birds collect in larger flocks and take up their residence, almost exclusively, among these trees. In the gardens of Bush-hill, in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, a flock of two or three hundred of these birds have regularly wintered many years ; where a noble avenue of pine trees, and walks covered with fine white gravel, furnish them with abundance through the winter. Early in March they disappear, either to the north, or to the pine woods that cover many lesser ranges of the Alleghany. While here they are often so tame as to allow you to walk within a few yards of the spot where a whole flock of them are sitting. They flutter among the branches, fre- quently hanging by the cones, and uttering a note almost exactly like that of the Goldfinch [F. tristis). I have not a doubt but this bird ap- pears in a richer dress in summer in those places where he breeds, as he has so very great a resemblance to the bird above mentioned, with whose changes we are well acquainted. The length of this species is four inches, breadth eight inches ; upper part of the head, the neck and back, a dark flaxen color, streaked with black ; wings black, marked with two rows of dull white or cream color ; whole wing quills, under the coverts, rich yellow, appearing even when the wings are shut ; rump and tail coverts yellowish, streaked with dark brown ; tail feathers rich yellow from the roots half way to the tips, except the two middle ones, which are blackish brown, slightly edged with yellow ; sides under the wings of a cream color, with long streaks of black ; breast a light flaxen color, with small streaks or pointed spots of black ; legs purplish brown ; bill a dull horn color ; eyes hazel. The female was scarcely distinguishable by its plumage from the male. The New York Siskin of Pennant* appears to be only the Yellow-bird {Frin- gilla tristis) in his winter dress. • Arct. Zool. p. 372. No. 243. (114) WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 115 This bird has a still greater resemblance to the Siskin of Europe [F. spinus), and may perhaps be the species described by Turton,* as the Black Mexican Siskin, which he says is varied above with black and yellowish, and is white beneath, and which is also said to sing finely. This change from flaxen to yellow is observable in the Goldfinch ; and no other two birds of our country resemble each other more than these do in their winter dresses. Should these surmises be found correct, a figure of this bird in his summer dress shall appear in some future part of our work. Species IX. FRINGILLA ALBICOLLISA WHITE-THROATED SPARROW [Plate XXII. Fi^. 2.] Fringilla fusca, Bartram, p. 291. — Lath, ii., 272. — Edwards, 304. — Arct. Zool. p. 373, No. 248. This is the largest as well as handsomest of all our Sparrows. It winters with the preceding species and several others in most of the states south of New England. From Connecticut to Savannah I found these birds numerous, particiilarly in the neighborhood of the Roanoke river, and among the rice plantations. In summer they retire to the higher inland parts of the country, and also farther north to breed. Accord- ing to Pennant they are also found at that season in Newfoundland. During their residence here in winter, they collect together in flocks, always preferring the borders of swampy thickets, creeks, and mill- ponds, skirted with alder bushes and long rank weeds, the seeds of which form their principal food. Early in spring, a little before they leave us, they have a few remarkably sweet and clear notes, generally in the morning a little after sunrise. About the twentieth of April they disappear, and we see no more of them till the beginning or second week of October, wheh they again return ; part to pass the winter with us ; and part on their route farther south. The length of the White-throated Sparrow is six inches and a half, breadth nine inches ; the upper part of the back and the lesser wing coverts are beautifully variegated with black, bay, ash and light brown ; a stripe of white passes from the base of the upper mandible to the hind * Turton, vol. i., p. 550. t Fringilla pennsyluanica, Lath. Ind. Orn.- i., 44.5. — Passer pmnsylvanicus Bsiss. app. p. 77. — Id. 8to. i., p. 367. IIQ SWAMP SPARROW. head ; this is bordered on each side with a stripe of black ; below this again is another of white passing over each eye, and deepening into orange yellow between that and the nostril ; this is again bordered by a stripe of black proceeding from the hind part of the eye ; breast ash ; chin, belly, and vent white ; tail somewhat wedged ; legs flesh colored ; bill a bluish horn color ; eye hazel. In the female the white stripe on the crown is a light drab ; the breast not so dark ; the chin less pure ; and the line of yellow before the eye scarce half as long as in the male. All the parts that are white in the male are in the female of a light drab color. Species X. FRINGILLA PALUSTRIS. SWAMP SPARKOW. [Plate XXII. Fig. 1.] Passer palustris, Baetkam, p. 291. The history of this obscure and humble species is short and un- interesting. Unknown or overlooked by the naturalists of Europe, it is now for the first time introduced to the notice of the world. It is one of our summer visitants, arriving in Pennsylvania early in April, frequenting low grounds, and river courses ; rearing two, and sometimes three broods in a season ; and returning to the south as the cold weather commences. The immense cypress swamps and extensive grassy flats of the Southern States, that border their numerous rivers, and the rich rice plantations abounding with their favorite seeds and sustenance, appear to be the general winter resort, and grand annual rendezvous, of this and all other species of Sparrow that remain with us during summer. From the river Trent, in North Carolina, to that of Savan- nah, and still farther south, I found this species very numerous ; not flying in flocks, but skulking among the canes, reeds, and grass, seem- ing shy and timorous, and more attached to the water than any other of their tribe. In the month of April numbers pass through Pennsyl- vania to the northward, which I conjecture from the circumstance of finding them at that season in particular parts of the woods, where during the rest of the year they are not to be seen. The few that remain frequent the swamps, and reedy borders of our creeks and rivers. They form their nest in the ground, sometimes in a tussock of rank grass, surrounded by water, and lay four eggs of a dirty white, spotted with rufous. So late as the fifteenth of August, I have seen them feeding their young that were scarcely able to fly. Their prin- SEA-SIDE FINCH. ' 117 cipal food is grass seeds, wild oats, and insects. They have no song ; are distinguished by a single chip or cheep, uttered in a rather hoarser tone than that of the Song Sparrow; flirt the tail as they fly ; seldom or never take to the trees, but skulk from one low bush or swampy thicket to another. The Swamp Sparrow is five inches and a half long, and seven inches and a half in extent ; the back of the neck and front are black ; crown bright bay, bordered with black ; a spot of yellowish white between the eye and nostril ; sides of the neck and whole breast dark ash ; chin white ; a streak of black proceeds from the lower mandible, and another from the posterior angle of the eye ; back black, slightly skirted with bay ; greater coverts also black, edged with bay ; wings and tail plain brown ; belly and vent brownish white ; bill dusky above, bluish below ; eyes hazel ; legs brown ; claws strong and sharp for climbing the reeds. The female wants the bay on the crown, or has it indistinctly ; over the eye is a line of dull white. Species XI. FRINGILLA MARITIMA. SEA-SIDE riNCH. [Plate XXXIV. Fig. 2.] Of this bird I can find no description. It inhabits the low, rush- covered sea islands along our Atlantic coast, where I first found it ; keeping almost continually within the boundaries of tide water, except when long and violent east or north-easterly storms, with high tides, compel it to seek the shore. On these occasions it courses along the margin, and among the holes and interstices of the weeds and sea- wrack, with a rapidity equalled only by the nimblest of our Sandpipers, and very much in their manner. At these times also it roosts on the ground, and runs about after dusk. • This species derives its whole subsistence from the sea. I examined a great number of individuals by dissection, and found their stomachs universally filled with fragments of shrimps, minute shell fish, and broken limbs of small sea crabs. Its flesh, also, as was to be expected, tasted of fish, or was what was usually termed »edgy. Amidst the recesses of these wet sea marshes it seeks the rankest growth of grass, and sea weed, and-climbs along the stalks of the rushes with as much dexterity as it runs along the ground, which is rather a singular circum- stance, most of our climbers being rather awkwai-d at running. The Sea-side Finch is six inches and a quarter long, and eight and a 118 SHABP-TAILED FINCH. quarter in extent ; chin pure white, bordered on each side by a stripe of dark ash, proceeding from each base of the lower mandible, above that is another slight streak of white ; from the nostril over the eye extends another streak which immediately over the lores is rich yellow, bordered above with white, and ending in yellow olive ; crown brownish olive, divided laterally by a stripe of slate blue, or fine light ash ; breast ash, streaked with buff; belly white; vent buff-colored, and streaked with black ; upper parts of the back, wings and tail a yellowish brown olive, intermixed with very pale blue ; greater and lesser coverts tipped with dull white ; edge of the bend of the wing rich yellow ; primaries edged with the same immediately below their coverts ; tail cuneiform, olive brown, centered with black ; bill dusky above, pale blue below, longer than is usual with Finches ; legs and feet a pale bluish white ; irides hazel. Male and female nearly alike in color. Species XII. FRINGILLA CAUDACUTA. SHARP-TAILED FINCH. [Plate XXXIV. Fig. 3.] Sharp-tailed Oriole, Lath. Gen. Syn. ii., p. 448, pi. XVII. A BIRD of this denomination is described by Turton, Syst. p. 562, but which by no means agrees with the present. This, however, may be the fault of the describer, as it is said to be a bird of Georgia ; un- willing, therefore, to multiply names unnecessarily, I have adopted his appellation. In some future part of the work I shall settle this matter with more precision. This new (as I apprehend it) and beautiful species as an associate of the former, inhabits the same places, lives on the same food ; and resem- bles it so much in manners, that but for their dissimilarity in some essential particulars, I would be disposed to consider them as the same in a different state of plumage. They are much less numerous than the preceding, and do not run with equal celerity. The Sharp-tailed Finch is five inches and a quarter long, and seven inches and a quarter in extent ; bill dusky ; auriculars ash ; from the bill over the eye, and also below it, run two broad stripes of brownish orange ; chin whitish ; breast pale buff, marked with small pointed spots of black; belly white; vent reddish buff; from the base of the upper mandible a broad stripe of pale ash runs along the crown and hind head, bordered on each side by one of blackish brown ; back a yellowish brown SAVANNAH FINCH. 119 olive, sonfe of the feathers curiously edged with semicircles of white ; sides under the wings buif, spotted with black ; wing coverts and tertials black, broadly edged with light reddish buff; tail cuneiform, short; all the feathers sharp pointed ; legs a yellow clay color ; irides hazel. I examined many of these birds, and found but little difference in the color and markings of their plumage. Since writing the above, I have become convinced that the bird de- scribed by Mr. Latham, under the name of Sharp-tailed Oriole ( Oriolus caudacutus), is the present species. Latham states, that his description and figure were taken from a specimen deposited in Mrs. Blackburn's collection, and that it came from New York. Species XIII. FRINGILLA SAVANNA. SAVANNAH FINCH. [Plate XXXIV. Fig. 4, Male.] The figure of this delicately marked Sparrow was drawn from a very beautiful male, and is a faithful representation of the original. The length is five and a half inches, extent eight and a half; bill pale brown ; eyebrows Naples yellow ; breast and whole lower parts pure white, the former marked with small pointed spots of brown ; upper parts a pale whitish drab, mottled with reddish brown ; wing- coverts edged and tipped with white ; tertials black, edged with white and bay ; legs pale clay ; ear feathers tinged with Naples yellow. The female and young males are less and much darker. This is probably the most timid of all our Sparrows. In winter it frequents the sea shores ; but as spring approaches migrates to the interior, as I have lately discovered, building its nest in the grass nearly in the same form, though with fewer materials, as that of the Bay-winged Bunting. On the twenty-third of May I found one of these at the root of a clump of rushes in a grass field, with three young, nearly ready to fly. The female counterfeited lameness, spreading her wings and tail, ai.d using many affectionate stratagems to allure me from the place. The eggs I have never seen. FRINGILLA SAVANNA. SAVANNAH SPARROW. [Plate XXII. Fig. 3, Female.] This new species is an inhabitant oT the low countries on the Atlantic coast, from Savannah, where I first discovered it, to the state of New York ; and is generally resident in these places, though rarely found inland, or far from the sea shore. The drawing of this bird was in the hands of the engraver before I was aware that the male was so much its superior in beauty of markings and in general colors. With the representation of the male are given particulars of their nest, eggs, and manners. I have found these birds numerous on the sea shore, in the state of New Jersey, particularly near Great Egg Harbor. A pair of these I presented to Mr. Peale of this city, in whose noble collection they now occupy a place. The female of the Savannah Sparrow is five inches and a half long, and eight and a half in extent ; the plumage of the back is mottled with black, bright bay and whitish ; chin white ; breast marked with pointed spots of black, edged with bay, running in chains from each base of the lower mandible ; sides touched with long sti'eaks of the same ; temples marked with a spot of delicate yellow ; ear feathers slightly tinged with the same ; belly white, and a little streaked ; inside -of the shoulders and lining of the wing pale yellowish ; first and second rows of wing coverts tipped with whitish ; secondaries next the body pointed and very black, edged also with bay ; tail slightly forked, and without any white feathers ; legs pale flesh color ; hind claw pretty long. The very slight distinctions of color which nature has drawn between many distinct species of this family of Finches, render these minute and tedious descriptions absolutely necessary, that the particular species may be precisely discriminated. (120) Species XIV. FBIN6ILLA FEERUGINEA* FOX-COLOEED SPARROW. [Plate XXII. Fig. 4.] Busty Bunting, Arct. Zool. p. 364, No. 231. lb. 233. — Ferruginous Finch, lb. 375, No. 251. — Fringilla rufa, Babteam, p. 291. This plump and pretty species arrives in Pennsylvania from the north about the twentieth of October ; frequents low sheltered thickets ; associates in little flocks of ten or twelve, and is almost continually scraping the ground, and rustling among the fallen leaves. I found this bird numerous in November among the rich cultivated flats that border the river Connecticut ; and was informed that it leaves those places in spring. I also found it in the northern parts of the state of Vermont. Along the borders of the great reed and cypress swamps of Virginia, and North and South Carolina, as well as around the rice plantations, I observed this bird very frequently. They also inhabit Newfoundland.f They are rather of a solitary nature, seldom feeding in the open fields ; but generally under thickets, or among tall rank weeds on the edges of fields. They sometimes associate with the Snow- bird, but more generally keep by themselves. Their manners very much resemble those of the Red-eyed Bunting (Plate X., fig. 4) ; they are silent, tame, and unsuspicious. They have generally no other note while here than a shep, shep ; yet I suspect they have some song in the places where they breed ; for I once heard a single one, a little before the time they leave us, warble out a few very sweet low notes. The Fox-colored Sparrow is six inches long, and nine and a quarter broad ; the upper part of the head and neck is cinereous, edged with rust color ; back handsomely mottled with reddish brown and cinereous ; wings and tail bright ferruginous ; the primaries dusky within and at the tips, the first and second rows of coverts, tipped with white ; breast and belly white ; the former, as well as the ear feathers, marked with large blotches of bright bay, or reddish brown, and the beginning of the belly with little arrow-shaped spots of black ; the tail coverts and tail * Fringilla iliaca, Mbrrem, Beytr. ii., p. 40, t. 10. — Gmel. i., p. 923. — Lath. Ind. Orn. I., p. 438.— Fringilla ferruginea, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 921. — Lath. Syn. iii., v. 272, 31.— Ibid. Ind. Orn. i., p. 445. t Pennant. (121) 122 LESSER RED-POLL. are a bright fox color ; the legs and feet a dirty brownish white, or claj color, and very strong ; the bill is strong, dusky above and yellow be- low ; iris of the eye hazel. The chief difference in the female is that the wings are not of so bright a bay, inclining more to a drab ; yet this is scarcely observable, unless by a comparison of the two together. They are generally very fat, live -on grass seeds, eggs of insects, and gravel. Species XV. FBINGILLA LINARIA. LESSER EED-POLL. [Plate XXX. Fig. 4.] Lath, ii., 305. — Arct. Zool. 379. — Le Sizeren, Burr, iv., 216. This bird corresponds so exactly in size, figure and color of plumage with that of Europe, of the same name, as to place their identity be- yond a doubt. They inhabit during summer the most northern parts of Canada and still more remote northern countries, from whence they migrate at the commencement of winter. They appear in the Grenesee country with the first deep snow, and on that account are usually called by the title of Snow-birds. As the female is destitute of the crimson on the breast and forehead, and the young birds do not receive that ornament till the succeeding spring, such a small proportion of the in- dividuals that form these flocks are marked with red, as to induce a gen- eral belief among the inhabitants of those parts that they are two different kinds associated together. Flocks of these birds have been occasionally seen in severe winters in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. They seem particularly fond of the seeds of the common alder, and hang head downwards while feeding, in the manner of the Yellow-bird. They seem extremely unsuspicious at such times, and will allow a very near approach without betraying any symptoms of alarm. The specimen represented in the plate was shot, with several others of both sexes, in Seneca county, between the Seneca and Cayuga lakes. Some individuals were occasionally heard to chant a few interrupted notes, but no satisfactory account can be given of their powers of song. This species extends throughout the whole northern parts of Europe, is likewise found in the remote wilds of Russia ; was seen by Steller in Kamtschatka ; and probably inhabits corresponding climates round the whole habitable parts of the northern hemisphere. In the highlands oi Scotland they are common, building often on the tops of the heath, sometimes in a low furze bush, like the common Linnet ; and sometimes on the ground. The nest is formed of light stalks of dried grass, inter- LESSER RED-POLL. 123 mixed with tufts of wool, and warmly lined with feathers. The eggs are usually four, white, sprinkled with specks of reddish. NOTE. Fringilla Linaria, Gmel. Syst. i., p 917, 29. P. flavirostris, Id. p. 915, 27. — Lath. Jnd. Orn. p. 438. No. 16, p. 458, No. 83.— ie Cabaret, Buff. Ois. iv., p. 70. PL Enl. iSi. — Bewick, i., p. 191. — Fauna Orcadensis, ip: 64, 3. — Gros-bec iHzurin, Temm. Man. d'Orn., p. 383. Contrary to the usual practice of Wilson, he omitted to furnish a particular description of this species, accompanying its figure. But this supplementary notice would not have been considered necessary, if our author had not fallen into a mistake respecting the markings of the fe- male, and the young male ; the former of which he describes as destitute of the crimson on the forehead ; and the latter not receiving that orna- ment till the succeeding spring. When Wilson procured his specimens, it was in the autumn, previously to their receiving their perfect winter dress ; and he was never afterwards aware of his error, owing to the circumstance of these birds seldom appearing in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. Considerable flocks of them, however, having visited us in the winter of 1813-14, we were enabled to procure several fine spe- cimens of both sexes, from the most perfect of which we took the fol- lowing description. We will add, that having had the good fortune to observe a flock, consisting of nearly a hundred, within a few feet of them, as they were busily engaged in picking the seeds of some garden plants, we can with confidence assert that they all had the red patch on the crown ; but there were very few which had the red rump and breast ; the young males, it is probable, are not thus marked until the spring ; and the females are destitute of that ornament altogether. The Lesser Red-poll is five inches and a quarter in length, and eight inches and a half in breadth"; the bill is pale yellow, ridged above and below with dark horn color, the upper mandible projecting somewhat over the lower at the tip ; irides dark hazel ; the nostrils are covered with recumbent, hair-like feathers of drab color ; a line of brown ex- tends from the eyes, and encircles the base of the bill, forming in some specimens a patch below the chin ; the crown is ornamented with a pretty large spot of deep shining crimson ; the throat, breast and rump, stained with the same, but of a more delicate red ; the belly is of a very pale ash, or dull white ; the sides are streaked with dusky ; the whole up- per parts ye brown or dusky, the plumage edged with yellowish white and pale ashj'^e latter most predominant near the rump ; wings and tail dusky, the latter is forked, and consists of twelve feathers edged with white ; the primaries are very slightly tipped and edged with white ; the secondaries more so ; the greater and lesser coverts are also tipped with 124 LESSER RED-POLL. white, forming the bars across the wings ; thighs cinereous, legs and feet black ; hind claw considerably hooked, and longer than the rest. The female is less bright in her plumage above ; and her under parts incline more to an ash color ; the spot on her crown is of a golden crim- son, or reddish saffron. One male specimen was considerably larger than the rest ; it mea- sured five inches and three quarters in length, and nine inches and a quarter in breadth ; the breast and rump were tawny ; its claws were uncommonly long, the hind one measured nearly three-eighths of an inch ; and the spot on the crown was of a darker hue than that of the rest. The call of this bird exactly resembles that of the Fringilla tristis, or common Yellow-bird of Pennsylvania. The Eed-polls linger in the neighborhood of Philadelphia until about the middle of April ; but whither they retire for the business of incuba- tion, we cannot determine. In common with almost all our Finches, the Red-polls become vei-y fat, and are then accounted delicious eating. During the winter above mentioned, many thousands of them were exposed to sale in the Phila- delphia market, and were readily purchased by those epicures, whose love of variety permits no delicacy to escape them. In America this species must breed far to the north, perhaps beyond the residence of man, as they are so tame and unsuspicious that one can openly approach to within five or six feet of them, while they are occu- pied in feeding. As a proof their rarity in Pennsylvania, I have not observed them since the early of the year 1814 ; they were then so common that they swarmed in the gardens of Philadelphia. — G. Ord. I. Species XVI. FRINOILLA PASSERINA. YELLOW-WINGED SPARROW. [Plate XXIV. Fig. 8.] This small species is now for the first time introduced to the notice of the public. I can, however, say little towards illustrating its history, which, like that of many individuals of the human race, would be but a dull detail of humble obscurity. It inhabits the lower parts of New York and Pennsylvania; is very numerous on Staten Island, where I first observed it ; and occurs also along the sea coast of New Jersey. But though it breeds in each of these places, it does not remain in any of them during the winter. It has a short, weak, interrupted chirrup, which it occasionally utters from the fences and tops of low bushes. Its nest is fixed on the ground, among the grass ; is formed of loose dry grass, and lined with hair and fibrous roots of plants. The eggs are five, of a grayish white sprinkled with brown. On the first of August I found the female sitting. I cannot say what extent of range this species has, having never met with it in the Southern States ; though I have no doubt that it winters there with many others of its tribe. It is the scarcest of all our summer Sparrows. Its food consists principally of grass seeds, and the larvae of insects, which it is almost continually in search of among the loose soil and on the surface, consequently it is more useful to the farmer than otherwise. The length of this species is five inches, extent eight inches ; upper part of the head blackish, divided by a slight line of white ; hind head and neck above marked with short lateral touches of black and white ; a line of yellow extends from above the eye to the nostril ; cheeks plain brownish white ; back streaked with black, brown, and pale ash ; shoulders of the wings above and below, and lesser coverts olive yellow ; greater wing coverts black, edged with pale ash ; primaries light drab ; tail the same, the feathers rather pointed at the ends, the outer ones white ; breast plain yellowish white, or pale ochre, which distinguishes it from the Savannah Sparrow (Plate XXIL, fig. 3) ; belly and vent white ; three or four slight touches of dusky at the sides of the breast ; legs flesh color ; bill dusky above, pale bluish white below. The male and female are nearly alike in color. (125) Species XVII. FBINOILLA CTANEA. INDIGO-BIRD. [Plate VI. Fig. 5.] Tanagra cyanea, Linn. Syst. i., 315. — Le Ministre, Buffon, it., 96. — Indigo Bunt- ing, Arct. Zooh II., No. 235. — Lath. Syn. iii., 205, 63. — Blue Linnet, Edw. 273. — Linaria cyanea, Bartkam, p. 290. This is another of those rich-plumaged trihes, that visit us in spring from the regions of the south. It arrives in Perftisylvania on the second week in May ; and disappears about the middle of September. It is numerous in all the settled parts of the Middle and Eastern States ; in the Carolinas and Georgia it is also abundant. Though Catesby says that it is only found at a great distance from the sea ; yet round the city of New York, and in many places along the shores of New Jersey, I have met with them in plenty. I may also add, on the authority of Mr. William Bartram, that " they inhabit the continent and sea-coast islands, from Mexico to Nova Scotia, from the sea-coast west beyond the Apalachian and Cherokee Mountains."* They are also known in Mexico, where they probably winter. Its favorite haunts, while with us, are about gardens, fields of deep clover, the borders of woods, and road sides, where it is frequently seen perched on the fences. In its manners it is extremely active and neat ; and a vigorous and pretty good songster. It mounts to the highest tops of a large tree, and chants for half an hour at a time. Its song is not one continued strain, but a repetition of short notes, commencing loud and rapid, and falling by almost imperceptible gradations for six or eight seconds, till they seem hardly articulate, as if the little minstrel were quite exhausted ; and after a pause of half a minute or less, commences again as before. Some of our birds sing only in spring, and then chiefly in the morning, being comparatively mute during the heat of noon ; but the Indigo-bird chants with as much animation under the meridian sun, in the month of July, as in the month of May ; and continues his song, occasionally, to the middle or end of August. His usual note, when alarmed by an approach to his nest, is a sharp chip, like that of striking two hard pebbles smartly together. * Travels, p. 299. (126) INDIGO-BIRD. 127 Notwithstanding the beauty of his plumage, the vivacity with which he sings, and the ease with which he can fee reared and kept, the Indigo- bird is seldom seen domesticated. The few I have met with were taken in trap-cages ; and such of any species rarely sing equal to those which have been reared by hand from the nest. There is one singularity which, as it cannot be well represented in the figure, may be men- tioned here, viz., that in some certain lights. his plumage appears of a rich sky-blue, and in others of a vivid verdigris green ; so that the same bird, in passing from one place to another before your eyes, seems to undergo a total change of color. When the angle of incidence of the rays of light, reflected from his plumage, is acute, the color is green, when obtiise, blue. Such I think I have observed to be uniformly the case, without being optician enough to explain why it is so. From this, ho'W'ever, must be excepted the color of the head, which being of a very deep blue, is not affected by a change of position. The nest of this birTl is usually built in a low bush, among rank grass, grain or clover ; suspended by two twigs, one passing up each side ; and is composed outwardly of flax, and lined with fine dry grass. I have also known it to build in the hollow of an apple tree. The eggs, generally five, are blue, with a blotch of purple at the great end. The Indigo-bird is five inches long, and seven inches in extent ; the whole body is of a rich sky-blue, deepening on the head to an ultra- marine, with a tinge of purple ; the blue on the body, tail, and wings, varies in particular lights to a light green, or verdigris color, similar to that on the breast of a peacock ; wings black, edged with light blue, and becoming brownish towards the tips ; lesser coverts light blue ; greater black, broadly skirted with the same blue ; tail black, exteriorly edged with blue ; bill black above, whitish below, somewhat larger- in proportion than Finches of the same size usually are, but less than those of the genus Emheriza, with which Pennant has classed it, though I think improperly, as the bird has much more of the form and manners of the genus Frin- gilla, where I must be permitted to place it ; legs and feet blackish brown. The female is of a light flaxen color, with the wings dusky black, and the cheeks, breast, and whole lower ' parts a clay color, with streaks of a darker color under the wings, and tinged in several places with bluish. Towards fall the male while moulting becomes nearly of the color of the female, and in one which I kept through the winter, the rich plumage did not return for more than two months ; though I doubt not had the bird enjoyed his liberty and natural food under a warm sun this brownness would have been of shorter duration. The usual food of this species is insects and various kinds of seeds. Gentjs XL. MUSCICAPA. FLYCATCHEK. Species I. M. TTRANNUS. TYRANT FLYCATCHER, or KING-BIRD. [Plato XIII. Fig. 1.] l^nius Tyrannus, Linn. Syst. 136. — Lath. Syn. i., 186. — Catesb. i., 55. — Le Ik/ran dela Caroline, Buff, it., 577. PL Enl. 676.—Arct. Zool. p. 384, No. 263. This is the Field Martin of Maryland aiid«6ome of the Southern States, and the King-hird of Pennsylvania and several of the northern districts. The epithet Tyrant, which is generally applied to him by naturalists, I am not altogether so well satisfied with ; some, however, may think the two terms pretty nearly synonymous. The trivial name King as well as Tyrant has been bestowed on this bird for its extraordinary behavior, and the authority it assumes over all others, during the time of breeding. At that season his extreme affec- tion for his mate, and for his nest and young, makes him suspicious of every bird that happens to pass near his residence, so that he attacks without discrimination, every intruder. In the months of May, June, and part of July, his life is one continued scene of broils and battles, in which, however, he generally comes off conqueror. Hawks and Crows, the Bald Eagle, and the Great Black Eagle, all equally dread a rencontre with this dauntless little champion, who, as soon as he per- ceives one of these last approaching, launches into the air to meet him, mounts to a considerable height above him, and darts down on his back, sometimes fixing there to the great annoyance of his sovereign, who, if no convenient retreat or resting place be near, endeavors by various evolutions to rid himself of his merciless adversary. But the King-bird is not so easily dismounted. He teases the Eagle incessantly, sweeps upon him from right and left, remounts, that he may descend on his back with the greater violence ; all the while keeping up a shrill and rapid twittering ; and continuing the attack sometimes for more than a mile, till he is relieved by some other of his tribe equally eager for the contest. There is one bird, however, which by its superior rapidity of flight, is sometimes more than a match for him ; and I have several times wit- nessed his precipitate retreat before this active antagonist. This is the (128) TYRANT FLYCATCHER. 129 Purple Martin, one whose food and disposition is pretty similar to his own ; but who has greatly the advantage of him on wing, in eluding all his attacks, and teasing him as he pleases. I have also seen the Red-headed Woodpecker, while clinging on^ a rail of the fence, amuse himself with the' violence of the King-bird, and play bo-peep with him round the rail, while the latter, highly irritated, made every attempt as he swept from side to side to strike him, but in vain. All this turbulence, however, vanishes as soon as his young are able to shift for themselves ; and he is then as mild and peaceable as any other bird. But he has a worse habit than all these ; one much more obnoxious to the husbandman, and often fatal to himself. He loves, not the honey, but the lees ; and, it must be confessed, is frequently on the laok-out for these little industrious insects. He plants himself on a post of the fence, or on a small tree in the garden, not far from the hives, and thence sallies on them as they pass and repass, making great havoc among their numbers. * His shrill twitter, so near to the house, gives intimation to the farmer of what is going, on, and the gun soon closes his career for ever. Man^ arrogates to himself, in this case, the exclu- sive privilege of murder ; and after putting thousands of these same little insects to death, seizes on the fruits of their labor. The King-birds arrive in Pennsylvania about the twentieth of April, sometimes in small bodies of five and six together, and are at first very silent, until they begin to pair, and build their nest. This generally takes place about the first week in May. The nest Is very often built in the orchard, on the horizontal branch of an apple tree ; frequently also, as Catesby observes, on a sassafras tree, at no great height from the ground. The outside consists of small slender twigs, tops of withered flowers of the plant yarrow, and others, well wove together with tow and wool ; and is made large, and remarkably firm and compact. It is usually lined with fine dry fibrous grass, and horse hair. The eggs are five, of a very pale cream color, or dull white, marked with a few large spots ^ of deep purple, and other smaller ones of light brown, chiefly, though not altogether, towards the great end (See Fig. 1). They gene- rally build twice in the season. The King-bird is altogether destitute of song, having only the shrill twitter above mentioned. He usual mode of flight is singular. The vibrations of his broad wings, as he moves slowly over the fields, re- semble those of a Hawk hovering and settling in the air to reconnoitre the ground below ; and the object of the King-bird is no doubt something similar, viz. to look out for passing insects, either in the air, or among the flowers and blossoms below him. In fields of pasture he often takes his stand, on the tops of the mullein, and other rank weeds, near the cattle, and makes occasional sweeps after passing insects, particularly the large black gad-fly, so terrifying to horses and cattle. His eye Vol. II.— 9 130 TYRANT FLYCATCHER. moves restlessly around him, tra«es the flight of an insect for a moment or two, then that of a second, and even a third, until he perceives one to his liking, when with a shrill sweep he pursues, seizes it, and returns to the same spot again, to look out for more. This habit is so con- spicuous when he is watching the bee-hive, that several intelligent f?irmers of my acquaintance are of opinion that he picks out only the drones, and never injures the working bees. Be this as it may, he cer- tainly gives a preference to one bee, and one species of insect, over another. He hovers over the river,, sometimes for a considerable time, darting after insects that frequent such places, snatching them from the surface of the water, and diving about in the air like a Swallow ; for he possesses at will great powers of wing. Numbers of them are fre- quently seen thus engaged, for hours together, over the- rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, in a calm day, particularly towards evening. He bathes himself by diving repeatedly into the water from the overhanging branches of some tree ; where he sits to dry and dress his plumage. Whatever antipathy may prevail against him for depredations on the drones, or if you will, on the bees, I can assure the cultivator, that this bird is greatly his friend, in destroying multitudes of insects whose larvae prey on the harvests of his fields, particularly his corn, fruit trees, cucumbers, and pumpkins. These noxious insects are the daily food of this bird ; and he destroys, upon a very moderate average, some hundreds of them daily. The death of every King-bird is therefore an actual loss to the farmer, by multiplying the numbers of destructive in- sects ; and encouraging the depredations of Crows, Hawks, and Eagles, who avoid as much as possible his immediate vicinity. For myself, I must say, that the King-bird possesses no common share of my regard. I honor this little bird for his extreme aflFection for his young ; for his contempt of danger, and unexampled intrepidity ; for his meekness of behaviour when there are no calls on his courage, a quality which even in the human race is justly considered so noble ; "In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility ; But when the blast of war," &o., &c. but above all, I honor and esteem this bird for the millions of ruinous vermin which he rids us of ; whose depredations, in one season, but for the services of this and other friendly birds, would far overbalance all the produce of the bee-hives in fifty. As a friend to this persecuted bird, and an enemy to prejudices of every description, will the reader allow me to set this matter in a some- what clearer and stronger light, by presenting him with a short poetical epitome of the King-bird's history ? TYRANT FLYCATCHER. 131 Fab in the south, where vast Maragnon flows, And boundless forests unknown wilds enclose ; Vine-tangled shores, and suffocating woods, Parched up with heat, or drowned with pouring floods ; Where each extreme alternately prevails, And Nature sad their ravages bewails ; Lo ! high in air, above those trackless wastes. With Spring's return the King-bird hither hastes; Coasts the famed Gulf,* and from his height explores. Its thousand streams, its long indented shores, Its plains immense, wide opening on the day, Its lakes and isles where feathered millions play ; All tempt not him ; till, gazing from- on high, Columbia's regions wide below him lie; There end his wanderings and his wish to roam, There lie his native woods, his fields, his home; Down, circling, he descends, from azure heights, And on a full-blown sassafras alights. Fatigued and silent, for a while he views His old frequented haunts, and shades recluse. Sees brothers, comrades, every hour arrive — Hears, humming round, the tenants of the^ive; , Love fires his breast, he woos, and soon is blest ; And in the blooming orchard builds his nest. Come now, ye cowards 1 ye whom Heaven disdains. Who boast the happiest home — the richest plains ; On whom, perchance, a wife, an infant's eye Hang as their hope, and on your arm rely ; Yet, when the Ijour of danger and dismay Comes on that country, sneak in holes away, Shrink from the perils ye were bound to face, And leave those babes and country to disgrace ; Come here (if such we have), ye dastard herd I And kneel in dust before this noble bird. When the specked eggS within his nest appear, Then glows afi'ection, ardent and sincere ; No discord sours him when his mate he meets ; But each warm heart with mutual kindness beats. For her repast he bears along the lea The bloated gad-fly and the balmy bee ; For her repose scours o'er the adjacent farm. Whence Hawks might dart, or lurking foes alarm ; For now abroad a band of ruffians prey. The Crow, the Cuckoo, and the insidious Jay ; These, in the owner's absence, all destroy, And murder every hope, and every joy. Soft sits his brooding mate; her guardian he. Perched on the top of some tall neighboring tree ; Thence, from the thicket to the concave skies, His watchful eye around unceasing flies. * Of Mexico. 132 TYRANT FLYCATCHER. "Wrens, Thrushes, Warblers, startled at his note, Fly in affright the consecrated spot. He drives the plundering Jay, with honest scorn, Back to his woods ; the Mocker to his thorn ; Sweeps round the Cuckoo, as the thief retreats ; Attacks the Crow ; the diving Hawk defeats; Darts on the Eagle downwards from afar, And midst the clouds prolongs the whirling war. All danger o'er, he hastens back elate, To guard his post and feed his faithful mate. Behold him now, his little family flown, Meek, unassuming,. silent, and alone; Lured by the well-known hum of favorite bees, As slow he hovers o'er the garden trees ; (For all have failings, passions, whims that lead ; Some favorite wish, some appetite to feed) ; Strait he alights, and from the pear-tree spies The circling stream of humming insects rise ; Selects his prey ; darts on the busy brood, And shrilly twitters o'er his savory food. Ah! ill-timed triumph! direful note to thee. That guides thy murderer to the fatal tree ; See where he skulks ! and takes his gloomy stand ; The deep-charged musket hanging in his hand ; And gaunt for blood, he leans it on a rest, Prepared, and pointed at thy snow-white breast. Ah friend ! good friend ! forbear that barbarous deed, Against it valor, goodness, pity plead ; If e'er a family's griefs, a widow's woe. Have reached thy soul, in mercy let him go ! Yet, should the tear of pity nought avail, Let interest speak, let gratitude prevail ; Kill not thy friend, who thy whole harvest shields. And sweeps ten thousand vermin from thy fields ; Think how this dauntless bird, thy poultry's guard. Drove every Hawk and Eagle from thy yard ; Watched round thy cattle as they fed, and slew The hungry blackening swarms that round them flew ; Some small return, some little right resign. And spare his life whose services are thine ! 1 plead in vain ! Amid the bursting roar ' The poor, lost King-bird, welters in his gore. This species is eight inches long, and fourteen in extent ; the general color above is a dark slaty ash ; the head and tail are nearly black ; the latter even at the end, and tipped with white ; the wings are more of a brownish cast; the quills and wing coverts are also edged with dull •white ; the upper part of the breast is tinged with ash ; the throat, and all the rest of the lower parts are pure white ; the plumage on the crown, though not forming a crest, is frequently erected, as represented in the plate, and discovers a rich bed of brilliant orange, or flame color. TYRANT FLYCATCHER. 13S called by tte country people his crown; when the feathers lie close this is altogether concealed. The bill is very broad at the base, over- hanging at the point, and notched, of a glossy black color, and furnished with bristles at the base ; the legs and feet are black, seamed with gray ; the eye hazel. The female differs in being more brownish on the upper parts, has a smaller streak of paler orange on the crown ; and a narrower border of duller white on the tail. The young birds do not receive the oraiige on the head during their residence here the first season. This bird is very generally known, from the lakes to Florida. Besides insects, they feed, like every other species of their tribe with which I am acquainted, on various sorts of berries, particularly blackberries, of which they are extremely fond. Early in September they leave Penn- sylvania on their way to the south. A few days ago, I shot one of these birds, the whole plumage of which was nearly white, or a little inclining to a cream color ; it was a bird of the present year, and could not be more than a month old. This appeared also to have been its original color, as it issued from the egg. The skin was yellowish white ; the eye mueh lighter than usual ; the legs and bill blue. It was plump and seemingly in good order. I presented it to Mr. Peale. Whatever may be the cause of this loss of color, if I may so call it, in birds, it is by no means uncommon among the various tribes that inhabit the United States. The Sparrow Hawk, Sparrow, Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, and many others, are occasion- ally found in white plumage ; and I believe that such birds do not become so by climate, age or disease, but that they are universally hatched so. The same phenomena are observable not only among various sorts of animals, but even among th6 human race ; and a white negro is no less common, in proportion to their numbers, than a white Blackbird; though the precise cause of this in either is but little understood. Species II. MUSCICAPA CRINITA. GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER. [Plate XIII. Fig. 2.] Linn. Syst. 325. — Lath, ii., 357. — Arct. Zool. p. 386, No. 267. — Le mouche rolle de Virginie d huppe verte, Bufp. ir., 565. PI. Enl. 569. By glancing at the physiognomy of this bird and the rest of the figures on the same plate, it will readily be observed, that they all belong to one particular family of the same genus. They possess strong traits of their particular east, and are all remarkably dexterous at their profes- sion of fly-catching. The one now before us is less generally known than the preceding, being chiefly confined to the woods. There his harsh squeak, for he has no song, is occasionally heard above most others. He also visits the orchard ; is equally fond of bees ; btit wants the courage and- magnanimity of the King-bird. He arrives in Penn- sylvania early in May, and builds his nest in a hollow tree deserted by the Blue-bird or Woodpecker. The materials of which this is formed are scanty, and rather novel. One of these nests, now before me, is formed of a little loose hay, feathers of the Guinea fowl, hog's bristles, pieces of cast snake skins, and dog's hair. Snake skins with this bird appear to be an indispensable article, for I have never yet found one of his nests without this material forming a part of it. Whether he sur- rounds his nest with this by way of terrorem, to prevent other birds or animals from entering ; or whether it be that he finds its silky softness suitable for his young, is uncertain ; the fact however is notorious. The female lays four eggs of a dull cream color thickly scratched with pur- ple lines of various tints as if done with a pen. See fig. 2. This species is eight inches and a half long, and thirteen inches in extent ; the upper parts are of a dull greenish olive ; the feathers on the head are pointed, centered with dark brown, ragged at the sides, and form a kind of blowzy crest ; the throat and upper parts of the breast delicate ash ; rest of the lower parts a sulphur yellow ; the wing coverts are pale drab, crossed with two bars of dull white ; the prima- ries are of a bright ferruginous or sorrel color ; the tail is slightly forked, its interior vanes of the same bright ferruginous as the prima- ries ; the bill is blackish, very much like that of the King-bird, fur- nished also with bristles ; the eye is hazel ; legs and feet bluish black. The female can scarcely be distinguished, by its colors, from the male. This bird also feeds on berries towards the end of summer, particu- larly on huckleberries, which, during the time they last, seem to form the chief sustenance of the young birds. I have observed this species here as late as the tenth of September ; rarely later. They do not, to my knowledge, -vn inter in any of the Southern States. (134) Species III. MUSCICAPA NVNCIOLA* PEWIT FLYCATCHEE. [Plate XIII. Fig. 4.] Bartram, p. 289. — Black-cap Flycatcher, Lath. Syn. u., 353. — Phoebe Flycatcher, Ibid. Sup. p. 173. — Le gobe-mouche noiratre de la Caroline, Buff, it., 541. — Arct. Zool. p. 387, No. 269. This well-known bird is one of our earliest spring visitants, arriving' in Pennsylvania about the first week in March, and continuing with us until October. I have seen them here as late as the 12th of November. In the month of February I overtook these birds lingering in the low swampy woods of North and South Carolina. They were feeding on smilax berries and chanting occasionally their simple notes. The fa- vorite resort of this bird is by streams of water, under, or near bridges, in caves, &c. Near such places he sits on a projecting twig, calling out pe-wee, pe-wit-titee pe-wee, for a whole morning ; darting after insects, and returning to the same twig; frequently flirting his tail, like the wagtail, though not so rapidly. He begins to build about the 20th or 2-5th of March, on some projecting part under a bridge-^in a cave — in an open well five or six feet down among the interstices of the side walls — often under a shed — in the low eaves of a cottage, and such like places. The outside is composed of mud mixed with moss ; is generally large and solid ; and lined with flax and horse hair. The eggs are five, pure white, with two or three dots of red near the great end. See fig. 4. I have known them rear three broods in one season. In a particular part of Mr. Bartram's woods, with which I am ac- quainted, by the side of a small stream, is a cave, five or six feet high, formed by the undermining of the water below, and the projection of two large rocks above : There down smooth glistening rooks the rivulet pours, Till in a pool its silent waters sleep, A dark broWed cliff, o'ertopped with fern and flowers. Hangs, grimly louring, o'er the glassy deep ; Above through every chink the woodbines creep, And smooth-barked beeches spread their arms around, Whose roots cling twisted round the rooky steep ; A more sequestered scene is nowhere found, For contemplation deep, and silent thought profound. * Muscicapa fusca, Gmel. i., p. 931. — liAin.Ind. Ofn. ii., p. 483. (135) 136 PEWIT FLYCATCHER. In this cave I knew the Pewit to build for several years. The place was solitary, and he was seldom disturbed. - In the month of April, one fatal Saturday, a party of boys from the city, armed with guns, dealing indiscriminate destruction among the feathered tribes around them, di- rected their murderous course this way, and within my hearing destroyed both parents of this old and peaceful settlement. For two successive years, and I believe "to this day, there has been noPewee seen about this place. This circumstance almost convinces me that birds, in many in- stances, return to the same spots to breed ; and who knows but like the savage nations of Indians they may usurp a kind of exclusive right of tenure to particular districts where they themselves have been reared ? The notes of the Pewee, like those of the Blue-bird, are pleasing,, not for any melody they contain, but from the ideas of spring and returning verdure with all the sweets of this lovely season, which are associated with his simple but lively ditty. Towards the middle of June he be- comes nearly silent ; and late in the fall gives us a few farewell and melancholy repetitions, that recall past imagery, and make the decayed and withered face of nature appear still more melancholy. The Pewit is six inches and a half in length, and nine and a half broad ; the upper parts are of a dark dusky olive ; the plumage of the head, like those of the two preceding, is loose, subcrested, and of a deep brownish black ; wings and tail deep dusky, the former edged on every feather with yellowish white, the latter forked, and widening remarka- bly towards the end ; bill formed exactly like that of the King-bird ; whole lower parts a pale delicate yellow ; legs and bill wholly Hack ; iris hazel. The female is almost exactly like the male, except in hav- ing the crest somewhat more brown. This species inhabits from Canada to Florida; great numbers of them usually wintering in the two Caro- linas and Georgia. In New York they are called the Phoeby-bird, and are accused of destroying bees. With many people in the country, the arrival of the Pewee serves as a sort of almanac, reminding them that now it is time such and such work should be done. " Whenever the Pewit appears," says Mr. Bartram, "we may plant peas and beans in the open grounds, French beans,^sow radishes, onions, and almost every kind of esculent garden seeds, without fear or danger from frosts ; for although we have sometimes frosts after their first appearance for a night or two, yet not so severe as to injure the young plants."* * Travels, page 288. Species IV. MUSCICAPA RAPAX* WOOD PEWEB FLYCATCHEE. [Plate XIII. Fig. 5.] Muscicapa virens, Linn. Syst. 327. — Lath. Syn. ii., 350. — Id. Supp. p. 174, No. 82. — Catesb. 1., 54, fig. 1. — Le gobe-mouche brun de la Caroline, Buff, it., 543. — Muscicapa acadica, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 947. — Arct. Zool. 387, No. 270. I HAVE given the name Wood Pewee to this species; to discriminate it from the preceding, which it resembles so much in form and plumage as scarcely to be distinguished from it, but by an accurate examination of both. Yet in manners, mode of building, period of migration and notes, the two species differ greatly. The Pewee is among the first birds that visit us in spring, frequenting creeks, building in caves and under arches of bridges ; the Wood Pewee, the subject of our present account, is among the latest of our summer birds, seldom arriving before the twelfth or fifteenth of May ; frequenting the shadiest high timbered woods, where there is little underwood, and abundance of dead twigs and branches shooting across the gloom, generally in low situations ; builds its nest on the upper side of a limb or branch, forming it out- wardly of moss ; but using no mud ; and lining it with various soft materials. The female lays five white eggs ; and the first brood leave the nest about the middle of June. This species is an exceeding expert Flycatcher. It loves to sit on the high dead branches, amid the gloom of the woods, calling out in a feeble plaintive tone, peto way ; peto way ; pee way ; occasionally dart- ing after insects ; sometimes making a circular sweep of thirty or forty yards, snapping up numbers in itg way with great adroitness ; and returning to its position and chant as before. In the latter part of August its notes are almost the only ones to be heard in the woods ; about which time, also, it even approaches the city, where I have frequently observed it busily engaged under trees, in solitary courts, gardens, &c., feeding and training its young to their profession. About the middle of September it retires to the south, a full month before the other; Length six inches, breadth ten; back dusky olive, inclining to greenish ; head subcrested and brownish black ; tail forked and widen- * Muscicapa virens, Linn., which name should be adopted. (137) 138 SMALL GKEEN, CRESTED FLYCATCHER. ing towards the tips, lower parts pale yellowish white : the only dis- criminating marks between this and the preceding are the size, and the color of the lower mandible, which in this is yellow — in the Pewee black. The female is difficult to be distinguished from the male. This species is far more numerous than the preceding ; and probably winters much farther south. The Pewee was numerous in North and South Carolina, in February ; but the Wood Pewee had not made its appearance in the lower parts of Georgia even so late as the sixteenth of March. Species V. MTJSCWAPA QUEBVLA* SMALL GREEN, CRESTED FLYCATCHER. [Plate XIII. Fig. 3.] Muscicapa subviridis, Bartram, p. 289. — Arct. Zool. p. 386, No. 268. This bird is but little known. It inhabits the deepest, thick shaded, solitary parts of the woods, sits generally on the lower branches, utters every half minute or so, a sudden sharp squeak, which is heard a con- siderable way through the woods ; and as it flies from one tree to another has a low querulous note, something like the twitterings of chickens nestling under the wings of the hen. On alighting this sound ceases ; and it utters its note as before. It arrives from the south about the middle of May ; builds on the upper side of a limb, in a low swampy part of the woods, and lays five white eggs. It leaves us about the beginning of September. It is a rare and very solitary bird, always haunting the most gloomy, moist and unfrequented parts of the forest. It feeds on flying insects ; devours bees ; and in the season of huckle- berries they form the chief part of its food. Its northern migrations extend as far as Newfoundland. The length of this species is flve inches and a half, in breadth nine inches ; the upper parts are of a green olive color ; the lower pale greenish yellow, darkest on the breast ; the wings are deep brown, crossed with two bars of yellowish white, and a ring of the same sur- rounds the eye, which is hazel. The tail is rounded at the end ; the bill is remarkably flat and broad, dark brown above, and flesh color below ; legs and feet pale ash. The female differs little from the male in color. * Muscicapa acadica, Gmel. i., p. 947. — Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 489. Species Vr. MUSCICAPA RUTICILLA. AMERICAN REDSTART. [Plate VI. Fig. 6, Male,] Muscicapa Euticilla, Linn. Syst. i., 236, 10. — Gmel. Syst. i., 935. — Motacilla flavicaiida, Gmel. Syst. i., 997 (female). — Le Gohe-mouche d'Amerique, Briss. Orn. II., 383, 14. PI. Enl. 566, fig. 1, 2.— Small American Bedstart, Edit. 80. Id. 257 (icmsXe).— Yellow-tailed Warbler, Arct. Zool. ii., No. 301. Id. ii., No. 282. — Latham, Syn. iv., 427, 18. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 301 (female). Though this bird has been classed by several of our most respectable ornithologists among the Warblers, yet in no species are the character- istics of the genus Muscicapa more decisively marked ; and in fact it is one of the most expert Flycatchers of its tribe. It is almost perpetu- ally in motion ; and vfill pursue a retreating party of flies from the tops of the tallest trees, in an almost perpendicular, but zigzag direction, to the ground, -while the clicking of its bill is distinctly heard, and I doubt not but it often secures ten or tvcelve of these in a descent of three or four seconds. It then alights on an adjoining branch, traverses it lengthwise for a few moments, flirting its expanded tail from side to side, and suddenly shoots off, in a direction quite unexpected, after fresh game, which it can discover at a great distance. Its notes, or twitter, though animated and sprightly, are not deserving the name of song ; sometimes they are weese, weese, weese, repeated every quarter of a minute, as it skips among the branches ; at other times this twitter varies to several other chants, which I can instantly distinguish in the woods, but cannot find words to imitate. The interior of the forest, the borders of s-wamps and meadows, deep glens covered with wood, and wherever flying insects abound, there this little bird is sure to be seen. It makes its appearance in Pennsylvania, from the south, late in April ; and leaves us again about the beginning of September. It is very generally found over the whole United States ; and has been taken at sea, in the fall, on its way to St. Domingo,* and other of the West India islands, where it winters, along with many more of our summer visitants. It is also found in Jamaica, where it remains all winter.f The name Kedstart, evidently derived from the German Bothsterts (red tail), has been given this bird from its supposed resemblance to the * Edwards. t Sloane. (139) 140 AMERICAN REDSTART. Redstart of Europe [Motacilla phoenieurus) ; but besides being decisively of a different genus, it is very different both in size and in the tints and disposition of the colors of its plumage. Buffon goes even so far as to question whether the differences between the two be more than what might be naturally expected from change of climate. This eternal reference of every animal of the new world to that of the old, if adopted to the extent of this writer, with all the transmutations it is supposed to have produced, would leave us in doubt whether even the Ka-te-dids* of America were not originally Nightingales of the old world, degener- ated by the inferiority of the food and climate of this upstart continent. We have in America many different species of birds that approach so near in resemblance to one another, as not to be distinguished but by the eye of a naturalist, and on a close comparison ; these live in the same climate, feed on the same food, and are, I doubt not, the same now as they were five thousand years ago ; and ten thousand years hence, if the species then exist, will be found marked with the same nice discriminations as at present. Is it therefore surprising, that two different species placed in different quarters of the world, should have certain near resemblances to one another without being bastards, or degenerated descendants, the one of the other, when the w^hole chain of created beings seem united to each other by such amazing gradations, that bespeak, not random chance and accidental degeneracy, but the magnificent design of an incomprehensibly wise and omnipotent Creator ? The American Redstart builds frequently in low bushes, in the fork of a small sapling, or on the drooping branches of the elm, within a few feet of the ground ; outwardly it is formed of flax well wound together, and moistened with its saliva, interspersed here and there with pieces of lichen, and lined with a very soft downy substance. The temeble lays fiver white eggs, sprinkled with gray, and specks of blackish. The male is ex- tremely anxious for its preservation ; and on a person's approaching the place will flirt about within a few feet, seeming greatly distressed. The length of this species is five inches, extent six and a quarter; the general color above is black, which covers the whole head and neck, and spreads on the upper part of the breast in a rounding form ; where, as well as on the head and neck, it is glossed with steel blue ; sides of the breast, below this black, the inside of the wings, and upper half of the wing-quills, are of a fine aurora color ; but the greater and lesser coverts of the wings being black conceal this ; and the orange, or aurora color, appears only as a broad transverse band across the wings ; from thence to the tip they are brownish ; the four middle feathers of the tail are black, the other eight of the same aurora color, and black towards *'A species of Gryllus, well known for its lively chatter during the evenings and nights of September and October. REDSTART. 141 the tips ; belly and vent -white, slightly streaked with pale orange; legs black ; bill of the true Muscicapa form, triangular at the base, beset with long bristles, and notched near the point ; the female has not the rich aurora band across the wing; her back and crown is cinereous inclining to olive ; the white below is not so pure ; lateral feathers of the tail and sides of the breast greenish yellow ; middle tail feathers dusky brown. The young males of a year old are almost exactly like the female, differing in these particulars, that they have a yellow band across the wings which the female has not, and the back is more tinged with brown ; the lateral tail feathers are also yellow ; middle ones brownish black ; inside of the wings yellow. On the third season they receive their complete colors ; and as males of the second year, in nearly the dress of the female, are often seen in the woods, having the same notes as the full plumaged male, it has given occasion to some people to assert, that the females sing as well as the males ; and others have taken them for another species. The fact, however, is as I have stated it. This bird is too little known by people in general to have any provincial name. MUSCICAPA RUTICILLA. REDSTART. [Plate XLV. Fig. 2, Young Bird.] The male of this species may be seen in his perfect dress, in Plate VL ; the present figure represents the young bird as he appears for the first two seasons ; the female differs very little from this, chiefly in the green olive ; being more inclined to ash. This is one of our summer birds, and from the circumstance of being found off Hispaniola in November, is supposed to winter in the islands. They leave Pennsylvania about the twentieth of September ; are dex- terous flycatchers, though ranked by European naturalists among the warblers, having the bill notched and beset with long bristles. In its present dress the Redstart makes its appearance in Pennsylva- nia about the middle or twentieth of April ; and from being heard chanting its few sprightly notes has been supposed by some of our own naturalists to be a different species. I have, however, found both parents of the same nest in the same dress nearly ; the female, eggs and nest, as well as the notes of the male, agreeing exactly with those of the Redstart ; evidence sufficiently satisfactory to me. Head above dull slate ; throat pale buff; sides of the breast and four 142 BLUE-GRAY rLYCATCIIEK. exterior tail feathers fine yellow,. tipped with dark brown ; wings and back greenish olive ; tail coverts blackish, tipped with ash ; belly dull white ; no white or yellow on the wings ; legs dirty purplish brown ; bill black. The Redstart extends very generally over the United States ; having myself seen it on the borders of Canada, and also in the Mississippi territory. This species has the constant habit of flirting its expanded tail from side to side as it runs along the branches, with its head levelled almost in a line with its body ; occasionally shooting off after winged insects, in a downward zigzag direction, and with admirable dexterity, snapping its bill as it descends. Its notes are few and feeble, repeated at short intervals as it darts among the foliage ; having at some times a resem- blance to the sounds sic sie sale ; at others of weesy weesy weesy ; which last seems to be its call for the female, while the former appears to be its most common note. Species VII. MUSOICAPA C^ RULE A. BLUE-GRAY FLYCATCHER. [Plate XVIII. Fig. 6.] Motacilla cceriilea, Turton, Syst. i., p. fil2. — Blue Flycatcher, Edw. PL 302. — Regulus griseus, the little Bluish Gray Wren, Bartram, p. 291. — Le Figuier gris de fer, Buff, v., p. 309. — Ccerulean Warbler, Arct. Zool. ii., No. 299. — Lath. Syn. Ti., p. 490, No. 127. This diminutive species, but for the length of the tail, would rank next to our Humming-bird in magnitude. It is a very dexterous Fly- catcher, and has also something of the manners of the Titmouse, with whom, in early spring and fall, it frequently associates. It arrives in Pennsylvania from the south about the middle of April ; and about the beginning of May builds its nest, which it generally fixes among the twigs of a tree, sometimes at the height of ten feet from the ground, sometimes fifty feet high, on the extremities of the tops of a high tree in the woods. This nest is formed of very slight and perishable mate- rials, the husks of buds, stems of old leaves, withered blossoms of weeds, down from the stalks of fern, coated on the outside with gray lichen, and lined with a few horse hairs. Yet in this frail receptacle, which one would think scarcely sufficient to admit the body of the owner, and sus- tain even its weight, does the female Cow-bird venture to deposit her egg ; and to the management of these pigmy nurses leaves the fate of her helpless young. The motions of this little bird are quick ; he seems YELLOW-TIIROATBD FLYCATCHER. 143 always on the lookout for insects ; darts about from one part of the tree to another with hanging wings and erected tail, making a feeble chirp- ings, tsee, tsee, no louder than a mouse. Though so small in itself, it is ambitious of hunting on the highest branches, and is seldom seen among the humbler thickets. It remains with us until the twentieth or twenty- eighth of September, after which we see no more of it until the succeed- ing spring. I observed this bird near Savannah, in Georgia, early in March ; but it does not winter even in the southern parts of that state. The length of this species is four inches and a half, extent six and a half ; front and line over the eye black ; bill black, very slender, over- hanging at the tip, notched, broad, and furnished with bristles at the base ; the color of the plumage above is a light bluish gray, bluest on the head, below bluish white; tail longer than the body, a little rounded and black, except the exterior feathers, which are almost all white, and the next two also tipped with white ; tail coverts black ; wings brownish black, some of the secondaries next the body edged with white ; legs extremely slender, about three-fourths of an inch long, and of a bluish black color. The female is distinguished by wanting the black line round the front. The ' food of this bird is small winged insects and their larvae, but particularly the former, which it seems almost always in pursuit of. Species VIII. MUSCTCAPA SYLVICOLA* YELLOW-THROATED FLYCATCHER. [Plate VII. Fig. 3.] This summer species is found chiefly in the woods, hunting among the high branches ; and has an indolent and plaintive note, which it repeats, with some little variation, every ten or twelve seconds, like preeo — preea, &c. It is often heard in company with the Red-eyed Fly- catcher {Muscicapa oUvacea), or Whip-Tom-Kelly of Jamaica; the loud energetic notes of the latter, mingling with the soft languid warble of the former, producing an agreeable effect, particularly during the burn- ing heat of noon, when almost every other songster but these two is silent. Those who loiter through the shades of our magnificent forests at that hour, will easily recognise both species. It arrives from the south early in May, and returns again with its young about the middle of September. Its nest, which is sometimes fixed on the upper side of * Vireo Jlavifrons, Ois. de I'Am. Sept. Vieillot, pi. 54. 144 SOLITARY FLYCATCHER. a limb, sometimes on a horizontal branch among the twigs, generally on a tree, is composed outwardly of thin strips of the bark of grape-vines, moss, lichens, &c., and lined with fine fibres of such like substances ; the eggs, usually four, are white, thinly dotted with black, chiefly near the great end. Winged insects are its principal food. Whether this species has been described before or not I must leave tc the sagacity of the reader, who has the opportunity of examining Euro- pean works of this kind, to discover.* I have met with no description in Pennant, Bufibn, or Latham, that will properly apply to this bird, which may perhaps be owing to the imperfection of the account, rather than ignorance of the species, which is by no means rare. The Yellow-throated Flycatcher is five inches and a half long, and nine inches from tip to tip of the expanded wings ; the upper part of the head, sides of the neck, and the back, are of a fine yellow olive ; throat, breast and line over the eye, which it nearly encircles, a delicate lemon yellow, which in a lighter tinge lines the wings ; belly and vent pure silky white ; lesser wing coverts, lower part of the back, and rump, ash ; wings deep brown, almost black, crossed with two white bars ; primaries edged with light ash, secondaries with white ; tail a little forked, of the same brownish black with the wings, the three exterior feathers edged on each vane with white ; legs and claws light blue ; the two exterior toes united to the middle one as far as the second joint ; bill broad at the base, with three or four slight bristles, the upper mandible over- hanging the lower at the point, near which it is deeply notched ; tongue thin, broad, tapering near the end, and bifid ; the eye is of a dark hazel ; and the whole bill of a dusky light blue. The feirale differs very little in color from the male ; the yellow on the breast and round the eye is duller, and the white on the wings less pure. Species IX. MUSCICAPA SOLITARIA. SOLITARY FLYCATCHER. [Plate XVII. Fig. 6, Male.] This rare species I can find nowhere described. I have myself never seen more than three of them ; all of whom corresponded in their markings ; and on dissection were found to be males. It is a silent, solitary bird. It is also occasionally found in the state of Georgia, where I saw a drawing of it in the possession of Mr. Abbot, who con- * See "Orange-throated Warbler." Lath. Syn. ii., 481, 103. WHITE-EYED FLYCATCHER. , 145 sidered it a very scarce species. He could give me no information of the female. The one from which the figure in the plate vras taken, was shot in Mr. Bartram's woods, near Philadelphia, among the branches of dogwood, in the month of October. It appears to belong to a particular family, or subdivision of the Muscicapa genus, among which are the White-eyed, the Yellow-throated, and several others already described in the present work. Why one species should be so rare, while another, much resembling it, is so numerous, at least a thousand for one, is a question I am unable to answer ; unless by supposing the few we meet with here to be accidental stragglers from the great body, which may have their residence in some other parts of our extensive continent. The Solitary Flycatcher is five inches long, and eight inches in breadth ; cheeks and upper part of the head and neck, a fine bluish gray ; breast pale cinereous ; flanks and sides of the breast yellow ; whole back and tail coverts green olive ; wings nearly black ; the first and second row of coverts tipped with white ; the three secondaries next the body edged with pale yellowish white ; the rest of the quills bor- dered with light green; tail slightly forked, of the same tint as the wings, and edged with light green ; from the nostrils a line of white proceeds to and encircles the eye ; lores black ; belly and vent white ; upper mandible black ; lower light blue ; legs and feet light blue ; eyes hazel. Species X. MUSCICAPA CANTATRIX. WHITE-EYED FLYCATCHER [Plate XVIII. Fig. 6.] Muscicapa novehoracen.iis, Gmel. Si/st. i., p. 947. — Hanging Flycatcher, Lath. Syn. Supp. p. 174. — Arct. Zool. p. 389, No. Hi.— Muscicapa cantatrix, the little Do- mestic Flycatcher, or Green Wren, Bartram, p. 290.* This is another of the Cow-bird's adopted nurses ; a lively, active, and sociable little bird, possessing a strong voice for its size, and a great variety of notes ; and singing with little intermission, from its first arrival about the middle of April to a little. before its departure in Sep- tember. On the twenty-seventh of February I heard this bird in the southern parts of the state of Georgia, in considerable numbers, sing- ing with great vivacity. They had only arrived a few days before. Its arrival in Pennsylvania, after an interval of seven weeks, is a proof that our birds of passage, particularly the smaller species, do not migrate * Vireo musicus, Vieillot^ Ois. de I' Am. Sept. pi. 52. Vol. II.— 10 146 WARBLING FLYCATCHER. at once from south to north ; but progress daily, keeping company, as it were, with the advances of spring. It has been observed in the neigh- borhood of Savannah, so late as the middle of November ; and probably winters in Mexico, and the West Indies. This bird builds a very neat little nest, often in the figure of an inverted cone ; it is suspended by the upper edge of the two sides, on the circuljir bend of a prickly vine, a species of smilax that generally grows in low thickets. Outwardly it is constructed of various light materials, bits of rotten wood, fibres of dry stalks, of weeds, pieces of paper, commonly newspapers, an article almost always found about its nest, so that some of my friends have given it the name of the Politician ; all these substances are interwoven with the silk of caterpillars, and the inside is lined with fine dry grass and hair. The female lays five eggs, pure white, marked near the great end with a very few small dots of deep black or purple. They generally raise two broods in a season. They seem particularly attached to thickets of this species of smilax, and make a great ado when any one comes near their nest ; approaching within a few feet, looking down, and scolding with great vehemence. In Pennsylvania they are a numerous species. The White-eyed Flycatcher is five inches and a quarter long, and seven in extent ; the upper parts are a fine yellow olive, those below white, except the sides of the breast, and under the wings, which are yellow ; line round the eye, and spot near the nostril also rich yellow ; wings deep dusky black, edged with olive green, and crossed with two bars of pale yellow ; tail forked, brownish black, edged with green olive ; bill, legs and feet light blue ; the sides of the neck incline to a grayish ash. The female, and young of the first season, are scarcely distinguishable in plumage from the male. Species XI. MUSCICAPA MELODIA* WARBLING FLYCATCHER. [Plate XLII. Fig. 2.] This sweet little warblef is for the first time figured and described. In its general appearance it resembles the Red-eyed Flycatcher; but on a close comparison differs from that bird in many particulars. It arrives in Pennsylvania about the middle of April, and inhabits the thick foliage of orchards and high trees ; its voice is soft, tender and soothing, and its notes flow in an easy continued strain that is extremely * Micscicapa gilva, Vieillot, Ois. de L'Am. Sept. pi. 34. ■' RED-EYED FLYCATCHER. 147 pleasing. It is often heard among the weeping willows and Lombardy poplars ot the city ; is rarely observed in the woods ; but seems particu- larly attached to the society of man. It gleans among the leaves, occasionally darting after winged insects, and searching for caterpillars ; and seems by its manners to partake considerably of the nature of the genus Sylvia. It is late in departing, and I have frequently heard its notes among the fading leaves of the poplar in October. This little bird may be distinguished from all the rest of our song- sters by the soft tender easy flow of its notes, while hid among the foliage. In these there is nothing harsh, sudden or emphatical ; they glide along in a kind of meandering strain that is peculiarly its own. In May and June it may be generally heard in the orchards, the bor- ders of the city, and around the farm-house. This species is five inches and a half long, and eight inches and a half in extent ; bill dull lead color above, and notched near the point, lower a pale flesh color ; eye dark hazel ; line over the eye and whole lower parts white, the latter tinged with very pale greenish yellow near the breast ; upper parts a pale green olive ; wings brown, broadly edged with pale olive green ; tail slightly forked, edged with olive ; the legs and feet pale lead ; the head inclines a little to ash ; no white on the wings or tail. Male and female nearly alike. Species XII. MUSCICAPA OLIVACEA. RED-EYED FLYCATCHER. [Plate XII. Kg. a.] Linn. Syst. i., p. 327, 14. — Gobe-mouche de la Caroline et de la Jamaique, Buff, iv., p. 539, Edw. t. 253. — Catesb. t. 54. — Lath. Syn. in., p. 351, No. 52. — Muscicapa sylmcola, Bartram, p. 290.* This is a numerous species, though confined chiefly to the woods and forests, and, like all the rest of its tribe that visit Pennsylvania, is a bird of passage. It arrives hgre late in April ; has a loud, lively and energetic song, which it continues, as it hunts among the thick foliage, sometimes for an hour with little intermission. In the months of May, June, and to the middle of July, it is the most distinguishable of all the other warblers of the forest ; and even in August, long after the rest have almost all become mute, the notes of the Red-eyed Flycatcher are frequently heard with unabated spirit. These notes are in short, emphatical bars, of two, three, or four syllables. In Jamaica, where * 'Muscicapa aliiloqua, Vieill. Ois. de VAm. Sept. pi. 38. 148 RED-EYED FLYCATCHER. this bird winters, and is probably also resident, it is called, as Sloane informs us, " Whip-Tom Kelly," from an imagined resemblance of its notes to these words. And indeed, on attentively listening for some time to this bird in his full ardor of song, it requires but little of imagi- nation to fancy that you hear it pronounce these words, " Tom Kelly ! Whip-Tom Kelly!" very distinctly. It inhabits from Georgia to the river St. Lawrence, leaving Pennsylvania about the middle of Sep- tember. This bird builds in the month of May a small neat pensile nest, generally suspended between two twigs of a young dogwood or other small sapling. It is hung by the two upper edges, seldom at a greater height than four or five feet from the ground. It is formed of pieces of hornets' nests, some flax, fragments of withered leaves, slips of vine bark, bits of paper, all glued together with the saliva of the bird, and the silk of caterpillars, so as to be very compact ; the inside is lined with fine slips of grape-vine bark, fibrous grass, and sometimes hair. These nests are so durable that I have often known them to resist the action of the weather for a year ; and in one instance I found the nest of the Yellow-bird built in the cavity of one of these of the preceding year. The mice very often take possession of them after they are abandoned by the owners. The eggs are four, sometimes five, pure white, except near the great end, where they are marked with a few small dots of dark brown or reddish. They generally raise two broods in a season. The Red-eyed Flycatcher is one of the adopted nurses of the Cow- bird, and a very favorite one, showing all the symptoms of affection for the foundling, and as much solicitude for its safety, as if it were its own. The figure of that singular bird, accompanied by a particular account of its history, is given in Plate XVIII. of the present work. Before I take leave of this bird, it may not be amiss to observe that there is another, and a rather less species of Flycatcher, somewhat resembling the Red-eyed, which is frequently found in its company. Its eyes are hazel, its back more cinereous than the other, and it has a single light streak over the eye. The notes of this bird are low, somewhat plaintive, but warbled out with great sweetness ; and form a striking contrast with those of the Re'd-eyed Flycatcher. I think it probable that Dr. Barton had reference to this bird when he made the following remarks. See his "Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania," page 19. " Muscicapa olivacea. — I do not think with Mr. Pennant that this is the same bird as the Whip-Tom-Kelly of the West Indies. Our bird has no such note ; but a great variety of soft, tender and agreeable notes. It inhabits forests ; and does not, like the West India bird, build a pendulous nest." Had the learned Professor, however, examined into this matter with his usual accuracy, he would HOODED FLYCATCHER. 149 have found, that the Muscieapa olivacea, and the soft and tender song- ster he mentions, are two very distinct species ; and that both the one and the other actua,lly build very curious pendulous nests. This species is five inches and a half long, and seven inches in extent ; crown ash, slightly tinged with olive, bordered on each side with a line of black, below which is a line of white passing from the nostril over and a little beyond the eye ; the bill is longer than, usual with birds of its tribe, the upper mandible overhanging the lower considerably and notched, dusky above, and light blue below ; all the rest of the plumage above is of a yellow olive, relieved on the tail and at the tips of the wings with brown ; chin, throat, breast and belly pure white ; inside of the wings and vent feathers greenish yellow ; the tail is very slightly forked ; legs and feet light blue ; iris of the eye red. The female is marked nea^rly in the same manner, and is distinguishable only by the greater obscurity of the colors. ' Species XIII. MUSCIOAPA CUCULLATA. -HOODED FLYCATCHEE. [Plate XXVI. Fig. 3.] Le Oobe-mouehe citrin, Buffon, iv., 538.- PI. Enl. 666. — Hooded Warbler, Arct. Zool. p. 400, No. 287. — Latham, ii., 462.— Catesby, i., 60. — Mitred Warbler^ TuRToN, I., 601. Hooded Warbler, Ibid.* Why those two judicious naturalists. Pennant and Latham, should have arranged this bird with the Warblers is to me unaccountable ; as few of the Muscicapoe are more distinctly marked than the species now before us. The bill is broad at the base, where it is beset with bristles ; the upper mandible notched, and slightly overhanging at the tip ; and the manners of the bird, in every respect, those of a Flycatcher. This species is seldom seen in Pennsylvania and the Northern States ; but through the whole extent of country south of Maryland, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, is very abundant. It is however most par- tial to low situations, where there is plenty of thick underwood ; abounds among the canes in the state of Tennessee, and in the Mississippi terri- tory ; and seems perpetually in pursuit of winged insects ; now and then uttering three loud not unmusical and very lively notes, resembling twee, twee, twitcJiie, while engaged in the chase. Like almost all its tribe * We add the following synonymes : — Motadlla mitrata, Gmel. i., p. 977. — Sylvia mitraia, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 528. — Vieill. Ois. d' Am. Sept. pi. 77. — Sylvia cucu- lata, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 528. 150 CANADA FLYCATCHER. it is full of spirit, and exceedingly active. It builds a very neat and compact nest, generally in the fork of a small bush, forms it outwardly of moss and flax, or broken hemp, and lines it with hair, and sometimes feathers ; the eggs are five, of a grayish white, with red spots towards the great end. In all parts of the United States, where it inhabits, it is a bird of passage. At Savannah I met with it about the twentieth of March ; so that it probably retires to the West India islands, and perhaps Mexico, during winter. I also heard this bird among the rank reeds and rushes within a few miles of the mouth of the Mississippi. It has been sometimes seen in the neighborhood of Philadelphia ; but rarely ; and on such occasions has all the mute timidity of a stranger, at a distance from home. This species is five inches and a half long, and eight in extent ; fore- head, cheeks and chin yellow, surrounded with a hood of black that covers the crown, hind head, and part of the neck, and descends, round- ing, over the breast ; all the rest of the lower parts are rich yellow ; upper parts of the wings, the tail and back, yellow olive ; interior vanes and tips of the wing and tail dusky ; bill black ; legs flesh colored ; inner webs of the three exterior tail feathers white for half their length from the tips ; the next slightly touched with white ; the tail slightly forked, and exteriorly edged with rich yellow olive. The female has the throat and breast yellow, slightly tinged with blackish ; the black does not reach so far down the upper part of the neck, and is not of so deep "a tint. In the other parts of her plumage she exactly resembles the male. I have found some females that had little or no black on the head or neck above ; but these I took to be young birds, not yet arrived at their full tints. Species XIV. MUSCICAPA CANADENSIS* CANADA FLYCATCHEE. [Plate XXVI. Fig. 2, Male.] Linn. Syst. Z24.—Arct. Zool. p. 338, No. 273.— Latham, n., 354. This is a solitary, and in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, rather a rare species ; being more numerous in the interior, particularly near the mountains, where the only two I ever met with were shot. They are silent birds, as far as I could observe ; and were busily darting among * Sylvia pardalina, Bonaparte 06*. No. 126. — Ibid. Synop. No. 108. GREEN BLACK-CAPPED FLYCATCHER. 151 the branches after insects. From the specific name given them it is probable that they are more plenty in Canada than in the United States ; where it is doubtful whether they be not mere passengers in spring and autumn. This species is four inches and a half long, and eight in extent ; front black ; crown dappled with small streaks of gray and spots of black ; line from the nostril to and around the eye yellow ; below the eye a streak or spot of black, descending along the sides of the throat, which, as well as the breast and belly, is brilliant yellow, the breast being marked with a broad rounding band of black, composed of large irregular streaks ; back, wings and tail cinereous brown; vent white; upper mandible dusky, lower flesh colored ; legs and feet the same ; eye hazel. Never having met with the female of this bird I am unable at present to say in what its colors difi"er from those of the male. Species XV. MU8CICAFA PUSILLA* GREEN BLACK-CAPPED FLYCATCHER. [Plate XXVI. Fig. 4, Male.] This neat and active little species T have never met with in the works of any European naturalist. It is an inhabitant of the swamps of the Southern States, and has been several times seen in the lower parts of the states of New Jersey and Delaware. Amidst almost unapproachable ,thickets of deep morasses it commonly spends its time, during summer, and has a sharp squeaking note, nowise musical. It leaves the Southern States early in October. This species is four inches and a half long, and six and a half in extent ; front line over the eye and whole lower parts yellow, brightest over the eye and dullest on the cheeks, belly and vent, where it is tinged with olive ; upper parts olive green ; wings and tail dusky brown, the former very short ; legs and bill flesh colored ; crown covered with a patch of deep black ; iris of the eye hazel. The female is without the black crown, having that part of a dull yellow olive, and is frequently mistaken for a distinct species. From her great resemblance, however, in other respects to the male, now flrst figured, she cannot hereafter be mistaken. c ■ ■ ■ * Sylvia Wilsonii, Bonaparte, Obs. No. 126. — Ibid. Synop. 135. Species XVI. MU8CICAPA MINUTA. SMALL-HEADED FLYCATCHER. [Plate L. Fig. 5, Male.] This very rare species is the only one I have met with, and is drawn reduced to half its size, to correspond with the rest of the figures on the same plate. It was shot on the twenty-fourth of April, in an orchard, and was remarkably active, running, climbing and darting about among the opening buds and blossoms with extraordinary agility. From what quarter of the United States or of North America it is a wanderer, I am unable to determine, having never before met with an individual of the species. Its notes and manner of breeding are also alike unknown to me. This was a male : it measured five inches long, and eight and a quarter in extent ; the upper parts were dull yellow olive ; the wings dusky brown edged with lighter ; the greater and lesser coverts tipped with white ; the lower parts dirty white, stained with dull yellow, par- ticularly on the upper parts of the breast ; the tail dusky brown, the two exterior feathers marked like those of many others with a spot of white on the inner vanes ; head remarkably small ; bill broad at the base, furnished with bristles, and notched near the tip ; legs dark brown ; feet yellowish ; eye dark hazel. Since writing the above I have shot several individuals of this species in various quarters of New Jersey, particularly in swamps. They all appear to be nearly alike in plumage. Having found them there in June, there is no doubt of their breeding in that state, and probably in such situations far to the southward ; for many of the southern summer birds that rarely visit Pennsylvania, are yet common to the swamps and pine woods of New Jersey. Similarity of soil and situation, of plants and trees, and consequently of fruits, seeds, insects, &e., are doubtless their inducements. The summer Red-bird, Great Carolina Wren, Pine- creeping Warbler, and many others, are rarely seen in Pennsylvania, or to the northward, though they are common in many parts of West Jcsey. (152) Genus XLI. ALAUDA. LARK. Species I. A. MAGNA* MEADOW LARK. _ [Plate XIX. Fig. 2.] Linn. Syst. 2S9.— Crescent Stare, Arct. Zool. 330, No. 192.— Latham, hi., 6, Var. A.—Le Fer-drcheval, ou Merle d Collier d'Amerique, Burr, iii., p. 37L— Catesb. Car. I., pi. 33.— Bartbam, p. 290. Though this well-known species cannot boast of the powers of song whicli distinguish that "harbinger of day," the Sky Lark of Europe, yet in richness of plumage, as well as in sweetness of voice '(as far as his few notes extend), he stands eminently its superior. He differs from the greater part of his tribe in wanting the long straight hind claw, which is probably the reason why he has been classed, by some late naturalists, with the Starlings. But in the particular form of his bill, in his manners, plumage, mode and place of building his nest, nature has clearly pointed out his proper family. This species has a very extensive range ; having myself found them in Upper Canada, and in each of the states from New Hampshire to New Orleans. Mr. Bartram also informs me that they are equally abundant in East Florida. Their favorite places of retreat are pasture fields and meadows, particularly the latter, which have conferred on them their specific name ; and no doubt supply them abundantly with the particular seeds and insects on which they feed. They are rarely or never seen in the depth of the woods ; unless where, instead of under- wood, the ground is covered with rich grass, as in the Choctaw and Chickasaw countries, where I met with them in considerable numbers in the months of May and June. The extensive and luxuriant prairies between Vincennes and St. Louis also abound with them. It is probable that in the more rigorous regions of the north they may be birds of passage, as they are partially so here ; though I have seen them among the meadows of New Jersey, and those that border the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, in all seasons ; even when the ground * Alauda magna, Linn. Syst. i., p. 167, Ed. 10. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 801. — Merula Americana tnrquata, Briss. Av. ii., p. 242, No. 15. — (Summer dress.) Sturnus ludovicianns, Linn. Syst. i., p. 290. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 802. — Brisson, ii., p. 449, 4, t. 42, f. 1. — Lath. Ind. Orn. i. 323. — Etourneau de la Louisiane, Burr, iii., p. 192.— PZ. Enl. 256.— (Winter plumage.) (153) 154 ■ MEADOW LARK. was deeply covered with snow. There is scarcely a market day in Phi- ladelphia, from September to March, but they may be found in market. They are generally considered, for size and delicacy, little inferior to the quail, or what is here usually called the partridge, and valued ac- cordingly. I once met with a few of these birds in the month of Fe- bruary, during a deep snow, among the heights of the Alleghany between Shippensburgh and Somerset, gleaning on the road, in company with the small Snow-birds. In the states of South Carolina and Georgia, at the same season of the year, they swarm among the rice plantations, running about the yards and out-houses, accompanied by the Kildeers, with little appearance of fear, as if quite domesticated. These birds, after the building season is over, collect in flocks ; but seldom fly in a close compact body ; their flight is something in the man- ner of the grouse and partridge, laborious and steady ; sailing, and re- newing the rapid action of the wings alternately. When they alight on trees or bushes, it is generally on the tops of the highest branches, whence they send forth a long, clear, and somewhat melancholy note, that in sweetness and tenderness of expression is not surpassed by any of our numerous warblers. This is sometimes followed by a kind of low, rapid chattering, the particular call of the female ; and again the clear and plaintive strain is repeated as before. They afibrd tolerably good amusement to the sportsman, being most easily shot while on wing ; as they frequently squat among the long grass, and spring within gun- shot. The nest of this species is built generally in, or below, a thick tuft or tussock of grass ; it is composed of dry grass, and flne beiit laid at bottom, and wound all around, leaving an arched entrance level with the ground ; the inside is lined with fine stalks of the same materials, disposed with great regularity. The eggs are four, sometimes five, white, marked with specks and several large blotches of reddish brown, chiefly at the thick end. Their food consists of caterpillars, grub worms, beetles, and grass seeds ; with a considerable proportion of gravel. Their general name is the Meadow Lark ; among the Virgi- nians they are usually called the Old field Lark. The length of this bird is ten inches and a half, extent sixteen and a half ; throat, breast, belly, and line from the eye to the nostrils, rich yellow ; inside lining and edge of the wing the same ; an oblong cres- cent of deep velvety black ornaments the . lower part of the throat ; lesser wing-coverts black, broadly bordered with pale ash ; rest of the wing feathers light brown, handsomely serrated with black ; a line of yellowish white divides the crown, bounded on each side by a stripe of black intermixed with bay, and another line of yellowish white passes over each eye backwards ; cheeks bluish white, back and rest of the upper parts beautifully variegated with black, bright bay, and pale ochre : tail wedged, the feathers neatly pointed, the four outer ones on SHORE LARK. 155 each side, nearly all white ; sides, thighs, and vent pale yellow ochre, streaked with hlack ; upper mandible brown, lower bluish white ; eye- lids furnished with strong black hairs ; legs and feet very large, and of a pale flesh color. The female has the black crescent more skirted with gray, and not of so deep a black. In the rest of her markings the plumage diff'ers little from that of the male. I must here take notice of a mistake committed by Mr. Edwards in his history of Birds, Vol. VI., p. 123, where, on the authority of a bird dealer of London, he describes the Calandre Lark (a native of Italy and Russia) as belonging also to North America, and having been brought from Carolina. I can say with confidence, that in all my excursions through that and the rest of the Southern States, I never met such a bird, nor any person who had ever seen it. I have no hesitation in believing that the Calandre is not a native of the United States. Species II. ALAUDA ALPESTRIS* SHORE LARK. [Plate V. Fig. 4.] Alauda alpestris, Linn. Sysi. 289. — Lath. Syn. ii., 385. — Alauda campestris gut- ture flavo, Bartram, p. 290. — L'AloueUe deVirginie, Buff, v., 55. — Catesb. I., 32.t This is the most beautiful of its genus, at least in this part of the world. It is one of our winter birds of passage, arriving from the north in the fall ; usually staying with us the whole winter, frequenting sandy plains and open downs, and is numerous in the Southern States, as far as Georgia, during that season. They fly high, in loose scattered flocks ; and at these times have a single cry, almost exactly like the Sky-Lark of Britain. They are very numerous in many tracts of New Jersey ; and are frequently brought to Philadelphia market. They are then generally very fat, and are considered excellent eating. Their food seems principally to consist of small round compressed black seeds, buck- wheat, oats, &c., with a large proportion of gravel. On the flat com- mons, within the boundaries of the city of Philadelphia, flocks of them * Of the three species referred by "Wilson to Alauda this is the only one which belongs to that genus, as restricted by modern ornithologists. t We add the following synonymes : — Alauda alpestris, Linn. Ed. 10. Syst. i., p. 166. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 800. — Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p 498. — Alauda flava, Gmel. Syst. I., p. 800, (adult male in breeding dress). — Alauda Virginiana, Briss. hi., p., 367, 12.— Alouette de Siberie, Buff. PI. Enl. 650, fig. 2. 166 SHORE LARK. are regularly seen during the whole winter. In the stomach of these I have found, in numerous instances, quantities of the eggs or larvae of certain insects, mixed with a kind of slimy earth. About the middle of March they generally disappear, on their route to the north. Forster informs us, that they visit the environs of Albany Fort, in the beginning of May; but go farther north to breed; that they feed on grass seeds, and buds of the sprig birch, and run into small holes, keeping close to the ground; from whence the natives call them ehi-ciup-pi-sue* This same species appears also to be found in Poland, Russia, and Siberia in winter, from whence they also retire farther north on the approach of spring ; except in the north-east parts, and near the high mountains.f The length of this bird is seven inches, the extent twelve inches ; the forehead, throat, sides of the neck, and line over the eye is of a delicate straw or Naples yellow, elegantly relieved by a bar of black, that passes from the nostril to the eje; below which it falls, rounding, to the depth of three-quarters of an inch ; the yellow on the forehead and over the eye is bounded, within, for its whole length, with black, which covers part of the crown ; the breast is ornamented with a broad fan-shaped patch of black ; this as well as all the other spots of black are marked with minute curves of yellow points ; back of the neck, and towards the shoulders a light drab tinged with lake; lesser wing coverts bright cinnamon; greater wing coverts the same, interiorly dusky, and tipped with whitish ; back and wings drab-colored, tinged with reddish, each feather of the former having a. streak of dusky black down its centre ; primaries deep dusky, tipped and edged with whitish ; exterior feathers most so ; secondaries broadly edged with light drab, and scol- loped at the tips ; tail forked, black ; the two middle feathers, which by some have been mistaken for the coverts, are reddish drab, centred with brownish black ; the two outer ones on each side exteriorly edged with white ; breast of a dusky vinous tinge, and marked with spots or streaks of the same ; the belly and vent Tvhite ; sides streaked with bay ; bill short (Latham, in mistake, says seven inchesj), of a dusky blue color ; tongue truncate and bifid ; legs and claws black ; hind heel very long and almost straight ; iris of the eye hazel. One glance at the figure on the plate will give a better idea than the whole of this minute descrip- tion, which, however, has been rendered necessary by the errors of others. The female has little or no black on the crown ; and the yellow on the front is narrow, and of a dirty tinge. There is a singular appearance in this bird which I have never seen taken notice of by former writers, viz., certain long black feathers, which extend, by equal distances beyond each other, above the eye- * PhJl. Trans, vol. lxii. p. 398. t Arot. Zool. J Syn. vol. ii., p. 385. BROWN LARK. 157 brow ; these are longer, more pointed, and of a different texture from the rest around them ; and the bird possesses the power of erecting them so as to appear as if horned, like some of the Owl tribe. Having kept one of these birds alive for some time I was much amused at this odd appearance ; and think it might furnish a very suitable specific appella- tion, viz., Alauda corhuta, or Horned Lark. These horns become scarcely perceivable after the bird is dead. The head is slightly crested. Shore Lark and Sky Lark are names by which this species is usually known in different parts of the Union. They are said to sing well ; mounting in the air, in the manner of the Song Lark of Europe ; but this is only in those countries where they breed. I have never heard of their nests being found within the territory of the United States. Species III. ALAUDA RUF A* BROWN LARK. [Plate XLII. • Fig. 4.] Bed Lark, Edw. 297.—Arct. Zool. No. 279.— Latham, ii., 376. — L'Aloueiie aux joues brunes de Pensylvanie, Burp, v., 58. In what particular district of the northern regions this bird breeds, I am unable to say. In Pennsylvania it first arrives from the north about the middle of October ; flies in loose scattered flocks ; is strongly * This bird is common to Europe and America, and as many nominal species have been made of it we quote the following synonymes from Prince Musignano's obser- vations in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. iv., p. 182-3. Synonymes of the American specimens : — Alauda rubra, Gmel. Lath. Alauda ludoviciana, Gmel. 'Lhi'E.^-Alauda pensylvanica, Briss. — Farlouzanne, Burp. Ois. — Alouette aux Joues brunes de Pensylvanie, Buff. Ois. — Lark from Pennsylvania Edw. Glean, pi. 297. — Red Lark, PeWn. Brit, and Arct. Zool. Lath. Syn. Louisiana Lark, Lath. Syn. Synonymes of the European specimens : — Anthus aqualir.us, Bechst. Meter. ViEiLL. Nouv. Diet. Temm. — Alauda spinoletia, Linn. (Ought not this specific name to be restored ?) — Alauda campestris p. spinoletia, Gmel. Lath. — Alauda obscura Gmel. Lath, (young). Alauda petrosa, Montagu, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. (young). — Anihus rupestris, Nilsson, Orn. Suec. — Alouette pipi. (by error) Buff. PI. Enl. 661, f. 2: — Meadow Larlc, var. A. Lath. Syn. — Dusky Lark, Lath. Syn. (young). Anthus montanus, Koch. Bayerische Zool. — The latter nominal species, as Temminck observes, was formed of an adult male, as it appears during the few days of breed- ing, when they have a roseate tint on the neck, breast, upper part of the belly and flanks. 158 BROWN LARK. attached to flat, newly-ploughed fields, commons, and such like situa- tions ; has a feeble note characteristic of its tribe ; runs rapidly along the ground ; and when the flock takes to wing they fly high, and gener- ally to a considerable distance before they alight. Many of them con- tinue in the neighborhood of Philadelphia all winter, if the season be moderate. In the Southern States, particularly in the lower parts of North and South Carolina, I found these Larks in great abundance in the middle of February. Loose flocks of many hundreds were driving about from one corn field to another ; and in the low rice grounds they were in great abundance. On opening numbers of these, they appeared to have been feeding on various small seeds with a large quantity of gravel. On the eighth of April I shot several of these birds in the neighborhood of Lexington, Kentucky. In Pennsylvania they generally disappear, on their way to the north, about the beginning of May, or earlier. At Portland, in the District of Maine, I met with a flock of these birds in October. I do not know that they breed within the United States. Of their song, nest, eggs, &c., we have no account. The Brown Lark is six inches long, and ten inches and a half In extent ; the upper parts brown olive touched with dusky ; greater coverts and next superior row lighter ; bill black, slender.; nostril prominent ; chin and line over the eye pale rufous; breast and belly brownish ochre, the former spotted with black ; tertials black, the secondaries brown, edged with lighter ; tail slightly forked, black ; the two exterior feathers marked largely with white ; legs dark purplish brown ; hind heel long, and nearly straight ; eye dark hazel. Male and female nearly alike. Mr. Pennant says that one of these birds was shot near London. Genus XLIII. SYLVIA. WAKBLER. Species I. S. SIALJS. BLUE-BIRD. [Plate III. Fig. 3.] Le Rouge gorge bleu, Bcpfon, v., 212, PI. Enl. 390. — Blue-Warhhr, Lath, ii., 446. — Catesb. I., 47. — Motacilla sialis, Linn. Si/st. 336. — Baktram, p 291.* The pleasing manners and sociable disposition of this little bird enti- tle him to particular notice. As one of the first messengers of spring, bringing the charming tidings to our very doors, he bears his own recommendation always along with him, and meets with a hearty wel- come from everybody. Though generally accounted a bird of passage, yet so early as the middle of February, if the weather be open, he usually makes his ap- pearance about his old haunts, the barn, orchard and fenceposts. Storms and deep snows sometimes succeeding, he disappears for a time ; but about the middle of March is again seen, accompanied by his mate, visiting the box in the garden, or the hole in the old apple-tree, the cradle of some generations of his ancestors. " When he first begins his amours," says a curious and correct observer, "it is pleasing to behold his courtship, his solicitude to please and to secure the favor of his beloved female. He uses the tenderest expressions, sits close by her, caresses and sings to her his most endearing warblings. When seated together, if he espies an insect delicious to her taste, he takes it up, flies with it to her, spreads his wing over her and puts it in her mouth."f If a rival makes his appearance (for they are ardent in their loves), he quits her in a moment, attacks and pursues the intruder, as he shifts from place to place, in tones that bespeak the jealousy of his affection, conducts him with many reproofs beyond the extremities of his territory, and returns to warble out his transports of triumph beside his beloved mate. The preliminaries being thus settled, and the spot fixed on, they begin to clean out the old nest, and the rubbish of * Motacilla sialis, Linn. Syst. i., p. 187, Ed. 10.— Gmel. Syst. i., p. 989.— Sylvia sialis, Lath. Iiid. Oni. u., 512. — Vieillot, Ois. de V Am. Sept. pi. 101, male; 102, female ; 103, young. — Xo Gorge rouge de la Caroline, Buff. PI. Enl. 396, fig. 1, male; fig. 2, female. f Lettei" from Mr. William Bartram to the author. (159) 160 BLUE-BIRD. the former year, and to prepare for the reception of their future off- spring. Soon after this another sociable little pilgrim {Motaeilla domes- tica, House Wren) also arrives from the south, and finding such a snug berth pre-occupied, shows his spite, by watching a convenient opportu- nity, and in the absence of the owner popping in and pulling out sticks ; but takes special care to make off as fast as possible. The female lays five, and sometimes six, eggs, of a pale blue color ; and raises two, and sometimes three broods in a season ; the male taking the youngest under his particular care while the female is again sitting. Their principal food are insects, particularly large beetles, and others of the coleopterous kinds that lurk among old dead and decaying trees. Spiders are also a favorite repast with them. In fall they occasionally regale themselves on the berries of the sour gum ; and as winter ap- proaches, on those of the red cedar, and on the fruit of a rough hairy vine that runs up and cleaves fast to the trunks of trees. Ripe per- simmons are another of their favorite dishes ; and many other fruits and seeds which I have found in their stomachs at that season, which, being no botanist, I am unableto particularize. They are frequently pestered with a species of tape-worm, some of which I have taken from their intestines of an extraordinary size, and in some cases in great numbers. Most other birds are also plagued with these vermin ; but the Blue-bird seems more subject to them than any I know, except the Woodcock. An account of the difiFerent species of vermin, many of which I doubt not are nondescripts, that infest the plumage and intestines of our birds, would of itself form an interesting publication ; but as this belongs more properly to the entomologist, I shall only, in the course of this work, take notice of some of the most remarkable ; and occa- sionally represent them in the same plate with those birds on which they are usually found. The usual spring and summer song of the Blue-bird is a soft, agree- able and oft-repeated warble, uttered with open quivering wings, and is extremely pleasing. In his motions and general character he has great resemblance to the Robin Red-breast of Britain ; and had he the brown olive of that bird, instead of his own blue, could scarcely be distinguished from him. Like him he is known to almost every child ; and shows as much confidence in man by associating with him in sum- mer, as the other by his familiarity in winter. He is also of a mild^ and peaceful disposition, seldom fighting or quarrelling with other birds. His society is courted by the inhabitants of the country, and few far- mers neglect to provide for him, in some suitable place, a snug little summer house, ready fitted and rent-free. For this he more than sufii- ciently repays them by the cheerfulness of his song, and the multitude of injurious insects which he daily destroys. Towards fall, that is in the month of October, his song changes to a single plaintive note, as BLUE-BIRD. 161 he passes over the yellow, many-colored woods ; and its melancholy air recalls tp our minds the approaching decay of the face of nature. Even after the trees are stripped of their leaves, he still lingers over his native fields, as if loth to leave them. About the middle or end of November few or none of them are seen ; but with every return of mild and open weather we hear his plaintive note amidst the fields, or in the air, seeming to deplore the devastations of winter. Indeed he appeairs scarcely ever totally to forsake us ; but to follow fair weather through all its journeyings till the return of spring. Such are the mild and pleasing manners of the Blue-bird, and so universally is he esteemed, that I have often regretted that no pastoral muse has yet arisen in this western woody world, to do justice to his name, and endear him to us still more by the tenderness of verse, as has been done to his representative in Britain, the Robin Red-breast. A small acknowledgment of this kind I have to ofi"er, which the reader I hope will excuse as a tribute to rural innocence. When winter's cold tempests and snows are no more, Green meadows and brown furrowed fields re-appearing, The fishermen hauling their shad to the shore, And cloud-cleaving geese to the Lakes are a-steering ; When first the lone butterfly flits on the wing ; When red glow the maples, so fresh and so pleasing, then comes the Blue-bird, the heralu of spring ! And hails with his warblings the charms of the season. Then loud piping frogs make the marshes to ring ; Then warm glows the sunshine, and fine is the weather ; The blue woodland flowers just beginning to spring, And, spicewood and sassafras budding together : then to your gardens ye housewives repair I Your walks border up ; sow and plant at your leisure ; The Blue-bird will chant from his box such an air, That all your hard toils will seem truly a pleasure. He flits through the orchard, he visits each tree, The red flowering peach and the apple's sweet "Blossoms ; He snaps up destroyers wherever they be, And seizes the caitiff's that lurk in their bosoms ; He drags the vile grub from the corn he devours ; The worms from their webs where they riot and welter ; His song and his services freely are ours. And all that he asks is, in summer a shelter. The ploughman is pleased when he gleans in his train. Now searching the furrows — now mounting to cheer him ; The gardener delights in his sweet simple strain, And leans on his spade to survey and to hear him ; Vol. II.— 11 162 BLUE-BIRD. The slow lingering schoolboys forget they'll be chid, While gazing intent as he warbles before 'em In mantle of sky-blue, and bosom so red, That each little loiterer seems to adore him. When all the gay scenes of the summer are o'er, And autumn slow enters so silent and sallow, And millions of warblers, that charmed us before. Have fled in the train of the sun-seeking swallow ; The Blue-bird, forsaken, yet true to his home, Still lingers, and looks for a milder to-morrow, Till forced by the horrors of winter to roam, He sings his adieu in a lone note of sorrow. ^ While spring's lovely season, serene, dewy, warm. The green face of earth, and the pure blue of heaven, Or love's native music have influence to charm, Or sympathy's glow to our feelings is given, Still dear to each bosom the Blue-bird shall be f His voice, like the thrillings of hope, is a treasure ; For, through bleakest storms if a calm he but see. He comes to remind us of sunshine and pleasure 1 The Blue-bird, in summer and fall, is fond of frequenting open pasture fields ; and there perching on the stalks of the great mullein, to look out for passing insects. A whok family of them are often seen, thus situated, as if receiving lessons of dexterity from their more expert parents, who can espy a beetle crawling among the grass, at a consider- able distance ; and after feeding on it, instantly resume their former position. But whoever, informed Dr. Latham that " this bird is never seen on trees, though it makes its neat in the holes of them !"* might as well have said, that the Americans are never seen in the streets, though they build their houses by the sides of them. For what is there in the construction of the feet and claws of this bird to prevent it from perching ? Or what sight more common to an inhabitant of this country than the Blue-bird perched on the top of a peach or apple-tree ; or among the branches of those reverend broadarmed chestnut trees, that stand alone in the middle of our fields, bleached by the rains and blasts of ages ? The Blue-bird is six inches and three-quarters in length, the wings remarkably full and broad ; the whole upper parts are of a rich sky blue, with purple reflections ; the bill and legs are black ; inside of the mouth and soles of the feet yellow, resembling the color of a ripe per- simmon ; the shafts of all the wing and tail feathers are black ; throat, neck, breast, and sides partially under the wings, chestnut ; wings dusky black at the tips ; belly and vent white ; sometimes the secondaries are * Synopsis, v. ii., pp. 446-40. BLUE-BIRD. 163 exteriorly light brown, but the bird has in that case not arrived at his full color. The female is easily distinguished by the duller cast of the back, the plumage of which is skirted with light brown, and by the red on the breast being much fainter, and not descending near so low as in the male ; the secondaries are also more dusky. This species is found over the whole United States ; in the Bahama Islands where many of them winter ; as also in Mexico, Brazil, and Guiana. Mr. Edwards mentions that the specimen of this bird which he was favored with, was sent from the Bermudas ; and as these islands abound with the cedar, it is highly probable that many of those birds pass from our continent thence, at the commencement of winter, to enjoy the mildness of that climate as well as their favorite food. As the Blue-bird is so regularly seen in winter, after the continuance of a few days of mild and open weather, it has given rise to various conjectures as to the place of his retreat. Some supposing it to be in close sheltered thickets, lying to the sun ; others the neighborhood of the sea, where the air is supposed to be more temperate, and where the matters thrown up by the waves furnish him with a constant and plenti- ful supply of food. Others trace him to the dark recesses of hollow trees, and subterraneous caverns, where they suppose he dozes away the winter, making, -like Robinson Crusoe, occasional reconnoitering excur- sions from his castle, whenever the weather happens to be favorable. But amidst the snows and severities of winter I have sought for him in vain in the most favorable sheltered situations of the Middle States ; and not only in the neighborhood of the sea, but on both sides of the mountains.* I have never, indeed, explored the depths of caverns in search of him, because I would as soon expect to meet with tulips and butterflies there, as Blue-birds, but among hundreds of woodmen, who have cut down trees of all sorts, and at all seasons, I have never heard one instance of these birds being found so immured in winter ; while in the whole of the Middle and Eastern States, the same general observa- tion seems to prevail that the Blue-bird always makes his appearance in winter after a few days of mild and open weather. On the other hand, I have myself found them numerous in the woods of North and South Carolina, in the depth of winter, and I have also been assured by different gentlemen of respectability, who have resided in the islands of Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas and Bermudas, that this very bird is common there in winter. We 'also find, from the works of Hernandes Piso and others, that it is well known in Mexico, Guiana and Brazil ; and if so, the place of its winter retreat is easily ascertained, without * I speak of the species here generally. Solitary individuals are found, particu- larly among our cedar trees, sometimes in the very depth of winter. 164 BLUE-BIRD. having recourse to all the trumpery of holes and caverns, torpidity, hybernation, and such ridiculous improbabilities. Nothing is more common in Pennsylvania than to see large flocks of these birds in spring and fall, passing, at considerable heights in the air ; from the south in the former, and from the north in the latter season. I have seen, in the month of October, about an hour after sun-rise, ten or fifteen of them descend from a great height and settle on the top of a tall detached tree, appearing, from their silence and sedateness, to be strangers, and fatigued. After a pause of a fevf minutes they began to dress and arrange their plumage, and continued so employed for ten or fifteen minutes more ; then, on a few warning notes being given, perhaps by the leader of the party, the whole remounted to a vast height, steer- ing in a direct line for the south-west. In passing along the chain of the Bahamas towards the West Indies, no great difficulty can occur from the frequency of these islands ; nor even to the Bermudas, which are said to be 600 miles from the nearest part of the continent. This may seem an extraordinary flight for so small a bird ; but it is nevertheless a fact that it is performed. If we suppose the Blue-bird in this case to fly only at the rate of a mile per minute, which is less than I have actually ascertained him to do over land, ten or eleven hours would be sufficient to accomplish the journey ; besides the chances he would have of resting places by the way, from the number of vessels that generally navigate those seas. In like manner two days at most, allowing for numerous stages for rest, would conduct him from the remotest regions of Mexico to any part of the Atlantic States. When the natural history of that part of the continent and its adjacent isles, are better known, and the periods at which its birds of passage arrive and depart, are truly ascertained, I have no doubt but these suppositions will be fully corroborated. Species II. SYLVIA CALENDULA. RUBY-CROWNED WREN. [Plate V. Fig. 3.] Le Roitelet Rubis, Buff, v., 373. — Edw. 254. — Lath. Syn. ii., 511. — Arct. Zool. 320. — Regulus cnstatus alter vertice rubini coloris, Bartram, p. 292.* This little bird visits us early in the spring from the south, and is generally first found among the maple blossoms, about the beginning of April. These failing, it has recourse to those of the peach, apple and other fruit trees, partly for the tops of the sweet and slender stamina of the flowers, and partly for the winged insects that hover among them. In the middle of summer I have rarely met with these birds in Penn- sylvania ; and as they penetrate as far north as the country round Hud- son's Bay, and also breed there, it accounts for their late arrival here in fstll. They then associate with the difierent species of Titmouse, and the Golden-crested Wren ; and are particularly numerous in the month of October and beginning of November in orchards, among the decay- ing leaves of the apple trees, that at that season are infested with great numbers of small, black, winged insects, among which they make groat havoc. I have often regretted the painful necessity -one is under of taking away the lives of such inoffensive useful little creatures, merely to obtain a more perfect knowledge of the species ; for they appear so busy, so active and unsuspecting, as to continue searching about the same twig, even after their companions have been shot down beside them. They are more i emarkably so in autumn ; which may be owing to the great number of young and inexperienced birds which are then among them ; and frequently at this season I have stood under the tree, mo- tionless, to observe them, while they gleaned among the low branches, sometimes within a foot or two of my head. They are extremely adroit in catching their prey ; have only at times a feeble chirp ; visit the tops of the tallest trees a^ well as the lowest bushes ; and continue generally for a considerable time among the branches of the same tree, darting about from place to place ; appearing, when on the top of a high maple, no bigger than humble-bees. * The following synonymes may be added : — Motacilla calendula, Linn, i., p. 337. — Gmel. Syst. J., p. 994. — Sylvia calendula, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 549; — Regulus rubineus, Vibillot, Ois. de I'Am. Sept. pi. 104, male ; 105, young, given as female. (165) 166 RUBY-CROWNED WREN. The Ruby-crowned Wren is four inches long, and six in extent ; the upper parts of the head, neck and back are of a fine greenish olive, with a considerable tinge of yellow ; wings and tail dusky purplish brown, exteriorly edged with yellow olive ; secondaries and first row of wing- coverts edged and tipped with white with a spot of deep purplish brown across the secondaries, just below their coverts ; the hind head is orna- mented with an oblong lateral spot of vermilion, usually almost hid by the other plumage ; round the eye a ring of yellowish white ; whole under parts of the same tint ; legs dark brown ; feet and claws yellow ; bill slender, straight, not notched, furnished with a few black hairs at the base ; inside of the mouth orange. The female differs very little in its plumage from the male, the colors being less lively, and the bird some- what less. Notwithstanding my utmost endeavors, I have never been able to discover their nest ; though, from the circumstance of having found them sometimes here in summer, I am persuaded that- they occa- sionally breed in Pennsylvania ; but I know several birds, no larger than this, that usually build on the extremities of the tallest trees in the woods ; which I have discovered from their beginning before the leaves are out ; many others, no doubt, choose similar situations ; and should they delay building until the woods are thickened with leaves, it is no easy matter to discover them. In Fall they are so extremely fat as almost to dissolve between the fingers as you open them ; owing to the great abundance of their favorite insects at that time. Species III. SYLVIA MARILANDICA. MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. [Plate VI. Fig 1, Male.]' Turdus Trichas, Linn. Syst. i., 293. — Edw. 237. — Yellow-breasted Warbler, Arct. Zool. II., No. 283. Id. 284. — Le Figuier avx joues noires, Buff, v., 292. — La Fauvette d, poiirine jaune de la Louisiane,- Buff, v., 162. PI. Enl. 709, fig. 2. — Lath. Syn. it., 433, 32. This is one of the humble inhabitants of briars, brambles, alder bushes, and such shrubbery as grows most luxuriantly in low watery situ- ations, and might with propriety be denominated Humility, its business or ambition seldom leading it higher than the tops of the underwood. Insects and their larvae are its usual food. It dives into the deepest of the thicket, rambles among the roots, searches round the stems, exa- mines both sides of the leaf, raising itself on its legs so as to peep into every crevice ; amusing itself at times with a very simple, and not dis- agreeable, song or twitter, whitititee, whitititee, whitititee ; pausing for half a minute or so, and then repeating its notes as before. It inhabits the whole United States from Maine to Florida, and also Louisiana ; and is particularly numerous in the low swampy thickets of Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is by no means shy ; but seems deliberate and unsuspicious, as if the places it frequented, or its own diminutiveness, were its sufficient security. It often visits the fields of growing rye, wheat, barley, &c., and no doubt performs the part of a friend to the farmer, in ridding the stalks of vermin, that might other- wise lay waste his fields. It seldom approaches the farmhouse, or city ; but lives in obscurity and peace amidst its favorite thickets. It arrives in Pennsylvania about the middle, or last week, of April, and begins to build its nest about the middle of May : this is fixed on the ground, among the dried leaves, in the very depth of a thicket of briars, some- times arched over, and a small hole left for entrance ; the materials are dry leaves and fine grass, lined with coarse hair ; the eggs are five, white, or semi-transparent, marked with specks of reddish brown. The young leave the nest about the twenty-second of June ; and a second brood is often raised in the same season. Early in September they leave us, returning to the south. This pretty little species is four inches and three quarters long, and six inches and a quarter in extent ; back, wings and tail, green olive, (167) 168 MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. ■which also covers the upper part of the neck, but approaches to cinere- ous on the crown ; the eyes are inserted in a band of black, which passes from the front, on both sides, reaching half way down the neck ; this is bounded above by another band of white deepening into light blue ; throat, breast, and vent brilliant yellow ; belly a fainter tinge of the same color ; inside coverts of the wings also yellow ; tips and inner vanes of the wings dusky brown ; tail cuneiform, dusky, edged with olive-green ; bill black, straight, slender, of the true Motacilla form ; though the bird itself was considered as a species of Thrush by Lin- naeus, but very properly removed to the genus Motacilla by Gmelin ; legs flesh colored ; iris of the eye dark hazel. The female wants the black band through the eye, has the bill brown, and the throat of a much paler yellow. This last, I have good reason to suspect, has been described by Europeans as a separate species ; and that from Louisiana, referred to in the synonymes, appears evidently the same as the former, the chief difi"erence, according to Buffon, being in its wedged tail, which is likewise the true form of our own species ; so that this error cor- rected will abridge the European nomenclature of two species. Many Qjore examples of this kind will occur in the course of our descriptions. SYLVIA MARILANDICA. MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. [Plate XVIII. Fig. 4, Female.] The male of this species having been represented in Plate VL, fig. 1, accompanied by a particular detail of its manners, I have little farther to add here relative to this bird. I found several of them round Wil- mington, North Carolina, in the month of January, along the margin of the river, and by the Cypress swamp, on the opposite side. The individual, from which the figure in the plate was taken, was the actual nurse of the young Cowpen Bunting, which it is represented in the act of feeding. It is five inches long, and seven in extent ; the whole upper parts green olive, something brownish on the neck, tips of the wings and head ; the lower parts yellow, brightest on the throat and vent ; legs flesh colored. The chief difi"erence between this and the male in the markings of their plumage, is, that the female is destitute of the black bar through the eyes, and the bordering one of pale bluish white. Species IV. SYLVIA REGULUS. GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. [Plate VIII. Pig. 2.] Motacilla regulus, Linn. Si/st. i., 338, 48. — Lath. Syn. ly., 508, 145, — Edw. 254. This diminutive species is a frequent associate of the one last described, and seems to be almost a citizen of the world at large, hav- ing been found not only in North and South America, the West Indies and Europe, but even in Africa and India. The specimen from Europe, in Mr. Peale's collection, appears to be nothing specifically difierent from the American ; and the very accurate description given of this bird by the Count de Buffon, agrees in every respect with ours. Here, as in Europe, it is a bird of passage, making its first appearance in Pennsylvania early in April, among the blossoms of the maple, often accompanied by the Ruby-crowned Wren, which, except in the mark- ings of the head, it very much resembles. It is very frequent among evergreens, such as the pine, spruce, cedar, juniper, &c., and in the fall is generally found in company with thfe two species of Titmouse, Brown Creeper, and small Spotted Woodpecker. It is an active, unsuspicious, and diligent little creature, climbing and hanging, occasionally, among the branches, and sometimes even on the body of the tree, in search of the larvae of insects, attached to the leaves and stems, and various kinds of small flies, which it frequently seizes on wing. As it retires still farther north to breed, it is seldom seen in Pennsylvania from May to October ; but is then numerous in orchards, feeding among the leaves of the apple trees, which* at that season, are infested with vast numbers of small black winged insects. Its chirp is feeble, not much louder than that of a mouse ; though where it breeds the male is said to have a variety of sprightly notes. It builds its nest frequently on the branches of an evergreen, covers it entirely round, leaving a small hole on one side for entrance, forming it outwardly of moss and lichens, and lining it warmly with down. The female lays six or eight eggs, pure white, with a few minute specks of dull red. Dr. Latham, on whose authority this is given, observes, " It seems to frequent the oak trees in preference to all others. I have more than once seen a brood of these in a large oak in the middle of a lawn, the whole little family of which, as soon as able, were in perpetual motion, and gave great pleasure to many who viewed them. The nest of one of these has also been made in a garden (169)- 170 GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. on a fir tree ; it was composed of moss, the opening on one side, in shape roundish ; it was lined with a downy substance, fixed with small fila- ments. It is said to sing very melodiously, very like the Common Wren, but weaker."* In Pennsylvania they continue with us from October to December, and sometimes to January. , The Golden-crested Wren is four inches long, and six inches and a half in extent ; back a fine yellow olive ; hind head and sides of the neck inclining to ash ; a line of white passes round the frontlet, extending over and beyond the eye on each side ; above this another line or strip of deep black passes in the same manner, extending farther behind ; between these two strips of black lies a bed of glossy golden yellow, which being parted a little, exposes another of a bright flame color, extending over the whole upper part of the head ; when the little war- bler flits among the branches in pursuit of insects, he opens and shuts this golden ornament with great adroitness, which produces a striking and elegant efiect ; lores marked with circular points of black ; below the eye is a rounding spot of dull white ; from the upper mandible to the bottom of the ear feathers runs a line of black, accompanied by another of white from the lower mandible ; breast light cream color ; sides under the wings and vent the same ; wings dusky, edged exteriorly with yellow olive ; greater wing coverts tipped with white, immediately below which a spot of black extends over several of the secondaries ; tail pretty long, forked, dusky, exterior vanes broadly edged with yellow olive ; legs brown, feet and claws yellow ; bill black, slender, straight, evidently of the Muscicapa form, the upper mandible being notched at the point, and furnished at the base with bristles, that reach half way to its point ; but what seems singular and peculiar to this little bird, the nostril on each side is covered by a single feather, that much re- sembles the antennae of some butterflies, and is ■ half the length of the bill. Bufibn has taken notice of the same in the European. Inside of the mouth a reddish orange ; claws extremely sharp, the hind one the longest. In the female the tints and markings are nearly the same, only the crown or crest is pale yellow. These birds are numerous in Pennsylvania in the month of October, frequenting bushes that over- hang streams of water, alders, briars, and particularly apple trees, where they are eminently useful in destroying great numbers of insects, and are at that season extremely fat. * Synopsis ii., 509. Species V. SYLVIA DOME STIC A* HOUSE WREN. [Plate VIII. Fig. 3.] Motacilla domestica [Regulus rufus), Bartram, 291. This well known and familiar, bird arrives in Pennsylvania about the middle of April ; and about the eighth or tenth of May, begins to build its nest, sometimes in the wooden cornice under the eaves, or in a hollow cherry tree ; but most commonly in small boxes, fixed on the top of a pole, in or near the garden, to which he is extremely partial, for the great number of caterpillars and other larvae with which it con- stantly supplies him. If all these conveniences are wanting, he will even put up with an old hat, nailed on the weather boards, with a small hole for entrance ; and if even this be denied him, he will find some hole, corner or crevice about the house, barn or stable, rather than abandon the dwellings of man. In the month of June, a mower hung up his coat, under a shed, near a barn ; two or three days elapsed be- fore he had occasion to put it on again ; thrusting his arm up tbp f^leeve he found it completely filled^with some rubbish, as he expressed it, and, on extracting the whole mass, found it to be the nest of a Wren com- pletely finished, and lined with a large quantity of feathers. In his retreat he was followed by the little forlorn proprietors, who scolded him with great vehemence for thus ruining the whole economy of their household affairs. The twigs with which the outward parts of the nest are constructed are short and crooked that they may the better hook in with one another, and the hole or entrance is so much shut up to prevent the intrusion of snakes or cats, that it appears almost impossible the body of the bird could be admitted ; within this is a layer of fine dried stalks of grass, and lastly feathers. The eggs are six or seven, and sometimes nine, of a red purplish flesh color, innumerable fine grains of that tint being thickly sprinkled over the whole egg. They generally raise two broods in a season ; the first about the beginning of June, the second in July. This little bird has a strong antipathy to cats ; for having frequent occasion to glean among the currant bushes, and other shrubbery in the * Troglodytes cedon, Vieill. Ois. de VAm. Sept. pi. 107. (171) 172 HOUSE WREN. garden, those liirking enemies of the feathered race often prove fatal to him. A box fitted up in the window of the room where I slept, was taken possession of by a pair of Wrens. Already the nest was built, and two eggs laid, when one day the window being open, as well as the room door, the female Wren venturing too far into the room to recon- noitre, was sprung upon by grimalkin, who had planted herself there for the purpose ; and before relief could be given was destroyed. Curious to see how the survivor would demean himself, I watched him carefully for several days. At first he sung with great vivacity for an hour or so, but becoming uneasy, went off for half an hour ; on his return he chanted again as before, went to the top of the house, stable, and weep- ing willow, that she might hear him ; but seeing no appearance of her, he returned once more, visited the nest, ventured cautiously into the window, gazed about with suspicious looks, his voice sinking to a low melancholy note as he stretched his little neck about in every direction. Returning to the box he seemed for some minutes at a loss what to do, and soon after went off, as I thought, altogether, for I saw him no more that day. Towards the afternoon of the second day, he again made his appearance, accompanied with a new female, who seemed exceedingly timorous and shy ; and who after great hesitation entered the box ; at this moment the little widower, or bridegroom, seemed as if he would warile out his very life with ecstasy of joy. After remaining about half a minute in, they both flew off, but returned in a few minutes, and instantly began to carry out the eggs, feathers, and some of the sticks, supplying the place of the two latter with materials of the same sort ; and ultimately succeeded in raising a brood of seven young, all of which escaped in safety. The immense number of insects which this sociable little bird removes from the garden and fruit trees, ought to endear him to every cultivator, even if he had nothing else to recommend him ; but his notes, loud, sprightly, tremulous, and repeated every few seconds with great anima- tion, are extremely agreeable. In the heat of summer, families in the country often dine under the piazza, adjoining green canopies of man- tling grape vines, gourds, &c., while overhead the trilling vivacity of the Wren, mingled with the warbling mimicry of the Mocking-bird, and the distant softened sounds of numerous other songsters that we shall here- after introduce to the reader's acquaintance, form a soul-soothing and almost heavenly music, breathing peace, innocence and rural repose. The European, who judges of the song of this species by that of his own Wren {M. troglodytes), will do injustice tothe former, as in strength of tone, and execution, it is far superior, as well as the bird is in size, figure and elegance of markings, to the European one. Its manners are also different ; its sociability greater. It is no underground inhabit- ant ; its nest is differently constructed, the number of its eggs fewer ; HOUSE WREN. 173 it is also migratory ; and has the tail and bill much longer. Its food is insects and caterpillars, and -while supplying the wants of its young, it destroys, on a moderate calculation, many hundreds a day, and greatly circumscribes tbe ravages of these vermin. It is a bold and in- solent bird against those of the Titmouse or Woodpecker kind that ven- ture to build within its jurisdiction ; attacking them without hesitation, though twice its size, and generally forcing them to decamp. I have known him drive a pair of swallows from their newly formed nest, and take immediate possession of the premises, in which his female also laid her eggs and reared her young. Even the Blue-bird, who claims an equal, and sort of hereditary right to the box in the garden, when at- tacked by this little impertinent, soon relinquishes the contest, the mild placidness of his disposition not being a match for the fiery impetuosity of his little antagonist. With those of his own species, who settle and build near him, he has frequent squabbles ; and when their respective females are sitting, each strains his whole powers of song to excel the other. When the young are hatched, the hurry and press of business leave no time for disputing, so true it is that idleness is the mother of mischief. These birds are not confined to the country ; they are to be heard on the tops of the houses in the most central part of our cities, singing with great energy. Scarce a house or cottage in the country is without at least a pair of them, and sometimes two ; but unless where there is a large garden, orchard, and numerous outhouses, it is not often the case that more than one pair reside near the same spot, owing to their party disputes and jealousies. It has been said by a friend to this little bird, that "the esculent Vegetables of a whole garden may, perhaps, be preserved from the depredations of different species of insects, by ten or fifteen pair of these small birds,"* and probably they might, were the combination practicable ; but such a congregation of Wrens, about one garden, is a phenomenon not to be expected but from a total change in the very nature and disposition of the species. Having seen no accurate description of this bird in any European publication, I have confined my references to Mr. Bartram and Mr. Peale ; but though Europeans are not ignorant of the existence of this bird, they have considered it, as usual, merely as a slight variation from the original stock (M. troglodytes), their own Wren ; in which they are, as usual, mistaken ; the length and bent form of the bill, its notes, migratory habits, long tail, and red eggs, are sufficient specific dif- ferences. The House Wren inhabits the whole of the United States, in all of which it is migratory. It leaves Pennsylvania in September ; I have sometimes, though rarely, seen it in the beginning of October. It is * Barton's Fragments, Part i., p. 22. 174 WINTER WREN. four inches and a half long, and five and three-quarters in extent ; the whole upper parts of a deep brown, transversely crossed with black, ex- cept the head and neck, which is plain ; throat, breast and cheeks light clay-color ; belly and vent mottled with blacky brown and white ; tail long, cuneiform, crossed with black ; legs and feet light clay-colored ; bill black, long, slightly curved, sharp pointed, and resembling that of the genus Certhia considerably ; the whole plumage below the surface is bluish ash ; that on the rump having large round spots of white, not perceivable unless separated with the hand. The female difi'ers very little in plumage from the male. Species VI. SYLVIA TBOOLODYTESf* WINTER WREN. [Plate VIII. Fig. 6.] Motacilla troglodytes ? Linn. This little stranger visits us from the north in the month of October, sometimes remaining with us all the winter, and is always observed early in spring on his route back to his breeding place. In size, color, song and manners he approaches nearer to the European Wren {M. tro- glodytei) than any other species we have. During his residence here, he frequents the projecting banks of creeks, old roots, decayed logs, small bushes and rushes near watery places ; he even approaches the farm-house, rambles about the wood-pile, creeping among the interstices like a mouse. With tail erect, which is his constant habit, mounted on some projecting point or pinnacle, he sings with great animation. Even in the yards, gardens and outhouses of the city, he appears familiar, and quite at home. In short, he possesses almost all the habits of the European species. He is, however, migratory, which may be owing to the superior coldness of our continent. Never having met with the nest and eggs, I am unable to say how nearly they approximate to those of the former. I can find no precise description of this bird, as an American species, . in any European publication. Even some of our own naturalists seem to have confounded it with another very dififerent bird, the Marsh * Wilson appears to be correct in considering this species the same as the European. The following synonymes may he given : Motacilla troglodytes, Linn. Sjjst. Ed. 10, I., 188.— Gmel. Syst. i., 993. — Sylvia troglodytes, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 547.— ie Roitelel, Buff. PI. Enl. 651, fig. 2. WINTER WREN. 175 Wren* which arrives in Pennsylvania from the south in May, builds a globular or pitcher-shaped nest, which it suspends among the rushes and bushes by the river side, lays five or six eggs of a dark fawn color, and departs again in September. But the colors and markings of that bird are very unlike those of the Winter Wren, and its song altogether different. The circumstance of the one arriving from the north as the other returns to the south, and vice versa, with some general resemblance between the two, may have occasioned this mistake. They, however, not only breed in different regions, but belong to different genera, the Marsh Wren being decisively a species of Oerthia, and the Winter Wren a true Motacilla. Indeed we have no less than five species of these birds in Pennsylvania, that by a superficial observer would be taken for one and the same ; but between each of which, nature has drawn strong, discriminating and indelible lines of separation.^ These will be pointed out in their proper places. If this bird, as some suppose, retires only to the upper regions of the country, and mountainous forests, to breed, as is the case with some others, it will account for his early and frequent residence along the Atlantic coast during the severest winters ; though I rather suspect that he proceeds considerably to the northward ; as the Snow-bird {F. Mud- sonid),' which arrives about the same time with the Winter Wren, does not even breed at Hudson's Bay ; but passes that settlement in June, on his way to the northward ; how much farther is unknown. The length of the Winter Wren is three inches and a half, breadth five inches ; the upper parts are of a general dark brown, crossed with transverse touches of black, except the upper parts of the head and neck, which are'plain; the black spots on the back terminate in minute points of dull white ; the first row of wing coverts is also marked with specks of white at the extremities of the black, and tipped minutely with black ; the next row is tipped with points of white ; the primaries are crossed with alternate rows of black and cream color ; inner vanes of all the quills dusky, except the three secondaries next the body ) tips of the wings dusky ; throat, line over the eye, sides of the neck, ear- feathers and breast, dirty white, with minute transverse touches of a drab or clay color ; sides under the wings speckled with dark brown, black, and dirty white ; belly and vent thickly mottled with sooty black, deep brown, and pure white, in transverse touches ; tail very short, con- sisting of twelve feathers, the exterior one, on each side, a quarter of an inch shorter, the rest lengthening gradually to the middle ones ; legs and feet a light clay color, and pretty stout ; but straight, slender, half. an inch long, not notched at the point, of a dark brown or black above, * See Professor Barton's observatioits on this subject, under the article Motacilla troglodytes? "Fragments," &c., p. 18, lb. p. 12. 176 YELLOW-THROAT WARBLER. and whitish below ; nostril oblong ; eye light hazel. The female wants the points of white on the wing coverts. The food of this bird is derived from that great magazine of so many of the feathered race, inseots and their larvae, particularly such as inhabit watery places, roots of bushes, and. piles of old timber. It were much to be wished that the summer residence, nest and eggs, of this bird were precisely ascertained, which would enable us to deter- mine whether it be, what I strongly suspect it is, the same species as the common domestic Wren of Britain. Species II. SYLVIA FLAVICOLLIS. YELLOW-THROAT WARBLER. [Plate XII. Tig. 6.] Yellow-throat Warbler, Arct. Zool. p. 400, No. 286.— Catesb. i., 62.— Lath, ii., 44L — LaMesange grised gorge jaune, Buff, v., 454. — La gorge Jaune de St. Domingue, PI. Enl. 68&, &g. 1.* The habits of this beautiful species, like those of the preceding, are not consistent with the shape and constructioa of its bill ; the former would rank it with the Titmouse, or with the Creepers, the latter is decisively that of the Warbler. The first opportunity I had of examin- ing a living specimen of this bird was in the southern parts of Georgia, in the month of February. Its notes which were pretty loud and spir- ited, very much resembled those of the Indigo-bird. It continued a considerable time on the same pine tree, creeping around the branches and among the twigs, in the manner of the Titmouse, uttering its song every three or four minutes. On flying to another tree it frequently alighted on the body, and ran nimbly up or down, spirally and perpen- dicularly, in search of insects. I had afterwards many opportunities of seeing others of the same species, and found them all to correspond in these particulars. This was about the 24th of February, and the first of their appearance there that spring, for they leave the United States about three months during winter, and consequently go to no great distance. I had been previously informed that they also pass the summer in Virginia and in the southern parts of Maryland ; but they very rarely proceed as far north as Pennsylvania. This species is five inches and a half in length, and eight and a half * Motacilla pensilis, Gmel. i., p. 960. — Motacilla JlavicolUs, Gmel. St/st. i.. 959. — Sylvia pensilis, Lath. Ind. Orn. n., p. 520. — Vieill, Ois. de V Am. Sept. pi. 72. BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. 177 broad ; the whole back, bind head and rump is a fine light slate color ; the tail is somewhat forked, black, and edged with light slate ; the wings are also black, the three shortest secondaries broadly edged with light blue; all the wing quills are slightly edged with the same; the first row of wing coverts are tipped and edged with white, the second wholly white, or nearly so ; the frontlet, ear feathers, lores, and above the tem- ple, are black ; the line between the eye and nostril, whole throat and middle of the breast brilliant golden yellow; the lower eyelid, line over the eye, and spot behind the ear feathers, as well as the whole lower parts, are pure white ; the yellow on the throat is bordered with touches of black, which also extend along the sides under the wings ; the bill is black, and faithfully represented in the figure ; the legs and feet yellowish brown ; the claws extremely fine pointed ; the tongue rather cartilaginous, and lacerated at the end. The female has the wings of a dingy brown, and the whole colors, particularly the yel- low on the throat, much duller ; the young birds of the first season are without the yellow. Species VIII. SYLVIA CA8TANEA. BAY-BREASTED WARBLEE. [Plate XIV. Fig. 4.] Parus peregrinus, the Utile Chocolate-breasted Titmouse, Bartram, p. 292. This very rare species passes through Pennsylvania about the begin- ning of May, and soon disappears. It has many of the habits of the Titmouse, and all their activity ; hanging among the extremity of the twigs, and darting about from place to place, with restless diligence, in search of various kinds of the larvae of insects. It is never seen here in summer, and very rarely on its return, owing, no doubt, to the greater abundance of foliage at that time, and to the silence and real scarcity of the species. Of its nest and eggs we are altogether uninformed. The length of this bird is five inches, breadth eleven ; throat, breast, and sides under the wings, pale chestnut or bay ; forehead, cheeks, line over, and strip through the eye, black ; crown deep chestnut ; lower parts dull yellowish white ; hind head and back streaked with black on a grayish bufi' ground ; wings brownish black, crossed with two bars of white ; tail forked, brownish black, edged with ash, the three exterior feathers marked with a spot of white on their inner edges ; behind the eye is a broad oblong spot of yellowish white. The female has much less of Vol. II.— 12 178 CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. the bay color on the breast; the black on the forehead is also less and of a brownish tint. The legs and feet, in both, are dark ash, the claws extremely sharp for climbing and hanging ; the bill is black ; irides hazel. The ornithologists of Europe take no notice of this species, and have probably never met with it. Indeed it is so seldom seen in this part of Pennsylvania that few even of our own writers have mentioned it. I lately received a very neat drawing of this bird, done by a young lady in Middleton, Connecticut, where it seems also to be a rare species. Species IX. SYLVIA PENNSYLVANICA. CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. [Plate XIV. Fig. S.] Linn. Syst. 333. — Red-throated Flycatcher, Edw 301. — Bloody-side Warbler, TuR- TON, Syst. I., p. 596. — La figuier d, poitrine rouge, Burr, v., 308. — Briss. App. 105.— Lath, ii., ^W.—Arct. Zool. p. 405, No. 298.* Of this bird I can give but little account. It is one of those tran- sient visitors that pass through Pennsylvania in April and May, on their way farther north to breed. During its stay here, which seldom exceeds a week or ten days, it appears actively engaged among the opening buds and young leaves, in search of insects ; has no song but a feeble chirp or twitter ; and is not numerous. As it leaves us early in May, it probably breeds in Canada, or perhaps some parts of New Eng- land ; though I have no certain knowledge of the fact. In a whole day's excursion it is rare to meet with more than one or two of these birds ; though a thousand individuals of some species may be seen in the same time. Perhaps they may be more numerous on some other part of the continent. The length of this species is five inches, the extent seven and three quarters. The front, line over the eye, and ear feathers are pure white, upper part of the head brilliant yellow ; the lores, and space immedi- ately below, are marked with a triangular patch of black ; the back and hind head is streaked with gray, dusky, black and dull yellow ; wings * Additional synonymea: — Motacilla icterocephala, Linn. Syst. i., p. 325. — Gmbl. Syst. J., p. 9B0.— Sylvia icterocephala, Lath. Ind. Orn. n., p. 538.— Vieil. Ois. de I'Am. Sept. Tpl. 90. — Sylvia Pennsylvanica, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 971. — Lath. Ind. Orn. II., p. 540. — Ficedula Canadensis icterocephalas, Briss. hi., p. 517, 64, t. 27, f. 2. — Id. 8vo., I., p. 451. — Ficedula Pennsylvanica icterocephalas, Briss. App. p. 105. — Id. 8vo., I., p. 458, 78. MOURNING WARBLER. 179 black, primaries edged with pale blue, the first and second row of coverts broadly tipped with pale yellow, secondaries broadly edged with the same ; tail black, handsomely forked, exteriorly edged with ash, the inner webs of the three exterior feathers with each a spot of white ; from the extremity of the black at the lower mandible, on each side, a streak of deep reddish chestnut descends along the sides of the neck, and under the wings to the root of the tail ; the rest of the lower parts are pure white ; legs and feet ash ; bill black ; irides hazel. The female has the hind head much lighter, and the chestnut on the sides is con- siderably narrower and not of so deep a tint. Turton and some other writers have bestowed on this little bird the singular epithet of hloody-sided, for which I was at a loss, to know the reason, the color of that part being a plain chestnut ; till on examining Mr. Edwards's colored figure of this bird in the public library of this city, I found its side tinged with a brilliant blood color. Hence, I sup- pose, originated the name. Species X. SYLVIA PHILADELPHIA. MOURNING WARBLER. [Plate XIV. Fig. 6.] I HAVE now the honor of introducing to the notice of naturalists and others, a very modest and neat little species, which has hitherto eluded their research. I must also add, with regret, that it is the only one of its kind I have yet met with. The bird from which the figure in the plate was taken was shot in the early part of June, on the border of a marsh, within a few miles of Philadelphia. It was flitting from one low bush to another, very busy in search of insects ; and had a sprightly and pleasant warbling song, the novelty of which first attracted my attention. I have traversed the same and many such places, every spring and summer since, in expectation of again meeting with some individual of the species, but without success. I- have, however, the satisfaction to say, that the drawing was done with the greatest atten- tion to peculiarity of form, markings and tint of plumage; and the figure on the plate is a good resemblance of the original. I have yet hopes of meeting, in some of my excursions, with the female ; and should I be so fortunate, shall represent her in some future volume of the present work, with such further remarks on their manners, &c., as I may then be enabled to make. There are two species mentioned by Turton to which the present has 180 BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER. some resemblance, viz., Motacilla mitrata, or Mitred Warbler, and M. cucullata, or Hooded Warbler, both birds of the United States, or more properly a single bird ; for they are the same species twice described, namely, the Hooded Warbler. The difference, however, between that and the present is so striking, as to determine this at once to be a very distinct species. The singular appearance of the head, neck and breast, suggested the name. The Mourning Warbler is five inches long, and seven in extent ; the whole back, wings and tail, are of a deep greenish olive, the tips of the wings and the centre of the tail feathers excepted, which are brownish ; the whole head is of a dull slate color ; the breast is ornamented with a singular crescent of alternate transverse lines of pure glossy white, and very deep black ; all the rest of the lower parts are of a hrilliant yellow ; the tail is rounded at the end ; legs and feet a pale flesh color ; bill deep brownish black above, lighter below ; eye hazel. Species XI. SYLVIA SOLITARIA. BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER. [Plate XV. Fig. 4.] Parus aureus alls cceruUis, Bartram, p. 292. — Edw. pi. 277, upper figure, — Pine Warbler, Arct. Zool. p. 412, No. 318. This bird has been mistaken for the Pine Creeper of Catesby. It is a very different species. It comes to us early in May from the south ; haunts thickets and shrubberies, searching the branches for insects ; is fond of visiting gardens, orchards and willow trees ; of gleaning among blossoms, and currant bushes ; and is frequently found in very seques- tered woods, where it generally builds its nest. This is fixed in a thick bunch or tussock of long grass, sometimes sheltered by a briar bush. It is built in the form of an inverted cone, or funnel, the bottom thickly bedded with dry beech' leaves, the sides formed of the dry bark of strong weeds, lined within with fine dry grass. These materials are not placed in the usual manner circularly, but shelving downwards on all sides from the top ; the mouth being wide, the bottom very narrow, filled with leaves, and the eggs or young occupying the middle. The female lays five eggs, pure white, with a few very faint dots of reddish near the great end ; the young appear the first week in June. I am not certain whether they raise a second brood in the same season. I have met with several of these nests, always in a retired though open part of the woods, and very similar to each other. BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER. 181 The first specimen of this bird taken notice of by European writers was transmitted, with many others, by Mr. William Bartram to Mr. Edwards, by whom it was drawn and etched in the 277th plate of his Ornithology, In his remarks on this bird he seems at a loss to determine whether it is not the Pine Creeper of Catesby ;* a difficulty occasioned by the very imperfect coloring and figure of Catesby's bird. The Pine Creeper, however, is a much larger bird, is of a dark yellow olive above, and orange yellow below ; has all the habits of a Creeper, alighting on the trunks of the pine trees, running nimbly round them, and, according to Mr. Abbot, builds a pensile nest, I observed thousands of them in the pine woods of Carolina and Georgia, where they are resident, but have never met with them in any part of Pennsylvania. This species is five inches and a half long, and seven and a half broad; hind head and whole back a rich green olive; crown and front orange yellow ; whole lower parts yellow, except the vent feathers, which are white ; bill black above, lighter below : lores black ; the form of the bill approximates a little to that of the Finch ; wings and tail deep brown, broadly edged with pale slate, which makes them appear wholly of that tint, except at the tips ; first and second row of coverts tipped with white, slightly stained with yellaw ; the three exte-rior tail feathers have their inner vanes nearly all white ; legs pale bluish ; feet dirty yellow ; the two middle tail feathers are pale slate. The female difiers very little in color from the male. This species very much resembles the Prothonotary Warbler of Pennant and Bufibn ; the only difi"erence I can perceive on comparing specimens of each, is that the yellow of the Prothonotary is more of. an orange tint, and the bird somewhat larger. * Catesby, Car. vol. i., pi. 61. Species XII. SYLVIA CHRTSOPTERA. GOLDEN-WINGED WAKBLEK [Hate XV. Kg. 8.] Edw.'299. — Lefiguier aux ailes dories. Burr, v., 311. — Lath, ii., 492. — Arct. Zool. 403, No. 295. lb. No. 2'i^.—Motadlla chrysoptera, Turt. Syst. i., 597. — Mota- cilia flamfrons, Tellow-fronied Warbler, Id. 601. — Parus alls aureis, Bartrah, p. 292.* This is another spring passenger througli the United States to the north. This bird, as well as fig. 4, from the particular form of its bill, ought rather to be separated from the Warblers ; or, along with several others of the same kind, might be arranged as a sub-genus, or particular family of that tribe, which might with propriety be called Worm-eaters, the Motacilla vermivora of Turton having the bill exactly of this form. The habits of these birds partake a good deal of those of the Titmouse ; and in their language and action they very much resemble them. All that can be said of this species is, that it appears in Pennsylvania for a few days, about the last of April or beginning of May, darting actively among the young leaves and opening buds, and is rather a scarce species. The Golden-winged Warbler is five inches long, and seven broad ; the crown golden yellow ; the first and second row of wing coverts of the same rich yellow ; the rest of the upper parts a deep ash, or dark slate color ; tail slightly forked, and, as well as the wings, edged with whitish ; a black band passes through the eye, and is separated from the yellow of the crown by a fine line of white ; chin and throat black, between which and that passing through the eye runs a strip of white, as in the figure ; belly and vent white ; bill black, gradually tapering to a sharp point ; legs dark ash ; irides hazel. Pennant has described this species twice, first as the Golden-winged Warbler, and immediately after as *the Yellow-fronted Warbler. See the synonymes at the beginning of this article. * Motacilla chrysoptera, Linn. Syst. i., p. 333. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 971. — Motacilla flavifrons, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 976. — Sylvia chrysoptera, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 541. — ViEiLL. Ois. de VAm. Sept. pi. 97. — Sylvia flavifrons, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 527. (182) Species XIII. SYLVIA CITEINELLA. BLUE-EYED YELLOW WARBLER. [Plate XV. Fig. S.] Yellow-poll Warbler, Lath. Hyn. ii., p. 515, No. 148. — Aret. Zool. p. 402, No 292. — Le Figuier tacheti, Buff. Ois. v., p. 285. — Motacilla cestiva, Tukton's Syst p. 615. — Parus luteus, Summer Yellow-bird, Bartram, p. 292.* This is a very common summer species, and appears almost always actively employed among tlie leaves and blossoms of the willows, snow- ball sbrub, and poplars, searching after small green caterpillars, which are its principal food. It has a few shrill notes, uttered with emphasis, but not deserving the name of song. It arrives in Pennsylvania about the beginning of May ; and departs again for the south about the middle of September. According to Latham it is numerous in Guiana, and is also found in Canada. It is a very sprightly, unsuspicious and fami- liar little bird; is often seen in and about gardens, among the blossoms of fruit trees and shrubberies ; and, on account of its color, is very noticeable. Its nest is built with great neatness, generally in the tri- angular fork of a small shrub, near, or among, briar bushes. Out- wardly it is composed of flax or tow, in thick circular layers, strongly twisted round the twigs that rise through its sides, and lined within with hair and the soft downy substance from the stalks of fern. The eggs are four, or five, of a dull white, thickly sprinkled near the great end with specks of pale brown. They raise two broods in the season. This little bird, like many others, will feign lameness to draw you away from its nest, stretching out his neck, spreading and bending down his tail until it trails along the branch, and fluttering feebly along to draw you after him ; sometimes looking back to see if you are following him, and returning back to repeat the same manoeuvres in order to attract your attention. The male is most remarkable for this practice. * Additional synonymes : — Motacilla cestiva, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 996. — Sylvia cestiva, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 551. — Vieill. Ois. de I'Am. Sept. pi. 95. — Motacilla albicolUs, Gmei,. Syst. i., p. 983, young. — Sylvia albicollis. Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 535, young. — Ficedula Canadensis, Briss. hi., p. 492, 51, t. 26, fig. 3, male adult. — Ficedtda dominicensis, Briss. hi., p. 494, 52, t. 26, f. 5. — Figuier de Canada, Buff. PI. Enl. 58, f. 2, adult male. (183) 184 BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER. The Blue-eyed Warbler is five inches long and seven broad ; hind head and back greenish yellow ; crown, front and whole lower parts rich golden yellow ; breast and sides streaked laterally with dark red ; wings and tail deep brown, except the edges of the former and the inner vanes of the latter, which are yellow ; the tail is also slightly forked ; legs a pale clay color ; bill and eyelids light blue. The female is of a less brilliant yellow, and the streaks of red on the breast are fewer and more obscure. Buifon is mistaken in supposing No. 1, of PI. Enl. Plate Iviii., to be the female of this species. Species XIV. SYLVIA CANADENSIS. BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER. [Plate XV. Fig. 7.] Motacilla Canadensis, Linn. Syst. 336. — Lefiguier bleu,, Buff, t., 304. PI. Enl. 685, fig. 2.— Lath. Syn. ii., p. 487, No. 113.— Edw. 2b2.—Arct. Zool. p. 399, No. 285.* I KNOW little of this bird. It is one of those transient visitors that in the month of April pass through Pennsylvania on its way to the north to breed. It has much of the Flycatcher in its manners, though the form of its bill is decisively that of the Warbler. " These birds are occa- sionally seen for about a week or ten days, viz., from the twenty-fifth of April to the end of the first week in May. I sought for them in the Southern States, in winter, but in vain. It is highly probable that they breed in Canada ; but the summer residents among the feathered race, on that part of the continent, are little known, or attended to. The habits of the bear, the deer and beaver, are much more interesting to those people, and for a good substantial reason too, because more lueror- tive ; and unless there should arrive an order from England for a cargo of skins of Warblers and Flycatchers, sufficient to make them an object worth speculation, we are likely to know as little of them hereafter as at present. This species is five inches long, and seven and a half broad, and is wholly of a fine light slate color above ; the throat, cheeks, front and upper part of the breast is black ; wings and tail dusky black, the primaries marked with a spot of white immediately below their coverts ; tail edged with blue ; belly and vent white ; legs and feet dirty yellow ; bill black, and beset with bristles at the base. The female is * Sylvia ccerulescens, Vieill. Ois. de V Am. Sept. pi. 80. BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. 185 more of a dusky ash on the breast ; and in some specimens nearly white. They no doubt pass this way on their return in autumn, for I have myself shot several in that season ; but as the woods are then still thick with leaves, they are much more difficult to be seen ; and make a shorter stay than they do in spring. Species XV. SYLVIA VIBEN8. BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. [Plate XVII. Fig, 3.] Motacilla virens, Gmel. St/st. i., p. 985. — Lefiguier dcravate noire, Bupf. v., p. 298. — Black-throated Oreen Flycatcher, Edw. t. 300. — Green Warbler, Arci. Zool. ii., No. 297. — Lath. Syn. iv., p. 484, 108. — Tukton, Syst. p. 607. — Parus viridis gutture nigro, the Oreen Black-throated Flycatcher, Bartram, p. 292.* This is one of those transient visitors that pass through Pennsylva- nia, in the latter part of April and beginning of May, on their way to the north to breed. It generally frequents the high branches and tops of trees, in the woods, in search of the larvae of insects that prey on the opening buds. It has a few singular chirrupping notes ; and is very lively and active. About the tenth of May it disappears. It is rarely observed on its return in the fall, which may probably be owing to the scarcity of its proper food at that season obliging it to pass with greater haste ; or to the foliage, which prevents it and other passengers from being so easily observed. Some few of these birds, however, remain all summer in Pennsylvania, having myself shot three this season, in the month of June ; but I have never yet seen their nest. This species is four inches and three quarters long, and seven broad ; the whole back, crown and hind head is of a rich yellowish green ; front, cheeks, sides of the breast, and line over the eye, yellow ; chin and throat black ; sides under the wings spotted with black ; belly and vent white ; wings dusky black, marked with two white bars ; bill black ; legs and feet brownish yellow ; tail dusky edged with light ash ; the three exte- rior feathers spotted on their inner webs with white. The female is dis- tinguished by having no black on the throat. * Sylvia virens, Vieill. Ois. de I'Am. Sept. pi. 80. Species XVI. SYLVIA CORONATA. YELLOW-KUMP WARBLER. [Plate XVII. Fig. 4.] Mbtacilla maculosa* Gmel. Syst. i., p. 984. — Moiacilla coronafa, Linn. Syst. i., p. 332, No. 31. — Lejiguier d tUe cendr^e,* Burr, v., p. 291. — Le Figuier coicronni d'or, Id. Y., p. 312. — Yellow-rump Flycatcher,* Bdw. t. 255. — Golden-crowned Flycatcher, Id. t. 298. — Yellow-rump Warbler,* Arct. Zool. ii., No. 288. — Golden- crowned Warbler, Id. ii., No. 294. — Lath. Syn. iv., p. 481, No. 104. Id. Supp. p. 182. Id. Syn. iv. p. 486, No. 11. — Thrton, p. 599. Id. 606. — Parus cedrus uropy- giofiavo, the Yellow Rump, Bartram, p. 292. — Parus aurio vertice, the Golden- crown Flycatcher, Id. 292.t In this beautiful little species we have another instance of the mis- takes occasioned by the change of color to which many of our birds are subject. In the present case this change is both progressive and periodical. The young birds of the first season are of a brown olive above, which continues until the month of February and March ; about which time it gradually changes into a fine slate color, as in the figure on the plate. About the middle of April this change is completed. I have shot them in all their gradations of change. While in their * These synonymea are incorrect, they should, according to Prince Musignano, be quoted under Sylvia magnolia, see species 19. t As many nominal species have been made of this bird, we shall quote the fol- lowing additional synonymes from Prince Musignano's Obs. — Motacilla coronata, Linn. Gmel. adult in summer dress. — Motacilla canadensis, sp. 27, Linn, adult in summer dress, unnatural by a band on the breast. — Motacilla umbria, Gmel. autumnal. — Motacilla cincta, Gmel. adult in summer dress, with the above-men- tioned band. — Motacilla pinguis, Gmel. autumnal. — Sylvia coronata, Lath, adult in summer dress. Vieill. pi. 78, adult male in summer plumage, pi. 79, young. — Sylvia umbria. Lath, autumnal. — Sylvia cincta. Lath, adult in summer dress, devi- ating from nature by having the band on the breast ; an error which probably origi- nated in Brisson's figure. — Sylvia pinguis. Lath, autumnal. — Ficedula pensylva- nica cinerea ncevia, Briss. adult in summer plumage. — Ficedula canadensis cinerea, Briss. with the false band. — Fauvette tachetie de la Louisiane, Bitff. PI. Enl. 709, fig. 1, autumnal. — Figuier du Mississippi, Buff. PI. Enl. 731, f. 2, young autumnal ; erroneously quoted by Gmelin and Latham under S. icterocephala. — Parus cedrus uropygio flavo, Baetram, autumnal. — Parus aureo vertice, Bartram, summer dress. — Parus virginianus, Linn. Gmel. Lath. Briss. autumnal. — Sylvia flavopygia, Vieill. autumnal. — Sylvia xanthoroa, A'^ieill. Nouv. Diet, autumnal. (186) YELLOW-RUMP WARBLER. 187 brown olive dress, the yellow on the sides of the breast and crown is scarcely observable, unless the feathers be parted with the hand ; but that on the rump is still vivid ; the spots of black on the cheek are then also obscured. The difference of appearance, however, is so great, that we need scarcely wonder that foreigners, who have no opportunity of examining the progress of these variations, should have concluded them to be two distinct species ; and designated them as in the above synonymes. This bird is also a passenger through Pennsylvania. Early in Octo- ber he arrives from the north, in his olive dress, and frequents the cedar trees, devouring the berries with great avidity. He remains with us three or four weeks, and is very numerous wherever there are trees of the red cedar covered with berries. He leaves us for the south, and spends the winter season among the myrtle swamps of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. The berries of the Myrica cerifera, both the large and dwarf kind, are his particular favorites. On those of the latter I found him feeding, in great numbers, near the sea shore, in the district of Maine, in October ; and through the whole of the lower parts of the Carolinas, wherever the myrtles grew, these birds were numerous, skipping about with hanging wings, among the bushes. In those parts of the country they are generally known by the name of Myrtle-birds. Round Savannah, and beyond it as far as the Alatamaha, I found him equally numerous, as late as the middle of March, when his change of color had considerably progressed to the slate hue. Mr. Abbot, who is well acquainted with this change, assured me, that they attain this rich slate color fully before their departure from thence, which is about the last of March, and to the tenth of April. About the middle or twen- tieth of the same month they appear in Pennsylvania, in full dress, as represented in the plate ; and after continuing to be seen, for a week or ten days, skipping among the high branches and tops of the trees, after those larvae that feed on the opening buds, they disappear until the next October. Whether they retire to the north, or to the high ranges of our mountains to breed, like many other of our passengers, is yet uncer- tain. They are a very numerous species, and always associate together in considerable numbers, both in spring, winter and fall. This species is five inches and a half long, and eight inches broad ; whole back, tail coverts, and hind head, a fine slate color, streaked with black ; crown, sides of the breast, and rump, rich yellow ; wings and tail black, the former crossed with two bars of white, the three exterior feathers of the latter spotted with white ; cheeks and front black ; chin, line over and under the eye, white ; breast light slate, streaked with black extending under the wings; belly and vent white, the latter spotted with black ; bill and legs black. This is the spring and summer dress of the male ; that of the female of the same seasons differs but 188 YELLOW RUMP. little, chiefly in the colors being less vivid and not so strongly marked with a tincture of brownish on the back. In the month of October the slate color has changed to a brownish olive, the streaks of black are also considerably brown ; and the white is stained with the same color ; the tail coverts, however, still retain their slaty hue, the yellow on the crown, and sides of the breast becomes nearly obliterated. Their only note is a kind of chip, occasionally re- peated. Their motions are quick, and one can scarcely ever observe them at rest. Though the form of the bill of this bird obliges me to arrange him with the Warblers, yet in his food and all his motions he is decisively a ^Flycatcher. On again recurring to the descriptions in Pennant of the " Yellow- rump Warbler,"* "Golden-crowned W.,"t and "Belted W.,"t I am persuaded that the whole three have been drawn from the present species. SYLVIA CORONATA. YELLOW RUMP. [Plate XLV. Fig. 3.] Bdwakds, 25f>.—Arct. Zool. ii., p. 400, No. 288. In plate 17, fig. 4, this bird is represented in his perfect colors ; the present figure exhibits him in his winter dress, as he arrives to us from the north early in September ; the former shows him in his spring and summer dress, as he visits us from the south about the twentieth of March. These birds remain with us in Pennsylvania from September until the season becomes severely cold, feeding on the berries of the red cedar ; and as December's snows come on they retreat to the lower countries of the Southern States, where in February I found them in great numbers among the myrtles, feeding on the berries of that shrub ; from which circumstance they are usually called in that quarter Myrtle- birds. Their breeding place I suspect to be in in our northern districts, among the swamps and evergreens so abundant there, having myself shot them in the Great Pine swamp about the middle of May. They range along our whole Atlantic coast in winter, seeming parti- cularly fond of the red cedar and the myrtle ; and I have found them numerous, in October, on the low islands along the coast of New Jersey * Arct. Zool. p. 400, No. 188. f lb. No. 294. J lb. No. 306. CERULEAN WARBLER. 189 in the same pursuit. They also dart after flies wherever they can see them, generally skipping about with the wings loose. Length five inches and a quarter, extent eight inches ; upper parts and sides of the neck a dark mouse brown, obscurely streaked on the back with dusky black ; lower parts pale dull yellowish white ; breast marked with faint streaks of brown ; chin and vent white ; rump vivid yellow ; at each side of the breast, and also on the crown, a spot of fainter yellow ; this last not observable without separating the plumage ; bill, legs and wings black ; lesser coverts tipped with brownish white ; tail coverts slate ; the three exterior tail feathers marked on their inner vanes with white ; a touch of the same on the upper and lower eyelid. Male and female at this season nearly alike. They begin to change about the middle of February, and in four or five weeks are in their slate colored dress, as represented in the figure referred to. Species XVII. SYLVIA CJEBULEA. CERULEAN WARBLER. [Plate XVII. Fig. 6.] This delicate little species is now, for the first time, introduced to public notice. Except my friend Mr. Peale, I know of no other natu- ralist who seems to have hitherto known of its existence. At what time it arrives from the south I cannot positively say, as I never met with it in spring ; but have several times found it during summer. On the borders of streams and marshes, among the branches of the poplar, it is sometimes to be found. It has many of the habits of the Flycatcher ; though, like the preceding, from the formation of its bill we must ar- range it with the Warblers. It is one of our scarce birds in Pennsylva- nia ; and its nest has hitherto eluded my search. I have never observed it after the twentieth of August, and therefore suppose it retires early to the south. This bird is four inches and a half long, and seven and a half broad ; the front and upper part of the head is of a fine verditer blue ; the hind head and l)ack of the same color, but not quite so brilliant ; a few late- ral streaks of black mark the upper part of the back ; wings and tail black, edged with sky blue ; the three secondaries next the body edged with white, and the first and second row of coverts also tipped with white ; tail coverts large, black, and broadly tipped with blue ; lesser wing coverts black, also broadly tipped with blue, so as to appear nearly wholly of that tint ; sides of the breast spotted or streaked with blue ; 190 PINE-CREEPING WARBLER. belly, chin and throat pure white ; the tail is forked, the five lateral feathers on each side with each a spot of white, the two middle more slightly marked with the same ; from the eye backwards extends a line of dusky blue ; before and behind the eye a line of white ; bill dusky above, light blue below ; legs and feet light blue. Species XVIII. SYLVIA PINUS. PINE-CREEPING WARBLER. [Plato XIX. Fig. 4.] Pine-Creeper, Catesb. i., 61. This species inhabits the pir^e woods of the Southern States, where it is resident, and where I first observed it, running along the bark of the pines ; sometimes alighting and feeding on the ground, and almost always when disturbed flying up and clinging to the trunks of the trees. As I advanced towards the south it became more numerous. Its note is a simple reiterated chirrup, continued for four or five seconds. Catesby first figured and described this bird ; but so imperfectly as to produce among succeeding writers great confusion, , and many mistakes as to what particular bird was intended. Edwards has supposed it to be the Blue-winged Yellow Warbler ; Latham has supposed another species to be meant ; and the worthy Mr. Pennant has been led into the satne mistakes ; describing the male of one species, and the female of another, as the male and female Pine-Creeper. Having shot and ex- amined great numbers of these birds I am enabled to clear up these difiiculties by the following descriptions, which will be found to be correct. The Pine-creeping Warbler is five and a half inches long, and nine inches in extent ; the whole upper parts are of a rich green olive, with a considerable tinge of yellow; throat, sides and breast yellow; wings and tail brown with a slight cast of bluish, the former marked with two bars of white, slightly tinged with yellow ; tail forked, and edged with ash ; the three exterior feathers marked near the tip with a broad spot of white ; middle of the belly and vent feathers white. The female is brown, tinged with olive green on the back ; breast dirty white, or slightly yellowish. The bill in both is truly that of a Warbler; and the tongue slender as in the Motacilla genus, notwithstanding the habits of the bird. The food of these birds is the seeds of the pitch pine, and various BLACK AND YELLOW "WARBLER. 191 kinds of bugs. The nest, according to Mr. Abbot, is suspended from the horizontal fork of a branch, and formed outwardly of slips of grape- vine bark, rotten wood, and caterpillars' webs, with sometimes pieces of hornets' nests interwoven ; and is lined with dry pine leaves, and fine roots of plants. The eggs are four, white, with a few dark brown spots at the great end. These birds, associating in flocks of twenty or thirty individuals, are found in the depth of the pine Barrens ; and are easily known by their manner of rising from the ground and alighting on the body of the tree. They also often glean among the topmost boughs of the pine trees, hanging, head downwards, like the titmouse. Species XIX. SYLVIA MAGNOLIA* BLACK AND YELLOW WARBLER. [Plate XXin. Fig. 2, Male.] This bird I first met with on the banks of the Little Miami, near its junction with the Ohio. I afterwards found it among the magnolias, not far from Fort Adams on the Mississippi. These two, both of which happened to be males, are all the individuals I have ever shot of this species ; from which I am justified in concluding it to be a very scarce bird in the United States. Mr. Peale, however, has the merit of having been the first to discover this elegant species, which he informs me he found several years ago not many miles from Philadelphia. No notice has ever been taken of this bird by any European naturalist whose works I have examined. Its notes, or rather chirpings, struck me as very peculiar and characteristic ; but have no claim to the title of song. It kept constantly among the higher branches, and was very active and restless. Length five inches, extent seven inches and a half; front, lores, and behind the ear, black ; over the eye a fine line of white, and another smalj touch of the same immediately under ; back nearly all black ; shoulders thinly streaked with olive; rump yellow; tail coverts jet black ; inner vanes of the lateral tail feathers white to within half an inch of the tip where they are black ; two middle ones wholly black ; * MotaciVa maculosa, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 984. — Sylvia marulosa, Lath. Ind. Orn. ir.. p. 536. — ViEiLLOT, Ois. de VAm. Sept. pi. 93. — Ficedula pensylvanica ncevia, Briss. III., p. 502, 56. — Le Fiyuier d, Ute cendrie, Buff, v., p. 291. — Yellow-rumped Fly- catcher, Edw. Glean, pi. 255. — Yellow-rumped Warbler, PEN^f. Arct. Zool. il., 288. —Lath. Syn. iv., p. 481, 104. 192 BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER. ■whole lower parts ricli yellow, spotted from the throat downwards with black streaks ; vent white ; tail slightly forked ; wings black, crossed with two broad transverse bars of white ; crown fine ash ; legs brown ; bill black. Markings of the female not known. Species XX. SYLVIA BLACKBVBNIA. BLACKBUKNIAN WARBLEK. [Plate XXIII. Fig. 3.] Latham ii., p. 461, No. 67.* This is another scarce species in Pennsylvania, making its appear- ance here about the beginning of May ; and again in September on its return, but is seldom seen here during the middle of summer. It is an active silent bird. Inhabits also the state of New York, from whence it was first sent to Europe. Latham has numbered this as a variety of the Yellow-fronted Warbler, a very different species. The specimen sent to Europe, and first described by Pennant, appears also to have been a female, as the breast is said to be yellow, instead of the brilliant orange with which it is ornamented. Of the nest and habits of this bird I can give no account, as there is not more than one or two of these birds to be found here in a season, even with the most diligent search. The Blackburnian Warbler is four inches and a half long, and seven in extent ; crown black, divided by a line of orange ; the black again bounded on the outside by a stripe of rich orange passing over the eye ; under the eye a small touch of orange yellow ; whole throat and breast rich fiery orange, bounded by spots and streaks of black ; belly dull yellow, also streaked with black ; vent white ; back black, skirted with ash ; wings the same, marked with a large lateral spot of white ; tail slightly forked ; the interior vanes of the three exterior feathers white ; cheeks black ; bill and legs brown. The female is yellow where the male is orange; the black streaks are also more obscure and less numerous. * Motacilla Slackburnice, Gmei. Syst. i.,p. 977. — SyiLvia Blackhurnive, Lath. Ind. Orn. II., p. 527.— ViEiLL. Ois. de VAm. Sepi. pi. 96. Spboies XXI. SYL VIA A UTUMNALIS. AUTUMNAL WARBLER. [Plate XXIII. Kg. 4] Tms plain little species regularly visits Pennsylvania from the north in the month of October, gleaning among the •willow leaves ; but what is singular, is rarely seen in spring. From the first to the fifteenth of October, they may be seen in considerable numbers almost every day in gardens, particularly among the branches of the weeping willow, and seem exceedingly industrious. They have some resemblance in color to the Pine-creeping Warbler ; but do not run along the trunk like that bird ; neither do they give a preference to the pines. They are also less. After the first of November they are no longer to be found, unless the season be uncommonly mild. These birds doubtless pass through Pennsylvania in spring, on their way to the north ; but either make a very hasty journey, or frequent the tops of the tallest trees ; for I have never yet met with one of them in that season ; though in October I have seen more than a hundred in an afternoon's excursion. Length four inches and three quarters, breadth eight inches ; whole upper parts olive green, streaked on the back with dusky stripes ; tail coverts ash, tipped with olive ; tail black, edged with dull white ; the three exterior feathers marked near the tip with white ; wings deep dusky, edged with olive, and crossed with two bars of white ; primaries also tipped, and three secondaries next the body edged, with white ; upper mandible dusky brown ; lower, as well as the chin and breast, dull yellow ; belly and vent white ; legs dusky brown ; feet and claws yellow; a pale yellow ring surrounds the eye. The males of these birds often warble out some low, but very sweet notes, while searching among the leaves in autumn. Vol. It.— 13 (19S) Spbcws XXII. SYLVIA PBOTONOTARIUS. PROTHONOTAEY WARBLER. [Plate XXIV. Fig. 3.] Arct. Zool. p. 410.— BuFFON, v., 316.— Latham, ii., 494. PI. Enl. 704. This is an inhabitant of the same country as the Painted Bunting ; and also a passenger from the south ; with this difference, that the bird now before us seldom approaches the house or garden ; but keeps among the retired deep and dark swampy woods, through which it flits nimbly in search of small caterpillars ; uttering every now and then a few screaking notes, scarcely worthy of notice. They are abundant in the Mississippi and New Orleans territories, near the river ; but are rarely found on the high ridges inland. From the peculiar form of its bill, being roundish and remarkably pointed, this bird might with propriety be classed as a sub-genus, or separate family, including several others, viz., the Blue-winged Yellow Warbler, the Golden-crowned Warbler, the Golden-winged Warbler, the Worm-eating Warbler, and a few more. The bills of all these corres- pond nearly in form and pointedness, being generally longer, thicker at the base, and more round than those of the genus Sylvia, generally. The first mentioned species, in particular, greatly resembles this in its general appearance ; but the bill of the Prothonotary is rather stouter, and the yellow much deeper, extending farther on the back ; its manners and the country it inhabits are also different. This species is five inches and a half long, and eight and a half in extent ; the head, neck, and whole lower parts (except the vent) are of a remarkably rich and brilliant yellow, slightly inclining to orange; Venc white ; back, scapulars and lesser wing coverts yellow olive ; wings, rump and tail coverts a lead blue ; interior vanes of the former black ; tail nearly even, and black, broadly edged with blue, all the feathers, except the two middle ones, are marked on their inner vanes near the tip with a spot of white; bill long, stout, sharp pointed and wholly black; eyes dark hazel; legs and feet a leaden gray. The female differs in having the yellow and blue rather of a duller tint ; the infe- riority, however, is scarcely noticeable. (194) Species XXIII. SYLVIA YERMIVOBA. WORM-EATING WAKBLEE. [Plate XXIV. Fig. 4.] Arct. Zool. p. 406, No. 300. — Edwards, 305. — Latham, ii., 499; — Le Demi-Jin mangeur_de vers, Buffon, t., 325. This is one of the nimblest species of its whole family, inhabiting the same country with the preceding ; but extending its migrations much farther north. It arrives in Pennsylvania about the middle of May ; and leaves us in September. I have never yet met with its nest ; but have seen them feeding their young about the twenty-fifth of June. This bird is remarkably fond of spiders, darting about wherever there is a probability of finding these insects. If there be a branch broken and the leaves withered, it shoots among them in preference to every other part of the tree, making a great rustling in search of its prey. I have often watched its manceuvres while thus engaged and flying from tree to tree in search of such places. On dissection I have uniformly found their stomachs filled with spiders or caterpillars, or both. Its note is a feeble chirp, rarely uttered. The Worm-eater is five inches and a quarter in length, and eight inches in extent ; back, tail, and wings a fine clear olive ; tips and inner vanes of the wing quills a dusky brown ; tail slightly forked, yet the exterior feathers are somewhat shorter than the middle ones; head and whole lower parts a dirty bufi' ; the former marked with four streaks of black, one passing from each nostril, broadening as it descends the hind head ; and one from the posterior angle of each eye ; the bill is stout, straight, pretty thick at the base, roundish and tapering to a fine point ; no bristles at the side of the mouth ; tongue thin, and lacerated at the tip; the breast is most strongly tinged with the orange bufi"; vent waved with dusky olive ; bill blackish above, flesh colored below ; legs and feet a pale clay color ; eye dark hazel. The female difiers very little in color from the male. On this species Mr. Pennant makes the following remarks : — " Does not appear in Pennsylvania till July in its passage northward. Does not return the same way ; but is supposed to go beyond the mountains which lie to the west. This seems to be the case with all the transient vernal visitants of Pennsylvania."* That a small bird should permit * Arct. Zool. p. 406. (195) 196 TENNESSEE WARBLEE. the whole spring and half of the summer to pass away before it thought of "passing to the north to breed," is a cironmstance one should think would have excited the suspicion of so discerning a naturalist as the author of Arctic Zoology, as to its truth. I do not know that this bird breeds to the northward of the United States. As to their returning home by " the country beyond the mountains," this must doubtless be for the purpose of finishing the education of their striplings here, as is done in Europe, by making the grand tour. This by the by would be a much more convenient retrograde route for the ducks and geese ; as, like the Kentuckians, they could take advantage of the current of the Ohio and Mississippi, to float down to the southward. Unfortunately, however, for this pretty theory, all our vernal visitants with which I am acquainted, are contented to plod home by the same regions through which they advanced ; not even excepting the geese. Species XXIV. SYLVIA PEREGBINA. TENNESSEE WARBLER. [Plate XXV. Fig. 2.] This plaifl little bird has hitherto remained unknown. I first found it on the banks of Cumberland river, in the state of Tennessee, and sup- posed it to be a rare species, having since met with only two individuals of the same species. It was hunting nimbly among the young leaves, and like all the rest of the family of Worm-eaters, to which by its bill it evidently belongs, seemed to partake a good deal of the habits of the Titmouse. Its notes were few and weak ; and its stomach on dissection contained small green caterpillars, and a few winged insects. As this species is so very rare in the United States, it is most proba- bly a native of a more southerly climate, where it may be equally nu- merous with any of the rest of its genus. The small Cerulean War- bler (Plate XVII., fig. 5), which in Pennsylvania, and almost all over the Atlantic States, is extremely rare, I found the most, numerous of its tribe in Tennessee and West Florida ; and the Carolina Wren (Plate XII., fig. 5), which is also scarce to the northward of Maryland, is abundant through the whole extent of country from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Particular species of birds, like difi'erent nations of men, have their congenial climes and favorite countries ; but wanderers are common to both ; some in search of better fare ; some of adventures ; others led by curiosity ; and many driven by storms and accident. KENTUCKY WARBLER. 197 The Tennessee Warbler is four inches and three quarters long, and eight inches in extent ; the back, rump and tail coverts, are of a rich yellow olive ; lesser wings coverts the same ; wings deep dusky, edged broadly with yellow olive ; tail forked, olive, relieved with dusky ; cheeks and upper part of the head inclining to light bluish, and tinged with olive ; line from the nostrils over the eye pale yellow, fading into white ; throat and breast pale cream color ; belly and vent white ; legs purplish brown ; bill pointed and thicker at the base than those of the Sylvia genus generally are ; upper mandible dark dusky, lower some- what paler ; eye hazel. The female differs little, in the color of her plumage, from the male ; the yellow line over the eye is more obscure, and the oUve not of so rich" a tint. Species XXV. SYLVIA FORMOSA. KENTUCKY WARBLEE. [Plate XXV. Fig. 3.] This new and beautiful species inhabits the country whose name it bears. It is also found generally in all the intermediate tracts between Nashville and New Orleans, and below that as far as the Balize, or mouths of the Mississippi, where I heard it several times, twittering among the high rank grass and low bushes of those solitary and desolate looking morasses. In Kentucky and Tennessee it is particularly numerous, frequenting low damp woods, and builds its nest in the middle of a thick tuft of rank grass, sometimes in the fork of a low bush, and sometimes on the ground ; in all of which situations I have found it. _ The mate- rials are loose dry grass, mixed with the light pith of weeds, and lined with hair. The female lays four, and sometimes six eggs, pure white, sprinkled with specks of reddish. I observed her sitting early in May. This species is seldom seen among the high branches ; but loves to frequent low bushes and cane swamps, and is an active sprightly bird. Its notes are loud, and in threes, resembling tweedle, tweedle, tweedle. It appears in Kentucky from the south about the middle of April ; and leaves the territory of New Orleans on the approach of cold weather ; at least I was assured that it does not remain there during the winter. It appeared to me to be a restless, fighting species ; almost always engaged in pursuing some of its fellows ; though this might have been occasioned by its numbers, and the particular season of spring, when love and jealousy rage with violence in the breasts of the feathered 198 PRAIRIE WARBLER. tenants of the grove ; who experience all the ardency of those passions no less than their lord and sovereign man. The Kentucky Warbler is five inches and a half long, and eight inches in extent ; the upper parts are an olive green ; line over the eye and partly under it, and whole lower parts, rich brilliant yellow ; head slightly crested, the crown deep black, towards the hind part spotted with light ash; lores, and spot curving down the neck, also black ; tail nearly even at the end, and of a rich olive green ; interior' vanes of that and the wings dusky ; legs an almost transparent pale flesh color. The female wants the black under the eye, and the greater part of that on the crown, having those parts yellowish. This bird is very abundant in the moist woods along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Species XXVI. SYLVIA MINVTA. PRAIRIE WARBLER. [Plate XXV. Fig. 4.] This pretty little species I first discovered in that singular tract of country in Kentucky, commonly called the Barrens. I shot several afterwards in the open woods of the Choctaw nation, where they were more numerous. They seem to prefer these open plains, and thinly wooded tracts ; and have this singularity in their manners, that they are not easily alarmed ; and search among the leaves the most leisurely of any of the tribe I have yet met with ; seeming to examine every blade of grass, and every leaf ; uttering at short intervals a feeble ehirr. I have observed one of these birds to sit on the lower branch of a tree for half an hour at a time, and allow me to come up nearly to the foot of the tree, without seeming to be in the least disturbed, or to dis- continue the regularity of its occasional note. In activity it is the reverse of the preceding species ; and is rather a scarce bird in the countries where I found it. Its food consists principally of small cater- pillars and winged insects. The Prairie Warbler is four inches and a half long, and six inches and a half in extent ; the upper parts are olive, spotted on the back with reddish chestnut ; from the nostril over and under the eye, yel- low ; lores black ; a broad streak of black also passes beneath the yellow under the eye ; small pointed spots of black reach from a little below that along the side of the neck and under the wings ; throat, •breast and belly rich yellow ; vent cream colored, tinged with yellow ; BLUE-GREEN WARBLER. 199 wings dark dusky olive ; primaries and greater coverts edged and tipped with pale yellow ; second row of coverts wholly yellow ; lesser, olive ; tail deep brownish black, lighter on the edges, the three exterior feathers broadly spotted with white. The female is destitute of the black mark under the eye ; has a few slight touches of blackish along the sides of the neck ; and some faint shades of brownish red on the back. The nest of this species is of very neat and delicate workmanship, being pensile, and generally hung on the fork of a low bush or thicket ; it is formed outwardly of green moss, intermixed with rotten bits of wood and caterpillars' silk ; the inside is lined with extremely fine fibres of grape-vine bark ; and the whole would scarcely weigh a quarter of an ounce. The eggs are white, with a few brown spots at the great end. These birds are migratory, departing for the south in October. Species XXVII. SYLVIA RARA. BLUE-GREEN WARBLER. [Plate XXVII. Fig. 2.] This new species, the only one of its sort I have yet met with, was shot on the banks of Cumberland river, about the beginning of April ; and the drawing made with care immediately after. Whether male or female I am uncertain. It is one of those birds that usually glean among the high branches of the tallest trees, which render it difficult to be procured. It was darting about with great nimbleness among the leaves, and appeared to have many of the habits of the Flycatcher. After several inefiectual excursions in search of another of the same kind, with which I might compare the present, I am obliged to intro- duce it with this brief account. The specimen has been deposited in Mr. Peale's museum. The Blue-green Warbler is four inches 'and a half long, and seven and a half in extent ; the upper parts are verditer, tinged with pale green, brightest on the front and forehead ; lores, line over the eye, throat, and whole lower parts very pale cream ; cheeks slightly tinged with greenish ; bill and legs bright light blue, except the upper mandi- ble, which is dusky ; tail forked, and, as well as the wings brownish black ; the former marked on the three exterior vanes with white and edged with greenish ; the latter having the first and second row of coverts tipped with white. Note a feeble chirp. Species XXVIII. SYLVIA BUBBIOAPILLA. NASHVILLE WARBLER. [Plate XXVII. Tig. 8] The very Tincommon notes of this little bird were familiar to me fol several days before I succeeded in obtaining it. These notes very much resembled the breaking of small dry twigs, or the striking of small pebbles of dififerent sizes smartly against each other for six or seven times, and loud enough to be heard at the distance of thirty or forty yards. Jt -was some time before I could ascertain -whether the sound proceeded from a bird or an insect. At length I discovered the bird ; and was not a little gratified at finding it an entirely new and hitherto undescribed species. I was also fortunate enough to meet afterwards with two others exactly corresponding with the first, all of them being males. These were shot in the state of Tennessee, not far from Nash- ville. It had all the agility and active habits of its family the Worm- eaters. The length of this species is four inches and a half, breadth seven inches ; the upper parts of the head and neck light ash, a little inclin- ing to olive ; crown spotted with deep chestnut in small touches ; a pale yellowish ring round the eye ; whole lower parts vivid yellow, except the middle of the belly, which is white ; back yellow olive, slightly skirted with ash ; rump and tail coverts rich yellow olive ; wings nearly black, broadly edged with olive; tail slightly forked and very dark olive ; legs ash ; feet dirty yellow ; bill tapering to a fine point, and dusky ash ; no white on wings or tail ; eye hazel. (200) Species XXIX. SYLVIA PUSILLA. BLUE YELLOW-BACK WARBLER. [Plate XXVIII. Kg. 3.] Pants Americanus, Linn. Syst. 341. — Finch Creeper, Catesb. i., 64. — Latham, ii., 558. — Creeping Titmouse, Arct. Zool. 423, No. 326. — Parus varius. Various- colored little Finch Creeper, Baktram, p. 292.* Notwithstanding the respectability of the above authorities, I must continue to consider this bird as a species of Warbler. Its habits indeed partake something of the Titmouse ; but the form of its bill is decisively that of the Sylvia genus. It is remarkable for frequenting the tops of the tallest trees, where it feeds on the small winged insects and caterpillars that infest the young leaves and blossoms. It has a few feeble chirrupping notes, scarcely loud enough to be heard at the foot of the tree. It visits Pennsylvania from the south, early in May ; is very abundant in the woods of Kentucky ; and is also found in the northern parts of the state of New York. Its nest I have never yet met with. This little species is four inches and a half long, and six inches and a half in breadth ; the front, and between the bill and eyes, is black ; the upper part of the head and neck a fine Prussian blue ; upper part of the back brownish yellow, lower and rump pale blue ; wings and tail black, the former crossed with two bars of white, and edged with blue ; the latter marked on the inner webs of the three exterior feathers with white, a circumstance common to a great number of the genus ; imme- diately above and below the eye is a small touch of white ; the upper mandible is black, the lower, as well as the whole throat and breast, rich yellow, deepening about its middle to orange red, and marked on the throat with a small crescent of black ; on the edge of the breast is a slight touch of rufous ; belly and .vent white ; legs dark brown ; feet dirty yellow. The female wants both the black and orange on the throat and breast ; the blue on the upper parts is also of a duller tint. * Parus. Americanus, Linn. Syst. Ed. 10, i., p. 190. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 1007. — Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 571. — Mota^illa americana, Gmel. Syst. i., 960. — Sylvia americana, Ind. Orn. ii., p. 520. — Motacilla ludoviciana, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 983. — Sylvia ludoviciana, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 535. — Figuier cendri de la Caroline, BuFP. PI. Enl. 731, f. 1. — Sylvia torquata, Vieill. Ois. de I' Am. Sept. pi. 99. (201) Species XXX. SYLVIA PETEOBIA. YELLOW RED-POLL WAEBLEE. [Plate XXVIII. Fig. 4.] Red-headed Warbler, Turton, i., 605.* This delicate little bird arrives in Pennsylvania early in April, while the maples are yet in blossom, among the branches of which it may generally be found feeding on the stamina of the flowers, and on small winged insects. Low swampy thickets are its favorite places of resort. It is not numerous, and its notes are undeserving the name of song. It remains with us all summer ; but its nest has hitherto escaped me. It leaves us late in September. Some of them probably winter in Georgia, having myself shot several late in February, on the borders of the Savannah river. Length of the yellow Red-poll five inches, extent eight ; line over the eye, and whole lower parts, rich yellow ; breast streaked with dull red ; upper part of the head reddish chestnut, which it loses in winter ; back yellow olive, streaked with dusky ; rump and tail coverts greenish yel- low ; wings deep blackish brown, exteriorly edged with olive ; tail slightly forked, and of the same color as the wings. The female wants the red cap ; and the yellow of the lower parts is less brilliant ; the streaks of red on the breast are also fewer and less distinct. * Motacilla petechia, Linn. Syst. i., p. 334. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 983. — Sylvia pete- chia. Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 535. — Vieill. Ois. de I' Am. Sept. pi. 91. — Ficedula Pensylvanica erythrocephalos, Briss. hi., p. 488, 49. — Figuier d tUe rouge de Pettr sylvanie, Buff. Ois. v., p. 286. — Bed-headed Warbler, Penn. Arct. Zool. ii., No. 289.— Lath. Syn. it., p. 479, 39. (202) Species XXXI. SYLVIA STRIATA. BLACK-POLL WARBLER. [Plate XXX. Fig. 3, Hale.] Lath, ii., p. 460.—Arct. Zool. p. 401, No. 290.— Tubton, 600.* This species has considerable affinity to the Flycatchers in its habits. It is chiefly confined to the woods, and even there, to the tops of the tallest trees, where it is described skipping from branch to branch in pursuit of winged insects. Its note is a single screep, scarcely audible from below. It arrives in Pennsylvania about the twentieth of April, and is first seen on the tops of the highest maples, darting about among the blossoms. As the woods thicken with leaves it may be found pretty generally, being none of the least numerous of our summer birds. It is, however, most partial to woods in the immediate neighborhood of creeks, swamps, or morasses, probably from the greater number of its favorite insects frequenting such places. It is also pretty generally difiTused over the United States, having myself met with it in most quarters of the Union ; though its nest has hitherto defied all my researches. This bird may be considered as occupying an intermediate station between the Flycatchers and the Warblers ; having the manners of the former, and the bill, partially, of the latter. The nice gradations by which nature passes from one species to another, even in this depart- ment of the great chain of beings, will for ever baffle all the artificial rules and systems of man. And this truth every fresh discovery must impress more forcibly on the mind of the observing naturalist. These birds leave us early in September. The Black-poll Warbler is five and a half inches long, and eight and a half in extent ; crown and hind head black ; cheeks pure white ; from each lower mandible runs a streak of small black spots, those on the side larger; the rest of the lower parts white; primaries black, edged with yellow ; rest of the wing black, edged with ash ; the fii-t and second row of coverts broadly tipped with white ; back ash, tinged with yellow ochre, and streaked laterally with black; tail black, edged * Motacilla striata, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 976. — Sylvia striata, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 527. (203) 204 BLACK-POLL WARBLER. •witli ash, the three exterior feathers marked on the inner webs 'with white; bill black above, whitish below, furnished with bristles at the base ; iris hazel ; legs and feet reddish yellow. The female differs very little in plumage from the male. SYLVIA STRIATA. BLACK-POLL WARBLER. [Plate LIV. Fig. 4, Female] This bird was shot in the same excursion with the Cape May War- bler {Sylvia maritima), and its history as far as it is known, will be detailed in the history of that species. See page 209. Of its nest and eggs I am ignorant. It doubtless breeds both here and in New Jersey, having myself found it in both places during the summer. From its habit of keeping on the highest branches of trees it probably builds in such situations, and its nest may long remain unknown to us. Pennant, who describes this species, says that it inhabits during summer Newfoundland and New York, and is called in the last Sailor. This name, for which however no reason is given, must be very local, as the bird itself is one of those silent, shy and solitary indi- viduals that seek the deep retreats of the forest, and are known to few or none but the naturalist. Length of the female Black-cap five inches and a quarter, extent eight and a quarter ; bill brownish black ; crown yellow olive streaked with black ; back the same, mixed with some pale slate ; wings dusky brown, edged with olive ; first and second wing coverts tipped with white ; tertials edged with yellowish white ; tail coverts pale gray ; tail dusky, forked, the two exterior feathers marked on their inner vanes with a spot of white ; round the eye is a whitish ring ; cheeks and sides of the breast tinged with yellow, and slightly spotted with black ; chin white, as are also the belly and vent ; legs and feet dirty orange. The young bird of the first season, and the female, as is usually the case, are very much alike in plumage. On their arrival early in April, the black feathers on the crown are frequently seen coming out, inter- mixed with the former ash-colored ones. This species has all the agility and many of the habits of the Fly- catcher. Species XXXII. SYLVIA AGILI8. CONNECTICUT WARBLEK. [Plate ZXXIX. Fig. 4.] This is a new species, first discovered in tte state of Connecticut, and twice since met with in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. As to its notes or nest, I am altogether unacquainted with them. The different specimens I have shot corresponded very nearly in their markings ; two of these were males, and the other undetermined, but conjectured also to be a male. It was found in every case among low thickets, but seemed more than commonly active, not remaining for a moment in the same position. In some of my future rambles I may learn more of this solitary species. Length five inches and three quarters, extent eight inches ; whole upper parts a rich yellow olive ; wings dusky brown, edged with olive ; throat dirty white, or pale ash ; upper part of the breast dull greenish yellow ; rest of the lower parts a pure rich yellow ; legs long, slender, and of a pale flesh color ; round the eye a narrow ring of yellowish white ; upper mandible pale brown, low'er whitish ; eye dark hazel. Since writing the above I have shot two specimens of a bird which in every particular agrees with the above, except in having the throat of a dull buflf color instead of pale ash ; both of these were females, and I have little doubt but they are of the same species with the present, as their peculiar activity seemed exactly similar to the males above described. These birds do not breed in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, though they probably may be found in summer in the alpine swamps and northern regions, in company with a numerous class of the same tribe that breed in these unfrequented solitudes. (205) Species XXXIII. SYLVIA LEUCOPTEBA* PINE-SWAMP WARBLER. [Plate XLIII. Kg. 4.] This little bird is for the first time figured or described. Its favorite haunts are in the deepest and gloomiest pine and hemlock swamps of our mountainous regions, where every tree, trunk, and fallen log is covered with a luxuriant coat of moss, that even mantles over the sur- face of the ground, and prevents the sportsman from avoiding a thousand holes, springs and swamps, into which he is incessantly plunged. Of the nest of this bird I am unable to speak. I found it associated with the Blackburnian Warbler, the Golden-crested Wren, Ruby-crowned Wren, Yellow Rump, and others of that description, in such places as I have described, about the middle of May. It seemed as active in fly- catching as in searching for other insects, darting nimbly about among the branches, and flirting its wings ; but I could not perceive that it had either note or song. I shot three, one male and two females. I have no doubt that they breed in those solitary swamps, as well as many other of their associates. The Pine-swamp Warbler is four inches and a quarter long, and seven inches and a quarter in extent ; bill black, not notched, but furnished with bristles ; upper parts a deep green olive, with slight bluish reflec- tions, particularly on the edgefe of the tail and on the head; wings dusky, but so broadly edged with olive green as to appear wholly of that tint ; immediately below the primary coverts there is a single triangular spot of yellowish white ; no other part of the wing is white ; the three exterior tail feathers with a spot of white on their inner vanes ; the tail is slightly forked ; from thei nostrils over the eye extends a fine line of white, and the lower eyelid is touched with the same tint ; lores blackish ; sides of the neck and auriculars green olive ; whole lower parts pale yellow ochre, with a tinge of greenish, duskiest on the throat ; legs long and flesh colored. The plumage of the female diflers in nothing from that of the male. * Wilson first called this bird pusilla, but that name being preoccupied, he changed it in the index to leucopiera; this latter name is also preoccupied, and Prince Musignano has proposed that it should be called S. sphagnosa. (206) Species XXXIV. SYLVIA MONTANA* BLUE-MOUNTAIN WAEBLEE. [Plate XLIV. Tig. 2, Male.] This new species was first discovered near that celebrated ridge, or range of mountains, with whose name I have honored it. Several of these solitary Warblers remain yet to be gleaned up from the airy heights of our alpine scenery, as well as from the recesses of our swamps and morasses, whither it is my design to pursue them by every oppor- tunity. Some of these I believe rarely or never visit the lower culti- vated parts of the country ; but seem only at home among the glooms and silence of those dreary solitudes. The present species seems of that family, or subdivision of the Warblers, that approach the Flycatcher, darting after flies wherever they see them, and also searching with great activity among the leaves. Its song was a feeble screep, three or four times repeated. This species is four inches and three-quarters in length ; the upper parts a rich yellow olive ; front, cheeks and chin yellow, also the sides of the neck ; breast and belly pale yellow, streaked with black or dusky ; vent plain pale yellow ; wings black, first and second ro^ of coverts broadly tipped with pale yellowish white ; tertials the same ; the rest of the. quills edged with whitish ; tail black, handsomely rounded, edged with pale olive ; the two exterior feathers, on each side, white on the inner vanes from the middle to the tips, and edged on the outer side with white ; bill dark brown ; legs and feet purple brown ; soles yellow ; eye dark hazel. This was a male. The female I have never seen, * Prince Musignano in his Synopsis of the Birds of the United States, see Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., considers this as the Motacilla Ugrina, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 985. If this he correct the following synonymea may be quoted : — Sylvia Ugrina, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 537. — Yieill. Ois. de I'Am. Sept. pi. 94. — Ficedula Canadensis fusca, Brisk, hi., p. 515, 63, t. 27, f. 4. — Id. 8vo. i., p. 451. — Le Figuier iacheU de jaune. Buff, v., p. 293. — Spotted Yellow Flycatcher, Arct. Zool. ii.. No. 302.-— Edw. pi. 257.— Lath. Syn. iv., p. 482, 106. (207) Species XXXV. SYLVIA PARUS. HEMLOCK WARBLER. [Plate XLIV. Fig. 3.] This is another nondescript, first met with in the Great Pine Swamp, Pennsylvania. From observing it almost always among the branches of the hemlock trees, I have designated it by that appellation, the markings of its plumage not affording me a peculiarity sufficient for a specific name. It is a most lively and active little bird, climbing among the "twigs, and hanging like a Titmouse on the branches ; but possessing all the external characters of the Warblers. It has a few low and very sweet notes, at which times it stops and repeats them for a short time, then darts about as before. It shoots after flies to a considerable dis- tance ; often begins at the lower branches, and hunts with -great regu- larity and admirable dexterity, upwards to the top, then flies off to the next tree, at the lower branches of which it commences hunting upwards as before. This species is five inches and a half long, and eight inches in extent ; bill black above, pale below ; upper parts of the plumage black, thinly streaked with yellow olive ; head above yellow, dotted with black ; line from the nostril over the eye, sides of the neck and whole breast rich yellow ; belly paler, streaked with dusky ; round the breast some small streaks of blackish ; wing black, the greater coverts and next superior row broadly tipped with white, forming two broad bars across the wing ; primaries edged with olive, tertials with white; tail coverts black, tipped with olive ; tail slightly forked, black, and edged with olive ; the three exterior feathers altogether white on their inner vanes ; legs ana feet dirty yellow ; eye dark hazel ; a few bristles at the mouth ; billnot notched. This was a male. Of the female I can at present give no account. (208) Species XXXVI. SYLVIA MARITIMA. CAPE-MAY WARBLER. [Plate IIV. Fig. 3, Male.] This new and beautiful little species was discovered in a maple swamp, in Cape May county, not far from the coast, by Mr. George Ord of this city, who accompanied me on a shooting excursion to that quarter in the month of May last. Through the zeal and activity of this gentle- man I succeeded in procuring many rare and elegant birds among tho sea islands and extensive salt marshes that border that part of the Atlantic ; and much interesting information relative to their nests, eggs, and particular habits. I have also at various times been favored with specimens of other birds from the same friend, for all which I return my grateful acknowledgments. The same swamp that furnished us with this elegant little stranger, and indeed several miles around it, were ransacked by us both, for another specimen of the same ; but without success. Fortunately it proved to be a male, and being in excellent plumage, enabled me to pre- serve a faithful portrait of the original. Whether this be a summer resident in the lower parts of New Jersey, or merely a transient passenger to a more northern climate, I cannot with certainty determine. The spring had been remarkably cold, with long and violent north-east storms, and many winter birds, as well as passengers from the south, still lingered in the woods as late as the twentieth of May, gleaning, in small companies, among the opening buds and infant leaves, and skipping nimbly from twig to twig, which was the case with the bird now before us when it was first observed. Of its notes, or particular history, I am equally uninformed. The length of this specfes is five inches and a half, extent eight and a half; bill and legs black; whole upper part of the head deep black : line from the nostril over the eye, chin and sides of the neck rich yellow ; ear feathers orange, which also tints the back part of the yellow line over the eye ; at the anterior and posterior angle of the eye is a small touch of black ; hind head and whole back, rump and tail coverts yellow olive, thickly streaked with black ; the upper exterior edges of several of the greater wing coverts are pure white, forming a broad bar on the wing, the next superior row being also broadly tipped with white ; Vol. II.— 14 (209) 210 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. rest of the wing dusky, finely edged with dark olive yellow ; throat and whole breast riah yellow, spreading also along the sides under the wings, handsomely marked with spots of black running in chains ; belly and vent yellowish white ; tail forked, dusky black, edged with yellow olive, the three exterior feathers on each side marked on their inner vanes with a spot of white. The yellow on the throat and sides of the neck reaches nearly round it, and is very bright. Genus XLIV. PIPKA. MANAKIN. Species. PIPRA POLTGLOTTA. YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. [Plate VI. Fig. 2.] Muscicapa viridis, Gmel. Syst. i., 936. — Le Merle vert de la Caroline, Buffon, hi., Z^d.— Chattering Flycatcher, Arct. Zool. ii., No. 266.— Lath. Syn. iii., 350, A% — Garrulus Australia, Baetram, 290.* This is a very singular bird. In its voice and manners^ and the habit it has of keeping concealed, while shifting and vociferating around you, it differs from most other birds with which I am acquainted ; and has considerable claims to originality of character. It arrives in Pennsyl- vania about the first week ip May, and returns to the south again as soon as its young are able for the journey, which is usually about the middle of August ; its term of residence here being scarcely four months. The males generally arrive several days before the females, a circum- stance common with many other of our birds of passage. When he has once taken up his residence in a favorite situation, which is almost always in close thickets of hazel, brambles, vines, and thick underwood, he becomes very jealous of his possessions, and seems offended at the least intrusion ; scolding every passenger as soon as they come within view, in a great variety of odd and uncouth mono- syllables, which it is difiicult to describe, "but which may be readily imitated so as to deceive the bird himself, and draw him after you for half a quarter of a mile at a time, as I have sometimes amused myself in doing, and frequently without once seeing him. On these occasions his responses are constant and rapid, strongly expressive of anger and anxiety ; and while the bird itself remains unseen, the voice shifts from place to place, among the bushes, as if it proceeded from a spirit. First are heard a repetition of short notes, resembling the whistling of * Ictera dumicola, Vieill. Ois. de VAm. Sept. pi. 55.' YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 211 the wings of a duck or teal, beginning loud and rapid, and falling lower and slower till they end in detached notes ; then a succession of others, something like the barking of young puppies, is followed by a variety of hollow guttural sounds, each eight or ten times repeated, more like those proceeding from the throat of a quadruped than that of a bird ; which are succeeded by others not unlike the mewing of a cat, but considerably hoarser. All these are uttered with great vehemence, in such different keys, and with such peculiar modulations of voice, as sometimes to seem at a considerable distance and instantly as if just beside you ; now on this hand, now on that ; so that from these manoeuvres of ventriloquism you are utterly at a loss to ascertain from what particular spot or quarter they proceed. If the weather be mild and serene, with clear moonlight, he continues gabbling in the same strange dialect, with very little intermission, during the whole night, as if disputing with his own echoes ; but probably with a design of inviting the passing females to his retreat ; for when the season is farther advanced they are seldom heard during the night. About the middle of May they begin to build. Their nest is usually fixed in the upper part of a bramble bush, in an almost impenetrable thicket ; sometimes in a thick vine or small cedar ; seldom more than four or five feet from the ground. It ia composed outwardly of dry leaves, within these are laid thin, strips of the bark of grape-vines, and the inside is lined with fibrous roots of plants, and fine dry grass. The female lays four eggs, slightly flesh colored, and speckled all over with spots of brown or dull red. The young are hatched in twelve days ; and make their first excursion from the nest about the second week in June. A friend of mine, an amateur in Canary birds, placed one of the Chat's eggs under a hen Canary, who brought it out ; but it died on the second day ; though she was so solicitous to feed and preserve it, that her own eggs, which required two days more sitting, were lost through her attention to this. While the female of the Chat is sitting, the cries of the male are still more loud and incessant. When once aware that you have seen him he is less solicitous to conceal himself; and will sometimes mount up into the air, almost perpendicularly to the height of thirty or forty feet, with his legs hanging; descending, as he rose, by repeated jerks, as if highly irritated, or as is vulgarly said " dancing mad." All this noise and gesticulation we must attribute to his extreme aifection for his mate and young ; and when we consider the great distance which in all probability he comes, the few young produced at a time, and that seldom more than once in the season, we can see the wisdom of Providence very manifestly in the ardency of his passions. Catesby seems to have first figured the Yellow-breasted Chat ; and the singularity of its manners has not escaped him. After repeated 212 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. attempts to shoot one of them, he found himself completely baffled ; and was obliged, as he himself informs us, to employ an Indian for that pur- pose, who did not succeed without exercising all his ingenuity. Catesby also observed its dancing manoeuvres, and supposed that it always flew with its legs extended ; but it is only in these paroxysms of rage and anxiety that this is done, as I have particularly observed. The food of these birds consists chiefly of large black beetles, and other coleopterous insects ; I have also found whortleberries frequently in their stomach, in great quantities ; as well as several other sorts of berries. They are very numerous in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, particularly on the borders of rivulets, and other watery situations, in hedges, thickets, &c., but are, seldom seen in the forest, even where there is underwood. Catesby indeed asserts, that they are only found on the banks of large rivers, two or three hundred miles from the sea ; but though this may be the case in South Carolina, yet in Maryland and New Jersey, and also in New York, I have met with these birds within two hours' walk of the sea, and in some places within less than a mile of the shore. I have not been able to trace him to any of the West India islands ; though they certainly retire to Mexico, Guiana, and Brazil, having myself seen skins of these birds in the possession of a French gentleman, which were brought from the two latter countries. By recurring to the synonymes at the beginning of this article, it will be perceived how much European naturalists have difiered in classing this bird. That the judicious Pennant, Gmelin, and even Dr. Latham, however, should have arranged it with the Flycatchers, is certainly very extraordinary ; as neither in the particular structure of its bill, tongue, feet, nor in its food or manners, has it any affinity whatever to that genus. Some other ornithologists have removed it to the Tanagers ; but the bill of the Chat, when compared with that of the Summer Red- bird in the same plate, bespeaks it at once to be of a difierent tribe. Besides, the Tanagers seldom lay more than two or three eggs — the Chat usually four ; the former build on trees ; the latter in low thickets. In short, though this bird will not exactly correspond with any known genus, yet the form of its bill, its food, and many of its habits, would almost justify us in classing it with the genus Pipra (Manakin), to which family it seems most nearly related. The Yellow-breasted Chat is seven inches long, and nine inches in ex- tent ; the whole upper parts are of a rich and deep olive green, except the tips of the wings, and interior vanes of the wing and tail feathers, which are dusky brown ; the whole throat and breast is of a most bril- liant yellow, which also lines the inside of the wings, and spreads on the sides immediately below ; the belly and vent are white ; the front slate- colored, or dull cinereous ; lores black ; from the nostril a line of white extends to the upper part of the eye, which it nearly encircles ; another BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE. 213 spot of white is placed at the base of the lower mandible ; the bill is strong, slightly curved, sharply ridged on the top, compressed, over- hanging a little at the tip, not notched, pointed, and altogether black ; the tongue is tapering, more fleshy than those of the Muscicapa tribe, and a little lacerated at the tip ; the nostril is oval, and half covered with an arching membrane ; legs and feet light blue, hind claw rather the strongest, the two exterior toes united to the second joint. The female may be distinguished from the male by the black and white adjoining the eye being less intense or pure than in the male ; and in having the inside of the mouth of a dirty flesh color, which in the male is black ; in other respects their plumage is nearly alike. GENUS XLV. PAKUS. TITMOUSE. Species I. P. ATRICAPILLUS. BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE. [Plate VIII. Fig. 4.] Parus alricapillus, Linn. Syst. i., 341, 6. — Gmel. Si/st. i., 1008. — La Mesange d iSle noire de Canada, BurFON, v., 408. — Canada Titmouse, Arct. Zool. ii., No. 328» — Lath. Syn. iv., 542, 9. This is one of our resident birds, active, noisy and restless, hardy beyond any of his size, braving the severest cold of our continent as far north as the country round Hudson's Bay, and always appearing most lively in the coldest weather. The males have a variety of very sprightly notes, which cannot indeed be called a song, but rather a lively, frequently repeated, and often varied twitter. They are most usually seen during the fall and winter, when they leave the depth of the woods, and approach nearer to the scenes of cultivation. At such seasons they abound among evergreens, feeding on the seeds of the pine tree ; they are also fond of sunflower seeds, and associate in parties of six, eight, or more, attended by the two species of Nuthatch already described, the Crested Titmouse, Brown Creeper, and small Spotted Woodpecker ; the whole forming a very nimble and restless company, whose food, planners and dispositions are pretty much alike. About the middle of April they begin to build, choosing the deserted hole of a squirrel or Woodpecker, and sometimes with incredible labor digging out one for themselves. The female lays six white eggs, marked with minute specks of red ; the first brood appears about the beginning of June, and the second towards the end of July ; the whole of the family 214 BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE. continue to associate together during winter. They traverse the woods in regular progression from tree to tree, tumbling, chattering and hang- ing from the extremities of the branches, examining about the roots of the leaves, buds, and crevices of the bark for insects and their larvae. They also frequently visit the orchards, particularly in fall, the sides of the barn and barn-yard in the same pursuit, trees in such situations being generally much infested with insects. We therefore with pleasure rank this little bird among the farmer's friends, and trust our rural citi- zens will always recognise him as such. This species has a very extensive range ; it has been found on the western coast of America, as far north as lat. 62° ; it is common at Hudson's Bay, and most plentiful there during winter, as it then ap- proaches the settlements in quest of food. Protected by a remarkably thick covering of long soft downy plumage, it braves the severest cold of those northern regions. The Black-capped Titmouse is five inches and a half in length, and six and a half in extent ; throat and whole upper part of the head and ridge of the neck black ; between these lines a triangular patch of white ending at the nostril ; bill black and short, tongue truncate ; rest of the upper parts lead colored or cinereous, slightly tinged with brown, wings edged with white ; breast, belly and vent yellowish white ; legs light blue ; eyes dark hazel. The male and female are nearly alike. • The figure in the plate renders any further description unnecessary. The upper parts of the head of the young are for some time of a dirty brownish tinge ; and in this state they agree so exactly with the Parui ITiidsonicus,* descrihed by Latham, as to afibrd good grounds for sus- pecting them to be the same. These birds sometimes fight violently with each other, and are known to attack young and sickly birds that are incapable of resistance, always directing their blows against the skull. Being in the woods one day, I followed a bird for some time, the singularity of whose notes surprised me. Having shot him from ofi" the top of a very tall tree, I found it to be the Black-headed Titmouse, with a long and deep inden- tation in the cranium, the skull having been evidently at some former time driven in, and fractured, but was now perfectly healed. Whether or not the change of voice could be owing to this circumstance I cannot pretend to decide. * Hudson Bay Titmouse, Synopsis, II., 557. Species II. PARUS BICOLOR. CRESTED TITMOUSE. [Plate VIII. rig. 5.] Parus bicolor, Linn. St/st. i., 544, 1. — La Mesange hupp4e de la Caroline, Bitff. r., 451. — Toupet Titmouse, Arct. Zool. i., No. 324.— Lath. Syn. iv., 544, 11. This is another associate of the preceding species ; but more noisy, more musical, and more suspicious, though rather less active. It is, nevertheless, a sprightly bird, possessing a remarkable variety in the tones of its voice, at one time not much louder than the squeaking of a mouse, and in a moment after whistling aloud, and clearly, as if calling a dog ; and continuing this dog-call through the woods for half an hour at a time. Its high, pointed crest, or as Pennant calls it, toupet, gives it a smart and not inelegant appearance. Its food corresponds with that of the foregoing ; it possesses considerable strength in the muscles of its neck, and is almost perpetually digging into acorns, nuts, crevices, and rotten parts of the bark, after the larvae of insects. It is also a con- stant resident here. When shot at and wounded, it fights with great spirit. When confined to a cage it soon becomes familiar, and will sub- sist on hemp-seed, cherry-stones, apple seeds, and hickory nuts, broken and thrown in to it. However, if the cage be made of willows, and the bird not much hurt, he will soon make his way through them. The great concavity of the lower side of the wings and tail of this genus of birds, is a strong characteristic, and well suited to their short irregular flight. This species is also found over the whole United States ; but is most numerous towards the north. It extends also to Hudson's Bay ; and, according to Latham, is found in Denmark, and in the southern parts of Greenland, where it is called Avingarsak. If so, it probably inhabits the continent of North America, from sea to sea. The Crested Titmouse is six inches long, and seven inches and a half in extent ; the whole upper parts a dull cinereous, or lead color, except the front, which is black, tinged with reddish ; whole lower parts dirty white, except the sides under the wings, which are reddish orange ; legs and feet light blue ; bill black, short and pretty strong ; wing feathers relieved with dusky on their inner vanes ; eye dark hazel ; lores white ; the head elegantly ornamented with a high, pointed, almost upright crest ; tail a little forked, considerably concave below, and of the same (215). 216 PDRPLE MARTIN. color above as the back ; tips of the wings dusky ; tongue very short, truncate, and ending in three or four sharp points. The female cannot be distinguished from the male by her plumage, unless in its being some- thing duller, for both are equally marked with reddish orange on the sides under the wings, which some foreigners have made the distinguishing mark of the male alone. The nest is built in a hollow tree, the cavity often dug by itself ; the female begins to lay early in May ; the eggs are usually six, pure white, with a few very small specks of red near the great end. The whole family, in the month of July, hunt together, the parents keeping up a continual chatter, as if haranguing and directing their inexperienced brood. Genus XLVI. HIKUNDO. SWALLOW. Species I. H. PURPUREA. PURPLE MARTIN. [Plate XXXIX. Fig. 1, Male. Fig. 2, Female.] Lath. Syn. iv., p. 574, 21. Ibid, it., p. 575, 23. — Catesb. Car. i., 51. — Arct. Zool. II., No. 333. — Hirondelle bleue de la Caroline, Buff, vi., p. 674. PL Enl. 722. — Le Martinet couleur de pourpre, Bdff. vi., p. 676. — Turt. Syst. 629. — Edw. 120.— Hirundo subis, Lath, iv., p. 575-24.* This well known bird is a general inhabitant of the United States, and a particular favorite wherever he takes up his abode. I never met with more than one man who disliked the Martins and would not permit them to settle about his house. This was a penurious close-fisted Ger- man, who hated them because, as he said, " they eat his peas." I told him he must certainly be mistaken, as I never knew an instance of Martins eating peas ; but he replied with coolness that he had many times seen them himself " blaying near the hife, and going schnip, schnap," by which I understood that it was his hees that had been the sufferers ; and the charge could not be denied. This sociable and half domesticated bird arrives in the southern fron- tiers of the United States late in February or early in March ; reaches Pennsylvania about the first of April, and extends his migrations as far north as the country round Hudson's Bay, where he is first seen in May, and disappears in August ; so, according to the doctrine of torpid- * We add the following synonymes : — Hirundo purpurea, Linn. Syst. i., p. 344. — Gmel. Sy.ii. I., p. 1020. — Hirundo campier, or some other southern voyager, I recollect that the Martin is named as an inhabitant of the regions of southern America, particularly of Chili ; and in consequence from the knowledge we have of its immense emigra- 218 PURPLE MARTIN. tion northward in our own country, we may fairly presume that its flight extends to the south as far as Terra del Fuego. If the conjecture be well founded, we may with some certainty place this useful and delightful companion and friend of the human race as the first in the order of birds of passage. Nature has furnished it with a lengthy, strong, and nervous pinion ; its legs are short too, as not to impede its passage ; the head and body are flattish ; in short, it has every indica- tion from bodily formation that Providence intended it as a bird of the longest flight. Belknap speaks of it as a visitant of New Hampshire. I have seen it in great numbers at Quebec. Hearne speaks of it in lat. 60° North. To ascertain the times of the coming of the Martin to New Orleans, and its migration to and from Mexico, Quito and Chili, are desirable data in the history of this bird ; but it is probable that the state of science in those countries renders this wish hopeless. " Relative to the domestic history, if it may be so called, of the Blue-bird (of which you have given so correct and charming a descrip- tion) and the Martin, permit me to give you an anecdote. In 1800 I removed from Lancaster to a farm a few miles above Harrisburg. Knowing the benefit derivable to a farmer from the neighborhood of the Martin in preventing the depredations of the Bald Eagle; the Hawks and even the Crows, my carpenter was employed to form a large box with a number of apartments for the Martin. The box was put up in the autumn. Near and around the house were a number of well grown apple trees and much shrubbery, a very fit haunt for the feathered race. About the middle of February the Blue-birds came ; in a short time they were very familiar, and took possession of the box : these consisted of two or three pairs. By the fifteenth of May the Blue-birds had eggs, if not young. Now the Martins arrived in numbers, visited the box, and a severe conflict ensued. The Blue-birds, seemingly animated by their right of possession, or for the protection of their young, were victorious. The Martins regularly arrived about the middle of May for the eight following years, examined the apartments of the box in the absence of the Blue-birds, but were uniformly compelled to fly upon the return of the latter. " The trouble caused you by reading this note you will be pleased to charge to the Martin. A box replete with that beautiful traveller, is not very distant from mj bed head. Their notes seem discordant because of their numbers ; yet to me they are pleasing. The indus- trious farmer and mechanic would do well to have a box fixed near the apartments of their drowsy laborers. Just as the dawn approaches, the Martin begins its notes, which last half a minute or more ; and then subside until the twilight is fairly broken. An animated and incessant musical chattering now ensues, sufficient to arouse the most sleepy per- son. Perhaps chanticleer is not their superior in this beneficial qualifi- PURPLE MARTIN. 219 cation ; and he is far beneath the Martin in his powers of annoying birds of prey." I shall add a few particulars to this faithful and interesting sketch by my deceased friend. About the middle or twentieth of April the Martins first begin to prepare their nest. The last of these which I examined was formed of dry leaves of the weeping willow, slender straws, hay and feathers, in considerable quantity. The eggs were four, very small for the size of the bird, and pure white without any spots. The first brood appears in May, the second late in July. Dur- ing the period in which the female is laying, and before she commences incubation, they are both from home the greater part of the day. When the female is sitting she is frequently visited by the male, who also occupies her place while she takes a short recreation abroad. He also often passes a quarter of an hour in the apartment beside her, and has become quite domesticated since her confinement. He sits on the outside dressing and arranging his plumage, occasionally passing to the door of the apartment as if to inquire how she does. His notes at this time seem to have assumed a peculiar softness, and his gratulations are expressive of much tenderness. Conjugal fidelity, even where there is a number together, seems to be faithfully preserved by these birds. On the twenty-fifth of May a male and female Martin took possession of a box in Mr. Bartram's garden. A day or two after, a second female made her appearance, and stayed for several days ; but from the cold reception she met with, being frequently beat ofi" by the male, she finally abandoned the place, and set ofi", no doubt to seek for a more sociable companion. The Purple Martin, like his half-cousin the King-bird, is the terror of Crows, Hawks, and Eagles. These he attacks whenever they make their appearance, and with such vigor and rapidity, that they instantly have recourse to flight. So well known is this to the lesser birds and to the domestic poultry, that as soon as they hear the Martin's voice, engaged in fight, all is alarm and consternation. To observe with what spirit and audacity this bird dives and- sweeps upon and around the Hawk or the Eagle is astonishing. He also bestows an occasional bas- tinading on the King-bird when he finds him too near his premises ; though he will at any time instantly co-operate with him in attacking the common enemy. The Martin difi"ers from all the rest of our swallows in the particular prey which he selects. "Wasps, bees, large beetles, particularly those called by the boys goldsmiths, seem his favorite game. I have taken four of these large beetles from the stomach of a Purple Martin, each of which seemed entire and even unbruised. The flight of the Purple Martin unites in it all the swiftness, ease, rapidity of turning and gracefulness of motion of its tribe. Like the 220 PUKPLE MARTIN. Swift of Europe, he sails much with little action of the wings. He passes through the most crowded parts of our streets, eluding the pas- sengers with a quickness of thought ; or plays among the clouds, gliding about at a vast height, like an aerial being. His usual note peuo peuo peuo, is loud and musical ; but is frequently succeeded by others more low and guttural. Soon after the twentieth of August he leaves Penn- sylvania for the south. This bird has been described three or four different times by European writers, as so many different species. The Canadian Swallow of Turton, and the Great American Martin of Edwards, being evidently the female of the present species. The Violet Swallow of the former author, said to inhabit Louisiana, differs in no respect from the present. Deceived by the appearance of the flight of this bird, and its similarity to that of the Swift of Europe, strangers from that country have also asserted that the Swift is common to North America and the United States. No such bird, however, inhabits any part of this continent that I have as yet visited. The Purple Martin is eight inches in length, and sixteen inches in extent; except the lores, which are black, and wings and tail, which are of a brownish black, he is of a rich and deep purplish blue, with strong violet reflections ; the bill is strong, the gap very large ; the legs also short, stout, and of a dark dirty purple ; the tail consists of twelve feathers, is considerably forked and edged with purple blue, the eye full and dark. The female (fig. 2) measures nearly as large as the male } the upper parts are blackish brown, with blue and violet reflections thinly scat- tered ; chin and breast grayish brown ; sides under the wings darker ; belly and vent whitish, not pure, with stains of dusky and yellow ochre-; wings and tail blackish brown Species II. HIRTJNDO AMERICANA. BARN SWALLOW. [Plate ZXXVIII. Fig. 1, Male. Tig. 2, Female.] There are but few persons in the United States unacquainted with this gay, innocent, and active little bird. Indeed the whole tribe are so distinguished from the rest of small birds by their sweeping rapidity of flight, their peculiar aerial evolutions of wing over our fields and rivers, and through our very streets, from morning to night, that the light of heaven its61f, the sky, the trees, or any other common objects of nature, are not better known than the Swallows. We welcome their first ap- pearance with delight, as the faithful harbingers and companions of flowery spring, and ruddy summer ; and when, after a long, frost-bound and boisterous winter, we hear it announced, that " The Swallows are come," what a train of charming ideas are associated with the simple tidings ! The wonderful activity displayed by these birds forms a striking contrast to the slow habits of most other animals. It may be fairly questioned whether among the whole feathered tribes which Heaven has formed to adorn this part of creation, there be any that, in the same space of time, pass over an equal extent of surface with the Swallow. Let a person take his stand on a fine summer evening by a new mown field, meadow or river shore for a short time, and among the numerous individuals of this tribe that flit before him, flx his eye on a particular one, and follow, for a while, all its circuitous labyrinths — its extensive sweeps — ^its sudden, rapidly reiterated zigzag excursions, little inferior to the lightning itself, and then attempt by the powers of mathematics to calculate the length of the various lines it describes. Alas ! even his omnipotent fluxions would avail him little here, and he would soon abandon the task in despair. Yet, that some definite conception may be formed of this extent, let us suppose, that this little bird flies, in his usual way, at the rate of one mile in a minute, which, from the many experiments I have made, I believe to be within the truth ; and that he is so engaged for ten hours every day ; and further, that this active life is extended to ten years (many of our small birds being known to live much longer even in a state of domestication), the amount of all (221) 222 BARN SWALLOW. these, allowing three hundred and sixty-five days to a year, would give us two millions one hundred and ninety thousand miles ; upwards of eighty-seven times the circumference of the globe ! Yet this little winged seraph, if I may so speak, who, in a few days, and at will, can pavss from the borders of the arctic regions to the torrid zone, is forced, when winter approaches, to descend to the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and mill ponds to bury itself in the mud with eels and snapping turtles ; or to creep ingloriously into a cavern, a rat hole, or a hollow tree, there to doze with snakes, toads, and other reptiles until the return of spring ! Is not this true, ye wise men of Europe and America, who have pub- lished so many credible narratives on this subject ? The Geese, the Ducks, the Cat-bird, and even the Wren, which creeps about our outhouses in summer like a mouse, are all acknowledged to be migratory, and to pass to southern regions at the approach of winter ; — the Swallow alone, on whom Heaven has conferred superior powers of wing, must sink in torpidity at the bottom of our rivers, or doze all winter in the caverns of the earth. I am myself something of a traveller, and foreign countries afford many novel sights : should I assert, that in some of my peregrinations I had met with a nation of Indians, all of whom, old and young, at the commencement of cold weather, descend to the bottom of their lakes and rivers, and there remain until the breaking up of frost ; nay, should I affirm, that thou- sands of people in the neighborhood of this city, regularly undergo the same semi-annual submersion — that I myself had fished up a whole family of these from the bottom of the Schuylkill, where they had lain torpid all winter, carried them home, and brought them all comfortably to themselves again. Should I even publish this in the learned pages of the Transactions of our Philosophical Society, who would believe me ? Is then the organization of a Swallow less delicate than that of a man ? Can a bird, whose vital functions are destroyed by a short j)rivation of pure air and its usual food, sustain, for six months, a situa- tion where the most robust man would perish in a few hours or minutes ? Away with such absurdities ! — They are unworthy of a serious refuta- tion. I should be pleased to meet with a man who has been personally more conversant with birds than myself, who has followed them in their wide and devious routes — studied their various manners — mingled with and marked their peculiarities more than I have done ; yet the miracle of a resuscitated Swallow, in the depth of winter, from the bottom of a mill-pond, is, I confess, a phenomenon in ornithology that I have never met with. What better evidence have we that these fleet-winged tribes, instead of following the natural and acknowledged migrations of many other birds, lie torpid all winter in hollow trees, caves and other subterraneous recesses ? That the Chimney Swallow, in the early part of summer, BAEN SWALLOW. 223 may have been found in a hollow tree, and in great numbers too, is not denied ; such being in some places of the country (as will be shown in the history of that species), their actual places of rendezvous, on their first arrival, and their common roosting place long after ; or that the Bank Swallows, also, soon after their arrival, in the early part of spring, may be chilled by the cold mornings which we frequently experience at that season, and be found in this state in their holes, I would as little dispute ; but that either the one or the other has ever been found, in the midst of winter, in a state of torpidity, I do not, cannot believe. Millions of trees of all dimensions are cut down every fall and winter of this country, where, in their proper season, Swallows swarm arbund us. Is it therefore in the least probable that we should, only once or twice in an age, have no other evidence than one or two solitary and very suspicious reports of a Mr. Somebody having made a discovery of this kind ? If caves were their places of winter retreat, perhaps no country on earth could supply them with a greater choice. I have my- self explored many of these in various parts of the United States both in winter and in spring, particularly in that singular tract of country in Kentucky, called the Barrens, where some of these subterraneous caverns are several miles in length, lofty and capacious, and pass under a large and deep river — have conversed with the saltpetre workers by whom they are tenanted ; but never heard or met with one instance of a Swallow having been found there in winter. These people treated such reports with ridicule. It is to be regretted that a greater number of experiments have not been made, by keeping live Swallows through the winter, to convince these believers in the torpidity of birds, of their mistake. That class of cold-blooded animals which are known to become torpid during winter, and of which hundreds and thousands are found every season, are subject to the same when kept in a suitable room for experiment. How is it with the Swallows in this respect ? Much powerful testimony might be produced on this point ; the following experiments recently made by Mr. James Pearson of London, and communicated by Sir John Trevelyn, Bart., to Mr. Bewick, the celebrated engraver in wood, will be suflScient for our present purpose, and throw great light on this part of the subject.* " Five or six of these birds were taken about the latter end of August, 1784, in a bat fowling net at night ; they were put separately into small cages, and fed with Nightingale's food : in about a week or ten days they took food of themselves ; they were then put all together into a deep cage, four feet long, with gravel at the bottom ; a broad shallow pan with water was placed in it, in which they sometimes washed them- * See Bewick's British Birds, vol. i., p. 254. 224 BARN SWALLOW. selves, and seemed much strengthened by it. One day Mr. Pearson observed that they went into the water with unusual eagerness, hurry- ing in and out again repeatedly with siich swiftness as if they had been suddenly seized with a frenzy. Being anxious to see the result, he left them to themselves about half an hour, and going to the cage, again found them all huddled together in a corner apparently dead ; the cage was then placed at a proper distance from the fire, when only two of them recovered and were as healthy as before — the rest died. The two remaining ones were allowed to wash themselves occasionally for a short time only ; but their feet soon after became swelled and inflamed, which Mr. P. attributed to their perching, and they died about Christmas. Thus the first year's experiment was in some measure lost. Not dis- couraged by the failure of this, Mr. P. determined to make a second trial the succeeding year, from a strong desire of being convinced of the truth of their going into a state of torpidity. Accordingly the next season having taken some more birds he put them into the cage, and in every respect pursued the same methods as with the last ; but to guard their feet from the bad effects of the damp 'and cold he covered the perches with flannel, and had the pleasure to observe that the birds throve extremely well ; they sung their song during the winter, and soon after Christmas began to moult, which they got through without any difficulty, and lived three or four years, regularly moulting every year at the usual time. On the renewal of their feathers it appeared that their tails were forked exactly the same as in those birds which return hither in the spring, and in every respect their appearance was the same. These birds, says Mr. Pearson, were exhibited to the Society for Pro- moting Natural History, on the fourteenth day of February, 1786, at the time they were in a deep moult, during a severe frost, when the snow was on the ground. Minutes of this circumstance were entered in the books of the society. These birds died at last from neglect, during a long illness which Mr. Pearson had : they died in the summer. Mr. P. concludes his very interesting account in these words : January 20th, 1797, I have now in my house. No. 21, Great Newport street. Long Acre, four Swallows in moult, in as perfect health as any birds ever appeared to be when moulting." The Barn Swallow of the United States has hitherto been considered by many writers as the same with the common Chimney Swallow of Europe. They diff"er, however, considerably, in color, as well as in habits ; the European species having the belly and vent white, the American species those parts of a bright chestnut ; the former building in the corners of chimneys, near the top, the latter never in such places ; but usually in barns, sheds, and other outhouses, on beams, braces, rafters, &c. It is difBcult to reconcile these constant differences of manners and markings in one and the same bird ; I shall therefore take BARN SWALLOW. 225 the liberty of considering the present as a separate and distinct species. The Barn Swallow arrives in this part of Pennsylvania from the south on the last week in March, or the first week in April, and passes on to the north as far, at least, as the river St. Lawrence. On the east side of ihe great range of the Alleghany, they are dispersed very generally over the country, wherever there are habitations, even to the summit of high mountains ; but, on account of the greater coldness of such situa- tions, are usually a week or two later in making their appearance there. On the 16th of May, being on a shooting expedition on the top of Pocono Mountain, Northampton, when the ice on that and on several successive mornings was more than a quarter of an inch thick, I ob- served with surprise a pair of these Swallows which had taken up their abode on a miserable cabin there. It was then about sunrise, the ground white with hoar frost, and the male was twittering on the roof by the side of his mate with great sprightliness. The man of the house told me that a single pair came regularly there every season, and built their nest on a projecting beam under the eaves, about six or seven feet from the ground. At the bottom of the mountain, in a large barn belonging to the tavern there, I counted upwards of twenty nests, all seemingly occupied. In the woods they are never met with ; but as you approach a farm they soon catch the eye, cutting their gambols in the air. Scarcely a barn, to which these birds can find access, is without them ; and as public feeling is universally in their favor, they are seldom or never disturbed. The proprietor of the barn last mentioned, a German, assured me, that if a man permitted the Swallows to be shot his cows would give bloody milk, and also that no barn where Swallows fre- quented would ever be struck with lightning ; and I nodded assent. When the tenets of superstition " lean to the side of humanity" one can readily respect them. On the west side of the Alleghany these birds become more rare. In travelling through the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, from Lexington to the Tennessee river, in the months of April and May, I did not see a single individual of this species ; though the Purple Martin, and, in some places, the Bank Swallow was nu- merous. Early in May they begin to build. From the size and structure of the nest it is nearly a week before it is completely finished. One of these nests, taken on the 21st of June from the rafter to which it was closely at- tached, is now lying before me. It is in the form of an inverted cone with a perpendicular section cut ofi"on that side by which it adhered to the wood. At the top it has an extension of the edge, or offset, for the male or female to sit on occasionally, as appeared by the dung ; the upper diameter was about six inches by five, the height externally seven inches. This shell is formed of mud, mixed with fine hay, as plasterers do their mortar with Vol. II.— 15 226 BARN SWALLOW. hair, to make it adhere the better ; the mud seems to have been placed in regular strata, or layers, from side to side ; the hollow of this cone (the shell of which is about an inch in thickness) is filled with fine hay, well stuffed in ; above that is laid a handful of very large downy geese feathers ; the eggs are five, white, speckled and spotted all over with reddish brown. Owing to the semi-transparency of the shell the eggs have a slight tinge of flesh color. The whole weighs about two pounds. They have generally two broods in the season. The first make their appearance about the second week in June ; and the last brood leave the nest about the 10th of August. Though it is not uncommon for twenty, and even thirty pair, to build in the same barn, yet everything seems to be conducted with great order and affection ; all seems har- mony among them, as if the interest of each were that of all. Several nests are often within a few inches of each other ; yet no appearance of discord or quarrelling takes place in this peaceful and affectionate com- munity. When the young are fit to leave the nest, the old ones entice them out by fluttering backwards and forwards, twittering and calling to them every time they pass ; and the young exercise themselveg, for se- veral days, in short essays of this kind, within doors, before they first venture abroad. As soon as they leave the barn they are conducted by their parents to the trees, or bushes, by the pond, creek, or river shore, or other suitable situation, where their proper food is most abundant, and where they can be fed with the greatest convenience to both par- ties. Now and then they take a short excursion themselves, and are also frequently fed while on wing by an almost instantaneous motion of both parties, rising perpendicularly in air and meeting each other. About the middle of August they seem to begin to prepare for their de- parture. They assemble on the roof in great numbers, dressing and ar- ranging their plumage, and making occasional essays, twittering with great cheerfulness. Their song is a kind of sprightly warble, some- times continued for a considerable .time. From this period to the eighth of September they are seen near the Schuylkill and Delaware, every afternoon, for two or three hours before sunset, passing along to the south in great numbers, feeding as they skim along. I have counted several hundreds pass within sight in less than a quarter of an hour, all directing their course towards the south. The reeds are now their regu- lar roosting places ; and about the middle of September there is scarcely an individual of them to be seen. How far south they continue their route is uncertain ; none of them remain in the United States. Mr. Bartram informs me, that during his residence in Florida, he often saw vast flocks of this and our other Swallows, passing from the peninsula towards the south in September and October ; and also on their return to ihe north about the middle of March. It is highly probable, that BARN SWALLOW. 227 were the countries to the south of the Gulf of Mexico, and as far south as the great river Maranon, visited and explored by a competent na- turalist, these regions would be found to be the winter rendezvous of the very birds now before us, and most of our other migratory tribes. In a small volume which I have lately met with, entitled " An Ac- count of the British settlement of Honduras," by Captain George Hen- derson, of the 5th West India regiment, published in London in 1809, the writer, in treating of that part of its natural history which relates to birds, gives the following particulars. "Myriads of Swallows," says he, " are also the occasional inhabitants of Honduras. The time of their residence is generally confined to the period of the rains [that is from October to February], after which they totally disappear. There is something remarkably curious and deserving of notice in the ascent of these birds. As soon as the dawn appears they quit their place of rest, which is usually chosen amid the rushes of some watery savanna ; and invariably rise to a certain height, in a compact spiral form, and which at a distance often occasions them to be taken for an immense column of smoke. This attained, they are then seen separately to dis- perse in search of food, the occupation of their day. To those who may have had the opportunity of observing the phenomenon of a water spout, the similarity of evolution, in the ascent of these birds, will be thought surprisingly striking. The descent, which regularly takes place at sunset, is conducted much in the same way ; but with incon- ceivable rapidity : and the noise which accompanies this can only be compared to the falling of an immeiise torrent ; or the rushing of a vio- lent gust of wind. Indeed, to an observer it seems wonderful, that thousands of these birds are not destroyed, in being thus propelled to the earth with such irresistible force."* How devoutly it is to be wished that the natural history of those regions were more precisely known ! So absolutely necessary as it is to the perfect understanding of this department of our own ! The Barn Swallow is seven inches long, and thirteen inches in extent ; bill black ; upper part of the head, neck, back, rump and tail coverts, steel blue, which descends rounding on the breast ; front and chin deep chestnut ; belly, vent, and lining of the wing, light chestnut ; wings and tail brown black, slightly glossed with reflections of green ; tail greatly forked, the exterior feather on each side an inch and a half longer than the next, and tapering towards the extremity, each feather, except the two middle ones, marked on its inner vane with an oblong spot of white ; lores black ; eye dark hazel ; sides of the mouth yellow ; legs dark purple. The female differs from the male in having the belly and vent rufous * Henderson's Honduras, p. 119. 228 WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW. white, instead of light chestnut ; these parts are also slightly clouded with rufous ; and the exterior tail feathers are shorter. These birds are easily tamed, and soon become exceedingly gentle and familiar. I have frequently kept them in my room for several days at a time, where they employed themselves in catching flies, picking them from my clothes, hair, &c., calling out occasionally as they ob- served some of their old companions passing the windows. Species III. HIRUNDO YIRIDIS* WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW. [Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 3.] This is the species hitherto supposed by Europeans to be the same with their common Martin, Hirundo urhica, a bird nowhere to be found within the United States. The English Martin is blue black above ; the present species greenish blue ; the former has the whole rump white, and the legs and feet are covered with short white downy feathers ; the latter has nothing of either. That ridiculous propensity in foreign writers, to consider most of our birds as varieties of their own, has led them into many mistakes, which it shall be the business of the author of the present work to point out, decisively, wherever he may meet with them. The White-bellied Swallow arrives in Pennsylvania a few days later than the preceding species. It often takes possession of an apartment in the boxes appropriated to the Purple Martin ; and also frequently builds and hatches in a hollow tree. The nest consists of fine loose dry grass, lined with large downy feathers, rising above its surface, and so placed as to curl inwards and completely conceal the eggs. These last are usually four or five in number, and pure white. They also have two broods in the season. The voice of this species is low and guttural : they are more disposed to quarrel than the Barn Swallows, frequently fighting in the air for a quarter of an hour at a time, particularly in spring, all the while keep- ing up a low rapid chatter. They also sail more in flying ; but during the breeding season frequent the same situations in quest of similar food. They inhabit the northern Atlantic states as far as the district of Maine, where I have myself seen them ; and my friend Mr. Gardiner informs me, that they are found on the coast of Long Island and its • Hirundo hicolor, Vieill. Ois. de VAm. Sept. pL 31. BANK SWALLOW. 229 neighborhood. About the middle of July I observed many hundreds of these birds sitting on the flat sandy beach near the entrance of Great Egg Harbor. They were also very numerous among the myrtles of these low islands, completely covering some of the bushes. One man told me, that he saw one hundred and two shot at a single discharge. For some time before their departure they subsist principally on the myrtle berries {Myrica cerifera) and become extremely fat. They leave us early in September. • This species appears to have remained hitherto undescribed, owing to the misapprehension before mentioned. It is not perhaps quite so nu- merous as the preceding, and rarely associates with it to breed, never using mud of any kind in the construction of its nest. The White-bellied Swallow is five inches and three quarters long, and twelve inches in extent ; bill and eye black ; upper parts a light glossy greenish blue ; wings brown black, with slight reflections of green ; tail forked, the two exterior feathers being about a quarter of an inch longer than the middle ones, and all of a uniform brown black ; lores black ; whole lower parts pure white ; wings when shut extend about a quarter of an inch beyond the tail ; legs naked, short and strong, and, as well as the feet, of a dark purplish flesh color ; claws stout. The female has much less of the greenish gloss than the male, the colors being less brilliant ; otherwise alike. Species IV. HIBVNDO RIPARIA* BANK SWALLOW, or SAND MARTIN. [Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 4.] Lath. Syn. ly., 568-10. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 332. — L'Hirondelle de rivage, Buff. VI., 632. PI. Enl. 543, f. 2.— Turt. Syst. 629. This appears to be the most sociable with its kind and the least inti- mate with man, of all our Swallows ; living together in large communi- ties of sometimes three or four hundred. On the high sandy bank of a river, quarry, or gravel pit, at a foot or two from the surface, they com- monly scratch out holes for their nests, running them in a horizontal direction to the depth of two and sometimes three feet. Several of these holes are often within a few inches of each other, and extend in various strata along the front of the precipice, sometimes for eighty or one hundred yards. At the extremity of this hole a little fine dry grass *LiNN. Syst. I., p. 344. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 1019. — Lath. Ind. Orn. n., p. 575. 230 BANK SWALLOW. with a few large downy feathers form the bed on which their eggs, gen- erally five in number, and pure white, are deposited. The young are hatched late in May ; and here I have taken notice of the common Crow, in parties of four or five, watching at the entrance of these holes, to seize the first straggling young that should make its appearance. From the clouds of Swallows that usually play around these breeding places, they remind one at a distance of a swarm of bees. The Bank Swallow arrives kere earlier than either of the preceding ; begins to build in April, and has commonly two broods in the season. Their voice is a low mutter. They are particularly fond of the shores of rivers, and, in several places along the Ohio, they congregate in im- mense multitudes. We have sometimes several days of cold rain and severe weather after their arrival in spring, from which they take refuge in their holes, clustering together for warmth, and have been frequently found at such times in almost a lifeless state with the cold ; which cir- cumstance has contributed to the belief that they lie torpid all winter in these recesses. I have searched hundreds of these holes in the months of December and January, but never found a single Swallow, dead, living, or torpid. I met with this bird in considerable numbers on the shores of the Kentucky river, between Lexington and Danville. The/ likewise visit the sea shore, in great numbers, previous to their departure, which continues from the last of September to the middle of October. The Bank Swallow is five inches long, and ten inches in extent ; upper parts mouse colored, lower white, with a band of dusky brownish across the upper part of the breast ; tail forked, the exterior feather slightly edged with whitish ; lores and bill black ; legs with a few tufts of downy feathers behind ; claws fine pointed and very sharp ; over the eye a streak of whitish ; lower side of the shafts white ; wings and tail darker than the body. The female difiers very little from the male. This bird appears to be in nothing diiferent from the European species ; from which circumstance, and its early arrival here, I would conjecture that it passes to a high northern latitude on both continents. Species V. EIRUNDO PELAS6IA* CHIMNEY SWALLOW. [Plate XXXIX. Fig. 1.] Lath. Syn. v., p. 583-32. — Catesb. Car. App. t. 8. — Hirondelle de la Caroline, Buff, vi., p. 700. — Hirundo Carolinensis, Briss. n., p. 501, 9. — Aculeated Swal- low, Arct. Zool. II., No. 335-18.— TuRT. Syst. p. 630. This species is peculiarly our own ; and strongly distinguished from all tlie rest of our Swallows by its figure, flight, and manners. Of the first of these the representation in the plate will give a correct idea ; its other peculiarities shall be detailed as fully as the nature of the subject requires. This Swallow, like all the rest of its tribe in the United States, is migratory, arriving in Pennsylvania late in April or early in May, and dispersing themselves over the whole country wherever there are vacant chimneys in summer sufficiently high and convenient for their accommo- dation. In no other situation with us are they observed at present to build. This circumstance naturally suggests the query. Where did these birds construct their nests before the arrival of Europeans in this country, when there were no such places for their accommodation ? I would answer probably in the same situations in which they still con- tinue to build in the remote regions of our western forests, where European improvements of this kind are scarcely to be found, namely, in the hollow of a tree, which in some cases has the nearest resemblance to their present choice of any other. One of the first settlers in the state of Kentucky informed me, that he cut down a large hollow beech tree which contained forty or fifty nests of the Chimney Swallow, most of which by the fall of the tree, or by the weather, were lying at the bottom of the hollow, but sufficient fragments remained adhering to the sides of the tree to enable him to number them. They appeared, he said, to be of many years' standing. The present site which they have chosen must however hold out many more advantages than the former, since we see that in the whole thickly settled parts of the United States these birds have uniformly adopted this new convenience ; not a single pair being observed to prefer the woods. Security from birds of prey and other animals — from storms that frequently overthrow the timber, * Linn. Syst. i., p. 345. — Gmel. Sysi. i., p. 1023. — Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 581. (231) 232 CHIMNEY SWALLOW. and the numerous ready conveniences which these new situations afford, are doubtless some of the advantages. The choice they have made cer- tainly bespeaks something more than mere unreasoning instinct, and does honor to their discernment. The nest of this bird is of singular construction, being formed of very small twigs, fastened together with a strong adhesive glue or gum, which is secreted by two glands, one on each side of the hind head, and mixes with the saliva. With this glue, which becomes hard as the twigs themselves, the whole nest is thickly besmeared. The nest itself is small and shallow, and attached by one side or edge to the, wall, and is totally destitute of the soft lining with which the others are so plenti- fully supplied. The eggs are generally four, and white. They gene- rally have two broods in the season. The young are fed at intervals during the greater part of the night, a fact which I have had frequent opportunities of remarking both here and in the Mississippi territory. The noise which the old ones make in passing up and down the funnel has some resemblance to distant thunder. When heavy and long-con- tinued rains occur, the nest, losing its hold, is precipitated to the bottom. This disaster frequently happens. The eggs are destroyed ; but the young, though blind (which they are for a considerable time), sometimes scramble up along the vent, to which they cling like squirrels, the muscularity of their feet and the sharpness of their claws at this tender age being remarkable. In this situation they continue to be fed for perhaps a week or more. Nay, it is not uncommon for them voluntarily to leave the nest long before they are able to fly, and to fix themselves on the wall, where they are fed until able to hunt for themselves. When these birds first arrive in spring, and for a considerable time after, they associate together every evening in one general rendezvous ; those of a whole district roosting together. This place of repose, in the more unsettled parts of the country, is usually a large hollow tree open at top, trees of that kind, or Swallow trees, as they are usually called, having been noticed in various parts of the country and gene- rally believed to be the winter quarters of these birds, where, heaps upon heaps, they dozed away the winter in a state of torpidity. Here they have been seen on their resurrection in spring, and here they have again been remarked descending to their death-like sleep in autumn. Among various accounts of these trees that might be quoted, the fol- lowing are selected as bearing the marks of authenticity. " At Middle- bury, in this state," says Mr. Williams, Hist, of Vermont, p. 16, "there was a large hollow elm, called by the people in the vicinity, the Swallow tree. From a man who for several years lived within twenty rods of it, I procured this information. He always thought the Swallows tarried in the tree through the winter, and avoided cutting it down on that CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 233 account. About the first of May the Swallows came out of it in large numbers, about the middle of the day, and soon returned. As the weather grew warmer they came out in the morning with a loud noise, or roar, and were soon dispersed. About half an hour before sundown they returned in millions, circulating two or three times round the tree, and then descending like a stream into a hole about sixty feet from the ground. It was customary for persons in the vicinity to visit this tree to observe the motions of these birds : and when any persons disturbed their operations by striking violently against the tree with their axes, the Swallows would rush out in millions and with a great noise. In November, 1791, the top of this tree was blown down twenty feet below where the Swallows entered. There has been no appearance of the Swallows since. Upon cutting down the remainder an immense quan- tity of excrements, quills and feathers, were found, but no appearance or relics of any nests. " Another of these Swallow trees was at Bridport. The man who lived the nearest to it gave this account. The Swallows were first observed to come out of the tree in the spring about the time that the leaves first began to appear on the trees ; from that season they came out in the morning about half an hour after sunrise. They rushed out like a stream, as big as the hole in the tree would admit, and ascended in a perpendicular line until they were above the height of the adjacent trees ; then assumed a circular motion, performing their evolutions two or three times, but always in a larger circle, and then dispersed in every direction. A little before sundown they returned in immense numbers, forming several circular motions, and then descended like a stream into the hole, from whence they came out in the morning. About the middle of September they were seen entering the tree for the last time. These birds were all of the species called the House or Chimney Swallow. The tree was a large hollow elm ; the hole at which they entered was about forty feet above the ground, and about nine inches in diameter. The Swallows made their first appearance in the spring and their last appearance in the fall in the vicinity of this tree ; and the neighboring inhabitants had no doubt but that the Swallows continued in it during the winter. A few years ago a hole was cut at the bottom of the tree ; from that time the Swallows have been gradually forsaking the tree and have now almost deserted it." Though Mr. Williams himself, as he informs us, is led to believe frorr. these and some other particulars which he details, " that the House Swallow in this part of America generally resides during the winter in the hollow of trees ; and the Ground Swallows [Bank Swallows] find security in the mud at the bottom of lakes, rivers, and ponds," yet I cannot in the cases just cited see any sufiicient cause for such a belief. The birds were seen to pass out on the first of May or in the spring 234 CHIMNEY SWALLOW. when the leaves began to appear on the trees, and about the middle of September they were seen entering the tree for the last time ; but there is no information here of their being seen at any time during winter either within or around the tree. This most important part of the matter is taken for granted without the least examination, and, as will be presently shown, without foundation. I shall, I think, also prove that if these trees had been cut down in the depth of winter not a single Swallow would have been found either in a living or a torpid state ! And that this was merely a place of rendezvous for active living birds is evident from the "immense quantity of excrements" found within it, which birds in a state of torpidity are not supposed to produce. The total absence of the relics of nests is a proof that it was not a breeding place, and that the whole was nothing more than one of those places to which this singular bird resorts, immediately on its arrival in May, in which also many of the males continue to roost during the whole summer, and from which they regularly depart about the middle of September. From other circumstances it appears probable that some of these trees have been for ages the summer rendezvous or general roosting place of the whole Chimney Swallows of an extensive district. Of this sort I conceive the following to be one which is thus described by a late traveller to the westward. Speaking of the curiosities of the state of Ohio the writer observes, " In connection with this I may mention a large collection of feathers found within a hollow tree which I examined with the Rev. Mr. Story, May 18, 1803. It is in the upper part of Waterford, about two miles distant from the Muskingum. A very large sycamore, which through age had decayed and fallen down, contained in its hollow trunk, five and a half feet in diameter, and for nearly fifteen feet upwards, a mass of decayed feathers with a small admixture of brownish dust and the exuviae of various insects. The feathers were so rotten that it was impossible to determine to what kind of birds they belonged. They were less than those of the pigeon ; and the largest of them were like the pinion and tail feathers of the Swallow. I examined carefully this astonishing collection in the hope of finding the bones and bills, but could not distinguish any. The tree with some remains of its ancient companions lying around was of a growth preceding that of the neigh- boring forest. Near it and even out of its mouldering ruins grow thrifty trees of a size which indicate two or three hundred years of age."* Such are the usual roosting places of the Chimney Swallow in the more thinly settled parts of the country. In towns, however, they are difi'erently situated, and it is matter of curiosity to observe that they frequently select the court-house chimney for their general place of * Harris's Journal, p. 180. CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 235 rendezvous, as being usually more central, and less liable to interruption during the night. I might enumerate many places where this is their practice. Being in the town of Reading, Pennsylvania, in the month of August, I took notice of sixty or eighty of these birds, a little before evening, amusing themselves by ascending and descending the chimney of the court-house there. I was told that in the early part of summer they were far more numerous at that particular spot. On the twentieth of May in returning from an excursion to the Great Pine Swamp, I spent part of the day in the town of Easton, where I was informed by my respected friend Mordecai Churchman, cashier of the bank there, and one of the people called Quakers, that the Chimney Swallows of Easton had selected the like situation ; and that from the windows of his house, which stands nearly opposite to the court-house, I might in an hour or two witness their whole manoeuvres.. I accepted the invitation with pleasure. Accordingly a short time after sunset the Chimney Swallows, which were generally dispersed about town, began to collect around the court-house, their numbers every moment increasing, till, like motes in the sunbeams, the air seemed full of them. These while they mingled amongst each other seemingly in every direction, uttering their pepuliar note with great sprightliness, kept a regular circuitous sweep around the top of the court-house, and about fourteen or fifteen feet above it, revolving with great rapidity for the space of at' least ten minutes. There could not be less than four or five hundred of them. They now gradually varied their line of motion until one part of its circumference passed immediately over the chimney and about five or six feet above it. Some as they passed made a slight feint of entering, which was repeated by those immediately after, and by the whole circling multitude in succession ; in this feint they approached nearer and nearer at every revolution, dropping perpendicu- larly, but still passing over ; the circle meantime becoming more and more contracted, and the rapidity of its revolution greater as the dusk of evening increased, until at length one, and then another, dropped in, another and another followed, the circle still revolving until the whole multitude had descended except one or two. These flew oif as if to collect the stragglers, and in a few seconds returned with six or eight more, which, after one or two rounds, dropped in one by one, and all was silence for the night. It seemed to me hardly possible that the internal surface of the vent could accommodate them all, without cluster- ing on one another, which I am informed they never do ; and I was very desirous of observing their ascension in the morning, but having to set off before day, I had not that gratification. Mr. Churchman, however, to whom I have since transmitted a few queries, has been so obliging as to inform me, that towards the beginning of June the number of those that regularly retired to the court-house to roost, was not more than 236 CHIMNEY SWALLOW. one-fourth of the former ; that on the morning of the twenty-third of June he particularly observed their reascension, which took place at a quarter past four, or twenty minutes before sunrise, and that they passed out in less than three minutes. That at my request the chimney had been examined from above ; but that as far down at least as nine feet, it contained no nests ; though at a former period it is certain that their nests were very numerous there, so that the chimney was almost choked, and a sweep could with difficulty get up it. But then it was observed that their place of nocturnal retirement was in another quarter of the town. " On the whole," continues Mr. Churchman, "I am of opinion, that those who continue to roost at the court-house are male birds, or such as are not engaged in the business of incubation, as that operation is going on in almost every unoccupied chimney in town. It is reason- able to suppose if they made use of that at the court-house for this purpose, at least some of their nests would appear towards the top, as we find such is the case where but few nests are in a place." In a subsequent letter Mr. Churchman writes as follows : — " After the young brood produced in the different chimneys in Easton had taken wing, and a week or ten days previous to their total disappearance, they entirely forsook the court-house chimney, and rendezvoused in accumulated numbers in the southernmost chimney of John Ross's mansion, situated perhaps one hundred feet northeastward of the court- house. In this last retreat I several times counted more than two hun- dred go in of an evening, when I could not perceive a single bird enter the court-house chimney. I was much diverted one evening on seeing a cat, which came upon the roof of the house, and placed herself near the chimney, where she strove to arrest the birds as they entered, with- out success ; she at length ascended to the chimney top and took her station, and the birds descended in gyrations without seeming to regard grimalkin, who made frequent attempts to grab them. I was pleased to see that they all escaped her fangs. About the first week in the ninth month [September] the birds quite disappeared ; since which I have not observed a single individual. Though I was not so fortunate as to be present at their general assembly and council when they con- cluded to take their departure, nor did I see them commence their flight ; yet I am fully persuaded that none of them remain in any of our chimneys here. I have had access to Ross's chimney where they last resorted, and could see the lights' out from bottom to top, without the least vestige or appearance of any birds. Mary Ross also informed me, that they have had their chimneys swept previous to their making fires, and though late in autumn no birds have been found there. Chimneys also which have not been used have been ascended by sweeps in the winter without discovering any. Indeed all of them are swept every fall and winter, and I have never heard of the Swallows being CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 237 found in either a dead, living or torpid state. As to the court-house it has been occupied as a place of worship two or three times a week for several weeks past, and at those times there has been fire in the stoves, the pipes of them both going into the chimney, which is shut up at bottom by brick work : and as the birds had forsaken that place, it remains pretty certain that they did not return there ; and if they did the smoke I think would be deleterious to their existence ; especially as I never knew them to resort to kitchen chimneys where fire was kept in the summer. I think I have noticed them enter such chimneys for the purpose of exploring ; but I have also noticed that they immediately ascended, and went ofi", on finding fire and smoke." The Chimney Swallow is easily distinguished in air from the rest of its tribe here, by its long wings, its short body, the quick and slight vibrations of its wings, and its wide, unexpected diving rapidity of flight ; shooting swiftly in various directions without any apparent motion of the wings, and uttering the sounds tsip tsip tsip tsee tsee in a hurried manner. In roosting, the thorny extremities of its tail are thrown in for its support. It is never seen to alight but in hollow trees or chimneys ; is always most gay and active in wet and gloomy weather, and is the earliest abroad in morning, and latest out in evening of all our Swallows. About the first or second week in September, they move oflF to the south, being often observed on their route accompanied by the Purple Martins. When we compare the manners of these birds while here with the account given by Capt. Henderson of those that winter in such multi- tudes at Honduras, it is impossible not to be struck with the resem- blance ; or to suppress our strong suspicions that they may probably be the very same. This species is four inches and a half in length, and twelve inches in extent! altogether of a deep sooty brown, except the chin and line over the eye, which are of a dull white ; the lores, as in all the rest, are black ; bill extremely short, hard and black, nostrils placed in a slightly elevated membrane ; legs- covered with a loose purplish skin ; thighs naked and of the same tint ; feet extremely muscular ; the three fore toes nearly of a length ; claws very sharp ; the wing when closed extends an inch and a half beyond the tip of the tail, which is rounded, and consists of ten feathers scarcely longer than their coverts ; their shafts extend beyond the vanes, are sharp pointed, strong, and very elastic, and of a deep black color ; the shafts of the wing quills are also remarkably strong ; eye black, surrounded by a bare blackish skin or orbit. The female can scarcely be distinguished from the male by her plumage. Genus XLVII. CAPKIMULGUS. GOATSUCKER. Species I. C. CAROLINENSIS* CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW. [Plate WV. Fig. 2.] This solitary bird is rarely found to the north of James river in Vir- ginia on the sea-board, or of Nashville in the state of Tennessee in the interior ; and no instance has come to my knowledge in which it has been seen either in New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Maryland. On my journey south I first met with it between Richmond and Petersburg in Virginia, and also on the banks of the Cumberland in Tennessee. Mr. Pennant has described this bird under the appellation of the Short-winged Goatsucker (Arct. Zool. No. 3-36), from a specimen which he received from Dr. Garden of Charleston, South Carolina ; but in speaking of its manners he confounds it with the Whip-poor-will, though the latter is little more than half the cubic bulk of the former, and its notes altogether different. " In South Carolina," says this writer, speaking of the present species, " it is called, from one of its notes, Chuck, chiick-wiW s-widow ; and in the northern provinces Whip-poor- will, from the resemblance which another of its notes bears to those words."t He then proceeds to detail the manners of the common Whip-poor-will, by extracts from Dr. Garden and Mr. Kalm, which clearly prove that all of them were personally unacquainted with that bird; and had never seen or examined any other than two of bur species, the Short-winged or Chuck-will's-widow, and the Long-winged, or Night Hawk, to both of which they indiscriminately attribute the notes and habits of the Whip-poor-will. The Chuck-will's-widow, so called from its notes which seem exactly to articulate those words, arrives on the sea coast of Georgia about the middle of March, and in Virginia early in April. It commences its singular call generally in the evening, soon after sunset, and continues it with short occasional interruptions for several hours. Towards morn- * Gmel. Syst. I., p. 1028. — Lath. Ind. Orn. ii., p. 584. — Caprimulgus rufus, ViEiLL. Ois. de V Am. Sept. PI. 25, female. t Arct. Zool. p. 434. (238) CHUCK-WILL'S WIDOW. 239 ing these repetitions are renewed, and continue until dawn has fairly appeared. During the day it is altogether silent. This note, or call, instantly attracts the attention of a stranger, and is strikiifgly different from that of the Whip-poor-will. • In sound and articulation it seems plainly to express the words which have been applied to \t [Chuck-wilV s- widow), pronouncing each syllable leisurely and distinctly, putting the principal emphasis on the last word. In a still evening it may be heard at the- distance of nearly a mile, the tones of its voice being stronger and more full than those of the Whip-poor-will, who utters his with much greater rapidity. In the Chickasaw country, and throughout the whole Missisippi territory, I found the present species very numerous in the months of April and May, keeping up a continued noise during the whole evening, and in moonlight throughout the whole of the night. The flight of this bird is slow, skimming about at a few feet above the surface of the ground, frequently settling on old logs, or on the fences, and from thence sweeping around in pursuit of various winged insects that fly in the night. Like the Whip-poor-will it prefers the declivities of glens and other deeply shaded places, making the surrounding moun- tains ring with echoes the whole evening. I several times called the attention of the Chickasaws to the notes of this bird, on which occa- sions they always assumed a grave and thoughtful aspect ; but it ap- peared to me that they made no distinction between the two species ; so that whatever superstitious notions they may entertain of the one are probably applied to both. This singular genus of birds, formed to subsist on the superabundance of nocturnal insects, are exactly and surprisingly fitted for their pecu- liar mode of life. Their flight is low, to accommodate itself to their prey ; silent, that they may be the better concealed, and sweep upon it unawares ; their sight most acute in the dusk, when such insects are abroad ; their evolutions something like those of the bat, quick and sud- den ; their mouths capable of prodigious expansion, to seize with more certainty, and furnished with long branching hairs, or bristles, serving as palisadoes to secure what comes between them. Reposing so much during the heats of day they are much infested with vermin, particu- larly about the head, and are provided with a comb on the inner edge of the middle claw, with which they are often employed in ridding them- selves of these pests, at least when in a state of captivity. Having no weapons of defence except their wings, their chief security is in. the solitude of night, and in their color and close retreats by day ; the for- mer so much resembling that of dead leaves of various hues as not to be readily distinguished from them even when close at hand. The Chuck-will's-widow lays its eggs, two in number, on the ground, generally, and I believe always, in the woods ; it makes no nest ; the eggs are of a dull olive color, sprinkled with darker specks, are about 240 CHUCK-WILL'S WIDOW. as large as those of a Pigeon, and exactly oval. Early in September they retire from the United States. This species is twelve inches long, and twenty-six in extent ; bill yel- lowish, tipped with black ; the sides of the mouth are armed with nu- merous long bristles, strong, tapering, and furnished with finer hairs branching from each ; cheeks and chin rust color, specked with black ; over the eye extends a line of small whitish spots ; head and back very deep brown, powdered with cream, rust and bright ferruginous, and marked with long ragged streaks of black ; scapulars broadly spotted with deep black, bordered with cream, and interspersed with whitish ; the plumage of that part of the neck which falls over the back is long, something like that of a cock, and streaked with yellowish brown ; wing quills barred with black and bright rust ; tail rounded, extending about an inch beyond the tips of the wings ; it consists of ten feathers, the four middle ones are powdered with various tints of ferruginous, and elegantly marked with fine zigzag lines and large herring-bone figures of black ; exterior edges of the three outer feathers barred like the wings ; their interior vanes for two-thirds of their length are pure snowy white, marbled with black and ferruginous at the base ; this white spreads over the greater part of the three outer feathers near their tips ; across the throat is a slight band or mark of whitish ; breast black, powdered with rust ; belly and vent lighter ; legs feathered before nearly to the feet, which are of a dirty purplish flesh color ; inner side of the middle claw deeply pectinated. The female differs chiefly in wanting the pure white on the three ex- terior tail feathers, these being more of a brownish cast. Species II. CAPBTMULGUS AMERICANUS* NIGHT-HAWK. [Plate XL. Fig. 1, Male. Fig. 2, Female.] Long^winged Goatsucker, Arct. Zool., No. 337. This bird, in Virginia and some of the southern districts, is called a bat ; the name Night-hawk is usually given it in the Middle and Northern States, probably on account of its appearance when on wing very much resembling some of our small Hawks, and from its habit of flying chiefly in the evening. Though it is a bird universally known in the United States, and inhabits North America, in summer, from Florida to Hudson's Bay, yet its history has been involved in considerable obscurity by foreign writers, as well as by some of our own country. Of this I shall endeavor to divest it in the present account. Three species only, of this genus, are found within the United States ; the Chuck-wilV s-widow, the Whip-poor-will, and the Night-hawk. The first of these is confined to those states lying south of Maryland ; the other two are found generally over the Union, but are frequently con- founded one with the other, and by some supposed to be one and the same bird. A comparison of this with the succeeding plate, which contains the figure of the Whip-poor-will, will satisfy those who still have their doubts on this subject ; and the great difi"erence of manners which distinguishes each will render this still more striking and satis- factory. On the last week in April, the Night-Hawk commonly makes its first appearance in this part of Pennsylvania. At what particular period they enter Georgia I am unable to say ; but I find by my notes, that in passing to New Orleans by land, I first observed this bird in Kentucky on the 21st of April. They soon after disperse generally over the coun- try, from the seashore to the mountains, even to the heights of the Alleghany ; and are seen, towards evening, in pairs, playing about, high in air, pursuing their prey, wasps, flies, beetles, and various other winged insects of the larger sort. About the middle of May the female begins to lay. No previous preparation or construction of nest is made ; though doubtless the particular spot has been reconnoitred and deter- * CapHmulgus popetue, Vieill. Ois. de I'Am. Sept. pi. 24, female. Vol. II.— 16 (241) 242 NIGHT-HAWK. mined on. This is sometimes in an open space in the woods, frequently in a ploughed field, or in the corner of a corn-field. The eggs are placed on the bare ground ; in all cases on a dry situation, where the color of the leaves, ground, stones or other circumjacent parts of the surface may resemble the general tint of the eggs, and thereby render them less easy to be discovered. The eggs are most commonly two, rather oblong, equally thick at both ends, of a dirty bluish white, and marked with innumerable touches of dark olive brown. To the imme- diate neighborhood of this spot the male and female confine themselves, roosting on the high trees adjoining, during the greater part of the day, seldom, however, together, and almost always on separate trees. They also sit lengthwise on the branch, fence or limb on which they roost, and never across, like most other birds ; this seems occasioned by the shortness and slender form of their legs and feet, which are not at all calculated to grasp the branch with sufficient firmness to balance their bodies. As soon as incubation commences, the male keeps a most vigilant watch around. He is then more frequently seen playing about in the air over the place, even during the day, mounting by several quick vibrations of the wings, then a few slower, uttering all the while a sharp harsh squeak, till having gained the highest point, he suddenly precipi- tates himself, head foremost, and with great rapidity, down sixty-or eighty feet, wheeling up again as suddenly ; at which instant is heard a loud booming sound, very much resembling that produced by blowing strongly into the bung hole of an empty hogshead ; and which is doubt- less produced by the sudden expansion of his capacious mouth, while he passes through the air, as exhibited in the figure on the plate. He again mounts by alternate quick and leisurely motions of the wings, playing about as he ascends, uttering his usual hoarse squeak, till in a few minutes he again dives with the same impetuosity and violent sound as before. Some are of opinion that this is done to intimidate man or beast from approaching his nest, and he is particularly observed to re- peat these divings most frequently around those who come near the spot, sweeping down past them, sometimes so near, and so suddenly, as to startle and alarm them. The same individual is, however, often seen performing these manoeuvres over the river, the hill, the meadow and the marsh in the space of a quarter of an hour, and also towards the fall, when he has no nest. This singular habit belongs peculiarly to the male. The female has, indeed, the common hoarse note^ and much the same mode of fiight ; but never precipitates herself in the manner of the male. During the time she is sitting, she will sufi"er you to approach within a foot or two before she attempts to stir, and when she does, it is in such a fluttering, tumbling manner, and with such appearance of a lame and wounded bird, as nine times in ten to deceive the person, and NIGHT-HAWK. 243 induce him to pursue her. This "pious fraud," as the poet Thomson calls it, is kept up until the person is sufficiently removed from the nest, when she immediately mounts and disappears. When the young are first hatched it is difficult to distinguish them from the surface of the ground, their down being of a pale brownish color, and they are altoge- ther destitute of the common shape of birds, sitting so fixed and- so squat as to be easily mistaken for a slight prominent mouldiness lying on the ground. I cannot say whether they have two broods in the sea- son ; I rather conjecture that they have generally but one. The Night-hawk is a bird of strong and vigorous flight, and of large volume of wing. It often visits the city, darting and squeaking over the streets at a great height, diving perpendicularly with the same hol- low sound as before described. I have also seen them sitting on chim- ney tops in some of the most busy parts of the city, occasionally utter- ing their common note. "When the weather happens to be wet and gloomy, the Night-hawks are seen abroad at all times of the day, generally at a considerable height ; their favorite time, however, is from two hours before sunset until dusk. At such times they seem all vivacity, darting about in the air in every direction, making frequent short sudden turnings, as if busily engaged in catching insects. Even in the hottest, clearest weather, they are occasionally seen abroad, squeaking at short intervals. They are also often found sitting along the fences, basking themselves in the sun. Near the seashore, in the vicinity of extensive salt marshes, they are likewise very numerous, skimming over the meadows, in the manner of swallows, until it is so dark that the eye can no longer follow them. When wounded and taken, they attempt to intimidate you by opening their mouth to its utmost stretch, throwing the head forwards, and ut- tering a kind of guttural whizzing sound, striking also violently with their wings, which seem to be their only offensive weapons ; for they never attempt to strike with the bill or claws. About the middle of August they begin to move ofi" towards the south ; at which season they may be seen almost every evening, from five o'clock until after sunset, passing along the Schuylkill and the adjacent shores, in widely scattered multitudes, all steering towards the south. I have counted several hundreds within sight at the same time, dispersed through the air, and darting after insects as they advanced. These oc- casional processions continue for two or three weeks ; none are seen travelling in the opposite direction. Sometimes they are accompanied by at least twice as many Barn Swallows, some Chimney Swallows and Purple Martins. They are also most numerous immediately preceding a northeast storm. At this time also they abound in the extensive meadows on the Schuylkill and Delaware, where I have counted fifteen 244 NIGHT-HAWK. skimming over a single field in an evening. On snooting some of these, on the 14th of August, their stomachs were almost exclusively filled ■with crickets. From one of them I took nearly ' a common snuff-box full of these insects, all seemingly fresh swallowed. By the middle or 20th of September very few of these birds are to be seen in Pennsylvania ; how far south they go, or at what particular time they pass the southern boundaries of the United States I am unable to say. None of them winter in Georgia. The ridiculous name Croatsucker, which was first bestowed on the European species from a foolish notion that it sucked the teats of the goats, because probably it inhabited the solitary heights where they fed, which nickname has been since applied to the whole genus, I have thought proper to omit. There is something worse than absurd in con- tinuing to brand a whole family of birds with a knavish name, after they are universally known to be innocent of the charge. It is not only un- just, but tends to encourage the belief in an idle fable that is totally destitute of all foundation. The Night-hawk is nine inches and a half in length, and twenty-three inches in extent ; the upper parts are of a very deep blackish brown, unmixed on the primaries, but thickly sprinkled or powdered on the back scapulars and head with innumerable minute spots and streaks of a pale cream color, interspersed with specks of reddish ; the scapulars are barred with the same, also the tail coverts and tail, the inner edges of which are barred with white and deep brownish black for an inch and a half from the tip, where they are crossed broadly with a band of white, the two middle ones excepted, which are plain deep brown, barred and sprinkled with light clay ; a spotof pure white extends over the five first primaries, the outer edge of the exterior feather excepted, and about the middle of the wing ; a triangular spot of white also marks the throat, bending up on each side of the neck ; the bill is exceeding small, scarcely one-eighth of an inch in length, and of a black color ; the nostrils circular, and surrounded with a prominent rim ; eye large and full, of a deep bluish black ; the legs are short, feathered a little below the knees, and, as well as the toes, of a purplish flesh color, seamed with white ; the middle claw is pectinated on its inner edge, to serve as a comb to clear the bird of vermin ; the whole lower parts of the body are marked with transverse lines of dusky and yellowish. The tail is somewhat sJiorter than the wings when shut, is handsomely forked, and consists of ten broad feathers ; the mouth is extremely large, and of a reddish flesh color within ; there are no bristles about the bill; the tongue is very small, and attached to the inner surface of the mouth. The female measures about nine inches in length and twenty-two in breadth ; differs in haying no white band on the tail, hut has the spot of white on the wing ; wants the triangular spot of white on the throat, WHIP-POOR-WILL. 246 instead of which there is a dully defined mark of a reddish cream color ; the wings are nearly black, all the quills being slightly tipped with white ; the tail is as in the male, and minutely tipped with white ; all the scapulars and whole upper parts are powdered with a much lighter gray. There is no description of the present species in Turton's translation of Linnaeus. The characters of the genus given in the same work are also in this case incorrect, viz. " mouth furnished with a series of bristles — tail not forked," the Night-hawk having nothing of the former, and its tail being largely forked. CAPRIMULGUS V0CIFEBU8.* WHIP-POOR-WILL. [Plate XLI. Fig. 1, Male. Fig. 2, Female. Fig. 8, Young.] This is a singular and very celebrated species, universally noted over the greater part of the United States for the loud reiterations of his favourite call in spring ; and yet personally he is but little known, most people being unable to distinguish this from the preceding species, when both are placed before them ; and some insisting that they are the same. This being the case, it becomes the duty of his historian to give a full and faithful delineation of his character and peculiarity of manners, that his existence as a distinct and independent species may no longer be doubted, nor his story mingled confusedly with that of another. I trust that those best acquainted with him will bear witness to the fidelity of the portrait. On or about the twenty-fifth of April, if the season be not uncom- monly cold, the Whip-pool-will is first heard in this part of Pennsylvania, in the evening, as the dusk of twilight commences, or in the morning as soon as dawn has broke. In the state of Kentucky I first heard this bird on the fourteenth of April, near the town of Danville. The notes of this solitary bird, from the ideas which are naturally associated with them, seem like the voice of an old friend, and are listened to by almost all with great interest. At first they issue from some retired part of the woods, the glen or mountain ; in a few evenings perhaps we hear them from the adjoining coppice — the garden fence — the road before the door, and even from the roof of the dwelling house, long after the family have retired to rest. Some of the more ignorant and * Caprimulgus virginianus, Vieill. Ois. de I'Am. Sept. pi. 23. 246 WHIP-POOR-WILL. superstitious cousider this near approach as foreboding no good to the family, nothing less than sickness, misfortune or death to some of its members ; these visits, however, so often occur without any bad conse- quences, that this superstitious dread seems on the decline. He is now a regular acquaintance. Every morning and evening his shrill and rapid repetitions are heard from the adjoining woods, and when two or more are calling out at the same time, as is often the case in the pairing season, and at no great distance from each other, the njise, mingling with the echoes from the mountains, is really surprising. Strangers, in parts of the country where these birds are numerous, find it almost impossible for some time to sleep ; while to those long acquainted with them, the sound often serves as a lullaby to assist their repose. These notes seem pretty plainly to articulate the words which have been generally applied to them, Whip-poor-will, the first and last sylla- bles being uttered with great emphasis, and the whole in about a second to each repetition ; but when two or more males meet, their whip-poor- will altercations become much more rapid and incessant, as if each were straining to overpower or silence the other. When near, you often hear an introductory cluck between the notes. At these times, as well as at almost all others, they fly low, not more than a few feet from the surface, skimming about the house and before the door, alighting on the wood pile, or settling on the roof. Towards midnight they generally become silent, unless in clear moonlight, when they are heard with little inter- mission till morning. If there be a creek near, with high precipitous bushy banks, they are sure to be found in such situations. During the day they sit in the most retired, solitary and deep shaded parts of the woods, generally on high ground, where they repose in silence. "When disturbed they rise within a few feet, sail low and slowly through the woods for thirty or forty yards, and generally settle on a low branch or on the ground. Their sight appears deficient during the day, as, like Owls, they seem then to want that vivacity for which they are distinguished in the morning and evening twilight. They are rarely shot at, or mo- lested ; and from being thus transiently seen in the obscurity of dusk, or in the deep umbrage of the woods, no wonder their particular mark- ings of plumage should be so little known, or that they should be con- founded with the Night-hawk, whom in general appearance they so much resemble. The female begins to lay about the second week in May, selecting for this purpose the most unfrequented part of the wood, often where some brush, old logs, heaps of leaves, &c., had been lying, and always on a dry situation. The eggs are deposited on the ground, . or on the leaves, not the slightest appearance of a nest being visible. These are usually two in number, in shape much resembling those of the Night-hawk, but having the ground color much darker, and more thickly WHIP-POOR-WILL. 247 marbled with dark oliye. The precise period of incubation I am unable to say. In traversing the woods one day, in the early part of June, along the brow of a rocky declivity, a Whip-poor-will rose from my feet and flut- tered along, sometimes prostrating herself and beating the ground with her wings, as if just expiring. Aware of her purpose, I stood still and began to examine the space immediately around me for the eggs or young, one or the other of which I was certain must be near. After a long search, to my mortification, I could find neither ; and was just going to abandon the spot, when I perceived somewhat like a slight mouldiness among the withered leaves, and on stooping down discovered it to be a young Whip-poor-will, seemingly asleep, as its eye-lids were nearly closed ; or perhaps this might only be to protect its tender eyes from the glare of day. I sat down by it on the leaves, and drew it as it then appeared (see fig. 3). It was probably not a week old. All the while I was thus engaged it neither moved its body, nor opened its eyes more than half; and I left it as I found it. After I had walked about a quarter of a mile from the spot, recollecting that I had left a pencil behind, I returned and found my pencil, but the young bird was gone. Early in June, as soon as the young appear, the notes of the male usually cease, or are heard but rarely. Towards the latter part of sum- mer, a short time before these birds leave us, they are again occasionally heard ; but their call is then not so loud — much less emphatical, and more interrupted than in spring. Early in September they move off towards the south. The favorite places of resort for these birds are on high dry situa- tions ; in low marshy tracts of country they are seldom heard. It is probably on this account that they are scarce on the seacoast and its immediate neighborhood ; while towards the mountains they are very numerous. The Night-hawks, on the contrary, delight in these exten- sive sea marshes ; and are much more numerous there than in the inte- rior and higher parts of the country. But nowhere in the United States have I found the Whip-poor-will in such numbers as in that tract of country in the stat6 of Kentucky called the Barrens. This appears to be their most congenial climate and place of residence. There, from the middle of April to the first of June, as soon as the evening twilight draws on, the shrill and confused clamors of these birds are incessant, and very surprising to a stranger. They soon, however, become ex- tremely agreeable, the inhabitants lie down at night lulled by their whistlings ; and the first approach of dawn is announced by a general and lively chorus of the same music ; while the full- toned tooting, as it is called, of the Pinnated Grouse, forms a very pleasing bass to the whole. 248 WHIP-POOR-WILL. I shall not, in the manner of some, attempt to amuse the reader with a repetition of the unintelligible names given to this bird by the Indians ; or the superstitious notions generally entertained of it by the same people. These seem as various as the tribes, or even families with which you converse ; scarcely two of them will tell you the same story. It is easy however to observe, that this, like the Owl and other noctur- nal birds, is held by them in a kind of suspicious awe, as a bird with which they wish to have as little to do as possible. The superstition of the Indian differs very little from that of an illiterate German, a Scots Highlander, or the less informed of any other nation. It suggests ten thousand fantastic notions to each, and these, instead of being recorded with all the punctilio of the most important truths, seem only fit to be forgotten. Whatever, among either of these people, is strange and not comprehended, is usually attributed to supernatural agency ; and an unexpected sight, or uncommon incident, is often ominous of good, but more generally of bad fortune, to the parties. Night, to minds of this complexion, brings with it its kindred horrors, its appari- tions, strange sounds and awful sights ; and this solitary and inoffensive bird being a frequent wanderer in these hours of ghosts and hobgoblins, is considered by the Indians, as being by habit and repute little better than one of them. All those people, however, are not so credulous : I have conversed with Indians who treated these silly notions with contempt. The Whip-poor-will is never seen during the day, unless in circum- stances such as have been described. Their food appears to be large moths, grasshoppers, pismires, and such insects as frequent the bark of old rotten and decaying timber. They are also expert in darting after winged insects. They will sometimes skim in the dusk, within a few feet of a person, uttering a kind of low chatter as they pass. In ^their migrations north, and on their return, they probably stop a day or two at some of their former stages, and do not advance in one continued flight. The Whip-poor-will was first heard this season on the second day of May in a corner of Mr. Bartram's woods, not far from the house, and for two or three mornings after in the same place, where I also saw it. From this time until the beginning of September there were none of these birds to be found, within at least one mile of the place ; though I frequently made search for them. On the fourth of September the Whip-poor-will was again heard for two evenings, successively, in the same part of the woods. I also heard several of them passing, within the same week, between dusk and nine o'clock at night, it being then clear moonlight. These repeated their notes three or four times, and were heard no more. It is highly probable that they migrate during the evening and night. The Whip-poor-will is nine inches and a half long, and nineteen inches WHIP-POOR-WILL. 249 in extent ; the bill is blackish, a full quarter of an inch long, much stronger than that of the Night-hawk, and bent a little at the point, the under mandible arched a little upwards, following the curvature of the upper ; the nostrils are prominent and tubular, their openings directed forward ; the mouth is extravagantly large, of a pale flesh color within, and beset along the sides with a number of long thick elastic bristles, the longest of which extends more than half an inch beyond the point of the bill, end in fine hair, and curve inwards ; these seem to serve as feelers ; and prevent the escape of winged insects : the eyes are very large, full, and bluish black ; the plumage above is so variegated with black, pale cream, brown, and rust color, sprinkled and powdered in such minute streaks and spots, as to defy description ; the upper part of the head is of a light brownish gray, marked with a longitudinal streak of black, with others radiating from it ; the back is darker, finely streaked with a less deep black ; the scapulars are very light whitish ochre, beautifully variegated with two or three oblique streaks of very deep black ; the tail is rounded, consisting of ten feathers, the exterior one an inch and a quarter shorter than the middle ones, the three outer feathers on each side are blackish brown for half their length, thence pure white to the tips, the exterior one is edged with deep brown nearly to the tip ; the deep brown of these feathers is regularly studded with light brown' spots ; the four middle ones are without the white at the ends, but beautifully marked with herring-bone figures of black and light ochre finely powdered ; cheeks and sides of the head of a brown orange or burnt color ; the wings, when shut, reach scarcely to the middle of the tail, and are elegantly spotted with very light and dark brown, but are entirely without the large spot of white which distin- guishes those of the Night-hawk ; chin black, streaked with brown ; a narrow semicircle of white passes across the throat ; breast and belly irregularly mottled and streaked with black and yellow ochre ; the legs and feet are of a light purplish flesh color, seamed with white ; the former feathered before, nearly to the feet ; the two exterior toes are joined to the middle one as far as the first joint by a broad membrane ; the inner edge of the middle claw is pectinated, and from the circum- stance of its being frequently found with small portions of down adher- ing to the teeth, is probably employed as a comb to rid the plumage of its head of vermin, this being the principal and almost only part so infested in all birds. The female is about an inch less in length and in extent ; the bill, mustaches, nostrils, &c., as in the male. She difi"ers in being much lighter on the upper parts, seeming as if powdered -with grains of meal ; and instead of the white on the three lateral tail feathers, has them tipped for about three-quarters of an inch with a cream color ; the bar across the throat is also of a brownish ochre ; the cheeks and region of 250 WHIP-POOR-WILL. the eyes are brighter brownish orange, which passes also to the neck, and is sprinkled with black and specks of white ; the streak over the eye is also lighter. The young was altogether covered with fine down of a pale brown color ; the shafts or rather sheaths of the quills bluish ; the point of the bill just perceptible. Twenty species of this singular genus are now known to naturalists ; of these one only belongs to Europe, one to Africa, one to New Hol- land, two to India, and fifteen to America. The present species, though it approaches nearer in its plumage to that of Europe than any other of the tribe, difiers from it in being entirely without the large spot of white on the wing ; and in being considerably less. Its voice, and particular call, are also entirely difi'erent. Farther to illustrate the history of this bird, the following notes are added, made at the time of dissection. Body, when stripped of the skin, less than that of the Wood Thrush ; breast bone one inch in length ; second stomach strongly muscular, filled with fragments of pismires and grasshoppers ; skin of the bird loose, wrinkly and scarcely attached to the flesh ; flesh also loose, extremely tender ; bones thin and slender ; sinews and muscles of the wing feeble ; distance between the tips of both mandibles, when expanded, full two inches, length of the opening one inch and a half, breadth one inch and a quarter ; tongue very short, attached to the skin of the mouth, its internal part or o« 'hyoides pass up the hind head, and reach to the front, like those of the Woodpecker ; which enables the bird to revert the lower part of the mouth in the act of seizing insects and in calling ; skull extremely light and thin, being semi-transparent, its cavity nearly half occupied by the eyes ; aperture for the brain very small, the quantity not exceeding that of a Sparrow ; an Owl of the same extent of wing has at least ten times as much. Though this noted bird has been so frequently mentioned by name, and its manners taken notice of by almost every naturalist who has written on our birds, yet personally it has never yet been described by any writer with whose works I am acquainted. Extraordinary as this may seem, it is nevertheless true ; and in proof I offer the following facts. Three species only of this genus are found within the United States, the Ghuek-wilV 8-widow, the Night-hawk, and the Whip-poor-will. Catesby, in the eighth plate of his Natural History of Carolina, has figured the first, and in the sixteenth of his Appendix the second ; to this he has added particulars of the Whip-poor-will, believing it to be that bird, and has ornamented his figure of the Night-hawk with a large bearded appendage, of which in nature it is entirely destitute. After WHIP-POOR-WILL. 251 him Mr. Edwards, in his sixty-third plate, has in like manner figured the Night-hawk, also adding the bristles, and calling his figure the Whip-poor-will, accompanying it with particulars of the notes, &c., of that bird, chiefly copied from Catesby. The next writer of eminence who has spoken of the Whip-poor-will is Mr. Pennant, justly considered as one of the most judicious and discriminating of English naturalists ; but, deceived by " the lights he had," he has in his account of the Short- winged Goatsucker* (Arct. Zool. p. 434), given the size, markings of pliimige, &c., of the Chuck-wilVs-widow ; and in the succeeding account of his Long-winged Goatsucker, describes pretty accurately the Night- hawk. Both of these birds he considers to be the Whip-poor-will, and as having the same notes and manners. After such authorities it was less to be wondered at that many of our own citizens and some of our naturalists and writers should fall into the like mistake ; as copies of the works of those English naturalists are to be found in several of our colleges, and in some of our public as well as private libraries. The means which the author of American Ornithology took to satisfy his own mind, and those of his friends, on this subject, were detailed at large, in a paper published about two years ago, in a periodical work of this city, with which extract I shall close my account of the present species. " On the question is the Whip-poor-will and the Night-hawk one and the same bird, or are they really two distinct species, there has long been an opposition of sentiment, and many fruitless disputes. Numbers of sensible and observing people, whose intelligence and long residence in the country entitle their opinion to respect, positively assert that the Night-hawk and the Whip-poor-will are very different birds, and do not even associate together. The naturalists of Europe, however, have generally considered the two names as applicable to one and the same species ; and this opinion has also been adopted by two of our most dis- tinguished naturalists, Mr. William Bartram, of Kingsessing,f and Pro- fessor Barton, of Philadelphia.J The writer of this, being determined to ascertain the truth by examining for himself, took the following effectual mode of settling this disputed point, the particulars of which he now submits to those interested in the question. " Thirteen of those birds usually called Night-hawks, which, dart about in the air like Swallows, and sometimes descend with rapidity from a great height, making a hollow sounding noise like that produced * The figure is by mistake called the Long-winged Goatsucker. See Arctic Zoology, vol. II., pi. 18. t Caprimulgus Americanus, Night-hawk or Whip-poor-will. Travels, p. 292. % Caprimulgus Virginianus, Whip-poor-will or Night-hawk. Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania, p. 3. See also Amer. Phil. Trans, vol. iv., p. 208, 209, note 252 WHIP-POOR-WILL. by blowing into the bung-hole of an empty hogshead, -were shot a-t different times, and in different places, and accurately examined both outwardly and by dissection. Nine of these were found to be males, and four females. The former all corresponded in the markings and tints of their plumage ; the latter also agreed in their marks, differing slightly from the males, though evidently of the same species. Two others were shot as they rose from the nests, or rather from the eggs, which in both cases were two in number, lying on the open ground. These also agreed in the markings of their plumage with the four pre- ceding ; and on dissection were found to be females. The eggs were also secured. A Whip-poor-will was shot in the evening, while in the act of repeating his usual and well known notes. This bird was found to be a male, differing in many remarkable particulars from all the former. Three others were shot at different times during the day, in solitary and dark shaded parts of the woods. Two of these were found to be females, one of which had been sitting on two eggs. The two females resembled each other almost exactly ; the male also corres- ponded in its markings with the one first found ; and all four were evi- dently of one species. The eggs differed from the former both in color and markings. " The differences between these two birds were as follow : the sides of the mouth in both sexes of the Whip-poor-will were beset with ranges of long and very strong bristles, extending more than half an inch beyond the point of the bill ; both sexes of the Night-hawk were entirely destitute of bristles. The bill of the Whip-poor-will was also more than twice the length of that of the Night-hawk. The long wing quills, of both sexes of the Night-hawk, were of a deep brownish black, with a large spot of white nearly in their middle ; and when shut the tips of the wings extended a little beyond the tail. The wing quills of the Whip-poor-will, of both sexes, were beautifully spotted with light brown, had no spot of white on them, and when shut the tips of the wings did not reach to the tip of the tail by at least two inches. The tail of the Night-hawk was handsomely forked, the exterior feathers being the longest, shortening gradually to the middle ones ; the tail of the Whip- poor-will was rounded, the exterior feathers being the shortest, length- ening gradually to the middle ones. " After a careful examination of these and several other remarkable differences, it was impossible to withstand the conviction that these birds belonged to two distinct species of the same genus, differing in size, color, and conformation of parts. " A statement of the principal of these facts having been laid before Mr. Bartram, together with a male and female of each of the above- mentioned species, and also a male of the Great Virginian Bat, or Chuck-wilV s-widow, after a particular examination that venerable natu- PASSENGER PIGEON. 253 ralist was pleased to declare himself fully satisfied ; adding that he had now no doubt of the Night-hawk and the Whip-poor-will heing two very distinct species of Caprimulgus. " It is not the intention of the writer of this to enter at present into a description of either the plumage, manners, migrations, or economy of these birds, the range of country they inhabit, or the superstitious notions entertained of them ; his only object at present is the correction of an error, which, from the respectability of those by whom it was unwarily adopted, has been but too extensively disseminated, and re- ceived by too many as a truth." ORDER lY. COLUMBJ:. COLUMBINE. Genus XLVIII. COLUMBA. PIGEON. Species I. C. MIGBATORIA. PASSENGER PIGEON. [Plate XLIV. Pig. 1.] Catesb. I., 23.— Linn. Syst. 285.— Tcrton, Al^.—Arct. Zool. p. 322, No. 187. — Beisson, I., 100.— Buff, ii., 527.* This remarkable bird merits a distinguished place in the annals of our feathered tribes ; a claim to which I shall endeavor to do justice ; and though it would be impossible, in the bounds allotted to this account, to relate all I have seen and heard of this species, yet no circumstance shall be omitted with which I am acquainted (however extraordinary some of these may appear), that may tend to illustrate its history. The Wild Pigeon of the United States inhabits a wide and extensive region of North America, on this side of the Great Stony Mountains, beyond which to the westward, I have not heard of their being seen. According to Mr. Hutchins, they abound in the country round Hud- son's Bay, where they usually remain as late as December, feeding, when the ground is covered with snow, on the buds of juniper. They spread over the whole of Canada — were seen by Captain Lewis and his party near the Great Falls of the Missouri, upwards of two thousand five hundred miles from its mouth, reckoning the meanderings of the river — were also met with in the interior of Louisiana, by Colonel Pike ; and extend their range as far south as the Gulf of Mexico ; occasionally visiting or breeding in almost every quarter of the United States. * Columba migratoria, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 612, No. 70. 254 PASSENGER PIGEON. But the most remarkable characteristic of these birds is their associa- ting together, both in their migrations, and also during the period of incubation, in such prodigious numbers as almost to surpass belief; and which has no parallel among any other of the feathered tribes, on the face of the earth, with which naturalists are acquainted. These migrations appear to be undertaken rather in quest of food, than merely to avoid the cold of the climate, since we find them linger- ing in the northern regions around Hudson's Bay so late as December ; and since their appearance is so casual and irregular ; sometimes not visiting certain districts for several years in any considerable numbers, while at other times they are innumerable. I have witnessed these migrations in the Genesee country^ — often in Pennsylvania, and also in various parts of Virginia, with amazement ; but all that I had then seen of them were mere straggling parties, when compared with the congre- gated millions which I have since beheld in our western forests, in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and the Indiana territory. These fertile and extensive regions abound with the nutritious beech nut, which constitutes the chief food of the Wild Pigeon. In seasons when these nuts are abund- ant, corresponding multitudes of Pigeons may be confidently expected. It sometimes happens that having consumed the whole produce of the beech trees in an extensive district they discover another at the distance perhaps of sixty or eighty miles, to which they regularly repair every morning, and return as regularly in the course of the day, or in the evening, to their place of general rendezvous, or as it is usually called the roosting place. These'roosting places are always in the woods, and sometimes occupy a large extent of forest. When they have frequented one of these places for some time, the appearance it exhibits is surpris- ing. The ground is covered to the depth of several inches with their dung ; all the tender grass and underwood - destroyed ; the surface strewed with large limbs of trees broken down by the weight of the birds clustering one above another ; and the trees themselves, for thou- sands of acres, killed as completely as if girdled with an axe. The marks of this desolation remain for many years on the spot ; and numerous places could be pointed out where for several years after, scarce a single vegetable made its appearance. When these roosts are first discovered, the inhabitants from consider- able distances visit. them in the night, with guns, clubs, long poles, pots of sulphur, and various other engines of destruction. In a few hours they fill many sacks, and load their horses with them. By the Indians, a Pigeon roost, or breeding place, is considered an important source of national profit and dependence for that season ; and all their active ingenuity is exercised on the occasion. The breeding place differs from the former in its greater extent. In the western countries above men- tioned, these are generally in beech woods, and often extend in nearly PASSENGER PIGEON. 255 a straight line across the country for a great way. Not far from Shelbyville in the state of Kentucky," about five years ago, there was one of these breeding places, which stretched through the woods in nearly a north and south direction, was several miles in breadth, and was said to be upwards of forty miles in extent ! In this tract almost every tree was furnished with nests, wherever the branches could accommodate them. The Pigeons made their first appearance there about the tenth of April, and left it altogether, with their young^ before the twenty-fifth of May. As soon as the young were fully grown, and before they left the nests, numerous parties of the inhabitants, from all parts of the adjacent country, came with wagons, axes, beds, cooking utensils, many of them accompanied by the greater part of their families, and encamped for several days at this immense nursery. Several of them informed me, that the noise in the woods was so great as to terrify their horses, and that it was difficult for one person to hear another speak without bawl- ing in his ear. The ground was strewed with broken limbs of trees, eggs, and squab Pigeons, which had been precipitated from above, and on which herds of hogs were fattening. Hawks, Buzzards, and Eagles, were sailing about in great numbers, and seizing the squabs from their nests at pleasure ; while from twenty feet upwards to the tops of the trees the view through the woods presented a perpetual tumult of crowd- ing and fluttering multitudes of Pigeons, their wings roaring like thunder ; mingled with the frequent crash of falling timber ; for now the axe-men were at work cutting down those trees that seemed to be most crowded with nests ; and contrived to fell them in such a manner, that in their descent they might bring down several others ; by which means the falling of one large tree sometimes produced two hundred squabs, little inferior in size to the old ones, and almost one mass of fat. On some single trees upwards of one hundred nests were found, each containing one young only, a circumstance in the history of this bird not generally known to naturalists. It was dangerous to walk under these flying and fluttering millions, from the frequent fall of large branches, broken down by the weight of the multitudes above, and which in their descent often destroyed numbers of the birds them- selves ; while the clothes of those engaged in traversing the woods were completely covered with the excrements of the Pigeons. These circumstances were related to me by many of the most respect- able part of the community in that quarter ; and were confirmed in part by what I myself witnessed. I passed for several miles through this same breeding place, where every tree was spotted with nests, the remains of those above described. In many instances, I counted upwards of ninety nests on a single tree ; but the Pigeons had aban- doned this place for another, sixty or eighty miles off', towards Green 256 PASSENGER PIGEON. river, where they were said at that time to be equally numerous. From the great numbers that were constantly passing oyer head, to or from that quarter, I had no doubt of the truth of this statement. The mast had been chiefly consumed in Kentucky, and the Pigeons, every morn- ing, a little before sunrise, set out for the Indiana territory, the nearest paj-t of which was about sixty miles distant. Many of these returned before ten o'clock, and the great body generally appeared on their return a little after noon. I had left the public road, to visit the remains of, the breeding place near Shelbyville, and was traversing the woods with my gun, in my way to Frankfort, when about one o'clock the Pigeons, which I had observed flying the greater part of the morning northerly, began to return in such immense numbers as I never before had witnessed. Coming to an opening by the side of a creek called the Benson, whgre I had a more uninterrupted view, I was astonished at their appearance. They were flying with great steadiness and rapidity, at a height beyond gunshot, in several strata deep, and so close together, that could shot have reached them, one discharge could not have failed of bringing down several individuals. From right to left as far as the eye could reach, the breadth of this vast procession extended ; seeming everywhere equally crowded. Curious to determine how long this appearance would continue, I took out my watch to note the time, and sat down to observe them. It was then half past one. I sat for more than an hour, but instead of a diminution of this prodigious procession, it seemed rather to increase both in numbers and rapidity ; and, anxious to reach Frank- fort before night, I rose and went on. About four o'clock in the after- noon I crossed the Kentucky river, at ,the town of Frankfort, at which time the living torrent above my head seemed as numerous and as extensive as ever. Long after this I observed them, in large bodies that continued to pass for six or eight minutes, and these again were followed by other detached bodies, all moving in the same south-east direction, till after six in the evening. The great breadth of front which this mighty multitude preserved, would seem to intimate a corres- ponding breadth of their breeding place, which by several gentlemen who had lately passed through part of it, was stated to me at several miles. It was said to be in Green county, and that the young began to fly about the middle of March. On the seventeenth of April, forty- nine miles beyond Danville, and not far from Green river, I crossed this same breeding place, where the nests for more than three miles spotted every tree ; the leaves not being yet out, I had a fair prospect of them, and was really astonished at their numbers. A few bodies of Pigeons lingered yet in difi"erent parts of the woods, the roaring of whose wings was heard in various quarters around me. All accounts agree in stating, that each nest contains only one PASSENGER PIGEON. 257 young.* This is so extremely fat, that the Indians, and many of the whites, are accustomed to melt down the fat for domestic purposes as a substitute for butter and lard. At the time they leave the nest they are nearly as heavy as the old ones ; but become much leaner after they are turned out to shift for themselves. It is universally asserted in the western countries, that the Pigeons, though they have only one young at a time, breed thrice, and sometimes four times, in the same season ; the circumstances already mentioned render this highly probable. It is also worthy of observation, that this takes place during that period when acorns, beech nuts, &c., are scat- tered about in the greatest abundance, and mellowed by the frost. But they are not confined to these alone ; buckwheat, hempseed, Indian corn, hollyberries, hackberries, huckleberries, and many others fur- nished them with abundance at almost all seasons. The acorns of the live oak are also eagerly sought after by these birds, and rice has been frequently found in individuals killed many hundred miles to the north- ward of the nearest rice plantation. The vast quantity of mast which these multitudes consume, is a serious loss to the bears, pigs, squirrels and other dependants on the fruits of the forest. I have taken from the crop of a single Wild Pigeon, a good handful of the kernels of beech nuts, intermixed with acorns and chestnuts. To form a rough estimate of the daily consumption of one of these immense flocks, let us first attempt to calculate the numbers of that above mentioned, as seen in passing between Frankfort and the Indiana territory. If we suppose this column to have been one mile in breadth (and I believe it to have been much more), and that it moved at the rate of one mile In a minute ; four hours, the time it continued passing, would make its whole length two hundred and forty miles. Again supposing that each square yard of this moving body comprehended three Pigeons, the square yards in the whole space, multiplied by three, would give two thousand two hundred and thirty millions, two hundred and seventy-two thousand pigeons ! An almost inconceivable multitude, and yet pro- bably far below the actual amount. Computing -each of these to con- sume half a pint of mast daily, the whole quantity at this rate, would equal seventeen millions four hundred and twenty-four thousand bushels per day ! Heaven has wisely and graciously given to these birds rapidity of fiight, and a disposition to range over vast uncultivated tracts of the earth ; otherwise they must have perished in the districts where they resided, or devoured up the whole productions of agriculture, as well as those of the forests. * It seems probable that our author was misinformed on this head, as it has been stated to us that the Passenger Pigeon, in common with all the other known species of the genus Columba, lays two eggs. Vol. II.— 17 258 PASSENGER PIGEON. A few observations on the mode of flight of these birds must not be omitted. The appearance of large detached bodies of them in the air, and the various evolutions they display, are strikingly picturesque and interesting. In descending the Ohio, by myself, in the month of Feb- ruary, I often rested on my oars to contemplate their aerial manoeu- vres. A column, eight or ten miles in length, would appear from Ken- tucky, high in air, steering across to Indiana. The leaders of this great body would sometimes gradually vary their course, until it formed a large bend of more than a mile in diameter, those behind tracing the exact route of their predecessors. This would continue sometimes long after both extremities were beyond the reach of sight, so that the whole, with its glittery undulations, marked a space on the face of the heavens resembling the windings of a vast and majestic river. When this bend became very great, the birds, as if sensible of the unnecessary circui- tous course they were taking, suddenly changed their direction, so that what was in column before became an immense front, straightening all its indentures, until it swept the heavens in one vast and infinitely ex- tended line. Other lesser bodies also united with each other, as they happened to approach, with such ease and elegance of evolution, form- ing new figures, and varying these as they united or separated, that I was never tired of contemplating them. Sometimes a Hawk would make a sweep on a particular part of the column, from a great height, when almost as quick as lightning, that part shot downwards out of the common track, but soon rising again, continued advancing at the same height as before ; this inflection was continued by those behind, who on arriving at this point, dived down almost perpendicularly, to a great depth, and rising followed the exact path of those that went before. As these vast bodies passed over the river near me, the surface of the water, which was before smooth as glass, appeared marked with innumerable dimples, occasioned by the dropping of their dung, resembling the com- mencement of a shower of large drops of rain or hail. Happening to go ashore one charming afternoon, to purchase some milk at a house that stood near the river, and while talking with the people within doors, I was suddenly struck with astonishment at a loud rushing roar, succeeded by instant darkness, which, on the first moment, I took for a tornado about to overwhelm the house, and everything around, in destruction. The people observing my surprise, coolly said, " It is only the Pigeons ;" and on running out I beheld a flock, thirty or forty yards in width, sweeping along very low, between the house and the mountain or height that formed the second bank of the river. These continued passing for more than a quarter of an hour, and at length varied their bearing so as to pass over the mountain, behind which they disappeared before the rear came up. In the Atlantic States, though they never appear in such unparal- PASSENGER PIGEON. 259 leled multitudes, they are sometimes very numerous ; and great havoc is then made amongst them with the gun, the clap-net, and various other implements of destruction. As soon as it is ascertained in a town that the Pigeons are flying numerously in the neighborhood, the gunners rise en masse ; the clap-nets are spread out on suitable situations, commonly on an open height, in an old buckwheat field ; four or five live Pigeons, with their eyelids sewed up, are fastened on a movable stick — a small hut of branches is fitted up for the fowler at the distance of forty or fifty yards : by the pulling of a string, the stick on which the Pigeons rest is alternately elevated and depressed, which produces a fluttering of their wings similar to that of birds just alighting ; this being perceived by the passing flocks, they descend with great rapidity, and finding corn, buckwheat, &c., strewed about, begin to feed, and are instantly, by the pulling of a cord, covered with the net. In this manner ten, twenty, and even thirty dozen, have been caught at one sweep. Meantime the air is darkened with large bodies of them moving in various directions ; the woods also swarm with them in search of acorns ; and the thundering of musketry is perpetual on all sides from morning to night. Wagon- loads of them are poured into market, where they sell from fifty to twenty-five and even twelve cents per dozen; and Pigeons become the order of the day at- dinner, breakfast and supper, until the very name becomes sickening. When they have been kept alive, and fed for some time on corn and buckwheat, their flesh acquires great superiority ; but in their common state they are dry and blackish, and far inferior to the full grown young ones, or squabs. The nest of the Wild Pigeon is formed of a few dry slender twigs, carelessly put together, and with so little concavity, that the young one, when half grown, can easily be seen from below. The eggs are pure white. Great numbers of Hawks, and sometimes the Bald Eagle him- self, hover about those breeding places, and seize the old or the young from the nest amidst the rising multitudes, and with the most daring efirontery. The young, when beginning to fly, confine themselves to the under part of the tall woods where there is no brush, and wliere nuts and acorns are abundant, searching among the leaves for mast, and appear like a prodigious torrent rolling along through the woods, every one striving to be in the front. Vast numbers of them are shot while in this situation. A person told me, that he once rode furiously into one of these rolling multitudes, and picked up thirteen Pigeons, which had been trampled to death by his horse's feet. In a few minutes they will beat the whole nuts from a tree with their wings ; while all is a scramble, both above and below, for the same. They have the same cooing notes common to domestic Pigeons ; but much less of their gesti- culations. In some flocks you will flnd nothing but young ones, which are easily distinguishable by their motley dress. In others they will be 260 PASSENGER PIGEON. mostly females ; and again great multitudes of males, with, few or no females. I cannot account for this in any other way than that during the time of incubation the males are exclusively engaged in procuring food, both for themselves and their mates ; and the young being unable yet to undertake these extensive excursions, associate together accord- ingly. But even in winter I know of several species of birds who sepa- rate in this manner, particularly the Red-winged Starling, among whom thousands of old males may be found, with few or no young or females along with them. Stragglers from these immense armies settle in almost every part of the country, particularly among the beech woods, and in the pine and hemlock woods of the eastern and northern parts of the continent. Mr. Pennant informs us, that they breed near Moose Fort at Hudson's Bay, in N. lat. 51°, and I myself have seen the remains of a large breeding place as far south as the country of the Choctaws, in lat. 32°. In the former of these places they are said to remain until December ; from which circumstance it is evident that they are not regular in their mi- grations, like many other species, but rove about, as scarcity of food urges them. Every spring, however, as well as fall, more or less of them are seen in the neighborhood of Philadelphia ; but it is only once in several years that they appear in such formidable bodies ; and this commonly when the snows are heavy to the north, the winter here more than usually mild, and acorns, &c., abundant. The Passenger Pigeon is sixteen inches long, and, twenty-four inches in extent ; bill black ; nostril covered by a high rounding protuberance ; eye brilliant fiery orange ; orbit, or space surrounding it, purplish flesh- colored skin ; head, upper part of the neck, and chin, a fine slate blue, lightest on the chin ; throat, breast and sides, as far as the thighs, a reddish hazel ; lower part of the neck and sides of the same resplendent changeable gold, green and purplish crimson, the latter most predomi- nant ; the ground color slate ; the plumage of this part is of a peculiar structure, ragged at the ends ; belly and vent white ; lower part of the breast fading into a pale vinaceous red ; thighs the same, legs and feet lake, seamed with white ; back, rump and tail-coverts, dark slate, spot- tered on the shoulders with a few scattered marks of black ; the scapu- lars tinged with brown ; greater coverts light slate ; primaries and se- condaries dull black, the former tipped and edged with brownish white ; tail long, and greatly cuneiform, all the feathers tapering towards the point, the two middle ones plain deep black, the other five, on each side, hoary white, lightest near the tips, deepening into bluish near the bases, where each is crossed on the inner vane with a broad spot of black, and nearer the root with another of ferruginous; primaries edged with white ; bastard wing black. The female is about half an inch shorter, and an inch less in extent ; TURTLE DOVE. 261 breast cinereous brown ; upper part of the neck inclining to ash ; the spot of changeable gold green and carmine much less, and not so brilliant , tail-coverts brownish slate ; naked orbits slate colored ; in all other respects like the male in color, but less vivid, and more tinged with brown ; the eye not so brilliant an orange. In both, the tail has only twelve feathers. Species II. COLTJMBA CAROLINENSIS. CAROLINA PIGEON, or TURTLE DOVE. [Plate XLIII. Fig. 1.] Linn. Syst. 286.— Catesb. Car. 1, 24.— Buff, ii., 557. PI. Enl. 115.— La Tourte- relle de la Caroline, Brisson, i., 110. — Turton, 479. — Ard. Zool. ii., No. 188.* This is a favorite bird with all those who love to wander among our woods in spring, and listen to their varied harmony. They will there hear many a singular and sprightly performer ; but none so mournful as this. The hopeless woe of settled sorrow, swelling the heart of female innocence itself, could not assume tones more sad, more tender and affecting. Its notes are four ; the first is somewhat the highest, and preparatory, seeming to be uttered with an inspiration of the breath, as if the afflicted creature were just recovering its voice from the last convulsive sobs of distress ; this is followed by three long, deep and mournful meanings, that no person of sensibility can listen to without sympathy. A pause of a few minutes ensues ; and again the solemn voice of sorrow is renewed as before. This is generally heard in the deepest shaded parts of the woods, frequently about noon, and towards the evening. There is, however, nothing of real distress in all this ; quite the reverse. The bird who utters it wantons by the side of his beloved partner, or invites her by his call to some favorite retired and shady retreat. It is the voice of love, of faithful connubial affection, for which the whole family of Doves are so celebrated ; and among them all none more deservingly so than the species now before us. The Turtle Dove is a general inhabitant, in summer, of the United States, from Canada to Florida, and from the sea-coast to the Missis- sippi, and far to the westward. They are, however, partially migratory in the Northern and Middle States ; and collect together in North and * Columha Carolinensis, Lath. Ind. Orn., p. 613, No. 71. C Canadensis? Id. ib. No. 72. 262 TURTLE DOVE. South Carolina, and their corresponding parallels, in great numbers, during the winter. On the second of February, in the neighborhood of Newbern, North Carolina, I saw a flock of Turtle Doves of many hundreds ; in other places, as I advanced farther south, particularly near the Savannah river, in Georgia, the woods were swarming with them, and the whistling of their wings was heard in every direction. On their return to the north in March, and early in April, they disperse so generally over the country, that there are rarely more than three or four seen together, most frequently only two. Here they commonly fly in pairs, resort constantly to the public roads, to dust themselves, and procure gravel ; are often seen in the farmer's yard, before the door, the stable, barn, and other outhouses, in search of food, seeming little inferior in familiarity at such times to the domestic Pigeon. They often mix with the poultry, while they are fed in the morning, visit the yard and adjoining road many times a day, and the pump, creek, horse-trough and rills for water. Their flight is quick, vigorous, and always accompanied by a peculiar whistling of the wings, by which they can easily be distinguished from the Wild Pigeon. They fly with great swiftness, alight on trees, fences, or on the ground indiscriminately ; are exceedingly fond of buckwheat, hempseed, and Indian corn ; feed on the berries of the holly, the dog- wood and poke, huckleberries, partridgeberries, and the small acorns of the live oak, and shrub oak. They devour large quantities of gravel, and sometimes pay a visit to the kitchen garden for peas, for which they have a particular regard. In this part of Pennsylvania they commence building about the be- ginning of May. The nest is very rudely constructed, generally in an evergreen — among the thick foliage of a vine — in an orchard, on the horizontal branches of an apple-tree, and in some cases on the ground. It is composed of a handful of small twigs, laid with little art, on which are scattered dry fibrous roots of plants, and in this almost flat bed are deposited two eggs, of a snowy whiteness. The male and female unite in feeding the young, and they have rarely more than two broods in the same season. The flesh of this bird is considered much superior to that of the Wild Pigeon ; but its seeming confidence in man, the tenderness of its notes, and the innocency attached to its character, are with many its security and protection ; with others, however, the tenderness of its flesh, and the sport of shooting, overcome all other considerations. About the commencement of frost, they begin to move ofi" to the south ; numbers, however, remain in Pennsylvania during the whole winter. The Turtle Dove is twelve inches long, and seventeen inches in extent ; bill black ; eye of a glossy blackness, surrounded with a pale greenish blue skin ; crown, upper part of the neck and wings a fine silky slate GROUND DOVE. 263 blue ; back, scapulars and lesser wing-coverts ashy brown ; tertials spotted with black ; primaries edged and tipped with white ; forehead, sides of the neck and breast, a pale brown vinous orange ; under the ear feathers a spot or drop of deep black ; immediately below which the plumage reflects the most vivid tints of green, gold and crimson ; chin pale yellow ochre ; belly and vent whitish ; legs and feet coral red, seamed with white ; the tail is long and cuneiform, consisting of four- teen feathers ; the four exterior ones on each side are marked with black about an inch from the tips, and white thence to the extremity ; the next has less of the white at the tip ; these gradually lengthen to the four middle ones, which are wholly dark slate ; all of them taper towards the points, the two middle ones most so. The female is an inch shorter, and is otherwise only distinguished by the less brilliancy of her color ; she also wants the rich silky blue on the crown, and much of the splendor of the neck ; the tail is also somewhat shorter, and the white with which it is marked less pure. Species III. COLUMBA PASSERINA. GROUND DOVE. [Plate XLVI. Fig. 2, Male.— Fig. 3, Female.] Linn. Syst. 285. — Sloan. Jam. ii., 305. — Le Cocotzin, Fernandez, 24. — Buff, ii., 559, PI. Enl. 243.— ia petite Tourterdle, Briss. i., 113.— Turt. Syat. 478.— Columba minuta, Ibid. p. 479.*— Arci. Zool. p. 328, No. 191.— Catesb. i., 26.t This is one of the least of the Pigeon tribe, whose timid and inno- cent appearance forms a very striking contrast to the ferocity of the Bird-killer of the same plate. Such as they are in nature, such I have endeavored faithfully to represent them. I have been the more par- ticular with this minute species, as no correct figure of it exists in any former work with which I am acquainted. The Ground Dove is a native of North and South Carolina, Georgia, the new state of Louisiana, Florida, and the islands of the West Indies. In the latter it is frequently kept in cages ; is esteemed excellent for the table, and honored by the French planters with the name of Ortolan. They are numerous in the sea islands on the coast of Carolina and Georgia ; fly in flocks or coveys of fifteen or twenty ; seldom visit the * Prince Musignano considers this synonyme is incorrect. t Columba PasseiHna, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 611, No. 67, C. minuta, Id. p. 612, No. 68. 264 GROUND DOVE. woods, preferring open fields and plantations ; are almost constantly on the ground, and wlien disturbed fly to a short distance and again alight. They have a frequent jetting motion with the tail; feed on rice, various seeds and berries, particularly those of the Tooth-ache tree,* under oi near which, in the proper season, they are almost sure to be found. Of their nest or manner of breeding I am unable, at present, to give any account. These birds seem to be confined to the districts lying south of Vir- ginia. They are plenty on the upper parts of Cape Fear river, and in the interior of Carolina and Georgia ; but I have never met with them either in Maryland, Delaware, or Pennsylvania. They never congregate in such multitudes as the common Wild Pigeon ; or even as the Carolina Pigeon or Turtle Dove ; but, like the Partridge or Quail, frequent the open fields in small coveys. They are easily tamed ; have a low tender cooing note, accompanied with the usual gesticulations of their tribe. The Ground Dove is a bird of passage, retiring to the islands and to the more southerly parts of the continent on the approach of winter, and returning to its former haunts early in April. It is of a more slender and delicate form, and less able to bear the rigors of cold, than either of the other two species common in the United States, both of which are found in the northern regions of Canada, as well as in the genial climate of Florida. The Dove, generally speaking, has long been considered as the favorite emblem of peace and innocence, probably from the respectful manner in which its name is mentioned in various parts of Scripture ; its being selected from among all the birds by Noah to ascertain the state of the deluge, and returning to the ark, bearing the olive leaf as a messenger of peace and good tidings ; the Holy Ghost, it is also said, was seen to descend like a dove from heaven, &c., &c. In addition to these, there is in the Dove an appearance of meekness and innocency very interesting, and well calculated to secure our partiality in its favor. These remarks are applicable to the whole genus ; but are more par- ticularly so to the species now before us, as being among the least, the most delicate and inofiensive, of the whole. The Ground Dove is six inches and a quarter long ; bill yellow, black at the point ; nostril covered with a prominent membrane, as is usual with the genus ; iris of the eye orange red ; front, throat, breast and sides of the neck, pale vinaceous purple ; the feathers strongly defined by semicircular outlines, those on the throat centered with dusky blue ; crown and hind head a fine pale blue, intermixed with purple, the plu- mage like that on the throat strongly defined ; back cinereous brown, * Xanthoxylum Clava Heroulis. RUFFED GROUSE. 265 the scapulars deeply tinged with pale purple, and marked with detached drops of glossy blue, reflecting tints of purple ; belly pale vinaceous brown, becoming dark cinereous towards the vent, where the feathers are bordered with white ; wing quills dusky outwardly and at the tips ; lower sides, and whole interior vanes, a fine red chestnut, which shows itself a little below their coverts ; tail rounded, consisting of twelve feathers, the two middle ones cinereous brown, the rest black, tipped and edged with white ; legs and feet yellow. The female has the back and tail coverts of a mouse color, with little or none of the vinaceous tint on the breast and throat, nor any of the light blue on the hind head ; the throat is speckled with dull white, pale clay color, and dusky ; sides of the neck the same, the plumage strongly defined ; breast cinereous brown, slightly tinctured with purple ; sca- pulars marked with large drops of a dark purplish blood color, reflecting tints of blue ; rest of the plumage nearly the same as that of the male. Gends LVI. TETEAO. Species I. T. UMBELLUS. RUFFED GROUSE. [Plate XLIX.] Arct. Zool. p. 301, No. 179. — Ruffed Heath-cock, or Grouse, Edw. 248. — La Gelinoie huppge de Pennsylvanie, Briss. i., 214. — PI. Enl. 104. — Burr, ii., 281. — Phil, Trans. 62, 393.— Turt. Syst. 454. This is the Partridge of the Eastern States, and the Pheasant of Pennsylvania, and the southern districts. It is represented in the plate of its full size ; and was faithfully copied from a perfect and very beau- tiful specimen. This elegant species is well known in almost every quarter of the United States, and appears to inhabit a very extensive range of country. It is common at Moose Fort, on Hudson's Bay, in lat. 51° ; is frequent in the upper parts of Georgia ; very abundant in Kentucky and the Indiana territory ; and was found by Captains Lewis and Clarke in crossing the great range of mountains that divide the waters of the Columbia and Missouri, more than three thousand miles, by their mea- surement, from the mouth of the latter. Its favorite places of resort are high mountains, covered with the balsam pine, hemlock, and such like evergreens. Unlike the Pinnated Grouse, it always prefers the woods ; is seldom or never found in open plains ; but loves the pine- 266 RUFFED GBOUSB. sheltered declivities of mountains, near streams of water. This great difference of disposition in two species, whose food seems to be nearly the same, is very extraordinary. In those open plains called the Barrens of Kentucky, the Pinnated Grouse was seen in great numbers, but none of the Ruffed ; while in the high groves with which that singular tract of country is interspersed, the latter, or Pheasant, was frequently met with ; but not a single individual of the former. The native haunts of the Pheasant being a cold, high, mountainous and woody country, it is natural to expect that as we descend thence to the sea shores, and the low, flat and warm climate of the Southern States, these birds should become more rare, and such indeed is the case. In the lower parts of Carolina, Georgia and Florida, they are very seldom observed ; but as we advance inland to the mountains, they again make their appearance. In the lower parts of New Jersey we indeed occa- sionally meet with them; but this is owing to the more northerly situa- tion of the country ; for even here they are far less numerous than among the mountains. Dr. Turton, and several other English writers, have spoken of a Long- tailed Grouse, said to inhabit the back parts of Virginia, which can be no other than the present species, there being, as far as I am acquainted, only these two, the Ruffed and Pinnated Grouse, found native within the United States. The manners of the Pheasant are solitary ; they are seldom found in coveys of more than four or five together, and more usually in pairs or singly. They leave their sequestered haunts in the woods early in the morning, and seek the path or road, to pick up gravel, and glean among the droppings of the horses. In travelling among the mountains that bound the Susquehanna, I was always able to furnish myself with an abundant supply of these birds, every morning, without leaving the path. If the weather be foggy, or lowering, they are sure to be seen in such situations. They generally move along with great stateliness, their broad fan-like tail spread out in the manner exhibited in the drawing. The drumming, as it is usually called,, of the Pheasant, is another sin- gularity of this species. This is performed by the male alone. In walking through solitary woods frequented by these birds, a stranger is surprised by suddenly hearing a kind of thumping, very similar to that produced by striking two full-blown ox-bladders together, but much louder ; the strokes at first are slow and distinct ; but gradually increase in rapidity till they run into each other, resembling the rumbling sound of very distant thunder, dying away gradually on the ear. After a few minutes' pause, this is again repeated ; and in a calm day may be heard nearly a half mile off. This drumming is most common in spring, and is the call of the cock to his favorite female. It is produced in the fol- lowing manner. The bird, standing on an old prostrate log, generally RUFFED GROUSE. 267 in a retired and sheltered situation, lowers his wings, erects his expanded tail, contracts his throat, elevates the two tufts of feathers on the neck, and inflates his whole body, something in the manner of the turkey cock, strutting and wheeling about with great stateliness. After a few manoeuvres of this kind, he begins to strike with his stifl'ened wings in short and quick strokes, which become more and more rapid until they run into each other as has been already described. This is most common in the morning and evening, though I have heard them drumming at all hours of the day. By means of this, the gunner is led to the place of his retreat ; though to those unacquainted with the sound, there is great deception in the supposed distance, it generally appearing to be much nearer than it really is. The Pheasant begins to pair in April, and builds its nest early in May. This is placed on the ground at the root of a bush, old log, or other sheltered and solitary situation, well surrounded with withered leaves. Unlike that of the Quail, it is open above, and is usually com- posed of dry leaves and grass. The eggs are from nine to fifteen in number, of a brownish white, without any spots, and nearly as large as those of a pullet. The young leave the nest as soon as hatched, and are directed by the cluck of the mother, very much in the manner of the common h-en. On being surprised, she exhibits all the distress and affectionate manoeuvres of the Quail, and of most other birds, to lead you away from the spot. I once started a hen Pheasant, with a single young one, seemingly only a few days old ; there might have been more, but I observed only this one. The mother fluttered before me for a mo- ment, but suddenly darting towards the young one, seized it in her bill, and flew ofi" along the surface through the woods, with great steadiness and rapidity, till she was beyond my sight, leaving me in great sur- prise at the incident. I made a very close and active search around the spot for the rest, but without success. Here was a striking instance of something more than what is termed blind instinct, in this remark- able deviation from her usual manoeuvres, when she has a numerous brood. It would have been impossible for me to injure this afiiectionate mother, who had exhibited such an example of presence of mind, reason and sound judgment, as must have convinced the most bigoted advocates of mere instinct. To carry ofi" a whole brood in this manner, at once, would have been impossible, and to attempt to save one at the expense of the rest would be unnatural. She therefore usually takes the only possible mode of saving them in that case, by decoying the person in pursuit of herself, by such a natural imitation of lameness as to impose on most people. But here, in the case of a single solitary young one, she instantly altered her plan, and adopted the most simple and efi"ectual means for its preservation. The Pheasant generally springs within a few yards, with a loud whir- 268 RUFFED GRODSE. ring noise, and flies with great vigor through the woods, bejona reach of view, before it alights. With a good dog, however, they are easily found ; and at some times exhibit a singular degree of infatuation, by looking down, from the branches where they sit, on the dog below, who, the more noise he keeps up, seems the more to confuse and stupefy them, so that they may be shot down, one by one, till the whole are killed, without attempting to fly oflf. In such cases, those on the lower limbs must be taken first, for should the upper ones be first killed, in their fall they alarm those below, who immediately fly off. In deep snows they are usually taken in traps, commonly dead-traps,' supported by a figure 4 trigger. At this season, when suddenly alarmed, they frequently dive into the snow, particularly when it has newly fallen, and coming out at a considerable distance, again take wing. They are pretty hard to kill, and will often carry off a large load to the distance of two hundred yards, and drop down dead. Sometimes in the depth of winter they approach the farm house, and lurk near the barn, or about the garden. They have also been often taken young and tamed, so as to associate with the fowls ; and th^ir eggs have frequently been hatched under the common hen ; but these rarely survive until full grown. They are exceedingly fond of the seeds of grapes ; occasion- ally eat ants, chestnuts, blackberries, and various vegetables. Formerly they were numerous in the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia ; but as the woods were cleared, and population increased, they retreated to the interior. At present there are very few to be found within several miles of the city, and those only singly, in the most solitary and retired woody recesses. The Pheasant is in best order for the table in September and Octo- ber. At this season they feed chiefly on whortleberries, and the little red aromatic partridgeberries, the last of which gives their flesh a pecu- liar delicate flavor. With the former our mountains are literally covered from August to November ; and these constitute at that season the greater part of their foodr- During the deep snows of winter, they have recourse to the buds of alder, and the tender buds of the laurel. I have frequently found their crops distended with a large handful of these latter alone ; and it has been confidently asserted, that after having fed for some time on the laurel buds, their flesh becomes highly dangerous to eat of, partaking of the poisonous qualities of the plant. The same has been asserted of the flesh of the deer, when in severe weather, and deep snows, they subsist on the leaves and bark of the laurel. Though I have myself eat freely of the flesh of the Pheasant, after emptying it of large quantities of laurel buds, without experiencing any bad conse- quences, yet, from the respectability of those, some of them eminent physicians, who have particularized cases in which it has proved delete- rious, and even fatal, I am inclined to believe that in certain cases RUFFED GROUSE. 269 where this kind of food has been long continued, and the birds allowed to remain undrawn for several days, until the contents of the crop and stomach have had time to diffuse themselves through the flesh, as is too often the case, it may be unwholesome, and even dangerous. Great numbers of these birds are brought to our markets, at all times during fall and winter, some of which are brought from a distance of more than a hundred miles, and have been probably dead a week or two, unpicked and undrawn, before they are purchased for the table. Regulations prohibiting them from being brought to market, unless picked and drawn, would very probably be a sufi&cient security from all danger. At these inclement seasons, however, they are generally lean and dry, and indeed at all times their flesh is far inferior to that of the Quail, or of the Pin- nated Grouse. They are usually sold in Philadelphia market at from three-quarters of a dollar to a dollar and a quarter a pair, and some- times higher. The Pheasant or Partridge of New England, is eighteen inches long, and twenty-three inches in extent ; bill a horn color, paler below ; eye reddish hazel, immediately above which is a small spot of bare skin of a scarlet color ; crested head and neck, variegated with black, red brown, white and pale brown ; sides of the neck furnished with a tuft of large black feathers, twenty-nine or thirty in number, which it occasionally raises : this tuft covers a large space of the neck destitute of feathers ; body above a bright rust color, marked with oval spots of yellowish white, and sprinkled with black ; wings plain olive brown, exteriorly edged with white, spotted with olive ; the tail is rounding, extends five inches beyond the tips of the wings, is of a bright reddish brown beau- tifully marked with numerous waving transverse bars of black, is also crossed by a broad band of black within half an inch of the tip, which is bluish white, thickly sprinkled and specked with black ; body below white, marked with large blotches of pale brown ; the legs are covered half way to the feet with hairy down, of a brownish white color ; legs and feet pale ash ; toes pectinated along the sides, the two exterior ones joined at the base as far as the first joint by a membrane ; vent yellow- ish rust color. The female and young birds differ in having the ruff or tufts of feathers on the neck of a dark brown color, as well as the bar of black on the tail inclining much to the same tint. Species II. TETRAO CUPID 0. PINNATED GROUSE. [Plate XXVII. Pig. 1,] Linn. Sysi. i., p. 274, 5. — Lath, ii., p. 740. — Arct. Zool. — La Gelinoie huppie d'Amer- ique, Briss. Orn. i., p. 212, 10. — Urogalus minor, fusms cervice, plumis alas imi- tantibus donata, Catesb. Car. App. pi. 1. — Tetrao lagogus, the Mountain Cock, or Grouse, Baktram, p. 290. — Heath-hen, Prairie-hen, Barren-hen. Before I enter on a detail of the observations wtich I have myself personally made on this singular species, I shall lay before the reader a comprehensive and very circumstantial memoir on the subject, communi- cated to me by the writer, Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill of New York, whose exertions, both in his public and private capacity, in behalf of science, and in elucidating the natural history of his country, are well known ; and highly honorable to his distinguished situation and abilities. That peculiar tract generally known by the name of the Brushy Plains of Long Island, having been, for time immemorial, the resort of the bird now before us, some account of this particular range of country seemed necessarily connected with the subject, and has accordingly been oblig- ingly attended to by the learned professor. " New York, Sept. 19th, 1810. " Dear Sir, " It gives me great pleasure to reply to your letter of the twelfth instant, asking of me information concerning the Grouse of Long Island. " The birds which are known there emphatically by the name of Grouse, inhabit chiefly the forest-range. This district of the island may be estimated as being between forty and fifty miles in length, extending from Bethphage in Queens county to the neighborhood of the court-house in Suffolk. Its breadth is not more than six or seven. For although the island is bounded by the Sound separating it from Con- necticut on the north, and by the Atlantic Ocean on the south, there is a margin of several miles on each side in the actual possession of human beings. " The region in which these birds reside, lies mostly within the towns of Oysterbay, Huntington, Islip, Smithtown, and Brook Haven ; though it would be incorrect to say, that they were not to be met with some- (270) PINNATED GROUSE. 271 times in Riverhead and Southampton. — Their territory has been defined by some sportsmen, as situated between Hempstead-plain on the west, and Shinnecock-plain on the east. " The more popular name for them is Heath-hens. By this they are designated in the act of our legislature for the preservation of them and of other game. I well remember the passing of this law. The bill was introduced by Cornelius J. Boggert, Esq., a member of the Assembly from the city of New York. It was in the month of February, 1791. " The statute declares among other things, that the person who shall kill any Heath-hen within the counties of Suffolk or Queens, between the first day of April and the fifth day of October, shall for every such ofience, forfeit and pay the sum of two dollars and a half, to be recovered with costs of suit, by any person who shall prosecute for the same, before any justice of the peace, in either of the said counties ; the one half to be paid to the plaintifi", and the other half to the over- seers of the poor. And if any Heath-hen so killed, shall be found in the possession of any person, he shall be deemed guilty of the offence, and suffer the penalty. But it is provided, that no defendant shall be convicted unless the action shall be brought within three months after the violation of the law.* " The country selected by these exquisite birds requires a more par- ticular description. You already understand it to be the midland and interior district of the island. The soil of this island is, generally speaking, a sandy or gravelly loam. In the parts less adapted to tillage, it is more of an unmixed sand. This is so much the case, that the shore of the beaches beaten by the ocean, affords a material from which glass has been prepared. Siliceous grains and particles predominate in ■ the region chosen by the Heath-hens or Grouse. Here there are no rocks, and very few stones of any kind. This sandy tract appears to be a dereliction of the ocean, but is nevertheless not doomed to total sterility. Many thousand acres have been reclaimed from the wild state, and rendered very productive to man. And within the towns frequented by these birds, there are numerous inhabitants, and among them some of our most wealthy farmers. " But within the same limits, there are also tracts of great extent where men have no settlements, and others where the population is spare * The doctor has probably forgotten a circumstance of rather a ludicrous kind that occurred at the passing of this law; and which was, not long ago, related to me by my friend Mr. Gardiner, of Gardiner's Island, Long Island. The bill was entitled " An Act for the preservation of Heath-hen and other Game." The honest chairman of the Assembly, no sportsman I suppose, read the title " An Act for the preservation of Heathen and other Game 1" which seemed to astonish the north members, who could not see the propriety of preserving Indians, or any other Heathen. 272 PINNATED GROUSE. and scanty. These are however, by no means, naked deserts. They are, on the contrary, covered with trees, shrubs and smaller plants. The trees are mostly pitch-pines of inferior size, and white oaks of a small growth. They are of a quality very fit for burning. Thousands of cords of both sorts of firewood are annually exported from these barrens. Vast quantities are occasionally destroyed by the fires which through carelessness or accident spread far and wide through the woods. The city of New York will probably for ages derive fuel from the grouse- grounds. The land after having been cleared, yields to the cultivator poor crops. Unless therefore he can help it by manure, the best dis- position is to let it grow up to forest again. Experience has proved, that in a term of forty or fifty years, the new growth of timber will be fit for the axe. Hence it may be perceived, that the reproduction of trees, and the protection they aflbrd to Heath-hens, would be perpetual ; or in other words, not circumscribed by any calculable time ; provided the persecutors of the latter would be quiet. "Beneath these trees grow more dwarfish oaks, overspreading the surface, sometimes with here and there a shrub, and sometimes a thicket. These latter are from about two to ten feet in height. Where they are the principal product, they are called in common conversation brush, as the flats on which they grow are termed Brushy plains. Among this hardy shrubbery may frequently be seen the creeping vegetable named the partridgeberry covering the sand with its lasting verdure. In many spots the plant which produces hurtleberries, sprout up among the other natives of the soil. These are the more important, though I ought to inform you that the hills reaching from east to west, and form- ing the spine of the island, support kalmias, hickories, and many other species ; that I have seen azalias and andromedas as I passed through, the wilderness ; and that where there is water, craneberries, alders, beeches, maples, and other lovers of moisture, take their stations. " This region, situated thus between the more thickly inhabited strips or belts on the north and south sides of the island, is much travelled by wagons, and intersected accordingly by a great number of paths. " As to the birds themselves, the information I possess scarcely amounts to an entire history. You, who know the difficulty of collect- ing facts, will be the most ready to excuse my deficiencies. The infor- mation I give you is such as I rely on. . For the purpose of gathering the materials, I have repeatedly visited their haunts. I have likewise conversed with several men who were brought up at the precincts of the grouse-ground, who had been witnesses of their habits and manners, who were accustomed to shoot them for the market, and who have acted as guides to gentlemen who go there for sport. " Bulk. — An adult Grouse when fat weighs as much as a barn door fowl of moderate size, or about three pounds avoirdupois. But the PINNATED GROUSE. 273 eagerness of the sportsman is so great, that a large proportion of those they kill, are but a few months old, and have not attained their complete growth. Notwithstanding the protection of the law, it is very common to disregard it. The retired nature of the situation favors this. It is well understood that an arrangement can be made which will blind and silence informers, and that the gun is fired with impunity, for weeks before the time prescribed in the act. To prevent this unfair and unlawful practice, an association was formed a few years ago, under the title of the Brush club, with the express and avowed intention of enforcing the game-law. Little benefit, however, has resulted from its laudable exertions ; and under a conviction that it was impossible to keep the poachers away, the society declined. At present the statute may be considered as operating very little toward their preservation. Grouse, especially full-grown ones, are becoming less frequent. Their numbers are gradually diminishing ; and assailed as they are on all sides, almost without cessation, their scarcity may be viewed as fore- boding their eventual extermination. " Price. — Twenty years ago a brace of Grouse could be bought for a dollar. They now cost from three to five dollars. A handsome pair seldom sells in the New York market now-a-days for less than thirty shillings [three dollars seventy-five cents], nor for more than forty [five dollars]. These prices indicate indeed the depreciation of money, and the luxury of eating. They prove at the same time, that Grouse are become rare ; and this fact is admitted by every man who seeks them, whether for pleasure or for profit. " Amours. — The season for pairing is in March, and the breeding time is continued through April and May. Then the male Grouse dis- tinguishes himself by a peculiar sound. When he utters it, the parts about the throat are sensibly inflated and swelled. It may be heard on a still morning for three or more miles ; some say they have perceived it as far as five or six. This noise is a sort of ventriloquism. It does not strike the ear of a bystander with much force ; but impresses him with the idea, though produced within a few rods of him, of a voice a mile or two distant. This note is highly characteristic. Though very peculiar, it is termed tooting, from its resemblance to the blowing of a conch or horn from a remote quarter. The female makes her nest on the ground, in recesses very rarely discovered by men. She usually lays from ten to twelve eggs. Their color is of a brownish, much resem- bling those of a Guinea-hen. When hatched, the brood is protected by her alone. Surrounded by her young, the mother bird exceedingly resembles a domestic hen and chickens. She frequently leads them to feed in the roads crossing the woods, on the remains of maize and oats contained in the dung dropped by the travelling horses. In that employ- ment they are often surprised by the passengers. On such occasions Vol. II.— 18 274 PINNATED GROUSE. the dam utters a cry of alarm. The little ones immediately scamper to the brush; and while they are skulking into places of safety, their anxious parent beguiles the spectator by drooping and fluttering her wings, limping along the path, rolling over in the dirt, and other pre- tences of inability to walk or fly. " Food. — A favorite article of their diet is the heath-hen plvm, or partridgeberry before mentioned. They are fond of hurtleberries, and craneberries. Worms and insects of several kinds are occasionally found in their crops. But in the winter they subsist chiefly on acorns, and the buds of trees which have shed their leaves. In their stomachs have been sometimes observed the leaves of a plant supposed to be a winter green ; and it is said, when they are much pinched, they betake themselves to the buds of the pine. In convenient places they have been known to enter cleared fields, and regale themselves on the leaves of clover ; and old gunners have reported that they have been known to trespass upon patches of buckwheat, and pick up the grains. " Migration. — They are stationary, and never known to quit their abode. There are no facts showing in them any disposition to migration. On frosty mornings and during snows, they perch on the upper branches of pine-trees. They avoid wet and swampy places ; and are remarkably attached to dry ground. The low and open brush is preferred to high shrubbery and thickets. Into these latter places, they fly for refuge when closely pressed by the hunters, and here, under a stifi" and inpene- trable cover, they escape the pursuit of dogs and men. Water is so seldom met with on the true grouse-ground, that it is necessary to carry it along for the pointers to drink. The flights of Grouse are short, but sudden, rapid and whirring. I have not heard of any success in taming them. They seem to resist all attempts at domestication. In this as well as in many other respects, they resemble the Quail of New York, or the Partridge of Pennsylvania. ^^ Manners. — During the period of mating, and while the females are occupied in incubation, the males have a practice of assembling, princi- pally by themselves. To some select and central spot where there is very little underwood, they repair from the adjoining district. From the exercises performed there, this is called a scratching-place. The time of meeting is the break of day. As soon as the light appears, the company assembles from every side, sometimes to the number of forty or fifty. When the dawn is past, the ceremony begins by a low tooting from one of the cocks. This is answered by another. They then come forth one by one from the bushes, and strut about with all the pride and ostentation they can display. Their necks are incurvated; the feathers on them are erected into a sort of ruff ; the plumes of their tails are expanded like fans ; they strut about in a style resembUng, as nearly as small may be illustrated by great, the pomp of the turkey PINNATED GROUSE. 275 cock. They seem to vie with each other in stateliness ; and as they pass each other frequently cast looks of insult, and utter notes of de- fiance. These are the signals for battles. They engage with wonderful spirit and fierceness. During these contests, they leap a foot or two from the ground, and utter a cackling, screaming and discordant cry. " They have been found in these places of resort even earlier than the appearance of light in the east. This fact has led to the belief that a part of them assemble over night. The rest join them in the morning. This leads to the further belief that they roost on the ground. And the opinion is confirmed by the discovery of little rings of dung, apparently deposited by a flock which had passed the night together. After the appearance of the sun they disperse. " These places of exhibition have been often discovered by the hunters ; and a fatal discovery it has been for the poor Grouse. Their destroyers construct for themselves lurking holes made of pine branches, called hough houses, within a few yards of the parade. Hither they repair with their fowling-pieces in the latter part of the night, and wait the appearance of the birds. Watching the moment when two are proudly eyeing each other, or engaged in battle ; or when a greater number can be seen in a range, they pour on them a destructive charge of shot. This annoyance has been given in so many places, and to such extent, that the Grouse, after having been repeatedly disturbed, are afraid to assemble. On approaching the spot to which their instinct prompts them, they perch on the neighboring trees, instead of alighting at the scratching place. And it remains to be observed, how far the restless and tormenting spirit of the marksmen, may alter the native habits of the Grouse, and oblige them to betake themselves to new ways of life. " They commonly keep together in coveys, or packs, as the phrase is, until the pairing season. A full pack consists of course of ten or a dozen. Two packs have been known to associate. I lately heard of one whose number amounted to twenty-two. They are so unapt to be startled, that a hunter, assisted by a dog, has been able to shoot almost a whole pack, without making any of them take wing. In like manner the men lying in concealment near the scratching places, have been known to discharge several guns before either the report of the explo- sion, or the sight of their wounded and dead fellows, would rouse them to flight. It has further been remarked, that when a company of sportsmen have surrounded a pack of Grouse, the birds seldom or never rise upon their pinions while they are encircled ; but each runs along until it passes the person that is nearest, and then flutters ofi" with the utmost expedition. " As you have made no inquiry of me concerning the ornithological character of these birds, I have not mentioned it, presuming that you 276 PINNATED GROUSE. are already perfectly acquainted with their classification and description. In a short memoir written in 1803, and printed in the eighth volume of the Medical Repository, I ventured an opinion as to 'the genus and species. Whether 1 was correct is a technical matter, which I leave you to adjust. I am well aware that European accounts of our pro- ductions are often erroneous, and require revision and amendment. This you must perform. For me it remains to repeat my joy at the opportunity your invitation has afforded me to contribute somewhat to your elegant work, and at the same time to assure you of my earnest hope that you may be favored with ample means to complete it. "Samuel L. Mitchill. " Duly sensible of the honor of the foregoing communication, and grateful for the good wishes with which it is concluded, I shall now, in further elucidation of the subject, subjoin a few particulars properly belonging to my own department. It is somewhat extraordinary that the European naturalists, in their various accounts of our different species of Grouse, should have said little or nothing of the one now before us, which in its voice, manners, and peculiarity of plumage, is the most singular, and in its flesh the most excellent, of all those of its tribe that inherit the territory of the United States. It seems to have escaped Catesby during his residence and different tours through this country, and it was not till more than twenty years after his return to England, viz. in 1743, that he first saw some of these birds, as he informs us, at Cheswick, the seat of the Earl of Wilmington. His lordship said they came from America ; but from what particular part could not tell.* Buffon has confounded it with the Ruffed Grouse, the common Partridge of New England, or Pheasant of Pennsylvania ( To,trao umbellus) ; Edwards and Pennant have, however, discovered that it is a different species ; but have said little of its note, of its flesh, or peculiarities ; for, alas ! there was neither voice nor action, nor delicacy of flavor in the shrunk and decayed skin from which the former took his figure, and the latter his description ; and to this circumstance must be attributed the barrenness and defects of both. That the curious may have an opportunity of examining to more ad- vantage this singular bird, a figure of the male is here given as large as life, drawn with great care from the most perfect of several elegant specimens shot in the Barrens of Kentucky. He is represented in the act of strutting, as it is called, while with inflated throat he produces that extraordinary sound so familiar to every one who resides in his vicinity, and which has been described in the foregoing account. So * Catesb. Car. p. 101, App. PINNATED GROUSE. 277 very novel and characteristic did the action of these birds appear to me at first sight, that, instead of shooting them down, I sketched their atti- tude hastily on the spot ; while concealed among a brush-heap, with seven or eight of them within a short distance. Three of these I after- wards carried home with me. This rare bird, though an inhabitant of difierent and very distant districts of North America, is extremely particular in selecting his place of residence ; pitching only upon those tracts whose features and productions correspond with his modes of life ; and avoiding immense intermediate regions that he never visits. Open dry plains, thinly inter- spersed with trees, or partially overgrown with shrub-oak, are his favor- ite haunts. Accordingly we find these birds on the Grouse plains of New Jersey, in Burlington county, as well as on the brushy plains of Long Island— among the pines and shrub-oaks of Pocono, in Northamp- ton county, Pennsylvania — over the whole extent of the Barrens of Kentucky — on the luxuriant plains and prairies of the Indiana territory, and Upper Louisiana ; and according to the information of the late Governor Lewis, on the vast and remote plains of the Columbia river. In all these places preserving the same singular habits. Their predilection for such situations will be best accounted for by considering the following facts and circumstances. Pirst, their mode of flight is generally direct, and laborious, and ill calculated for the laby- rinth of a high and thick forest, crowded and intersected with trunks and arms of trees, that require continual angular evolution of wing, or sudden turnings, to which they are by no means accustomed. I have always observed them to avoid the high-timbered groves that occur here and there in the Barrens. Connected with this fact is a circumstance related to me by a very respectable inhabitant of that country, viz. : that one forenoon a cock Grouse struck the stone chimney of his house with such force as instantly to fall dead to the ground. Secondly, their known dislike of ponds, marshes, or watery places, which they avoid on all occasions, drinking but seldom, and, it is be- lieved, never from such places. Even in confinement this peculiarity has been taken notice of. While I was in the state of Tennessee, a person living within a few miles of Nashville had caught an old hen Grouse in a trap ; and being obliged to keep her in a large cage, as she struck and abused the rest of the poultry, he remarked that she never drank ; and that she even avoided that quarter of the cage where the cup containing the water was placed. Happening one day to let some water fall on the cage, it trickled down in drops along the bars, which the bird no sooner observed, than she eagerly picked them ofi", drop by drop, with a dexterity that showed she had been habituated to this mode of quenching her thirst ; and probably to this mode only, in those dry and barren tracts, where, except the drops of dew, and drops of 278 PINNATED GROUSE. rain, water is very rarely to be met witli. For the space of a week he watched her closely to discover whether she still refused to drink ; but, though she was constantly fed on Indian corn, the cup and water still remained untouched and untasted. Yet no sooner did he again sprinkle water on the bars of the cage, than she eagerly and rapidly picked them off as before. The last, and probably the strongest inducement to their preferring these plains, is the small acorn of the shrub-oak ; the strawberries, huckleberries, and partridgeberries with which they abound, and which constitute the principal part of the food of these birds. These brushy thickets also afford them excellent shelter, being almost impenetrable to dogs or birds of prey. In all these places where they inhabit they are, in the strictest sense of the word, resident ; having their particular haunts, and places of rendezvous (as described in the preceding account), to which they are strongly attached. Yet they have been known to abandon an entire tract of such country, when, from whatever cause it might proceed, it became again covered with forest. A few miles south of the town of York, in Pennsylvania, commences an extent of country, formerly of the character described, now chiefly covered with wood ; but still retain- ing the name of Barrens. In the recollection of an old man born in that part of the country, this tract abounded with Grouse. The timber growing up, in progress of years, these birds totally dis- appeared; and for a long period of time he had seen none of them; until migrating with his family to Kentucky, on entering the Barrens he one morning recognised the well known music of his old acquaint- ance the Grouse ; which he assures me are the very same with those he had known in Pennsylvania. But what appears to me the most remarkable circumstance relative to this bird is, that not one of all those writers who have attempted its history has taken the least notice of those two extraordinary bags of yellow skin which mark the neck of the male, and which constitute so striking a peculiarity. These appear to be formed by an expansion of the gullet as well as of the exterior skin of the neck, which, when the bird is at rest, hangs in loose pendulous wrinkled folds, along the side of the neck, the supplemental wings, at the same time, as well as when the bird is flying, lying along the neck in the manner represented in one of the distant figures in the plate. But when these bags are in- flated with air, in breeding time, they are equal in size and very much resemble in color, a middle sized fully ripe orange. By means of this curious apparatus, which is very observable several hundred yards off, he is enabled to produce the extraordinary sound mentioned above, which, though it may easily be imitated, is yet difiicult to describe by words. It consists of three notes, of the same tone, resembling those PINNATED GROUSE, 279 produced by the Night Hawks in their rapid descent ; each strongly accented, the last being twice as long as the others. When several are thus engaged, the ear is unable to distinguish the regularity of these triple notes, there being at such times one continued bumming, which is disagreeable and perplexing, from the impossibility of ascertaining from what distance or even quarter it proceeds. While uttering this the bird exhibits all the ostentatious gesticulations of a turkey-cock ; erecting and fluttering his neck wings, wheeling and passing before the female, and close before his fellows, as in defiance. Now and then are heard some rapid cackling notes, not unlike that of a person tickled to exces- sive laughter ; and in short one can scarcely listen to them without feeling disposed to laugh from sympathy. These are uttered by the males while engaged in fight, on which occasion they leap up against each other, exactly in the manner of turkeys, seemingly with more malice than effect. This bumming continues from a little before day- break to eight or nine o'clock in the morning, when the parties separate to seek for food. Fresh ploughed fields, in the vicinity of their resorts, are sure to be visited by these birds every morning, and frequently also in the evening. On one of these I counted, at one time, seventeen males, most of whom were in the attitude represented in the plate ; making such a continued sound as I am persuaded might have been heard for more than a mile off. The people of the Barrens informed me, that when the weather became severe, with snow, they approach the barn and farm-house ; are sometimes seen sitting on the fences in dozens ; mix with the poultry, and glean up the scattered grains of Indian corn ; seeming almost half domesticated. At such times great numbers are taken in traps. No pains, however, or regular plan has ever been persisted in, as far as I was informed, to domesticate these delicious birds. A Mr. Reed, who lives between the Pilot Knobs and Bairdstown, told me, that a few years ago, one of his sons found a Grouse's nest, with fifteen eggs, which he brought home, and immediately placed below a hen then sitting ; taking away her own. The nest of the Grouse was on the ground, under a tussock of long grass, formed with very little art and few materials ; the eggs were brownish white, and about the size of a pullet's. In three or four days the whole were hatched. Instead of following the hen, they com- pelled her to run after them, distracting her with the extent and diver- sity of their wanderings ; and it was a day or two before they seemed to understand her language, or consent to be guided by her. They were let out to the fields, where they paid little regard to their nurse ; and in a few days, only three of them remained. These became ex- tremely tame and familiar, were most expert fly catchers ; but soon after they also disappeared. The Pinnated Grous is nineteen inches long, twenty-seven inches in 280 PARTBIDGE. extent, and when in good order, weighs about three pounds and a half ; the neck is furnished with supplemental wings, each composed of eighteen feathers, five of which are black, and about three inches long, the rest shorter, also black, streaked laterally with brown, and of unequal lengths ; the head is slightly crested ; over the eye is an elegant semicircular comb of. rich orange, which the bird has the power of rais- ing or relaxing ; under the neck wings are two loose pendulous and wrinkled skins, extending along the side of the neck for two-thirds of its length, each of which, when inflated with air, resembles, in bulk, color and surface, a middle sized orange ; chin cream-colored ; under the eye runs a dark streak of brown ; whole upper parts mottled trans- versely with black, reddish brown and white ; tail short, very much rounded, and of a plain brownish soot color ; throat elegantly marked with touches of reddish brown, white and black ; lower part of the breast and belly pale brown, marked transversely with white; legs covered to the toes with hairy down, of a dirty drab color ; feet dull yellow, toes pectinated ; vent whitish ; bill brownish horn color ; eye reddish hazel. The female is considerably less, of a lighter color ; destitute of the neck wings, the naked yellow skin on the neck, and the semicircular comb of yellow over the eye. On dissecting these birds the gizzard was found extremely muscular, having almost the hardness of a stone ; the heart remarkably large ; the crop was filled with briar knots, containing the larvag of some insect, — quantities of a species of green lichen, small hard seeds, and some grains of Indian corn. Genus LVII. PERDIX. Species P. VIBGINIANUS. QUAIL, OR PAKTRIDGE. [Plate XLVII. Fig. 2.] Arct. Zool. 318, No. 185. — Catesb. App. p. 12. — Virginian Quail, Tprt. Syst. p. 460. — Maryland Q. Ibid. — Le Perdrix d'Am^rique, Briss. i., 231. — Buff, ii., 447.* This well known bird is a general inhabitant of North America, from the northern parts of, Canada and Nova Scotia, in which latter place it is said to be migratory, to the extremity of the peninsula of * Teirao Virginianus, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, p. 161. T. Marilandicus, id. ib.— Perdix Virginiana, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 650. P. Marilanda, id. p. 651. — Caille dt la Louisiane, Buff. PI. Enl. 149. PARTRIDGE. 281 Florida ; and was seen in the neighborhood of the Great Osage village, in the interior of Louisiana. They are numerous in Kentucky and Ohio ; Mr. Pennant remarks that they have been lately introduced into the island of Jamaica, where they appear to thrive greatly, breeding in that warm climate twice in the year. Captain Henderson mentions them as being plenty near the Balize, at the Bay of Honduras. They rarely frequent the forest, and are most numerous in the vicinity of well cultivated plantations, where grain is in plenty. They, however, occasionally seek shelter in the woods, perching on the branches, or secreting among the brush wood ; but are found most usually in open fields, or along fences sheltered by thickets of briars. Where they are not too much persecuted by the sportsmen, they become almost half domesticated ; approach the barn, particularly in winter, and sometimes in that severe season mix. with the poultry, to glean up a subsistence. They remain with us the whole year, and often suffer extremely by long hard winters, and deep snows. At such times the arts of man combine with the inclemency of the season for their destruction. To the ravages of the gun are added others of a more insidious kind. Traps are placed on almost every plantation, in such places as they are known to frequent. These are formed of lath, or thinly split sticks, somewhat in the shape of an obtuse cone, laced together with cord, having a small hole at top, with a sliding lid, to take out the game by. This is sup- ported by the common figure 4 trigger, and grain is scattered below, and leading to the place. By this contrivance ten or fifteen have some- times been taken at a time. These are sometimes brought alive to market, and occasionally bought up by sportsmen, who, if the season be very severe, sometimes preserve and feed them till spring, when they are humanely turned out to their native fields again, to be put to death, at some future time, seeundem artem. Between the months of August and March, great numbers of these birds are brought to the market of Philadelphia, where they are sold from twelve to eighteen cents apiece. The Quail begins to build early in May. The nest is made on the ground, usually at the bottom of a thick tuft of grass that shelters and conceals it. The materials are leaves and fine dry grass, in consider- able quantity. It is well covered above, and an opening left on one side for entrance. The female lays from fifteen to twenty-four eggs, of a pure white without any spots. The time of incubation has been stated to me by various persons at four weeks, when the eggs were placed undfer the domestic hen. The young leave the nest as soon as they are freed from the shell, and are conducted about in search of food by the female ; are guided by her voice, which at that time resembles the twittering of young chickens, and sheltered by her wings, in the same manner as those of the domestic fowl ; but with all that secrecy and precaution for their safety, which their helplessness and greater 282 PAETRIDGE. danger require. In this situation should the little timid family be unexpectedly surprised, the utmost alarm and consternation instantly prevail. The mother throws herself in the path, fluttering along, and beating the ground with her wings, as if sorely wounded, using every artifice she is mistress of, to entice the passenger in pursuit of herself, uttering at the same time certain peculiar notes of alarm, well under- stood by the young, who dive separately amongst the grass, and secrete themselves till the danger is over; and the parent, having decoyed the pursuer to a safe distance, returns, by a circuitous route, to collect and lead them off. This well known manoeuvre, which nine times in ten is successful, is honorable to the feelings and judgment of the bird, but a severe satire on man. The affectionate mother, as if sensible of the avaricious cruelty of his nature, tempts him with a larger prize, to save her more helpless offspring ; and pays him, as avarice and cruelty ought always to be paid, with mortification and disappointment. The eggs of the Quail have been frequently placed under the domestic hen, and hatched and reared with equal success as her own ; though, generally speaking, the young Partridges being more restless and vagrant, often lose themselves, and disappear. The hen ought to be a particularly good nurse, not at all disposed to ramble, in which case they are very easily raised. Those that survive, acquire all the familiarity of common chickens ; and there is little doubt that if proper measures were taken, and persevered in for a few years, that they might be completely domesticated. They have been often kept during the first season, and through the whole of the winter, but have uniformly deserted in the spring. Two young Partridges that were brought up by a hen, when abandoned by her, associated with the cows, which they regularly followed to the fields, returned with them when they came home in the evening, stood by them while they were milked, and again accompanied them to the pasture. These remained during the winter, lodging in the stable, but as soon as spring came they disappeared. Of this fact I was informed by a very respectable lady, by whom they were particularly observed. It has been frequently asserted to me, that the Quails lay occasion- ally in each other's nests. Though I have never myself seen a case of this kind, I do not think it altogether improbable, from the fact, that they have often been known to drop their eggs in the nest of the com- mon hen, when that happened to be in the fields, or at a small distance from the house. The two Partridges above mentioned were raised in this manner ; and it was particularly remarked by the lady, who gave me the information, that the hen sat for several days after her own eggs were hatched, until the young Quails made their appearance. The Partridge, on her part, has sometimes been employed to hatch the eggs of the common domestic hen. A friend of mine, who himself PARTRIDGE. 288 made the experiment, informs me, that of several hen's eggs which he substituted in place of those of the Partridge, she brought out the whole ; and that for several weeks he occasionally surprised her in various parts of the plantation, with her brood of chickens ; on which occasions she exhibited all that distressful alarm, and practised her usual manoeuvres for their preservation. Even after they were con- siderably grown, and larger than the Partridge herself, she continued to lead them about ; but though their notes, or call, were those of com- mon chickens, their manners had all the shyness, timidity and alarm of young Partridges ; running with great rapidity, and squatting in the grass exactly in the manner of the Partridge. Soon after this they disappeared, having probably been destroyed by dogs, by the gun, or by birds of prey. Whether the domestic fowl might not by this method be very soon brought back to its original savage state, and thereby supply another additional subject for the amusement of the sportsman, will scarcely admit of a doubt. But the experiment, in order to secure its ..success, would require to be made in a quarter of the country less exposed than ours to the ravages of guns, traps, dogs, and the deep snows of winter, that the new tribe might have full time to become com- pletely naturalized, and well fixed in all their native habits. About the beginning of September, the Quails being now nearly full grown, and associated in flocks, or coveys, of from four or five to thirty, afford considerable sport to the gunner. At this time the notes of the male are most frequent, clear and loud. His common call consists of two notes, with sometimes an introductory one, and is similar to the sound produced by pronouncing the words "Bob White." This call may be easily imitated by whistling, so as to deceive the bird itself, and bring it near. While uttering this he is usually perched on a rail of the fence, or on a low limb of an apple-tree, where he will sometimes sit, repeating at short intervals "Bob White," for half an hour at a time. When a covey are assembled in a thicket or corner of a field, and about to take wing, they make a low twittering sound, not unlike that of young chickens ; and when the covey is dispersed, they are called together again by a loud and frequently repeated note, peculiarly ex- pressive of tenderness and anxiety. The food of the Partridge consists of grain, seeds, insects, and berries of various kinds. Buckwheat and Indian corn are particular favorites. In September and October the buckwheat fields afibrd them an abundant supply, as well as a secure shelter. They usually roost at night in the middle of a field on high ground ; and from the circumstance of their dung being often found in such places, in one round heap, it is gene- rally conjectured that they roost in a circle, with their heads outwards, each individual in this position forming a kind of guard to prevent 284 PARTRIDGE. surprise. They also continue to lodge for several nights in the same spot. The Partridge, like all the rest of the gallinaceous order, flies yrith a loud whirring sound, occasioned by the shortness, concavity, and rapid motion of its wings, and the comparative weight of its body. The steadiness of its horizontal flight, however, renders it no difiicult mark to the sportsman, particularly when assisted by his sagacious pointer. The flesh of this bird is peculiarly white, tender and delicate, un- equalled, in these qualities, by that of any other of its genus in the United States. The Quail, as it is called in New England, or the Partridge, as in Pennsylvania, is nine inches long, and fourteen inches in extent ; the bill is black ; line over the eye, down the neck, and whole chin, pure white, bounded by a band of black, which descends and spreads broadly over the throat ; the eye is dark hazel ; crown, neck, and upper part of the breast, red brown ; sides of the neck spotted with white and black, on a reddish brown ground ; back, scapulars and lesser coverts, red brown, intermixed with ash, and sprinkled with black ; tertials edged with yellowish white ; wings plain dusky ; lower part of the breast and belly pale yellowish white ; beautifully marked with numerous curving spots or arrow heads of black ; tail ash, sprinkled with reddish brown ; legs very pale ash. The female differs in having the chin and sides of the head yellowish brown, in which dress it has been described as a different kind. There is, however, only one species of Quail at present known within the United States. INTRODUCTION TO THE WATEE BIRDS. We now enter upon the second grand division of our subject, Wateb Birds ; and on that particular class, or order, usually denominated Crrallce,, or Waders. Here a new assemblage of scenery, altogether different from the former, presents itself for our contemplation. Instead of rambling through the leafy labyrinths of umbrageous groves, fra- grance-breathing orchards, fields and forests, we must now descend into the watery morass, and mosquito-swamp ; traverse the windings of the river, the rocky cliffs, bays and inlets of the sea-beat shore, listening to the wild and melancholy screams of a far different multitude ; a mul- titude less intimate indeed with man, though not less useful ; as they contribute liberally to his amusement, to the abundance of his table, the warmth of his bed, and the comforts of his repose. . In contemplating the various, singular and striking peculiarities of these, we shall everywhere find traces of an infinitely wise and benefi- cent Creator. In every deviation of their parts from the common con- formation of such as are designed for the land alone, we may discover a wisdom of design never erring, never failing in the means it provides for the accomplishment of its purpose. Instead therefore of imitating the wild presumption, or rather profanity, of those who have censured as rude, defective or deformed, whatever, in those and other organized beings, accorded not with their narrow conceptions ; let it be ours to search with humility into the intention of those particular conforma- tions ; and thus, entering as it were into the designs of the Deity, we shall see in every part of the work of his hands abundant cause to exclaim with the enraptured poet of nature, " Wisdom infinite ! Goodness immense 1 And Love that passeth knowledge t" In the present volume, the greater part of such of the Waders as belong to the territories of the United States, will be found delineated (285) 286 INTRODUCTION TO WATER BIRDS. and described. This class naturally forms an intermediate link between the Land Birds and the Web-footed, partaking, in their form, food and habits, of the characters of both ; and equally deserving of our regard and admiration. Though formed for traversing watery situations, often in company with the Swimmers, they differ from these last in one cir- cumstance common to Land Birds, the separation of the toes nearly to their origin ; and in the habit of seldom venturing beyond their depth. On the other hand, they are furnished with legs of extraordinary length, bare for a considerable space above the knees, by the assistance of which they are enabled to walk about in the water in pursuit of their prey, where the others are obliged to swim ; and also with necks of corres- ponding length, by means of which they can search the bottom for food, where the others must have recourse to diving. The bills of one family (the Herons) are strong, sharp pointed, and of considerable length ; while the flexibility of the neck, the rapidity of its action, and remark- able acuteness of sight, wonderfully fit them for watching, striking, and securing their prey. Those whose food consists of more feeble and sluggish insects, that lie concealed deeper in the mud, are provided with bills of still greater extension, the rounded extremity of which pos- sesses such nice sensibility, as to enable its possessor to detect its prey the instant it comes in contact with it, though altogether beyond the reach of sight. Other families of this same order, formed for traversing the sandy sea-beach in search of small shell-fish that lurk just below the surface, have the bills and legs necessarily shorter ; but their necessities requir- ing them to be continually on the verge of the flowing or retreating wave, the activity of their motions forms a striking contrast with the patient habits of the Heron tribe, who sometimes stand fixed and mo- tionless, for hours together, by the margin of the pool or stream, watch- ing to surprise their scaly prey. Some few again, whose favorite food lies at the soft oozy bottoms of shallow pools, have the bill so extremely slender and delicate, as to be altogether unfit for penetrating either the muddy shores, or sandy sea-beach ; though excellently adapted for its own particular range, where lie the various kinds of food destined for their subsistence. Of this kind are the Avosets of the present volume, who not only wade with great activity in considerably deep water ; but having the feet nearly half-webbed, combine in one the characters of both wader and swimmer. It is thus, that by studying the living manners of the different tribes in their native retreats, we not only reconcile the singularity of some parts of their conformation with Divine wisdom ; but are enabled to compre- hend the reason of many others, which the pride of certain closet natu- ralists has arraigned as lame, defective and deformed. One observation more may be added : the migrations of this class of INTRODUCTION TO WATER BIRDS. 287 birds are more generally known and acknowledged than that of most others. Their comparatively large size and immense i&ultitudes, render their regular periods of migration (so strenuously denied to some others) notorious along the whole extent of our sea-ooast. Associating, feed- ing, and travelling together in such prodigious and noisy numbers, it would be no less difficult to conceal their arrival, passage and depart- ure, than that of a vast army through a thickly peopled country. Con- stituting also, as many of them do, an article of food and interest to man, he naturally becomes more intimately acquainted with their habits and retreats, than with those feeble and minute kinds, which offer no such inducement, and perform their migrations with more silence in scattered parties, unheeded or overlooked. Hence many of the Waders can be traced from their summer abodes, the desolate regions of Greenland and Spitzbergen, to the fens and seashores of the West India Islands and South America, the usual places of their' winter retreat, while those of the Purple Martin and common Swallow still remain, in vulgar belief , wrapped up in all the darkness of mystery. Philadelphia, March 1st, 1819. DIV. II. AVES AQUATICJ]. WATEK BIRDS. ORDER VII. Q-RklLM. WADERS. Gentjs LXIV. PLATALEA. SPOONBILL. Species. P. AJAJA. ROSEATE SPOONBILL. [Plate LXIII. Fig. 1.] Aret. Zool. No. 338. — Lath. Syn. iii., p. 16, No. 2. — La Spatule couleur de Rose, Briss. Orn. r., p. 356, 2, pi. 30.— PZ. Enl. p. 116.— Bdff. tii., 456. This stately and elegant bird inhabits the seashores of America, from Brazil to Georgia. It also appears to wander up the Mississippi some- times in summer, the specimen from which the figure in the plate waa drawn having been sent me from the neighborhood of Natchez, in ex- cellent order ; for which favor I am indebted to the family of my late benevolent and scientific friend, William Dunbar, Esq., of that territory. This species, however, is rarely seen to the northward of the Alata- maha river ; and even along the Peninsula of Florida is a scarce bird. In Jamaica, several other of the West India Islands, Mexico, and Guiana, it is more common, but confines itself chiefly to the seashore, and the mouths of rivers. Captain Henderson says, it is frequently seen at Honduras. It wades about in quest of shell-fish, marine insects, small crabs and fish. In pursuit of these, it occasionally swims and dives. There are few facts on record relative to this very singular bird. It ii said that the young are of a blackish chestnut the first year ; of the roseate color of the present the second year ; and of a deep scarlet the third.* Having never been so fortunate as to meet with them in their native wilds, I regret my present inability to throw any farther light on their history and manners. These, it is probable, may resemble, in many respects, those of the European species, the White Spoonbill, once so * Latham. Vol. II.— 19 . (289) 290 ROSEATE SPOONBILL. common in Holland.* To atone for this deficiency, I have endeavored faithfully to delineate the figure of this American species, and may perhaps resume the subject, in some future part of the present work. The Roseate Spoonbill, now before us, measured two feet six inches in length, and near four feet in extent ; the bill was six inches and a half long, from the corner of the mouth, seven from its upper base, two inches over at its greatest width, and three-quarters of an inch where narrowest ; of a black color for half its length, and covered with hard scaly protuberances, like the edges of oyster shells : these are of a whitish tint, stained with red ; the nostrils are oblong, and placed in the centre of the upper mandible ; from the lower end of each nostril there runs a deep groove along each side of the mandible, and about a quarter of an inch from its edge ; whole crown and chin bare of plumage, and covered with a greenish skin : that below the under mandible dilatable, as in the genus Pelicanus ; space round the eye orange ; irides blood red ; cheeks and hind head a bare black skin ; neck long, covered with short white feathers, some of which, on the upper part of the neck, are tipped with crimson ; breast white, the sides of which are tinged with a brown burnt-color ; from the upper part of the breast proceeds a long tuft of fine hair-like plumage, of a pale rose color ; back white, slightly tinged with brownish ; wings a pale wild-rose color, the shafts lake ; the shoulders of the wings are covered with long hairy plumage of a deep and splendid carmine ; upper and lower tail coverts the same rich red ; belly rosy ; rump paler ; tail equal at the end, consisting of twelve feathers, of a bright brownish orange, the shafts reddish; legs, and naked part of the thighs, dark dirty red ; feet half webbed ; toes very long, particularly the hind one. The upper part of the neck had the plumage partly worn away, as if occasioned by resting it on the back, in the manner of the Ibis. The skin on the crown is a little wrinkled ; the inside of the wing a much richer red than the outer. * The European species breeds on trees, by tbe seaside ; lays three or four white eggs, powdered with a few pale red spots, and about the size of those of a hen ; are very noisy during breeding time ; feed on fish, muscles, &c., which, like the Bald _ Eagle, they frequently take from other birds, frightening them by ■'lattering their bill ; they are also said to eat grass, weeds, and roots of reeds : they are migra- tory ; their flesh reported to savor of that of a goose ; the young are reckoned good food. Genus LXIX. AKDEA. HERON. Species I. A. MINOR. AMERICAN BITTERN. [Plate LXV. Fig. 3.] Tje Buior de la Baye W Hudson, Briss. v., p. 449, 25. — Bcpf. vii., p. 430. — Edw. 136, var. A. — Lath. Syn. iii., p. 58. This is a nocturnal species, common to all our sea and river marshes, though nowhere numerous ; it rests all day among the reeds and rushes, and unless disturbed, flies and feeds only during the night. In some places it is called the Indian Hen, on the sea coast of New Jersey it is known by the name of Dunkadoo, a word probably imitative of its common note. They are also found in the interior, having myself killed one at the inlet of the Seneca Lake, in October. It utters at times a hollow guttural note among the reeds ; but has nothing of that loud booming sound for which the European Bittern is so remarkable. This circumstance, with its great inferiority of size, and difference of mark- ing, suflSciently prove them to be two distinct species, although hitherto the present has been classed as a mere variety of the European Bittern. These birds, we are informed, visit Severn river, at Hudson's Bay, about the beginning of. June; make their nests in swamps, laying four cine- reous-green eggs among the long grass. The young are said to be at first black. These birds, when disturbed, rise with a hollow kwa, and are then easily shot down, as they fly heavily. Like other night birds their sight is most acute during the evening twilight ; but their hearing is at all times exquisite. The American Bittern is twenty-seven inches long, and three feet four inches in extent ; from the point of the bill to the extremity of the toes it measures three feet ; the bill is four inches long, the upper man- dible black, the lower greenish yellow ; lores and eyelids yellow ; irides bright yellow ; upper part of the head flat, and remarkably depressed ; the plumage there is of a deep blackish brown, long behind and on the neck, the general color of which is a yellowish brown shaded with darker ; this long plumage of the neck the bird can throw forward at will, when irritated, so as to give him a more formidable appearance ; (291) 292 BLUE HERON. throat whitish, streaked with deep brown ; from the posterior and lower part of the auriculars a broad patch of deep black passes diagonally across the neck, a distinguished characteristic of this species ; the back is deep brown barred and mottled with innumerable specks and streaks of brownish yellow ; quills black, with a leaden gloss, and tipped with yellowish brown ; legs and feet yellow, tinged with pale green ; middle claw pectinated ; belly light yellowish brown streaked with darker, vent plain, thighs sprinkled on the outside with grains of dark brown ; male and female nearly alike, the latter somewhat less. According to Be- wick, the tail of the European Bittern contains only ten feathers ; the American species has invariably twelve. The intestines measured five feet six inches in length, and were very little thicker than a common knitting-needle ; the stomach is usually filled with fish or frogs. This bird when fat is considered by many to be excellent eating. Species II. ARDEA C^BULEA. BLUE CRANE, or HERON. [Plate LXII. Fig. 3.] Arct. Zool. No. 351. — Oatesbt, i., 76. — Le Crabier bleii, Buff, til, 398. — Sloan. Jam. II., 315. — Lath. Syn. in., p. 78, No. 45, p. 79, var. A. — Ardea ccerules- cens, TuET. Syst. p. 379.* In mentioning this species in his translation of the Systema Naturoe, Turton has introduced what he calls two varieties, one from New Zea- land, the other from Brazil ; both of which, if we may .judge by their size and color, appear to be entirely different and distinct species ; the first being green with yellow legs, the last nearly one half less than the present. By this loose mode of discrimination, the precision of science being altogether dispensed with, the whole tribe of Cranes, Herons, and Bitterns may be styled mere varieties of the genus Ardea. The same writer has still farther increased this confusion, by designating as a dif- ferent species his Bluish Heron {A. ccerulescens), which agrees almost exactly with the present. Some of these mistakes may probably have originated from the figure of this bird given by Catesby, which appears to have been drawn and colored, not from nature, but from the glim- mering recollections of memory, and is extremely erroneous. These remarks are due to truth, and necessary to the elucidation of the history of his species, which seems to be but imperfectly known in Europe. The Blue Heron is properly a native of the warmer climates of the * Heron blewdtre de Cayenne, Buff. PI. Enl. 349, adult. BLUE HERON. 293 United States, migrating thence, at the approach of winter, to the tropical regions ; being found in Cayenne, Jamaica, and Mexico. On the muddy shores of the Mississippi, from Baton Rouge downwards to New Orleans, these birds are frequently met with. In spring they ex- tend their migrations as far north as New England, chiefly in the vicinity of the sea ; becoming more rare as they advance to the north. On the seabeach of Cape May, I found a few of them breeding among the cedars, in company with the Snowy Heron, Night Heron, and Green Bittern. The figure and description of the present were taken from two of these, shot in the month of May, while in complete plumage. Their nests were composed of small sticks, built in the tops of the red cedars, and contained five eggs of a light blue color, and of somewhat a deeper tint than those of the Night Heron. Little or no difierence could be perceived between the colors and markings of the male and female. This remark is applicable to almost the whole genus ; though from the circumstance of many of the yearling birds difiering in plumage, they have been mistaken for females. The Blue Heron, though in the Northern States it is found chiefly in the neighborhood of the ocean, probably on account of the greater tem- perature of the climate, is yet particularly fond of fresh water bogs, on J;he edges of the salt marsh. These it often frequents, wading about in search of tadpoles, lizards, various larvae of winged insects, and mud worms. It moves actively about in search of these, sometimes making a run at its prey ; and is often seen in company with the Snowy Heron, figured in the same plate. Like this last, it is also very silent, intent and watchful. The genus Ardea is the most numerous of all the wading tribes, there being no less than ninety-six different species enumerated by late writers. These are again subdivided into particular families, each dis- tinguished by a certain peculiarity. The Cranes, by having the head bald; the Storks, with the orbits naked; and the Herons, with the middle claw pectinated. To this last belong the Bitterns. Several of these are nocturnal birds, feeding only as the evening twilight com- mences, and reposing either among the long grass and reeds, or on tall trees, in sequestered plapes, during the day. What is very remarkable, those night wanderers often associate, during the breeding season, with the others ; building their nests on the branches of the same tree ; and, though difi'ering so liltle in external form, feeding on nearly the same food, living and lodging in the same place ; yet preserve their race, language, and manners as perfectly distinct from those of their neigh- bors, as if each inhabited a separate quarter of the globe. The Blue Heron is twenty-three inches in length, and three feet in extent ; the bill is black, but from the nostril to the eye, in both man- dibles, is of a rich light purplish blue ; iris of the eye gray, pupil black. 294 GREAT HERON. surrounded by a narrow silvery ring ; eyelid light blue ; the whole head and greater part of the neck, is of a deep purplish brown ; from the crested hind-head shoot three narrow pointed feathers, that reach nearly six inches beyond the eye ; lower part of the neck, breast, belly and whole body, a deep slate color, with lighter reflections; the back is covered with long, flat, and narrow "feathers, some of which are ten inches long, and extend four inches beyond the tail; the breast is also ornamented with a number of these long slender feathers ; legs blackish green ; inner side of the middle claw pectinated. The breast and sides of the rump, under the plumage, are clothed with a mass of yellowish white unelastic cottony down, similar to that in most of the tribe, the uses of which are not altogether understood. Male and female alike in color. The young birds of the first year are destitute of the purple plumage on the head and neck. Species III. AEDEA MERODIAS. GREAT HERON. [Plate LXV. Fig. 2.] Le Heron hupp^ de Virginie, Bhiss. v., p. 416, 10. — Le Grand Heron W Amirique, Bdpf. VII., p. 385. — Larger crested Heron, Catesb. App. pi. \0, fig. 1. — Lath. Syn. III., p. %i.—Arct. Zool. No. 341. The history of this large and elegant bird having been long involved in error and obscurity,* I have taken more than common pains to present a faithful portrait of it in this place ; and to add to that every fact and authentic particular relative to its manners which may be necessary to the elucidation of the subject. The Great Heron is a constant inhabitant of the Atlantic coast from New York to Florida ; in deep snows and severe weather seeking the open springs of the cedar and cypress swamps, and the muddy inlets occasionally covered by the tides. On the higher inland parts of the country, beyond the mountains, they are less numerous ; and * Latham says of this species, that " all the upper parts of the body, the belly, tail and legs are brown;" and this description has been repeated by every subse- quent compiler. Buffon, with his usual eloquent absurdity, describes the Heron as "exhibiting the picture of wretchedness, anxiety and indigence; condemned to struggle perpetually with misery and want ; sickened with the restless cravings of a famished appetite;" a description so ridiculously untrue, that, were it possible for these birds to comprehend it, would excite the risibility of the whole tribe. GREAT HERON. 295 one which was shot in the upper parts of New Hampshire, was described to me as a great curiosity. Many of their breeding places occur in both Carolinas, chiefly in the vicinity of the sea. In the lower parts of New Jersey they have also their favorite places for building, and rearing their young. These are generally in the gloomy solitudes of the tallest cedar swamps, where, if unmolested, they continue annually to breed for many years. These swamps are from half a mile to a mile in breadth, and sometimes five or six in length, and appear as if they occupied the former channel of some choked up river, stream, lake, or arm of the sea. The appearance they present to a stranger is singular. A front of tall and perfectly straight trunks, rising to the height of fifty or sixty feet without a limb, and crowded in every direc- tion, their tops so closely woven together as to shut out the day, spreading the gloom of perpetual twilight below. On a near approach they are found to rise out of the water, which from the impregnation of the fallen leaves and roots of the cedars,^ is of the color of brandy. Amidst this bottom of congregated springs, the ruins of the former forest lie piled in every state of confusion. The roots, prostrate logs, and in many places the water, are covered with green mantUng moss, while an undergrowth of laurel, fifteen or twenty feet high, intersects every opening so completely, as to render a passage through laborious and harassing beyond description; at every step you either sink to the knees, clamber over fallen timber, squeeze yourself through between the stubborn laurels, or plunge to the middle in ponds made by the uprooting of large trees, and which the green moss concealed from observation. In calm weather the silence of death reigns in these dreary regions ; a few interrupted rays of light shoot across the gloom ; and unless for the occasional hollow screams of the Herons, and the melancholy chirping of one or two species of small birds, all is silence, solitude and desolation. , When a breeze rises, at first it sighs mourn- fully through the tops ; but as the gale increases, the tall mast-like cedars wave like fishing poles, and rubbing against each other, produce a variety of singular noises, that, with the help of a little imagination,- resemble shrieks, groans, growling of bears, wolves and such like comfortable music. On the tops of the tallest of these cedars the Herons construct their nests, ten or fifteen pair sometimes occupying a particular part of the swamp. The nests are large, formed of sticks, and lined with smaller twigs ; each occupies the top of a single tree. The eggs are generally four, of an oblong pointed form, larger than those of a hen, and of a light greenish blue without any spots. The young are produced about the middle of May, and remain on the trees until they are full as heavy as the old ones, being extremely fat, before they are able to fly. They breed but once in the season. If disturbed in their breeding place, 296 GREAT HERON. the old birds fly occasionally over the spot, sometimes honking like a Goose, sometimes uttering a coarse hollow grunting noise like that of a hog, but much louder. The Great Heron is said to be fat at the full moon, and lean at its decrease; this might be accounted for by the fact of their fishing regularly by moonlight through the greater part of the night, as well as during the day ; but the observation is not universal, for at such times I have found some lean as well as others fat. The young are said to be excellent for the table, and even the old birds, when in good order, and properly cooked, are esteemed by many. The principal food of the Great Heron is fish, for which he watches with the most unwearied patience, and seizes them with surprising dex- terity. At the edge of the river, pond or seashore he stands fixed and inotionless, sometimes for hours together. But his stroke is quick as thought, and sure as fate to the first luckless fish that approaches within his reach ; these he sometimes beats to death, and always swallows head, foremost, such being their uniform position in the stomach. He is also an excellent mouser, and of great service to our meadows in destroying the short-tailed or meadow mouse, so injurious to the banks. He also feeds eagerly on grasshoppers, various winged insects, particularly dragon flies, which he is very expert at striking, and also eats the seeds of that species of nymphse usually called splatter docks, so abundant along our fresh water ponds and rivers. The Heron has great powers of wing, flying sometimes very high, and to a great distance ; his neck doubled, his head drawn in, and his long legs stretched out in a right line behind him, appearing like a tail, and probably serving the same rudder-like oflice. When he leaves the seacoast, and traces on wing the courses of the creeks or rivers upwards, he is said to prognosticate rain ; when downwards, dry weather. He is most jealously vigilant and watchful of man, so that those who wish to succeed in shooting the Heron, must approach him entirely unseen, and by stratagem. The same inducements, however, for his destruction do not prevail here as in Europe. Our seashores and rivers are free to all for the amusement of fishing. Luxury has not yet constructed her thousands of fish ponds, and surrounded them with steel traps, spring guns, and Heron snares.* In our vast fens, * " The Heron," says an English writer, " is a very great devourer of fish, and does more mischief in a pond than an otter. People who have kept Herons have had the curiosity to number the fish they feed them with, into a tub of water, and counting them again afterwards, it has been found that they will eat up fifty moderate dace and roaches in a day. It has been found that in carp ponds visited by this bird, one Heron will eat up a thousand store carp in a year; and will hunt them so close as to let very few escape. The readiest method of destroying this mischievous bird is by fishing for him in the manner of pike, with a baited hook. GREAT HERON. 297 meadows and sea marshes, this stately bird roams at pleasure, feasting on the never-failing magazines of frogs, fish, seeds and insects with which they abound, and of which he probably considers himself the sole lord and proprietor. I have several times seen the Bald Eagle attack and tease the Great Heron ; but whether for sport, or to make him disgorge his fish, I am uncertain. The common Heron of Europe [Ardea major) very much resembles the present, which might, as usual, have probably been ranked as the original stock, of which the present was a mere degenerated species, were it not that the American is greatly superior in size and weight to the European species, the former measuring four feet four inches, and weighing upwards of seven pounds ; the latter three feet three inches, and rarely weighing more than four pounds. Yet with the exception of size, and the rust-colored thighs of the present, they are extremely alike. The common Heron of Europe, however, is not an inhabitant of the United States. The Great Heron does not receive, his full plumage during the first season, nor until the summer of the second. In the first season the young birds are entirely destitute of the white plumage of the crown, and the long pointed feathers of the back, shoulders, and breast. In this dress I have frequently shot them in autumn. But in the third year, both males and females have- assumed their complete dress, and, contrary to all the European accounts which I have met with, both are then so nearly alike in color and markings, as scarcely to be distin- guished from each other ; both having the long flowing crest, and all the ornamental white pointed plumage of the back and breast. Indeed this sameness in the plumage of the males and females, when arrived at their perfect state, is a characteristic of the whole of the genus with which I am acquainted. Whether it be difierent with those of Europe, or that the young and imperfect birds have been hitherto mistaken for females I will not pretend to say, though I think the latter conjecture highly probable, as the Night Raven (Ardea nycticorax) has been known for several centuries, and yet in all their accounts the sameness of the colors and plumage of the male and female of that bird is nowhere men- "When the haunt of the Heron is found out, three or four small roach, or dace, are to be procured, and each of them is to be baited on a wire, with a strong hook at the end, entering the wire just at the gills, and letting it run just under the skin to the tail ; the fish will live in this manner for five or six days, which is a very essential thing : for if it be dead, the Heron will not touch it. A strong line is then to be prepared of silk and wire twisted together, and is to be about two yards long ; tie this to the wire that holds the hook, and to the other end of it there is to be tied a stone of about a pound weight ; let three or four of these baits be sunk in difi'erent shallow parts of the pond, and in a night or two's time the Heron will not fail to be taken with one or other of them." 298 GREAT HERON. tioned ; on the contrary, the young or yearling bird has been universally described as the female. On the eighteenth of May I examined, both externally and by dissec- tion, five specimens of the Great Heron, all in complete plumage, killed in a cedar swamp near the head of Tuckahoe river, in Cape May county. New Jersey. In this case the females could not be mistaken, as some of the eggs were nearly ready for exclusion. Length of the Great Heron four feet four inches from the point of the bill to the end of the tail, and to the bottom of the feet five feet four inches ; extent six feet ; bill eight inches long, and one inch and a quarter in width, of a yellow color, in some blackish on the ridge, ex- tremely sharp at the point, the edges also sharp, and slightly serrated near the extremity ; space round the eye from the nostril, a light pur- plish blue ; irides orange, brightening, into yellow where they join the pupil ; forehead and middle of the crown white, passing over the eye ; sides of the crown and hind head deep slate or bluish black, and ele- gantly crested, the two long tapering black feathers being full eight inches in length ; chin, cheeks, and sides of the head white for several inches ; throat white, thickly streaked with double rows of black ; rest of the neck brownish ash, from the lower part of which shoot a great number of long narrow pointed white feathers that spread over the breast and reach nearly to the thighs ; under these long plumes the breast itself, and middle of the belly is of a deep blackish slate, the lait- ter streaked with white ; sides blue ash ; vent white ; thighs and ridges of the wings a dark purplish rust color ; whole upper parts of the wings, tail, and body a fine light ash, the latter ornamented with a profusion of long narrow white tapering feathers, originating on the shoulders or upper part of the back, and falling gracefully over the wings ; prima- ries very dark slate, nearly black ; naked thighs brownish yellow ; legs brownish "black, tinctured with yellow, and netted with seams of whitish ; in some the legs are nearly black. Little diflference could be perceived between the plumage of the males and females ; the latter were rather less, and the long pointed plumes of the back were not quite so abundant. The young birds of the first year have the whole upper part of the head of a dark slate ; want the long plumes of the breast and back ; and have the body, neck, and lesser coverts of the wings considerably tinged with ferruginous. On dissection the gullet was found of great width, from the mouth to the stomach, which has not the two strong muscular coats that form the gizzard of some birds ; it was more loose, of considerable and uniform thickness throughout, and capable of containing nearly a pint ; it was entirely filled with fish, among which were some small eels, all placed head downwards ; the intestines measured nine feet in length, were GREAT WHITE HEKON. 299 scarcely as thick as a goose-quill, and incapable of being distended ; so that the vulgar story of the Heron swallowing eels which passing sud- denly through him are repeatedly swallowed, is absurd and impossible. On the external coat of the stomach of one of these birds, opened soon after being shot, something like a blood vessel lay in several meandering folds, enveloped in a membrane, and closely adhering to the surface. On carefully opening this membrane it was found to contain a large round living worm, eight inches in length ; another of like length was found coiled in the same manner on another part of the external coat. It may also be worthy of notice, that the intestines of the young birds of the first season, killed in the month of October, when they were nearly as large as the others, measured only six feet four or five inches, those of the full grown ones from eight to nine feet in length. Species IV. ABDEA EGRETTA* GKEAT WHITE HERON. \ [Plate LXI. Fig. 4.] This tall and elegant bird, though often seen, during the summer, in our low marshes and inundated meadows ; yet, on account of its ex- treme vigilance, and watchful timidity, is very difficult to be procured. Its principal residence is in the regions of the south, being found from Guiana, and probably beyond the line, to New York. It enters the territories of the United States late in February ; this I conjecture from having first met with it in the southern parts of Georgia about that time. The high inland parts of the country it rarely or never visits ; its favor- ite haunts are vast inundated swamps, rice fields, the low marshy shores of rivers, and such like places ; where, from its size and color, it is very conspicuous, even at a great distance. The appearance of this bird, during the first season, when it is entirely destitute of the long flowing plumes of the back, is so different from the same bird in its perfect plumage, which it obtains in the third year, that naturalists and others very generally consider them as two distinct species. The opportunities which I have fortunately had, of observing them, with the train, in various stages of its progress, from its first appearance to its full growth, satisfies me that the Great White Heron with, and that without, the long plumes, are one and the same species, in difi'erent periods of age. In the museum of my friend Mr. Peale, there was a specimen of this bird, in which the train was wanting ; * Ardea alba, Linn. Syst. Ed. 10, p. 144. 300 GREAT WHITE HERON. but on a closer examination, its rudiments were plainly to be perceived; extending several incbes beyond the common plumage. The Great White Herpn breeds in several of the extensive cedar swamps in the lower parts of New Jersey. Their nests are built on the trees, in societies ; the structure and materials exactly similar to those of the Snowy Heron, but larger. The eggs are usually four, of a pale blue color. In the months of July and August, the young make their first appearance in the meadows and marshes, in parties of twenty or thirty together. The large ditches with which the extensive meadows below Philadelphia are intersected, are regularly, about that season, visited by flocks of those birds ; these are frequently shot ; but the old ones are too sagacious to be easily approached. Their food consists of frogs, lizards, small fish, insects, seeds . of the splatter-dock (a species of Nymphoe), and small water snakes. They will also devour mice and moles, the remains of such having been at different times found in their stomachs. The long plumes of these birds have at various periods been in great request, on the continent of Europe, particularly in France and Italy, for the purpose of ornamenting the female head-dress. When dyed of various colors, and tastefully fashioned, they form a light and elegant duster and mosquito brush. The Indians prize them for ornamenting their hair, or topknot ; and I have occasionally observed these people wandering through the market place of New Orleans, with bunches of those feathers for sale. The Great White Heron measures five feet from the extremities of the wings, and three feet six inches from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail ; the train extends seven or eight inches farther. This train is composed of a great number of long, thick, tapering shafts, arising from the lower part of the shoulders, and thinly furnished on each side with fine flowing hair-like threads, of several inches in length, covering the lower part of the back, and falling gracefully over the tail, which it entirely conceals. The whole plumage is of a snowy whiteness, except the train, which is slightly tinged with yellow. The bill is nearly six inches in length, of a rich orange yellow, tipped with black ; irides a paler orange, pupil small, giving the bird a sharp and piercing aspect ; the legs are long, stout, and of a black color, as is the bare space of four inches above the knee ; the span of the foot measures upwards of six inches ; the inner edge of the middle claw is pectinated ; the exte- rior and middle toes are united at the base for about half an inch, by a membrane. The articulations of the vertebrae are remarkably long ; the intestines measure upwards of eight feet, and are very narrow. The male and female are alike in plumage ; both, when of full age, having the train equally long. Species V. ARDEA riRESOHNS. GREEN HERON. [Plate LXI. Fig. 1.] Arct. Zool. No. 349.— Catesbt, i., 80. — Le Crabier vert, Buff, til, 404. — Lath, 8yn. III., p. 68, No. 30. This common atid familiar species owes little to the liberality of public opinion, whose prejudices have stigmatized it with a very vulgar and indelicate nickname ; and treat it on all occasions as worthless and contemptible. Yet few birds are more independent of man than this ; for it faires best, and is always most numerous, where cultivation is least known or attended to ; its favorite residence being the watery solitudes of^ swamps, pools and morasses, where millions of frogs and lizards " tune their nocturnal notes" in full chorus, undisturbed by the lords of creation. The Green Bittern makes its first appearance in Pennsylvania early in April, soon after the marshes are completely thawed. There, among the stagnant ditches with which they are intersected, and amidst the bogs and quagmires, he hunts with great cunning and dexterity. Frogs and small fish are his principal game, whose caution, and facility of escape, require nice address, and rapidity of attack. When on the lookout for small fish, he stands in the water, by the side of the ditch, silent and motionless as a statue ; his neck drawn in over his breast, ready for action. The instant a fry or minnow comes within the range of his bill, by a stroke quick and sure as that of the rattlesnake, he seizes his prey, and swallows it in an instant. He searches for small crabs, and for the various worms and larvae, particularly those of the dragon-fly, which lurk in the mud, with equal adroitness. But the cap- turing of frogs requires much nicer management. These wary reptiles shrink into the mire on the least alarm, and do not raise up their heads again to the surface without the most cautious circumspection. The Bittern, fixing his penetrating eye on the spot where they disappeared, approaches with slow stealing step, laying his feet so gently and silently on the ground as not to be heard or felt ; and when arrived within reach stands fixed, and bending forwards, until the first glimpse of the frog's head makes its appearance, when, with a stroke instantaneous as light- ning, he seizes it in his bill, beats it to death, and feasts on it at his leisure. (301) 302 GREEN HERON. This mode of life, requiring little fatigue where game is so plenty, as is generally the case in all our marshes, must be particularly pleasing to the bird ; and also very interesting, from the continual exercise ot cunning and ingenuity necessary to circumvent its prey. Some of the naturalists of Europe, however, in their superior wisdom, think very differently ; and one can scarcely refrain from smiling at the absurdity of those writers, who declare, that the lives of this whole class of birds are rendered miserable by toil and hunger; their very appearance, according to Bufibn, presenting the image of suffering anxiety and indigence.* When alarmed, the Green Bittern rises with a hollow guttural scream ; does not fly far, but usually alights on some old stump, tree or fence adjoining, and looks about with extended neck ; though sometimes this is drawn in so that his head seems to rest on his breast. As he walks along the fence, or stands gazing at you with outstretched neck, he has the frequent habit of jetting the tail. He sometimes flies high, with doubled neck, and legs extended behind, flapping the wings smartly, and travelling with great expedition. He is the least shy of all our Herons ; and perhaps the most numerous and generally dispersed : being found far in the interior, as well as along our salt marshes ; and everywhere about the muddy shores of our mill-ponds, creeks and large rivers. The Green Bittern begins to build about the twentieth of April ; sometimes in single pairs in swampy woods ; often in companies ; and not unfrequently in a kind of association with the Qua-hirds, or Night Herons. The nest is fixed among the branches of the trees ; is con- structed wholly of small sticks, lined with finer twigs, and is of con- siderable size, though loosely put together. The female lays four eggs, of the common oblong form, and of a pale light blue color. The young do not leave the nest until able to fly ; and for the first season, at least, are destitute of the long pointed plumage on the back ; the lower parts are also lighter, and the white on the throat broader. During the whole summer, and until late in autumn, these birds are seen in our meadows and marshes, but never remain during winter in any part of the United States. The Green Bittern is eighteen inches long, and twenty-five inches in extent ; bill black, lighter below, and yellow at the base ; chin and nar- row streak down the throat yellowish white ; neck dark vinaceous red ; back covered with very long tapering pointed feathers, of a hoary green, shafted with white, on a dark green ground ; the hind part of the neck is destitute of plumage, that it may be the more conveniently drawn in over the breast, but is covered with the long feathers of the throat, and * Hist. Nat. des Olseauz, tome xxii., p. 343. LEAST BITTERN. 303 sides of the neck that enclose it behind ; wings and tail dark glossy green, tipped and bordered with yellowish white ; legs and feet yellow, tinged before with green, the skin of these thick and movable ; belly ashy brown ; irides bright orange ; crested head very dark glossy green. The female, as I have particularly observed, in numerous instances, differs in nothing as to color from the male ; neither of them receive the long feathers on the back during the first season. There is one circumstance attending this bird, which, I recollect, at first surprised me. On shooting and wounding one, I carried it some distance by the legs, which were at first yellow, but on reaching home, I perceived, to my surprise, that they were red. On letting the bird remain some time undisturbed, they again became yellow, and I then discovered that the action of the hand had brought a flow of blood into them, and produced the change of color. I have remarked the same in those of the Night Heron. Species TI. AEDEA EXILIS. LEAST BITTEKN. [Plate LXV. Fig. 4.] Lath. Syn. iii., p. 66, No. 28. This is the smallest known species of the whole tribe. It is com- monly found in fresh water meadows, and rarely visits the salt marshes. One shot near Great Egg Harbor was presented to me as a very uncom- mon bird. In the meadows of Schuylkill and Delaware below Phila- delphia, a few of these birds breed every year, making their nests in the thick tussocks of grass, in swampy places. When alarmed they seldom fly far, but take shelter among the reeds or long grass. They are scarcely ever seen exposed, but skulk during the day ; and, like the preceding species, feed chiefly in the night. ^ This little creature measures twelve inches in length, and sixteen in extent ; the bill is more than two inches and a quarter long, yellow, ridged with black, and very sharp pointed ; space round the eye pale yellow ; irides bright yellow ; whole upper part of the crested head, the back, scapulars and tail very deep slate reflecting slight tints of green ; throat white, here and there tinged with buff; hind part of the neck dark chestnut bay, sides of the neck, cheeks, and line over the eye brown buff; lesser wing-coverts the same ; greater wing-coverts chestnut, with a spot of the same at the bend of the wing, the primary coverts 304 LOUISIANA HEKON. are also tipped with the same ; wing quills dark slate ; breast white, tinged with ochre, under which lie a number of blackish feathers ; belly and vent white ; sides pale ochre ; legs greenish on the shins, hind part and feet yellow ; thighs feathered to within a quarter of an inch of the knees, middle claw pectinated ; toes tinged with pale green ; feet large, the span of the foot measuring two inches and three quarters. Male and female nearly alike in color. The young birds are brown on the crown and back. The stomach was filled with small fish ; and the intestines, which were extremely slender, measured in length about four feet. The Least Bittern is also found in Jamaica and several of the West India Islands. Species TIL ARDEA LUDOYICIANA. LOUISIANA HERON. [Plate LXIT. Fig. 1.] This is a rare and delicately formed species ; occasionally found on the swampy river shores of South Carolina, but more frequently along the borders of the Mississippi, particularly below New Orleans. In each of these places it is migratory ; and in the latter, as I have been informed, builds its nest on trees, amidst the inundated woods. Its manners correspond very much with those of the Blue Heron. It is quick in all its motions, darting about after its prey with surprising agility. Small fish, frogs, lizards, tadpoles, and various aquatic insects, constitute its principal food. There is a bird described by Latham in his General Synopsis, vol. iii., p. 88, called the Demi Egret,* which from the account there given, seems to approach near to the present species. It is said to inhabit Cayenne. ^ Length of the Louisiana Heron from the point of the bill to the extremity of the tail twenty-three inches ; the long hair-like plumage of the rump and lower part of the back extends several inches farther ; the bill is remarkably long, measuring full five inches, of a yellowish green at the base, black towards the point, and very sharp ; irides yellow ; chin and throat white, dotted with ferruginous and some blue ; the rest of the neck is of a light vinous purple, intermixed on the lower part next the breast with dark slate-colored plumage ; the whole feathers * See also Buffon, vol. vii., p. 378. NIGHT HERON. 305 of the neck are long, narrow and pointed ; head crested, consisting first of a number of long narrow purple feathers, and under these seven or eight pendent ones, of a pure white, and twice the length of the former ; upper part of the back and wings light slate ; lower part of the back and rump white, but concealed by a mass of long unwebbed hair-like plumage, that falls over the tail and tips of the wings, extending three inches beyond them ; these plumes are of a dirty purplish brown at the base, and lighten towards the extremities to a pale cream color ; the tail is even at the tip, rather longer than the wings, and of a fine slate ; the legs and naked thighs greenish yellow; middle claw pectinated; whole lower parts pure white. Male and female alike in plumage, both being crested. Species VIII. ARDEA NTCTICORAX. NIGHT HERON, or QUA-BIRD. [Plate LXI. Fig. 2.] Arct. Zool. No. 356.— ie Bihoreau, Burr, vii., 435, 439, tab. 22. Pi. Enl. 758, 759, 899.— Lath. 8yn. v. 3, p. 52, No. 13, p. 53, Young, called there the Female. This species, though common to both continents, and known in Europe for many centuries, has been so erroneously described by all the European naturalists, whose works I have examined, as to require more than common notice in this place. For this purpose, an accurate figure of the male is given, and also another of what has, till now, been universally considered the female, with a detail of so much of their his- tory as I am personally acquainted with. The Night Heron arrives in Pennsylvania early in April, and imme- diately takes possession of his former breeding place, which is usually the most solitary, and deeply shaded part of a cedar swamp. Groves of swamp-oak, in retired and inundated places, are also sometimes chosen ; and the males not Unfrequently select tall woods, on the banks of the river, to roost in during the day. These last regularly direct their course, about the beginning of evening twilight, towards the marshes, uttering, in a hoarse and hollow tone, the sound qua, which by some has been compared to that produced by the retchings of a person attempting to vomit. At this hour, also, all the nurseries in the swamps are emptied of their inhabitants, who disperse about the marshes, and along the ditches and river shore, in quest of food. Some of these breeding places have been occupied every spring and summer, for time immemorial, by from eighty to one hundred pairs of Qua-birds. In Vol. II.— 20 306 NIGHT HERON. places where the cedars have been cut down for sale, the birds have merely removed to another quarter of the swamp ; but when personally attacked, long teased and plundered, they have been known to remove from an ancient breeding place, in a body, no one knew where. Such was the case with one on the Delaware, near Thompson's Point, ten or twelve miles below Philadelphia ; which having been repeatedly attacked and plundered by a body of Crows, after many -severe renconters, the Herons finally abandoned the place. Several of these breeding places occur among the red-cedars on the seabeach of Cape May, intermixed with those of the Little White Heron, Green Bittern, and Blue Heron. The nests are built entirely of sticks, in considerable quantities, with frequently three and four nests on the same tree. The eggs are gener- ally four in number, measuring two inches and a quarter in length, by one and three-quarters in thickness, and of a very pale light blue color. The ground, or marsh, below is bespattered with their excrements, lying all around like whitewash, with feathers, broken egg-shells, old ne.=ts, and frequently small fish, which they have dropped by accident and neglected to pick up. On entering the swamp, in the neighborhood of one of these breeding places, the noise of the old and the young would almost induce one to suppose that two or three hundred Indians were choking or throttling each other. The instant an intruder is discovered, the whole rise in the air in silence, and remove to the tops of the trees in another part of the woods ; while parties of from eight to ten make occasional circuits over the spot, to see what is going on. When the young are able, they climb to the highest part of the trees ; but, knowing their inability, do not attempt to fly. Though it is probable that these nocturnal birds do not see well during the day, yet their faculty of hearing must be exqui- site, as it is almost impossible, with all the precautions one can use, to penetrate near their residence, without being discovered. Several species of Hawks hover around, making an occasional sweep among the young ; and the Bald Eagle himself has been seen reconnoitring near the spot, probably with the same design. Contrary to the generally received opinion, the males and females of these birds are so alike in color, as scarcely to be distinguished from each other ; both have also the long slender plumes that flow from the head. These facts I have exhibited by dissection on several subjects, to different literary gentlemen of my acquaintance, particularly to my venerable friend, Mr. William Bartram, to whom I have also often shown the young, represented at fig. 3. One of these last, which was kept for some time in the botanic garden of that gentleman, by its voice instantly betrayed its origin, to the satisfaction of all who examined it. These young certainly receive their full colored plumage before the succeeding spring, as on their first arrival no birds are to be seen in the NIGHT HEliON. 307 dress of fig. 3, but soon after they have bred, these become more numer- ous than the others. Early in October they migrate to the south. According to Buffon, these birds also inhabit Cayenne ; an(l are found widely dispersed over Europe, Asia, and America. The European species, however, is certainly much smaller than the American ; though, in other respects, corresponding exactly to it. Among a great number which I examined with attention, the following description was carefully taken from a common sized full grown male. Length of the Night Heron two feet four inches, extent four feet ; bill black, four inches and a quarter long, from the corners of the mouth to the tip ; lores, or space between the eye and bill, a bare bluish white skin ; eyelids also large and bare, of a deep purple blue ; eye three quarters of an inch in diameter, the iris of a brilliant blood red, pupil black ; crested crown and hind-head deep dark blue, glossed with green ; front and line over the eye white ; from the hind-head proceed three very narrow white tapering feathers, between eight and nine inches in length ; the vanes of these are concave below, the upper one enclosing the next, and that again the lower ; though separated by the hand, if the plumage be again shook several times, these long flowing plumes gradually enclose each other, appearing as one ; these the bird has the habit of erecting when angry or alarmed ; the cheeks, neck, and whole lower parts, are white, tinctured with yellowish cream, and under the wings with very pale ash ; back and scapulars of the same deep dark blue, glossed with green, as that of the crown ; rump and tail coverts, as well as the whole wings and tail, very pale ash ; legs and feet a pale yellow cream color ; inside of the middle claw serrated. The female differed in nothing as to plumage from the male, but in the wings being of rather a deeper ash ; having not only the dark deep green-blue crown and back, but also the long pendent white plumes from the hind-head. Each of the females contained a large cluster of eggs, of various sizes. The young (fig. 3) was shot soon after it had left the nest, and dif- fered very little from those which had been taken from the trees, except in being somewhat larger. This measured twenty-one inches in length, and three feet in extent ; the general color above a very deep brown, streaked with reddish white, the spots of white on the back and wings being triangular, from the centre of the feather to the tip ; quills deep dusky, marked on the tips with a spot of white ; eye vivid orange ; belly white, streaked with dusky, the feathers being pale dusky, streaked down their centres with white ; legs and feet light green ; inside of the middle claw slightly pectinated ; body and wings exceed- ingly thin and limber ; the down still stuck in slight tufts to the tips of some of the feathers. These birds also breed in great numbers in the neighborhood of New 308 NIGHT HERON. Orleans, for being in that city in the month of June, I frequently ob- served the Indians sitting in market with the dead and living young birds for sale ; also numbers of Gray Owls [Strix nebulosa), and the AVTiite Ibis (Tantalus albus), for which nice dainties I observed they generally found purchasers. The food of the Night Heron or Qua-Bird, is chiefly composed of small fish, which it takes by night. Those that I opened had a large expan- sion of the gullet immediately under the bill, that narrowed thence to the stomach, which is a large oblong pouch, and was filled with fish. The teeth of the pectinated claw were thirty-five or forty in number, and as they contained particles of the down of the bird, showed evidently, from this circumstance, that they act the part of a comb, to rid the bird of vermin, in those parts which it cannot reach with its bill. Note. — In those specimens which I have procured in the breeding season, I have taken notice that the lores and orbits were of a bluish white ; but in a female individual, which I shot in East Florida, in the month of March, these parts were of a delicate violet color. The Brown Bittern of Catesby (Vol. i., pi. 78), which has not a little confounded ornithologists, is undoubtedly the young of the Night Heron. Dr. Latham says of the former, " we believe it to be a female of the Green Heron. — They certainly differ," continues he, " as Brisson has described them ; but by comparison, no one can fail of being of the opinion here advanced." If the worthy naturalist had had the same opportunities of comparing the two birds in question as we have had, he would have been as confident that they are not the same, as we are. — &. Ord. Species IX. ARDEA CANDIDISSIMA. SNOWY HERON.* [Plate LXII. Fig. 4.] TuRT. Syst. p. 380.— Lath. Syn. in., p. 92, No. 61. This elegant species inhabits the seacoast of North America, from the Isthmus of Darien to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and is, in the United States, a bird of passage ; arriving from the south early in April, and leaving the Middle States again in October. Its general appearance, resembling so much that of the Little Egret of Europe, has, I doubt not, imposed on some of the naturalists of that country, as I confess'it did on me.f From a more careful comparison, however, of both birds, I am satisfied that they are two entirely difi'erent and distinct species. These differences consist in the large flowing crest, yellow feet, and singularly curled, plumes of the back of the present ; it is also nearly double the size of the European species. The Snowy Heron seems particularly fond of the salt marshes during summer ; seldom penetrating far inland. Its white plumage renders it a very conspicuous object, either while on wing, or while wading the meadows or marshes. Its food consists of those small crabs, usually called fiddlers, mud worms, snails, frogs and lizards. It also feeds on the seeds of some species of nymphse, and of several other aquatic plants. On the nineteenth of May, I visited an extensive breeding place of the Snowy Heron, among the red cedars of Sommers' Beach, on the coast of Cape May. The situation was very sequestered, bounded on the land side by a fresh water marsh or pond, and sheltered from the Atlantic by ranges of sand hills. The cedars, though not high, were so closely crowded together, as to render it diflScult to penetrate through among them. Some trees contained three, others four, nests, built wholly of sticks. Each had in it three eggs of a pale greenish blue color, and measuring an inch and three quarters in length, by an inch and a quarter in thickness. Forty or fifty of these eggs were cooked, * Named in the plate, by mistake, the Little Egret. t " On the American continent, the Little Egret is met with at New York and Long Island." Lath, in., p. 90. (309) 310 SNOWY HERON. and found to be well tasted ; the white was of a bluish tint, and almost transparent, though boiled for a considerable time ; the yolk very small in quantity. The birds rose in vast numbers, but without clamor, alighting on the tops of the trees around, and watching the result in silent anxiety. Among them were numbers of the Night Heron, and two or three Purple-headed Herons. Great quantities of egg shells lay scattered under the trees, occasioned by the depredations of the Crows, who were continually hovering about the place. On one of the nests I found the dead body of the bird itself, half devoured by the Hawks, Crows, or Gulls. She had probably perished in defence of her eggs. The Snowy Heron is seen at all times, during summer, among the salt marshes, watching and searching for food ; or passing, sometimes in flocks, from one part of the bay to the other. They often make excursions up the rivers and inlets ; but return regularly, in the even- ing, to the red cedars on the beach, to roost. I found these birds on the Mississippi, early in June, as far up as Fort Adams, roaming about among the creeks, and inundated woods. The length of this species is two feet one inch ; extent three feet two inches ; the bill is four inches and a quarter long, and grooved ; the space from the nostril to the eye orange yellow, the rest of the bill black ; irides vivid orange ; the whole plumage is of a snowy whiteness ; the head is largely crested with loose unwebbed feathers, nearly four inches in length ; another tuft of the same covers the breast ; but the most distinguished ornament of this bird is a bunch of long silky plumes, proceeding from the shoulders, covering the whole back, and extending beyond the tail : the shafts of these are six or seven inches long, extremely elastic, tapering to the extremities, and thinly set with long slender bending threads or fibres, easily agitated by the slightest motion of the air — these shafts curl upwards at the ends. When the bird is irritated, and erects those airy plumes, they have a very elegant appearance ; the legs, and naked part of the thighs, are black ; the feet bright yellow ; claws black, the middle one pectinated. The female can scarcely be distinguished by her plumage, having not only the crest, but all the ornaments of the male, though not quite so long and flowing. The young birds of the first season are entirely destitute of the long plumes of the breast and back ; but, as all those that were examined in spring were found crested and ornamented as above, they doubtless receive their full dress on the first moulting. Those shot in October measured twenty-two inches in length, by thirty-four in extent ; the crest was beginning to form; the legs yellowish green, daubed with black ; the feet greenish yellow ; the lower mandible white at the base ; the wings, when shut, nearly of a length with the tail, which is even at the end. SNOWY HERON. 311 The Little Egret, or European species, is said by Latham and Turton to be nearly a foot in length ; Bewick observes, that it rarely exceeds a foot and a half; has a much shorter crest, with two long feathers; the feet are. black; and the long plumage of the back, instead of turn- ing up at the extremity, falls over the rump. The young of both these birds are generally very fat, and esteemed by some peoj)le as excellent eating. Note. — Catesby represents the bill of this bird as red, and this error has been perpetuated by all succeeding ornithologists. The fact is, that the bills of young Herons are apt to assume a reddish tint after death, and this was evidently mistaken by Catesby for a permanent living color ; and represented as such by an exaggeration common to almost all colorers of plates of Natural History. We have no hesita- tion in asserting that a Heron such as that figured by the author in question does not exist in the United States. That his Heron is identi- cal with ours there can be no doubt, and we are equally satisfied that his specimen was a bird of the first year. So common did we find this species along the coasts of the Carolinas, Georgia and East Florida, during the winter, that they were to be seen every hour of the day, and were almost as tame as domestic fowls. A specimen shot in East Florida was twenty-one inches in length ; the upper mandible, and tip of the lower, were black, base of the latter flesh colored, the remainder of bill yellow. — Gr. Ord. Species X. ABDEA AMERICANA* WHOOPING CRANE. [Plato LXIV. Fig. 3.] Arct. Zool. No. 339. — Catesb. i., 75. — Lath, m., p. 42. — La Grue d'Amerique, Beiss. y., p. 382.— PZ. Enl. 889.t This is the tallest and most stately species of all the feathered tribes of the United States ; the watchful inhabitant of extensive salt marshes, desolate swamps, and open morasses, in the neighborhood of the sea. Its migrations are regular, and of the most extensive kind, reaching from the shores and inundated tracts of South America to the arctic circle. In these immense periodical journeys they pass at such a prodigious height in the air as to be seldom observed. They have, however, their resting stages on the route to and from their usual breeding places, the regions of the north. A few sometimes make their appearance in the marshes of Cape May, in December, particularly on and near Egg Island, where they are known by the name of Storks. The younger birds are easily distinguished from the rest by the brownness of their plumage. Some linger in these marshes the whole winter, setting out north about the time the ice breaks up. During their stay they wander along the marsh and muddy flats of the seashore in search of marine worms, sailing occasionally from place to place, with a low and heavy flight, a little above the surface ; and have at such times a very formi- dable appearance. At times they utter a loud clear and piercing cry, which may be heard at the distance of two miles. They have also various modulations of this singular note, from the peculiarity of which they derive their name. When wounded they attack the gunner, or his dog, with great resolution ; and have been known to drive their sharp and formidable bill, at one stroke, through a man's hand. During winter they are frequently seen in the low grounds and rice plantations of the Southern States, in search of grain and insects. On the tenth of February I met with several near the Waccamau river, in South Carolina ; I also saw a flock at the ponds near Louisville, Ken- tucky, on the twentieth of March. They are extremely shy and vigi- * This bird belongs to the genus Grus of Pallas, t Grus Americana, Ord's ed. vol. viii., p. 20. (312) WHOOPING CRANE. 313 lant, so that it is with the greatest difficulty they can be shot. They sometimes rise in the air spirally to a great height, the mingled noise of their screaming, even when they are almost beyond the reach of sight, resembling that of a pack of hounds in full cry. On these occasions they fly around in large circles, as if reconnoitring the country to a vast extent for a fresh quarter to feed in. Their flesh is said to be well tasted, nowise savoring of fish. They swallow mice, moles, rats, &c., with great avidity. They build their nests on the ground, in tussocks of long grass, amidst solitary swamps, raise it to more than a foot in height, and lay two pale blue eggs, spotted with brown. These are much larger, and of a more lengthened form, than those of the common hen. The Cranes are distinguished from the other families of their genus by the comparative baldness of their heads, the broad flag of plumage projecting over the tail, and in general by their superior size. They also differ in their internal organization from all the rest of the Heron tribe, particularly in the conformation of the windpipe, which enters the breast bone in a cavity fitted to receive it, and after several turns goes out again at the same place, and thence descends to the lungs. Unlike the Herons, they have not the inner side of the middle claw pec- tinated, and, in this species at least, the hind toe is short, scarcely reaching the ground. The vast marshy flats of Siberia are inhabited by a Crane very much resembling the present, with the exception of the bill and legs being red ; like those of the present, the year old birds are said also to be tawny. It is highly probable that the species described by naturalists as the Brown Crane (Ardea Canadensis), is nothing more than the young of the Whooping Crane,* their descriptions exactly corresponding with the latter. In a flock of six or eight, three or four are usually of that tawny or reddish brown tint on the back, scapulars, and wing coverts, ' but are evidently yearlings of the Whooping Crane, and differ in nothing but in that and size from the others. They are generally five or six inches shorter, and the primaries are of a brownish cast. The Whooping Crane is four feet six inches in length, from the point of the bill to the end of the tail, and when standing erect measures nearly five feet ; the bill is six inches long, and an inch and a half in thickness, straight, extremely sharp, and of a yellowish brown color ; the irides are yellow ; the forehead, whole crown and cheeks are covered * This is an error into which our author was led in consequence of never having seen a specimen of the bird in question [Ardea Canadensis, Linn. — Grus Freti Hudsonis, Briss.). Peale's Museum contained a fine specimen, which was brought by the naturalists attached to Major Long's exploring party, who ascended the Mis- souri in the year 1820. Bartram calls this Crane the 6rus pratensis. It is known to travellers by the name of Sandhill Crane. 314 YELLOW-CROWNED HERON. with a warty skin thinly interspersed with blacJc hairs ; these become more thickly set towards the base of the bill ; the hind head is of an ash color ; the rest of the plumage pure white, the primaries excepted, which are black ; from the root of each wing rise numerous large flow- ing feathers projecting over the tail and tips of the wings ; the upper- most of these are broad, drooping, and pointed at the extremities, some of them are also loosely webbed, their silky fibres curling inwards like those of the Ostrich. They seem to occupy the place of the tertials. The legs and naked parts of the thigh are black, very thick and strong ; the hind toe seems rarely or never to reach the hard ground, though it may probably assist in preventing the bird from sinking too deep in the mire. Species II. ARDEA VIOLACEA. YELLOW-CROWNED HEEON. [Plate LXV, Fig. 1.] Linn. Syst. i., p. 238, 16. — Lath. Syn. in., p. 80. — Le Crahier de Bahama, Beiss. v., 481, 4L — Crested Bittern, Okies, i., pL 79. — Le Crahier gris de fer, Bvft. TIL, p. 399.—Arct. Zool. No. 352.* This is one of the nocturnal species of the Heron tribe, whose man- ners, place and mode of building its nest, resemble greatly those of the common Night Heron [Ardea nycticorax) ; the form of its bill is also similar. The very imperfect figure and description of this species by Gatesby, seems to have led the greater part of European ornithologists astray, who appear to have copied their accounts from that erroneous source, otherwise it is difficult to conceive why they should either have given it the name of yellow-crowned, or have described it as being only fifteen inches in length ; since the crown of the perfect bird is pure white, and the whole length very near two feet. The name however, erroneous as it is, has been retained in the present account, for the pur- pose of more particularly pointing out its absurdity, and designating the species. This bird inhabits the lower parts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana, in the summer season ; reposing during the day among low * We add the following synonymes : — Ardea violacea. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 690, No. bO.— Ardea Cayenensis, Id. p. 680, No. 17.— Gen. Syn. iii., p. 80, No. 46.— Cayenne Night Heron, Id. p. 56, No. 16. — Bihoreau de Cayenne, PI. Enl. 899.— Ardea violacea, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 631, No. 16. — Ardea Cayenensis, Id. p. 626, No 3L YELLOW-CROWNED HERON. 316 swampy woods, and feeding only in the night. It builds in societies, making its nest with sticks among the branches of low trees, and lays four pale blue eggs. The species is not numerous in Carolina, which, with its solitary mode of life, makes this bird but little known there. It abounds on the Bahama Islands, where it also breeds, and great num- bers of the young, as we are told, are yearly taken for the table, being accounted in that quarter excellent eating. This bird also extends its migrations into Virginia, and even farther north ; one of them having been shot a few years ago on the borders of the Schuylkill below Philadelphia. The food of this species consists of small fish, crabs and lizards, par- ticularly the former ; it also appears to have a strong attachment to the neighborhood of the ocean. The Yellow-crowned Heron is twenty-two inches in length, from the point. of the bill to the end of the tail; the long flowing plumes of the back extend four inches farther ; breadth from tip to tip of the expanded wings thirty-four inches ; bill black, stout, and about four inches in length, the upper mandible grooved exactly like that of the common Night Heron ; lores pale green ; irides fiery red ; head and part of the neck black, marked on each cheek with an oblong spot of white ; crested crown and upper part of the head white, ending in two long narrow tapering plumes of pure white, more than seven inches long; under these are a few others of a blackish color ; rest of the neck and whole lower parts fine ash, somewhat whitish on that part of the neck where it joins the black ; upper parts a dark ash, each feather streaked broadly down the centre with black, and bordered with white ; wing quills deep slate, edged finely with white ; tail even at the end, and of the same ash color ; wing coverts deep slate, broadly edged with pale cream ; from each shoulder proceed a number of long loosely webbed tapering feathers, of an ash color, streaked" broadly down the middle with black, and extending four inches or more beyond the tips of the wings ; legs and feet yellow ; middle claw pectinated. Male and female, as in the common Night Heron, alike in plumage. I strongly suspect that the species called by naturalists the Cayenne Night Heron {Ardea Cayanensis), is nothing more than the present, with which, according to their descriptions, it seems to agree almost exactly. GentjsLXX. tantalus. IBIS. Spbcies I. TANTALUS LOOULATOB. WOOD IBIS. [Plate LXVI. Fig. 1.] Le grand Courli d'AmMque, Briss. v. 358, 8.— Couricaca, Buff, vii., p. 276, PI. Enl. 868.— Catesb. i., ?,\.—Arct. Zool. No. 360.— Lath. Syn. in., p. 104. The Wood Ibis inhabits tbe lower parts of Louisiana, Carolina, and Georgia; is very common in Florida, and extends as far south as Cayenne, Brazil, and various parts of South America. In the United States it is migratory ; but has never, to my knowledge, been found to the north of Virginia. Its favorite haunts are watery savannahs and inland swamps, where it feeds on fish and reptiles. The French inhabit- ants of Louisiana esteem it good eating. With the particular manners of this species I ain not personally acquainted ; but the following characteristic traits are given of it by Mr. William Bartram, who had the best opportunities of noting them. " This solitary bird," he observes, " does not associate in flocks ; but is generally seen alone, commonly near the banks of great rivers, in vast marshes or meadows, especially such as are covered by inundations, and also in the vast deserted rice plantations ; he stands alone, on the topmost limb of tall dead cypress trees, his neck contracted or drawn in upon his shoulders, his beak resting like a long scythe upon his breast; in this pensive posture, and solitary situation, they look extremely grave, sorrowful and melancholy, as if in the deepest thought. They are never seen on the seacoast, and yet are never found at a great distance from it.. They feed on serpents, young alligators, frogs, and other reptiles."* The figure of this bird given in the plate was drawn from a very fine specimen, sent from Georgia by Stephen Elliott, Esq., of Beaufort, South Carolina ; its size and markings were as follow : Length three feet two inches ; bill nearly nine inches long, straight for half its length, thence curving downwards to the extremity, and full two inches thick at the base, where it rises high in the head, the whole of a brownish horn color ; the under mandible fits into the upper in its » Travels, &e., p. 150. (316) SCARLET IBIS. 317 ■whole length, and both are very sharp edged; face and naked head and part of the neck dull greenish blue, wrinkled ; eye large, seated high in the head ; irides dark red ; under the lower jaw is a loose corrugated skin, or pouch, capable of containing about half a pint ; whole body, neck and lower parts white ; quills dark glossy green and purple ; tail about two inches shorter than the wings, even at the end, and of a deep and rich violet ; legs and naked thighs dusky green ; feet and toes yellowish sprinkled with black ; feet almost semipalmated and bordered to the claws with a narrow membrane ; some of the greater wing coverts are black at the root, and shafted with black ; plumage on the upper ridge of the neck generally worn, as in the present specimen, with rubbing on the back, while in its common position of resting its bill on its breast, in the manner of the White Ibis (see fig. 3). The female has only the head and chin naked ; both are subject to considerable changes of color when young ; the body being found some- times blackish above, the belly cinereous, and spots of black on the wing coverts ; all of which, as the birds advance in age, gradually disappear, and -leave the plumage of the body, .&c., as has been described. Spbcies II. TANTALUS RUBER. SCARLET IBIS. [Plate LXVI. Fig. 2.] Le Courli rouge du Brksil, Briss. t., p. 344, 12, fig. 1, 2. — BrPF. viii., p. 35. — Red Curlew, Catesbt, i., 84. — Lath, hi., p. 106. — Arct. Zool. No. 361.* This beautiful bird is found in the most southern parts of Carolina ; also in Georgia and Florida, chiefly about the seashore and its vicinity. In most parts of America within the tropics, and in almost all the West India Islands it is said to be common ; also in the Bahamas. Of its manners little more has been collected than that it frequents the borders of the sea and shores of the neighboring rivers, feeding on small fry, shell fish, sea worms and small crabs. It is said frequently to perch on trees, sometimes in large flocks ; but to lay its eggs on the ground on a bed of leaves. The eggs are described as being of a greenish color ; * We add the following synonymes : — Tantalus Ruber, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 703, No. 2.—T. fuscus, Id. p. 705, No. 8.— Gmel. Syst. i., p. 651, No. 5, No. T.—Le Oourly brun du Bresil, Briss. v., p. 341 . — Brown Curlew, Catesbt, i. 83, young. — C'ourly rouge du Bresil, de Page de deux ans, PL Enl. 80. — Id. de Page de trois ane, 81 318 SCARLET IBIS. the young when hatched black, soon after gray, and before they are able to fly white, continuing gradually to assume their red color until the third year, when the scarlet plumage is complete. It is also said that they usually keep in flocks, the young and old birds separately. They have frequently been domesticated. One of them which lived for some time in the museum of this city, was dexterous at catching flies, and most usually walked about, on that pursuit, in the position in which it is represented in the plate. The Scarlet Ibis measures twenty-three inches in length, and thirty- seven in extent ; the bill is five inches long, thick, and somewhat of a square form at the base, gradually bent downwards and sharply ridged, of a black color, except near the base, where it inclines to red ; irides dark hazel ; the naked face is finely wrinkled, and of a pale red ; chin also bare and wrinkled for about an inch ; whole plumage a rich glowing scarlet, except about three inches of the extremities of the four outer quill feathers, which are of a deep steel blue ; legs and naked part of thighs pale red, the three anterior toes united by a membrane as far as the first joint. Whether the female differs in the color of her plumage from the male, or what changes both undergo during the first and second years, I am unable'^to say from personal observation. Being a scarce species with us, and only found on our most remote southern shores, a sufficient number of specimens have not been procured to enable me to settle this matter with sufficient certainty. Note. — It would appear that this species inhabits the western coast of America. In the Appendix to the History of Lewis and Clark's Expedition, Vol. II., p. 514, under date of March 7, the Journalist says, "A bird of a scarlet color, as large as a common pheasant, with a long tail, has returned ; one of them was seen to-day near the fort." As all long legged birds fly with their legs in a horizontal position, the legs of that above mentioned must have been mistaken for a tail. — Cr. Ord. Species III. TANTALUS ALBUS. WHITE IBIS. [Plato LXVI. Fig. 3.] Le Courli hlanc du Br4sil, Bbiss. v., p. 339, 10. — Burr, viii., p. 41. — Oourly blanc d'Am^ique, Pl.Enl. 915. — WJiite Curlew, Catesbt, i., pi. 82. — Lath. Syn. in., p. Ill, No. ^.—Arct. Zool. No. 363.* This species bears in every respect, except that of color, so strong a resemblance to the preceding, that I have been almost induced to believe it the same, in its white or imperfect stage of color. The length and form of the bill, the size, conformation, as well as color of the legs, the general length and breadth, and even the steel blue on the four outer quill feathers, are exactly alike in both. These suggestions, however, are not made with any certainty of its being the same ; but as circum- stances which may lead to a more precise examination of the subject hereafter. I found this species pretty numerous on the borders of Lake Pont- chartrain, near New Orleans, in the month of June, and also observed the Indians sitting in market with strings of thern for sale. I met with them again on the low keys or islands oflF the peninsula of Florida. Mr. Bartram observes that " they fly in large flocks or squadrons, even- ing and morning, to and from their feeding places or roosts, and are usually called Spanish Curlews. They feed chiefly on cray fish, whose cells they probe, and with their strong pinching bills drag them out." The low islands above mentioned abound with these creatures and small crabs, the ground in some places seeming alive with them, so that the rattling of their shells against one another was incessant. My vener- able friend, in his observations on these birds adds, " It is a pleasing sight at times of high winds, and heavy thunder storms, to observe the numerous squadrons of these Spanish Curlews, driving to and fro, turn- ing and tacking about high up in the air, when by their various evolu- tions in the different and opposite currents of the wind, high in the clouds, their silvery white plumage gleams and sparkles like the brightest crystal, reflecting the sunbeams that dart upon them between the dark clouds." * Tantalus albus, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 705, No. 9. — Gmel. Syst. p. 651, No. 6. (319) 320 LONG-BILLED CURLEW. The White Ibis is twenty-three inches long, and thirty-seven inches in extent ; bill formed exactly like that of the scarlet species, of a pale red, blackish towards the point ; face a reddish flesh color and finely wrinkled; irides whitish; whole plumage pure white, except about four inches of the tips of the four outer quill feathers, which are of a deep and glossy steel blue ; legs and feet pale red, webbed to the first joint. These birds I frequently observed standing on the dead limbs of trees, and on the shore, resting on one leg, their body in an almost perpen- dicular position, as represented in the figure, the head and bill resting on the breast. This appears to be its most common mode of resting, and perhaps sleeping, as in all those which I examined the plumage on the upper ridge of the neck and upper part of the back, was evidently worn by this habit. The same is equally observable on the neck and back of the Wood Ibis. The present species rarely extends its visits north of Carolina, and even in that state is only seen for a few weeks towards the end of summer. In Florida they are common; but seldom remove to any great distance from the sea. Genus LXXI. NUMENIUS. CURLEW. Species I. N. LONGIROSTRIS^ LONG-BILLED CURLEW. [Plate LXrV. Fig. 4.] This American species has been considered by the naturalists of Europe to be a mere variety of their own, notwithstanding its difiFerence of color, and superior length of bill. These differences not being acci- dental, or found in a few individuals, but common to all, and none being found in America corresponding with that of Europe, we do not hesitate to consider the present as a distinct species, peculiar to this country. Like the preceding, this bird is an inhabitant of marshes in the vicinity of the sea. It is also found in the interior ; where, from its long bill and loud whistling note, it is generally known. The Curlews appear in the salt marshes of New Jersey about the middle of May, on their way to the north ; and in September, on their return from their breeding places. Their food consists chiefly of small crabs, which they are very dexterous at probing for, and pulling out of LONG-BILLED CURLEW. 321 the holes with their long bills ; they also feed on those small sea snails so abundant in the marshes, and on various worms and insects. They are likewise fond of bramble berries, frequenting the fields and uplands in search of this fruit, on which they get very fat, and are then tender and good eating, altogether free from the sedgy taste with which their flesh is usually tainted while they feed in the salt marshes; The Curlews fly high, generally in a wedge-like form, somewhat resembling certain Ducks ; occasionally uttering their loud whistling note, by a dexterous imitation of which a whole flock may sometimes be enticed within gunshot, while the cries of the wounded are sure to detain them until the gunner has made repeated shots and great havoc among them. This species is said to breed in Labrador, and in the neighborhood of Hudson's Bay. A few instances have been known of one or two pair remaining in the salt marshes of Cape May all summer. A person of respectability informed me, that he once started a Curlew from her nest, which was composed of a little dry grass, and contained four eggs, very much resembling in size and color those of the Mud Hen, or Clap- per Rail. This was in the month of July. Cases of this kind are so rare, that the northern regions must be considered as the general breeding place of this species. The Long-billed Curlew is twenty-five inches in length, and three feet three inches in extent, and when in good order weighs about thirty ounces ; but individuals differ greatly in this respect ; the bill is eight inches long, nearly straight for half its length, thence curving con- siderably downwards to its extremity, where it ends in an obtuse knob that overhangs the lower mandible ; the color black, except towards the base of the lower, where it is of a pale flesh color ; tongue extremely short, difi'ering in this from the Snipe ; eye dark ; the general color of the plumage above is black, spotted and barred along the edge of each feather with pale brown ; chin, line over the eye and round the same, pale brownish white ; neck reddish brown, streaked with black ; spots on the breast more sparingly dispersed ; belly, thighs and vent pale plain rufous, without any spots; primaries black on the outer edges, pale brown on the inner, and barred with black ; shaft of the outer one snowy ; rest of the wing pale reddish brown, elegantly barred with undulating lines of black; tail slightly rounded, of an ashy brown, beautifully marked with herring-bones of black ; legs and naked thighs very pale light blue or lead color, the middle toe connected with the two outer ones as far as the first joint by a membrane, and bordered along the sides with a thick warty edge ; lining of the wing dark rufous, approaching a chestnut, and thinly spotted with black. Male and female alike in plumage. The bill continues to grow in length until the second season, when the bird receives its perfect plumage. The Vol. IL— 21 322 ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. stomach of this species is lined with an extremely thick skin, feeling to the touch like the rough hardened palm of a sailor or blacksmith. The intestines are very tender, measuring usually about three feet in length, and as thick as a Swan's quill. On the front, under the skin, there are two thick callosities, which border the upper side of the eye, lying close to the skull. These are common, I believe, to most of the Tringa and Scolopax tribes, and are probably designed to protect the skull from injury while the bird is probing and scratching in the sand and mud. Note. — This species was observed by Lewis and Clark as high up as the sources of the Missouri. On the twenty-second June they found the females were sitting : the eggs, which are of a pale blue, with black specks, were laid upon the bare ground. Hist, of the JExped. vol. I., p. 279, 8vo. Species II. JV. BOREALIS.* ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. [Plate LVI. Fig. 1.] Arct. Zool. p. 461, No. 364.— Lath, hi.— Turt. Syst. p. 392. In prosecuting our researches among the feathered tribes of this extensive country, we are at length led to the shores of the ocean, where a numerous and varied multitude, subsisting on the gleanings of that vast magazine of nature, invite our attention ; and from their singulari- ties and numbers, promise both amusement and instruction. These we shall, as usual, introduce in the order we chance to meet with them in their native haunts. Individuals of various tribes, thus promiscuously grouped together, the peculiarities of each will appear more conspicu- ous and striking, and the detail of their histories less formal as well as more interesting. The Esquimaux Curlew, or as it is called by our gunners on the sea- coast, the Short-billed Curlew, is peculiar to the new continent, Mr. Pennant, indeed, conceives it to be a mere variety of the English Whimbrel {S. Phceopus) ; but among the great numbers of these birds which I have myself shot and examined, I have never yet met with one corresponding to the descriptions given of the Whimbrel, the colors and markings being different, the bill much more bent, and nearly an inch and a half longer ; and the manners in certain particulars very * Wilson erroneously arranged this in the following genus, Scolopax. ESQUIMAUX CURLEW. 323 different : these reasons have determined its claim to that of an inde- pendent species. The Short-billed Curlew arrives in large flocks on the seacoast of New Jersey early in May from the south ; frequents the salt marshes, muddy shores and inlets, feeding on small worms and minute shell-fish. They are most commonly seen on mud flats at low water, in company with various other waders ; and at high water roam along the marshes. They fly high, and with great rapidity. A few are- seen in June, and as late as the beginning of July, when they generally move ofl" towards the north. Their appearance on these occasions is very interesting : they collect together from the marshes as if by premeditated design, rise to a great height in the air, usually about an hour before sunset, and forming in one vast line, keep up a constant whistling on their march to the north, as if conversing with one another to render the journey more agreeable. Their flight is then more slow and regular, that the feeblest may keep up with the line of march, while the glittering of their beauti- fully speckled wings, sparkling in the sun, produces altogether a very pleasant spectacle. In the month of June, while the dewberries are ripe, these birds sometimes frequent the fields in company with the Long-billed Curlews, where brambles abound, soon get very fat, and are at that time ex- cellent eating. Those who wish to shoot them, fix up a shelter of brush- wood in the middle of the field, and by that means \i\\ great numbers. In the early part of spring, and indeed during the whole time that they frequent the marshes, feeding on shell-fish, they are much less esteemed for the table. I'ennant informs us, that they were seen in flocks innumerable on the hills about Chatteux Bay, on the Labrador coast, from August the 9th to September 6th, when they all disappeared, being on their way from their northern breeding place. — He adds, " they kept on the open grounds, fed on the empefrum nigrum, and were very fat and delicious." They arrive at Hudson's Bay in April, or early in May ; pair and breed to the north of Albany Fort among the woods, return in August to the marshes, and all disappear in September.* About this time they return in accumulated numbers to the shores of New Jersey, whence they finally depart for the south early in November. The Esquimaux Curlew is eighteen inches long and thirty-two inches in extent ; the bill, which is four inches and a half long, is black to- wards the point, and a pale purplish flesh color near the base ; upper part of the head dark brown, divided by a narrow stripe of brownish white ; over each eye extends a broad line of pale drab ; iris dark colored ; hind part of the neck streaked with dark brown, fore part, * Phil. Trans. LXII., 411. 324 GREAT MARBLED GODWIT. and whole breast, very pale brown ; upper part of the body pale drab, centered and barred with dark brown, and edged with spots of white on the exterior vanes; three first primaries black, with white shafts; rump and tail-coverts barred with dark brown ; belly white ; vent the same, marked with zigzag lines of brown ; whole lining of the wing beautifully barred with brown on a dark cream ground ; legs and naked thighs a pale lead color. The figure of this bird, and of all the rest in the same plate, are re- duced to exactly one-half the size of life. Note. — Mr. Ord, in his reprint of the 8th vol., expresses his doubts of this species being the Esquimaux Curlew {N. borealis) of Dr. Latham ; as this ornithologist states his bird to be only thirteen inches in length, and in breadth twenty-one ; and the bill two inches in length. Prince Musignano, in his observations on the nomenclature of Wil- son's Ornithology, states that he has ascertained the iV. borealis, Lath., to be a distinct species, and promises to figure it in his American Orni- thology. He considers Wilson's bird (JV. borealis) to be the If. ffud- sonicus of Latham. GENUS LXXII. SCOLOPAX. SNIPE. Species I. SCOLOPAX FEDOA* GKEAT MARBLED GODWIT. [Plate LVL Fig. 4, Female.] Arct. Zool. p. 456, No. 371.-r-ia Barge rousse de Baie de Hudson, Buff, til, 507 .f This is another transient visitant of our seacoasts in spring and autumn, to and from its breeding place in the north. Our gunners call it the Straight-billed Curlew, and sometimes the Red Curlew. % It is a shy, cautious, and watchful bird ; yet so strongly are they attached to each other, that on wounding one in a fiock, the rest are immediately arrested in their flight, making so many circuits over the spot where it Ifes fluttering and screaming, that the sportsman often makes great destruction among them. Like the Curlew, they may also be enticed within shot, by imitating their call or whistle ; but can seldom be ap- ♦ This bird belongs to the genus lAmosa of Brisson. t Scolopax Fedoa, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, p. 146, No. 8. S. hcemasHca f Id. p. 147, No. 14.— Edwards, pi. 137, 138.— iimoso rufa, Briss. v., p. 281, pi. 25, fig. 1. X It is better known under the name of Merline. GREAT MARBLED GODWIT. 325 preached without some such manoeuvre. They are much less numerous than the Short-billed Curlews, with whom, however, they not unfre- quently associate. They are found among the salt marshes in May, and for some time in June, and also on their return in October and No- vember ; at which last season they are usually fat, and in high esteem for the table. The female of this bird having been described by several writers as a distinct species from the male, it has been thought proper to figure the former ; the chief difference consists in the undulating bars of black with which the breast of the male is marked, and which are wanting in the female. The male of the Great Marbled Godwit is nineteen inches long, and thirty-four inches in extent ; the bill is nearly six inches in length, a little turned up towards the extremity, where it is black, the base is of a pale purplish flesh color ; chin and upper part of the throat whitish ; head and neck mottled with dusky brown and black on a ferruginous ground ; breast barred with wavy lines of black ; back and scapulars black, marbled with pale brown ; rump and tail-coverts of a very light brown, barred with dark brown ; tail even, except the two middle fea- thers, which are a little the longest ; wings pale ferruginous, elegantly marbled with dark brown, the four first primaries black on the outer edge ; whole lining and lower parts of the wings bright ferruginous ; belly and vent light rust color, with a tinge of lake. The female differs in wanting the bars of black on the breast. The bill does not acquire its full length before the third year. About fifty different species of the Soolopax genus are enumerated by naturalists. These are again by some separated into three classes or sub-genera, viz. : the straight-billed, or Snipes; those with bills bent downwards, or the Curlews ; and those whose bills are slightly turned upwards, or Godwits. The whole are a shy, timid and solitary tribe, frequenting those vast marshes', swamps and morasses, that frequently prevail in the vicinity of the ocean, and on the borders of large rivers. They are also generally migratory, on account of the periodical freezing of those places in the northern regions where they procure their food. The Godwits are particularly, fond of salt marshes ; and are rarely found in countries remote from the sea. Species II. SCOLOPAX MINOR. WOODCOCK. [Plate XLVIII. Fig. 2.] Arct. Zool. p. 463, No. 365.— Tuet. Syst. 396.* This bird, like the preceding,! is universally known to our sports- men. It arrives in Pennsylvania early in March, sometimes sooner ; and I doubt not but in mild winters some few remain with us the whole of that season. During the day, they keep to the woods and thickets, and at the approach of evening seek the springs, and open watery places, to feed in. They soon disperse themselves over the country to "breed. About the beginning of July, particularly in long-continued hot weather, they descend to the marshy shores of our large rivers, their favorite springs and watery recesses, inland, being chiefly dried up. To the former of these retreats they are pursued by the merciless sportman, flushed by dogs, and shot down in great numbers. This species of amusement, when eagerly followed, is still more laborious and fatiguing than that of Snipe-shooting; and from the nature of the ground, or cripple as it is usually called, viz., deep mire, intersected with old logs, which are covered and hid from sight by high reeds, weeds and alder bushes, the best dogs are soon tired out ; and it is cus- tomary with sportsmen, who regularly pursue this diversion, to have'two sets of dogs, to relieve each other alternately. The Woodcock usually begins to lay in April. The nest is placed on the ground, in a retired part of the woods, frequently at the root of an old stump. It is formed of a few withered leaves, and stalks of grass, laid with very little art. The female lays four, sometimes five, eggs, about an inch and a half long, and an inch or rather more in diameter, tapering suddenly to the small end. These are of a dun clay color, thickly marked with spots of brown, particularly at the great end, and interspersed with others of a very pale purple. The nest of the "Woodcock has, in several instances that have come to my knowledge, been found with eggs in February ; but its usual time of beginning to * Scolopax minor, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 714, No. 2. Gen. Syn. 3, p. 131. t That is, the common Rail, which precedes the Woodcock in the original edition. (326) WOODCOCK. 327 lay is early in April. In July, August and September, they are con- sidered in good order for shooting. The Woodcock is properly a nocturnal bird, feeding chiefly at night, and seldom stirring about till after sunset. At such times, as well as in the early part of the morning, particularly in spring, he rises by a kind of spiral course, to a considerable height in the air, uttering at times a sudden guach, till having gained his utmost height, he hovers around in a wild irregular manner, making a sort of murmuring sound ; then descends with rapidity as he rose. When uttering his common note on the ground, he seems to do it with difiiculty, throwing his head towards the earth, and frequently jetting up his tail. These notes and manoeuvres are most usual in spring, and are the call of the male to his favorite female. Their food consists of various larvae, and other aquatic worms, for which, during the evening, they are almost -continually turning over the leaves with their bill, or searching in the bogs. Their flesh is reckoned delicious, and prized highly. They remain with us till late in autumn ; and on the falling of the first snows, descend from the ranges of the Alleghany, to the lower parts of the country, in great numbers ; soon after which, viz., in November, they move ofi" to the south. This bird, in its general figure and manners, greatly resembles the Woodcock of Europe, but is considerably less, and very difiFerently marked below, being an entirely distinct species. A few traits will clearly point out their difi"erences. The lower parts of the European Woodcock are thickly barred with dusky waved lines, on a yellowish white ground. The present species has those parts of a bright ferru- ginous. The male of the American species weighs from five to six ounces, the female eight : the European twelve. The European Wood- cock makes its first appearance in Britain in October and November, that country being in fact only its winter quarters ; for early in March they move off to the northern parts of the continent to breed. The American species, on the contrary, winters in countries south of the United States, arrives here early in March, extends its migrations as far, at least, as the river St. Lawrence, breeds in all the intermediate places, and retires again to the south on the approach of winter. The one migrates from the torrid to the temperate regions ; the other from the temperate to the arctic. The two birds, therefore, notwithstanding their names are the same, differ not only in size and markings, but also in native climate. Hence the absurdity of those who would persuade us, that the Woodcock of America crosses the Atlantic to Europe, and viae versa. These observations have been thought necessary, from the respectability of some of our own writers, who seem to have adopted this opinion. How far to the north our Woodcock is found, I am unable to say. It 328 WOODCOCK. is not mentioned as a bird of Hudson's Bay ; and being altogether un- known in the northern parts of Europe, it is very probable that its migrations do not extend to a very high latitude ; for it may be laid down as. a general rule, that those birds which migrate to the arctic regions in either continent, are very often common to both. The head of the Woodcock is of singular conformation, large, somewhat triangular, and the eye fixed at a remarkable distance from the bill, and high in the head. This construction was necessary to give a greater range of vision, and to secure the eye from injury while the owner is searching in the mire. The flight of the Woodcock is slow. When flushed at any time in the woods, he rises to the height of the bushes or underwood, and almost instantly drops behind them again at a short distance, generally running off for several yards as soon as he touches the ground. The notion that there are two species of Woodcock in this country probably originated from the great difference of size between the male and female, the latter being considerably the larger. The male Woodcock is ten inches and a half long, and sixteen inches in extent ; bill a brownish flesh color, black towards the tip, the upper mandible ending in a slight knob, that projects about one-tenth of an inch beyond the lower,* each grooved, and in length somewhat more than two inches and a half ; forehead, line over the eye, and whole lower parts, reddish tawny ; sides of the neck inclining to ash ; between the eye and bill a slight streak of dark brown ; crown, from the forepart of the eye backwards, black, crossed by three narrow bands of brownish white ; cheeks marked with a bar of black, variegated with light brown ; edges of the back, and of the scapulars, pale bluish white ; back and scapulars deep black, each feather tipped or marbled with light brown and bright ferruginous, with numerous fine zigzag lines of black crossing the lighter parts ; quills plain dusky brown ; tail black, each feather marked along the outer edge with small spots of pale brown, and ending in narrow tips of a pale drab color above, and silvery white below ; lining of the wing bright rust ; legs and feet a pale reddish flesh color ; eye very full and black, seated high, and very far back in the head ; weight five ounces and a half, sometimes six. The female is twelve inches long, and eighteen in extent ; weighs eight ounces ; and differs also in having the bill very near three inches in length ; the black on the back is not quite so intense ; and the sides under the wings are slightly barred with dusky. The young Woodcocks, of a week or ten days old, are covered with * Mr. Pennant (Arct. Zool. p. 463), in describing the American Woodcock, says, that the lower mandible is much shorter than the upper. From the appearance of his figure, it is evident that the specimen from which that and his description were taken, Iiad lost nearly half an inch from the lower mandible, probably broken off by accident. Turton and other^ have repeated this mistake. SNIPE. 329 down of a brownish white color, and are marked from the bill, along the crown to the hind-head, with a broad stripe of deep brown ; another line of the same passes through the eyes to the hind-head, curving under the eye ; from the back to the rudiments of the tail runs another of the same tint, and also on the sides under the wings ; the throat and breast are considerably tinged with rufous ; and the quills, at this age, are just bursting from their light blue sheaths, and appear marbled as in the old birds ; the legs and bill are of a pale purplish ash color, the latter about an inch long. When taken, they utter a long, clear, but feeble peep, not louder than that of a mouse. They are far inferior to young Partridges in running and skulking ; and should the female unfortunately be killed, may easily be taken on the spot. Species III. SOOLOPAX GALLINAGO* SNIPE. [Plato XLVII. Fig. 1.] This bird is well known to our sportsmen ; and, if not the same, has a very near resemblance to the common Snipe of Europe. It is usually known by the name of the English Snipe, to distinguish it from the Woodcock, and from several others of the same genus. It arrives in Pennsylvania about the tenth of March, and remains in the low grounds for several weeks ; the greater part then move off to the north, and to the higher inland districts to breed. A few are occasionally found, and consequently breed, in our low marshes during the summer. When they first arrive, they are usually lean ; but when in good order are accounted excellent eating. They are, perhaps, the most difficult to shoot of all our birds, as they fly in sudden zigzag lines, and very rapidly. Great numbers of these birds winter in the rice grounds of the Southern States, where, in the month of February, they appeared to be much tamer than they are usually here, as I frequently observed * In consequence of Wilson's doubts, whether this bird was the S. OaUinago or not, he gave no synonymes. The Prince of Musignano, convinced that it was a distinct species, adopted for it the name of Brehmii, under the impression that it was identical with the Snipe lately discovered in Germany, and described under the above-mentioned name. It appears to be neither the Gallinago nor the Brehmii, but a bird peculiar to our country : In Mr. Ord's supplement to Wilson's Orni- thology, it is classed under the name of Scolopax delicata. 330 SNIPE. them running about among the springs and watery thickets. I was told by the inhabitants, that they generally disappeared early in the spring. On the twentieth of March I found these birds extremely numerous on the borders of the ponds near Louisville, Kentucky ; and also in the neighborhood of Lexington in the same state, as late as the tenth of April. I was told by several people, that they are abundant in the Illinois country, up as far as Lake Michigan. They are but seldom seen in Pennsylvania during the summer, but are occasionally met with in considerable numbers on their return in autumn, along the whole eastern side of the Alleghany, from the sea to the mountains. They have the same soaring irregular flight in the air in gloomy weather as the Snipe of Europe ; the same bleating note, and occasional rapid descent ; spring from the marshes with the like feeble squeak ; and in every respect resemble the common Snipe of Britain, except in being about an inch less ; and in having sixteen feathers in the tail instead of fourteen, the number said by Bewick to be in that of Europe. From these circumstances, we must either conclude this to be a different species, or partially changed by difference of climate ; the former appears to me the more probable opinion of the two. These birds abound in the meadows, and low grounds, along our large rivers, particularly those that border the Schuylkill and Delaware, from the tenth of March to the middle of April, and sometimes later, and are eagerly sought after by many of our gunners. The nature of the grounds, however, which these birds frequent, the coldness of the season, and peculiar shyness and agility of the game, render this amusement attractive only to the most dexterous, active, and eager of our sportsmen. The Snij)e is eleven inches long, and seventeen inches in extent ; the bill is more than two inches and a half long, fluted lengthwise, of a brown color, and black towards the tip, where it is very smooth while the bird is alive, but soon after it is killed becomes dimpled like the end of a thimble ; crown black, divided by an irregular line of pale brown; another broader one of the same tint passes over each eye; from the bill to the eye there is a narrow dusky line ; neck, and upper part of the breast, pale brown, variegated with touches of white and dusky ; chin pale ; back and scapulars deep velvety black, the latter elegantly marbled with waving lines of ferruginous, and broadly edged exteriorly with white ; wings plain dusky, all the feathers, as well as those of the coverts, tipped with white ; shoulder of the wing deep dusky brown, exterior quill edged with white ; tail-coverts long, reaching within three-quarters of an inch of the tip, and of a pale rust color spotted with black ; tail rounded, deep black, ending in a bar of bright ferruginous, crossed with a narrow waving line of black, and tipped with whitish ; belly pure white ; sides barred with dusky ; legs and feet EED-BRBASTED SNIPE. 331 a very pale ashy green ; sometimes the whole thighs, and sides of the vent, are barred with dusky and white, as in the figure in the plate. The female differs in being more obscure in her colors ; the white on the back being less pure, and the black not so deep. Species IV. SOOLOPAX NO VEB OR A CENSIS. RED-BREASTED SNIPE. [Plate LVIII. Fig. 1.] Arct. Zool. p. 464, No. 368.* This bird has a considerable resemblance to the common Snipe, not only in its general form, size and colors, but likewise in the excellence of its flesh, which is in high estimation. It differs, however, greatly from the common Snipe in its manners, and in many otjjer peculiarities, a few of which, as far as I have myself observed, may be sketched as follows. The Red-breasted Snipe arrives on the seacoast of New Jersey early in April ; is seldom or never seen inland : early in May it proceeds to the north to breed, and returns by the latter part of July, or begin- ning of August. During its stay here it flies in flocks, sometimes very high, and has then a loud and shrill whistle, making many evolutions over the marshes ; forming, dividing, and reuniting. They sometimes settle in such numbers, and so close together, that eighty-five have been shot at one discharge of a musket. They spring from the marshes with a loud twirling whistle, generally rising high, and makiflg several circuitous manoeuvres in air, before they descend. They frequent the sand-bars, and mud-flats, at low water, in search of food ; and being less suspicious of a boat than of a person on shore, are easily approached by this medium, and shot down in great numbers. They usually keep by themselves, being very numerous ; are in excellent order for the table in September ; and on the approach of winter retire to the south. I have frequently amused myself with the various action of these birds. They fly very rapidly, sometimes wheeling, coursing and doubling along the surface of the marshes ; then shooting high in air, there separating ; and forming in various bodies, uttering a kind of quivering whistle. Among many which I opened in May, wer.e several * We add the following synonymes : — Scolopax novehoracensis, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 723, No. 32.— S. grisea, id. p. 724, No. 33. Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 679. Gmel. Syst. p. 658, No. 27, adult in winter plumage. S. novehoracensis, Id. p. 658, No. 28, adult in summer plumage. 332 RED-BREASTED SNIPE. females, that had very little rufous below, and the backs were also much lighter, and less marbled with ferruginous. The eggs contained in their ovaries were some of them as large as garden peas. Their stomachs contained masses of those small snail shells that lie in millions on the salt marshes : the wrinkles at the base of the bill, and the red breast, are strong characters of this species, as also the membrane which unites the outer and middle toes together. The Red-breasted Snipe is ten inches and a half long, and eighteen inches in extent ; the bill is about two inches and a quarter in length, straight, grooved, black towards the point, and of a dirty eelskin color at the base, where it is tumid and wrinkled ; lores dusky ; cheeks and eyebrows pale yellowish white, mottled with specks of black ; throat and breast a reddish buff color ; sides white, barred with black ; belly and vent white, the latter barred with dusky ; crown, neck above, back, scapulars and tertials, black, edged, mottled and marbled with yellowish white, pale and bright ferruginous, much in the same manner as the common Snipe ; wings plain olive, the secondaries centered and bordered with white ; shaft of the first quill very white ; rump, tail-coverts and tail (which consists of twelve feathers) white, thickly spotted with black ; legs and feet dull yellowish green ; outer toe united to the middle one by a small membrane ; eye very dark. The female, which is paler on the back, and less ruddy on the breast, has been described by Mr. Pennant as a separate species.* These birds doubtless breed not far to the northward of the United States, if we may judge from the lateness of the season when they leave us in spring ; the largeness of the eggs in the ovaries of the females before they depart, and the short period of time they are absent. Of all our sea-side Snipes it is the most numerous, and the most delicious for the table. From these circumstances and the crowded manner in which it flies and settles, it is the most eagerly sought after by our gunners, who send them to market in great numbers. * See his Brown Snipe, Arct. Zool. No. 369. Species V. SCOLOPAX 8EMIPALMATA* SEMIPALMATED SNIPE. [Plate LTI. Fig. 3.] Arct. Zool. p. 469, No. 380.t This is one of the most noisy and noted birds that inhabit our salt marshes in summer. Its common name is the Willet, by which appella- tion it is universally known along the shores of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, in all of which places it breeds in great numbers. The Willet is peculiar to America. It arrives from the south, on the shores of the Middle States, about the twentieth of April, or beginning of May ; and from that time to the last of July, its loud and shrill re- iterations of Pill-will-willet, Pill-will-willet, resound, almost incessantly, along the marshes ; and may be distinctly heard at the distance of more than half a mile. About the twentieth of May the Willets generally begin to lay.J Their nests are built on the ground, among the grass of the salt marshes, pretty well towards the land, or cultivated fields, and are composed of wet rushes and coarse grass, forming a slight hollow or cavity in a tussock. This nest is gradually increased during the period of laying and sitting, to the height of five or six inches. The eggs are usually four in number, very thick at the great end, and tapering to a narrower point at the other than those of the common hen ; they mea- sure two inches and one-eighth in length, by one and a half in their greatest breadth, and are of a dark dingy olive, largely blotched with blackish brown, particularly at the great end. In some the ground color has a tinge of green ; in others of bluish. They are excellent eating, as I have often experienced when obliged to dine on them in my hunting excursions through the salt marshes. The young are covered with a gray colored down ; run off soon after they leave the shell ; and are led and assisted in their search of food by the mother ; while the male keeps a continual watch around for their safety. The anxiety and affection manifested by these birds for their eggs and * This and the five following species belong to the genus Totanus of Bechstein. t Scolopax semipalmati, Lath. Syn. in., p. 152., No. 22. — Id. Ind. Om. p. 722, No. 27.— Gmbi. Syst. i., p. 659, No. 331. % From some unknown cause, the height of laying of these birds is said to be full two weeks later than it was twenty years ago. (333) 334 SEMIPALMATBD SNIPE. young, are truly interesting. A person no sooner enter tte marshes, than he is beset with the Willets, flying around and skimming over his head, vociferating with great violence their common cry of Pill-will-willet ; and uttering at times a loud clicking note, as he approaches nearer to their n^st. As they occasionally alight, and slowly shut their long white wings speckled with black, they have a mournful note, expressive of great tenderness. During the term of incubation, the female often resorts to the sea-shore, where, standing up to the -belly in water, she washes and dresses her plumage, seeming to enjoy great satisfaction from these frequent immersions. She is also at other times seen to wade more in the water than most of her tribe ; and when wounded in the wing, will take to the water without hesitation, and swims tolerably well. The eggs of the Willet, in every instance which has come under my observation, are placed, during incubation, in an almost upright position, with the large end uppermost ; and this appears to be the constant prac- tice of several other species of birds that breed in these marshes. Dur- ing the laying season, the Crows are seen roaming over the marshes in search of eggs, and wherever they come spread consternation and alarm among the Willets, who in united numbers attack, and pursue them with loud clamors. It is worthy of remark, that among the various birds that breed in these marshes, a mutual respect is paid to each other's eggs ; and it is only from intruders from the land side, such as Crows, Jays, weasels, foxes, minxes and man himself, that these affectionate tribes have most to dread. The Willet subsists chiefly on small shell-fish, marine worms, and other aquatic insects, in search of which it regularly resorts to the muddy shores, and flats, at low water ; its general rendezvous being the marshes. This bird has a summer, and also a winter, dress, in its colors differ- ing so mucbLin these seasons as scarcely to appear to be the same species. Our figure in the plate exhibits it in its spring and summer plumage, which in a good specimen is as follows : Length fifteen inches, extent thirty inches ; upper parts dark olive brown, the feathers streaked down the centre and crossed with waving lines of black; wing-coverts light olive ash; the whole upper parts sprinkled with touches of dull yellowish white ; primaries black, white at the root half; secondaries white, bordered with brown ; rump dark brown ; tail rounded, twelve feathers, pale olive, waved with bars of black ; tail-coverts white, barred with olive ; bill pale lead color, becom- ing black towards the tip ; eye very black ; chin white ; breast beauti- fully mottled with transverse spots of olive, on a cream ground ; belly and vent white, the last barred with olive ; legs and feet pale lead color ; toes half-webbed. Towards the fall, when these birds associate in large flocks, they be- TELL-TALE GODWIT, or SNIPE. 335 oome of a pale dun color above, the plumage being shafted with dark brown, and the tail white, or nearly so. At this season they are ex- tremely fat, and esteemed excellent eating. Experienced gunners always select the lightest colored ones from a flock, as being uniformly the fattest. The female of this species is generally larger than the male. In the months of October and November they gradually disappear. Species VI. SCOLOPAX V00IFERU8. TELL-TALE GODWIT, or SNIPE. [Plate LVIII. rig. 5.] Stme Snipe, Arct. Zool. p. 468, No. 376.— Tfkt. Syst. p. 396.* This species, and the preceding, are both well known to our Duck- gunners, along the sea-coast and marshes, by whom they are detested, and stigmatized with the names of the greater and lesser Tell-tale, for their faithful vigilance in alarming the Ducks with their loud and shrill whistle, on the first glimpse of the gunner's approach. Of the two the present species is by far the most watchful ; and its whistle, which con- sists of four notes rapidly repeated, is so loud, shrill and alarming, as instantly to arouse every Duck within its hearing, and thus disappoints the eager expectations of the shooter. Yet the cunning and experience of the latter, is frequently more than a match for all of them, and before the poor Tell-tale is aware, his warning voice is hushed for ever, and his dead body mingled with those of his associates. This bird arrives on our coast early in April, breeds in the marshes, and continues until November, about the middle of which month it generally moves off to the south. The nest, I have been informed, is built in a tuft of thick grass, generally on the borders of a bog or morass. The female, it is said, lays four eggs, of a dingy white, irregularly marked with black. These birds appear to be unknown in Europe. They are simply mentioned by Mr. Pennant, as having been observed in autumn, feed- ing on the sands on the lower part of Chatteaux Bay, continually nodding their heads ; and were called there Stone Curlews.f * Scolopax melanoleuca, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 559, No. 32. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 723, No. 28. Spotted Snipe, Lath. Syn. iii., p. 149, yar. A. Totanus melanoleucos, Ord, reprint, vii., p. 6L t Arct. Zool. p. 468. 336 TELL-TALE GODWIT, or SNIPE. The Tell-tale seldom flies in large flocks, at least during summer. It delights in watery bogs, and the muddy margins of creeks and inlets ; is either seen searching about for food, or standing in a watchful pos- ture, alternately raising and lowering the head, and on the least appear- ance of danger utters its shrill whistle, and mounts on wing, generally accompanied by all the feathered tribes that are near. It occasionally penetrates inland, along the muddy shores of our large rivers, seldom higher than tide water, and then singly and solitary. They sometimes rise to a great height in the air, and can be distinctly heard when beyond the reach of the eye. In the fall, when they are fat, their flesh is highly esteemed, and many of them are brought to our markets. The colors and markings of this bird are so like those of the preceding, that unless in point of size, and the particular curvature of the bill, the description of one might serve for both. The Tell-tale is fourteen inches and a half long, and twenty-five inches in extent ; the bill is two inches and a quarter long, of a dark horn color, and slightly bent upwards ; the space round the eye, chin and throat, pure white ; lower part of the neck pale ashy white, speckled with black ; general color of the upper parts an ashy brown, thickly spotted with black and dull white, each feather being bordered and spotted on the edge with black ; wing quills black ; some of the prima- ries, and all of the secondaries, with their coverts, spotted round the margins with black and white ; head and neck above streaked with black and white ; belly and vent pure white ; rump white, dotted with black ; tail also white, barred with brown ; the wings, when closed, rtach beyond the tail ; thighs naked nearly two inches above the knees ; legs two inches and three quarters long ; feet four-toed, the outer joined by a membrane to the middle, the whole of a rich orange yellow. The female differs little in plumage from the male ; sometimes the vent is slightly dotted with black, and the upper parts more brown. Nature seems to have intended this bird as a kind of spy, or sentinel, foi the safety of the rest ; and so well acquainted are they with the watchful vigilance of this species, that, while it continues silent among them, the Ducks feed in the bogs and marshes without the least suspi- cion. The great object of the gunner is to escape the penetrating glance of this guardian, which is sometimes extremely difficult to effect. On the first whistle of the Tell-tale, if beyond gunshot, the gunner abandons his design, but not without first bestowing a few left-handed blessings on the author of his disappointment. Species VII. SCOLOPAX FLAYIPES. YELLOW-SHANKS SNIPE. [Plate LVIII. Fig. 4.] Arct. Zool. p. 463, No. 878.— Tdrt. Syst. 395.* Op this species I have but little to say. It inhabits our seacoasts, and salt marshes, during summer ; frequents the flats at low water, and seems particularly fond of walking among the mud, where it doubtless finds its favorite food in abundance. Having never met with its nest, nor with any person acquainted with its particular place or manner of breeding, I must reserve these matters for further observation. It is a plentiful species, and great numbers are brought to market in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, particularly in autumn. Though these birds do not often penetrate far inland, yet on the fifth of September I shot several dozens of them in the meadows of Schuylkill, below Phila-' delphia. There had been a violent north-east storm a day or two pre- vious, and a large flock of these, accompanied by several species of Tringa, and a vast number of the Short-tailed Tern, appeared at once among the meadows. As a bird for the table the Yellow-shanks, when fat, is in considerable repute. Its chief residence is in the vicinity of the sea, where there are extensive mud-flats. It has a sharp whistle, of three or four notes, when about to take wing, and when flying. These birds may be shot down with great facility, if the sportsman, after the first discharge, will only lie close, and permit the wounded birds to flutter about without picking them up ; the flock will generally make a circuit and alight repeatedly, until the greater part of them may be shot down.f Length of the Yellow-shanks ten inches, extent twenty ; bill slender, straight, an inch and a half in length, and black ; line over the eye, chin, belly and vent, white ; breast and throat gray ; general color of the plumage above dusky brown olive, inclining to ash, thickly marked ■with small triangular spots of dull white ; tail coverts white ; tail also white, handsomely barred with dark olive; wings plain dusky, th(> * Gmel. Syst. I., p. 659, No. 31.— Lath. Syn. in., p. 152, No. U.^Ind. Orn. p. 723, No. 29. t These birds are very common, in the early part of May, on the rauddy flats of our rivers, particularly in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and are at that period in good condition. Vol. II.— 22 (337) 338 YELLOW-SHANKS SNIPE. secondaries edged, and all the coverts edged and tipped, with white ; shafts black ; eye also black ; legs and naked thighs long and yellow ; outer toe united td the middle one by a slight membrane ; claws a horn color. The female can scarcely be distinguished from the male. Note. — Mr. Ord in his reprint gives the following more minute description, of a female, shot on the twenty-second of April : " length upwards of ten inches, breadth twenty inches ; irides brown ; bill slender, straight, an inch and a half in length, and black, mandibles of equal length, the upper bent downwards at the tip ; throat, lower parts, thighs, and under tail coverts, white — the last are generally marked on their exterior vanes with brown ; those next to the tail barred with the same ; lower part of the neck, with the breast, gray, the feathers streaked down their centres with dusky ; head and back part of the neck black, the plumage edged with gray, in some specimens edged with brown ash, upper parts black, with oblong spots of white, intermixed with pale brown feathers ; rump brown, edged with white ; upper tail coverts white, barred with brown ; the tail is composed of twelve feathers, white, barred with ashy brown, the upper feathers, in some, gray brown, marked on their vanes, though not across, with brown and white ; wings, when closed, extend somewhat beyond the tail ; primaries and secondaries dusky ; shaft of first primary whitish above, the rest of the shafts brown above, in some black, all white below ; lesser wing coverts dusky, slightly edged with white, and in some spotted with brown on the exterior vanes ; secondaries slightly edged with white ; legs bare above the knees upwards of an inch ; length of tarsus two inches ; outer toe connected as far as the first joint to the middle one, the membrane of the inner toe quite small ; legs and feet yellow ochre ; the claw of the middle toe has the appearance of having a sup- plemental nail at its base. A young male shot at the same time, had its upper parts mixed with cinereous." Genus LXXIII. TRINGA. SANDPIPER. Species I. T. BARTRAMIA* BARTRAM'S SANDPIPER. [Plato LIX. Fig. 2.] This bird being, as far as I can discover, a new species, nndescribed by any former author, I have honored it with the name of my very worthy friend, near whose Botanic Gardens, on the banks of the river Schuylkill, I first found it. On the same meadows I have since shot several other individuals of the species, and have thereby had an oppor- tunity of taking an accurate drawing, as well as description of it. Unlike most of their tribe, these birds appeared to prefer running about among the grass, feeding on beetles, and other winged insects. There were three or four in company ; they seemed extremely watchful, silent, and shy, so that it was always with extreme diflSculty I could approach them. These birds are occasionally seen there during the months of August and September, but whether they breed near, I have not been able to discover. Having never met with them on the seashore, I am per- suaded that their principal residence is in the interior, in meadows, and such like places. They run with great rapidity, sometimes spreading their tail, and dropping their wings, as birds do who wish to decoy you from their nest ; when they alight, they remain fixed, stand very erect, and have two or three sharp whistling notes as they mount to fly. They are remarkably plump birds, weighing upwards of three-quarters of a pound ; their flesh is superior, in point of delicacy, tenderness and flavor, to any other of the tribe with which I am acquainted. This species is twelve inches long, and twenty-one in extent ; the bill is an inch and a half long, slightly bent downwards, and wrinkled at the base, the upper mandible black on its ridge, the lower, as well as the edge of the upper, of a fine yellow ; front, stripe over the eye, neck and breast, pale ferruginous, marked with small streaks of black, which, on the lower part of the breast, assume the form of arrow heads ; crown black, the plumage slightly skirted with whitish ; chin, orbit of the eye, whole belly and vent, pure white ; hind-head, and neck above, ferrugi- nous, minutely streaked with black ; back and scapulars black, the * Totanus Bartramius, Temjb. Man. d' Orn. p. 650. (339) 340 BARTRAM'S SANDPIPER. former slightly skirted with ferruginous, the latter with white ; tertials black, bordered with white ; primaries plain black ; shaft of the exte- rior quill snowy, its inner vane elegantly pectinated with white ; secondaries pale brown, spotted on their outer vanes with black, and tipped with white ; greater cover-ts dusky, edged with pale ferruginous, and spotted with black ; lesser coverts pale ferruginous, each feather broadly bordered with white, within which is a concentric semicircle of black ; rump and tail-coverts deep brown black, slightly bordered with white ; tail tapering, of a pale brown orange color, beautifully spotted with black, the middle feather centered with dusky ; legs yellow, tinged with green ; the outher toe joined to the middle by a membrane ; lining of the wings elegantly barred with black and white ; iris of the eye dark, or blue black, eye very large. The male arid female are nearly alike. Note. — Whether the bird described by Temminck {Man. d'Orn. p. 650), is identical with this species, will admit of some doubt ; although this excellent ornithologist says, that " les individus d' Europe et oeux d' Amerique ne different point." Bartram's Sandpiper is known to our shooters by the name of G-rass Plover. It breeds in low grounds, in the state of New Jersey. When watching its nest, it is fond of sitting upon fences ; and on alighting, it throws up its wings in the manner of the Willet. In the early part of August it begins to migrate ; it then flies high, and may be easily recognised by its whistling notes, which resemble those of the Tell-tale. In the middle of June I observed this species in the vicinity of Burlington, New Jersey ; but I could not dis- cover its nest. — 6r. Ord. Species II. TRINGA SOLITARIA* SOLITARY SANDPIPER. [Plate LVIII. Fig. 3.] This new species inhabits the watery solitudes of our highest moun- tains during the summer, from Kentucky to New York ; but is nowhere numerous, seldom more than one or two being seen together. It takes short low flights ; runs nimbly about among the mossy margins of the mountain springs, brooks and pools, occasionally stopping, looking at you, and perpetually nodding the head. It is so unsuspicious, or so little acquainted with man, as to permit one to approach within a few yards of it, without appearing to take any notice, or to be the least alarmed. At the approach of cold weather, it descends to the muddy shores of our large rivers, where it is occasionally met with, singly, on its way to the south. I have made many long and close searches for the nest of this bird, without success. They regularly breed on Pocono Mountain, between Easton and Wilkesbarre, in Pennsylvania, arriving there early in May, and departing in September. It is usually silent, unless when suddenly flushed, when it utters a sharp whistle. This species has considerable resemblance, both in manners and mark- ings, to the Green Sandpiper of Europe (Tringa Ochropus) ; but differs from that bird in being nearly one-third less, and in wanting the white rump and tail-coverts of that species ; it is also destitute of its silky olive green plumage. How far north its migrations extend I am unable to say. The Solitary Sandpiper is eight inches and a half long, and fifteen inches in extent ; the bill is one inch and a quarter in length and dusky ; nostrils pervious, bill fluted above and below ; line over the eye, chin, belly and vent, pure white ; breast white, spotted with pale olive brown ; crown and neck above dark olive, streaked with white ; back, scapulars and rump, dark brown olive, each feather marked along the edges with small round spots of white ; wings plain, and of a darker tint ; under tail-covert spotted with black ; tail slightly rounded, the five exterior feathers on each side white, broadly barred with black ; the two middle ones, as well as their coverts, plain olive ; legs long, slender, and of a dusky green. Male and female alike in color. * Totanus glareolus, Ord's reprint, vii., p. 57. — Totanus chloropygius, Vieill. — Prince Musignano, 6en. N. A. Birds. (341) Species III. TRINGA MACULABIA. SPOTTED SANDPIPER. [Plate LIX. Fig. 1.] Ard. Zool. p. 473, No. 385.— £a drive d'eau. Buff, tiii., 140.— Bdw. 277.* This very common species arrives in Pennsylvania about the twentieth of April, making its first appearance along the shores of our large rivers, and, as the season advances, tracing the courses of our creeks and streams towards the interior. Along the rivers Schuylkill and Delaware, and their tributary waters, they are in great abundance during the sum- mer. This species is as remarkable for perpetually wagging the tail, as some others are for nodding the head ; for whether running on the ground, or on the fences, along the rails, or in the water, this motion seems continual ; even the young, as soon as they are freed from the shell, run about constantly wagging the tail. About the middle of May they resort to the adjoining corn fields to breed, where I have frequently found and examined their nests. One of these, now before me, and which was built at the root of a hill of Indian corn, on high ground, is composed wholly of short pieces of dry straw. The eggs are four, of a pale clay or cream color, marked with large irregular spots of black, and more thinly with others of a paler tint. They are large in propor- tion to the size of the bird, measuring an inch and a quarter in length, very thick at the great end, and tapering suddenly to the other. The young run about with wonderful speed as soon as they leave the shell, and are then covered with down of a full drab color, marked with a single streak of black down the middle of the back, and with another behind each ear. They have a weak, plaintive note. On the approach of any person, the parents exhibit symptoms of great distress, coun- terfeiting lameness, and fluttering along the ground with seeming diffi- culty. On the appearance of a dog, 'this agitation is greatly increased ; and it is very interesting to observe with what dexterity the female will lead him from her young, by throwing herself repeatedly before him, fluttering off, and keeping just without his reach, on a contrary direction from her helpless brood. My venerable friend, Mr. William Bartram, * Tringa macularia, Gmel.' Syst. i., p. 672, No. 7. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 734, No. 29. — Totanus macularius, Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 656. « (342) SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 343 iaforms me, that he saw one of these birds defend her young, for a con- siderable time, from the repeated attacks of a ground squirrel. The scene of action was on the river shore. The parent had thrown herself, with her two young behind her, between them and the land ; and at every attempt of the squirrel to seize them by a circuitous sweep, raised both her wings in an almost perpendicular position, assuming the most formidable appearance she was capable of, and rushed forwards on the squirrel, who, intimidated by her boldness and manner, instantly re- treated ; but presently returning, was met, as before, in front and on flank, by the daring and affectionate bird, who with her wings and whole plumage bristling up, seemed swelled to twice her usual size. The young crowded together behind her, apparently sensible of their perilous situation, moving backwards and forwards as she advanced or retreated. This interesting scene lasted for at least ten minutes ; the strength of the poor parent began evidently to flag, and the attacks of the squirrel became more daring and frequent, when my good friend, like one of those celestial agents who, in Homer's time, so often decided the palm of victory, stepped forward from his retreat, drove the assailant back to his hole, and rescued the innocent from destruction. The flight of this bird is usually low, skimming along the surface of the water, its long wings making a considerable angle downwards from the body, while it utters a rapid cry of weet weet weet as it flutters along, seldom steering in a direct line up or down the river, but making a long circuitous sweep, stretching a great way out, and gradually bending in again to the shore. These birds are found occasionally along the sea marshes, as well as in the interior ; and also breed in the corn fields there, frequenting the shore in search of food ; but rarely associating with the other Tringce. About the middle of October they leave us on their way to the south, and do not, to my knowledge, winter in any of the Atlantic States. Mr. Pennant is of opinion that this same species is found in Britain ; but neither his description, nor that of Mr. Bewick, will apply correctly to this. The following particulars, with the figure, will enable Euro- peans to determine this matter to their satisfaction. Length of the Spotted Sandpiper seven inches and a half, extent thirteen inches ; bill an inch long, straight, the tip, and upper mandible, dusky, lower orange ; stripe over the eye, and lower eyelid, pure white ; whole upper parts a glossy olive, with greenish reflections, each feather marked with waving spots of dark brown ; wing quills deep dusky ; bastard wing bordered and tipped with white ; a spot of white on the middle of the inner vane of each quill feather, except the first ; secondaries tipped with white; tail rounded, the six middle feathers greenish olive, the other three, on each side, white, barred with black ; whole lower parts white, beautifully marked with roundish spots of 344 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. black, small and thick on tte throat and breast, larger and thinner as they descend to the tail ; legs a yellow clay color ; claws black. The female is as thickly spotted below as the male ; but the young birds, of both sexes, are pure white below, without any spots ; they also want the orange on the bill. These circumstances I have verified on numerous individuals. Species IV. TBINOA 8EMIPALMATA. SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER [Plate LXIII. Fig. 4.] This is one of the smallest of its tribe ; and seems to have been entirely overlooked, or confounded with another which it much resembles ( Tringa pusilla), and with whom it is often found associated. Its half-webbed feet, however, are sufficient marks of distinction between the two. It arrives and departs with the preceding species ; flies in flocks with the Stints, Purres, and a few others ; and is some- times seen at a considerable distance from the sea, on the sandy shores of our fresh water lakes. On the twenty-third of September, I met with a small flock of these birds in Burlington Bay, on Lake Champlain. They, are numerous along the seashores of New Jersey ; but retire to the south on the approach of cold weather. This species is six inches long, and twelve in extent ; the bill is black, an inch long, and very slightly bent ; crown and body above dusky brown, the plumage edged with ferruginous, and tipped with white ; tail and wings nearly of a length ; sides of the rump white ; rump and tail- coverts black ; wing quills dusky black, shafted and banded with white, much in the manner of the Least Snipe ; over "the eye a line of white ; lesser coverts tipped with white ; legs and- feet blackish ash, the latter half-webbed. Males and females alike in color. These birds varied greatly in their size, some being scarcely five inches and a half in length, and the bill not more than three-quarters ; others measured nearly seven inches in the whole length, and the bill upwards of an inch. In their general appearance they greatly resemble the Stints or Least Snipe ; but unless we allow that the same species may sometimes have the toes half-webbed, and sometimes divided to the origin, and this not in one or two solitary instances, but in whole flocks, which would be extraordinary indeed, we cannot avoid classing this as a new and distinct species. Species V. TRINGA PUSILLA. LITTLE SANDPIPER. [Plate XXXVII. rig. 4.] Lath. Syn. v., p. 184, 32. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 397. — Cinches dominicensis minor, Briss. v., p. 222, 13, t. 25, f. 2.— Tcbt. Syst 410. This is the least of its tribe in this part of the world, and in its mode of flight has much more resemblance to the Snipe than to the Sandpiper. It is migratory, departing early in October for the south. It resides chiefly among the sea marshes, and feeds among the mud at low water ;" springs with a zigzag irregular flight, and a feeble twit. It is not altogether confined to the neighborhood of the sea, for I have found several of them on the shores of the Schuylkill, in the month of August. In October, immediately before they go away, they are usually very fat. Their nests or particular breeding places I have not been able to discover. This minute species is found in Europe, and also at Nootka Sound on the western coast of America. Length five inches and a half; extent eleven inches ; bill and legs brownish black ; upper part of the breast gray brown, mixed with white ; back and upper parts black ; the whole plumage above broadly edged with bright bay and yellow ochre ; prima- ries black ; greater coverts the same, tipped with white ; eye small, dark hazel ; tail rounded, the four exterior feathers on each side dull white, the rest dark brown ; tertials as long as the primaries ; head above dark brown with paler edges ; over the eye a streak of whitish ; belly and vent white ; the bill is thick at the base, and very slender towards- the point ; the hind toe small. In some specimens the legs were of a dirty yellowish color. Sides of the rump white ; just below the greater coverts the primaries are crossed with white. Very little difi"erence could be perceived between the plumage of the males and females. The bay on the edges of the back, and scapulars, was rather brighter in the male, and the brown deeper. (345) Species VI. TBINGA ALPINA. EED-BACKED SANDPIPER. [Plate LVI. Pig. 2.] Dunlin, Arct. Zool. p. 476, No. 391. — Bewick, ii., p. 113. — La Brunnette, Burp. TIL, 493.* This bird inhabits both the old and new continents, being known in England by the name of the Dunlin ; and in the United States, along the shores of New Jersey, by that of the Red-back. Its residence here is but transient, chiefly in April and May, while passing to the arctic regions to breed ; and in September and October, when on' its return southward to winter quarters. During their stay they seldom collect in separate flocks by themselves ; but mix with various other species of strand-birds, among whom they are rendered conspicuous by the red color of the upper part of their plumage. They frequent the muddy flats, and shores of the salt marshes, at low water, feeding on small worms and other insects which generally abound in such places. In the month of May they are extremely fat. This bird is said to inhabit Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia, the Alps of Siberia ; and in its migratians the coasts of the Caspian Sea.f It has not, till now, been recognised by naturalists as inhabiting this part of North America. Wherever its breeding place may be, it probably begins to lay at a late period of the season, as in numbers of females which I examined on the first of June, the eggs were no larger than grains of mustard seed. Length of the Red-back eight inches and a half, extent fifteen inches ; bill black, longer than the head (which would seem to rank it with the Snipes), slightly bent, grooved on the upper mandible, and wrinkled at the base ; crown, back and scapulars, bright reddish rust, spotted with black ; wing-coverts pale olive ; quills darker ; the first tipped, the latter crossed, with white ; front, cheeks, hind-head, and sides of the neck, quite round, also the breast, grayish white, marked with small specks of black ; belly white, marked with a broad crescent of black ; tail pale olive, the two middle feathers centered with black ; legs and feet * Tringa alpina, Lath. Ind. Orn. 736, No. 37.— ie Cincle, Bcpf. PI. Enl. 852. t Pennatit. (346) THE PURRB. 347 ashy black ; toes divided to their origin, and bordered with a slightly scalloped membrane ; irides very dark. The males and females are nearly alike in one respect, both differing greatly in color even at the same season, probably owing to difference of age ; some being of a much brighter red than others, and the plumage dotted with white. In the month of September, many are found desti- tute of the black crescent on the belly ; these have been conjectured to be young birds. Note. — After an attentive examination of many of these birds on the coast of Cape May, in the month of April, I am perfectly convinced, that the hitherto supposed two species, the present and the Purre, con- stitute but one species, the latter being in immature plumage. In some instances, I found the Purres were beginning to get the broad band of black on the belly, and the black thickening with ruddy feathers, ap- pearing almost perfect Black-bellied Sandpipers. — Wilson's MSS. THING A OINOLUS* THE PUREE. [Plate LTII. Fig, 3.] Linn. Syst. 261.— Arct. Zool. p. 475, No. 390.— Bewick, ir., p. \\?>.—L'Alouette de mer, Buff, vii., 548. This is one of the most numerous of our Strand-birds, as they are usually called, that frequent the sandy beach, on the frontiers of the ocean. In its habit it differs so little from the preceding, that, except in being still more active and expert in running, and searching among the sand, on the reflux of the waves, as it nimbly darts about for food, what has been said of the former will apply equally to both, they being pretty constant associates on these occasions. The Purre continues longer with us both in spring and autumn than either of the two preceding; many of them remain during the very severest of the winter, though the greater part retire to the more genial regions of the south ; where I have seen them at such seasons, particu- larly on the seacoasts of both Carolinas, during the month of February, in great numbers. These birds, in conjunction with several others, sometimes collect together in such flocks, as to seem, at a distance, a large cloud of thick * The preceding species in immature plumage. 348 THE PUREE. smoke, varying in form and appearance every instant, while it performs its evolutions in air. As this cloud descends, and courses along the shores of the ocean, with great rapidity, in a kind of waving serpen- tine flight, alternately throwing its dark and white plumage to the eye, it forms a very grand and interesting appearance. At such times the gunners make prodigious slaughter among them ; while, as the showers of their companions fall, the whole body often alight, or descend to the surface with them, till the sportsman is completely satiated with de- struction. On some of those occasions, while crowds of these victims are fluttering along the sand, the small Pigeon Hawk, constrained by necessity, ventures to make a sweep among the dead, in presence of the proprietor, but as suddenly pays for his temerity with his life ! Such a tyrant is man, when vested with power, and unrestrained by the dread of responsibility ! The Purre is eight inches in length, and flfteen inches in extent ; the bill is black, straight, or slightly bent downwards, about an inch and a half long, very thick at the base, and tapering to a slender blunt point at the extremity ; eye very small, iris dark hazel ; cheeks gray ; line over the eye, belly and vent, white ; back and scapulars of an ashy brown, marked here and there with spots of black, bordered with bright ferruginous ; sides of the rump white ; tail-coverts olive, centered with black ; chin white ; neck below gray ; breast and sides thinly marked with pale spots of dusky, in some pure white ; wings black, edged and tipped with white ; two middle tail feathers dusky, the rest brown ash, edged with white ; legs and feet black ; toes bordered with a very nar- row scalloped membrane. The usual broad band of white crossing the wing, forms a distinguishing characteristic of almost the whole genus. On examining more than a hundred of these birds, they varied con- siderably in the black and ferruginous spots on the back and scapulars ; some were altogether plain, while others were thickly marked, particu- larly on the scapulars, with a red rust color, centered with black. The females were uniformly more plain than the males ; but many of the latter, probably young birds, were destitute of the ferruginous spots. On the twenty-fourth of May, the eggs in the females were about the size of partridge shot. In what particular regions of the north these birds breed, is altogether unknown. SPECIE8 VII. TRINGA RUFA. KED-BEEASTED SANDPIPEE. [Plate LVII. Fig. 8.] Of this prettily marked species I can find no description. The Tringa Icelandica, or Aberdeen Sandpiper of Pennant and others, is the only species that has any resemblance to it ; the descriptions of that bird, however, will not apply to the present. * The common name of this species, on our seacoast, is the G-ray-bach, and among the gunners it is a particular favorite, being generally a plump, tender, and excellent bird for the table ; and, consequently, brings a good price in market. The Gray-backs do not breed on the shores of the Middle States. Their first appearance is early in May. They remain a few Weeks, and again disappear until October. They usually keep in small flocks, alight in a close body together on the sand flats, where they search for the small bivalve shells already described. On the approach of the sportsman, they frequently stand fixed and silent for some time ; do not appear to be easily alarmed, neither do they run about in the water as much as some others, or with the same rapidity, but appear more tranquil and deliberate. In the month of November they retire to the south. This species is ten inches long, and twenty in extent ; the bill is black, and about an inch and a half long ; the chin, eyebrows, and whole breast, a pale brownish orange color ; crown, hindhead, from the upper mandible backwards, and neck, dull white, streaked with black ; back a * This appears to be an' error. This species is probably no other than the Tringa Islandica in summer dress ; and as many nominal species have been made of it, we quote the following synonymes from Prince Musignano's observations, Journal Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila. vol. v., p. 93. — " Tringa alpina, Linn. Gmel. Lath. — Tringa cinclus, Linn. Briss. Gmel. Lath, winter plumage. — Tringa ruflcollis, Gmel. Lath, spring moulting. — Scolopax pusillaf Gmel. (moulting). Is it not rather T. schinzii, Brehm? — Tringa cinclus torguatus, Briss. moulting. — Scolopax gallinago anglicand? Briss. moulting. Is it not rather T. schinzii f — Tringa earia- 5iK», Meyer, Temm. Sabine. — Le Cincle,BvYF. PL Enl. 852, moulting. — V Alouette de mer ? Buff. PI. Enl. 851, moulting. With Vieillot we do not think this plate intended for Tringa subarquata, Temm., as it is thought by Meyer and Temminck." (349) 350 ASH-COLORED SANDPIPER. pale slaty olive, the feathers tipped with white, barred and spotted with black and pale ferruginous ; tail-coverts white, elegantly barred with black ; wings plain dusky, black towards the extremity ; the greater coverts tipped with white ; shafts of the primaries white ; tail pale ashy olive, finely edged with white, the two middle feathers somewhat the longest ; belly and vent white, the latter marked with small arrow-heads of black ; legs and feet black ; toes bordered with a narrow membrane ; eye small and black. In some specimens, both of males and females, the red on the breast was much paler, in others it descended as far as the thighs. Both sexes seemed nearly alike. TRINGA CINEREA* ASH-COLORED SANDPIPEE. [Plato LVII. Fig. 2.] Arct. Zool. p. 474, No. 386.— Bewick, ii., p. 102. The regularly disposed concentric semicircles of white and dark brown that mark the upper parts of the plumage of this species, distin- guish it from all others, and give it a very neat appearance. In activity it is superior to the preceding ; and traces the flowing and recession of the waves along the sandy beach, with great nimbleness, wading and searching among the loosened particles for its favorite food, which is a small thin oval bivalve shell-fish, of a white or pearl color, and not larger than the seed of an apple. These usually lie at a short depth below the surface ; but in some places are seen at low water in heaps, like masses of wet grain, in quantities of more than a bushel together. During the latter part of summer and autumn, these minute shell-fish constitute the food of almost all those busy flocks, that run with such activity along the sands, among the flowing and retreating waves. They are universally swallowed whole ; but the action of the bird's stomach, assisted by the shells themselves, soon reduces them to a pulp. If we may judge from their efi"ects, they must be extremely nutritious, for almost all those tribes that feed on them are at this season mere lumps of fat. Digging for these in the hard sand would be a work of considerable labor, whereas when the particles are loosened by the flowing of the sea, the birds collect them with great ease and dexterity. It is amusing to observe with what adroitness they follow * This is the preceding species in winter dress, according to Prince Musignano. ASH-COLORED SANDPIPER. 351 and elude the tumbling surf, -while at the same time they seem wholly intent on collecting their food. The Ash-colored Sandpiper, the subject of our present account, inhabits both Europe and America. It has been seen in great numbers on the Seal Islands near Chatteaux Bay ; is said to continue the whole summer in Hudson's Bay, and breeds there. Mr. Pennant suspects that it also breeds in Denmark ; and says that they appear in vast flocks on the Flintshire shores, during the winter season.* With us they are also migratory, being only seen in spring and autumn. They are plump birds ; and by those accustomed to the sedgy taste of this tribe, are esteemed excellent eating. The length of this species is ten inches, extent twenty ; bill black, straight, fluted to nearly its tip, and about an inch and a half long ; upper parts brownish ash, each feather marked near the tip with a narrow semicircle of dark brown, bounded by another of white ; tail- coverts white, marbled with olive ; wing quills dusky, shafts white ; greater coverts black, tipped with white ; some of the primaries edged also with white ; tail plain pale ash, finely edged and tipped with white ; crown and hind-head streaked with black, ash and white ; stripe over the eye, cheeks and chin, white, the former marked with pale streaks of dusky, the latter pure ; breast white, thinly speckled with blackish ; belly and vent pure white ; legs a dirty yellowish clay color ; toes bordered with a narrow thick warty membrane ; hind-toe directed inwards, as in the Turn-stone ; claws and eye black. These birds vary a little in color, some being considerably darker above, others entirely white below ; but, in all, the concentric semicircles on the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, are conspicuous. I think it probable that these birds become much lighter colored during the summer, from the circumstance of having shot one late in the month of June, at Cape May, which was of a pale drab or dun color. It was very thin and emaciated ; and on examination appeared to have been formerly wounded, which no doubt occasioned its remaining behind its companions. Early in December I examined the same coast every day for nearly two weeks, without meeting with more than one solitary individual of this species ; although in October they were abundant. How far to the southward they extend their migrations, we have no facts that will enable us to ascertain ; though it is probable that the shores of the West India Islands afford them shelter and resources during our winter. * Arct. Zool. p. 474. Species VIII. TRINGA INTERPBES* TUEN-STONE. [Plate LVII. Kg.l.] Hebridal Sandpiper, Arct. Zool. p. 472, No. 382. — Le Tournepierre, Btjpp. vii., 130. PI Enl. 130.— Bewick, ii., p. 119, 121.— Catesbt, i., 72. This beautifully variegated species is common to both Europe and America ; consequently extends its migrations far to the north. It arrives from the south, on the shores of New Jersey, in April ; leaves them early in June ; is seen on its return to the south in October ; and continues to be occasionally seen until the commencement of the cold weather, when it disappears for the season. It is rather a scarce species in this part of the world,t and of a solitary disposition ; seldom min- gling among the large flocks of other Sandpipers ; but either coursing the sands alone, or in company with two or three of its own species. On the coast of Cape May and Egg Harbor, this bird is well known by the name of the Morse-foot Snipe, from its living, during the months of May and June, almost wholly on the eggs or spawn of the great King Crab, called here, by the common people, the Horse-foot. This animal is the Monoculus folypTiemus of entomologists. Its usual size is from twelve to fifteen inches in breadth, by two feet in length ; though sometimes it is found much larger. The head, or forepart, is semicircular, and con- vex above, covered with a thin elastic shelly case. The lower side is concave, where it is furnished with feet and claws resembling those of a crab. The posterior extremity consists of a long, hard, pointed, dagger- like tail, by means of which, when overset by the waves, the animal turns itself on its belly again. The male may be distinguished from the female by his two large claws having only a single hook each, instead of the forceps of the female. In the Bay of Delaware, below Egg Island, and in what is usually called Maurice River Cove, these creatures seem to have formed one of their principal settlements. The bottom of this covo is generally a soft mud, extremely well suited to their accommodation. * This bird belongs to the genus Sirepsilas of Illiger ; it is the only species of the genus known ; and is found in almost every quarter of the world. t This species is now found in great abundance on the coast of New Jersey ; and becomes excessively fat, in the month of May. (352) TURN-STONE. 353 Here they are resident, burying themselves in the mud during the win- ter, but early in the month of May they a,pproach the shore in multi- tudes, to obey the great law of nature, in depositing their eggs within the influence of the sun, and are then very troublesome to the fisher- men, who can scarcely draw a seine for them, they are so numerous. Being of slow motion, and easily overset by the surf, their dead bodies cover the shore in heaps, and in such numbers, that for ten miles one might walk on them without touching the ground. The hogs from the neighboring country are regularly driven down, every spring, to feed on them, which they do with great avidity ; though by this kind of food their flesh acquires a strong disagreeable fishy taste. Even the small turtles, or terrapins, so eagerly sought after by our epi- cures, contract so rank a taste by feeding on the spawn of the king crab, as to be at such times altogether unpalatable. This spawn may sometimes be seen lying in hollows and eddies in bushels ; while the Snipes and Sandpipers, particularly the Turn-stone, are hovering about, feasting on the delicious fare. The dead bodies of the animals them- . selves are hauled up in wagons for manure, and when placed at the hills of corn, in planting time, are said to enrich the soil, and add greatly to the increaseof the crop. The Turn-stone derives its name from another singularity it possesses, of "turning over, with its bill, small stones and pebbles in search of various marine worms and insects. At this sort of work it is exceed- ingly dexterous ; and even when taken and domesticated, is said to retain the same habit.* Its bill seems particularly well constructed for this purpose, difiering from all the rest of its tribe, and very much resembling, in shape, that of the common Nuthatch. We learn from Mr. Pennant, that these birds inhabit Hudson's Bay, Greenland, and the arctic flats of Siberia, where they breed, wandering southerly in autumn. It is said to build on the ground, and to lay four eggs, of an olive color spotted with black ; and to inhabit the isles of the Baltic during summer. The Turn-stone flies with a loud twittering note, and runs with its wings lowered ; but not with the rapidity of others of its tribe. It ex- amines more completely the same spot of ground, and, like some of the Woodpeckers, will remain searching in the same place, tossing the stones and pebbles from side to side for a considerable time. These birds vary greatly in color, scarcely two individuals are to be found alike in markings. These varieties are most numerous in autumn, when the young birds are about, and are less frequently met with in spring. The most perfect specimens I have examined are as follows : Length eight inches and a half, extent seventeen inches ; bill black- * Catesby. Vol. II.— 23 354 ' TURN-STONE. ish horn ; frontlet, space passing through the eyes, and thence dropping down, and joining the under mandible, black, enclosing a spot of white ; crown white, streaked with black ; breast black, whence it turns up half across the neck ; behind the eye a spot of black ; upper part of the neck white, running down and skirting the black breast, as far as the shoulder ; upper part of the back black, divided by a strip of bright ferruginous; scapulars black, glossed with greenish, and interspersed with rusty red ; whole back below this pure white, but hid by the scapu- lars ; rump black ; tail-coverts white ; tail rounded, white at the base half, thence black to the extremity ; belly and vent white ; wings dark dusky, crossed by two bands of white ; lower half of the lesser coverts ferruginous ; legs and feet a bright vermilion, or red lead ; hind toe standing inwards, and all of them edged with a thick warty membrane. The male and female are alike variable ; and when in perfect plumage nearly resemble each other. Bewick, in his History of British Birds, has figured and described what he considers to be two species of Turn-stone ; one of which, he says, is, chiefly confined to the southern, and the other to the northern parts of Great Britain. The difierence, however, between these two appears to be no greater than commonly occurs among individuals of the same flock, and evidently of the same species, in this country. As several years probably elapse before these birds arrive at their com- plete state of plumage, many varieties must necessarily appear, accord- ing to the difierent ages of the individuals. Genus LXXIV. CHARADRIUS. PLOVEE. Species I. C. EIATICULA. RINGED PLOVER.* [Plate XXXVII. Fig, Sf] Lath. Syn. t., p. 201, 8. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 401. — Petit Pluvier, ct collier, Bupf. VIII., p. 90-6. — PI. Enl. 921. — Pluvialis Torquata minor, Briss. t., p. 63, 8, t. 5, f. 2.— TuRT. Sysi. p. 411, 2. It was not altogether consistent with my original plan to introduce any of the Grallse or Waders, until I had advanced nearer to a close with the Land Birds ; hut as the scenery here seemed somewhat appro- priate, I have taken the liberty of placing in it two birds, reduced to one-third of their natural size, both being varieties of their respective species, each of which will appear in their proper places, in some future volume of this work, in full size and in their complete plumage. The Ring Plover is very abundant on the low sandy shores of our whole seacoast, during summer. They run, or rather seem to glide, rapidly along the surface of the flat sands ; frequently spreading out their wings and tail like a fan, and fl.uttering along, to draw or entice one away from their nests. These are formed with little art ; being merely shallow concavities dug in the sand, in which the eggs are laid, and, during the day at least, left to the influence of the sun to hatch them. The parents, however, always remain near the spot to protect them from injury, and probably in cold rainy or stormy weather, to shelter them with their bodies. The eggs are three, sometimes four, large for the bird, of a dun clay color, and marked with numerous small spots of reddish purple. The voice of these little birds, as they move along the sand, is soft and musical, consisting of a single plaintive note occasionally repeated. As you approach near their nests, they seem to court your attention, * Wilson in his account of the following species gives reasons for supposing this bird to be specifically difi'erent from the Ring Plover of Plate LIX. It is un- doubtedly a distinct species ; and has been named by Mr. Ord, Piping Plover — O. Melodus. The synonymes given by our author do not of course apply to this species. t Adult in spring dress. (355) 356 RINGED PLOVER. and the moment they think you observe them, they spread out their wings and tail, dragging themselves along, and imitating the squeaking of young birds ; if you turn from them they immediately resume their proper posture until they have again caught your eye, when they dis- play the same attempts at deception as before. A flat dry sandy beach, just beyond the reach of the summer tides, is their favorite place for breeding. This species is subject to great variety of change in its plumage. In the month of July I found most of those that were breeding on Som- mers's Beach, at the mouth of Great Egg Harbor, such as I have here figured ; but about the beginning or middle of October they had become much darker above, and their plumage otherwise varied. They were then collected in flocks ; their former theatrical and deceptive manceuvres seemed all forgotten. They appeared more active than before, as well as more silent ; alighting within a short distance of one, and feeding about without the least appearance of suspicion. At the commencement of winter they all go ofi" towards the south. This variety of the Ringed Plover is seven inches long, and fourteen in extent ; the bill is reddish yellow for half its length, and black at the extremity ; the front and whole lower parts pure white, except the side of the breast, which is marked with a curving streak of black, another spot of black bounding the front above ; back and upper parts very pale brown, inclining to ashy white, and intermixed with white ; wings pale brown, greater coverts broadly tipped with white ; interior edges of the secondaries, and outer edges of the primaries white, and tipped with brown ; tail nearly even, the lower half white, brown towards the extremity, the outer feather pure white, the nei:t white with a single spot of black ; eye black, and full, surrounded by a narrow ring of yellow ; legs reddish yellow ; claws black ; lower side of the wings pure white. Species II. C. HIATICULA* RING PLOVER. [Plate LIX. Fig. 3.] Aret. Zool. p. 485, No. 401. — La petit Pluvier & collier, Burr. viiT., 90. — Bewick, I., 326.t In a preceding part of this work J a bird by this name has been figured and described, under the supposition that it was the Ring Plover, then in its summer dress ; but which, notwithstanding its great resemblance to the present, I now suspect to be a different species. Fearful of perpetuating error, and anxious to retract, where this may inadvertently have been the case, I shall submit to the consideration of the reader the reasons on which my present suspicions are founded. The present species, or true Ring Plover, and also the former, or light colored bird, both arrive on the seacoast of New Jersey late in April. The present kind continues to be seen in flocks until late in May, when they disappear on their way farther north ; the light colored bird remains during the summer, forms its nest in the sand, and generally produces two broods in the season. Early in September the present species returns in flocks as before ; soon after this, the light colored kind go off to the south, but the other remain a full month later. European writers inform us, that the Ring Plover has a sharp twittering note, and this account agrees exactly with that of the present ; the light colored species, on the contrary, has a peculiarly soft and musical note, similar to the tone of a German flute, which it utters while running along the sand, with expanded tail, and hanging wings, endeavoring to decoy you from its nest. The present species is never seen to breed here ; and though I have opened great numbers of them as late as the twentieth of May, the eggs, which the females contained, were never larger than small bird-shot ; while, at the same time, the light colored kind had everywhere begun to lay in the little cavities which they had dug on the * Tringa Maticula, in the original edition, which with Prince Musignano, we con- sider as a typographical error. t Charadrius semipalmatus, Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. Vol. ii., p. 296. % See preceding species. (357) 358 RING PLOVER. sand, on the beach. These facts being considered, it seems difficult to reconcile such difference of habit in one and the same bird. The Ring Plover IS common in England, and agrees exactly -with the one before us ; but the light colored species, as far as I can learn, is not found in Britain ; specimens of it have indeed been taken to that country, where the most judicious of their ornithologists have concluded it to be still the Ring Plover, but to have changed from the effect of climate. Mr. Pennant, in speaking of the true Ring Plover, makes the following remarks : " Almost all which I have seen from the northern parts of North America have had the black marks extremely faint, and almost lost. The climate had almost destroyed the specific marks ; yet in the bill and habit preserved sufficient to make the kind very easily ascer- tained." These traits agree exactly with the light colored species described in our fifth volume. But this excellent naturalist was perhaps not aware that we have the true Ring Plover here in spring and autumn, agreeing in every respect with that of Britain, and at least in equal numbers ; why, therefore, has not the climate equally affected the pre- sent and the former sort, if both are the same species ? These incon- sistencies cannot be reconciled but by supposing each to be a distinct species, which, though approaching extremely near to each other, in external appearance, have each their peculiar notes, color, and places of breeding. The Ring Plover is seven inches long, and fourteen inches in extent; bill short, orange colored, tipped with black, front and chin white, encircling the neck ; upper part of the breast black ; rest of the lower parts pure white ; fore part of the crown black ; band from the upper mandible, covering the auriculars, also black ; back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, of a brownish ash color ; wing quills dusky black, marked with an oval spot of white about the middle of each ; tail olive, deepen- ing into black, and tipped with white ; legs dull yellow ; eye dark hazel, eyelids yellow. Thi? bird is said to make no nest, but to lay four eggs, of a pale ash color, spotted with black, which she deposits on the ground.*. The eggs of the light colored species, formerly described, are of a pale cream color, marked with small round dots of black, as if done with a pen. The Ring Plover, according to Pennant, inhabits America, down to Jamaica and the Brazils. Is found in summer in Greenland ; migrates thence in autumn. Is common in every part of Russia and Siberia. Was found by the navigators as low as Owyhee, one of the Sandwich Islands, and as light colored as those of the highest latitudes.f * Bewick. -f Arct. Zool. p. 485. Species III. CHABADRIUS WILSONIUS. WILSON'S PLOVER. [Plate LXXIII. Fig. 5.] Of this neat and prettily marked species I can find no account, and have concluded that it has hitherto escaped the eye of the naturalist. The bird, of which the figure in the plate is a correct resemblance, was shot the thirteenth of May, 1813, on the shore of Cape Island, New Jersey, by my ever-regretted friend ; and I have honored it with his name. It was a male, and was accompanied by another of the same sex, and a female, all of which were fortunately obtained. This bird very much resembles the Ring Plover, except in the length and color of the bill, its size, and in wanting the yellow eyelids. The males and females of this species difier in their markings, but the Ring Plovers nearly agree. We conversed with some sportsmen of Cape May, who asserted that they were acquainted with these birds, and that they sometimes made their appearance in flocks of considerable num- bers ; others had no knowledge of them. That the species is rare, we were well convinced, as we had diligently explored the shore of a con- siderable part of Cape May, in the vicinity of Great Egg Harbor, many times, at different seasons, and had never seen them before. How long they remain on our coast, and where they winter, we are unable to say. From the circumstance of the oviduct of the female being greatly enlarged, and containing an egg half grown, apparently within a week of being ready for exclusion, we concluded that they breed there. Their favorite places of resort appear to be the dry sand flats on the seashore. They utter an agreeable piping note ; and run swiftly. This species is eight inches in length, and fifteen and a half in extent ; the bill is black, stout, and an inch long, the upper mandible projecting considerably over the lower ; front white, passing on each side to the middle of the eye above, and bounded by a band of black of equal breadth ; lores black ; eyelids white ; eye large and dark ; from the middle of the eye, backwards, the stripe of white becomes duller, and extends for half an inch ; the crown, hind head and auricu- lars, are drab olive ; the chin, throat, and sides of the neck for an inch, pure white, passing quite round the neck, and narrowing to a point behind ; the upper breast below this is marked with a broad band of jet (359) 360 KILDEER PLOVER. black ; the rest of the lower parts pure white ; upper parts pale olive drab ; along the edges of the auriculars, and hind head, the plumage, where it joins the white, is stained with raw terra sienna ; all the plum- age is darkest in the centre; the tertials are fully longer than the primaries^ the latter brownish black, the shafts and edges of some of the middle ones white ; secondaries, and greater coverts, slightly tipped with white ; the legs are of a pale flesh color ; toes bordered with a narrow edge ; claws and ends of the toes black ; the tail is even, a very little longer than the wings, and of a blackish olive color, with the exception of the two exterior feathers, which are whitish, but generally only the two middle ones are seen. The female differs in having no black on the forehead, lores, or breast, these parts being pale olive.* Since publishing the foregoing, Mr. T. R. Peale and myself, in an excursion, in the month of May, on the coast of New Jersey, found this species to be pretty common, in the vicinity of Brigantine Beach. We also observed them in various places between Great Egg Harbor and Long Beach. — Cr. Ord. Species IV. CSARADRIUS VOCIFEBUS KILDEER PLOVER. [Plate LIX. Fig. 6.] Arct. Zool. No. 400. — Catesby, i., 71. — Le Kildir, Bcff. viii., 96.t This restless and noisy bird is known to almost every inhabitant of the United States, being a common and pretty constant resident. Dur- ing the severity of winter, when snow covers the ground, it retreats to the seashore, where it is found at all seasons ; but no sooner have the rivers broken up, than its shrill note is again heard, either roaming about high in air, tracing the shore of the river, or running amidst the watery flats and meadows. As spring advances, it resorts to the newly ploughed fields, or level plains bare of grass, interspersed with shallow pools ; or, in the vicinity of the sea, dry bare sandy fields. In some such situation it generally chooses to breed, about the beginning of May. The nest is usually slight, a mere hollow, with such materials drawn in around it * From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume. t Gharadrius voHfereus, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 685, No. 3. — Pluvier & collier de Vir- ginie, Briss. v., p. 68. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 742, No. 6. — PI. Enl. 286. KILDEER PLOVER. 361 as happen to be near, such as bits of sticks, straw, pebbles, or earth. In one instance, I found the nest of this bird paved with fragments of clam and oyster shells, and very neatly surrounded with a mound or border of the same, placed in a very close and curious manner. In some cases there is no vestige whatever of a nest. The eggs are usually four, of a bright rich cream, or yellowish clay color, thickly marked with blotches of black. They are large for the size of the bird, measur- ing more than an inch and a half in length, and a full inch in width, tapering to a narrow point at the great end. Nothing can exceed the alarm and anxiety of these birds during the breeding season. Their cries of kildeer, kildeer, as they winnow the air over head, dive and course around you, or run along the ground counterfeiting lameness, are shrill and incessant. The moment they see a person approach, they fly or run to attack him with their harassing clamor, continuing it over so wide an extent of ground, that they puzzle the pursuer as to the particular spot where the nest or young are -con- cealed ; very much resembling, in this respect, the Lapwing of Europe. During the evening, and long after dusk, particularly in moonlight, their cries are frequently heard with equal violence, both in the spring and fall. From this circumstance, and their flying about both after dusk, and before dawn, it appears probable that they see better at such times than most of their tribe. They are known to feed much on worms, and many of these rise to the surface during the night. The prowling of Owls may also alarm their fears for their young at those hours ; but whatever may be the cause, the facts are so. The Kildeer is more abundant in the Southern States in winter than in summer. Among the rice fields, and even around the planters' yards in South Carolina, I observed them very numerous, in the months of February and March. There the negro boys frequently practise the barbarous mode of catching them with a line, at the extremity of which is a crooked pin, with a worm on it. Their flight is something like that of the Tern, but more vigorous ; and they sometimes rise to a great height in the air. They are fond of wading in pools of water ; and frequently bathe themselves during the summer. They usually stand erect on their legs, and run or walk with the body in a stiff horizontal position ; they run with great swiftness, and are also strong and vigorous in the wings. Their flesh is eaten by some, but is not in general esteem, though others say, that in the fall, when they become very fat, it is excellent. During the extreme droughts of summer, these birds resort to the gravelly channel of brooks and shallow streams, where they can wade about in search of aquatic insects. At the close of summer they gene- rally descend to the seashore, in small flocks, seldom more than ten or 362 GOLDEN PLOVER. twelve being seen together. They are then more serene and silent, as well as difi5cult to be approached. The Kildeer is ten inches long, and twenty inches in extent ; the bill is black ; frontlet, chin, and ring round the neck, white ; fore part of the crown, and auriculars from the bill backwards, blackish olive ; eye- lids bright scarlet ; eye very large, and of a full black ; from the centre of the eye backwards a stripe of white ; round the lower part of the neck is a broad band of black ; below that a band of white, succeeded by another rounding band or crescent of black ; rest- of the lower parts pure white ; crown and hind-head light olive brown ; back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, olive brown, skirted with brownish yellow ; primary quills black, streaked across the middle with white ; bastard wing tipped with white ; greater coverts broadly tipped with white ; rump and tail- coverts orange ; tail tapering, dull orange, crossed near the end with a broad bar of black, and tipped with orange, the two middle feathers near an inch longer than the adjoining ones ; legs and feet a pale light clay color. The tertials, as usual in this tribe, are very long, reaching nearly to the tips of the primaries ; exterior toe joined by a membrane to the middle one, as far as the first joint. Species V. OHARADRIUS PLVVIALIS, GOLDEN PLOVEE. [Plate LIX. Fig. 5.] Arcl. Zool. p. 493, No. 599.— Bewick, i., 322.— £e Pluvier dori, Bopp. riii., 81.— PL Enl. 904.* This beautiful species visits the seacoast of New York and New Jersey in spring and autumn ; but does not, as far as I can discover, breed in any part of the United States. They are most frequently met with in the months of September and October ; soon after which they disappear. The young birds of the great Black-bellied Plover are some- times mistaken for this species. Hence the reason why Mr. Pennant * We add the following synonymes from Prince Musignano's " Observations :" — Charadrius pluvialis, Linn. Gmel. Lath, winter dress. Temm. Yieill. — Chdror drius apricarius, Linn. Gmel. Lath, summer dress, (not of Wilson, which is a four- toed bird, Vanellus helveticus.) — Pluvialis aurea, Briss. winter dress. — Pluvialis aurea minor, Briss. winter dress. — Pluvialis dominicensis aurea, Briss. winter dress. — Pluvialis aurea Freti Hudsonis, Briss. summer dress. — Le Pluvier d'or, Bup?> PI. Enl. 904, winter dress. GOLDEN PLOVER. 363 remarks his having seen a variety of the Golden Plover, with hlack breasts, which he supposed to be the young.* The Golden Plover is common in the northern parts of Europe. It breeds on high and heathy mountains. The female lays four eggs, of a pale olive color, variegated with blackish spots. They usually fly in small flocks, and have a shrill whistling note. They are very frequent in Siberia, where they likewise breed; extend also to Kamtschatka, and as far south as the Sandwich Isles. In this latter place, Mr. Pennant remarks, "they are very small." Although these birds are occasionally found along our seacoast, from Georgia to Maine, yet they are nowhere numerous ; and I have never met with them in the interior. Our mountains being generally covered with forest, and no species of heath having, as yet, been discovered within the boundaries of the United States, these birds are probably induced to seek the more remote arctic regions of the continent to breed and rear their young in, where the country is more open, and unencum- bered with woods. The Golden Plover is ten inches and a half long, and twenty-one inches in extent ; bill short, of a dusky slate color ; eye very large, blue black ; nostrils placed in a deep furroy, and half covered with a pro- minent membrane; whole upper parts black, thickly marked with roundish spots of various tints of golden yellow ; wing-coverts, and hind part of the neck, pale brown, the latter streaked with yellowish ; front, broad line over the eye, chin, and sides of the same, yellowish white, streaked with small pointed spots of brown olive ; breast gray, with olive and white ; sides under the wings marked thinly with transverse bars of pale olive ; belly and vent white ; wing quills black, the middle of the shafts marked with white; greater coverts black, tipped with white ; tail rounded, black, barred with triangular spots of golden yellow ; legs dark dusky slate ; feet three-toed, with generally the slight rudiments of a heel, the outer toe connected as far as the first joint with the middle one. The male and female differ very little in color. * Arct. Zool. p. 484. Species VI. CHABADRIUS APRICARIUS* BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. [Plate LVII. Fig. 4.] Alwagrim Plover, Arct. Zool. p. 483, No. 398.— ie Pluvier dori d. gorge noire, Bopi. Tin., 85. This bird is known in some parts of the country by the name of the large Whistling Field Plover. It generally makes its first appearance in Pennsylvania late in April; frequents the countries towards the mountains ; seems particularly attached to newly ploughed fields, where it forms its nest, of a few slight materials, as slightly put together. The female lays four eggs, large for the size of the bird, of a light olive color, dashed with black ; and has frequently two broods in the same season. It is an extremely shy and watchful bird, though clamorous during breeding time. The young are without the black color on the breast and belly until the second year,' and the colors of the plumage above are likewise imperfect till then. They feed on worms, grubs, winged insects, and various kinds of berries, particularly those usually called dewberries, and are at such times considered exquisite eating. About the beginning of September, they descend with their young to the seacoast, and associate with the numerous multitudes then returning from their breeding places in the north. At this season they abound on the plains of Long Island. They have a loud whistling note ; often fly at a great height ; and are called by many gunners along the coast, the Black-bellied Kildeer. The young of the first year have considera- ble resemblance to those of the Golden Plover ; but may be easily dis- tinguished from this last by the largeness of their head and bill, and in * Charadrius Helveticus, Bonaparte, Journal Ar.ad. Nat. Sc. v., p. 103. Ann. Lye. II., p. 298. — Vanellus Helveticus, Briss. v., p. 107, pi. 10, fig. 1, summer drees. Obd's reprint, vii., p. 42. — Vanellus yriaeus, Id. p. 100, pi. 9, fig. 1, winter dress. — Vanellus varius, Id. p. 103, pi. 9, fig. 2, young. — Tringa Helvetica, Lath. hid. Orn. p. 728, No. 10, summer dress of the adult. — T. aquatarola, Id. p. 729, No. 11, winter plumage. — Le Vanneau varie, Buff. PI. Enl. 923, winter dress. — Le Vanneau gris. Id. 854, young. — Le Vanneau Suisse, Id. 853, summer dress of adult. — Gray Sand- piper, Arct. Zool. No. Z93.— Swiss Sandpiper, Id. No. S96.— British Zool. No. 191. — Edwards, hi , pi. 140. — Vanellus melanozaster, Bechstein, iv., p. 356. — Lath. Syn. III., p. 167, No. 10 ; p. 168, No. 11 ; p. 169, Var. A.— Id. Supp. p. 248.— Temh. Man. d'Orn. 549. (364) BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. 365 being at least two inches more in length. The greater number of those which I have examined have the rudiments or a hind toe; but the character and manners of the Plover are so conspicuous in the bird, as to determine, at the first glance, the tribe it belongs to. They continue about the seacoast until early in November, when they move off to the south. This same bird, Mr. Pennant informs us, inhabits all the north of Europe, Iceland, Greenland, a. d Hudson's Bay, and all the arctic part of Siberia. It is said, that at Hudson's Bay it is called the Hawk's- eye, on account of its brilliancy. It appears, says the same author, in Greenland in the spring, about the southern lakes, and feeds on worms and berries of the heath. This species is twelve inches long, and twenty-four inches in extent ; the bill is thick, deeply grooved on the upper mandible an inch and a quarter in length, and of a black color ; the head and globe of the eye are both remarkably large, the latter deep bluish black ; forehead white ; crown and hind-head black, spotted with golden yellow ; back and sca- pulars dusky, sprinkled with the same golden or orange colored spots, mixed with others of white ; breast, belly and vent black ; sides of the breast whitish ; wing, quills black, middle of the shafts white ; greater coverts black, tipped with white ; lining of the wing black ; tail regu- larly barred with blackish and pure white ; tail-coverts pure white ; legs and feet a dusky lead color ; the exterior toe joined to the middle by a broad membrane ; hind toe very small. From the length of time which these birds take to acquire their full colors, they are found in very various stages of plumage. The breast and belly are at first white, gradually appear mottled with black, and finally become totally black. The spots of orange, or golden, on the crown, hind-head and back, are at first white, and sometimes even the breast 'itself is marked with these spots, mingled among the black. In every stage, the seemingly disproportionate size of the head, and thick- ness of the bill, will distinguish this species. I^OTE. — Mr. Ord furnishes the following additional information re- specting this species in his reprint of the seventh volume of Wilson. An adult male, shot the 26th of April, near Philadelphia, measured eleven inches in length ; space between the eye and bill, and cheeks, black ; throat, and thence down the breast and belly, as far as the thighs, black, with white intermixed ; front pure white, which extends in a narrow line over the eyes, bordering the black of the neck, as far as the breast ; crown, and thence down the back part of the neck, brown and white; upper parts, with wing-coverts, banded with white and black, with some ashy brown feathers interspersed, the whole presenting an irregularly spotted appearance — the back, scapulars and tertials with 366 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. greenish reflections ; lower part of abdomen, thighs, vent, lining of the wings, and under tail-coverts, pure white, the exterior vanes of the last spotted with brown black ; sides under the wings very pale ash, with faint ashy brown bars ; upper tail-coverts white, with narrow ashy brown bars, which increase in size, and become darker, up the rump ; the upper part of the inner webs of the primaries white ; bill, legs and feet, of a shining black ; no golden or orange colored spots. The parts not mentioned agreeing with those of the foregoing. Another adult male, shot at Egg Harbor, on the 10th of May, was twelve inches in length, and had its cheeks, lores, throat, middle of the breast and belly, as far as the thighs, black ; the long feathers of the aides, at the junction of the wings, also black ; feathers of the crown ash, centered with black, and tipped with white ; back brownish black, plumage broadly tipped with white ; wing-coverts brown ash and black, broadly spotted and tipped with white ; tail white, broadly barred with black ; no golden spots. An adult female, shot at Egg Harbor, on the 26th of May, was twelve inches in length ; upper parts olive brown, spotted with black and white, the long feathers of the sides, at the junction of the wings, black ; wings crossed with a broad band of white, immediately under their coverts, spreading over their shafts ; secondaries pale olive, edged and tipped with white ; primaries and their coverts, black ; throat and sides of the neck white, spotted with dark olive ; breast and belly, as far as the thighs, black, intermixed with white ; legs and feet deep purpljsh slate. The black of the lower parts was not so deep as that of the foregoing male. Her eggs were small. A young male, shot at Egg Harbor, in the month of October, had whitish spots on a brownish black ground ; crown nearly black, spotted with brownish yellow ; breast, throat and eyebrows, pure white ; the long feathers of the sides, at the junction of the wings, black ; legs and feet lead-colored. A young bird in Peale's collection, supposed to be a male, of the first year, had its head, neck, and whole upper parts, brown ash or dark gray, spotted with white; breast white, with pale brown ash inter- mixed ; lower part of the abdomen, and under tail-coverts, white ; tail white, with large bars of ashy brown; lining of the wings white; the long feathers of the sides, at the junction of the wings, dusky; prima- ries paler than in the adult, but similarly marked with white. It had no golden or orange colored spots. I have little doubt that the Black-bellied Plover described by Pen- nant as common at Hudson's Bay, and called there Hawk's-eye, is this species, although authors record it among the synonymes of the Golden Plover, in its spring dress. The hind toe of this species is very small and slender ; and in dried specimens it adheres so closely to the tarsus BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. 367 that it is frequently overlooked. It likewise is liable to be rubbed off ; this accident probably occurred to the specimen figured and described by Edwards, under the name of Spotted Plover ; for I have no hesita- tion in pronouncing it to be of the same species with the subject of this article. The bird figured in the British Zoology of Pennant, as the Golden Plover (Plate LXXII.), appears to be the young of this species, in its winter dress ; for it is represented with a hind toe, which the true Golden Plover is never furnished with. Hence we must conclude that those authors, who describe the latter as having sometimes a hind toe, confound the young of the two species, which in truth so nearly resem- ble each other in their plumage that it requires a close observation to distinguish them. But the young of the Black-bellied Plover, or present species, may be known by their large head and stout bill ; by their hind toe ; and by the long dusky or black feathers which lie next to the sides, at the junction of the wings. In the Manuel d'Ornithologie of Temminck, unquestionably the best work on the birds of Europe which has ever been published, the changes which this species undergoes are clearly detailed ; and its synonymes are so well settled, that the future ornithologist will find his labors much lightened, when the subject of this article, in any stage of plumage, shall come before him. In the excellent Supplement to Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary we are also presented with some valuable re- ferences ; and the editor of this volume with pleasure acknowledges the sources whence he has drawn that information which has enabkd him to determine the species. Species VII. CEABADBIUS CALWRIS* SANDERLING PLOVER. [Plate LIX. Fig. 4.t] Linn. Syst. 255. — Arct. Zool. p. 486, No. 403. — Le Sanderling, Brrr. vii., 532. — Bewick, ii., 19. In this well known bird we have another proof of the imperfection of systematic arrangement, where no attention is paid to the general habits ; but where one single circumstance is sometimes considered suffi- cient to determine the species. The genus Plover is characterized by several strong family traits, one of which is that of wanting the hind toe. The Sandpipers have also their peculiar external characters of bill, general form, &c., by which they are easily distinguished from the former. The present species, though possessing the bill, general figure, manners and voice, of the Sandpipers, feeding the same way, and asso- ciating with these in particular ; yet, wanting the hind toe, has been classed with the Plovers, with whom, this single circumstance excepted, it has no one characteristic in common. Though we have not, in the present instance, presumed to alter this arrangement, yet it appears both reasonable and natural, that where the specific characters in any bird seem to waver between two species, that the figure, voice and habits of the equivocal one should always be taken into consideration, and be allowed finally to determine the class to which it belongs. Had this rule been followed in the present instance, the bird we are now about to describe would have undoubtedly been classed with the Sandpipers.J The history of this species has little in it to excite our interest or attention. It makes its appearance on our seacoasts early in Septem- ber ; continues during the greater part of winter ; and on the approach of spring, returns to the northern regions to breed. While here, it seems perpetually busy, running along the wave-worn strand, following * Calidris arenaria, Ord's reprint, vol. Tii., p. 72. — Tringa arenc.ria, Gmel. Syst. I., p. 680, No. 16.— Lath. Si/n. in., 197, No. 4.—Ind. Orn. p. 741, No, 4:.— Calidris grisea minor, Briss. v., p. 236, pi. 20, fig. 2. — Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 524. f Winter dress. X It is now arranged by naturalists in the genus Calidris, of lUiger ; a genus constructed expressly for this bird ; and it is the only species of the genus yet discovered. (368) SANDERLING PLOVER. 369 the flux and reflux of the surf, eagerly picking up its food from the sand, amid the roar of the ocean. It flies in numerous floc-ks, keeping a low meandering course along the ridges of the tumbling surf. On alighting, the whole scatter about after the receding wave, busily picking up those minute bivalves already described. As the succeeding wave returns, it bears the whole of them before it in one crowded line ; then is the mo- ment seized by the experienced gunner to sweep them in flank, with his destructive shot. The flying survivors, after a few aei'ial meanders, again alight, and pursue their usual avocation, as busily and unconcern- edly as before. These birds are most' numerous on extensive sandy beaches in front of the ocean. Among rocks, marshes, or stones covered with sea-weed, they seldom make their appearance. The Sanderling is eight inches long, and fourteen inches in extent ; the bill is black, an inch and a quarter in length, slender, straight, fluted along the upper mandible, and exactly formed like that of the Sand- piper ; the head, neck above, back, scapulars and tertials, are gray white ; the shafts blackish, and the webs tinged with brownish ash ; shoulder of the wing black ; greater coverts broadly tipped with white ; quills black, crossed with a transverse band of white ; the tail extends a little beyond the wings, and is of a grayish ash color, edged with white, the two mid- dle feathers being about half an inch longer than the others ; eye dark hazel ; whole lower parts of the plumage pure white ; legs, and naked part of the thighs, black ; feet three-toed, each divided to its origin, and bordered with a narrow membrane. Such are the most common markings of this bird, both of males and females, particularly during the winter ; but many others occur among them, early in the autumn, thickly marked or spotted with black on the crown, back, scapulars and tertials, so as to appear much mottled, hav- ing as much black as white on those parts. In many of these I have observed the plain gray plumage coming out about the middle of Octo- ber ; so that, perhaps, the gray may be their winter, and the spotted their summer, dress. I have also met with many specimens of this bird, not only thickly speckled with white and black above, but also on the neck, and strongly tinged on both with ferruginous ; in which dress it has been mistaken by Mr. Pennant and others for a new species ; the description of his " Ruddy Plover " agreeing exactly with this.* A figure of the Sander- ling, in this state of plumage, will be introduced in some part of the present work. * See Arct. Zool. p. 486, No. 404 Vol. II.— 24 CHARADRIUS RUBIDUS* RUDDY PLOVER. [PUte LXIII. Fig. 3.] Arct. Zool. No. 404.— Lath. Syn. iii., p. 195, No. 2.— Tcrt. Syst. p. 415. This bird is frequently found in company with the Sanderling, which, except in color, it very much resembles. It is generally seen on the seacoast of New Jersey in May and October, on its way to arid from its breeding place in the north. It runs with great activity along the edge of the flowing or retreating waves, on the sands, picking up the small bivalve shell-fish, which supply so many multitudes of the Plover and Sandpiper tribes. I should not be surprised if the present species turn out hereafter to be the Sanderling itself, in a different dress. Of many scores which I examined, scarce two were alike ; in some the plumage of the back was almost plain ; in others the black plumage was just shooting out. This was in the month of October. Naturalists, however, have considered it as a separate species ; but have given us no further particulars, than that " in Hudson's Bay it is known by the name of Mistchaychekiska- weshish ;" f a piece of information certainly very instructive ! The Ruddy Plover is eight inches long, and fifteen in extent ; the bill is black, an inch long, and straight ; sides of the neck, and whole upper parts, speckled largely with white, black and ferruginous ; the feathers being centered with black, tipped with white, and edged with ferrugi- nous, giving the bird a very motley appearance ; belly and vent pure white ; wing quills black, crossed with a band of white ; lesser coverts whitish, centred with pale olive, the first two or three rows black ; two middle tail feathers black ; the rest pale cinereous, edged with white ; legs and feet black ; toes bordered with a very narrow membrane. On dissection, both males and females varied in their colors and markings. * This is the preceding species in perfect summer plumage, t Latham. (370) Genus LXXVI. H^MATOPUS. OYSTER-CATCHER. Species. H. OSTRALEOVS* PIED OYSTEE.CATCHER. [Plate LXIV. Fig. 2.] Arei. Zool. No. 406. — Lath, Syn. in., p. 219. — Catesbt, i., 85. — Bewick, ii., 23. This singular species, although nowhere numerous, inhabits almost every seashore, both on the new and old continent, but is never found inland. It is the only one of its genus hitherto discovered, and from the conformation of some of its parts one might almost be led by fancy to suppose, that it had borrowed the eye of the Pheasant, the legs and feet of the Bustard, and the bill of the Woodpecker. The Oyster-catcher frequents the sandy sea beach of New Jersey, and other parts of our Atlantic coast in summer, in small parties of two or three pairs together. They are extremely shy, and, except about the season of breeding, will seldom permit a person to approach within gun- shot. They walk along the shore in a watchful stately manner, at times probing it with their long wedge-like bills in search of small shell-fish. This appears evident on examining the hard sands where they usually resort, which are found thickly perforated with oblong holes two or three inches in depth. The small crabs called fiddlers, that burrow in the mud at the bottom of inlets, are frequently the prey of the Oyster-catcher ; as are muscles, spout-fish, and a variety of other shell-fish and sea insects with which those shores abound. The principal food, however, of this bird, according to European writers, and that from which it derives its name, is the oyster, which it is said to watch for, and snatch suddenly from the shells, whenever it surprises them sufficiently open. In search of these it is reported that it often frequents the oyster beds, looking out for the slightest opening through which it may attack its unwary prey. For this purpose the form of its bill seems very fitly calculated. Yet the truth of these accounts is doubted by the inhabitants of Egg Harbor and other parts of our coast, who positively assert that it never haunts such places, but confines itself almost solely to the sands. And this opinion I am inclined to *Gmel. Syst.i., p. 694.— Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 752.— they are enabled to pass be- tween the reeds like rats. When seen, thej are almost constantly jetting up the tail. Yet, though their flight among the reeds seems feeble and fluttering, every sportsman, who is acquainted with them here, must have seen them occasionally rising to a considerable height, stretching out their legs behind them, and flying rapidly across the river, where it is more than a mile in width. Such is the mode of Rail-shooting in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. In Virginia, particularly along the shores of James river, within the tide water, where the Rail, or Sora, are in prodigious numbers, they are also shot on the wing, but more usually taken at night in the follow- ing manner : — A kind of iron grate is fixed on the top of a stout pole, which is placed like a mast, in a light canoe, and filled with fire. The darker the night the more successful is the sport. The person -who manages the canoe is provided with a light paddle, ten or twelve feet in length ; and about an hour before high-water proceeds through among the reeds, which lie broken and floating on the surface. The whole space, for a considerable way round the canoe, is completely enlight- ened ; the birds stare with astonishment, and as they appear, are knocked on the head with the paddle, and thrown into the canoe. In this manner from twenty to eighty dozens have been killed by three negroes, in the short space of three hours. At the same season, or a little earlier, they are very numerous in the lagoons near Detroit, on our northern frontiers, where another species of reed (of which they are equally fond) grows in shallows, in great abundance. Gentlemen who have shot them there, and on whose judg- ment I can rely, assure me, that they difi"er in nothing from those they have usually killed on the shores of the Delaware and Schuylkill ; they are equally fat, and exquisite eating. On the seacoast of New Jersey, where these reeds are not to be found, this bird is altogether unknown ; though along the marshes of Maurice river, and other tributary streams of the Delaware, and wherever the reeds abound, the Rail are sure to be found also. Most of them leave Pennsylvania before the end of October, and the Southern States early in November ; though numbers linger in the warm southern marshes the whole winter. A very worthy gentleman, Mr. Harrison, who lives in Kittiwan, near a creek of that name, on the borders of James river, informed me, that in burning his meadows early in March, they generally raise and destroy several of these birds. That the great body of these Rail winter in countries be- yond the United States, is rendered highly probable from their being so frequently met with at sea, between our shores and the West India Islands. A Captain Douglass informed me, that on his voyage from St. Domingo to Philadelphia, and more than a hundred miles from the capes of the Delaware, one night the man at the helm was alarmed by Vol II.— 25 386 RAIL. a sudden crash on deck, that broke the glass in the binnacle, and put out the light. On examining into the cause, three Rail were found on deck, two of which were killed on the spot, and the other died soon after. The late Bishop Madison, president of William and Mary College, Vir- ginia, assured me, that a Mr. Skipwith, for some time our consul in Europe, in his return to the United States, when upwards of three hun- dred miles from the capes of the Chesapeake, several Rail or Soras, I think five or six, came on board, and were caught by the people. Mr. Skipwith being well acquainted with the bird, assured him that they were the very same with those usually killed on James river. I have received like assurances from several other gentlemen, and captains of vessels, who have met with these birds between the main land and the islands, so as to leave no doubt on my mind of the fact. For, why shoTild it be considered incredible that a bird which can both swim and dive well, and at pleasure ily with great rapidity, as I have myself fre- quently witnessed, should be incapable of migrating, like so many others, over extensive tracts of land or sea? Inhabiting, as they do, the remote regions of Hudson's Bay, where it is impossible they could subsist during the rigors of their winter, they must either emigrate thence or perish ; and as the same places in Pennsylvania, which abound with them in October, are often laid under ice and snow during the winter, it is as impossible that they could exist here in that incle- ment season ; Heaven has therefore given them, in common with many others, certain prescience of these circumstances ; and judgment, as well as strength of flight, sufficient to seek more genial climates, abounding with their suitable food. The Rail is nine inches long, and fourteen inches in extent; bill yellow, blackish towards the point ; lores, front crown, chin, and stripe down the throat, black ; line over the eye, cheeks and breast, fine light ash ; sides of the crown, neck, and upper parts generally olive brown, streaked with black, and also with long lines of pure white, the feathers being centered with black, on a brown olive ground, and edged with white ; these touches of white are shorter near the shoulder of the wing, lengthening as they descend ; wing plain olive brown ; ter- tials streaked with black and long lines of white ; tail pointed, dusky olive brown, centered with black, the four middle feathers bordered for half their length with lines of white ; lower part of the breast marked with semicircular lines of white, on a light ash ground ; belly white ; Bides under the wings deep olive, barred with black, white, and reddish buff; vent brownish buff; legs, feet, and naked part of the thighs, yellowish green ; exterior edge of the wing white ; eyes reddish hazel. The females, and young of the first season, have the throat white, the breast pale brown, and little or no black on the head. The males RAIL. 38r may always be distinguished by tbeir %shy blue breasts, and black throats. During the greater part of the months of September and October, the market of Philadelphia is abundantly supplied with Rail, which arc sold from half a dollar to a dollar a dozen. Soon after the twentieth of October, at which time our first smart frosts generally take place, these birds move off to the south. In Virginia they usually remain until the first week in November. Since the above was written, I have received from Mr. George Ord, of Philadelphia, some curious particulars relative to this bird, which, as they are new, and come from a gentleman of respectability, are worthy of being recorded, and merit further investigation. "My personal experience," says Mr. Ord, "has made me acquainted with a fact in the history of the Rail, which perhaps is not generally known ; and I shall, as briefly as possible, communicate it to you. Some time in the autumn of the year 1809, as I was walking in a yard, after a severe shower of rain, I perceived the feet of a bird projecting from a spout. I pulled it out, and discovered it to be a Rail, very vigorous, and in perfect health. The bird was placed in a small room, on a gin-case ; and I was amusing myself with it, when, in the act of pointing my finger at it, it suddenly sprang forward, apparently much irritated, fell to the floor, and stretching out its feet, and bending its neck, until the head nearly touched the back, became to all appearance lifeless. Thinking the fall had killed the bird, I took it up, and began to lament my rashness in provoking it. In a few minutes it again breathed ; and it was some time before it perfectly recovered from the fit, into which, it now appeared evident, it had fallen. I placed the Rail in a room, wherein Canary birds were confined ; and resolved that, on the succeeding day, I would endeavor to discover whether or not the passion of anger had produced the fit. I entered the room at the appointed time, and approached the bird, which had retired on beholding me, in a sullen humor, to a corner. On pointing my finger at it, its feathers were immediately ruflled ; and in an instant it sprang forward, as in the first instance, and fell into a similar fit. The following day the experiment was repeated, with the like effect. In the autumn of 1811, as I was shooting amongst the reeds, I perceived a Rail rise but a few feet before my batteau. The bird had risen about a yard when it became entangled in the tops of a small bunch of reeds, and immedi- ately fell. Its feet and neck were extended, as in the instances above mentioned ; and before it had time to recover, I killed it. Some few days afterwards, as a friend and I were shooting in the same place, he killed a Rail, and, as we approached the spot to pick it up, another was perceived, not a foot off, in a fit. I took up the bird, and placed it in the crown of my hat. In a few moments it revived, and was as vigorous 388 RAIL. as ever. These facts go to prove, that the Rail is subject to gusts of passion, which operate to so violent a degree as to produce a disease, similar in its eflFects to epilepsy. I leave the explication of the phenomenon to those pathologists who are competent and willing to investigate it. It may be worthy of remark, that the birds aifected as described, were all females of the Rallus OaroUnus, or common Rail. " The Rail, though generally reputed a simple bird, will sometimes manifest symptoms of considerable intelligence. To those acquainted witn Rail-shooting, it is hardly necessary to mention, that the tide, in its flux, is considered an almost indispensable auxiliary ; for, when the water is off the marsh, the lubricity of the mud, the height and com- pactness of the reed, and the swiftness of foot of the game, tend to weary the sportsman, and to frustrate his endeavors. Even should he succeed in a tolerable degree, the reward is not commensurate to the labor. I have entered the marsh in a batteau, at a common tide, and in a well-known haunt have beheld but few birds. The next better tide, on resorting to the same spot, I have perceived abundance of game. The fact is, the Rail dive, and conceal themselves beneath the fallen reed, merely projecting their heads above the surface of the water for air, and remain in that situation until the sportsman has passed them ; and it is well known, that it is a common practice with wounded Rail to dive to the bottom, and, holding upon some vegetable substance, support themselves in that situation until exhausted. During such times, the bird, in escaping from one enemy, has often to encounter another not less formidable. Eels and cat-fish swarm in every direction, prowling for prey ; and it is ten to one if a wounded Rail escapes them. I myself have beheld a large eel make off with a bird that I had shot, before I had time to pick it up ; and one of my boys, in bobbing for eels, caught one with a whole Rail in its belly. " I have heard it observed, that on the increase of the moon the Rail improves in fatness, and decreases in a considerable degree with that planet. Sometimes I have conceited that the remark was just. If it be a fact, I think it may be explained on the supposition, that the bird is enabled to feed at night, as well as by day, while it has the benefit of the moon, and with less interruption than at other periods." Genus LXXX. GALLINULA. GALLINULB. Species I. G. MARTINICA. MARTINICO GALLINULE.* [Plate LXXIII. Fig. 2.] Gallirmla Martinica, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 769, 9. Gen. Syn. iii., p. 255, 7, pi. 88. — Fulica Martinica, Linn. Syst. ed. 12, i., p. 259, 7. — Fulica Martinicensis, Gmel. 8y/it. p. 700, l.—La petite Poule-Sultane, Bkiss. Orn. r., p. 526, pi. 42, fig. 2.— Burr. Ois. viii., p. 206. — La Favourite de Cayenne, PI. Enl. No. 897, young? This splendid bird is a native of the southern parts of the continent of North America. I have never learned that it migrates as far north as Virginia, though it is probable that it may be occasionally seen in that state. It makes its appearance, in the Sea-islands of Georgia, in the latter part of April ; and after spending the summer, it departs, with its young, in the autumn. The marshes of Mexico appear to be its winter residence. It frequents the rice fields and fresh-water ponds, in company with the Common Gallinule ; but the latter, being of a more hardy nature, remains all winter, both in Georgia and Florida. During its migration, this bird is frequently driven to sea, and I have known two or three instances of its having sought refuge on board of vessels. On the 24th May, 1824, a brig arrived at Philadelphia, from New Orleans, bringing a fine living specimen, which had flown on board of her in the Gulf Stream. In the month of August, 1818, a storm drove another individual on board of a vessel, in her passage from Savannah to Philadelphia. This also lived for some time in Peale's Museum. The Martinico Gallinule is a vigorous and active bird. It bites hard, and is quite expert in the use of its feet. When it seizes upon any substance with its toes, it requires a considerable efi'ort to disengage it. Its toes are long, and spread greatly. It runs with swiftness ; and, when walking, it jerks its tail in the manner of the Common Rail. Its manners and food are somewhat similar to those of the far-famed Purple Gallinule, whose history is so beautifully detailed in the works of Buffon. * Named in the plate Purple Gallinule. (389) 390 MAKTINICO GALLINULE. In its native haunts it is vigilant and shy ; and it is not easy to sprmg it, without the assistance of a dog. The specimen, from which our drawing was taken, came from the state of Georgia. It is reduced, as well as the rest of the figures in the same plate, to one-half of the size of life. Length from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail fourteen inches ; bill an inch and a quarter long, vermilion, greenish yellow at the tip ; irides pale cornelian ; nak^d crown dull azure ; head, part of the neck, throat and breast, of a rich violet purple ; back and scapulars olive green ; rump, tail and its coverts, brownish green ; sides of the neck, and wings, ultramarine, the latter tinged with green ; shoulders of wings rich azure ; inner webs of the quills and tail feathers dusky brown ; belly and thighs dull purplish black ; vent pure white ; tail rounded ; legs and feet greenish yellow, claws long, sharp, and of a pale flesh color ; span of the foot five inches.* * From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume. :nd of vol. il AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY; NATURAL HISTORY Birds of the United States. ILLUSTfRATEl) WITH TLATES ENGRAVED FROM DRAWINGS FROM NATURE. BY ALEXANDER WILSON AND CHARLES LUCIAN BONAPARTE. POPULAR EDITION. Vol. III. PHILADELPHIA : PORTER & COATES, 822 CHESTNUT STREET. CONTENTS OF VOL III. Phalaropus FuUcnrhis, Gray Phalarope, lobatus, Browu Phalarope, Fulica Americana, Cinereous Coot, Recurvirostra Americana, American Avoset, Himantopus, Long-legged Avoset, Phaenicopterus ruber, Red Flamingo, Uria alh, Little Guillemot, Oo!i/mbus glacialis, Great Northern Diver, or Loon Ryncliops nigra, Black Skimmer, or Shearwater, Sterna Hirimdo, Great Tern, minuta. Lesser Tern, aranea, Marsh Tern, plumbea, Short-tailed Tern, fuUginosa, Sooty Tern, Larus atricilla, Laughing Gull, Procellaria pelagica. Stormy Petrel, Mergus Merganser, Goosander, male, . female, Serrator, Red-breasted Merganser, albellus. The Smew, or White Nun, cuadlatus. Hooded Merganser, Anas Canadensis, Canada Goose, hyperborea, Snow Goose, Young, Bernicla, Brant, clypeata. Shoveller, Boschas, The Mallard, sfrepera, The Gadwall, acuta, Pintail Duck, Americana, American Widgeon, obscura, Dusky Duck, sponsa, Summer Duck, or Wood Duck discors, Blue-winged Teal, 12 16 20 22 25 28 29 33 36 39 41 42 43 44 47 53 55 56 58 59 61 66 68 70 73 75 81 82 84 86 88 91 (vii) VUl CONTENTS OF VOL. III. Anas crecca, Green- winged Teal, mollissima, Eider Duck, male, female, perspicillata, Black, or Surf Duck, fusca, Velvet Duck, nigra, Scoter Duck, rubidus, Ruddy Duck, male, female, valisneria, Canvas-back Duck, ferina, Red-headed Duck, marila, Scaup Duck, fuligvla., Tufted Duck, clangula, Grolden Eye, albeola, Buffel-headed Duck, glacialis, Long-tailed Duck, male, female, Lahradora, Pied Duck, histrionica, Harlequin Duck, Plotus anhinga, Darter, or Snake Bird, female. PAGE 92 94 96 97 98 99 101 105 106 113 11,5 117 120 122 123 125 126 127 129 132 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. ORDER Vm. PINNATIPEDES. PINNATED FEET. Genus LXXXII. PHALAROPUS. PHALAROPE. Species I. P. FULICARIU8. GRAY PHALAROPE.* [Plate LXXIII. Fig. 4.] Tringa Fulicaria, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, torn, i., p. 148, 6, — Tringa glacialis, Gmel. Syst. I., p. 675, 2. T. hyperborea, var. 6, Id. p. 676. — Le Phalarope, Bbiss. Oi-n. VI., p. 12, No. 1. Phalaropus rufescens, Id. p. 20. — Phalaropus lobatus, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 776, 2. P. glacialis, Id. No. 3. Red Phalarope, fem. Gen. Syn. III., p. 271. Gray Phalarope, Id. p. 272, 2. Plain Phalarope, Id. p. 273, 3.— G)-ay Phalarope, Penn. Brit. Zool. No. 218. Arct. Zool. No. 412. Red Phala- rope, Id. No. 413. Plain Phalarope, Id. No. 415. Red Coot-footed Tringa, Edwards, pi. 142. Gray Coot-footed Tringa, Id. Gleanings, PI. 308. — Le Phalarope rouge. Buff. Ois. viii., p. 225. Le Phalarope dfestons denteUs, Id. p. 226. — Gray Phalarope, Montagu, Orn. Die. and Appendix to Sup. — Bewick, ii., p. 132. — Le Phalarope gris, Cuv. Reg. An. i., p. 492. Le Phalarope rouge. Id. Ibid. — Phaloropus platyrhinchus , Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 712. Bill pretty stout and wide, slightly compressed at the tip, depressed on the lower half, upper mandible carinate ; nostrils subovate, a short distance from the base ; feet semipalmate, lobes of the toes broad and greatly scalloped ; hind toe barely touching the ground. Bill reddish orange at the base, the remainder black, an inch long ; front and crown black, barred transversely with lines of white ; throat, sides of the neck, and lower parts, white, thickly and irregularly barred with curving dashes of reddish chocolate ; upper parts of a deep cine- reous blue, streaked with brownish yellow and black ; the black scapu- lars broadly edged with brownish yellow ; wings and rump dark cine- reous ; greater wing-coverts broadly tipped with white, forming a large band ; primaries nearly black, and crossed with white below the coverts ; tail plain olive, middle of its coverts black, their sides bright brownish * Named in the plate Red Phalarope. (9) 10 GRAY PHALAROPE. yellow ; vent white, those feathers immediately next to the tail reddish chocolate ; legs black on the outside, yellowish within. Length nine inches, breadth fifteen inches and a half; length of hind toe, independent of the claw, one-eighth of an inch. Male? The inner toe is connected to the middle one, by a membrane, as far as the first joint, the outer toe much further ; hence the feet may be properly termed semipalmate ; webs and lobes finely pectinated. This conformation of the feet is pretty accurately exhibited in Edwards's plate, No. 308. The Gray Phalarope is a rare bird in Pennsylvania ; and is not often met with in any part of the United States. The individual from which our figure and description were taken, was shot in a pond, in the vi- cinity of Philadelphia, in the latter part of May, 1812. There were three in company. The person who shot it had never seen one of the species before, and was struck with their singular manners. He de- scribed them as swimming actively near the margin of the pond, dipping in their bill very often, as if feeding, and turning frequently. In con- sequence of our specimen being in a state of putridity when received, it was preserved with considerable difficulty, and the sex could not be ascertained. In the spring of the year 1816, my friend, Mr. Le Sueur, shot in Boston Bay a young individual of this species : crown dark slate, tinged with yellowish brown ; front, throat, line over the eye, belly and vent, white ; shoulders, breast and sides, tawny or fawn color ; back dark slate, paler near the rump, the feathers edged with bright yellow ochre ; wings pale cinereous, some of the lesser coverts edged with white, the greater coverts largely so, forming the bar; primaries and tail black, the latter edged with yellowish brown, the shafts of the former white. Bill and feet as in the first described. On the 20th of March, 1818, I shot in the river St. John, in East Florida, an immature female specimen : irides dark brown ; around the base of the bill a slight marking of dark slate ; front and crown white, mottled with pale ash ; at the anterior part of each eye a black spot ; beneath the eyes dark slate, which extends over the auriculars, the hind-head, and upper part of the neck ; upper parts cinereous gray, with a few faint streaks of slate ; throat, breast, whole lower parts, and under tail-coverts, pure white ; flanks with a few faint ferruginous stains ; wings slate brown, the coverts of the secondaries, and a few of the primary coverts, largely tipped with white, forming the bar as usual ; tail brown, edged with cinereous ; legs and feet pale plumbeous, the webs, and part of the scalloped membranes, yellowish. Bill and size as in the first specimen. The tongue of this species is large, fleshy and obtuse. A reference to the head of this article will show the variety of names GRAY PHALAEOPE. 11 under -wliicli this bird has been described. What could induce that respectable naturalist, M. Temminck, to give it a new appellation, we are totally at a loss to conceive. That his name is good, that it is even better than all the rest, we are willing to admit ; but that he had no right to give it a new name, we shall boldly maintain, not only on the score of expediency, but of justice. If the right to change be once conceded, there is no calculating the extent of the confusion in which the whole system of nomenclature will be involved. The study of methodical natural history is sufficiently laborious, and whatever will have a tendency to diminish this labor, ought to meet the cordial sup- port of all those who are interested in the advancement of the natural sciences. " The study of Natural History," says the present learned president of the Linnean Society, "is, from the multitude of objects with which it is conversant, necessarily so encumbered with names, that students require every possible assistance to facilitate the attainment of those names, and have a just right to complain of every needless impediment. Nor is it allowable to alter such names, even for the better. In our science the names established throughout the works of Linnaeus are be- come current coin, nor can they be altered without great incon- venience."* That there is a property in names as well as in things, will not be disputed ; and there are few naturalists who would not feel as sensibly a fraud committed on their nomenclature as on their purse. The ardor with which the student pursues his researches, and the solicitude which he manifests in promulgating his discoveries under appropriate appella- tions, are proofs that at least part of his gratification is derived from the supposed distinction which a name will confer upon him ; deprive him of this distinction, and you inflict a wound upon his self-love, which will not readily be healed. To enter into a train of reasoning to prove that he who first describes and names a subject of natural history, agreeably to the laws of syste- matic classification, is for ever entitled to his name, and that it cannot be superseded without injustice, would be useless, because they are pro- positions which all naturalists deem self-evident. Then how comes it, whilst we are so tenacious of our own rights, we so often disregard those of others ? I would now come to the point. It will be perceived that I have ven- tured to restore the long neglected name of fulicaria. That I shall be supported in this restoration I have little doubt, when it shall have been manifest that it was Linnaeus himself who first named this species. A * An Introduction to Physiological and Sjstemical Botanj-, chap. 22. 12 BROWN PHALAROPE. reference to the tenth edition of the Systema Naturse* will show that the authority for Trlnga fulicaria is Edwards's Red Coot-footed Tringa, pi. 142, and that alone, for it does not appear that Linnaeus had seen the bird. The circumstance of the change of the generic ap- pellation can in nowise affect the specific name ; the present improved state of the science requires the former, justice demands that the latter should be preserved. In this work I have preserved it ; and I flatter myself that this humble attempt to vindicate the rights of Linnaeus will be approved by all those who love those sciences, of which he was so illustrious a promoter."}" Species II. PBALABOPVS LOBATUS. BROWN PHALAROPE.J [Plate LXXIII. Kg. 3.] Tringa lobata, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, torn, i., p. 148, .5. T. hyperborea, Id. ed. 12, torn. I., p. 249, 9. — Tringa lobata, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 674, 6. T.fusca, Id. p. 67.'), 33. T: hyperborea, Id. No. 9. — Phalaropus cinereus, Briss. Orn. vi., p. 15. P. fus- cus, Id. p. 18. — Le Phalarope cendre, Buff. Ois. viii., p. 224. PL Enl. 766. — Coot-footed Tringa, Edwards, pi. 46. Cocic Coot-footed Tringa, Id. pi. 143. — lied Phalarope, Penn. Brit. Zool. No. 219. Brown Phalarope, Arcf. Zool. No. 414.— Phalaropus hyperboreus, Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 775, 1. P. fuscus. Id. p. 776, 4. Red Phalarope, Gen. Syn. iii., p. 270, 1. Id. p. 272, var. A. Brown Phalarope, Id. p. 274, 4. — Red Phalarope, Mot^taqv,, Orn. Die. Id. Sup. and Appendix. — Phalaropus hyperboreus, Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 709. — Le Lobipede d hausse-col, Cnv. Reg. An. 1, p. 495. Of this species only one specimen was ever seen by Wilson, and that was preserved in Trowbridge's Museum, at Albany, in the state of New York. On referring to Wilson's Journal, I found an account of the bird, there called a Tringa, written with a lead pencil, but so scrawled and obscured, that parts of the writing were not legible. I wrote to Trowbridge, soliciting a particular description, but no answer was * Of all the editions of the Systema Naturae, the tenth and the twelfth are the most valuable ; the former being the first which contains the synonyma, and the latter being that which received the finishing hand of its author. In the United States, Linnaeus is principally known through two editors : — Gmelin, whose thir- teenth edition of the Systema Naturas has involved the whole science in almost in- extricable confusion, and Turton, whose English translation of Gmelin is a dis- grace to science and letters. All writers on Zoology and Botany should possess Linnaeus's tenth and twelfth editions ; they will be found to be of indisfensable use in tracing synonymes, and fixing nomenclature. t From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume. t Named in the plate Gray Phalarope. BROWN PHALAROPE. 13 returned. However, having had the good fortune, since publishing the first edition, of examining a fine recent specimen of this rare bird, I hope I shall be enabled to fix the species by such characters, as will prevent any ornithologist in future from confounding it with the species which follows ; two birds which, owing to a want of precision, were in- volved in almost inextricable confusion, until Temminck applied himself to the task of disembroiling them ; and this ingenious naturalist has fully proved that the seven species of authors constituted, in eifect, only two species. Temminck's distinctive characters are drawn from the bill ; and he has divided the genus into two sections, an arrangement the utility of which is not evident, seeing that each section contains but one species ; unless we may consider that the Barred Phalarope of Latham consti- tutes a third : a point not yet ascertained, and not easy to be settled, for the want of characters. In my examination of these birds, I have paid particular attention to the feet, which possess characters equally striking with those of the bill : hence a union of all these will afford a facility to the student, of which he will be fully sensible, when he makes them the subject of bis investi- gation. Our figure of this species betrays all the marks of haste ; it is inaccu- rately drawn, and imperfectly colored ; notwithstanding, by a diligent study of it, I have been enabled to ascertain, that it is the Coot-footed Tringa of Edwards, pi. 46, and 14-3, to which bird Linnaeus gave the specific denomination of lobata, as will be seen in the synonymes at the head of this article. In the twelfth edition of the Systema Naturae, the Swedish naturalist, conceiving that he might have been in error, omitted, in his description of the lobata, the synonyme of Edwards's Cock Coot- footed Tringa, No. 143, and recorded the latter bird under the name of hyperhorea, a specific appellation which Temminck, and other ornitholo- gists, have sanctioned, but which the laws of methodical nomenclature prohibit us from adopting, as, beyond all question, hyperhorea is only a synonyme of lobata, which has the priority, and must stand. M. Temminck difiers from us in the opinion, that the T. lobata of Gmelin, vol. I., p. 674, is the present species, and refers it to that which follows. But if this respectable ornithologist will take the trouble to look into the twelfth edition of Linnaeus, vol. i., p. 249, No. 8, he will there find two false references, Edwards's No. 308, and Brisson's No. 1, which gave rise to Gmelin's confusion of synonymes, and a consequent confusion in his description, as the essential character in both authors being in nearly the same words, {rostro subulato, apice infiexo, &c.) we are at no loss to infer that both desci'iptions have reference to the same bird ; and we are certain that the lobata of the twelfth edition of the 14 BROWN PIIALAROPE. former is precisely the same as that of the tenth edition, which cites for authority Edwards's 46 and 143, as before mentioned. I shall now give the short description of the bird figured in the plate, as I find it in Wilson's note book. Bill black, slender, and one inch and three eighths* in length, lores, front, crown, hind-head, and thence to the back, very pale ash, nearly white ; from the anterior angle of the eye a curving stripe of black descends along the neck for an inch or more : thence to the shoulders dark reddish brown, which also tinges the white on the side of the neck next to it ; under parts white ; above dark olive ; wings and legs black. Size of the Turn-stone. The specimen from which the following description was taken, was kindly communicated to me by my friend, Mr. Titian R. Peale, while it was yet in a recent state, and before it was prepared for the museum. It was this individual which enabled me to ascertain the species figured in our plate. It was shot in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, on the seventh of May, 1818. Bill narrow, slender, flexible, subulate, of equal width ; nostrils basal and linear ; lobes of the toes thick, narrow, and but slightly scalloped ; outer toe connected to the middle one as far as the first joint, inner toe divided nearly to its base ; hind toe resting on the ground. Bill black, one inch and three-eighths in length ; head above of an ash gray ; hind-head whitish, which color extends a short distance down the neck ; over the eyes a white stripe, below them a white spot ; throat and lower parts white ; a line of black passes through the eyes, spreads out towards the hind-head, and descends along the neck ; lower part of the neck pale ferruginous; back part of the neck deep ferruginous, which descends on each side, and mingles with the plumage of the back and scapulars, which are of a clove brown, the feathers tipped with whitish ; wings and tail dark clove brown, some of the lesser coverts having a reddish tinge ; the upper tail feathers tinged with red at their tips, the under feathers marked with white on their inner webs ; irides dark brown ; legs and feet dark plumbeous ; claws long, of a dark horn color ; hind toe, independent of the claw, five-sixteenths of an inch long ; the tertials, when the wing is closed, extend to within three-eighths of an inch of the tip of the primaries ; weight an ounce and three-quar- ters ; length nine inches and a half, breadth sixteen inches. This was a female, her eggs very small. In the grand chain of animated nature, the Phalaropes constitute one * In the original the bill is said to be one inch and three-quarters long; but that this is a mistalce, we hare only to measure the bill of the figure, drawn of half the size of nature, to bo convinced. Wilson always measured his bills from the tip to the angle of the mouth. Our figure, by this admeasurement, indicates a bill of precisely the length of that of Peale's specimen, which I have described in detail. BROWN PHALAROPB. 15 of the links between the waders and the web-footed tribes, having the form of the Sandpipers, with some of the habits of the gulls : the scal- loped membranes on their toes enabling them to swim with facility. They are clothed with a thick coat of feathers, beneath which, as in the Ducks, lies a mass of down, to protect them from the rigors of the northern climates, of which they are natives. They do not appear to be fond of the neighborhood of the ocean, and are generally found in the interior, about the lakes, ponds, and streams of fresh water, where they delight to linger, swimming near the margin in search of seeds and insects. They are nowhere numerous, are commonly seen in pairs, and are so extremely tame and unsuspicious, that one may approach to within a few feet of them. The genus Lobipes, of the Baron Cuvier, is founded upon this species ; and it must be confessed, that its characters are sufficiently distinct, from those of the bird which follows, to authorize such a separation ; but unless some new species should be discovered, we see no impropriety in associating the two birds already known, taking care, however, to preserve a consistency in the generic characters, which Temminck, in his Manuel, has not sufficiently observed. In the appendix to Montagu's Supplement to the Ornithological Dic- tionary, we find the following remarks on this species, there named fulicaria : " We have before mentioned, that this bird had been ob- served in the Orkneys, in considerable abundance, in the summer, and that no doubts were entertained of its breeding there, although the nest had not been found. To Mr. Bullock, therefore, we are indebted for the further elucidation of the natural history of this elegant little bird. In a letter to the author, this gentleman says, ' I found the Red Phalarope common in the marshes of Sanda and Westra, in the breeding season, but which it leaves in the autumn. This bird is so extremely tame that I killed nine without moving out of the same spot, being not in the least alarmed at the report of a gun. It lays four eggs, of the shape of that of a snipe, but much less, of an olive color, blotched with dusky. It swims with the greatest ease, and when on the water looks like a beautiful miniature of a duck, carrying its head close to the back, in the manner of a Teal.' " Mr. Bullock further observes, " that the plumage of the female is much lighter, and has less of the rufous than the other sex."* Note. — Since the foregoing was written, I have had an opportunity of examining the identical specimen, from which Wilson's drawing was taken, as it still remains in the Albany Museum. It is of the same * From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume. 16 CINEREOUS COOT. species as the individual in the Philadelphia Museum, and which is described above, in detail. That Edwards's plate 46 represents this very bird, I have little hesitation in reasserting, notwithstanding all that that has been advanced to the contrary, in some recent publications. Let it be remembered, that Edwards expressly informs us, his bird was captured on board of a vessel, on the coast of Maryland, it having been driven thither by an off-shore wind. At the foot of plate 308, Edwards has represented the bill of this Phalarope, as well as that of the fulicarius. Genus LXXXTII. FULICA. COOT. Species VIII. F. AMERICANA. CINEREOUS COOT.* [Plate LXXIII, Fig. 1.] Fulica Americana, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 704, 23. — Lath. Jnd. Orn. p. 779, 5. — Cine- reous Coot, Gen. Syn. m., p. 279. This species makes its appearance in Pennsylvania about the first of October. Among the muddy flats and islands of the river Delaware, which are periodically overflowed, and which are overgrown with the reed or wild-oats, and rushes, the Coots are found. They are not numerous, and are seldom seen, except their places of resort be covered with water : in that case they are generally found sitting on the fallen reed, waiting for the ebbing of the tide, which will enable them to feed. Their food consists of various aquatic plants, seeds, insects, and, it is said, small fish. The Coot has an aversion to take 'wing, and can seldom be sprung in its retreat at low water; for although it walks rather awkwardly, yet it contrives to skulk through the grass and reeds with great speed, the compressed form of its body, like that of the Rail genus, being well adapted to the purpose. It swims remarkably well, and, when wounded, will dive like a duck. When closely pursued in the water, it generally takes to the shore, rising with apparent reluc- tance, like a wounded duck, and fluttering along the surface with its feet pattering on the water.f It is known in Pennsylvania by the name of the Mud-hen. I have never yet discovered that this species breeds with us ; though * Named in the plate Common Coot. t In Carolina they are called Flusterers, from the noise they make in flying along the surface of the water. A voyage to Carolina by John Lawson, p. 149. CINEREOUS CDOT. 17 it is highly probable that some few may occupy the marshes of the interior, in the vicinity of the ponds and lakes, for this purpose : those retired situations being well adapted to the hatching and rearing of their young. In the Southern States, particularly South Carolina, they are well known ; but the Floridas appear to be their principal rendezvous, for the business of incubation. "The Coot," says William Bartram, " is a native of North America, from Pennsylvania to Florida. They inhabit large rivers, fresh-water inlets or bays, lagoons, &c., where they swim and feed amongst the reeds and grass of the shores ; particularly in the river St. Juan, in East Florida, where they are found in immense flocks. They are loquacious and noisy, talking to one another night and day ; are constantly on the water, the broad lobated membranes on their toes enabling them to swim and dive like ducks."* I observed this species to be numerous, during the winter, in the fresh water ponds, situated in the vicinity of the river St. Juan or St. John, in Bast Florida ; but I did not see them in the river. The food which they obtain in these places must be very abundant and nutritious ; as the individuals which I shot were excessively fat. One male specimen weighed twenty-four ounces, avoirdupois. They associate with the Common Gallinule ( G-allinula ohloropus) ; but there is not, perhaps, one of the latter for twenty of the former. The Cine- reous Coot is sixteen inches in length, and twenty-eight in extent ; bill one and a half inch long, white, the upper mandible slightly notched near the tip, and marked across with a band of chestnut, the lower mandible marked on each side with a squarish spot of the like color, edged on the lower part with a bright yellow or gamboge, thence to the tip pale horn color ; membrane of the forehead, dark chestnut brown ; jrides cornelian red ; beneath the eyes, in most specimens, a whitish spot ; the head and neck are of a deep shining black, resembling satin ; back and scapulars dirty greenish olive ; shoulders, breast, and wing- coverts, slate blue ; the under parts are hoary ; vent black ; beneath the tail pure white ; primaries and secondaries slate, the former tipped with black, the latter with white, which does not appear when the wing is closed ; outer edges of the wings white ; legs and toes yellowish green, the scalloped membrane of the latter lead color ; middle toe, including the claw, three inches and three-quarters long. The bird from which the foregoing description was taken, was shot on the Delaware, below Philadelphia, the 29th of October, 1813. It was an old male, an uncommonly fine specimen, and weighed twenty- three ounces avoirdupois. It was deposited in Peale's Museum. The young birds differ somewhat in their plumage, that of the head * Letter from Mr. Bartram to the autbor. Vol. III.— 2 18 CINEREOUS COOT. and neck being of a brownish black ; tbat of the breast and shoulders pale ash ; the throat gray or mottled ; the bill bluish white ; and the membrane on the forehead considerably smaller. The young females very much resemble the young males ; all the difference which I have been enabled to perceive is as follows : breast and shoulders cinereous ; markings on the bill less ; upper parts of the head, in some specimens, mottled ; and being less in size. The lower parts of these birds are clothed with a thick down, and, particularly between the thighs, covered with close fine feathers. The thighs are placed far behind, are fleshy, strong, and bare above the knees. The gizzard resembles a hen's, and is remarkably large and muscular. That of the bird which has been described, was filled with sand, gravel, shells, and the remains of aquatic plants. Buffon describes the mode of shooting Coots in France, particularly in Lorraine, on the great pools of Tiaucourt and of Indre ; hence we are led to suppose that they are esteemed as an article of food. But with us who are enabled, by the abundance and variety of game, to indulge in greater luxuries in that season when our Coots visit us, they are considered as of no account, and are seldom eaten. The European ornithologists represent the membrane on the forehead of the Fulica atra as white, except in the breeding season, when it is said to change its color to pale red. In every specimen of the Cinereous Coot which I have seen, except one, the membrane of the forehead was of a dark chestnut brown color. The one alluded to was a fine adult male, shot in the Delaware, at Philadelphia, on the eleventh of May ; the membrane was of a pure white ; no white marking beneath the eye ; legs and feet of a bright grass green. In Wilson's figure of the Coot, accompanying this volume, there are some slight errors : the auriculars are designated, which should not have been done, as they are not distinguishable from the rest of the plumage of the head and neck, which is all of a fine satiny texture ; and the outline of the bill is not correct. Latham states that the Common European Coot, F. atra, is " met with in Jamaica, Carolina, and other parts of North America." This I presume is a mistake, as I have never seen but one species of Coot in the United States. Brown, in speaking of the birds of Jamaica, men- tions a Coot, which, in all probability, is the same as ours. The Coot mentioned by Sloane, is the Common Gallinule. So is also that spoken of in the Natural History of Barbadoes, by Hughes, p. 71. In Lewis and Clark's History of their expedition, mention is made of a bird, which is common on the Columbia ; is said to be very noisy, to have a sharp, shrill whistle, and to associate in large flocks ; it is CINEREOUS COOT. 19 called the Black Duck.* This is douhtless a species of Coot, but whether or not different from ours cannot be ascertained. How much is it to be regretted, that in an expedition of discovery, planned and fitted out by an enlightened government, furnished with every means for safety, subsistence and research, not one naturalist, not one draftsman, should have been sent, to observe and perpetuate the infinite variety of natural productions, many of which are entirely unknown to the com- munity of science, which that extensive tour must have revealed ! The Coot leaves us in November, for the southward. The foregoing was prepared for the press, when the author, in one of his shooting excursions on the Delaware, had the good fortune to kill a full plumaged female Coot. This was on the twentieth of April. It was swimming at the edge of a cripple or thicket of alder bushes, busily engaged in picking something from the surface of the water, and while thus employed it turned frequently. The membrane on its forehead was very small, and edged on the fore part with gamboge. Its eggs were of the size of partridge shot. And on the thirteenth of May, another fine female specimen was presented to him, which agreed .with the above, with the exception of the membrane on the forehead being nearly as large and prominent as that of the male. From the circum- stance of the eggs of all these birds being very small, it is probable that the Coots do not breed until July. . * History of the Expedition, vol. ii., p. 194. Under date of November 30th, 1805, they say : " The hunters brought in a few black ducks of a species common in the United States, living in large flocks, and feeding on grass ; they are distin- guished by a sharp white beak, toes separated, and by having no craw." Genus LXXXV. KECUKVIKOSTRA. AVOSET. Species I. R. AMERICANA. AMERICAN AVOSET. [Plato IXIII. Fig. 2.] Arct. Zool. No. 421.— Lath. Syn. v. m., p. 295, No. 2. This species, from its perpetual clamor, and flippancy of tongue, is called by the inhabitants of Cape May, the Lawyer ; the comparison, however, reaches no farther : for our Lawyer is simple, timid, and per- fectly inofiFensive. In describing the Long-legged Avoset of this volume, the similarity between that and the present was taken notice of. This resemblance extends to everything but their color. I found both these birds asso- ciated together in the salt marshes of New Jersey, on the twentieth of May. They were then breeding. Individuals of the present species were few in respect to the other. They flew around the shallow pools, exactly in the manner of the Long-legs, uttering the like sharp note of click click click, alighting on the marsh, or in the water, indiscriminately, fluttering their loose wings, and shaking their half-bent legs, as if ready to tumble over, keeping up a continual yelping note. They were, how- ever, rather more shy, and kept at a greater distance. One which I wounded, attempted repeatedly to dive ; but the water was too shallow to permit him to do this with facility. The nest was built among the thick tufts of grass, at a small distance from one of these pools. It was composed of small twigs, of a seaside shrub, dry grass, sea weed, &c., raised to the height of several inches. The eggs were four, of a dull olive color, marked with large irregular blotches of black, and with others of a fainter tint. This species arrives on the coast of Cape May late in April ; rears its young, and departs again to the south early in October. While here, it almost constantly frequents the shallow pools in the salt marshes ; wading about, often to the belly, in search of food, viz.,. marine worms, snails, and various insects that abound among the soft muddy bottoms of the pools. The male of this species is eighteen inches and a half long, and two feet and a half in extent ; the bill is black, four inches in length, flat above, the general curvature upwards, except at the extremity, where (20) AMERICAN AVOSET. 21 it bends slightly down, ending in an extremely fine point ; irides reddish hazel; whole head, neck and breast, a light sorrel color; round the eye, and on the chin, nearly white ; upper part of the back and wings black ; scapulars, and almost the whole back, white, though generally concealed by the black of the up.per parts ; belly, vent and thighs, pure white ; tail equal at the end, white, very slightly tinged with cinereous ; tertials dusky brown ; greater coverts tipped with white ; secondaries white on their outer edges, and whole inner vanes ; rest of the wing deep black ; naked part of the thighs two and a half inches ; legs four inches, both of a very pale light blue, exactly formed, thinned and netted, like those of the Long-legs ; feet half-webbed ; the outer mem- brane somewhat the broadest ; there is a very slight hind toe, which, claw and all, does not exceed a quarter of an inch in length. In these two. latter circumstances alone it differs from the Long-legs ; but is in every other strikingly alike. The female was two inches shorter, and three less in extent ; the head and neck a much paler rufous, fading almost to white on the breast ; and separated from the black of the back by a broader band of white ; the bill was three inches and a half long ; the leg half an inch shorter ; in every other respect marked as the male. She contained' a great number of eggs, some of them nearly ready for exclusion. The stomach was filled with small snails, periwinkle shell-fish, some kind of mossy vegetable food, and a number of aquatic insects. The intestines were infested with tape-worms, and a number of smaller bot-like worms, some of which wallowed in the cavity of the abdomen. In Mr. Peale's collection there was one of this same species, said to have been brought from New Holland, differing little in the markings of its plumage from our own. The red brown on the neck does not descend so far, scarcely occupying any of the breast ; it is also some- what less.* In every stuffed and dried specimen of these birds which I have examined, the true form and flexure of the bill is altogether deranged ; being naturally of a very tender and delicate substance. Note. — It is remarkable, that, in the Atlantic States, this species invariably affects the neighborhood of the ocean ; we never having known an instance of its having been seen in the interior; and yet Captain Lewis met with this bird at the ponds, in the vicinity of the Falls of the Missouri. That it was our species, I had ocular evidence, in a skin brought by Lewis himself, and presented, among other speci- mens of natural history, to the Philadelphia Museum. See History of Lewis and Clarke's Expedition, vol. ii., p. 343. — Gi. Ord. * This is a differentspecies ; it is the i?. rubricoUis of Temminck, Manuel d'Or- nithologie, p. 592. Species II. RECURVIROSTRA HIMANTOPUS* LONG-LEGGED AVOSET. [Plate LVin. Fig. 2.] Long-legged Plover, Arct. Zool. p. 487, No. 405. — Turton, p. 416. Bewick, ii., 2\.—VEchasse, Buff, viii., 114. PI. Enl. 878. Naturalists have most unaccountably classed this bird with the genus Charadrius, or Plover, and yet aifect to make the particular pon- formation of the bill, legs and feet, the rule of their arrangement. In the present subject, however, excepting the trivial circumstance of the want of a hind toe, there is no resemblance whatever of those parts to the bill, legs or feet, of the Plover ; on the contrary, they are so entirely different, as to create no small surprise at the adoption, and general acceptation, of a classification, evidently so absurd and unnatural. This appears the more reprehensible, when we consider the striking affinity there is between this bird and the common Avoset, not only in the particular form of the bill, nostrils, tongue, legs, feet, wings and tail, but extending to the voice, manners, food, place of breeding, form of the nest, and even the very color of the eggs of both, all of which are strikingly alike, and point out, at once, to the actual observer of nature, the true relationship of these remarkable birds. Strongly impressed with these facts, from an intimate acquaintance with the living subjects, in their native wilds, I have presumed to remove the present species to the true and .proper place assigned it by nature ; and shall now proceed to detail some particulars of its history. This species arrives on the seacoast of New Jersey about the twenty- fifth of April, in small detached flocks, of twenty or thirty together. These sometimes again subdivide into lesser parties ; but it rarely hap- pens that a pair is found solitary, as during the breeding season they usually associate in small companies. On their first arrival, and indeed during the whole of their residence, they inhabit those particular parts of the salt marshes pretty high up towards the land, that are broken into numerous shallow pools, but are not usually overflowed by the tides during the summer. These pools, or ponds are generally so shallow, that with their long legs the Avosets can easily wade them in every direction, and as they abound with minute shell-fish, and multitudes of * This bird belongs to the genua Himantopus of Brisaon. (22) LONG-LEGGED AVOSET. 23 aquatic insects and their larvae, besides the eggs and spawn of others deposited in the soft mud helow, these birds find here an abundant supply of food, and are almost continually seen wading about in such places, often up to the breast in water. In the vicinity of these hald places, as they are called by the country people, and at the distance of forty or fifty yards ofi", among the thick tufts of grass, one of these small associations, consisting perhaps of six or eight pair, takes up its residence during the breeding season. About the first week in May they begin to construct their nests, which are at first slightly formed of a small quantity of old grass, scarcely suflScient to keep the eggs from the wet marsh. As they lay and sit, however, either dreading the rise of the tides, or for some other purpose, the nest is increased in height, with dry twigs of a shrub very common in the marshes, roots of the salt grass, seaweed, and various other sub- stances, the whole weighing between two and three pounds. This habit of adding materials to the nest, after the female begins sitting, is com- mon to almost all other birds that breed in the marshes. The eggs are four in number, of a dark yellowish clay color, thickly marked with large blotches of black. These nests are often placed within fifteen or twenty yards of each other, but the greatest harmony seems to prevail among the proprietors. While the females are sitting, the males are either wading through the ponds, or roaming over the adjoining marshes ; but should a person make his appearance, the whole collect together in the air, flying with their long legs extended behind them, keeping up a continual yelping note of click click click. Their flight is steady, and not in short sudden jerks like that of the Plover. As they frequently alight on the bare marsh, they drop their wings, stand with their legs half bent, and trem- ble as if unable to sustain the burden of their bodies. In this ridiculous posture they will sometimes stand for several minutes, uttering a curring sound, while from the corresponding quiverings of their wings and long , legs, they seem to balance themselves with great difficulty. This sin- gular manoeuvre is, no doubt, intended to induce a belief that they may be easily caught, and so turn the attention of the person from the pur- suit of their nests and young to themselves. The Red-necked Avoset, which we have introduced in the present volume, practises the very same deception, in the same ludicrous manner, and both alight indis- criminately on the ground, or in the water. Both will also occasionally swim for a few feet, when they chance in wading to lose, their depth, as I have had several times an opportunity of observing. The name by which this bird is known on the seacoast is the Stilt, or Tilt, or Long-shanks. They are but sparingly dispersed over the marshes, having, as has been already observed, their particular favorite spots ; while in large intermediate tracts, there are few or none to be 24 LONG-LEGGED AVOSET. found. They occasionally visit the shore, wading about in the water, and in the mud, in search of food, which they scoop up very dexterously with their delicately formed bills. On being wounded while in the water, they attempt to escape by diving, at which they are by no means expert. In autumn, their flesh is tender, and well tasted. They seldom . raise more than one brood in the season, and depart for the south early in September. As they are well known in Jamaica, it is probable some of them may winter in that and other of the West India Islands. Mr. Pennant observes that this bird is not a native of northern Europe ; and there have been but few instances where it has been seen in Great Britain. It is common, says Latham, in Egypt, being found there in the marshes in October. It is likewise plentiful about the -salt lakes ; and is often seen on the shores of the Caspian Sea, as well as by the rivers which empty themselves into it ; and in the southern deserts of Independent Tartary. The same author adds, on the authority of Ray, that it is known at Madras in the East Indies. All the figures and descriptions which I have seen of this curious bird, represent the bill as straight, and of almost an equal thickness throughout, which I have never found so in any of the numerous speci- mens I have myself shot and examined. Many of these accounts, as well as figures, have been taken from dried and stuffed skins, which give but an imperfect, and often erroneous, idea of the true outlines of nature. The dimensions, colors and markings, of a- very beautiful specimen, newly shot, were as follow : Length from the point of the bill to the end of the tail fourteen inches, to the tips of the wings sixteen ; extent twenty-eight inches ; bill three inches long, slightly curved upwards, tapering to a fine point, the upper mandible rounded above, the whole of a deep black color ; nostrils an oblong slit, pervious ; tongue short, pointed ; fore- head, spot behind the eye, lower eyelid, sides of the neck, and whole lower parts, pure white ; back, rump and tail coverts, also white, but so concealed by the scapulars as to appear black ; tail even, or very slightly forked, and of a dingy white ; the vent feathers reach to the tip of the tail below ; line before the eye, auriculars, back part of the neck, scapulars, and whole wings, deep black, richly glossed with green ; legs and naked thighs a fine pale carmine; the latter measure three, the former four inches and a half in length, exceedingly thin, and so flexible that they may he bent considerably without danger of breaking. This thinness of the leg enables the bird to wade with expedition, and without fatigue. Feet three-toed, the outer toe connected to the middle one by a broad membrane ; wings long, extending two inches beyond the tail, and sharp pointed ; irides a bright rich scarlet ; pupil black. In 'Some, the white from the breast extends quite round the neck, sepa- RED FLAMINGO. 25 rating the black of the hind neck from that of the body ; claws blackish horn. The female is about half an inch shorter, and differs in having the plumage of the upper back and scapulars, and also the tertials, of a deep brown color. The stomach, or gizzard, was extremely muscular, and contained fragments of small snail shells, winged bugs, and a slimy matter, supposed to be the remains of some aquatic worms. In one of these females I counted upwards of one hundred and fifty eggs, some of them as large as buckshot. The singular form of the legs and feet, with the exception ^f the hind toe and one membrane of the foot, is exactly like those of the Avoset. The upward curvature of the bill, though not quite so great, is also the same as in the other, being rounded above, and tapering to a delicate point in the same manner. In short, a slight comparison of the two is suflScient to satisfy the most scrupulous observer, that nature has classed these two birds together ; and so believing, we shall not separate them. Genus LXXXVII. PH(i)NICOPTEKUS. FLAMINGO. Species. P. RUBER. RED FLAMINGO. [Plate LXVI. Fig. 4.] Le Flammant, Briss. ti., p. 533, pi. 47, fig. I.^Buff. tiii., p. 475, pi. 39. PI. Ent. 63.— Lath. Syn.- in., p. 299.— ^i-ci. Zool. No. 422.— Catesbt, i., pi. 73, 74! This very singular species being occasionally seen on the southern frontiers of the United States, and on the peninsula of East Florida, where it is more common, has a claim to a niche in our Ornithological Museum, although the author regrets that from personal observation he can add nothing to the particulars of its history, already fully detailed in various European works. From the most respectable of these, the Synopsis of Dr. Latham, he has collected such particulars as appear authentic and interesting. " This remarkable bird has the neck and legs in a greater dispropor- tion than any other bird, the length from the end of the bill to that of the tail is four feet two or three inches, but to the end of the claws measures sometimes more than six feet. The bill is four inches and a quarter long, and o"f a construction different from that of any other bird ; the upper mandible very thin and flat, and somewhat movable ; the under thick, both of them bending downwards from the middle ; the nostrils 26 KED FLAMINGO. are linear, and placed in a blackish membrane ; the end of the bill as far as the bend is black, from thence to the base reddish yellow, round the base quite to the eye covered with a flesh-colored cere ; the neck is slender, and of a great length ; the tongue large, fleshy, filling the cavity of the bill, furnished with twelve or more hooked papillae on each side, turning backwards ; the tip a sharp cartilaginous substance. The bird when in full plumage is wholly of a most deep scarlet (those of Africa said to be the deepest), except the quills, which are black ; from the base of the thigh to the claws measures thirty-two inches, of which the fea- thered part takes up no more than three inches ; the bare part above the knee thirteen inches, and from thence to the claws sixteen ; the color of the bare parts is red, and the toes are furnished with a web as in the Duck genus ; but is deeply indented. The legs are not straight, hut slightly bent, the shin rather projecting. " These birds do not gain their full plumage till the third year. In the first they are of a grayish white for the most part ; the second of a clearer white, tinged with red, or rather rose color ; but the wings and scapulars are red ; in the third year a general glowing scarlet manifests itself throughout ; the bill and legs also keep pace with the gradation of color in the plumage, these parts changing to their colors by degrees as the bird approaches to an adult state. " Flamingoes prefer a warm climate, in the old continent not often met with beyond forty degrees north or south. Everywhere seen on the African coast, and adjacent isles, quite to the Cape of Good Hope,* and now and then on the coasts of Spain,f Italy, and those of France lying in the Mediterranean Sea ; being at times met with at Marseilles, and for some way up the Ehone. In some seasons frequents Aleppo,J and parts, adjacent. Seen also on the Persian side of the Caspian Sea, and from thence along the western coast as far as the Wolga ; though this at uncertain times, and chiefly in considerable flocks, coming from the north coast mostly in October and November ; but so soon as the wind changes they totally di8appear.§ They bteed in the Cape Verd Isles, particularly in that of Sal.|| The nest is of a singular construction, made of mud, in shape of a hillock, with a cavity at top ; in this the female lays generally two white eggs,Tf of the size of those of a Goose, but more elongated. The hillock is of such an height as to admit of the bird's sitting on it conveniently, or rather standing, as the legs are * In Zee Coow river. Phil. Trans. Once plenty in the Isle of France. Toy. to Mauritius, p. 66. t About Valencia, in the Lake Albufere. Dillon's Trav. p. 374. t Russel's Aleppo, p. 69. ' | Decouy. Russ. ii., p. 248. II Damp. Toy. i., p. 70. f They never lay more than three, and seldom fewer. Phil. Trans. RED FLAMINGO. 27 placed one on each side at full length.* The young cannot fly till full grown, but run very fast. , " Flamingoes, for the most part, keep together in flocks ; and now and then are seen in great numbers together, except in breeding time. Dampier mentions having, with two more in company, killed fourteen at once ; but this was effected by secreting themselves ; for they are very shy birds, and will by no means suffer any one to approach openly near enough to shoot them.f Kolben observes that they are very numerous at the Cape, keeping in the day on the borders of the lakes and rivers, and lodging themselves of nights in the long grass on the hills. They are also common to various places in the warmer parts of America, fre- quenting the same latitudes as in other quarters of the world ; being met with in Peru, Chili, Cayenne, J and the coast of Brazil, as well as the various islands of the West Indies. Sloane found them in Jamaica ; but particularly at the Bahama Islands, and that of Cuba, where they breed. When seen at a distance they appear as a regiment of soldiers, being arranged alongside of one another, on the borders of the rivers, searching for food, which chiefly consists of small fish,§ or the eggs of them, and of water iiisects, which they search after by plunging in the bill and part of the head ; from time to time trampling with their feet to muddy the water, that their prey may be raised from the bottom. In feeding are said to twist the neck in such a manner that the upper part of the bill is applied to the ground ;|| during this one of them is said to stand sentinel, and the moment he sounds the alarm, the whole flock take wing. This bird when at rest stands on one leg, the other being drawn up close to the body, with the head placed ninder the wing on that side of the body it stands on. " The flesh of these birds is esteemed, pretty good meat ; and the young thought by some equal to that of a Partrid'ge ; Tf but the greatest dainty is the tongue, which was esteemed by the ancients an exquisite morsel.** Are sometimes caught young and brought up tame ; but are ever impatient of cold, and in this state will seldom live a great while, gradually losing their color, flesh and appetite ; and dying for want of * Sometimes will lay the eggs on a projecting part of a low rook, if it be placed sufficiently convenient so as to admit of the legs being placed one on each side. Linn. t Davies talks of the gunner disguising himself in an ox hide, and by this means getting within gun-shot. Hist. Barbad. p. 88. t Called there by the name of Tococo. g Small shell fish. Gesner. II Linnaeus. Brisson. f Commonly fat and accounted delicate. Davies's Hist. Barbad. p. 88. The inhabitants of Provence always throw away the flesh, as it tastes fishy, and only make use of the feathers as ornaments to other birds at particular entertainments. Dillon's Trav. p. 374. ** See Plin. IX., cap. 48. 28 LITTLE GUILLEMOT. that food wliich in a state of nature, at large, they were abundantly supplied with." Genus XC. UKIA. GUILLEMOT. Species. UBIA ALLE. LITTLE GUILLEMOT.* [Plate LXXIV. Fig. 5.] Uria alle, Temm. Man. d'Orn. p. 92%.—Alca alle, Linn. Sysf. ed. 12, torn, i., p. 211, 5.— Gmel. Syst. I., p. 554, 5.—Ind. Orn. p. 795, 10.— Uria minor, Briss. ti., p. 73, 2.—Le Petit Guillemot femelle, PI. Enl. 917. —Small black and white Diver, Edwards, pi. 91.— Little Auk, Lath. Gen. Sj/n. ill., p 327.— Penn. Arct. Zool. No. 429.— Bewick, ii., p. 158. Of the history of this little stranger, but few particulars are known. With us it is a very rare bird ; and, when seen, it is generally in the vicinity of the sea. The specimen from which the figure in the plate was taken, was killed at Great Egg Harbor, in the month of December, 1811, and was sent to Wilson as a great curiosity. It measured nine inches in length, and fourteen in extent ; the bill, upper part of the head, back, wings and tail, were black ; the upper part of the breast and hind-head, were gray, or white mixed with ash ; the sides of the neck, whole lower parts, and tips of secondaries, were pure white ; feet and legs black, shins pale fieSh color ; above each eye there was a small spot of white ; the lower scapulars streaked slightly with the same. The little Guillemot is said to be but a rare visitant of the British Isles. It is met with in various parts of the north, even as far as Spitz- bergen ; is common in' Greenland, in company with the black-billed Aux, and feeds upon the same kind of food. The Greenlanders call it the Ice-bird, from the circumstance of its being the harbinger of ice. It lays two bluish white eggs, larger than those of the Pigeon. It flies quick, and dives well ; and is always dipping its bill into the water while swimming, or at rest on that element. Walks better on land than others of the genus. It grows fat in the stormy season, from the waves bringing plenty of crabs and small fish within its reach. It is not a very crafty bird, and may be easily taken. It varies to quite white ; and sometimes is found with a reddish breast.f To the anatomist, the internal organization of this species is deserving attention : it is so constructed as to be capable of contracting or dila- ting itself at pleasure. We know not what Nature intends by this eon- formation, unless it be to facilitate diving, for which the compressed * Named in the plate Little Auk. "f Latham. Pennant. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 29 form is well adapted ; and likewise the body when expanded will be rendered more buoyant, and fit for the purpose of swimming upon the surface of the water.* Genus XCI. COLYMBUS. DIVEK. Species. C. OLACIALIS. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER, or LOON. [Plate LXXIV. Fig. 3.] • Colymbus glacialis, Linn. Syst. ed. 12, torn, i., p. 221, 5. C. immer, Id. p. 222, No. 6. —Ind. Orn. p. 799, 1. 0. immer, Id. p. 800, 2.—Le grand Plongeon, Briss. vi., p. 105, pi. 10, fig. 1. Le grand Plongeon tacheU, Id. p. 120, pi. 11, fig. 2.— ie grand Plongeon, Bupf. Ois. nil., p. 251. L'Imbrim, ou grand Plongeon de la mer du nord. Id. p. 258, tab. 22. PL Enl. 952.— Northern Diver, Lath. Gen. Syn.m., p. 337. Imber Diver, Id. p. 340.— Penn. Brit. Zool. No. 237, 238. Arct.Zool. No. 439, 440. — Bewick, ii., p. 168, 170.— Montagu, Orn. Die. Sup. App. — Low, Fauna Oreadensis, p. 108, 110. — Plongeon Imbrim, Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 910. This bird in Pennsylvania is migratory. In the autumn it makes its appearance with the various feathered tribes that frequent our waters ; and when the streams are obstructed with ice, it departs for the Southern States. f In the months of March and April it is again seen; and after lingering awhile, it leaves us for the purpose of breeding. The Loons are found along the coast as well as in the interior ; but in the summer they retire to the fresh-water lakes and ponds. We have never heard that they breed in Pennsylvania ; but it is said they do in Missibisci Pond, near Boston, Massachusetts. The female lays two large brownish eggs. They are commonly seen in pairs,' and procure their food, which is fish, in the deepest water of our rivers, diving after it, and continuing under for a length of time. Being a wary bird, it is seldom they are killed, eluding their pursuers by their astonishing faculty of diving. They seem averse to flying, and are but seldom seen on the wing. They are never eaten. The Loon is restless before a storm ; and an experienced master of a coasting vessel informed me, that he always knew when a tempest was approaching by the cry of this bird, which is very shrill, and may be heard at the distance of a mile or more. The correctness of this obser- vation I have myself since experienced, in a winter voyage on the southern coasts of the United States. * From Mr. Ord's supplementary Volume. f The Loon is said to winter in the Chesapeake Bay. 30 GREAT NORTHERisr DIVER. This species seldom visits the shores of Britain, except in very severe ■winters ; but it is met with in the north of Europe, and spreads along the arctic coast as far as the mouth of the river Ob, in the dominions of Russia. It is found about Spitzbergen, Iceland and Hudson's Bay. Makes its nest, in the more northern regions, on the little isles of fresh- water lakes ; every pair keep a lake' to themselves. It sees well, flies very high, and, darting obliquely, falls secure into its nest. Appears in Greenland in April or the beginning of May ; and goes a,way in September or October, on the first fall of snow.* It is also found at Nootka Sound,f and Kamtschatka. The Barabinzians, a nation situated between the river Ob and the Irtisch, in the Russian dominions, tan the breasts of this and other water fowl, whose skins they prepare in such a maiftier as to preserve the down upon them ; and, sewing a number of these' together, they sell them to make pelisses, caps, &c. Garments made of these are very warm, never imbibing the least moisture ; and are more lasting than could be imagined. I The natives of Greenland use the skins for clothing ; and the Indians about Hudson's Bay adorn their heads with circlets of their feathers.§ Lewis and Clark's party, at the mouth of the Columbia, saw robes made of the skins of Loons ;|| and abundance of these birds during the time that they wintered at Fort Clatsop on that river. ^ The Laplanders, according to Regnard, cover their heads with a cap made of the skin of a Loom (Loon), which word signifies in their lan- guage lame, because the bird cannot walk well. They place it on their head in such a manner, that the bird's head falls over their brow, and its wings cover their ears. "Northern Divers," says Hearne, "though common in Hudson's Bay, are by no means plentiful ; they are seldom found near the coast, but more frequently in fresh-water lakes, and usually in pairs. They build their nests at the edge of small islands, or the margins of lakes or ponds ; they lay only two eggs, and it is very common to find only one pair and their young in one sheet of water : a great proof of their aversion to society. They are known in Hudson's Bay by the name of Loons." ** The Great Northern Diver measures two feet ten inches from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, and four feet six inches in breadth ; the bill is strong, of a glossy black, and four inches and three-quarters long to the corner of the mouth ; the edges of the bill do not fit exactly * Pennant. \ Cook's Last Voy. ii., p. 237, Am. ed. X Latham. g Arctic Zoology. II Gass's Journal. % History of the Expedition, vol. ii., p.l89. ** Hearne's Journey, p. 429, quarto. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 31 into each other, and are ragged, the lower inandible separates into two branches, which are united by a thin elastic membrane, and are easily movable horizontally or receding from each other, so as to form a wider gap to facilitate the swallowing of large fish ; tongue bifid ; irides dark blood red ; the head, and half of the length of the neck, are of a deep black, with a green gloss, and purple reflections ; this is succeeded by a band, consisting of interrupted white and black lateral stripes, which encompasses the neck, and tapers to a point on its fore part, without joining — this band measures about an inch and a half in its widest part, and to appearance is not continuous on the back part of the neck, being concealed by some thick, overhanging, black feathers, but on separating the latter the band becomes visible : the feathers which form these narrow stripes are white, streaked down their centre with black, and, what is a remarkable peculiarity, their webs project above the common surface ; below this a broad band of dai-k glossy green and violet, which is blended behind with the plumage of the back ; the lower part of the neck, and the sides of the breast, are ribbed in the same manner as the band above ; below the chin a few stripes of the same ; the whole of the upper parts are of a deep black, slightly glossed with green, and thickly spotted with white, in regular transverse or semicircular rows, two spots on the end of each feather— those on the upper part of the back, shoulders, rump and tail coverts small and roundish, those on the centre of the back, square and larger, those on the scapulars are the largest, and of an oblong square shape ; the wing feathers and tail are plain brown black, the latter composed of twenty feathers ; the lower parts are pure white, a slight dusky line across the vent ; the scapulars descend over the wing, when closed, and the belly feathers ascend so as to meet them, by which means every part of the wing is concealed, except towards the tip ; the outside of the legs and feet is black, inside lead color ; the leg is four inches in length, and the foot measures, along the exterior toe to the tip of its claw, four inches and three-quarters ; both legs and feet are marked with five-sided polygons. Weight of the specimen described eight pounds and a half. The adult male and female are alike in plumage. The young do not appear to obtain their perfect plumage until the second or third year. One which I saw, and which was conjectured to be a yearling, had its upper parts of a brown or mouse color ; a few spots on the back and scapulars ; but none of those markings on the neck, which distinguish the full-grown male. Another had the whole upper parts of a pale brown ; the plumage of part of the back and scapulars tipped with pale ash ; the lower parts white, with a yellowish tinge ; no bands on the neck, nor spots on the body. The conformation of the ribs and bones of this species is remarkable, and merits particular examination. 32 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. In the account which some of the European ornithologists give of their Northern Diver, we presume there is an inaccuracy. They say it measures three feet six inches in length, and four feet eight in breadth ; and weighs sixteen pounds. If this be a correct statement, it would lead to the surmise that our Diver is a different species ; for of several specimens which we examined, the best and largest has been described for this work, the admeasurement of which bird comes considerably short of that of the European, mentioned above. The weight, as has been stated, was eight pounds and a half. On a re-examination of the Supplement to the Ornithological Dic- tionary of Montagu, I find, upon this subject, the following remarks, which should seem to put the question at rest respecting the identity of * the European and American species : " It should appear that the size of this species has been commonly exaggerated, or they must vary materially, since those which have come under our examination did not exceed ten pounds ; and an old or matured male measured only two feet eight inches. A young female, before the plumage was perfected, weighed eight pounds six ounces, and measured two feet seven inches in length. " A Northern Diver taken alive, was kept in a pond for some monthfi, which gave us an opportunity of attending to its manners. In a few days it became extremely docile, would come at the call, from one side of the pond to the other, and would take food from the hand. The bird had received an injury in the head, which had deprived one eye of its sight, and the other was a little impaired, but notwithstanding, it could by incessantly diving, discover all the fish that was thrown into the pond. In defect of fish it would eat flesh. " It is observable that the legs of this bird are so constructed and situated, as to render it incapable of walking upon them. This is pro- bably the case with all the divers, as well as the Grebes. " When this bird quitted the water, it shoved its body along upon the ground, like a seal, by jerks, rubbing the breast against the ground ; and it returned again to the water in a similar manner. In swimming and diving,* only the legs are used, and not the wings, as in the Guil- lemot and Auk tribes ; and by their situation so far behind, and their little deviation from the line of the body, the bird is enabled to propel itself in the water with great velocity in a straight line, as well as turn with astonishing quickness, "f * I have never seen this bird diving in pursuit of fish, but I have seen it in the act of diving to avoid danger, and took notice, that its wings, when beneath the surface of the water, did not lie close to the body, but they were not as much extended as when in the act of flying. They had no visible motion, hence the pre- sumption is, that their only use is to balance the body. j- From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume. Genus XCII. KHYNCHOPS. SKIMMER. Species. RBYNCHOPS NIGRA. BLACK SKIMMER, or SHEARWATER. [Plate IX. Fig. 4.] Arct. Zool. No. 445. — Catesbt, i., 90. — Le Bee en Ciseaux, Bufp. viii., 454, tab. 36.* This truly singular fowl is the only species of its tribe hitherto dis- covered. Like many others, it is a bird of passage in the United States ; and makes its first appearance, on the shores of New Jersey, early in May. It resides there, as well as along the whole Atlantic coast, during the summer ; and retires early in September. Its favorite haunts are low sand-bars, raised above the reach of the summer tides ; and also dry flat sands on the beach, in front of the ocean. On such places it usually breeds along the shores of Cape May, in New Jersey. On account of the general coldness of the spring there, the Shearwater does not begin to lay until early in June, at which time these birds form themselves into small societies, fifteen or twenty pair frequently breeding within a few yards of each other. The nest is a mere hollow, formed in the sand, without any materials. The female lays three eggs, almost exactly oval, of a clear white, marked with large round spots of brownish black, and intermixed with others of pale Indian ink. These eggs measure one inch and three-quarters, by one inch and a quarter. Half a bushel and more of eggs has sometimes been collected from one sand bar, -within the compass of half an acre. These eggs have something of a fishy taste ; but are eaten by many people on the coast. The female sits on them only during the night, or in wet and stormy weather. The young remain for several weeks before they are able to fly ; are fed with great assiduity by both parents ; and seem to delight in lying with loosened wings, flat on the sand, enjoying its invigorating warmth. They breed but once in the season. The singular conformation of the bill of this bird has excited much surprise ; and some writers, measuring the divine proportions of nature by their own contracted standards of conception, in the plenitude of their vanity have pronounced it to be "an awkward and defective » PI. Enl. 357. Vol. III.— 3 (33) 34 BLACK SKIMMER. instrument."* Such ignorant presumption, or rather impiety, ought to hide its head in the dust on a calm display of the peculiar construction of this singular bird, and the wisdom by which it is so admirably adapted to the purposes, or mode of existence, for which it was intended. The Shearwater is formed for skimming, while on wing, the surface of the sea for its food, which consists of small fish, shrimps, young fry, &c., whose usual haunts are near the shore, and towards the surface. That the lower mandible, when dipped into and cleaving the water, might not retard the bird's way, it is thinned and sharpened like the blade of a knife ; the upper mandible being at such times elevated above water, is curtailed in its length, as being less necessary, but tapering gradually to a point, that, on shutting, it may offer less opposition. To prevent inconvenience from the rushing of the water, the mouth is confined to the mere opening of the gullet, which indeed prevents mastication taking place there ; but the stomach, or gizzard, to which this business is solely allotted, is of uncommon hardness, strength and muscularity, far sur- passing, in these respects, any other water bird with which I acquainted. To all these is added a vast expansion of wing, to enable the bird to sail with sufficient celerity while dipping in the water. The general proportion of the length of our swiftest Hawks and Swallows, to their breadth, is as one to two ; but in the present case, as there is not only the resistance of the air, but also that of the water, to overcome, a still greater volume of wing is given, the Shearwater measuring nineteen inches in length, and upwards of forty-four in extent. In short, who- ever has attentively examined this curious apparatus, and observed the possessor with his ample wings, long bending neck, and lower mandible occasionally dipped into, and ploughing, the surface, and the facility with which he procures his food, cannot but consider it a mere playful amusement, when compared with the dashing immersions of the Tern, the Gull, or the Fish-Hawk, who, to the superficial observer, appear so superiorly accommodated. The Shearwater is most frequently seen skimming close along shore, about the first of the flood, at which time the young fry, shrimp, &c., are most abundant in such places. There are also numerous inlets, among the low islands between the sea beach and main land of Cape May, where I have observed the Shearwaters, eight or ten in company, passing and repassing at high-water particular estuaries of those creeks that run up into the salt marshes, dipping, with extended neck, their open bills into the water, with as much apparent ease as Swallows glean up flies from the surface. On examining the stomachs of several of these, shot at the time, they contained numbers of a small fish, usually called silver-sides, from a broad line of a glossy silver color that runs * Vide Buffon. BLACK SKIMMER. 35 from the gills to the tail. The mouths of these inlets abound with this fry, or fish, probably feeding on the various matters washed down from the marshes. The voice of the Shearwater is harsh and screaming, resembling that of the Tern, but stronger. It flies with a slowly flapping flight, dipping occasionally, with steady expanded wings, and bended neck, its lower mandible into the sea, and with open mouth receiving its food as it ploughs along the surface. It is rarely seen swimming on the water ; but frequently rests in large parties on the sand-bars at low water. One of these birds which I wounded in the wing, and kept in the room beside me for several days, soon became tame and even familiar. It generally stood with its legs erect, its body horizontal, and its neck rather ex- tended. It frequently reposed on its belly, and stretching its neck, rested its long bill on the floor. It spent most of its time in this way, or in dressing and arranging its plumage, with its long scissors-like bill, which it seemed to perform with great ease and dexterity. It refused every kind of food ofi"ered it, and I am persuaded never feeds but when on the wing. As to the reports of its frequenting oyster beds, and feeding on these fish, they are contradicted by all those persons with whom I have conversed, whose long residence on the coast, where those birds are common, has given them the best opportunities of knowing. The Shearwater is nineteen inches in length, from the point of the bill to the extremity of the tail, the tips of the wings, when shut, extend full four inches farther ; breadth three feet eight inches ; length of the lower mandible four inches and a half, of the upper three inches and a half, both of a scarlet red, tinged with orange, and ending with black ; the lower extremely thin, the upper grooved so as to receive the edge of the lower ; the nostril is large and pervious, placed in a hollow near the base and edge of the upper mandible, where it projects greatly over the lower ; upper part of the head, neck, back and scapulars, deep black ; wings the same, except the secondaries, which are white on the inner vanes, and also tipped with white ; tail forked, consisting of twelve feathers, the two middle ones about an inch and a half shorter than the exterior ones, all black, broadly edged on both sides with white ; tail- coverts white on the outer sides, black in the middle ; front, passing down the neck below the eye, throat, breast, and whole lower parts, pure white ; legs and webbed feet bright scarlet, formed almost exactly like those of the Tern. Weight twelve ounces avoirdupois. The female weighed nine ounces, and measured only sixteen inches in length, and three feet three inches in extent, the colors and markings were the same as those of the male, with the exception of the tail, which was white, shafted and broadly centered with black. The birds from which these descriptions were taken, were shot on the 36 GREAT TERN. twenty-fifth of May, before they had begun to breed. The female con- tained a great number of eggs, the largest of which were about the size of duck-shot ; the stomach, in both, was an oblong pouch, ending in a remarkably hard gizzard, curiously puckered or plaited, containing the half dissolved fragments of the small silver-sides, pieces of shrimps, small crabs, and skippers, or sand fleas. On some particular parts of the coast of Virginia, these birds are seen, on low sand-bars, in flocks of several hundreds together. There more than twenty nests have been found within the space of a square rod. The young are at first so exactly of a color with the sand on which they sit, as to be with difficulty discovered, unless after a close search. The Shearwater leaves our shores soon after his young are fit for the journey. He is found on various coasts of Asia, as well as America, residing principally near the tropics ; and migrating into the temperate regions of the globe only for the purpose of rearing his young. He is rarely or never seen far out at sea ; and must not be mistaken for another bird of the same name, a species of Petrel,* which is met with on every part of the ocean, skimming with bended wings along the sum- mits, declivities, and hollows of the waves. Genus XCIII. STEKNA. TEEN. Species I. STERNA HIRUNDO. GREAT TEEN. [Plate LX. Fig. 1.] Arct. Zool. p. 524. — No. 448. — Le pierre garin, ou grande Eirondelle de mer, Buff. Tin., 331. PL Enl. 987.— Bewick, ii., 181. t This bird belongs to a tribe very generally dispersed over the shores of the ocean. Their generic characters are these : — Bill straight, sharp pointed, a little compressed and strong ; nostrils linear ; tongue slender, poinied ; legs short ; feet webbed ; hind toe and its nail straight ; wings long ; tail generally forked. Turton enumerates twenty-five species of this genus, scattered over various quarters of the world ; six of which, at least, are natives of the United States. From their long pointed wings they are generally known to seafaring people, and others residing * Procellaria Puffinus, the Shearwater Petrel. t Sterna Hirundo, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 606. — Ind. Om. p. 807, No. 15. — Briss. ti., p, 203, pi. 19, fis;. 1.— Temm. Man. d'Orn. p. 740. GREAT TERN. 37 near the seashore, by the name of Sea Swallows ; though some few, from their near resemblance, are confounded with the Gulls. The present species, or Great Tern, is common to the shores of Europe, Asia and America. It arrives on the coast of New Jersey about the middle or twentieth of April, led no doubt by the multitudes of fish which at that season visit our shallow bays and inlets. By many it is called the Sheep's-head Gull, from arriving about the same time with the fish of that name. About the middle or twentieth of May this bird commences laying. The preparation of a nest, which costs most other birds so much time and ingenuity, is here altogether dispensed with. The eggs, generally three in number, are placed on the surface of the dry. drift grass, on the beach or salt marsh, and covered by the female only during the night, or in wet, raw or stormy weather. At all other times the hatch- ing of them is left to the heat of the sun. These eggs measure an inch and three-quarters in length, by about an inch and two-tenths in width, and are of a yellowish dun color, sprinkled with dark brown and pale Indian ink. Notwithstanding they seem thus negligently aban- doned during the day, it is very different in reality. One or both of the parents are generally fishing within view of the place, and on the near approach of any person, instantly make their appearance o\er head; uttering a hoarse jarring kind of cry, and flying about with evident symptoms of great anxiety and consternation. The young are generally produced at intervals of a day or so from each other, and are regularly and abundantly fed for several weeks, before, their wings are sufficiently grown to enable them to fly. At first the parents alight with the fish, which they have brought in their mouth, or in their bill, and tearing it in pieces distribute it in such portions as their young are able to swallow. Afterwards they frequently feed them without alight- ing, as they skim over the spot ; and as the young become nearly ready to fiy, they drop the fish among them, where the strongest and most active has the best chance to gobble it up. In the meantime, the young themselves frequently search about the marshes, generally not far apart, for insects of various kinds ; but so well acquainted are they with the peculiar language of their parents, that warn them of the approach of an enemy, that on hearing their cries they instantly squat, and remain motionless until the danger be over. The flight of the Great Tern, and indeed of the whole tribe, is not in the sweeping shooting manner of the land Swallows, notwithstanding their name ; the motions of their long wings are slower, and more in the manner of the Gull. They have, however, great powers of wing and strength in the muscles of the neck, which enable them to make such sudden and violent plunges, and that from a considerable height, too, headlong on their prey, which they never seize but with their bills. 38 GREAT TERN. In the evening, I have remarked, as they retired from the upper parts of the bays, rivers and inlets, to the beach for repose, about breeding time, that each generally carried a small fish in his bill. As soon as the young are able to fly, they lead them to the sandy shoals and ripples where fish are abundant ; and while they occasionally feed them, teach them by their example to provide for themselves. They sometimes penetrate a great way inland, along the courses of rivers ; and are occasionally seen about all our numerous ponds, lakes and rivers, most usually near the close of the summer. This species inhabits Europe as high as Spitzbergen ; is found on the arctic coasts of Siberia and Kamtschatka, and also on our own conti- nent as far north as Hudson's Bay. In New England it is called by some the Mackerel Gull. It retires from all these places, at the approach of winter, to more congenial seas and seasons. The Great Tern is fifteen inches long, and thirty inches in extent ; bill reddish yellow, sometimes brilliant crimson, slightly angular on the lower mandible, and tipped with black ; whole upper part of the head black, extending to a point half way down the neck behind, and includ- ing the eyes ; sides of the neck, and whole lower parts, pure white ; viring quills hoary, as if bleached by the weather, long and pointed ; whole back, scapulars and wing, bluish white, or very pale lead color ; rump and tail coverts white ; tail long and greatly forked, the exterior feathers being three inches longer than the adjoining ones, the rest shortening gradually for an inch and a half to the middle ones, the whole of a pale lead color ; the outer edge of the exterior ones black ; legs and webbed feet brilliant red lead ; membranes of the feet deeply scalloped ; claws large and black, middle one the largest. The primary quill feathers are generally dark on their inner edges. The female difiers in having the two exterior feathers of the tail considerably shorter. The voice of these birds is like the harsh jarring of an open- ing door, on its rusted hinges. The bone of the skull is remarkably thick and strong, as also the membrane that surrounds the brain ; in this respect resembling the Woodpecker's. In both, this provision is doubtless intended to enable the birds to support, without injury, the violent concussions caused by the plunging of the one, and the chiselling of the other. Species II. STERNA MINVTA. LESSER TERN. [Plate LX. Fig. 2.] Aret. Zool. No. 449. — La petite Hirondelle de mer, Bufp. tiii., 337. PI- Enl. 996. — Bewick, ii., 183.* This beautiful little species looks like the preceding in miniature, but surpasses it far in the rich glossy satin-like white plumage with which its throat, breast, and whole lower parts, are covered. Like the former, it is also a bird of passage, but is said not to extend its migra- tions to so high a northern latitude, being more delicate and suscepti- ble of cold. It arrives on the coast somewhat later than the other, but in equal and perhaps greater numbers ; coasts along the shores, and also oVer the pools, in the salt marshes, in search of prawns, of which it is particularly fond ; hovers, suspended in the air, for a few moments above its prey, exactly in the manner of some of our small Hawks, and dashes headlong down into the water after it, generally seizing it with its bill ; mounts instantly again to the same height, and moves slowly along as before, eagerly examining the surface below. About the twenty-fifth of May, or beginning of June, the female begins to lay. The eggs are dropped on the dry and warm sand, the heat of which, during the day, is fully suflBcient for the purpose of incubation. This heat is sometimes so great, that one can scarcely bear the hand in it for a few moments, without inconvenience. The wonder would therefore be the greater should the bird sit on her eggs during the day, when her warmth is altogether unnecessary, and perhaps injurious, than that she should cover them only during the damps of night, and in wet and stormy weather ; and furnishes another proof that the actions of birds are not the effect of mere blind impulse, but of volition, regulated by reason, depending on various incidental circumstances, to which their parental cares are ever awake. I lately visited those parts of the beach on Cape May, where this little bird breeds. The eggs, generally four in number, were placed on the flat sands, safe beyond the reach of the highest summer tide. They were of a yellowish brown color, blotched with rufous, and measured nearly an inch and three-quarters in length. During my whole stay, these birds flew in crowds around me, and often within a few yards of my head, squeaking like so many young pigs, * Sterna minuta, Gmel. Sysi. i., p. 608. — Ind. Orn. p. 809, No. 19. — Sterna metopoleucos, lb. No. 22.— Briss. vi., p. 206, pi. 19, fig. 2.— Temm. Man. d'Orn. p. 752. (39) 40 LESSER TERN. which their voice strikingly resembles. A Humming Bird, that had accidentally strayed to the place, appeared suddenly among this out- rageous group, several of whom darted angrily at him ; but he shot like an arrow from them, directing his flight straight towards the ocean. I have no doubt but the distressing cries of the Terns had drawn this little creature to the scene, having frequently witnessed his anxious curiosity on similar occasions in the woods. The Lesser Tern feeds on beetles, crickets, spiders, and other insects, which it picks up from the marshes ; as well as on small fish, on which it plunges at sea. Like the former, it also makes extensive incursions, inland, along the river courses, and has frequently been shot several hundred miles from the sea. It sometimes sits for hours together on the sands, as if resting after the fatigues of flight to which it is exposed. The Lesser Tern is extremely tame and unsuspicious, often passing you in its flight, and within a few yards, as it traces the windings and indentations of the shore in search of its favorite prawns and skippers. Indeed at such times it appears either altogether heedless of man, or its eagerness for food overcomes its apprehensions for its own safety. We read in ancient authors, that the fishermen used to fioat a cross of wood, in the middle of which was fastened a small fish for a bait, with limed twigs stuck to the four corners, on which the bird darting was entangled by the wings. But this must have been for mere sport, or for its feathers, the value of the bird being scarcely worth the trouble, as they are generally lean, and the flesh savoring strongly of fish. The Lesser Tern is met with in the south of Kussia, and about the Black and Caspian Sea; also in Siberia about the Irtish.* With the former, it inhabits the shores of England during the summer, where it breeds, and migrates, as it does here, to the south, as the cold of autumn approaches This species is nine and a half inches long, and twenty inches in extent ; bill bright reddish yellow ; nostril pervious ; lower mandible angular ; front white, reaching in two narrow points over the eye ; crown, and band through the eye, and hind-head, black, tapering to a point as it descends ; cheeks, sides of the neck, and whole lower parts, of the most rich and glossy white, like the brightest satin ; upper parts of the back and wings a pale glossy ash or light lead color ; the outer edges of the three exterior primaries, black, their inner edges white ; tail pale ash, but darker than the back, and forked, the two outer feathers an inch longer, tapering to a point; legs and feet reddish yellow ; webbed feet, claws and hind toe, exactly formed like those of the preceding. The female nearly resembles the male, with the excep- tion of having the two exterior tail feathers shorter. * Pennant. Species III. STERNA ARANEA. MARSH TERN. [Plate LXXII. Fig. 6.] This new species I first met with on the shores of Cape May, parti- cularly over the salt marshes, and darting down after a kind of large black spider, plenty in such places. This spider can travel under water as well as above, and, during summer at least, seems to constitute the principal food of the present Tern. In several which I opened, the stomach was crammed with a mass of these spiders alone ; these they frequently pick up from the pools as well as from the grass, dashing down on them in the manner of their tribe. Their voice is sharper and stronger than that of the Common Tern ; the bill is differently formed, being shorter, more rounded above, and thicker ; the tail is also much shorter, and less forked. They do not associate with the others ; but keep in small parties by themselves. The Marsh Tern is fourteen inches in length, and thirty-four in extent ; bill thick, much rounded above, and of a glossy blackness ; whole upper part of the head and hind neck black ; whole upper part of the body hoary white ; shafts of the quill and tail feathers pure white ; line from the nostril under the eye, and whole lower parts pure white ; tail forked, the outer feathers about an inch and three-quarters longer than the middle ones ; the wings extend upwards of two inches beyond the tail ; legs and feet black, hind toe small, straight, and pointed. The female, as to plumage, differs in nothing from the male. The yearling birds, several of which I met with, have the plumage of the crown white at the surface, but dusky below ; so that the boundaries of the black, as it will be in the perfect bird, are clearly defined ; through the eye a line of black passes down the neck for about an inch, reaching about a quarter of an inch before it ; the bill is not so black as in the others ; the legs and feet dull orange, smutted with brown or dusky ; tips and edges of the primaries blackish ; shafts white. This species breeds in the salt marshes, the female drops her eggs, generally three or four in number, on the dry drift grass, without the slightest appearance of a nest ; they are of a greenish olive, spotted with brown. A specimen of this Tern has been deposited in the museum of this city. (41) Species IV. STERNA PLUMBEA* SHORT-TAILED TERN. [Plate LX. Fig. 3.] A SPECIMEN of this bird was first sent me by Mr. Beasley of Cape May ; but being in an imperfect state, I could form no correct notion of the species ; sometimes supposing it might be a young bird of the preceding Tern. Since that time, however, I have had an opportunity of procuring a considerable number of this same kind, corresponding almost exactly with each other. I have ventured to introduce it in this place as a new species ; and have taken pains to render the figure in the plate a correct likeness of the original. On the sixth of September, 1812, after a violent north-east storm, which inundated the meadows of Schuylkill in many places, numerous flocks of this Tern all at once made their appearance, flying over those watery spaces, picking up grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, and other insects, that were floating on the surface. Some hundreds of them might be seen at the same time, and all seemingly of one sort. They were busy, silent and unsuspicious, darting down after their prey with- out hesitation, though perpetually harassed by gunners, whom the novelty of their appearance had drawn to the place. Several flocks of the Yellow-shanks Snipe, and a few Purres, appeared also in the meadows at the same time, driven thither, doubtless, by the violence of the storm. I examined upwards of thirty individuals of this species, by dissec- tion, and found both sexes alike in color. Their stomachs contained grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, &c., but no fish. The people on the seacoast have since informed me, that this bird comes to them only in the fall, or towards the end of summer ; and is more frequently seen about the mill-ponds, and fresh-water marshes, than in the bays ; and add, that it feeds on grasshoppers, and other insects, which it finds on the meadows and marshes, picking them from the grass, as well as from the surface of the water. They have never known it to associate with the Lesser Tern, and consider it altogether a difi"erent bird. This opinion seems confirmed by the above circumstances, and by the fact * Prince Musignano asserts that this is the young of the Sterna nigra, a bird inhabiting Europe as well as this country, and of which many nominal species have been made. In this opinion he is probably correct. (42) SOOTY TERN. 43 of its greater extent of wing, being full three inches wider than the Lesser Tern; and also making its appearance after the others have gone off. The Short-tailed Tern measures eight inches and a half, from the point of the bill to the tip of the tail, and twenty-three inches in extent ; the bill is an inch and a quarter in length, sharp pointed, and of a deep black color ; a patch of bliick covers the crown, auriculars, spot before the eye, and hind-head ; the forehead, eyelids, sides of the neck, passing quite round below the hind-head, and whole lower parts, are pure white ; the back is dark ash, each feather broadly tipped with brown ; the wings a dark lead color, extending an inch and a half beyond the tail, which is also of the same tint, and slightly forked ; shoulders of the wing brownish ash ; legs and webbed feet tawny. It had a sharp shrill cry when wounded and taken. This is probably the Brown Tern mentioned by Willoughby, of which so many imperfect accounts have already been given. The figure in the plate, like those which accompany it, is reduced to one-half the size of Ufe. Species V. STERNA FULIGINOSA. SOOTY TERN. [Plate LXXII. Tig. 7.] Le Mirondelle de Mer & grande enverguer, Burr, vili., p. 345. — Egg-bird, Forst. Voy. p. 113. — Noddy, Damp. Voy. iii., p. 142. — Arct. Zool. No. 447. — Lath. Syn. III., p. 352.* This bird has been long known to navigators, as its appearance at sea usually indicates the vicinity of land ; instances, however, have occurred in which they have been met with one hundred leagues from shore.f The species is widely dispersed over the various shores of the ocean. They were seen by Dampier in New Holland ; are in prodigious numbers in the Island of Ascension ; and in Christmas Island are said to lay, in December, one egg on the ground, the egg is yellowish, with brown and violet spots.J In passing along the northern shores of Cuba and the coast of Florida and Georgia, in the month of July, I observed this species very numerous and noisy, dashing down headlong after small fish. I shot and dissected several, and found their stomachs uniformly filled * Sterna fuliginosa, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 605, — Ind. Orn. p. 804, No. 4. Gen. Syn. III., p. 352, No. 4. t Cook, Voy. I., p. 275. J Turton. 44 LAUGHING GULL. witli fish. I could perceive little or no difference between the colors of the male and female. Length of the Sooty Tern seventeen inches, extent three feet six inches ; bill an inch and a half long, sharp pointed and rounded abdve, the upper mandible serrated slightly near the point ; nostril an oblong slit, color of the bill glossy black ; irides dusky ; forehead as far as the eyes white ; whole lower parts and sides of the neck pure white ; rest of the plumage black ; wings very long and pointed, extending, when shut, nearly to the extremity of the tail, which is greatly forked, and consists of twelve feathers, the two exterior ones four inches longer than those of the middle, the whole of a deep black, except the two outer feathers, which are white, but towards the extremities a little blackish on the inner vanes; legs and webbed feet black, hind toe short. The secondary wing feathers are eight inches shorter than the longest primary. This bird frequently settles on the rigging of ships at sea, and, in common with another species, S. Stolida, is called by sailors the Noddy. GENUS XCIV. LARUS. GULL. Species. X. ATRICILLA. LAUGHING GULL. [Plate IXXIV. Fig. 4.] Larus atricilla, Linn. Sysf. ed. 10, torn, i., p. 136, 5.— Gmel. Syst. i., p. 600, 8.— Ind. Orn. p. 813, 4. — Laughing Gull, Catesby, i., pi. 89. — Lath. Gen. Syn. in., p. 383, \2.—Arct. Zool. No. 454.— ia Mouelte rieuse, Beiss. vi., p. 192, 13, pi. 18, fig. 1. — Mouette d capuchon plomh4, Temm. Man, A' Orn. p. 779. Length seventeen inches, extent three feet six inches ; bill, thighs, legs, feet, sides of the mouth and eyelids, dark blood red ; inside of the mouth vermilion ; bill nearly two inches and a half long ; the nostril is placed rather low ; the eyes are black ; above and below each eye there is a spot of white ; the head and part of the neck are black, remainder of the neck, breast, whole lower parts, tail-coverts and tail, pure white ; the scapulars, wing-coverts, and whole upper parts, are of a fine blue ash color ; the first five primaries are black towards their extremities ; the secondaries are tipped largely with white, and almost all the prima- ries slightly ; the bend of the wing is white, and nearly three inches LAUGHING GULL. 45 long ; the tail is almost even, it consists of twelve feathers, and its coverts reach within an inch and a half of its tip ; the wings extend two inches beyond the tail ; a delicate blush is perceivable on the breast and belly. Length of tarsus two inches. The head of the female is of a dark dusky slate color, in other re- spects she resembles the male. In some individuals, the crown is of a dusky gray ; the upper part and sides of the neck of a lead color ; the bill and legs of a dirty, dark, pur- plish brown. Others have not the white spots above and below the eyes ; these are young birds. The changes of plumage, to which birds of this genus are subject, have tended not a little to confound the naturalist ; and a considerable collision of opinion, arising from an imperfect acquaintance with the living subjects, has been the result. To investigate thoroughly their history, it is obviously necessary that the ornithologist should frequently explore their native haunts ; and to determine the species of periodical or occasional visitors, an accurate comparative examination of many specimens, either alive, or recently killed, is indispensable. Less con- fusion would arise among authors, if they would occasionally abandon their accustomed walks — their studies and their museums, and seek cor- rect knowledge in the only place where it is to be obtained — in the grand Temple of Nature. As it respects, in particular, the tribe under review, the zealous inquirer would find himself amply compensated for all his toil, by observing these neat and clean birds coursing along the rivers and coast, enlivening the prospect by their airy movements : now skimming closely over the watery element, watching the motions of the surges, and now rising into the higher regions, sporting with the winds ; while he inhaled the invigorating breezes of the ocean, and listened to the soothing murmurs of its billows. The Laughing Gull, known in America by the name of the Black- headed Gull, is one of the most beautiful and most sociable of its genus. They make their appearance, on the coast of New Jersey, in the latter part of April ; and do not fail to give notice of their arrival, by their familiarity and loquacity. The inhabitants treat them with the same indifference that they manifest towards all those harmless birds, which do not minister either to their appetite or their avarice ; and hence the Black-heads may be seen in companies around the farm-house ; coursing along the river shores, gleaning up the refuse of the fishermen, and the animal substances left by the tide ; or scattered over the marshes, and newly-ploughed fields, regaling on the worms, insects and their larvae, which, in the vernal season, the bounty of Nature providies for the sus- tenance of myriads of the feathered race. On the Jersey side of the Delaware Bay, in the neighborhood of Fish-. 46 LAUGHING GULL. ing-creek, about the middle of May, the Black-headed Gulls assemble in great multitudes, to feed upon the remains of the King Crabs, which the hogs have left, or upon the spawn, which those curious animals de- posit in the sand, and which is scattered along the shore by the waves. At such times, if any one approach to disturb them, the Gulls will rise up in clouds, every individual squalling so loud, that the roar may be heard at the distance of two or three miles. It is an interesting spectacle to behold this species when about recom- mencing their migrations. If the weather be calm, they will rise up in the air, spirally, chattering all the while to each other, in the most sprightly manner, their notes, at such times, resembling the singing of a hen, but far louder, changing often into a haw, ha ha ha haw ! the last syllable lengthened out like the excessive laugh of a negro. When mounting and mingling together, like motes in the sunbeams, their black heads and wing tips, and snow-white plumage, give them a very beauti- ful appearance. After gaining an immense height, they all move off, with one consent, in a direct line towards the point of their destination. This bird breeds in the marshes. The eggs are three in number, of a dun clay color, thinly marked with small irregular touches of a pale purple, and pale brown ; some are of a deeper dun, with larger marks, and less tapering than others ; the egg measures two inches and a quarter by one inch and a half. The Black-heads frequently penetrate into the interior, especially as far as Philadelphia ; but they seem to prefer the neighborhood of the coast, for the purpose of breeding. They retire southward early in the autumn.* * From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume. GENUS XCV. PKOCELLARIA. PETKEL. Species. P. PELAGIC A* STORMY PETEBL. [Plate LX. Fig. 6.] Arct. Zool. No. 464. — Le Petrel; ou I'Oiseau temptte, PI. Enl. 993. — Bewick, II., 223. There are few persons who have crossed the Atlantic, or traversed much of the ocean, who have not observed these solitary wanderers of the deep, skimming along the surface of the wild and wasteful ocean ; flitting past the vessel like Swallows, or following in her wake, gleaning their scanty pittance of food from the rough and whirling surges. Habited in mourning, and making their appearance generally in greater numbers previous to or during a storm, they have long been fearfully regarded by the ignorant and superstitious, not only as the foreboding messengers of tempests and dangers to the hapless mariner ; but as wicked agents, connected, somehow or other, in creating them. " No- body," say they, " can tell anything of where they come from, or how they breed, though (as sailors sometimes say) it is supposed that they hatch their eggs under their wings as they sit on the water." This mysterious uncertainty of their origin, and the circumstances above recited, have doubtless given rise to the opinion so prevalent among this class of men, that they are in some way or other connected with that per- sonage who has been styled the Prince of the Power of the Air. In every country where they are known, their names have borne some affinity to this belief. They have been called Witches ;'\ Stormy Pe- trels ; the Devil's Birds; Mother Carey's Chickens,^ probably from some celebrated ideal hag of that name ; and their unexpected and nu- merous appearance has frequently thrown a momentary damp over the mind of the hardiest seaman. It is the business of the naturahst, and the glory of philosophy, to * Procellaria Wilsnnn, Bonaparte, Journal Acad. Nat. Sc. Ph. vol. lu., p. 231. — It is not the P. pelagica; of course the synonymes quoted by our author do not belong to this bird. t Arct. Zool. p. 464. X This name seems to have been originally given them by Captain Carteret's sailors, who met with these birds on the coast of Chili. See Hawkesworth's Voy- ages, vol. I., p. 203. (47) 48 STORMY PETREL. examine into the reality of these things ; to dissipate the clouds of error and superstition wherever they begin to darken and bewilder the human understanding; and to illustrate Nature with the radiance of truth. With these objects in view, we shall now proceed, as far as the few facts we possess will permit, in our examination into the history of this celebrated species. The Stormy Petrel, the least of the whole twenty-four species of its tribe enumerated by ornithologists, and the smallest of all palmated fowls, is found over the whole Atlantic Ocean, from Europe to North America, at all distances from land, and in all weathers; but is par- ticularly numerous near vessels immediately preceding and during a gale, when flocks of them crowd in her wake, seeming then more than usually active in picking up various matters from the surface of the water. This presentiment of a change of weather is not peculiar to the Petrel alone ; but is noted in many others, and common to all, even to those long domesticated. The Woodpeckers, the Snow-birds, the Swal- lows, are all observed to be uncommonly busy before a storm, searching for food with great eagerness, as if anxious to provide for the privations of the coming tempest. The common Ducks and the Geese are infallibly noisy and tumultuous before falling weather ; and though, with these, the attention of man renders any extra exertions for food at such times unnecessary, yet they wash, oil, dress and arrange their' plumage with uncommon diligence and activity. The intelligent and observing farmer remarks this bustle, and wisely prepares for the issue ;. but he is not so ridiculously absurd as to suppose, that the storm which follows is pro- duced by the agency of these feeble creatures, who are themselves equal sufi"erers by its effects with man. He looks on them rather as useful moni- tors, who from the delicacy of their organs, and a perception superior to his own, point out the change in the atmosphere before it has become sensible to his grosser feelings ; and thus, in a certain degree, contribute to his security. And why should not those who navigate the ocean con- template the appearance of this unoffending little bird in like manner, instead of eyeing it with hatred and execration ? As well might they curse the midnight light-house, that, star-like, guides them on their watery way, or the buoy, that warns them of the sunken rocks below, as this harmless wanderer, whose manner informs them of the approach of the storm, and thereby enables them to prepare for it. The Stormy Petrels, or Mother Carey's Chickens, breed in great num- bers on the rocky shores of the Bahama and the Bermuda Islands, and in some places on the coast of East Florida and Cuba. They breed in communities like the Bank Swallows, making their nests in the holes and cavities of the rocks above the sea, returning to feed their young only during the night, with the superabundant oily food from their stomachs. At these times they may be heard making a continued cluttering sound STORMY PETREL. 49 like frogs during the ■whole night. In the day they are silent, and wan- der widely over the ocean. This easily accounts for the vast' dis- tance they are sometimes seen from land, even in the breeding season. The rapidity of their flight is at least equal to the fleetness of our Swal- lows. Calculating this at the rate of one mile per minute, twelve hours would be suflScient to waft them a distance of seven hundred and twenty miles ; but it is probable that the far greater part confine themselves much nearer land during that interesting period. In the month of July, while on a voyage from New Orleans to New York, I saw few or none of these birds in the Gulf of Mexico, althougli our ship was detained there by calms for twenty days, and carried by currents as far south as Cape Antonio, the westernmost extremity of Cuba. On entering the gulf stream, and passing along the coasts of Florida and the Carolinas, these birds made their appearance in great numbers, and in all weathers ; contributing much, by their sprightly evolutions of wing, to enliven the scene ; and affording me every day several hours of amusement. It is indeed an interesting sight to ob- serve these little birds in a gale, coursing over the waves, down the declivities, up the ascents of the foaming surf, that threatens to burst over their heads ; sweeping along the hollow troughs of the sea, as in a sheltered valley, and again mounting with the rising billow, and, just above its surface, occasionally dropping their feet, which, striking the water, throw them up again with additional force ; sometimes leaping, with both legs parallel, on the surface of the roughest waves for several yards at a time. Meanwhile they continue coursing from side to side of the ship's wake, making excursions far and wide, to the right and to the left, now a. great way ahead, and now shooting astern for several hundred yards, returning again to the ship as if she were all the while stationary, though perhaps running at the rate of ten knots an hour ! But the most singular peculiarity of this bird is its faculty of standing, and even running, on the surface of the water, which it performs with apparent facility. When any greasy matter is thrown overboard, these birds instantly collect around it, and facing to windward, with their long wings expanded, and their webbed feet patting the water ; the lightness of their bodies, and the action of the wind on their wings, enable them to do this with ease. In calm weather they perform the same manoeuvre, by keeping their wings just so much in action as to prevent their feet from sinking below the surface. According to Buffon,* it is from this singular habit that the whole genus have obtained the name Petrel, from the apostle Peter, who, as Scripture informs us, also walked on the water. As these birds often come up immediately under the stern, one can * Tome xxiii., p. 299. Vol. III.— 4 50 STORMY PETREL. examine their form and plumage with nearly as much accuracy as if they were in the hand. They fly with the wings forming an almost straight horizontal line with the body, the legs extended behind, and the feet partly seen stretching beyond the tail. Their common note of '^weet, weet," is scarcely louder than that of a young Duck of a week old, and much resembling it. During the whole of a dark, wet and boisterous, night which I spent on deck, they flew about the after-rig- ging, making a singular hoarse chattering, which in sound resembled the syllables patret tu cuh cuh tu tu, laying the accent strongly on the second syllable tret. Now and then I conjectured that they alighted on the rigging, making then a lower curring noise. Notwithstanding the superstitious fears of the seamen, who dreaded the vengeance of the survivors, I shot fourteen of these birds one calm day, in lat. 33°, eighty or ninety miles ofi" the coast of Carolina, and had the boat lowered to pick them up. These I examined with con- siderable attention, and found the most perfect specimens as follow : Length six inches and three-quarters ; extent thirteen inches and a, half; bill black, nostrils united in a tubular projection, the upper man- dible grooved thence, and overhanging the lower like that of a bird of prey ; head, back and lower parts, brown sooty black ; greater wing- coverts pale brown, minutely tipped with white ; sides of the vent, and whole tail-coverts, pure white ; wings and tail deep black, the latter nearly even at the tip, or very slightly forked ; in some specimens, two or three of the exterior tail feathers were white for an inch or so at the root ; legs and naked part of the thighs black ; feet webbed, with the slight rudiments of a hind toe ; the membrane of the foot is marked with a spot of straw yellow, and finely serrated along the edges ; eyes black. Male and female difiering nothing in color. On opening these I found the first stomach large, containing numer- ous round semitransparent substances, of an amber color, which I at first suspected to be the spawn of some fish ; but on a more close and careful inspection, they proved to be a vegetable substance, evidently the seeds of some marine plant, and about as large as mustard seed. The stomach of one contained a fish, half digested, so large that I should have supposed it too bulky for the bird to swallow ; another was filled with the tallow which I had thrown overboard ; and all had quantities of the seeds already mentioned, both in their stomachs and gizzards ; in the latter were also numerous minute pieces of barnacle shells. On a comparison of the seeds above mentioned with those of the gulf-weed, so common and abundant in this part of the ocean, they were found to be the same. Thus it appears, that these seeds floating perhaps a little below the surface, and the barnacles with which ships' bottoms usually abound, being both occasionally thrown up to the surface by the action of the vessel through the water, in blowing weather, entice these birds STORMY PETREL. 51 to follow in tte ship's wake at such times, and not, as some ha re ima- gined, merely to seek shelter from the storm, the greatest violence of which they seem to disregard. There is also the greasy dish-washings, and other oily substances, thrown over by the coOk, on which they feed with avidity ; but with great good nature, their manners being so gentle, that I never observed the slightest appearance of quarrelling or dispute among them. One circumstance is worthy of being noticed, and shows the vast range they take over the ocean. In firing at these birds, a quill feather was broken in each wing of an individual, and hung fluttering in the wind, which rendered it so conspicuous among the rest, as to be known to all on board. This bird, notwithstanding its inconvenience, con- tinued with us for nearly a week, during which we sailed a distance of more than four hundred miles to the north. Flocks continued to follow us until near Sandy Hook. The length of time these birds remain on wing is no less surprising. As soon as it was light enough in the morning to perceive them, they were found roaming about as usual ; and I have often sat in the even- ing, in the boat which was suspended at the ship's stern, watching their movements, until it was so dark that the eye could no longer follow them, though I could still hear their low note of weet weet, as they approached near to the vessel below me. These birds are sornetimes driven by violent storms to a considerable distance inland. One was shot some years ago on the river Schuylkill, near Philadelphia ; and Bewick mentions their being found in various quarters of the interior of England. From the nature of their food, their flesh is rank and disagreeable ; though they sometimes become' so fat, that, as Mr. Pennant, on the authority of Brunnich, asserts, " the inhabitants of the Feroe Isles make them serve the purposes of a candle, by drawing a wick through the mouth and rump, which being lighted, the flame is fed by the fat and oil of the body."* Note. — When this work was published, its author was not aware that those birds observed by navigators in almost every quarter of the globe, and known under the name of Stormy Petrels, formed several distinct species ; consequently, relying on the labors of his predecessors, he did not hesitate to name the subject of this chapter the Pelagica, believing it to be identical with that of Europe. But the investigations of later ornithologists having resulted in the conviction that Europe possessed at least two species of these birds, it become a question whether or not those which are common on the coasts of the United States would form a third species ; and an inquiry has established the fact that the Ameri- * Brit. Zool. vol. ii., p. 434. 52 STORMY PETREL. can Stormy Petrel, hitherto supposed to be the true Pelagiea, is an en- tirely distinct species. For this discovery we are indebted to the labors of Charles Bonaparte, from whose interesting paper on the subject, published in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- delphia, we shall take the liberty of making an extract. The author of the paper in question first describes and figures the true Pelagiea of the systems ; secondly, the LeaeJiii, a species described by Temminck, and restricted to the vicinity of the Island of St. Kilda, but which the former found difiused over a great part of the Atlantic, east of the Banks of Newfoundland ; and thirdly, the species of our coasts. He also indicates a fourth, which inhabits the Pacific Ocean ; but whether or not this last be in reality a species different from those named, has not yet been determined.* "When I first procured this species," says Mr. Bonaparte, "I con- . sidered it a nondescript, and noted it as such ; the citation of Wilson's pelagiea, among the synonymes of the true pelagiea, by the most emi- nent ornithologist of the age, M. Temminck, not permitting a doubt of their identity. But havin_g an opportunity of inspecting the very indi- vidual from which Wilson took his figure, and drew up his description, I was undeceived, by proving the unity of my specimens with that of Wilson, and the discrepancy of these with that of Temminck. The latter had certainly never seen an individual from America, otherwise the difference between the two species would not have eluded the accu- rate eye of this naturalist. I propose for this species the name of Wil- gonii, as a small testimony of respect to the memory of the author of the American Ornithology, whose loss science and America will long deplore. The yellow spot upon the membrane of the feet distinguishes this species, at first sight, from the others ; and this character remains permanent in the dried specimens." — Gr. Ord. * Charles Bonaparte, Prince of Musignano, has recently established this species under the name of Procellaria Oceanica; and assigns to it the following essential characters : Tail slightly emarginate, the wings when closed extending more than an inch beyond its tip ; length of the tarsus nearly one inch and three-quarters (eighteen French lines). We extract from his paper, in the Zoological Journal, the following observations : " In comparing this species [P. oceanica) to the three others [P. pelagiea, P. Leachii, and P. Wilsonii), it will be seen that it is the largest and the most varied with white of the subgenus, and that it can be confounded only with P. Wilsonii, to ■which it bears a strong resemblance in shape and color, both having the tarsi greatly elongated, the tube of the nostrils equally recurved, the upper tail-coverts entirely white, &c. But in addition to its much greater size, proportionally longer bill and tarsi, and lighter color, this new species may at first sight be distinguished from it by its wings extending so much beyond the tail, and by the want of the yellow spot on the interdigital membrane, which is found in P. Wilsonii only." — J. H. Gentjs XCVI. MERGUS. MERGANSER. Species I. M. MERGANSER. GOOSANDER. [Plato LXVIII. Fig. 1, Male.] L'Harle, Briss. vi., p. 23], 1, pi. 22.— Buff, tiii., p. 267, pi. 2Z.—Arct. Zool. No. 465. — Lath. Syn. iii.,"p. 418.* This large and handsomely marked bird belongs to a genus diiFerent from that of the Buck, on account of the particular form and serratures of its bill. The genus is characterized as follows : " Bill toothed, slender, cylindrical, hooked at the point ; nostrils small, oval, placed in the middle of the bill ; feet four toed, the outer toe longest." Natu- ralists have denominated it Merganser. In this country the birds com- posing this genus are generally known by the name of Fishermen,, or Fisher ducks. The whole number of known species amount to only nine or ten, dispersed through various quarters of the world ; of these, four species, of which the present is the largest, are known to inhabit the United States. From the common habit of these birds in feeding almost entirely on fin and shell fish, their flesh is held in little estimation, being often lean and rancid, both smelling and tasting strongly of fish; but such are the various peculiarities of tastes, that persons are not wanting who pretend to consider them capital meat. The Goosander, called by some the Water I^easant, and by others the Sheldrake, Fisherman, Diver, &c., is a winter inhabitant only, of the seashores, fresh-water lakes, and rivers of the United States. They usually associate in small parties of six or eight, and are almost con- tinually diving in search of food. In the month of April they disap- pear, and return again early in November. Of their particular place and manner of breeding we have no account. Mr. Pennant observes that they continue the whole year in the Orkneys ; and have been shot in the Hebrides, or Western Islands of Scotland, in summer. They are also found in Iceland, and Greenland, and are said to breed there; * Mergus Merganser, GaEr,. Syst. i., p. 544, No. 2.— Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 828, No. 1. — Le Harle, Buff. PI. Enl. 951, male. — Grand Hark, Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 881. (53) 54 GOOSANDER. some asserting that they build on trees ; others that they make theii nests among the rocks. The male of this species is twenty-six inches in length, and three feet three inches in extent, the bill three inches long, and nearly one inch thick at the base, serrated on both mandibles ; the upper overhanging at the tip, where each is furnished with a large nail ; the ridge of the bill is black, the sides crimson red ; irides red ; head crested, tumid, and of a black color glossed with green, which extends nearly half way down the neck, the rest of which, with the breast and belly, are white tinged with a delicate yellowish cream ; back and adjoining scapulars black ; primaries and shoulder of the wing brownish black ; exterior part of the scapulars, lesser coverts, and tertials white ; secondaries neatly edged with black, greater coverts white, their upper halves black, forming a bar on the wing, rest of the upper parts and tail brownish ash ; legs and feet the color of red sealing-wax ; flanks marked with fine semicircular dotted lines of deep brown ; the tail extends about three inches beyond the wings. This description was taken from a full plumaged male. The young males, which are generally much more numerous than the old ones, so exactly resemble the females in their plumage for at least the first, and part of the second year, as scarcely to be distinguished from them ; and what is somewhat singular, the crests of these and of the females are actually longer than those of the full grown male, though thinner towards its extremities. These circumstances have induced some late Ornithologists to consider them as two different species, the young, or female, having been called the Dun Diver. By this arrangement they have entirely deprived the Goosander of his female ; for in the whole of my examinations and dissections of the present species, I have never yet found the female in Ms dress. What I consider as undoubtedly the true female of this species is figured beside him. They were both shot in the month of April, in the same creek, unaccompanied by any other, and on examination the sexual parts of each were strongly and promi- nently marked. The windpipe of the female had nothing remarkable in it ; that of the male had two very large expansions, which have been briefly described by Willoughby, who says: "It hath a large bony labyrinth on the windpipe, just above the divarications ; and the wind- pipe hath besides two swellings out, one above another, each resembling a powder puff." These labyrinths are the distinguishing characters of the males ; and are always found even in young males who have not yet thrown off the plumage of the female, as well as in the old ones. If we admit these Dun Divers to be a distinct species, we can find no differ- ence between their pretended females and those of the Goosander, only one kind of female of this sort being known, and this is contrary to the usual analogy of the other three species, viz., the Red-breasted Mer- GOOSANDER. 55 ganser, the Hooded and the Smew, all of whose females are well known, and bear the same compa,rative resemblance in color to their respective males, the length of crest excepted, as the female Goosander we have figured bears to him. Having thought thus much necessary on this disputed point, I leave each to form his own opinion on the facts and reasoning produced, and proceed to describe the female. MERGUS. MERGANSER. GOOSANDEE. [Plate LXVIII. Fig. 2, Female.] Dun Diver, Lath. Syn. m., p. 420. — Arct. Zool. No. 465. — Bewick's Brit. Birds, II., p. 23. — TaRT. Syst. p. 335. — L'Harle femelle, Briss. vi., p. 236. — Buff, tiii., p. 272.— Pi. Enl. 933.* This generally measures an inch or two shorter than the male ; the length of the present specimen was twenty-five inches, extent thirty-five inches ; bill crimson on the sides, black above ; irides reddish ; crested head and part of the neck dark brown, lightest on the sides of the neck, where it inclines to a sorrel color ; chin and throat white ; the crest shoots out in long radiating flexible stripes ; upper part of the body, tail, and flanks an ashy slate, tinged with brown ; primaries black ; middle secondaries white, forming a large speculum on the wing ; greater coverts black, tipped for half an inch with white ; sides of the breast, from the sorrel colored part of the neck downwards, very pale ash, with broad semicircular touches of white ; belly and lower part of the breast a fine yellowish cream color, a distinguishing trait also in the male ; legs and feet orange red. * Mergus Castor, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 545, et var. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 829, No. 2. — Dun Diver, Montagu, Orn. Diet. Sup. Species II. MEBGUS SERBATOB. KED-BREASTED MERGANSER. [Plate LXIX, Fig. 2] L'Harle huppie, Briss. vi., p. 237, 2, pi. 23.— Buff, viii., p. 273.— Pi. Enl 207.— Bewick, ii., p. 235, Edw. pi. 95.-^Lath. Syn. in., p. 432. This is much more common in our fresh waters than either of the preceding, and is frequently brought to the Philadelphia market from the shores of the Delaware. It is an inhabitant of both continents. In the United States it is generally migratory ; though a few are occa- sionally seen in autumn, but none of their nests have as yet come under my notice. They also frequent the seashore, keeping within the bays and estuaries of rivers. They swim low in the water, and when wounded in the wing, very dexterously contrive to elude the sportsman or his dog, by diving and coming up at a great distance, raising the bill only, above water, and dipping down again with the greatest silence. The young males of a year old are often found in the plumage of the female ; their food consists of small fry, and various kinds of shell fish. The Red-Breasted Merganser is said by Pennant to breed on Loch Mari in the county of Ross, in North Britain ; and also in the Isle of Hay. Latham informs us that it inhabits most parts of the north of Europe on the continent, and as high as Iceland ; also in the Russian dominions about the great rivers of Siberia, and the Lake Baikal. Is said to be frequent in Greenland, where it breeds on the shores. The inhabitants often take it by darts thrown at it, especially in August, being then in moult. At Hudson's Bay, according to Hutchins, they come in pairs about the beginning of June, as soon as the ice breaks up, and build soon after their arrival, chiefly on dry spots of ground in the islands ; lay from eight to thirteen white eggs, the size of those of a duck ; the nest is made of withered grass, and lined with the down of the breast. The young are of a dirty brown like young goslins. In Octo- ber they all depart southward to the lakes, where they may have open water. This species is twenty-two inches in length, and thirty-two in extent ; the bill is two inches and three-quarters in length, of the color of bright sealing-wax, ridged above with dusky ; the nail at the tip large, blackish, (56) RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 57 and overhanging ; both mandibles are thickly serrated ; irides red ; head furnished with a long hairy crest which is often pendent, but occa- sionally erected, as represented in the plate ; this and part of the neck is black glossed with green ; the neck under this for two or three inches is pure white ; ending in a broad space of reddish ochre spotted with black, which spreads over the lower part of the neck and sides of the breast ; shoulders, back, and tertials deep velvety black, the first marked with a number of singular roundish spots of white ; scapulars white ; wing coverts mostly white, crossed by two narrow bands of black ; primaries black, secondaries white, several of the latter edged with black ; lower part of the back, the rump and tail coverts gray speckled with black ; sides under the wings elegantly crossed with numerous waving lines of black ; belly and vent white ; legs and feet red ; the tail dusky ash ; the black of the back passes up the hind neck in a narrow band to the head. The female is twenty-one inches in length, and thirty in extent ; the crested head and part of the neck are of a dull sorrel color ; irides yellow ; legs and bill red, upper parts dusky slate ; wings black, greater coverts largely tipped with white, secondaries nearly all white ; sides of the breast slightly dusky ; whole lower parts pure white ; the tail is of a lighter slate than the back. The crest is much shorter than in the male, and sometimes there is a slight tinge of ferruginous on the breast. The windpipe of the male of this species is very curious, and differs something from that of the Goosander. About two inches from the mouth it swells out to four times its common diameter, continuing of that size for about an inch and a half. This swelling is capable of being shortened or extended ; it then continues of its first diameter for two inches or more, when it becomes flattish, and almost transparent for other two inches ; it then swells into a bony labyrinth of more than two inches in length by one and a half in width, over the hollow sides of which is spread a yellowish skin like parchment. The left side of this, fronting the back of the bird, is a hard bone. The divarications come out very regularly fram this at the lower end, and enter the lungs. The intention of Nature in this extraordinary structure is probably to enable the bird to take down a supply of air to support respiration while diving ; yet why should the female, who takes the same submarine excursions as the male, be entirely destitute of this apparatus ? Species III. MERGUS ALBELLUS. THE SMEW, OR WHITE NUN. [Hate LXXI. Fig. 4.] Le petit Earle huppi, ou la Picfte, Bkiss. ti., p. 243, 3, pi. 24, fig. 1. — Buff, tiii., p. 275, pi. 24.— PL Enl. 449, male 450, female.— Bewick, ii., p. 238.— Lath. Syn. III., p. ili.—Arct. Zool. No. 468. This is another of those Mergansers commonly known in this country by the appellation of Fishermen, Fisher Ducks, or Divers. The present species is much more common on the coasts of New England than farther to the south. On the shores of New Jersey it is very seldom met with. It is an admirable diver, and can continue for a long time under water. Its food is small fry, shell fish, shrimps, &c. In England, as with us, the Smew is seen only during winter ; it is also found in France, in some parts of which it is called la Piette, as in parts of England it is named the Magpie Diver. Its breeding place is doubtless in the Arctic regions, as it frequents Iceland ; and has been observed to migrate with other Mergansers and several kinds of Ducks up the river Wolga in February.* The Smew, or White Nun, is nineteen inches in length, and two feet three inches in extent ; bill black, formed very much like that of the Eed-breasted M., but not so strongly toothed ; irides dark ; head crested ; crown white, hind head black, round the area of the eye a large oval space of black ; whole neck, breast, and belly white, marked on the upper and lower part of the breast with a curving line of black ; back black ; scapulars white, crossed with several faint dusky bars ; shoulder of the wing and primaries black, secondaries and greater coverts black broadly tipped with white ; across the lesser coverts a large hand of white ; sides and flanks crossed with waving lines ; tail dark ash ; legs and feet pale bluish slate. The female is considerably less than the male ; the bill a dark lead color ; crest of the same peculiar form as that of the male, but less, and of a reddish brown ; marked round the area of the eyes with dusky ; cheeks, fore part of the neck, and belly white ; round the middle of the neck a collar of pale brown ; breast and shoulders dull brown and * Deo. Russ. II., p. 145. (58) HOODED MERGANSER. 59 whitish intermixed ; wings and back marked like those of the male ; but of a deep brownish ash in those parts which in him are black ; legs and feet pale blue. The young birds, as in the other three species, strongly resemble the female during the first and part of the second year. As these changes of color, from the garb of the female to that of the male, take place in the remote regions of the north, we have not the opportunity of detecting them in their gradual progress to full plumage. Hence, as both males and females have been found in the same dress, some writers have considered them as a separate species from the Smew, and have given to them the title of the Red-headed Smew. In the ponds of New England, and- some of the lakes in the state of New York, where the Smew is frequently observed, these red-headed kind are often found in company, and more numerous than the other, for very obvious reasons, and bear, in the markings, though not in the colors, of their plumage, evident proof of their being the same species, but younger-birds or females. The male, like the Muscovy Drake and many others, when arrived at his full size is nearly one-third heavier than the female, and this disproportion of weight, and difference of color, in the full grown males and females are characteristic of the whole genus. Species IV. MEBGUS CUCULLATUS. HOODED MERGANSEE. [Plate IXIX. Fig. 1.] L'Harle hupp4 de Virginie, Briss. vi., p. 258, 8. — PI. Enl. 935 male, 936 female. — L'Harle couronn^. Buff, viit., p, 280. — Round-crested Duck. Bdw. pi. 360. — Catesb. I., pi. 94.— ^rd. Zool. No. 467.— Lath. Syn. JO, p. 426. This species on the seacoast is usually called the Hairy head. They are more common, however, along our lakes and fresh-water rivers than near the sea ; tracing up creeks, and visiting mill ponds, diving perpe- tually for their food. In the creeks and rivers of the Southern States they are very frequently seen during the winter. Like the Red- breasted they are migratory, the manners, food, and places of resort of both being very much alike. The Hooded Merganser is eighteen inches in length, and two feet in extent ; bill blackish red, narrow, thickly toothed, and furnished with a projecting nail at the extremity ; the head is ornamented with a large circular crest, which the bird has the faculty of raising or depressing at pleasure ; the fore part of this, as far as the eye, is black, thence to 60 HOODED MERGANSER. the hind head white and elegantly tipped with hlack ; it is composed of two separate rows of feathers, radiating from each side of the head, and which may be easily divided by the hand ; irides golden ; eye very small ; neck black, which spreads to and over the back ; part of the lesser wing coverts very pale ash, under which the greater coverts and secondaries form four alternate bars of black and white, tertials long, black, and streaked down the middle with white ; the black on the back curves handsomely round in two points on the breast, which, with the whole lower parts, are pure white ; sides under the wings and flanks reddish brown, beautifully crossed with parallel lines of black ; tail poinljed, consisting of twenty feathers of a sooty brown ; legs and feet flesh colored ; claws large and stout. The windpipe has a small labyrinth. The female is rather less, the crest smaller- and of a light rust or dull ferruginous color, entirely destitute of the white ; the upper half of the neck a dull drab, with semicircles of lighter, the white on the wings is the same as in the male ; but the tertials are shorter and have less white ; the back is blackish brown ; the rest of the plumage corresponds very nearly with the male. This species is peculiar to America ; is said to arrive at Hudson's Bay about the end of May ; builds close to the lakes ; the nest is com- posed of grass lined with feathers from the breast ; is said to lay six white eggs. The young are yellow, and fit to fly in July.* * Hutchins, as quoted by Latham. Genus XCVII. ANAS. DUCK Species I. ANAS CANADENSIS. ' CANADA GOOSE. [Plate LXVII. Fig. 4.] L'Oye sauvage de Canada, Briss. ti., p. 272, 4, pi. 26. — L'Oie d cravaie, Bwpf. ii., p. 82.— Edv. pi. 151.— Arci. Zool. No. 471.— Catesbt, i., pi. 92.— Lath. Syn. III., p. 450.* This is the common Wild Goose of the United States, universally known over the ■whole country ; whose regular periodical migrations are the sure signals of returning spring, or approaching winter. The tracts of their vast migratory journeys are not confined to the seacoast or its vicinity. In their aerial voyages to and from the north, these winged pilgrims pass over the interior on hoth sides of the mountains, aa far west, at least, as the Osage river, and I have never yet visited any quarter of the country where the inhabitants are not familiarly ac- quainted with the regular passing and repassing of the Wild Geese. The general opinion here is that they are on their way to the lakes to breed ; but the inhabitants on the confines of the great lakes that sepa- rate us from Canada, are equally ignorant with ourselves of the parti- cular breeding places of those birds. There their journey north is but commencing, and how far it extends it is impossible for us at present to ascertain, from our little acquaintance with these frozen regions. They were seen by Hearne in large flocks within the arctic circle, and were then pursuing their way still further north. Captain Phipps speaks of seeing Wild Geese feeding at the water's edge, on the dreary coast of Spitzbergen, in lat. 80° 27'. It is highly probable that they extend their migrations under the very pole itself, amid the silent desolation of unknown countries, shut out ever since creation from the prying eye of man by everlasting and insuperable barriers of ice. That such places abound with their suitable food we cannot for a moment doubt ; while the absence of their great destroyer man, and the splendors of a perpe- tual day, may render such regions the most suitable for their purpose. Having fulfilled the great law of nature, the approaching rigors of * Anas Canadensis, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 514.— Pi. Enl. 346. — Ind. Orn., p. 838, No. 17. (61) 62 CANADA GOOSE. that dreary climate oblige these vast congregated flocks to steer for the more genial regions of the south. And no sooner do they arrive at those countries of the earth inhabited by man, than carnage and slaughter is commenced on their ranks. The English at Hudson's Bay, says Pennant, depend greatly on Geese, and in favorable years kill three or four thousand, and barrel them up for use. They send out their servants as well as Indians to shoot these birds on their passage. It is in vain to pursue them ; they therefore form a row of huts, made of boughs, at musket-shot distance from each other, and place them in a line across the vast marshes of the country. Each stand, or hovel, as they are called, is occupied by only a single person. These attend the flight of the birds, and on their approach mimic their cackle so well, that the Geese will answer and wheel and come nearer the stand. The sportsman keeps motionless, and on his knees with his gun cocked the whole time, and never fires till he has seen the eyes of the Geese. He fires as they are going from him, then picks up another gun that lies by him and discharges that. The Geese which he has killed he sets upon sticks, as if alive, to decoy others ; he also makes artificial birds for the same purpose. In a good day, for they fly in very uncertain and une- qual numbers, a single Indian will kill two hundred. Notwithstanding every species of Goose has a different call, yet the Indians are admira- ble in their imitations of every one. The autumnal flight lasts from the middle of August to the middle of October ; those which are taken in this season, when the frosts begin, are preserved in their feathers, and left to be frozen for the fresh provisions of the winter stock. The feathers constitute an article of commerce, and are sent to England. The vernal flight of the Geese lasts from the middle of April until the middle of May. Their first appearance coincides with the thawing of the swamps, when they are very lean. Their arrival from the south is impatiently attended ; it is the harbinger of the spring, and the month named by the Indians the Goose moon. They appear usually at their settlements about St. George's Day, 0. S., and fly northward to nestle in security. They prefer islands to the continent, as fartl-or from the haunts of man.* After such prodigious havoc as thus appears to be made among these birds, and their running the gauntlet, if I may so speajs, for many hundreds of miles through such destructive fires, no wonder they should have become more scarce, as well as shy, by the time they reach the shores of the United States. Their first arrival on the coast of New Jersey is early in October, and their first numerous appearance is the sure prognostic of severe weather. Those which continue all winter frequent the shallow bays and marsh * Arct. Zool. CANADA GOOSE. 68 islands ; their principal food being the broad tender green leaves of a marine plant which grows on stones and shells, and is usually called sea-cabbage ; and also the roots of the sedge, which they are frequently observed in the act of tearing up. Every few days they make an eji- cursion to the inlets on the beach for gravel. They cross, indiscrimi- nately, over land or water, generally taking the nearest course to their object ; differing in this respect from the Brant, which will often go a great way round by water rather than cross over the land. They swim well ; and if wing-broken, dive and go a great way under water, causing the sportsman a great deal of fatigue before he can kill them. Except in very calm weather they rarely sleep on the water, but roost all night in the marshes. When the shallow bays are frozen, they seek the mouths of inlets near the sea, occasionally visiting the air holes in the ice ; but these bays are seldom so completely frozen as to prevent them from feeding on the bars. The flight of the Wild Geese is heavy and laborious, generally in a straight line, or in two lines approximating to a point, thus >- ; in both cases the van is led by an old gander, who every now and then pipes his well known honk, as if to ask how they come on, and the honk of " all's well " is generally returned by some of the party. Their course is in a straight line, with the exception of the undulations of their flight. When bewildered in foggy weather, they appear sometimes to be in great distress, flying about in an irregular manner, and for a considerable time over the same quarter, making a great clamor. On these occasions should they approach the earth, and alight, which they sometimes do, to rest and re-collect themselves, the only hospitality they meet with is death and destruction from a whole neighborhood already in arms for their ruin. Wounded Geese have, in numerous instances, been completely domes- ticated, and readily pair with the tame Gray Geese. The offspring are said to be larger than either ; but the characteristic marks of the Wild Goose still predominate. The gunners on the seashore have long been in the practice of taming the wounded of both sexes, and have some- times succeeded in getting them to pair and produce. The female always seeks out the most solitary place for her nest, not far from the water. On the approach of every spring, however, these birds discover symptoms of great uneasiness, frequently looking up into the air, and attempting to go ofi". Some whose wings have been closely cut, have travelled on foot in a northern direction, and have been found at the distance of several miles from home. They hail every flock that passes overhead, and the salute is sure to be returned by the voyagers, who are only prevented from alighting among them by the presence and habita- tions of man. The gunners take one or two of those domesticated Geese with them to those parts of the marshes over which the wild ones 64 CANADA GOOSE. are accustomed to fly ; and concealing themselves within gun-shot, wait for a flight, which is no sooner perceived by the decoy Geese, than they begin calling aloud, until the whole flock approaches so near as to give them an opportunity of discharging two and sometimes three loaded muskets among it, by which great havoc is made. The Wild Goose, when in good order, weighs from ten to twelve, and sometimes fourteen pounds. They are sold in the Philadelphia markets at from seventy-five cents to one dollar each ; and are estimated to yield half a pound of feathers a piece, which produces twenty-five or thirty cents more. The Canada Goose is now domesticated in numerous quarters of the country, and is remarked for being extremely watchful, and more sensi- ble of approaching changes in the atmosphere than the common Gray Goose. In England, France, and Germany, they have also been long ago domesticated. BufFon, in his account of this bird, observes, " within these few years many hundreds inhabited the great canal at Versailles, where they breed familiarly with the Swans ; they were oftener on the grassy margins than in the water ;" and adds, " there is at present a great number of them on the magnificent pools that decorate the charming gardens of Chantilly." Thus has America already added to the stock of domestic fowls two species, the Turkey and the Canada Goose, superior to most in size, and inferior to none in usefulness ; for it is acknowledged by an English naturalist of good observation, that this last species " is as familiar, breeds as freely, and is in every respect as valuable as the common Goose."* The strong disposition of the wounded Wild Geese to migrate to the north in spring, has been already taken notice of. Instances have occurred where, their wounds having healed, they have actually suc- ceeded in mounting into the higher regions of the air, and joined a pass- ing party to the north ; and, extraordinary as it may appear, I am well assured by the testimony of several respectable persons, who have been eye-witnesses to the fact, that they have been also known to return again in the succeeding autumn to their former habitation. These accounts are strongly corroborated by a letter which I some time ago received from an obliging correspondent at New York ; which I shall here give at large, permitting him to tell his story in his own way, and conclude my history of this species. " Mr. Piatt, a respectable farmer on Long Island, being out shooting in one of the bays which, in that part of the country, abound with water fowl, wounded a Wild Goose. Being wing-tipped, and unable to fly, he caught it, and brought it home alive. It proved to be a female ; and turning it into his yard, with a flock of tame Geese, it soon became * Bewick, v. ii., p. 255. CANADA GOOSE. 65 quite tame and familiar, and in a little time its wounded wing entirely healed. In the following spring, when the Wild Geese migrate to the northward, a flock passed over Mr. Piatt's harn yard; and just at that moment their leader happening to sound his bugle-note, our Goose, in whom its new habits and enjoyments had not quite extinguished the love of liberty, and remembering the well-known sound, spreads its wings, mounted into the air, joined the travellers, and soon disappeared. In the succeeding autumn the Wild Geese (as was usual) returned from the northward in great numbers, to pass the winter in our bays and rivers. Mr. Piatt happened to .be standing in his yard when a flock passed directly over his barn. At that instant, he observed three Geese detach themselves from the rest, and after wheeling round several times, alight in the middle of the yard. Imagine his surprise and pleasure, when by certain well remembered signs, he recognised in one of the three his long lost fugitive. It was she indeed ! She had travelled many hundred miles to the lakes ; had there hatched and reared her offspring ; and had now returned with her little family, to share with them the sweets of civilized life. " The truth ofthe foregoing relation can be attested by many respecta- ble people, to whom Mr. Piatt has related the circumstances as above detailed. The birds were all living, ana in his possession, about a year ago, and had shown no disposition whatever to leave him." The length of this species is three feet, extent five feet two inches ; the bill is black ; irides dark hazel ; upper half of the neck black, marked on the chin and lower part of the head with a large patch of white, its distinguishing character ; lower part of the neck before white ; back and wing-coverts brown, each feather tipped with whitish ; rump and tail black ; tail coverts and vent white ; primaries black, reaching to the extremity of the tail ; sides pale ashy brown ; legs and feet blackish ash. The male and female are exactly alike in plumage. Vol. III.— 5 Species II. ANAS ETPERBOBEA. SNOW GOOSE. [Plate IVIII. Fig. 3, Male.] L'Oye de Neige, Briss. ti., p. 288, 10. — White Brant, Lawson's Carolina, p. 157.— Arct. Zool. No. in.— Phil. Trans. 62, p. 413.— Lath. Syn. in., p. 445.* This bird is particularly deserving of the further investigation of naturalists ; for, if I do not greatly mistake, English writers have, from the various appearances which this species assumes in its progress to perfect plumage, formed no less than four difiFerent kinds, which they describe as so many distinct species, viz., the Snow Croose, the White fronted or Laughing Goose, the Bean Goose, and the Blue-winged Goose ; all of which, I have lilitle doubt, will hereafter be found to be nothing more than perfect and imperfect individuals, male and female, of the Snow Goose, now before us.f This species, called on the seacoast the Red Goose, arrives in the river Delaware from the north, early in November, sometimes in con- siderable flocks, and is extremely noisy, their notes being shriller and more squeaking than those of the Canada, or common Wild Goose. On their first arrival tliey make but a short stay, proceeding, as the depth of winter approaches, farther to the south; but from the middle of February until the breaking up of the ice in March, they are frequently numerous along both shores of the Delaware, about and below Reedy Island, particularly near Old Duck Creek, in the state of Delaware. They feed on the roots of the reeds there, tearing them up from the marshes like hogs. Their flesh, like most others of their tribe that feed on vegetables, is excellent. The Snow Goose is two feet eight inches in length, and five feet in extent ; the bill is three inches in length, remarkably thick at the base, and rising high in the forehead ; but becomes small and compressed at the extremity, where each mandible is furnished with a whitish rounding * Anas hyperborea, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 504, No. 54. — Ind. Orn. p. 837, No. 14. — Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 816. t This conjecture of our author is partly erroneous. The SnoVf Goose and the Blue-winged Goose are synonymous ; but the other two named are distinct species, the characters of which are well defined by late ornithologists. (66) SNOW GOOSE. 67 nail ; the color of the bill is a purplish carmine ; the edges of the two mandibles separate from each other in a singular manner for their whole length, and this gibbosity is occupied by dentated rows resembling teeth, these and the parts adjoining being of a blackish color ; the whole plumage is of a snowy whiteness, with the exception, first of the fore part of the head all round as far as the eyes, which is of a yellowish rust color intermixed with white, and second, the nine exterior quill feathers, which are black shafted with white, and white at the root, the coverts of these last, and also the bastard wing, is sometimes of a pale ash color ; the legs and feet of the same purplish carmine as the bill ; iris dark hazel ; the tail is rounded, and consists of sixteen feathers ; that and the wings when shut, nearly of a length. The bill of this bird is singularly curious ; the edges of the upper and lower gibbosities have each twenty-three indentations, or strong teeth on each side ; the inside or concavity of the upper mandible has also seven lateral rows of strong projecting teeth ; and the tongue, which is horny at the extremity, is armed on each side with thirteen long and sharp bony teeth, placed like those of a saw with their points directed backwards ; the tongue, turned up and viewed on its lower side, looks very much like a human finger with its nail. This conformation of the mandibles, exposing two rows of strong teeth, has probably given rise to the epithet Laughing, bestowed on one of its varieties ; though it might with as much propriety have been named the Grinning Goose. The specimen from which the above figure and description were taken, was shot on the Delaw^are, below Philadelphia, on the fifteenth of February ; and on dissection proved to be a male ; the windpipe had no labyrinth, but for an inch or two before its divarication into the lungs, was inflexible, not extensile like the rest, and rather wider in diameter. The gullet had an expansion before entering the stomach ; which last was remarkably strong, the two great grinding muscles being nearly five inches in diameter. The stomach was filled with fragments of the roots of reeds, and fine sand. The intestines measured eight feet in length, and were not remarkably thick. The liver was small. For the young and female of this species, see Plate LXIX., fig. 5. Latham observes that this species is very numerous at Hudson's Bay ; that they visit Severn river in' May, and stay a fortnight, but go farther north to breed ; they return to Severn Fort the beginning of September, and stay till the middle of October, when^they depart for the south, and are observed to be attended by their young in flocks innu- merable. They seem to occupy also the western side of America, as they were seen at Aoonalashka* as well as Kamtschatka.f White Brant with black tips to their wings, were also shot by Captains Lewis and * Ellis's Narr. t Hist. Kamtsch. 63 YOUNG OF THE SNOW GOOSE. Clark's exploring party, near the moutli of the Columbia river, which were probably the same as the present species.* Mr. Pennant says " they are taken by the Siberians in nets, under which they are decoyed by a person covered with a white skin, and crawling on all-fours ; when others driving them, these stupid birds mistaking him for their leader, follow him, when they are entangled in the nets, or led into a kind of pound made for the purpose !" We might here with propriety add — This wants confirmation. ANAS HVPEBBOREA. YOUNG OF THE SNOW GOOSE. [Plate IXIX. Fig. 5, Female.] Bean Goose? Lath. Syn. in., p. i^^.— White-fronted Goose? Ibid, in., p. 463.— Arct. Zool. No. 474. Blue^winged Goose? Lath. Syn. in., p. 469.t The full plumaged perfect male bird of this species has already been figured in the preceding plate, and I now hazard a conjecture, founded on the best examination I could make of the young bird here figured, comparing it with the descriptions of the different acfcounts above referred to, that the whole of them have been taken from the various individuals of the present, in a greater or lesser degree of approach to its true and perfect colors. These birds pass along our coasts, and settle in our rivers, every autumn ; among thirty or forty there are seldom more than six or eight pure white, or old birds. The rest vary so much that no two are exactly alike ; yet all bear the most evident marks in the particular structure of their bills, &c., of being the same identical species. A gradual change so great, as from a bird of this color to one of pure white, must necessarily produce a number of varieties, or difiefences in the appear- ance of the plumage, but the form of the bill and legs remains the same, and any peculiarity in either is the surest means we have to detect a species under all its various appearances. It is therefore to be regretted, that the authors above referred to in the synonymes, have paid so little attention to the singular conformation of the bill ; for even in their * Gass's Journal, p. 161. t Anas cmrulescens, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 513, No. 12. — hid. Orn. p. 836, No. 13. Blue-winged Goose, Lath. Sup. ii., p. 346, No. 8. — V Oye sauvage de la Baye de Hudson, Bkiss. vi , p. 275, No. 5. — L' Oye des Esquimaux, Buff, ix., p. 80. YOUNG OF THE SNOW GOOSE. 69 description of the Snow Goose, neither that nor the internal peculiari- ties, are at all mentioned. The length of the bird represented in our plate, was twenty-eight inches, extent four feet eight inches ; bill gibbous at the sides both above and below, exposing the teeth of the upper and lower mandibles, and furnished with a nail at the tip on both ; the whole being of a light reddish purple or pale lake, except the gibbosity, which is black, and the two nails, which are of a pale light blue ; nostril pervious, an oblong slit, placed nearly in the middle of the upper mandible ; irides dark brown ;* whole head and half of the neck white; rest of the neck and breast, as well as upp6r part of the back, of a purplish brown, darkest where it joins the white ; all the feathers being finely tipped with pale brown ; whole wing c.overts very pale ash, or light lead color, primaries and secondaries black ; tertials long, tapering, centered with black, edged with light blue, and usually fall over the wing ; scapulars cinereous brown ; lower parts of the back and rump of the same light ash as the wing coverts ; tail rounded, blackish, consisting of sixteen feathers edged and tipped broadly with white ; tail coverts white ; belly and vent whitish, intermixed with cinereous ; feet and legs of the same lake color as the bill. This specimen was a female ; the tongue was thick and fleshy, armed on each side with thirteen strong bony teeth, exactly similar in appear- ance as well as in number, to those on the tongue of the Snow Goose ; the inner concavity of the upper mandible was also studded with rows of teeth. The stomach was extremely muscular, filled with some vege- table matter, and clear gravel. With this another was shot, differing considerably in its markings, having little or no white on the head, and being smaller ; its general color dark brown intermixed with pale ash, and darker below, but evi- dently of the same species with the other. Species III. ANAS BERNICLA. THE BRANT. [Plate LXXII. Fig. 1.] Le Oravant, Briss. vi., p. 304, 16, pi. 31.— Bdff. ix., p. 87.— Bewick, ii., p. 277. -Lath. Syn. in., p. 4&7.—Arct. Zool. No. 478.* The Brant, or as it is usually written Brent, is a bird well known on both continents, and celebrated in former times throughout Europe for the singularity of its origin, and the strange transformations it was sup- posed to undergo previous to its complete organization. Its first ap- pearance was said to be in the form of a barnacle shell adhering to old water-soaked logs, trees, or other pieces of wood taken from the sea. Of this Croose-hearing tree Gerard, in his Herbal, published in 1597, has given a formal account, and seems to have reserved it for the conclu- sion of his work as being the most wonderful of all he had to describe. The honest naturalist however, though his belief was fixed, acknowledges that his own personal information was derived from certain shells, which adhered to a rotten tree that he dragged out of the sea between Dover and Romney in England ; in some of which he found " living things without forme or shape ; in others which were nearer come to ripeness, living things that were very naked, in shape like a birde ; in others the birds covered with soft downe, the shell half open and the birde readie to fall out, which no doubt were the foules called Barnakles."t Ridiculous and chimerical as this notion was, it had many advocates, and was at that time as generally believed, and with about as much reason too, as the present opinion of the annual submersion of swallows, so tenaciously insisted on by some of our philosophers, and which, like the former absurdity, will in its turn disappear before the penetrating radiance and calm investigation of truth. The Brant and Barnacle Goose, though generally reckoned two dif- ferent species, I consider to be the same.J Among those large flocks * Anas Bernicla, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 513, No. 13. — Ind. Orn. p. 844, No. 32. — Le Cravant, Buff. PI. Enl. 342. Oie Cravant, Temm. Man. d'Orn. p. 824. t See Gerard's Herbal, Art. Goose-bearing Tree. X The ridiculous account of the origin of the Barnacle Goose, extracted from the Herbal of Gerard, is retained for the amusement of the reader ; but it is necessary to state, that the opinion of our author with respect to the identity of the Brant and Barnacle is erroneous, these birds forming distinct species. (70) THE BRANT. 71 that arrive on our coasts about the beginning of October, individuals frequently occur corresponding in tbeir markings with that called the Barnacle of Europe, that is, in having the upper parts lighter, and the front, cheeks, and chin whitish. These appear evidently a variety of the Brant, probably young birds ; what strengthens this last opinion is the fact that none of them are found so marked on their return north- ward in the spring. The Brant is expected at Egg Harbor on the coast of New Jersey about the first of October, and has been sometimes seen as early as the twentieth of September. The first flocks generally remain in the bay a few days, and then pass on to the south. On recommencing their journey, they collect in one large body, and making an extensive spiral course, some miles in diameter, rise to a great height in the air, and then steer for the sea, over which they uniformly travel ; often making wide circuits to avoid passing over a projecting point of land. In these aerial routes they have been met with many leagues from shore, travel- ling the whole night. Their line of march very much resembles that of the Canada Goose, with this exception, that frequently three or four are crowded together in the front, as if striving for precedency. Flocks continue to arrive from the north, and many remain in the bay till December, or until the weather becomes very severe, when these also move oiF southwardly. During their stay they feed on the bars at low water, seldom or never in the marshes ; their principal food being a remarkably long and broad-leaved marine plant, of a bright green color, which adheres to stones, and is called by the country people sea cab- bage ; the leaves of this are sometimes eight or ten inches broad by two or three feet in length ; they also eat small shell fish. They never dive, but wade about feeding at low water. During the time of high water they float in the bay in long lines, particularly in calm weather. Their voice is hoarse and honking, and when some hundreds are screaming together, reminds one of a pack of hounds in full cry. They often quarrel among themselves, and with the Ducks, driving the latter ofi" their feeding ground. Though it never dives in search of food, yet when wing broken the Brant will go one hundred yards at a stretch under water ; and is considered, in such circumstances, one of the most difiicult birds to kill. About the fifteenth or twentieth of May they reappear on their way north ; but seldom stop long, unless driven in by tempestuous weather. The breeding place of the Brant is supposed to be very far to the north. They are common at Hudson's Bay, very numerous in winter on the coasts of Holland and Ireland ; are called in Shetland Harra Geese, from their frequenting the sound of that name ; they also visit the coast of England. Bufibn relates, that in the severe winters of 1740 and 1765, during the prevalence of a strong north wind, the Brant 72 THE BRANT. visited the coast of Picardy in France, in prodigious multitudes, and committed great depredations on the corn, tearing it up by the roots, trampling and devouring it ; and notwithstanding the exertions of the inhabitants, ■who were constantly employed in destroying them, they continued in great force until a change of weather carried them off. The Brant generally weighs about four pounds avoirdupois, and measures two feet in length, and three feet six inches in extent ; the bill is about an inch and a half long, and black ; the nostril large, placed nearly in its middle ; head, neck, and breast black, the neck marked with a spot of white, about two inches below the eye ; belly pale ash edged with white ; from the thighs backwards white ; back and wing coverts dusky brownish black, the plumage lightest at the tips ; rump and middle of the tail coverts black, the rest of the tail coverts pure white, reaching nearly to the tip of the tail, the whole of which is black, but usually concealed by the white coverts ; primaries and secon- daries deep black ; legs also black ; irides dark hazel. The only material difference observable between the plumage of the male and female, is, that in the latter the white spot on the neck is less, and more mottled with dusky. In young birds it is sometimes wanting, or occurs on the front, cheeks, and chin ; and sometimes the upper part of the neck, only, is black,* but in full plumaged birds, of both sexes, the markings are very much alike. The Brant is often seen in our markets for sale. Its flesh, though esteemed by many, tastes somewhat sedgy, or fishy. * The figure of this bird given by Bewick, is in that state. Species IV. ANAS CLTPEATA. SHOVELLER [Plate LXVII. Fig. 7.] -PI. Enl. 971— Arct. Zool. No. 485. — Catesb. i., pi. 96, female. — Lath. Si/7i. iii., p. 509.* If we accept the singularly formed and disproportionate size of the bill, there are few Ducks more beautiful, or more elegantly marked than this. The excellence of its flesh, which is uniformly juicy, tender, and well tasted, is another recommendation to which it is equally enti- tled. It occasionally visits the seacoast ; but is more commonly found on our lakes and rivers, particularly along their muddy shores, where it spends great part of its time in searching for small worms, and the larvae of insects, sifting the watery mud through the long and finely set teeth of its curious bill, which is admirably constructed for the purpose ; being large, to receive a considerable quantity of matter, each mandible bordered with close-set, pectinated rows, exactly resembling those of a weaver's reed, which fitting into each other form a kind of sieve, capa- ble of retaining very minute worms, seeds, or insects, which constitute the principal food of the bird. The Shoveller visits us only in 'the winter, and is not known to breed in any part of the United States. It is a common bird of Europe, and, according to M. Baillon, the correspondent of Bufibn, breeds yearly in the marshes in France. The female is said to make her nest on the ground, with withered grass, in the midst of the largest tufts of rushes or coarse herbage, in the most inaccessible part of the slaky marsh, and lays ten or twelve pale rust-colored eggs ; the young, as soon as hatched, are conducted to the water by the parent birds. They are said to be at first very shapeless and ugly, for the bill is then as broad as the body, and seems too great a weight for the little bird to carry. Their plumage does not acquire its full colors until after the second moult. * We add the following 8ynonynie.s. — Anas clypeata, Gmel. Syst. i., p 518, No. 19. A. Mexicana, Id. p. 519, No. 81?—^. rubens, Id. No. 82.— Lath. Ind. Orn. p; 856, No. 60 ; p. 857, No. 61, No. 62. Gen. Syn. in., p. 511, No. 56 ; p. 512, No. 57. Blue-wing Shoveller, Catesbt, i., pi. 96, female. — Br. Zool. No. 280, No. 281. — Le Souchet du Mexique, Briss. vi., p. 337. Le Canard Sauvage du Mexique, Id. p 327, No. 5.— Canard SoucJiet, Tbm.m. Man. d' Orn. p. 842.— Bewick, ii., p. 310, 3n r (73) 74 SHOVELLER. The Blue-winged Shoveller is twenty inches long, and two feet six inches in extent; the bill is brownish black, three inches in length, greatly widened near the extremity, closely pectinated on the sides, and furnished with a nail on the tip of each mandible ; irides bright orange ; tongue large and fleshy ; the inside of the upper and outside of the lower mandible are grooved so as to receive distinctly the long, sepa- rated reed-like teeth ; there is also a gibbosity in the two mandibles, which do not meet at the sides, and this vacuity is occupied by the sifters just mentioned ; head and upper half of the neck glossy, change- able green ; rest of the neck and breast white, passing round and nearly meeting above ; whole belly dark reddish chestnut ; flanks a brownish yellow, pencilled transversely with black, between which and the vent, which is black, is a band of white ; back blackish brown, exterior edges of the scapulars white ; lesser wing coverts and some of the tertials a fine light sky-blue ; beauty spot on the wing a changeable resplendent bronze green, bordered above by a band of white, and below with another of velvety black ; rest of the wing dusky, some of the tertials streaked down their middles with white ; tail dusky, pointed, broadly edged with white ; legs and feet reddish orange, hind toe not finned. With the above another was shot, which differed in having the breast spotted with dusky, and the back with white ; the green plumage of the head intermixed with gray, and the belly with circular touches of white ; evidently a young male in its imperfect plumage. The female has the crown of a dusky brown ; rest of the head and neck yellowish white, thickly spotted with dark brown ; these spots on the breast become larger, and crescent-shaped ; back and scapulars dark brown, edged and centered with yellow ochre ; belly slightly rufous, mixed with white ; wing nearly as in the male. On dissection the labyrinth in the windpipe of the male was found to be small ; the trachea itself seven inches long ; the intestines nine feet nine inches in length, and about the thickness of a crow quill. Species V. ANAS BOSCHAS. THE MALLARD. [Plate LXX, Fig. 7.] Lath. 8yn. in., p. 489. — Bewick, ii., p. 291. — Le Canard Sauvage, Briss. vi., p. 318, 4.— Buff, ix., p. 115, pi. 7, 8.* The Mallard, or common "Wild Drake, is so universally known as scarcely to require a description. It measures twenty-four inches in length, by three feet in extent, and weighs upwards of two pounds and a half ;t the bill is greenish yellow ; irides hazel ; head and part of the neck deep glossy changeable green, ending in a narrow collar of white ; the rest of the neck and breast are of a dark purplish chestnut ; lesser wing coverts brown ash, greater crossed near the extremities with a band of white, and tipped with another of deep velvety black ; below this lies the speculum, or beauty spot, of a rich and splendid light purple, with green and violet reflections, bounded on every side with black ; quills pale brownish ash ; back brown, skirted with paler ; sca- pulars whitish, crossed with fine undulating lines of black ; rump and tail coverts black glossed with green, tertials very broad and pointed at the ends ; tail consisting of eighteen feathers, whitish, centered with brown ash, the four middle ones excepted, which are narrow, black glossed with violet, remarkably concave, and curled upwards to a com- plete circle ; belly and sides a fine gray, crossed by an infinite number of fine waving lines, stronger and more deeply marked as they approach the vent ; legs and feet orange red. The female has the plumage of the upper parts dark brown broadly bordered with brownish yellow; and the lower parts yellow ochre spotted and streaked with deep brown ; the chin and throat for about two inches, plain yellowish white ; wings, bill, and legs, nearly as in the male. The windpipe of the male has a bony labyrinth, or bladder- like knob * Anas Boschas, Gmel. Si/st i., p. 538, No. 40.— Ind. Orn. p. 850, No. ^^.—Arct. Zool. No. 494.— £f. Zool. No. 279.— ie Canard Sauvage, PI. Enl. 776, male ; 777, female. t Mr. Ord shot a male on the Delaware, in the month of April, which weighed three pounds five ounces ; and he saw them in Florida, in the winter, when they are fatter than in the spring, of greater weight. In the month of March he shot two females, in East Florida, weighing two pounds each. (75) 76 THE MALLARD. puffing out from the left side. The intestines measure six feet, and are as wide as those of the Canvas-back. The windpipe is of uniform diameter until it enters the labyrinth. This is the original stock of the common domesticated Duck, reclaimed, time immemorial, from a state of nature, and now become so serviceable to man. In many individuals the general garb of the tame Drake seems to have undergone little or no alteration ; but the stamp of slavery is strongly imprinted in his dull indifferent eye, and grovelling gait ; while the lofty look, long tapering neck, and sprightly action of the former, bespeak his native spirit and independence. The common Wild Duck is found in every fresh-water lake and river of the United States in winter ; but seldom frequents the seashores or salt marshes. Their summer residence is the north, the great nursery of this numerous genus. Instances have been known of some solitary pairs breeding here in autumn. In England these instances are more common. The nest is usually placed in the most solitary recesses of the marsh, or bog, amidst coarse grass, reeds, and rushes, and generally contains from twelve to sixteen eggs of a dull greenish white. The young are led about by the mother in the same manner as those of the tame Duck ; but with a superior caution, a cunning and watchful vigilance peculiar to her situation. The male attaches himself to one female, as among other birds in their native state, and is the guardian and protector of her and her feeble brood. The Mallard is numerous in the rice fields of the Southern States during winter, many of the fields being covered with a few inches of water, and the scattered grains of the former harvest lying in abundance, the Ducks swim about and feed at pleasure. The flesh of the common Wild Duck is in general and .high estima- tion ; and the ingenuity of man, in every country where it frequents, has been employed in inventing stratagems to overreach these wary birds, and procure a delicacy for the table. To enumerate all these various contrivances would far exceed our limits ; a few, however, of the most simple and efi"ective may be mentioned. In some ponds frequented by these birds, five or six wooden figures, cut and painted so as to represent ducks, and sunk, by pieces of lead nailed on their bottoms, so as to float at the usual depth on the surface, are anchored in a favorable position for being raked from a concealment of brush, &c., on shore. The appearance of these usually attracts passing flocks, which alight, and are shot down. Sometimes eight or ten of these painted wooden ducks are fixed on a frame in various swimming postures, and secured to the bow of the gunner's skiff, pro- jecting before it in such a manner that the weight of the frame sinks the figures to their proper depth ; the skiff is then dressed with sedge or coarse grass in an artful manner, as low as the water's edge ; and THE MALLARD. 77 under cover of this, -wliicli appears like a party of ducks swimming by a small island, the gunner floats down sometimes to the very skirts of a whole congregated multitude, and pours in a destructive and repeated fire of shot among them. In winter, when detached pieces of ice are occasionally floating in the river, some of the gunners on the Delaware paint their whole skiif or canoe white, and laying themselves flat at the bottom, with their hand over the side silently managing a small paddle, direct it imperceptibly into or near a flock, before the Ducks have dis- tinguished it from a floating mass of ice, and generally do great execu- tion among them. A whole flock has sometimes been thus surprised asleep, with their heads under their wings. On land, another stratagem is sometimes practised with grep-t success. A large tight hogshead is sunk in the flat marsh, or mud, near the place where Ducks are accus- tomed to feed at low water, and where otherwise there is no shelter ; the edges and top are artfully concealed with tufts of long coarse grass and reeds, or sedge. From within this the gunner, unseen and unsus- pected, watches his collecting prey, and when a sufiicient number ofiers, sweeps them down with great effect. The mode of catching Wild Ducks, as practised in India,* China,t the Island of Ceylon, and some parts of South America,! has been often described, and seems, if reli- ance may be placed on those accounts, only practicable in water of a certain depth. The sportsman covering his head with a hollow wooden vessel or calabash, pierced with holes to see through, wades into the water, keeping his head only above, and thus disguised, moves in among the flock, which take the appearance to be a mere floating calabash, while suddenly pulling them under by the legs, he fastens them to his girdle, and thus takes as many as he can conveniently stow away, with- out in the least alarming the rest. They are also taken with snares made of horse hair, or with hooks baited with small pieces of sheep's lights, which floating on the surface, are swallowed by the ducks, and with them the hooks. They are also approached under cover of a stalking horse, or a figure formed of thin boards or other proper mate- rials, and painted so as to represent a horse or ox. But all these methods require much watching, toil, and fatigue, and their success is but trifling when compared with that of the Decoy now used both in France and England, § which, from its superiority over every other mode, is well deserving the attention of persons of this country residing in the neigh- borhood of extensive marshes frequented by Wild Ducks ; as, by this method. Mallard and other kinds may be taken by thousands at a time. The following circumstantial account of these decoys, and the manner of taking Wild Ducks in them in England, is extracted from Be^Yick's History of British Birds, vol. ii., p. 294. * Naval Chron. vol. ii., p. 473. f Du Halde, Hist. China, vol. ii., p. 142. X UUoa's Voy. i., p. 53. 2 Particularly in Picardy, in the former country, and Lincolnshire in the latter 78 THE MALLARD. "In the lakes ■where they resort," says the correspondent of that ingenious author, " the most favorite haunts of the fowl are observed : then in the most sequestered part of this haunt, they cut a ditch about four yards across at the entrance, and about fifty or sixty yards in length, decreasing gradually in vridth from the entrance to the farther end, which is not more than two feet wide. It is of a circular form, but not bending much for the first ten yards. The banks of the lake, for about ten yards on each side of this ditch (or pipe, as it is called) are kept clear from reeds, coarse herbage, &c., in order that the fowl may get on them to sit and dress themselves. Across this ditch, poles on each side, close to the edge of the ditch, are driven into the ground, and the tops bent to each other and tied fast. These poles at the entrance form an arch, from the top of which to the water is about ten feet. This arch is made to decrease in height, as the ditch decreases in width, till the farther end is not more than eighteen inches in height. The poles are placed about six feet from each other, and connected together by poles laid lengthwise across the arch and tied together. Over them a net with meshes suiEciently small to prevent the fowl getting through, is thrown across, and made fast to a reed fence at the entrance, and nine or ten yards up the ditch, and afterwards strongly pegged to the ground. At the farther end of the pipe, a tunnel net, as it is called, is fixed, about four yards in length, of a round form, and kept open by a number of hoops about eighteen inches in diameter, placed at a small distance from each other, to keep it distended. Sup- posing the circular bend of the pipe to be to the right, when you stand with your back to the lake, on the left hand side a number of reed fences are constructed, called shootings, for the purpose of screening from sight the decoy-man, and in such a manner, that the fowl in the decoy may not be alarmed, while he is driving those in the pipe : these | , J i i shootings are about four yards in UMf|'l,|lJ,l|,|\Jl| jM|l length, and about six feet high, and ^O^J^^l^ ^ ^|l|| 11,1 are ten in number. They are placed ^^^^^-^ — — - ' in the following manner — From the end of the last shooting, a person cannot see the lake, owing to the bend of the pipe : there is then no farther occasion for shelter. Were it not for those shootings, the fowl that remain about the mouth of the pipe would be alarmed, if the person driving the fowl already under the net should be exposed, and would become so shy as to forsake the place entirely. The first thing the decoy-man does when he approaches the pipe, is to take a piece of lighted turf or peat and hold it near his mouth, to prevent the fowl smelling him. He is attended by a dog taught for the purpose of assisting him: he walks very silently about half way up the shootings, where a small piece of wood THE MALLARD. 79 is thrust througli the reed fence, which makes an aperture just- sufficient to see if any fowl are in ; if not, he walks forward to see if any are about the mouth of the pipe. If there are, he stops and makes a motion to his dog, and gives him a piece of cheese or something to eat ; upon receiving it he goes directly to a hole through the reed fence (No. 1), and the fowl immediately fly off the bank into the water ; the dog returns along the bank between the reed fences and the pipe, and comes out to his master at the hole (No. 2). The man now gives him another reward, and he repeats his round again, till the fowl are attracted by the motions of the dog, and follow him into the mouth of the pipe. This operation is called working them. The man now retreats farther back, working the dog at different holes till the fowl are sufficiently under the net : he now commands his dog to lie down still behind the fence, and goes forward to the end of the pipe next the lake, where he takes off his hat and gives it a wave between the shooting ; all the fowl under the net can see him, but none that are in the lake can. The fowl that are in sight fly forward ; and the man runs forward to the next shooting and waves his hat, and so on, driving them along til] they come to the tunnel net, where they creep in : when they are all in, he gives the net a twist, so as to prevent their getting back : he then takes the net off from the end of the pipe with what fowl he may have caught, and takes them out one at a time, and dislocates their necks and hangs the net on again ; and all is ready for working again. " In this manner five or six dozen have been taken at one drift. When the wind blows directly in or out of the pipe, the fowl seldom work well, especially when it blows in. If many pipes are made in a lake, they should be so constructed as to suit different winds. " Duck and Mallard are taken from August to June. Teal or Wigeon, from October to March. Becks, Smee, Golden Eyes, Arps, Cricks, and Pintails or Sea Pheasants, in March and April. "Poker Ducks are seldom taken, on account of their diving and getting back in the pipe. " It may be proper to observe here, that the Ducks feed during the night, and that all is ready prepared for this sport in the evening. The better to entice the Ducks into the pipe, hemp seed is strewed occa- sionally on the water. The season allowed by act of parliament for catching these birds in this way, is from the latter end of October till February. " Particular spots or decoys, in the fen countries, are let to the fowlers at a rent of from five to thirty pounds per annum; and Pennant instances a season in which thirty-one thousand two hundred Ducks, including Teals and Wigeons, were sold in London only, from ten of these decoys near Wainfieet, in Lincolnshire. Formerly, according to Willoughby, the Ducks, while in moult and unable to fly, were driven 80 THE MALLARD. by men in boats, furnished with long poles, with which they splashed the water between long nets, stretched vertically across the pools, in the shape of two sides of a triangle, into lesser nets placed at the point ; and in this way, he says, four thousand were taken at one driv- ing in Deeping-Fen ; and Latham has quoted an instance of two thou- sand six hundred and forty-six being taken in two days, near Spalding in Lincolnshire ; but this manner of catching them while in moult is now prohibited." REFERENCES TO THE CUT. No. 1. Dog's hole, where he goes to unbank the fowl. 2. Reed fences on each side of the mouth of the pipe. 3. Where the decoy-man shows himself to the fowl first, and afterwards at the end of every shooting. 4. Small reed fence to prevent the fowl seeing the dog when he goes to un- bank them. 5. The shootings. 6. Dog's holes between the shootings, used when working. 7. Tunnel net at the end of the pipe. 8. Mouth of the pipe. Species VI. ANAS STREPERA. THE GADWALL. [Plate LXXI. Fig. 1, Male.] Le Chipeau, Briss. vi., p. 339, 8, pi. 33, fig. 1.— Buff, ix., 187.— PZ. Enl 958.— Arct. Zool. p. 575. — Lath. Syn. in., p. 515.* This beautiful Duck I have met with in very distant parts of the United States, viz., on the Seneca Lake in New York, about the twen- tieth of October, and at Louisville on the Ohio, in February. I also shot it near Big Bone Lick in Kentucky. With its particular manners or breeding place, I am altogether unacquainted. The length of this species is twenty inches, extent thirty-one inches ; bill two inches long, formed very much like that of the Mallard, and of a brownish black ; crown dusky brown, rest of the upper half of the neck brownish white, both thickly speckled with black ; lower part of the neck and breast dusky black, elegantly ornamented with large con- centric semicircles of white ; scapulars waved with lines of white on a dusky ground, but narrower than that of the breast ; primaries ash ; greater wing-coverts black, and several of the lesser coverts immediately above chestnut red ; speculum white, bordered below with black, form- ing three broad bands on the wing of chestnut, black, and white ; belly dull white ; rump and tail coverts black, glossed with green ; tail tapering, pointed, of a pale brown ash edged with white ; flanks dull white elegantly waved ; tertials long, and of a pale brown, legs orange red. The female I have never seen. Latham describes it as follows : " differs in having the colors on the wings duller, though marked the same as the male ; the breast reddish brown spotted with black ; the feathers on the neck and back edged with pale red ; rump the same instead of black ; and those elegant semicircular lines on the neck and breast wholly wanting." The flesh of this duck is excellent, and the windpipe of the male is furnished with a large labyrinth. The Gadwall is very rare in the northern parts of the United States ; * Anas strepera, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 520, No. 20.— /n^. Orn. p. 849, No. 69.— Temm Man. d'Orn. p. 837.— Bewick, ii., p. 314. Vol. III.— 6 (81) 82 PINTAIL DUCK. is said to inhabit England in winter, and various parts of France and Italy ; migrates to Sweden, and is found throughout Russia and Siberia.* It is a very quick diver, so as to make it difficult to be shot ; flies also with great rapidity, and utters a note not unlike that of the Mallard, but louder. Is fond of- salines and ponds overgrown with reeds and rushes. Feeds during the day, as well as in the morning and evening. Note. — A male specimen shot by Mr. Ord in East Florida, in the month of February, had its, crown of a pale ferruginous, mixed with brown ; head and neck yellowish white, barred and mottled with brown ; back, outer scapulars, vent and flanks, brown, with pale zigzag lines ; some of the inner scapulars reddish and cinereous brown ; upper and under tail-coverts velvet black ; legs and feet yellow ochre, part of the webs dusky. Weight two pounds. This species is very rare on the Delaware ; but in East Florida it is common. On the fresh-water ponds, in the vicinity of the river St. John, Mr. Ord shot many of them ; and found them in good condition, and excellent eating. Species VII. ANAS ACUTA. PINTAIL DUCK. [Plate LXVIII. Fig. 3.] Le Canard & longue queue, Bris. ti., p. 369, 16, pi. Z4, fig. 1, 2. — Buff, ix., p. 199, pi. n.—Pl. Enl. 954.— ^rd. Zool. No. 500.— Lath. Syn. iii., p. 526. The Pintail, or as it is sometimes called, the Sprigtail, is a common and well known Duck in our markets, much esteemed for the excellence of its flesh, and is generally in good order. It is a shy and cautious bird, feeds in the mud flats, and shallow fresh-water marshes ; but rarely resides on the seacoast. It seldom dives, is very noisy, and has a kind of chattering note. When wounded they will sometimes dive, and coming up conceal themselves under the bow of the boat, moving round as it moves. Are vigilant in giving the alarm on the approach of the gunner, who often curses the watchfulness of the Sprigtail. Some Ducks when aroused disperse in different directions; but the Sprigtails when alarmed cluster confusedly together as they mount, and * Latham. PINTAIL DUCK. 83 thereby afford the sportsman a fair opportunity of raking them with advantage. They generally leave the Delaware about the middle of March, on the way to their native regions the north, where they are most numerous. They inhabit the whole northern parts of Europe and Asia, and doubtless the corresponding latitudes of America. Are said likewise to be found in Italy. Great flocks of them are sometimes spread along the isles and shores of Scotland and Ireland, and on the interior lakes of both these countries. On the marshy shores of some of the bays of Lake Ontario they are often plenty in the months of October and November. I have also met with them at Louisville on the Ohio. The Pintail Duck is twenty-six inches in length, and two feet ten inches in extent ; the bill is a dusky lead color ; irides dark hazel ; head and half of the neck pale brown, each side of the neck marked with a band of purple violet, bordering the white, hind part of the upper half of the neck black, bordered on each side by a stripe of white, which spreads over the lower part of the neck before ; sides of the breast and upper part of the back white, thickly and elegantly marked with trans- verse undulating lines of black, here and there tinged with pale buff; throat and middle of the belly white tinged with cream ; flanks finely pencilled with waving lines, vent white, under tail coverts black ; lesser wing coverts brown ash, greater the same, tipped with orange, below which is the speculum or beauty spot of rich golden green bordered below with a band of black, and another of white ; primaries dusky brown ; tertials long, black, edged with white, and tinged with rust ; rump and tail coverts pale ash centered with dark brown ; tail greatly pointed, the two middle tapering feathers being full five inches longer than the others and black, the rest brown ash edged with white ; legs a pale lead color. The female has the crown of a dark brown color ; neck of a dull brownish white, thickly speckled with dark brown ; breast and belly pale brownish white, interspersed with white ; back and root of the neck above black, each feather elegantly waved with broad lines of brownish white, these wavings become rufous on the scapulars ; vent white, spotted with dark brown ; tail dark brown spotted with white ; the two middle tail feathers half an inch longer than the others. The Sprigtail is an elegantly formed, long bodied Duck, the neck longer and more slender than most others. Species VIII. ANAS AMERICANA. AMERICAN WIDGEON. [Plato LXIX. Fig. 4.] Le Canard Jensen, PL Enl. 955.— Buff, ix., p. 174.— ^rrf. Zool. No. 502.— Lath, Syn. in., p. 520. This is a handsomely marked and sprightly species, very common in winter along our whole coast, from Florida to Rhode Island ; bnt most abundant in Carolina, where it frequents the rice plantations. In Martinico great flocks take short flights from one rice field to another during the rainy season, and are much complained of by the planters. The Widgeon is the constant attendant of the celebrated Canvas-back Buck, so abundant in various parts of the Chesapeake Bay, by the aid of whose labor he has ingenuity enough to contrive to make_ a good subsistence. The Widgeon is extremely fond of the tender roots of that particular species of aquatic plant on which the Canvas-back feeds, and for which that Duck is in the constant habit of diving. The Widgeon, who never dives, watches the moment of the Canvas-back's rising, and before he has his eyes well opened, snatches the delicious morsel from his mouth and makes ofi". On this account the Canvas- backs and Widgeons, or as they are called round the bay, Bald-pates, live in a state of perpetual contention. The only chance the latter have is to retreat, and make their approaches at convenient opportu- nities. They are said to be in great plenty in St. Domingo and Cayenne, where they are called Vingeon or Gingeon. Are said sometimes to perch on trees. Feed in company and have a sentinel on the watch, like some other birds. They feed little during the day, but in the evenings come out from their hiding places, and are then easily traced by their particular whistle or whew whew. This soft note or whistle is frequently imitated with success, to entice them within gunshot. They are not known to breed in any part of the United States. Are common in the winter months aloiig the bays of Egg Harbor and Cape May, and also those of the Delaware. They leave these places in April, and appear upon the coasts of Hudson's Bay in May, as soon as the thaws come on, chiefly in pairs ; lay there only from six to eight eggs ; and feed on flies and worms in the swamps ; depart in flocks in autumn.* * Hutchins. (84) AMERICAN WIDGEON. 85 These birds are frequently brought to the market of Baltimore, and generally bring a good price, their flesh being excellent. They are of a lively frolicsome disposition, and with proper attention might easily be domesticated. The Widgeon or Bald-pate measures twenty-two inches in length, and thirty inches in extent, the bill is of a slate color, the nail black ; the front and crown cream colored, sometimes nearly white, the feathers inflated ; from the eye backwards to the middle of the neck behind, ex- tends a band of deep glossy green gold and purple ; throat, chin, and sides of the neck before, as far as the green extends, dull yellowish white, thickly speckled with black ; breast and hind part of the neck hoary bay, running in under the wings, where it is crossed with fine waving lines of black ; whole belly white ; vent black ; back and sca- pulars black, thickly and beautifully crossed with undulating lines of vinous bay ; lower part of the back more dusky ; tail coverts long, pointed, whitish, crossed as the back ; tail pointed, brownish ash, the two middle feathers an inch longer than the rest, and tapering ; shoulder of the wing brownish ash, wing coverts immediately below white, forming a large spot ; primaries brownish ash, middle seconda- ries black glossed with green, forming the speculum ; tertials black edged with white, between which and the beauty spot several of the secondaries are white. The female has the whole head and neck yellowish white, thickly speckled with black, very little rufous on the breast ; the back is dark brown. The young males, as usual, very much like the females during the first season, and do not receive their full plumage until the second year. They are also subject to a regular change every spring and autumn. Note. — A few of these birds breed annually in the marshes in the neighborhood of Duck Creek, in the state of Delaware. An acquaint- ance brought me thence, in the month of June, an egg, which had been taken from a nest situated in a cluster of alders ; it was very much of the shape of the common Duck's egg ; the color a dirty white ; length two inches and a quarter, breadth one inch and five-eighths. The nest contained eleven eggs. This species is seen on the Delaware as late as the first week of May. On the thirtieth of April last, I observed a large flock of them, accom- panied by a few Mallards and Pintails, feeding upon the mud-flats, at the lower end of League Island, below Philadelphia. In the fresh-water ponds, situated in the neighborhood of the river St. John, in East Florida, they find an abundance of food during the winter ; and they become excessively fat. It is needless to add that they are excellent eating. — G-. Ord. Species IX. ANAS OBSCURA. DUSKY DUCK. [Plate LXXII. Fig. 6.] Arct. Zool. No. 469. — Lath. Syn. iii., p. 545. This species is generally known along the seacoast of New Jersey and the neighboring country by the name of the Black Buck, being the most common and most numerous of all those of its tribe that frequent the salt marshes. It is only partially migratory. Numbers of them remain during the summer, and breed in sequestered places in the marsh, or on the sea islands of the beach. The eggs are eight or ten in number, very nearly resembling those of the domestic duck. Vast numbers, however, regularly migrate farther north on the approach of spring. During their residence here in winter they frequent the marshes, and the various creeks and inlets with which those extensive flats are intersected. Their principal food consists of those minute snail shells so abundant in the marshes. They occasionally visit the sandy beach in search of small bivalves, and on these occasions some- times cover whole acres with their numbers. They roost at night in the shallow ponds, in the middle of the salt marsh, particularly on islands, where many are caught by the foxes. They are extremely shy during the day ; and on the most distant report of a musket, rise from every quarter of the marsh in prodigious numbers, dispersing in every direc- tion. In calm weather they fly high, beyond the reach of shot ; but when the wind blows hard, and the gunner conceals himself among the salt grass in a place over which they usually fly, they are shot down in great numbers, their flight being then low. Geese, Brant, and Black Duck are the common game of all our gunners along this part of the coast during winter ; but there are at least ten Black Ducks for one Goose or Brant, and probably many more. Their voice resembles that of the Duck and Mallard ; but their flesh is greatly inferior, owing to the nature of their food. They are, however, large, heavy bodied Ducks, and generally esteemed. I cannot discover that this species is found in any of the remote northern parts of our continent ; and this is probably the cause why it is altogether unknown in Europe. It is abundant from Florida to New (86) DUSKY DUCK. 87 England ; but is not enumerated among the birds of Hudson's Bay, or Greenland. Its chief residence is on the seacoast, though it also makes extensive excursions up the tide waters of our rivers. Like the Mallard they rarely dive for food, but swim and fly with great velocity. The Dusky, or Black Duck, is two feet in length, and three feet two inches in extent ; the bill is of a dark greenish ash, formed very much like that of the Mallard, and nearly of the same length ; irides dark ; upper part of the head deep dusky brown, intermixed on the fore part with some small streaks of drab ; rest of the head and greater part of the neck pale yellow ochre, thickly marked with small streaks of black- ish brown ; lower part of the neck, and whole lower parts, deep dusky, each feather edged with brownish white, and with fine seams of rusty white ; upper parts the same, but rather deeper ; the outer vanes of nine of the secondaries bright violet blue, forming the beauty spot, -which is bounded on all sides by black ; wings and tail sooty brown ; tail feathers sharp pointed ; legs and feet dusky yellow ; lining of the wings pure white. The female has more brown on her plumage ; but in other respects differs little from the male, both having the beauty spot on the wing. Note. — Of all our Ducks this is perhaps the most sagacious and the most fearful of man. In the neighborhood of Philadelphia they are found in great numbers, they are notwithstanding hard to be obtained, in consequence of their extreme vigilance, and their peculiar habits. During the day they chiefly abandon the marshes ; and float in con- siderable bodies on the Delaware, taking their repose, with the usual precaution of employing wakeful sentinels, to give notice of danger. In the evening they resort to the muddy flats and shores, and occupy themselves throughout the greater part of the night in seeking for food. When searching out their feeding grounds, every individual is on the alert ; and on the slightest appearance of an enemy the whole mount and scatter, in such a manner, that, in a flock of a hundred, it would be difficult to knock down more than two or three at one shot. Their sense of smelling is uncommonly acute, and their eyesight, if we may judge from their activity at night, must be better than that of most species. When wounded on the water, they will immediately take to the shore, if in the vicinity, and conceal themselves under the first covert, so that one accustomed to this habit can have no difficulty in finding them, — Gr. Ord. Species X. ANAS SPONSA. SUMMER DUCK, ok WOOD DUCK. [Plate IXX. Fig. S, Male.] Le Canard d'EU, Briss. vi., p. 351, 1-1, p. 32, fig. 2.— Ze heau Canard huppi, Buff, ix., p. 245.— PZ. Enl. 980, ^%l.— Summer Duck, Catesby, i.. pi. 97.— Edw. pi. \()\.—Arct. Zool. No. 943.— Lath. Syn. iii., p. 546.* This most beautiful of all our Ducks, has probably no superior among its -vvbole tribe for richness and variety of colors. It is called the Wood Duck, from the circumstance of its breeding in hollow trees ; and the Summer Duck, from remaining with us chiefly during the sum- mer. It is familiarly known in every quarter of the United States, from Florida to Lake Ontario, in the neighborhood of which latter place I have myself met with it in October. It rarely visits the seashore, or salt marshes ; its favorite haunts being the solitary deep and muddy creeks, ponds, and mill dams of the interior, making its nest frequently in old hollow trees that overhang the water. The Summer Duck is equally well known in Mexico and many of the West India Islands. During the whole of our winters they are occa- sionally seen in the states south of the Potomac. On the tenth of January I met with two on a creek near Petersburg in Virginia. In the more northern districts, however, they are migratory. In Pennsyl- vania the female usually begins to lay late in April or early in May. Instances have been known where the nest was constructed of a few sticks laid in a fork of the branches ; usually, however, the inside of a hollow tree is selected for this purpose. On the eighteenth of May I visited a tree containing the nest of a Summer Duck, on the banks of Tuckahoe river. New Jersey. It was an old grotesque white oak, whose top had been torn bfi" by a storm. It stood on the declivity of the bank, about twenty yards from the water. In this hollow and broken top, and about six feet down, on the soft decayed wood, lay thirteen eggs, snugly covered with down, doubtless taken from the breast of the bird. These eggs were of an exact oval shape, less than those of a hen, the surface exceedingly fine grained, and of the highest polish and slightly yellowish, greatly resembling old polished ivory. The egg measured * Anas sponsa, Gmel. Si/st. i., p. 539, No. 43. — Ind. Orn. p. 876, No. 97. (88) SUMMER DUCK. 89 two inches and an eighth by one inch and a half. On breaking one of them, the young bird was found to be nearly hatched, but dead, as neither of the parents had been observed about the tree during the three or four days preceding ; and were conjectured to have been shot. This tree had been occupied, probably by the same pair, for four suc- cessive years, in breeding time ; the person who gave me the informa- tion, and whose house was within twenty or thirty yards of the tree, said that he had seen the female, the spring preceding, carry down thir- teen young, one by one, in less than ten minutes. She caught them in her bill by the wing or back of the neck, and landed them safely at the foot of the tree, whence she afterwards led them to the water. Under this same tree, at the time I visited it, a large sloop lay on the stocks, nearly finished, the deck was not more than twelve feet distant from the nest, yet notwithstanding the presence and noise of the workmen, the ducks would not abandon their old breeding place, but continued to pass out and in as if no person had been near. The male usually perched on an adjoining limb, and kept watch while the female was laying ; and also often while she was sitting. A tame Goose had chosen a hollow space at the root of the same tree, to lay and hatch her young in. The Summer Duck seldom flies in flocks of more than three or four individuals together, and most commonly in pairs, or singly. The com- mon note of the drake is peet, peet ; but when, standing sentinel, he sees danger, he makes a noise not unlike the crowing of a young cock, oe eek ! oe eek ! Their food consists principally of acorns, seeds of the wild oats, and insects. Their flesh is inferior to that of the Blue- winged Teal. They are frequent in the markets of Philadelphia. Among other gaudy feathers with which the Indians ornament the calumet or pipe of peax;e, the skin of the head and neck of the Summer Duck is frequently seen covering the stem. This beautiful bird has often been tamed, and soon becomes so fami- liar as to permit one to stroke its back with the hand. I have seen individuals so tamed in various parts of the Union. Captain Boyce, collector of the port of Havre-de-Grace, informs me that about forty years ago, a Mr. Nathan Nicols, who lived on the west side of Gunpow- der creek, had a whole yard swarming with Summer Ducks, which he had tamed and completely domesticated, so that they bred and were as familiar as any other tame fowls ; that he (Capt. Boyce) himself saw them in that state, but does not know what became of them. Latham says that they are often kept in European menageries, and will breed there.* The Wood Duck is nineteen inches in length, and two feet four inches in extent ; bill red, margined with black ; a spot of black lies between * Gen. Syn. in., p. 547. 90 SUMMER DUCK. the nostrils, reaching nearly to the tip, which is also of the same color, and furnished with a large hooked nail ; irides orange red ; front, crown, and pendent crest rich glossy bronze green ending in violet, elegantly marked with a line of pure white running from the upper mandible over the eye, and with another band of white proceeding from behind the eye, both mingling their long pendent plumes with the green and violet ones, producing a rich eifect ; cheeks and sides of the upper neck violet ; chin, throat, and collar round the neck pure white, curving up in the form of a crescent nearly to the posterior part of the eye ; the white collar is bounded below with black ; breast dark violet brown, marked on the fore part with minute triangular spots of white, increasing in size until they spread into the white of the belly ; each side of the breast is bounded by a large crescent of white, and that again by a broader one of deep black ; sides under the wings thickly and beautifully marked with fine undulating parallel lines of black, on a ground of yellowish drab ; the flanks are ornamented with broad alternate semicircular bands of black and white ; sides of the vent rich light violet ; tail- coverts long, of a hair-like texture at the sides, over which they descend, and of a deep black glossed with green ; back dusky bronze, reflecting green ; scapulars black ; tail tapering, dark glossy green above, below dusky ; primaries dusky, silvery hoary without, tipped with violet blue ; secondaries greenish blue, tipped with white ; wing-coverts violet blue, tipped with black; vent dusky; legs and feet yellowish red, claws strong and hooked. The above is as accurate a description as I can give of a very perfect specimen now before me, from which the figure in the plate was faith- fully copied. The female has the head slightly crested, crown dark purple, behind the eye a bar of white ; chin, and throat for two inches, also white ; head and neck dark drab ; breast dusky brown, marked with large tri- angular spots of white ; back dark glossy bronze brown, with some gold and greenish reflections. Speculum of the wings nearly the same as in the male, but the fine pencilling of the sides, and the long hair-like tail- coverts, are wanting ; the tail is also shorter. Species XI. ANAS DISCORS. BLUE-WINGED TEAL. [Plate LXVIII. Fig. 4, Male.] La Sarcelle d'Amerique, Briss. vi., p. 452, 35. — Buff, ix., p. 279. — PI. Enl. 966. — Catese. I., pi. 100. — White-faced Duck, Lath. Syn. iii., p. 502. — Arct. Zool. No. 503.* The Blue-winged Teal is the first of its tj-ibe that returns to us in the autumn from its breeding place in the north. They are usually seen early in September, along the shores of the Delaware, where they sit on the mud close to the edge of the water, so crowded together that the gunners often kill great numbers at a single discharge. When a flock is discovered thus sitting and sunning themselves, the experienced gun- ner runs his batteau ashore at some distance below or above them, and getting out, pushes her before him over the slippery mud, concealing himself all the while behind her; by this method he can sometimes approach within twenty yards of the flock, among which he generally makes great slaughter. They fly rapidly, and when they alight drop down suddenly like the Snipe or Woodcock, among the reeds or on the mud. They feed chiefly on vegetable food, and are eagerly fond of the seeds of the reeds or wild oats. Their flesh is excellent ; and after their residence for a short time among the reeds, becomes very fat. As the first frosts come on, they proceed to the south, being a delicate bird, very susceptible of cold. They abound in the inundated rice fields in the Southern States, where vast numbers are taken in traps placed on small dry eminences that here and there rise above the water. These places are strewed with rice, and by the common contrivance called a figure four, they are caught alive in hollow traps. In the month of April they pass through Pennsylvania for the north ; but make little stay at that season. I have observed them numerous on the Hudson opposite to the Catskill Mountains. They rarely visit the seashore. This species measures about fourteen inches in length, and twenty- two inches in extent ; the bill is long in proportion, and of a dark dusky slate ; the front and upper part of the head are black, from the eye to the chin is a large crescent of white, the rest of the head and half of * Anas discors, Gmel. Syst. p. 535, No. 3,7. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 854, No. 55. — Blue-winged Teal, Catesb. pi. 99, female. — La Sarcelle de Yirginie, Bkiss. vi., p. 455, No. 36. — La Sarcelle Soucrourou, Buff, ix., p. 279. — PI. Enl. 403, female. (91) 92 GREEN-WINGED TEAL. the neck is of a dark slate richly glossed with green and violet, remain- der of the neck and breast is black or dusky, thickly marked with semi- circles of brownish white, elegantly intersecting each other ; belly pale brown, barred with dusky, in narrow lines ; sides and vent the same tint, spotted with oval marks of dusky ; flanks elegantly waved with large semicircles of pale brown ; sides of the vent pure white ; under tail-coverts black ; back deep brownish black, each feather waved with large semi- ovals of brownish white ; lesser wing-coverts a bright light blue ; prima- ries dusky brown ; secondaries black ; speculum or beauty spot, rich green ; tertials edged with black or light blue, and streaked down their middle with white ; the tail, which is pointed, extends two inches beyond the wings ; legs and feet yellow, the latter very small ; the two cres- cents of white before the eyes meet on the throat. The female difi"ers in having the head and neck of a dull dusky slate instead of the rich violet of the male, the hind head is also whitish. The wavings on the back and lower parts more indistinct ; wing nearly the same in both. Species XII. ANAS CRECCA. GREEN-WINGED TEAL. [Plate LXX. Fig, 4, Male.] Lath. Syn. m., p. 554.— Bewick's Br. Birds, ii., p. 338.* The naturalists of Europe have designated this little Duck by the name of the American Teal, as being a species difi"erent from their own. On an examination, however, of the figure and description of the Euro- pean Teal by the ingenious and accurate Bewick, and comparing them with the present, no difference whatever appears in the length, extent, color, or markings of either, but what commonly occurs among indi- viduals of any other tribe ; both undoubtedly belong to one and the same species. This, like the preceding, is a fresh-water Duck, common in our mar- kets in autumn and winter ; but rarely seen here in summer. It fre- quents ponds, marshes, and the reedy shores of creeks and rivers. Is * Anas crecca, Gmel. Sysi. r., p. 532, No.23.— ^jtos CaroUnensis, Id. p. 533, No. 103.-Ind. Orn. p. 872, No. 100; p. 874, No. lOl.-Common Teal, Gen. Syn. in., p. 551, No. 88.— American Teal, Id. p. 554, No. 90.— European Teal, Arci. Zool. ii., p. 305, P. 4to. American Teal, Id. No. 504. Br. Zool. No. 290.-io petite Sarcelle, Briss. I., p. 436, No. 32, pi. 40, fig. 1.-Buff. ix., p. 265, pi. 17, n.-Pl. Enl.^il. Temh. Man. d' Orn. p. 846. GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 93 very abundant among the rice plantations of the Southern States ; flies in small parties, and feeds at night. Associates often with the Duck and Mallard, feeding on the seeds of various kinds of grasses and water plants, and also on the tender leaves of vegetables. Its flesh is accounted excellent. The Green-winged Teal is fifteen inches in length, and twenty-four inches in extent ; bill black, irides pale brown, lower eyelid whitish ; head glossy reddish chestnut ; from the eye backwards to the nape runs a broad band of rich silky green edged above and below by a fine line of brownish white, the plumage of the nape ends in a kind of pendent crest ; chin blackish ; below the chestnut, the neck, for three-quarters of an inch is white, beautifully crossed with circular undulating lines of black ; back, scapulars, and sides of the breast white, thickly crossed in the same manner ; breast elegantly marked with roundish or heart- shaped spots of black on a pale vinaceous ground, variegated with lighter tints ; belly white ; sides waved with undulating lines ; lower part of the vent feathers black ; sides of the same brownish white, or pale red- dish cream ; lesser wing-coverts brown ash, greater tipped with reddish cream; the first five secondaries deep velvety black, the next five resplendent green, forming the speculum or beauty spot, which is bounded above by pale buff, below by white, and on each side by deep black ; primaries ashy brown ; tail pointed, eighteen feathers, dark drab ; legs and feet flesh-colored. In some a few circular touches of white appear on the breast, near the shoulder of the wing. The wind- pipe has a small bony labyrinth where it separates into the lungs ; the intestines measure three feet six inches, and are very small and tender. The female wants the chestnut bay on the head, and the band of rich green through the eye, these parts being dusky white speckled with black ; the breast is gray brown, thickly sprinkled with blackish, or dark brown ; the back dark brown, waved with broad lines of brownish white ; wing nearly the same as in the male. This species is said to breed at Hudson's Bay, and to have from five to seven young at a time.* In France it remains throughout the year, and builds in April, among the rushes on the edges of ponds. It has been lately discovered to breed also in England, in the mosses about Carlisle.f It is not known to breed in any part of the United States. The Teal is found in the north of Europe as far as Iceland ; and also inhabits the Caspian Sea to the south. Extends likewise to China, hav- ing been recognised by Latham among some fine drawings of the birds of that country. * Latham. t Bewick. Species XIII. ANAS MOLLISSIMA. EIDEE DUCK. [Plate IXXI. Fig. 2, Male.] L'Oye d, duvet, ou V Eider, Briss. vi., p. 294, pi. 29, 30.— Bpff. ix., p. 103, pi. 6.— PI. Enl. 1Q^.— Great Black and White Buck, Edw. pi. 98.— Bewick, ii., p. 279.— Arct. Zool. No. 480.— Lath. Syn. m., p. 470.* The Eider Duck has been long celebrated in Europe for the abund- ance and excellence of its down, which for softness, -warmth, lightness, and elasticity surpasses that of all other Ducks. The quantity found in one nest more than filled the crown of a hat ; yet weighed no more than three-quarters of an ounce ;t and it is asserted that three pounds of this down may be compressed into a space scarce bigger than a man's fist ; yet is afterwards so dilatable as to fill a quilt five feet square.J The native regions of the Eider Duck extend from 45° north to the highest latitudes yet discovered, both in Europe and America. Solitary rocky shores and islands are their favorite haunts. Some wandering pairs have been known to breed on the rocky islands beyond Portland in the district of Maine, which is perhaps the most southern extent of their breeding place. In England the Fern Isles, on the coast of Northumberland, are annually visited by a few of these birds, being the only place in South Britain where they are known to breed. They occur again in some of the "Western Isles of Scotland. Greenland and Iceland abound with them, and here, in particular places, their nests are crowded so close together that a person can scarcely walk without treading on them. The natives of those countries know the value of the down, and carry on a regular system of plunder both of it and also of the eggs. The nest is generally formed outwardly of drift grass, dry seaweed, and such like materials, the inside composed of a large quantity of down plucked from the breast of the female ; in this soft elastic bed she deposits five eggs, extremely smooth and glossy, of a pale olive color ; they are also warmly covered with the same kind of down. When the whole number is laid, they are taken away by the natives, and also the down with which the nest is lined, together with that which covers the eggs. The female once more strips her breast of * Anas mollissima, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 514, No. 15. — Ind. Orn. p. 845, No. 35. t Pennant. % Salem. Orn. p. 416. (94) EIDEE DUCK. 95 the remaining down, and lays a second time ; even this, with the eggs is generally taken away, and it is said that the male in this extremity furnishes the third quantity of down from his own breast ; but if the cruel robbery be a third time repeated, they abandon the place altogether. One female, during the whole time of laying, generally gives half a pound of down ; and we are told, that in the year 1750, the Iceland Company sold as much of this article as amounted to three thousand seven hundred and forty-five banco dollars, besides what was directly sent to Gluckstadt.* The down from dead birds is little esteemed, having lost its elasticity. These birds associate together in flocks, generally in deep water, diving for shell fish, which constitute their principal food. They frequently retire to the rocky shores to rest, particularly on the appear- ance of an approaching storm. They are numerous on the coast of Labrador, and are occasionally seen in winter as far south as the capes of Delaware. Their flesh is esteemed by the inhabitants of Greenland ; but tastes strongly of fish. The length of this species is two feet three inches, extent three feet ; weight between six and seven pounds ; the head is large, and the bill of singular structure, being three inches in length, forked in a remark- able manner, running high up in the forehead, between which the plum- age descends nearly to the nostril ; the whole of the bill is of a dull yellowish horn color somewhat dusky in the middle ; upper part of the head deep velvet black, divided laterally on the hind head by a whitish band ; cheeks white ; sides of the head pale pea green, marked with a narrow line of white dropped from the ear feathers ; the plumage of this part of the head, to the throat, is tumid, and looks as if cut ofi" at the end, for immediately below the neck it suddenly narrows, somewhat in the manner of the Bufiel-head, enlarging again greatly as it descends, and has a singular hollow between the shoulders behind ; the upper part of the neck, the back, scapulars, lesser wing coverts, and sides of the rump are pure white ; lower part of the breast, belly, and vent black ; tail, primaries and secondaries brownish black, the tertials curiously curved, falling over the wing; legs short, yellow; webs of the feet dusky. Latham has given us the following sketch of the gradual progress of the young males to their perfect colors : " In the first year the back is white, and the usual parts, except the crown, black ; but the rest of the body is variegated with black and white. In the second year the neck and breast are spotted black and white, and the crown black. In the third the colors are nearly as when in full plumage, but less vivid, and * Letters on Iceland, by Uno Van Troil, p. 146. 96 EIDER DUCK. a few spots of black still remaining on the neck ; the crown black, and bifid at the back part. " The young of both sexes are the same, being covered with a kind of hairy down : throat and breast whitish ; and a cinereous line from the bill through the eyes to the hind head."* ANAS MOLLISSIMA. EIDEK DUCK. [Plate LXXI. Tig. 3, Female.] The difference of color in these two birds is singularly great. The female is considerably less than the male, and the bill does not rise so high in the forehead ; the general color is a dark reddish drab, mingled with lighter touches, and everywhere spotted with black ; wings dusky, edged with reddish ; the greater coverts and some of the secondaries are tipped with white ; tail brownish black, lighter than in the male ; the plumage in general is centred with bars of black, and broadly bor- dered with rufous drab ; cheeks and space over the eye light drab ; belly dusky, obscurely mottled with black ; legs and feet as in the male. Van Troil, in his Letters on Iceland, observes respecting this Duck, that " the young ones quit the nest soon after they are hatched, and follow the female, who leads them to the water, where having taken them on her back, she swims with them a few yards, and then dives, and leaves them floating on the water ! In this situation they soon learn to take care of themselves, and are seldom afterwards seen on the land ; but live among the rocks, and feed on insects and seaweed." Some attempts have been made to domesticate these birds, but hitherto without success. * Synopsis, iii., p. 471. Species XIV. ANAS PERSPICILLATA. BLACK, OR SURF DUCK. [Plate LXVII. Kg. 1.] Le grande Macreuse de la Baye de Hudson, Briss. ti., p. 425, 30. — La Macreuse d, large bee. Buff, ix., p. 244. — PI. Mil. 995. — Edw. pi. 155. — Lath. Syn. iii., p. 419.— Phil. Trans, lxii., p. 417.* This Duck is peculiar to America, and altogether confined to the shores and bays of the sea, particularly where the waves roll over the sandy beach. Their food consists principally of those small bivalve shell fish already described, spout fish, and others that lie in the sand near its surface. For these they dive almost constantly, both in the sandy bays and amidst the tumbling surf. They seldom or never visit the salt marshes. They continue on our shores during the winter ; and leave us early in May for their breeding places in the north. Their skins are remarkably strong, and their flesh coarse, tasting of fish. They are shy birds, not easily approached, and are common in winter along the whole coast from the river St. Lawrence to Florida. The length of this species is twenty inches, extent thirty-two inches ; the bill is yellowish red, elevated at the fease, and marked on the side of the upper mandible with a large square patch of black, preceded by another space of a pearl color ; the part of the bill thus marked swells or projects considerably from the common surface; the nostrils are large and pervious ; the sides of the bill broadly serrated or toothed ; both mandibles are furnished with a nail at the extremity ; irides white, or very pale cream ; whole plumage a shining black, marked on the crown and hind head with two triangular spaces of pure white; the plumage on both these spots is shorter and thinner than the rest ; legs and feet blood red ; membrane of the webbed feet black, the primary quills are of a deep dusky brown. On dissection the gullet was found to be gradually enlarged to the gizzard, which was altogether filled with broken shell fish. There was a singular hard expansion at the commencement of the windpipe ; and another much larger about three-quarters of an inch above where it separates into the two lobes of the lungs ; this last was larger than a Spanish hazel-nut, flat on one side and convex on the other. The * Anas perspicillata, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 524, No. 25.— Ind. Orn. p. 847, No. 42. Vol. III.— 7 (97) 98 VELVET DUCK, protuberance on each side of the bill communicated with the nostril, and was hollow. All these were probably intended to contain supplies of air for the bird's support while under water ; the last may also pro- tect the head from the sharp edges of the shells. The female is altogether of a sooty brown, lightest about the neck ; the prominences on the bill are scarcely observable and its color dusky. This species was also found by Captain Cooke at Nootka Sound, on the north-west coast of America. Species XV. ANAS FUSCA. VELVET DUCK. [Plate LXXII. Fig. 3, Male.] Le grande Macreuse, Briss. ti., p. 423, 29.— Bupf. ix., p. 242.— PI. Enl. 956.— Ard. Zool. No. 482.— Bewick, it., p. 286.— Lath. Syn. in., p. 482.* This and the following are frequently confounded together as one and the same species by our gunners on the sea coast. The former, however, differs in being of greater size ; in having a broad band of white across the wing ; a spot of the same under the eye, and in the structure of its bill. The habits of both are very much alike ; they visit us only during the wintSV ; feed entirely on shell fish, which they procure by diving ; and return to the northern regions early in spring to breed. They often associate with ' the Scoters, and are taken fre- quently in the same nets with them. Owing to the rank fishy flavor of its flesh, it is seldom sought after by our sportsmen or gunners, and is very little esteemed. The Velvet Duck measures twenty-three inches in length, and two feet nine inches in extent, and weighs about three pounds ; the bill is broad, a little elevated at the base, where it is black, the rest red, except the lower mandible, which is of a pale yellowish white ; both are edged with black, and deeply toothed ; irides pale cream ; under the eye is a small spot of white ; general color of the plumage brownish black, the secondaries excepted, which are white, forming a broad band across the wing ; there are a few reflections of purple on the upper plumage ; the legs are red on the outside, and deep yellow sprinkled with blackish on the inner sides ; tail short and pointed. * Anas Fusca, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 507, No. 6. — Ind. Orn. p. 848, No. 44. — Canard double Macreuse, Temm. Man. d'Orn. p. 858. SCOTER DUCK. 99 The female is very little less than the male ; but differs considerably in its markings. The bill is dusky, forehead and cheeks white, under the eye dull brownish ; behind that a large oval spot of white ; whole upper parts and neck dark brownish drab ; tips of the plumage lighter, secondaries white ; wing quills deep brown ; belly brownish white ; tail hoary brown ; the throat is white, marked with dusky specks ; legs and feet yellow. Latham informs us that this species is sometimes seen on the coast of England, but is not common there ; that it inhabits Denmark and Russia, and in some parts of Siberia is very common. It is also found at Kamtschatka, where it is said to breed, going far inland to lay; the eggs are eight or ten, and white; the males depart, and leave the females to remain with the young until they are able to fly. In the river Ochotska they are so numerous that a party of natives, consisting of fifty or more, go off in boats and drive these ducks up the river before them, and when the tide ebbs fall on them at once, and knock them on the head with clubs, killing such numbers that each man has twenty or thirty for his share.* Species XVI. ANAS NIGRA. SCOTER DUCK. [Plate LXXII. Fig. 2.] Le Maereuse, Briss. vi., p. 420, pi. 38, fig. 2. — Buff, ix., p. 234, pi, \6.—Pl. Enl. 978.— Bewick, ii., p. 288.— ^rci. Zool. No. 484.-Lath. Syn. in., p. 480.t This Duck is but little known along our seacog,st, being more usually met with in the northern than southern districts ; and only during the winter. Its food is shell fish, for which it is almost perpetually diving. That small bivalve so often mentioned, small muscles, spout fish, called on the coast razor handles, young clams, &c., furnish it with abundant fare ; and wherever these are plenty the Scoter is an occasional visitor. They swim, seemingly at ease, amidst the very roughest of the surf; but fly heavily along the surface, and to no great distance. They rarely penetrate far up our rivers, but seem to prefer the neighborhood of the ocean ; differing in this respect from the Cormorant, which often makes extensive visits to the interior. * Hist. Kamtschatka, p. 160. t Anas nigra, Gmel. Syst i., p. 508, No. 7. — Ind. Orn. p. 848, No. 43. — Tbmm, Man. d' Orn. p. 856. 100 SCOTER DUCK. The Scoters are' said to appear on the coasts of France in great num- bers, to -which they are attracted by a certain kind of small bivalve shell fish called vaimeaux, probably differing little from those already mentioned. Over the beds of these shell fish the fishermen spread their nets, supporting them, horizontally, at the height of two or three feet from the bottom. At the flowing of the tide, the Scoters approach in great numbers, diving after their favorite food, and soon get entangled in the nets. Twenty or thirty dozen have sometimes been taken in a single tide. These are sold to the Roman Catholics, who eat them on those days on which they are forbidden by their religion the use of ani- mal food, fish excepted ; these birds, and a few others of the same fishy flavor, having been exempted from the interdict, on the supposition of their being cold blooded, and partaking of the nature of fish.* The Scoter abounds in Lapland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Sibe- ria. It was also found by Osbeck, between the islands of -Java and St. Paul, lat. 30 and 34, in the month of June.f This species is twenty-one inches in length, and thirty-four in extent, and is easily distinguished from all other Ducks by the peculiar form of its bill, which has at the base a large elevated knob, of a red color, divided by a narrow line of yellow, which spreads over the middle of the upper mandible, reaching . nearly to its extremity, the edges and lower mandible are black ; the eyelid is yellow, iris dark hazel ; the whole plumage is black, inclining to purple on the head and neck ; legs and feet reddish. The female has little or nothing of the knob on the bill ; her plumage above a sooty brown, and below of a grayish white. * Bftwirk. t Voy. i., p. 120. Species XVII. ANAS RUBIDUS. RUDDY DUCK. [Plate LXXI. Fig. 8, Adult Male.] This very rare Duck was shot, some years ago, on the river Dela- ware, and appears to be an entire new species. The specimen here figured, with the female that accompanies it, and which was killed in the same river, are the only individuals of their kind I have met with. They were both preserved in the superb Museum of my much resuected frieiid, Mr. Peale, of this city. On comparing this Duck with the description given by Latham of the Jamaica Shoveller, I was at first inclined to believe I had found out the species ; but a more careful examination of both satisfied me that they cannot be the same, as the present differs considerably in color; and besides has some peculiarities which the eye of that acute ornithologist could not possibly have overlooked, in his examination of the species said to have been received by him from Jamaica. Wherever the general residence of this species may be, in this part of the world, at least, it is extremely rare, since among the many thousands of Ducks brought to our markets during winter, I have never heard of a single individual of the present kind having been found among them. The Ruddy Duck is fifteen inches and a half in length, and twenty- two inches in extent ; the bill is broad at the tip, the under mandible much narrower, and both of a rich light blue ; nostrils small, placed in the middle of the bill ; cheeks and chin white : front, crown, and back part of the neck down nearly to the back, black ; rest of the neck, whole back, scapulars, flanks and tail-coverts deep reddish brown, the color of bright mahogany ; wings plain pale drab, darkest at the points ; tail black, greatly tapering, containing eighteen narrow pointed feathers ; the plumage of the breast ajid upper part of the neck is of a remark- able kind, being dusky olive at bottom, ending in hard bristly points of a silvery gray, very much resembling the hair of some kinds of seal skins ; all these are thickly marked with transverse curving lines of deep brown ; belly and vent silver gray, thickly crossed with dusky olive ; under tail-coverts white ; legs and feet ash-colored. Note. — It is a circumstance in ornithology well worthy of note, that migratory birds frequently change their route, and, consequently, be- (101) 102 BUDDY DUCK. come common in those districts where they had been either unknown, or considered very rare. Of the Sylvia magnolia, Wilson declares that he had seen but two individuals, and these in the western country: the Muscicapa cucullata he says is seldom observed in Pennsylvania.,, and the Northern States ; the Muscicapa pusilla, and the Muscicapa Canadensis, he considered rare birds with us ; notwithstanding, in the month of May, 1815, all of these were seen in our gardens ; and the editor noted the last mentioned as among the most numerous of the passenger birds of that season. The subject of this chapter affords a case in point. The year subse- quent to the death of our author this Duck began to make its appear- ance in our waters. In October, 1814, the editor procured a female, which had been killed from a flock, consisting of five, at Windmill Island, opposite to Philadelphia. In October, 1818, he shot three indi- viduals, two females and a male ; and in April last another male, all of which, except one, were young birds. He has also at various times, -since 1814, seen several other male specimens of this species, not one of which was an adult. In effect, the only old males which he has ever seen were one in Peale's Museum, and another in the Cabinet of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. The Duck figured in the plate as the female was a young male, as the records of the Museum show ; the great difference between its colors and markings, and those of the full-plumaged male, having induced the author to conclude it was a female, although he was perfectly familiar with the fact, that the young males of several species of this genus so nearly resemble the other sex, it requires %, very accurate eye, aided by much experience, to distinguish them by their external characters. This is precisely the case with the present species ; the yearlings, of both sexes, are alike ; and it is not until the succeeding spring that those characters appear in the males which enable one to indicate them, inde- pendent of dissection. The opinion of our author that this species is not the Jamaica Shoveller of Latham the editor cannot subscribe to, it appearing to him that the specimen from which Latham took his description was a young male of the Duck now before us. The latter informs us that the species appears in Jamaica in October 'or November ; remains till March; and then retires to the north. This account coincides with ours : we see the bird on its way to the south in October ; it reaches Jamaica in November ; it departs thence in March, and revisits us, in regular progression, in April. Where its summer residence is we are not informed ; and we are equally ignorant whether the species is nu- merous in any part of our continent or not. fudging from the descriptions of the Ural Duck of European writers, ciitT.; should seem to be a great afiBnity between that and the present. RUDDY DUCK. lOg « Through the polite attention of Mr. Charles Bonaparte, the editor was enabled to examine a female specimen of the former ; and as he per- ceived some differences, he will here note them. The bill of the Ural Duck, from the angle of the mouth, is two inches long ; that of our Duck is one inch and three-quarters, it is also less gibbous at the base than in the former, and it is less depressed above ; the tail feathers of the Ural Duck are guttered their whole length : those of the Ruddj Duck are slightly canaliculated at their tips ; the lateral membrane of the inner toe of the latter is not half the breadth of that of the former. In other respects the females of the two species much resemble each other. In order to draw a just parallel, it would be necessary to ex- amine a male specimen of the European bird, which our cabinets do not possess. The female is fifteen inches in length ; bill to the angle of the mouth one inch and three-quarters long, its lower half very broad, of a deep dusky olive, the nail resembling a narrow clasp of iron ; nostrils oval, with a curved furrow below them ; eyes small and dark ; the upper part of the head, from the bill to the hind-head, variegated with shining bronze and blackish brown, the latter crossing the head in lines ; cheeks white, mixed with dusky, and some touches of bronze ; lores drab and dusky, mixed with a small portion of white ; neck short and thick, its lower half above, extending between the shoulders, drab, mixed with dusky ; throat, and whole lower parts, dusky ash, the plumage tipped with dull white, having a silver gray appearance ; the upper parts are dusky, marked or pencilled with pale ferruginous, and dull white ; breast slightly tinged with reddish brown ; the wings are small, greatly concave, and, when closed, are short of the extremities of the tail- coverts about three-quarters of an inch — they are dusky, their coverts finely dotted or powdered with white ; tail dusky, marked at its ex- tremity with a few very fine dots of reddish white, it extends beyond its upper coverts two inches and a half ; under tail-coverts white ; legs and feet dusky slate ; weight sixteen ounces and a half. The gizzard of the above contained sand and some small seeds. Her eggs were numerous and tolerably large ; hence, as she was shot in the month of October, it was conjectured that she was a bird of the preceding year. The young male, shot in April last, measured fifteen inches in length ; its irides were dark brown ; bill elevated at the base, slightly gibbous, and blue ash, from the nostrils to the tip mixed with dusky, lower man- dible yellowish flesh color, marbled with dusky ; crown brown black ; throat and cheeks, as far as the upper angle of the bill, white, stained with bright yellow ochre ; auriculars almost pure white ; the black from the crown surrounded the eyes, and passed round the white of the auri- culars; hind-head black, mixed with ferruginous ; breast and shoulders bright ferruginous; belly ash and silver white; back and scapulars 104 RUDDY DUCK. liver brown, finely pencilled with gray and reddish •white ; rump and upper tail-coverts the same ground color, but the markings not so dis- tinct ; wings light liver brown, the lesser coverts finely powdered with gray ; on the back and scapulars, the flanks, and round the base of the neck, the brownish red or bright mahogany colored plumage, which dis- tinguishes the adult male, was coming out ; inner webs of the tail partly dusky, outer webs, for two-thirds of their length, and the tip, dirty fer- ruginous ; legs blue ash in front, behind, the toes and webs, dusky." When the tail is not spread, it is somewhat conical, and its narrow, pointed feathers, are slightly guttered at their tips ; when spread, it is wedge-shaped. The trachea is of nearly equal diameter throughout ; and has no labyrinth or enlargement at its lower part. Another young male, shot in October, measured fifteen and a quarter inches in length, and twenty-three inches in breadth; bill greenish black, lower mandible yellowish flesh color, mixed with dusky ; from the bill to the hind-head a deep liver brown, the tips of the plumage bronzed ; whole upper parts dark umber brown, pencilled with pale fer- ruginous, buff, and white ; from the corner of the mouth a brown mark- ing extended towards the eye ; tail dusky, ash colored at its extremity ; legs and feet dusky ash, toes paler, having a yellowish tinge, webs dusky, claws sharp. The shafts of the tail feathers of all these specimens, except that shot in April, projected beyond the webs ; in one specimen the shaft of one of the middle feathers projected an inch, and was ramified into rigid bristles, resembling those of the tail of Buffon's Sarcelle a queue epi- neuse de Cayenne, PL Enl. 967 ; in all the specimens there was the appearance of the tail feathers having been furnished with the like pro- cess, but which had been rubbed off. Can it be that this Duck makes use of its tail in climbing up the fissures of rocks, or the hollows of trees ? Its stiff, narrow feathers, not unlike those of the tail of a Woodpecker, would favor this supposition. It is worthy of note that the tail of Mr. Bonaparte's female specimen, alluded to above, is thus rubbed. The plumage of the neck and breast, which Wilson says is of a remarkable kind, that is, stiff and bristly at the tips, is common to several Ducks, and therefore is no peculiarity. The body of this species is broad, flat and compact ; its wings short and concave ; its legs placed far behind; and its feet uncommonly large ; it consequently is an expert diver. It flies with the swiftness, and in the manner, of the Buffel-head; and it swims precisely as Latham reports the Ural Duck to swim, with the tail immersed in the water as far as the rump ; but whether it swims thus low with the view of employ- ing its tail as a rudder, as Latham asserts of the Ural, or merely to" RUDDY DUCK. 105 conceal itself from observation, as the Scaup Duck is wont to do when wounded, and as all the divers do when pursued, I cannot determine. This is a solitary bird ; and with us we never see more than five or six together, and then always apart from other Ducks. It is uncom- monly tame, so much so, that, by means of my skiff, I have never experienced any difficulty in approaching within a few yards of it. Its flesh I do not consider superior to that of the Buffel-head, which, with us, is a Duck not highly esteemed. I should not be surprised if Buffon's Sarcelle d queue Spineuse de Oay- 'nne should turn out to be this species. The characters of the two cer- tainly approximate ; but as I have not been enabled to settle the ques- tion of their identity in my own mind, I shall, for the present, let the affair rest. — 6r. Ord. ANAS RUBIDUS. RUDDY DUCK. [Plate LXXI. Fig. 6, Female.*] This is nearly of the same size as the male ; the front, lores, and crown, deep blackish brown; bill as in the male, very broad at the extremity, and largely toothed on the sides, of the same rich blue ; cheeks a dull cream ; neck plain dull drab, sprinkled about the auricu- lars with blackish ; lower part of the neck and breast variegated with gray, ash, and reddish brown ; the reddish dies off towards the belly, leaving this last of a dull white shaded with dusky ash ; wings as in the male, tail brown ; scapulars dusky brown thickly sprinkled with whitish, giving them a gray appearance ; legs ash. A particular character of this species is its tapering sharp pointed tail, the feathers of which are very narrow ; the body is short ; the bill very nearly as broad as some of those called Shovellers ; the lower man- dible much narrower than the upper. * This is a young male, and not a female. Species XVIII. ANAS VALISNEBIA. CANVAS-BACK DUCK. [Plate LXX. Fig. 5.] This celebrated American species, as far as can be judged from the best figures and descriptions of foreign birds, is altogether unknown in Europe. It approaches nearest to the Pochard of England, Anas feiina, but differs from that bird in being superior in size and weight, in the greater magnitude of its bill, and the general whiteness of its plumage. A short comparison of the two will elucidate this point. The Canvas- back measures two feet in length, by three feet in extent, and when in the best order weighs three pounds and upwards. The- Pochard, accord- ing to Latham and Bewick, measures nineteen inches in length, and thirty in extent, and weighs one pound twelve or thirteen ounces. The latter writer says of the Pochard, " the plumage above and below is wholly covered with prettily freckled slender dusky threads disposed transversely in close set zigzag lines, on a pale ground, more or less shaded off with ash;" a description much more applicable to the bird figured beside it, the Red Head, and which very probably is the species meant. In the figure of the Pochard given by Mr. Bewick, who is generally correct, the bill agrees very well with that of our Red Head ; but is scarcely half the size and thickness of that of the Canvas-back ; and the figure in the Planches lEnluminies corresponds in that respect with Bewick's. In short, either these writers are egregiously erroneous in their figures and descriptions, or the present Duck was altogether unknown to them. Considering the latter supposition the more proba- ble of the two, I have designated this as a new species, and shall pro- ceed to detail some particulars of its history. The Canvas-back Duck arrives in the United States from the north about the middle of October, a few descend to the Hudson and Dela- ware, but the great body of these birds resort to the numerous rivers belonging to and in the neighborhood of the Chesapeake Bay, particu- larly the Susquehanna, the Patapsco, Potomac, and James rivers, which appear to be their general winter rendezvous. Beyond this to the south, I can find no certain accounts of them. At the Susquehanna they are called Oanvas-hacks, on the Potomac White-backs, and on James river Sheldrakes. They are seldom found at a great distance up any of these rivers, or even in the salt-water bay ; but in that (106) CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 107 particular part of tide water where a certain grass-like plant grows, on the roots of which they feed. This plant, which is said to be a species of Vdlisneria, grows on fresh-water shoals of from seven to nine feet (but never where these are occasionally dry), in long narrow grass-like blades of four or five feet in length ; the root is white, and has some resemblance to small celery. This grass is in many places so thick that a boat can with difficulty be rowed through it, it so impedes the oars. The shores are lined with large quantities of it torn up by the Ducks, and drifted up by the winds, lying like hay in windrows. Wherever this plant grows in abundance the Canvas-backs may be expected, either to pay occasional visits or to make it their regular resi- dence during the winter. It occurs in some parts of the Hudson ; in the Delaware near. Gloucester, a few miles below Philadelphia ; and in most of the rivers that fall into the Chesapeake, to each of which par- ticular places these Ducks resort ; while in waters unprovided with this nutritive plant they are altogether unknown. On the first arrival of these birds in the Susquehanna, near Havre- de-Grace, they are generally lean ; but such is the abundance of their favorite food, that towards the beginning of November they are in pretty good order. They are excellent divers, and swim with great speed and agility. They sometimes assemble in such multitudes as to cover several acres of the river, and when they rise suddenly, produce a noise resem- bling thunder. They float about these shoals, diving and tearing up the grass by the roots, which is the only part they eat. They are extremely shy, and can rarely be approached unless by stratagem. When wounded in the wing they dive to such prodigious distances, and with such rapidity, continuing it so perseveringly, and with such cunning and active vigor, as almost always to render the pursuit hopeless. From the great demand for these Ducks, and the high price they uniformly bring in market, various modes are practised to get within gunshot of them. The most successful way is said to be, decoying them to the shore by means of a dog, while the gunner lies closely concealed in a proper situation. The dog, if properly trained, plays backwards and forwards along the margin of the water, and the Ducks observing his manoeuvres, enticed perhaps by curiosity, gradually approach the shore, until they are sometimes within twenty or thirty yards of the spot where the gunner' lies concealed, and from which he rakes them, first on the water and then as they rise. This method is called tolling them in. If the Ducks seem diflicult to decoy, any glaring object, such as a red handkerchief, is fixed round the dog's middle, or to his tail, and this rarely fails to attract them. Sometimes by moonlight the sportsman directs his skifi" towards a flock whose position he had previously ascer- tained, keeping within the projecting shadow of some wood, bank, or headland, and paddles along so silently and imperceptibly as often to 108 CANVAS-BACK DUCK. approach ■within fifteen or twenty yards of a flock of many thousands, among whom he generally makes great slaughter. Many other stratagems are practised, and indeed every plan that the ingenuity of the experienced sportsman can suggest, to approach within gunshot of these birds ; but of all the modes pursued, none intimidate them so much as shooting them by night ; and they soon abandon the place where they have been thus repeatedly shot at. During the day they are dispersed about ; but towards evening collect in large flocks, and come into the mouths of creeks, where they often ride as at anchor, with their head under their wing, asleep, there being always sentinels awake ready to raise an alarm on the least appearance of danger. Even when feeding and diving in small parties, the whole never go down at one time, but some are still left above on the look. out. When the winter sets in severely, and the river is frozen, the Canvas- backs retreat to its confluence with the bay, occasionally frequenting air holes in the ice, which are sometimes made for the purpose, imme- diately above their favorite grass, to entice them within gunshot of the hut or bush which is usually fixed at a proper distance, and where the gunner lies concealed, ready to take advantage of their distress. A Mr. Hill, who lives near James river, at a place called Herring Creek, informs me, that one severe winter he and another person broke a hole in the ice about twenty by forty feet, immediately over a shoal of grass, and took their stand on the shore in a hut of brush, each having three guns well loaded with large shot. The Ducks, which were flying up and down the river in great extremity, soon crowded to this place, so that the whole open space was not only covered with them, but vast numbers stood on the ice around it. They had three rounds firing both at once, and picked up eighty-eight Canvas-backs, and might have collected more had they been able to get to the extremity of the ice after the wounded ones. In the severe winter of 1779-80, the grass, on the roots of which these birds feed, was almost wholly destroyed in James river. In the month of January the wind continued to blow from W. N. W. for twenty-one days, which caused such low tides in the river that the grass froze to the ice everywhere, and a thaw coming on sud- denly, the whole was raised by the roots and carried ofi" by the fresh. The next winter a few of these Ducks were seen, but they soon went away again ; and for many years after, they continued to be scarce ; and even to the present day, in the opinion of my informant, have never been so plenty as before. The Ganvas-hacTf, in the rich juicy tenderness of its flesh, and its delicacy and flavor, stands unrivalled by the whole of its tribe in this or perhaps any other quarter of the world. Those killed in the waters of the Chesapeake are generally esteemed superior to all others, doubtless from the great abundance of their favorite food which these rivers pro- CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 109 duce. At our public dinners, hotels, and particular entertainments, the Canvas-backs are universal favorites. They not only grace but dignify the table, and their very name conveys to the imagination of the eager epicure the most comfortable and exhilarating ideas. Hence on such occasions it has not been uncommon to pay from one to three dollars a pair for these ducks ; and, indeed, at such times, if they can they must be had, whatever may be the price. The Canvas-back will feed readily on grain, especially wheat, and may be decoyed to particular places by baiting them with that grain for several successive days. Some few years since a vessel loaded with wheat was wrecked near the entrance of Great Egg Harbor, in the autumn, and went to pieces. The wheat floated out in vast quantities, and the whole surface of the bay was in a few days covered with Ducks of a kind altogether unknown to the people of that quarter. The gun- ners of the neighborhood collected in boats, in every direction, shooting them, and so successful were they, that, as Mr. Beasley informs me, two hundred and forty were killed in one day, and sold among the neighbors, at twelve and a half cents apiece, without the feathers. The wounded ones were generally abandoned, as being too difiicult to be come up with. They continued about for three weeks, and during the greater part of that time a continual cannonading was heard from every quarter. The gunners called them Sea Ducks. They were all Canvas- hacks, at that time on their way from the north, when this floating feast attracted their attention, and for a while arrested them in their course. A pair of these very Ducks I myself bought in Philadelphia market at the time, from an Egg Harbor gunner, and never met with their superior either in weight or excellence of flesh. When it was known among those people the loss they had sustained in selling for twenty-five cents what would have brought them from a dollar to a dollar and a half per pair, universal surprise and regret were naturally enough excited. The Canvas-back is two feet long, and three feet in extent, and when in good order weighs three pounds ; the bill is large, rising high in the head, three inches in length, and one inch and three-eighths thick at the base, of a glossy black ; eye very small, irides dark red ; cheeks and fore part of the head blackish brown ; rest of the head and greater part of the neck bright glossy reddish chestnut, ending in a broad space of black that covers the upper part of the breast, and spreads round to the back ; back, scapulars, and tertials white, faintly marked with an infinite number of transverse waving lines or points as if done with a pencil ; whole lower parts of the breast, also the belly, white, slightly pencilled in the same manner, scarcely perceptible on the breast, pretty thick towards the vent ; wing coverts gray with numerous specks of blackish ; primaries and secondaries pale slate, two or three of the 110 CANVAS-BACK DUCK. ktter of which nearest the body are finely edged with deep velvety black, the former dusky at the tips ; tail very short, pointed, consisting of fourteen feathers of a hoary brown ; vent and tail coverts black ; lining of the wing white ; legs and feet very pale ash, the latter three inches in width, a circumstance which partly accounts for its great powers of swimming. The female is somewhat less than the male, and weighs two pounds and three-quarters ; the crown is blackish brown, cheeks and throat of a pale drab ; neck dull brown ; breast as far as the black extends on the male, dull brown skirted in places with pale drab ; back dusky white crossed with fine waving lines ; belly of the same dull white, pen- cilled like the back ; wings, feet, and bill, as in the male ; tail coverts dusky, vent white waved with brown. The windpipe of the male has a large flattish concave labyrinth, the ridge of which is covered with a thin transparent membrane ; where the trachea enters this it is very narrow, but immediately above swells to three times that diameter. The intestines are wide, and measure five feet in length. Note. — It is a circumstance calculated to excite our surprise, that the Canvas-back, one of the commonest species of our country, a Duck which frequents the waters of the Chesapeake in flocks of countless thousands, should yet have been either overlooked by the naturalists of Europe, or confounded with the Pochard, a species whose characters are so obviously different. But that this is the fact I feel well assured, since I have carefully examined every author of repute, to which I have had access, and have not been enabled to find any description which will correspond to the subject before us. The species, then, we hope, will stand as Wilson's own ; and it is no small addition to the fame of the American Ornithology that it contains the first scientific account of the finest Duck that any country can boast of. The Canvas-back frequents the Delaware in considerable numbers. The Valimeria grows pretty abundantly, in various places, from Bur- lington, New Jersey, to Eagle Point, a few miles below Philadelphia. Wherever this plant is found there will the Ducks be ; and they will frequently venture within reach of their enemies' weapons rather than abstain from the gratification of their appetite for this delicious food. The shooters in the neighborhood of Philadelphia for many years were in the habit of supplying our markets with this species, which always bore the name of Red-heads or Red-necks ; and their ignorance of its being the true Canvas-back was cunningly fostered by our neighbors of the Chesapeake, who boldly asserted that only their waters were favored with this species, and that all other Ducks, which seemed to claim affinity, were a spurious race, unworthy of consanguinity. Hence at CANVAS-BACK DUCK. Ill the same time when a pair of legitimate Canvas-backs, proudly exhibited from the mail-coach, from Havre-de-Grace, readily sold for two dollars and fifty cents, a pair of the identical species, as fat, as heavy, as deli- cious, but which had been unfortunately killed in the Delaware, brought only one dollar, and the lucky shooter thought himself sufficiently rewarded in obtaining twenty-five per cent, more for his Red-neeks than he could obtain for a pair of the finest Mallards that our waters could afibrd. But the delusion is now passed ; every shooter and huckster knows the distinctive characters of the Canvas-back and the Red-head ; and -prejudice no longer controverts the opinion that this species is a common inhabitant of the Delaware ; and epicures are compelled to confess that they can discern no difierence between our Canvas-back, when in season, and that from Spesutie, or Carroll's Island, the notorious shooting ground of the bon-vivants of Baltimore. The last-mentioned place, though commonly termed an island, is pro- perly a peninsula, situated on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay, a few miles from Baltimore. It is a spot highly favorable for the shooting of water fowl. It extends for a considerable distance into the bay ; and, being connected to the main land by a narrow neck, the shooters are enabled to post themselves advantageously on the isthmus, and intercept the fowl, who, in roving from one feeding ground to another, commonly prefer crossing the land to taking a long flight around the peninsula. In calm weather the shooters have not much luck, the Ducks keeping out in the coves, and, when they do move, fly- ing high ; but should a fresh breeze prevail, especially one from the eastward, rare sport may be anticipated ; and it is no unusual circum- stance for a party of four or five gentleman, returning home, after a couple of days' excursion, with fifty or sixty Canvas-backs, besides some other Ducks of inferior note. The greatest flight of Ducks com- monly takes place between daybreak and sunrise, and while it lasts the roaring of the fowling pieces, the bustle of the sportsmen, the fluttering of the fowl, and the plunging of the dogs, constitute a scene productive of intense interest. The dog in most esteem for this amusement is a large breed, partaking of the qualities of the Newfoundland variety. They trust altogether to their sight, and it is astonishing what sagacity they will manifest in watching a flock of Ducks that had been shot at, and marking the birds that drop into the water, even at a considerable distance ofi'. When at fault, the motion of their master's hand is readily obeyed by them ; and when unable to perceive the object of their search, they will raise themselves in the water for this purpose, and will not abandon the pursuit while a chance remains of succeeding. A generous, well-trained dog, has been known to follow a Duck for more than half a mile; and, after having been long beyond the reach of seeing or hearing his master, to return, puffing and snorting under 112 CANVAS-BACK DUCK. his load, which seemed sufficient to drag him beneath the waves. The editor having been an eye-witness of similar feats of these noble animals, can therefore speak with confidence as to the fact. On the Delaware but few of this species, comparatively, are obtained, for the want of proper situations whence they may be shot on the wing. To attempt to approach them, in open day, with a boat, is unproductive labor, except there be floating ice in the river, at which time, if the shooter clothe himself in white, and paint hi^ skifi" of the same color, he may so deceive the Ducks as to get within a few feet of them. At such times it is reasonable to suppose that these valuable birds get no quarter. But there is one caution to be observed, which experienced sportsmen never omit : it is to go always with the current ; a Duck being sagacious enough to know that a lump of ice seldom advances against the stream. They are often shot, with us, by moonlight, in the mode related in the foregoing account ; the first pair the editor ever killed was in this man- ner ; he was then a boy, and was not a little gratified with his uncommon acquisition. As the Valisneria will grow in all our fresh-water rivers, in coves, or places not affected by the current, it would be worth the experiment to transplant this vegetable in those waters where it at present is unknown. There is little doubt the Canvas-backs would, by this means, be attracted ; and thus would afibrd the lovers of good eating an opportunity of tasting a delicacy, which, in the opinion of many, is unrivalled by the whole feathered race. In the sprang, when the Duck-grass becomes scarce, the Canvas-backs are compelled to subsist upon other food, particularly shell-fish ; their fiesh then loses its delicacy of flavor, and although still fat, it is not esteemed by epicures ; hence the Ducks are not much sought after ; and are permitted quietly to feed until their departure for the north. Our author states that he had had no certain accounts of this species to the southward of James river, Virginia. In the month of January, 1818, I saw many hundreds of these Ducks feeding in the Savannah river, not far from Tybee light-house. They were known by the name of Canvas-backs ; but the inhabitants of that quarter considered them as fishing Ducks, not fit to be eaten : so said the pilot of the ship which bore me to Savannah. But a pair of these birds having been served up at table, after my arrival, I was convinced, by their delicate flavor, that they had lost little by their change of residence, but still maintained their superiority over all the water fowl of that region. In the river St. John, in East Florida, I also saw a few scattered individuals of this species ; but they were too shy to be approached within gunshot. The Canvas-backs swim very low, especially when fat; and when pursued by a boat, they stretch themselves out in lines, in the manner of the Scaup Ducks, so that some of the flock are always enabled to RED-HEADED DUCK. 113 reconnoitre the paddler, and give information, to the rest, of his motions. When the look-out Ducks apprehend danger, the stretching up of their necks is the signal, and immediately the whole squadron, facing to the wind, rise with a noise which may be heard at the distance of half a mile. The guns employed in Canvas-back shooting should be of a medium length and calibre ; 'and of the most approved patent breech. My experience has taught me that a barrel of three feet seven inches, with a bore short of seven-eighths of an inch, is quite as effective as one of greater dimensions ; and is certainly more convenient. It may appear a work of supererogation to speak of the quality of powder to be used in this kind of sporting ; and yet so often are shooters deceived in this article, either through penuriousness or negligence, that a word of advice may not be unprofitable. One should obtain the best powder, without regard to price ; it being an indisputable maxim in shooting, but which is too often forgotten, that the best is always the cheapest. Species XIX. ANAS FERINA?* RED-HEADED DUCK. [Plate LXX. Fig. 6, Male.] This is a common associate of the Canvas-back, frequenting the same places, and feeding on the stems of the same grass, the latter eating only the roots ; its flesh is very little inferior, and it is often sold in our markets for the Canvas-back, to those unacquainted with the charac- teristic marks of each. Anxious as I am to determine precisely whether this species be the Red-headed Wigeon, Pochard, or Dunf bird of England, I have not been able to ascertain the point to my own satis- faction ; though I think it very probably the same, the size, extent, and general description of the Pochard agreeing pretty nearly with this. The Red-head is twenty inches in length, and two feet six inches in extent; bill dark slate, sometimes black, two inches long, and seven- * Anas Ferina, Gmel. i., p. 530, No. 31. — Anas rufa, Id. p. 515. — Ind. Orn. p. 862, No. 77 ; p. 863, No. "li.—Rufous-neched Duck, Gen. Syn. in., p. 477, No. 32.— Pochard, Id. p. 523, No. 68. — Red-headed Duck, Lawson's Carolina, p. 150. — Bewick, ii., p. 320.— Arct. Zool. No. 491. Br. Zool. No. 284.— ie Millouin, Briss. VI., p. 384, No. 19, pi. 35, fig. 1 ; Le Millouin nois. Id. p. 389, A young male? ; !•« Millouin du Mexique, Id. p. 390, No. 20, female, Bcff. ix., p. 216. PI. Enl. 803 Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 669. — Willoughbv, p. 367, § xi. — Montagc, Orn. Diet. t Local names given to one and the same Duck. It is also called the Poker. Vol. III.— 8 114 RED-HEADED DUCK. eighths of an inch thick at the base, furnished with a large broad nail at the extremity ; irides flame-colored ; plumage of the head long, velvety, and inflated, running high above the base of the bill ; head, and about two inches of the neck deep glossy reddish chestnut ; rest of the neck and upper part of the breast black, spreading round to the back ; belly white, becoming dusky towards the vent by closely marked undulating lines of black ; back and scapulars bluish white, rendered gray by numerous transverse waving lines of black ; lesser wing coverts brownish ash ; wing quills very pale slate, dusky at the tips ; lower part of the back and sides under the wings brownish black, crossed with regular zigzag lines of whitish ; vent, rump, tail, and tail coverts black ; legs and feet dark ash. The female has the upper part of the head dusky brown, rest of the head and part of the neck a light sooty brown ; upper part of the breast ashy brown, broadly skirted with whitish ; back dark ash, with little or no appearance of white pencilling ; wings, bill, and feet nearly alike in both sexes. This Duck is sometimes met with in the rivers of North and South Carolina, and also in those of Jersey and New York ; but always in fresh water, and usually at no great distance from the sea. Is most numerous in the waters of the Chesapeake ; and with the connoisseurs in good eating, ranks next in excellence to the Canvas;back. Its usual weight is about a pound and three-quarters, avoirdupois. The Red-head leaves the bay and its tributary streams in March, and is not seen until late in October. The male of this species has a large flat bony labyrinth on the bottom of the windpipe, very much like that of the Canvas-back, but smaller ; over one of its concave sides is spread an exceeding thin transparent skin, or membrane. The intestines are of great width, and measure six feet in length. Species XX. ANAS UARILA. SCAUP DUCK. [Plate LXIX. Fig. 3.] Le petit Morillon rayS, Briss. vi., p. 416, 26. A. — Arct.Zool. No. 498. — Lath. Syv„ III., p. 500. This Duck is better known among us by the name of tbe Blue-hill. It is an excellent diver ; and according to Willoughby feeds on a cer- tain small kind of shell fish called scaup, whence it has derived its name. It is common both to our fresh-water rivers and seashores in winter. Those that frequent the latter are generally much the fattest, on account of the greater abundance of food along the coast. It is sometimes abundant in the Delaware, particularly in those places where small snails, its favorite shell fish, abound ; feeding also, like most of its tribe, by moonlight. They generally leave us in April, though I have met with individuals of this species so late as the middle of May, among the salt marshes of Jf ew Jersey. Their flesh is not of the most delicate kind, yet some persons esteem it. That of the young birds is generally the tenderest and most palatable. The length of the Blue-bill is nineteen inches, extent twenty-nine inches ; bill broad, generally of a light blue, sometimes of a dusky lead color ; irides reddish ; head tumid, covered with plumage of a dark glossy green, extending half way down the neck ; rest of the neck and breast black, spreading round to the back ; back and scapulars white, thickly crossed with waving lines of black ; lesser coverts dusky, pow- dered with veins of whitish, primaries and tertials brownish black; secondaries white, tipped with black, forming the speculum ; rump and . tail-coverts black ; tail short, rounded, and of a dusky brown ; belly white, crossed near the vent with waving lines of ash ; vent black ; legs and feet dark slate. Such is the color of the bird in its perfect state. Young birds vary considerably, some having the head black mixed with gray and purple, others the back dusky with little or no white, and that irregularly dispersed. The female has the front and sides of the same white, head and half of the neck blackish brown ; breast, spreading round to the back, ■<\. dark sooty brown, broadly -skirted with whitish; back black, thinly sprinkled with grains of white, vent whitish ; wings the same as in the male. (115) IIQ SCAUP DUCK. The windpipe of the male of this species is of large diameter ; the labyrinth similar to some others, though not of the largest kind ; it has something of the shape of a single cockle shell ; its open side or circular rim, covered with a thin transparent skin. Just before the windpipe enters this, it lessens its diameter at least two-thirds, and assumes a flattish form. The Scaup Duck is well known in England. It inhabits Iceland and the more northern parts of the continent of Europe, Lapland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. It is also common on the northern shores of Siberia. Is very frequent on the river Ob. Breeds in the north, and migrates southward in winter. It inhabits America as high as Hud- son's Bay, and retires from this last place in October.* Note. — Pennant and Latham state that the male weighs a pound and a half ; and the female two ounces more. This is undoubtedly an error, the female being less than the male, and the latter being generally the fattest. Montagu says that the species weighs sometimes as much as thirty-five ounces, which statement comes nearer the truth than that of the foregoing. On the eighth of April, of the present year (1824), I shot, on the Delaware, an adult male which weighed two pounds and three-quarters. I have frequently shot them of two pounds and a half; and on the Chesapeake, and on the coast, they are still heavier. In the Delaware there are several favorite feeding grounds of the Blue-bill along the Jersey shore, from Burlington to Mantua creek ; but the most noted spot appears to be the cove which extends from Timber creek to Eagle Point, and known by the name of Ladd's Cove. Thither the Blue-bills repair in the autumn, and never quit it until they depart in the spring for the purpose of breeding, except when driven away, in the winter, by the ice. It is no uncommon circumstance to see many hundreds of these birds at once constantly diving for food ; but so shy are they, that even with the aid of a very small and well-constructed skifF, cautiously paddled, it is diflScult to approach them within gunshot. So very sagacious are they, that they appear to know the precise dis- tance wherein they are safe ; and, after the shooter has advanced within this point, they then begin to spread their lines in such a manner that, in a flock of a hundred, not more than three or four can be selected in a group at any one view. They swim low in the water ; are strong feathered ; and are not easily killed. When slightly wounded, and unable to fly, it is almost hopeless to follow them, in consequence of their Hkill great in diving. Their wings being short they either cannot rise \pitb. the wind, when it blows freshly, or they are unwilling to do so, for * Latham. TCJFTED DUCK. 117 they are invariably seen to rise against the wind. In a calm they get up with considerable fluttering. The Blue-bills when disturbed by the fishermen along the Jersey shore, in the spring, resort to other feeding places ; and they are frequently observed a short distance below the Philadelphia Navy-yard, particu- larly at the time when their favorite snail-shells begin to crawl up the muddy shore for the purpose of breeding. Though often seen feeding in places where they can reach the bottom with their bills, yet they sel- dom venture on the shore, the labor of walking appearing repugnant to their inclinations. When wounded they will never take to the land if they can possibly avoid it ; and when compelled to walk they waddle along in the awkward manner of those birds whose legs, placed far behind, do not admit of a free and graceful progression. Species XXI. ANAS FULIGULA* TUFTED DUCK. [Plate LXVII. Fig. 5.] Ard. Zool. p. 573. — Le petit Morillon, Briss. ti., 411, 26, pi. 37, 1. — Burr, ix., p. 227, 231, pi. 15.— Lath. Syn. iii., p. 540. This is an inhabitant of both continents ; it frequents fresh-water rivers, and seldom visits the seashore. It is a plump, short-bodied Duck ; its flesh generally tender, and well tasted. They are much rarer than most of our other species, and are seldom seen in market. They are most common about the beginning of winter, and early in the spring. Being birds of passage they leave us entirely during the summer. The Tufted Duck is seventeen inches long, and two feet two inches in extent ; the bill is broad and of a dusky color, sometimes marked round the nostrils and sides with light blue ; head crested, or tufted, as its name expresses, and of a black color, with reflections of purple ; neck marked near its middle by a band of deep chestnut ; lower part of the neck black, which spreads quite round to the back ; back, and scapulars Ijlack, minutely powdered with particles of white, not to be observed but on a near inspection ; rump and vent also black ; wings ashy brown ; secondaries pale ash or bluish white ; tertials black, reflecting green ; lower part of the breast and whole belly white ; flanks crossed with fine * Anas rufitorqttes, Bonaparte, Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, in., p. 385 ; pi. 13, fig. 6, the trachea. 118 TUFTED DUCK. zigzag lines of dusky; tail short, rounded, and of a dull brownish black; legs and feet greenish ash, webs black, irides rich orange; stomach filled with gravel and some vegetable food. In young birds the head and upper part of the neck are purplish brown ; in some the chestnut ring on the fore part of the middle of the neck is obscure, in others very rich and glossy, and in one or two spe- cimens which I have seen it is altogether wanting. The back is in some instances destitute of the fine powdered particles of white ; while in others these markings are large and thickly interspersed. The specimen from which the drawing was taken, was shot on the Delaware on the 10th of March, and presented to me by. Dr. S. B. Smith of this city. On dissection it proved to be a male, and was ex- ceedingly fat and tender. Almost every specimen I have since met with has been in nearly the same state ; so that I cannot avoid thinking this species equal to most others for the table, and greatly superior to many. Note. — It is remarkable that our author should not have observed the difference between this species and the fuligula of Europe ; and still more worthy of note that Mr. Temminck, whose powers of discrimi- nation are unusually acute, should also have been misled by the opinions of others, and concluded, with Wilson, that the Tufted Duck figured in our plate was of the same species as the Tufted Duck of Europe. The only apology which we can make for our author is, that he had never had an opportunity of examining a specimen of the fuligula ; otherwise the specific differences of the two would have been obvious at the first glance. The bill of the fuligula has not those white bands or markings which are so conspicuous in our bird, its neck is also destitute of the chestnut collar ; the speculum of the former is pure white, that of the latter is pale ash ; and, what is a still more striking characteristic, its head is merely tufted, while the fuligula' s is ornamented with a pendent crest, of two inches in length. The credit of having been the first to publicly announce our bird as a new species belongs to Mr. Charles Bonaparte, who, in the publication quoted at the head of this article, has given a comparative description of the two birds, and named the subject of this article rufitorgues. The American Tufted Duck is said to be common on the Ohio, and the Mississippi ; Messieurs Say and Peale procured it on the Missouri ; Lewis and Clark ^hot it on the Columbia ;* and myself in East Florida. It is, properly speaking, a fresh-water Duck, although it is sometimes found on the coast. On the Delaware we observe it in the spring and autumn; and, if the weather be moderate, we see it occasionally * Hist, of the Exped. vol. ii., p. 195, 8vo. TUFTED DUCK. 119 throughout the winter. With us it is not a numerous species ; and is rather a solitary bird, seldom more than four or five being found to- gether. It is more common- in the month of March than any other time. It is a plump, short-bodied Duck ; its flesh tender, and well tasted ; but in no respect to be compared to that of the Canvas-back ; it is even inferior to the Mallard. The American Tufted Duck is seventeen inches long, and twenty- seven inches in breadth ; the bill is broad, of a dull bluish ash color, the base of the upper mandible marked with a stripe of pure white, which extends along its edges, and then forms a wider band across near the tip, which is of a deep black — this white band changes after death to gray or bluish white ; irides rich orange ; a spot of white on the chin ; head tufted, and, with the upper part of the neck, black, with reflections of rich purple, predominating on the back part of the neck ; about the middle of the neck there is an interrupted band of a rich deep glossy chestnut ; throat, lower part of the neck, breast, back, scapulars, rump, and tail-coverts, of a silky brownish black ; primaries and wing-coverts brown ; tertials dark brown, with strong reflections of green ; seconda- ries pale ash, or bluish white, forming the speculum, some tipped with brown and others with white ; back and scapulars powdered with parti- cles of dull white, not to be observed but on a near inspection, and pre- senting the appearance of dust ; lower part of the breast, and whole belly, white, with a yellowish tinge ; vent dusky ; sides under the wings, and flanks, beautifully marked with fine zigzag lines of dusky ; tail dull brown, cuneiform, and composed of fourteen feathers ; the primaries, wing-coverts, back and scapulars, are glossed with green ; webs of the feet black. The color of the legs and feet varies : those of the figure in the plate were greenish ash ; those of the specimen above described were pale yellow ochre, dashed with black ; and those of Mr. Bona- parte's specimen were bluish ash. The above description was taken from a fine adult male, shot by myself on the 1st of April, 1814. On the 8th of March, 1815, I shot from a flock, consisting of five individuals, two males ; and an adult female in full plumage. Female: Length sixteen inches and a half; bill darker than that of the male, without the white at its base, above the nail with a band of dull bluish white ; beneath the eyes a spot of white ; chin and front part of the lores white ; throat spotted with dusky ; cheeks and auricu- lars finely powdered with white ; neck without the chestnut band ; head, neck, breast, upper parts of the back, lower parts of the belly, and vent, a snufi-colored brown ; belly whitish ; lower part of the back dusky ; the under tail-coverts pencilled with fine zigzag lines ; neck rather thicker than that of the male, but the head equally tufted ; the wings, feet, legs, tail and eyes, resemble those parts of the male. The dust- 120 GOLDEN EYE. like particles, which are so remarkable upon the back and scapulars of the male, are wanting in the female. In young males the head and upper part of the neck are purplish brown, in some the chestnut band of the neck is obscure. The stomachs of those specimens which I dissected were filled with gravel and vegetable food. The trachea, according to the observations of Mr. Bonaparte, resembles that of the fuligula. This species is in no respect so shy and cunning as the Scaup Duck, and is more easily shot. — 6r. Ord. Species XXII. ANAS CLANGULA. GOLDEN EYE. [Plate LXVII. Fig. 6.] Le Garrot, Briss. ti., p. 416, 27, pi. 37, fig. 2.— Bupp. ix., p. '2,2%—Arct. Zool. No. 486. — Lath. Syn. in., p. 535.* This Duck is well known in Europe, and in various regions of the United States, both along the seacoast and about the lakes and rivers of the interior. It associates in small parties, and may easily be known by the vigorous whistling of its wings, as it passes through the air. It swims and dives well ; but seldom walks on shore, and then in a wad- dling awkward manner. Feeding chiefly on shell fish, small fry, &c., their flesh is less esteemed than that of the preceding. In the United States they are only winter visitors, leaving us again in the month of April, being then on their passage to the north to breed. They are said to build, like the Wood Duck, in hollow trees. The Golden-eye is nineteen inches long, and twenty-nine in extent, and weighs on an average about two pounds ; the bill is black, short, rising considerably up in the forehead ; the plumage of the head and part of the neck is somewhat tumid, and of a dark green with violet re- flections, marked near the corner of the mouth with an oval spot of white ; the irides are golden yellow ; rest of the neck, breast, and whole lower parts white, except the flanks, which are dusky ; back and wings black ; over the latter a broad bed of white extends from the middle of the lesser coverts to the extremity of the secondaries ; the exterior scapu- lars are also white ; tail hoary brown ; rump and tail-coverts black ; legs * Le Garrot, PI. Enl. 802.— Morrillon, Arct. Zool. ii., p. 300, F.—Br. Zool. No. 276, 277.— Lath. Hupp, ii., p. 535, No. 26.— Jnd. Orn. p. 867, No. 87 ; J. glancion, Id. p. 868, No. 88.— Gmel. Syst. i., p. 523, No. 23 ; Id. p. 525, No. 26.— Temm. Man. d' Orn. i., p. 870.— Bewick, ii., p. 330. GOLDEN EYE. 121 and toes reddish orange; webs very large, and of a dark purplish brown ; hind toe and exterior edge of the inner one broadly finned ; sides of the bill obliquely dentated ; tongue covered above with a fine thick velvety down of a whitish color. The full plumaged female is seventeen inches in length, and twenty- seven inches in extent ; bill brown, orange near the tip ; head and part of the neck brown, or very dark drab, bounded below by a ring of white ; below that the neck is ash, tipped with white ; rest of the lower parts white ; wings dusky, six of the secondaries and their greater coverts pure white, except the tips of the last, which are touched with dusky spots ; rest of the wing-coverts cinereous, mixed with whitish ; back and scapulars dusky, tipped with brown ; feet dull orange ; across the vent a band of cinereous ; tongue covered with the same velvety down as the male. The young birds of the first season very much resemble the females ; but may generally be distinguished by the white spot, or at least its rudiments, which marks the corner of the mouth. Yet, in some cases, even this is variable, both old and young male birds occasionally wanting the spot. From an examination of many individuals of this species of both sexes, I have very little doubt that the Morillon of English writers [Anas glaucion) is nothing more than the young male of the Golden- eye. The conformation of the trachea, or windpipe of the male of this species, is singular. Nearly about its middle it swells out to at least five times its common diameter, the concentric hoops or rings, of which this part is formed, falling obliquely into one another when the wind- pipe is relaxed ; but when stretched, this part swells out to its full size, the rings being then drawn apart ; this expansion extends for about three inches ; three more below this it again forms ftself into a hard car- tilaginous shell, of an irregular figure, and nearly as large as a walnut ; from the bottom of this labyrinth, as it has been called, the trachea branches off to the two lobes of the lungs; that branch which goes to the left lobe being three times the diameter of the right. The female has nothing of all this. The intestines measure five feet in length, and are large and thick. I have examined many individuals of this species, of both sexes and in various stages of color, and can therefore affirm, with certainty, that the foregoing descriptions are correct. Europeans have differed greatly in their accounts of this bird, from finding males in the same garb as the females ; and other full plumaged males destitute of the spot of white on the cheek ; but all these individuals bear such evident marks of belonging to one peculiar species, that no judicious naturalist, with all these varieties before him, can long hesitate to pronounce them the same. Species XXIII. ANAS ALBEOLA. BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK. [Plate IXVII. Fig. 2, Male ; Fig. 3, Female.] La Sarcelle de la Louisiane, Briss. vi., p. 461, pi. 41, fig. 1. — Le petit Canard a (jrosse iSte, Buff, ix., p. 249. — Bdw. pi. 100. — Arct. Zool. No. 487. — Catesby, i., 95. — Lath. Syn. in., p. 533.* This pretty little species, usually known by the name of the Butter- box, or Butter-ball, is common to the seashores, rivers and lakes of the United States, in every quarter of the country, during autumn and winter. About the middle of April, or early in May, they retire to the north to breed. They are dexterous divers, and fly with extraor- dinary velocity. So early as the latter part of February the males are observed to have violent disputes for the females ; at this time they are more commonly seen in flocks ; but during the preceding part of winter they usually fly in pairs. Their note is a short quack. They feed much on shell fish, shrimps, &c. They are sometimes exceedingly fat ; though their flesh is inferior to many others for the table. The male exceeds the female in size, and greatly in beauty of plumage. The Buffel-headed Duck, or rather as it has originally been, the Buffaloe-headed Duck, from the disproportionate size of its head, is fourteen inches long, and twenty-three inches in extent ; the bill is short, and of a light blue or leaden color ; the plumage of the head and half of the neck is thick, long and velvety, projecting greatly over the lower part of the neck ; this plumage on the forehead and nape is rich glossy green, changing into a shining purple on the crown and sides of the neck ; from the eyes backward passes a broad band of pure white ; iris of the eye dark ; back, wings and part of the scapulars black ; rest of the scapulars, lateral band along the wing, and whole breast, snowy white ; belly, vent, and tail-coverts, dusky white ; tail pointed, and of a hoary color. The female is considerably less than the male, and entirely destitute of the tumid plumage of the head ; the head, neck, and upper parts of the body, and wings, are sooty black, darkest on the crown ; side of the head marked with a small oblong spot of white; bill dusky ; lower part of the neck ash, tipped with white ; belly dull white ; vent cinereous ; * Le Canard d'hyver, Briss. vi., p. 349 ; La Sarcelle de la Caroline, Id. p. 464. (122) LONG-TAILED DUCK. 123 outes edges of six of the secondaries and their incumbent coverts white, except the tips of the latter, which are black ; legs and feet a livid blue ; tail hoary brown ; length of the intestines three feet six inches ; stomach filled with small shell fish. This is the Spirit Duck of Pen- nant, so called from its dexterity in diving (Arct. Zool. No. 487), like- wise the Little Brown Duck of Catesby (Nat. Hist. Car. pi. 98). This species is said to come into Hudson's Bay about Severn river in June, and' make their nests in trees in the woods near ponds.* The young males during the first year are almost exactly like the females in color. Species XXIV. ANAS GLACIALIS. LONG-TAILED DUCK. [Plate LXX. Fig. 1, Male.] Le Canard d, longue queue de Terre Neuve, Briss. vi., p. 382, 18. — BurF. ii., p. 202. PI. Enl. 1008.— Edw. pi. WQ.— Arct. Zool. No. 501.— Lath. Syn. in., p. 528.t This Duck is very generally known along the shores of the Chesa- peake Bay by the name of South Southerly, from the singularity of its cry, something imitative of the sound of those words, and also, that when very clamorous they are supposed to betoken a southerly wind ; on the coast of New Jersey they are usually called Old Wives. They are chiefly salt-water Ducks, and seldom ramble far from the sea. They inhabit our bays and coasts during the winter only ; are rarely found in the marshes, but keep in the channel, diving for small shell fish, which are their principal food. In passing to and from the bays, sometimes in vast flocks, particularly towards evening, their loud and confused noise may be heard in calm weather at the distance of several miles. They fly very swiftly, take short excursions, and are lively restless birds. Their native regions are in the north, where great numbers of them remain during the whole year ; part only of the vast family * Latham. ■f- Anas Glacialis, Gmei. Syst. i., p. 529, No. 30 ; A. Jiyemalis, Id. No. 29 ; Mergiis furcifer, Id. 548, No. 7. — Ind. Orn. p. 864, No. 82, et var. ; Mergus furcifer, Id. p. 832, No. 8 ; Gen. Syn. p. 528, No. 73 ; Id. p. 529, young male called the female : Id. p. 531, var. A. ; Forked Merganser, Id. sup. ii., p. 339, No. 5. — Le Canard d longue queue d'Islande, Briss. ti., p. 379. La Sarcelle de Ferroe, Id. p. 466, pi. 40, fig. 2.— Buff, ix., p. 278. PI. 1008, old male ; 999, yearling.— Edwards, pi. 280, old male, pi. 156, young male. — Br. Zool. No. 283. — Bewick, ii., p. 327. — Canard de Millon, Temh. Man. d' Orn., p. 860. I2i LONG-TAILED DUCK. migrating south to avoid the severest rigors of that climate. They are common to the whole northern hemisphere. In the Orkneys they are met with in considerable flocks, from October to April; frequent in Sweden, Lapland, and Russia ; are often found about St. Petersburgh, and also in Kamtschatka. Are said to breed at Hudson's Bay, making their nest among the grass near the sea, like the Eider Duck, and about the middle of June, lay from ten to fourteen bluish white eggs, the size of those of a pullet. When the young are hatched the mother carries them to the water in her bill. The nest is lined with the down of her breast, which is accounted equally valuable with that of the Eider Duck, were it to be had in the same quantity.* They are hardy birds, and excellent divers. Are not very common in England, coming there only in very severe winters ; and then but in small straggling parties ; yet are found on the coast of America as far south at least as Charleston in Carolina, during the winter. Their flesh is held in no great estima- tion, having a flshy taste. The down and plumage, particularly on the breast and lower parts of the body, are very abundant, and appear to be of the best quality. The length of this species is twenty-two inches, extent thirty inches ; bill black, crossed near the extremity by a band of orange; tongue downy ; iris dark red ; cheeks and frontlet dull dusky drab, passing over the eye, and joining a large patch of black on the side of the neck, which ends in dark brown ; throat and rest of the neck white ; crown tufted, and of a pale cream color ; lower part of the neck, breast, back, and wings black ; scapulars and tertials pale bluish white, long and pointed, and falling gracefully over the wings ; the white of the lower part of the neck spreads over the back an inch or two, the white of the belly spreads over the sides, and nearly meets at the rump ; secondaries chestnut, forming a bar across the wing ; primaries, rump, and tail-coverts black ; the tail consists of fourteen feathers, all remark- ably pointed, the two middle ones nearly four inches longer than the others ; these, with the two adjoining ones, are black, the rest white ; legs and feet dusky slate. On dissection, the intestines were found to measure five feet six inches. The windpipe was very curiously formed ; besides the labyrinth, which is nearly as large as the end of the thumb, it has an expansion immediately above that, of double its usual diameter, which continues for an inch and a half; this is flattened on the side next the breast, with an oblong window-like vacancy in it, crossed with five narrow bars, and covered with a thin transparent skin, like the panes of a window ; another thin skin of the same kind is spread over the exter- nal side of the labyrinth, which is partly of a circular form. This * Latham. LONG-TAILED DUCK. 125 singular conformation is, as usual, peculiar to the male, the female having the windpipe of nearly an uniform thickness throughout. She differs also so much in the colors and markings of her plumage as to render a figure of her in the same plate necessary ; for a description of which see the following article. LONG-TAILED DUCK. [Plate LXX. Fig. 2, Female.] Anas hyemalis, Linn. Syst. 202, 29. — Lath. Syn. in. p. 529.* The female is distinguished from the male by wanting the lengthened tertials, and the two long pointed feathers of the tail, and also by her size, and the rest of her plumage, which is as follows : length sixteen inches, extent twenty-eight inches; bill dusky; middle of the crown and spot on the side of the neck blackish ; a narrow dusky line runs along the throat for two inches ; rest of the head and upper half of the neck white ; lower half pale vinaceous bay blended with white ; all the rest of the lower parts of the body pure white ; back, scapulars, and lesser wing-coverts bright ferruginous, centered with black, and inter- spersed with whitish ; shoulders of the wing, and quills black ; lower part of the back the same, tinged with brown ; tail pale brown ash, inner vanes of all but the two middle feathers white; legs and feet dusky slate. The legs are placed far behind, which circumstance points out the species to be great divers. In some females the upper parts are less ferrugiiTous. Some writers suppose the singular voice, or call, of this species, to be occasioned by the remarkable construction of its windpipe ; but the fact, that the females are uniformly the most noisy, and yet are entirely destitute of the singularities of this conformation, overthrows the proba- bility of this supposition. * This is a young male and not a female. Species XXV. ANAS LABRADOBA. PIED DUCK. [Plate LXIX. Fig. 6.] Arct. Zool. No. 488.— Lath. Syn. in., p. 497.* This is rather a scarce species on our coasts, and is never met with on fresh-water lakes or rivers. It is called by some gunners the Sand Shoal Duck, from its habit of frequenting sand bars. Its principal food appears to be shell fish, which it procures by diving. The flesh is dry, and partakes considerably of the nature of its food. It is only seen here during winter ; most commonly early in the month of March a few are observed in our market. Of their particular manners, place, or mode of breeding nothing more is known. Latham observes that a pair in the possession of Sir Joseph Banks were brought from Labrador. Having myself had frequent opportunities of examining both sexes of these birds, I find that, like most others, they are subject when young ■to a progressive change of color. The full plumaged male is as follows : length twenty inches, extent twenty-nine inches ; the base of the bill, and edges of both mandibles for two-thirds of their length, are of a pale orange color, the rest black, towards the extremity it widens a little in the manner of the Shovellers, the sides there having the singularity of being only a soft, loose, pendulous skin ; irides dark hazel ; head and half of the neck white, marked along the crown to the hind-head with a stripe of black ; the plumage of the cheeks is of a peculiar bristly nature at the points, and round the neck passes a collar of black, which spreads over the back, rump, and tail coverts ; below this color the upper part of the breast is white, extending itself over the whole scapu- lars, wing coverts, and secondaries ; the primaries, lower part of the breast, whole belly, and vent are black ; tail pointed, and of a blackish hoary color ; the fore part of the legs and ridges of the toes pale whitish ash ; hind part the same bespattered with blackish, webs black ; the edges of both mandibles are largely pectinated. In young birds, the whole of the white plumage is generally strongly tinged with a yellowish cream color ; in old males these parts are pure white, with the exception sometimes of the bristly pointed plumage of the cheeks, which retains * Anas Labradora, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 526, No. 97. — Ind. Orn. p. 861, No. 74. — Le Canard Jansen, PL Enl. 955. — Buff, ix., p. 174. (126) HARLEQUIN DUCK. 127 ils cream tint the longest, and, with the skinny part of the bill, form two strong peculiarities of this species. The female measures nineteen inches in length, and twenty-seven in extent ; bill exactly as in the male ; sides of the front white ; head, chin, and neck ashy gray ; upper parts of the back and wings brownish slate ; secondaries only, white ; tertials hoary ; the white secondaries form a spot on the wing, bounded by the black primaries, and four hoary tertials edged with black ; whole lower parts a dull ash skirted with brownish white, or clay color ; legs and feet as in the male ; the bill in both is marked from the nostrils backwards by a singular heart- shaped outline. The windpipe of the male measures ten inches in length, and has four enlargements, viz., one immediately below the mouth, and another at the interval of an inch ; it then bends largely down to the breast bone, to which it adheres by two strong muscles, and has at that place a third expansion. It then becomes flattened, and before it separates into the lungs, has a fourth enlargement much greater than any of the former, which is bony, and round, puffing out from the left side. The intestines measured six feet ; the stomach contained small clams, and some gluti- nous matter ; the liver was remarkably large. Species XXVI. ANAS HI8TRI0NICA. HARLEQUIN DUCK. [Plate LXXII. Fig. 4, Male.] Le Canard d, Collier de Terre Neuve, Briss. vi., p. 362, 14. — Buff, ix., p. 250. — PI. Enl. 798.— ^rei. Zool. No. 490.— Lath. Syn. iii., p. 484.* This species is very rare on the coasts of the Middle and Southern States, though not unfrequently found off those of New England, where it is known by the dignified title of the Lord, probably from the elegant crescents and circles of white which ornament its neck and breast. Though an inhabitant of both continents, little else is known of its par- ticular manners than that it swims and dives well ; flies swift, and to a great height; and has a whistling note. It is said to frequent the small rivulets inland from Hudson's Bay, where it breeds. The female * Anas Bistrionica, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 534, No. 35 ; A. minuia, lb. No. 36, female. — Ind. Orn. p. 849, No. 45. — Om. Syn. iii., p. 484, 485, iemaXe.—Duslcy and Spotted Duck, Edwakds, pi. 99 ; Little Brown and White Duck, Id. pi. 157, female. — La Sarcelle de la Baye de Hudson, Bbiss. vi., p. 469, No. 41, female. — Tehh. Man. d^ Orn. p. 878. 128 HARLEQUIN DUCK. lays ten wMte eggs on the grass ; the young are prettily speckled. It is found on the eastern continent as far south as Lake Baikal, and thence to Kamtschatka, particularly up the river Ochotska ; and was also met with at Aoonalashka and Iceland.* At Hudson's Bay it is called the Painted Duck, at Newfoundland and along the coast of New England, the Lord ; it is an active vigorous "diver, and often seen in deep water, considerably out at sea. The Harlequin Duck, so called from the singularity of its markings, is seventeen inches in length, and twenty-eight inches in extent ; the bill is of a moderate length, of a lead color tipped with red, irides dark ; upper part of the head black ; between the eye and bill a broad space of white, extending over the eye, and ending in reddish ; behind the ear a similar spot ; neck black, ending below in a circle of white ; breast deep slate, shoulders or sides of the breast, marked with a semi- circle of white ; belly black ; sides chestnut ; body above black or deep slate, some of the scapulars white ; greater wing coverts tipped with the same ; legs and feet deep ash ; vent and pointed tail black. The female is described as being less, " the foreheadj and between the bill and eye, white, with a spot of the same behind the ear ; head, neck, and back, brown, palest on the fore part of the neck ; upper part of the breast and rump red brown, lower breast and belly barred pale rufous and white ; behind the thighs rufous and brown ; scapulars and wing coverts rufous brown ; outer greater ones blackish ; quills and tail dusky, the last inclining to rufous ; legs dusky." * The few specimens of this Duck which I have met with, were all males ; and from the variation in their colors it appears evident that the young birds undergo a considerable change of plumage before they arrive at their full colors. In some the white spot behind the eye was large, extending irregularly half way down the neck ; in others confined to a roundish spot. The flesh of this species is said to be excellent. * Latham. Genus CI. PLOTUS. DARTER. Species. P. ANHINOA. DAETEK, OE SNAKE-BIRD.* [Plate LXXIV. Fig. 1, Male.] Plotus anhinga, Linn. St/st. ed. 12, torn, i., p. 218. — Gmel. Sysf. i., p. 580, 1. — Ind. Orn. p. 895, 1. Plotus melanogastei; Id. p. 896, var. B., var. 0. — Anhinga Brasiliensibus Tupinamh. Maecgrav. Bist. Nat. Bras. p. 218. — V Anhinga, Briss. Ti., p. 476. — Salerne, p. 375. — Buff. Ois. viii., p. 448. Anhinga noir de Ca- yenne, PI. Enl. 960. — White-bellied Darter, Lath. Gen. Syn. iii., p. 622, 1. Black-bellied Darter, Id. p. 624, var. A. pi. 106. Id. p. 625, var. B. — Colymbus colubrinus, Snake-bird, Bartram, p. 132, 295. Head, neck, whole body above and below, of a deep shining black, with a green gloss, the plumage extremely soft, and agreeable to the touch ; the commencement of the back is ornamented with small oblong ashy white spots, which pass down the shoulders, increasing in size according to the size of the feathers, and running down the scapulars ; wings and tail of a shining black, the latter broadly tipped with dirty white ; the lesser coverts are glossed with green, and are spotted with ashy white ; the last row of the lesser coverts, and the coverts of the secondaries, are chiefly ashy white, which forms a large bar across the wing ; the outer web of the large scapulars is crimped ; tail rounded, the two under feathers the shortest, the two upper feathers, for the greater part of their length, beautifully crimped on their outer webs, the two next feathers in a slight degree so ; bill dusky at the base and above, the upper mandible brownish yellow at the sides, the lower mandible yellow ochre ; inside of the mouth dusky ; irides dark crim- son ; the orbit of the eye, next to the plumage of the head, is of a greenish blue color, this passes round, in the form of a zigzag band, across the front — the next color is black, which entirely surrounds the ^ys j eyelids of a bright azure, running into violet next to the eyeball ; lores greenish blue ; naked skin in front black ; jugular pouch jet black ; hind-head subcrested ; along the sides of the neck there runs a line of loose unwebbed feathers, of a dingy ash color, resembling the plumage of callow young, here and there on the upper part of the neck one per- ceives a feather of the same ; on the forehead there is a small knob or * Named in the plate Black-bellied Darter. Vol. III.— 9 (129) 130 SNAKE-BIED. protuberance ; the neck, near its centre, takes a singular bend, in order to enable the bird to dart forward its bill, with velocity, when it takes its prey ; legs and feet of a yellowish clay color, the toes, and the hind part of the legs, with a dash of dusky ; claws greatly falcated ; when the wings are closed, they extend to the centre of the tail. Length from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail two feet ten inches,* breadth three feet ten inches ; bill to the angle of the mouth full four inches ; tail ten inches and a half, composed of twelve broad and stiif feathers. Weight three pounds and a half. The serratures of the bill are extremely sharp, so much so, that when one applies tow, or such like substance, to the bird's mouth, it is with difficulty disengaged. The lower mandible and throat, as in the Divers, are capable of great expansion, to facilitate the swallowing of fish, which constitute the food of this species. The position of these birds, when standing, is like that of the Gannets. The above description was taken from a fine adult male specimen, which was shot by my fellow-traveller, Mr. T. Peale, on the first of March, 1818, in a creek below the Cow Ford, situated on the river St. John, in East Florida. We saw some others in the vicinity, but owing to their extreme vigilance and shyness, we could not procure them. From the description of the White-bellied Darter of Latham and others, which is unquestionably this species, one would be inclined to conjecture, that the bird figured in our plate, as the female, is the young male. But this point it is not in my power to ascertain. The specimens in Peale' s Museum, from which Wilson took his figures, were labelled male and female. All the Darters which I saw, while in Florida, were males. The Snake-bird is an inhabitant of the Carolinas, Georgia, the Floridas and Louisiana ; and is common in Cayenne and Brazil. It seems to have derived its name from the singular form of its head and neck, which, at a distance, might be mistaken for a serpent. In those countries where noxious animals abound, we may readily conceive, that the appearance of this bird, extending its slender neck through the foliage of a tree, would tend to startle the wary traveller, whose imagi- nation had portrayed objects of danger lurking in every thicket. Its habits, too, while in the water, have not a little contributed to its name. * The admeasurement of the specimen, described in the first edition of this work, was made by Wilson himself, from the stuffed bird in Peale's Museum. It differed considerably from that described above ; but as our specimen was a very fine one, there is room to conjecture that there was some error in the admeasurement of the former, ours being described immediately after death. SNAKE-BIRD. 131 • It generally swims with its body immerged, especially when apprehensive of danger, its long neck extended above the surface, and vibrating in a peculiar manner. The first individual that I saw in Florida, was sneak- ing away to avoid me, along the shore of a reedy marsh, which Was lined with alligators, and the first impression on my mind was that I beheld a snake ; but the recollection of the habits of the bird soon undeceived me. On approaching it, it gradually sank ; and my next view of it was at many fathoms distance, its head merely out of the water. To pursue these birds at such times is useless, as they cannot be induced to rise, or even expose their bodies. Wherever the limbs, of a tree project over, and dip into, the water, there the Darters are sure to be found, these situations being convenient resting places for the purpose of sunning and preening themselves ; and, probably, giving them a better opportunity, than when swimming,- of observing their finny prey. They crawl from the water upon the limbs, and fix themselves in an upright position, which they maintain in the utmost silence. If there be foliage, or the long moss, they secrete themselves in it in such a manner that they cannot be perceived, unless . one be close to them. When approached, they drop into the water with such surprising skill, that one is astonished how so large a body can plunge with so little noise, the agitation of the water being, apparently, not greater than that occasioned by the gliding of an eel. . . Formerly the Darter was considered by voyagers as an anomalous production, a monster partaking of the nature of the snake and the • Duck ; and in some ancient charts which I have seen, it is delineated in all the extravagance of fiction. From Mr. William Bartram we have received the following account of the subject of our history : " Here is in this river,* and in the waters all over Florida,, a very curious and handsome bird, the people call them Snake-birds ; I think I have seen paintings of them on the Chinese screens, and other Indian pictures ; they seem to be a species of Oolymbus, but far more beautiful and delicately formed than any other that I have ever seen. They delight to sit in little peaceable communities, on the dry limbs of trees, hanging over the still waters, with their wings and tails expanded, I suppose to cool and air themselves, when at the same time they behold their images in the watery mirror. At such times when we approach them, they drop ofi" the limbs into the water as if dead, and for a minute or two are not to be seen ; when on a sudden, at a great distance, theii' long slender head and neck appear, like a snake rising erect out of the water ; and no other part of them is to be seen when swimming, except sometimes the tip end of their tail. In the heat of the day they are * The river St. Juan, East Florida. 1P,2 SNAKE-BIRD. seen in great numbers, sailing very high in the air, over lakes and rivers. " I doubt not but if this bird had been an inhabitant of the Tiber ir, Ovid's days, it would have furnished him with a subject for some beauti- ful and entertaining metamorphoses. I believe they feed entirely on fish, for their flesh smells and tastes intolerably strong of it: it is scarcely to be eaten, unless one is constrained by insufferable hunger. They inhabit the waters of Cape Fear river, and, southerly. East and West Florida."* PL0TU8 ANHINGA. DARTER, OR SNAKE-BIRD. [Plate LXXIV. Fig. 2, Female.] Anhinga de Cayenne, PI. Enl. 959. The Female Darter measures three feet five inches in length ; and differs in having the neck before of a roan color or iron gray, the breast the same, but lighter and tinged with pale chestnut ; the belly as in the male ; where the iron gray joins the black on the belly, there is a nar- row band of chestnut ; upper head, and back of the neck, dark sooty brown, streaked with blackish; cheeks and chin pale yellow ochre ; in every other respect the same as the male, except in having only a few slight tufts of hair along the side of the neck ; the tail is twelve inches . long to its insertion, generally spread out like a fan, and crimped like the other on the outer vanes of the middle feathers only. The above is a description of the supposed female Darter, which was preserved in Peale's Museum ; Wilson's figure was taken from this specimen. It was contrary to his practice to make his drawings from stuffed birds, but as he had never had an opportunity of beholding this species in a living or recent state, he was compelled, in this instance, to resort to the museum. The author having written to Mr. John Abbot, of Georgia, relative to this species, and some others, received from this distinguished natu- ralist a valuable communication, from which the following extract is made: " Both the Darters I esteem as but one species. I have now by me a drawing of the male, or Black-bellied, only ; but have had speci- * Bartram's Travels, p. 132. — MS. in the possesBion of the author. [Prom Mr. Ord's Supplementary Volume.] FEMALE SNAKE-BIRD. 138 mens of both at the same time. I remember that the upper parts of the female were similar to those of the male, except that the' color and markings were not so pure and distinct ; length thirty-six inches, extent forty-six. These birds frequent the ponds, rivers and creeks, during the summer ; build in the trees of the swamps, and those of the islands in the ponds ; they construct their nests of sticks ; eggs of a sky blue color. I inspected a nest, which was not very large ; it contained two eggs and six young ones, the latter varying much in size ; they wil! occupy the same tree for a series of years. They commonly sit on a stump, which rises out of the water, in the mornings of the spring, and spread their wings to the sun, from which circumstance they have obtained the appellation of Sun-birds. They are difficult to be shot when swimming, in consequence of only their heads being above the water." Never having seen a specimen of the Black-bellied Darter of Senegal and Java, I cannot give an opinion touching its identity with ours.* ' From Mr. Orel's Supplementary Volume. BONAPARTE'S AMERICAN- ORNITHOLOGY. CONTENTS. Muscicapa savana, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Myiothera ohsoleta, Rocky Mountain Antcatcher, Sylvia chrysoptera , Female Golden-winged Warbler, Muscicapa forjicata , Swallow-tailed Flycatcher, Muscicapa verticalis, Arkansas Flycatcher, Muscicapa Saya, Say's Flycatcher, Rcgulus crislatus, Female Golden-crowned Gold-crest, Icterus Icterocephalus, Yellow-headed Troopial, Sylvia maritima, Female Cape May Warbler, Quisealus major, Great Crow Blaakbird, . Quiscalus versicolor, Female Common Crow Blackbird, Sylvia celata, Orange-crowned Warbler, Fringilla grammaca. Lark Finch, Pyrrhula frontalis. Crimson-necked Bullfinch, Fringilla psaltria, Arkansas Siskin, Fringilla tristis, Female American Goldfinch, Fringilla amcena. Lazuli Finch, Hirundo fulva, Fulvous or CliflF Swallow, Strix cunicularia. Burrowing Owl, Picns varius, Young Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, . Golumba fascia ta, Band-tailed Pigeon, Meleagris gallopavo,'W\\di'Y\ix\.ej, Falco Cooperii, Cooper's Hawk, Sylvia palmarum. Palm Warbler, Falco dispar, White-tailed Hawk, Sylvia azurea. Female CcBrulean Warbler, Falco cyaneus. Blue Hawk, or Hen-Harrier, Garrulus Stelleri, Steller's Jay, Emberiza Lapponica, Lapland Longspur, Garrulus Floridanus, Florida Jay, Picus tridactylus. Northern Three-toed Woodpecker, Picus erythrocephahis, Young Red-headed Woodpecker, Fringilla oesperlina. Evening Grosbeak, PAQt 149 153 157 159 161 162 164 167 170 172 177 179 180 181 185 187 189 191 194 199 200 201 220 227 231 237 239 248 254 258 261 266 268 (139) 140 CONTENTS. Fringilla ludoviciana, Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Loxia leucoptera, Female White-winged Crossbill, Fringilla cyanea, Female Indigo Finch, Oinclus Pallasii, Pallas' Dipper, Bomhycilla garrula, Bohemian Wax-wing, Pyrrhula envxleator, Female Pine Bullfinch, Columha leucocephala, White-crowned Pigeon, Columba zenaida, Zenaida Dove, Tetrao obscurus, Dusky Grouse, Tetrao phasianellus, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tetrao Canadensis) Spotted Grouse, Tetrao urophasianus. Cock of the Plains, Cathartes gryphus, Condor, Ibis falcinellus, Glossy Ibis, Tringa pectoralis, Pectoral Sandpiper, Scolopax grisea, Red-breasted Snipe, Phalaropus Wilsonii, Wilson's Phalarope, Tringa Schinzii, Schinz's Sandpiper, Charadrius melodus, Piping Plover, Phalaropus hyperboreus, Hyperborean Phalarope, Tringa himantopus, Long-legged Sandpiper, Charadrius semipalmatus, Young Semipalmated Plover, Ardea Pealii, Peale's Egret Heron, . , Aramus scolopaceus, Scolopaceous Courlan, Nwmenius borealis, Esquimaux Curlew, Gallinula galeata, Florida Gallinule, Rallua noveboracensis, Yellow-breasted Bail, PACl 270 273 277 280 284 290 292 294 296 303 309 314 318 331 345 350 355 361 364 369 374 376 378 388 892 399 404 PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION IN FOUE VOLUMES. American Ornithology has uniformly presented a highly interesting subject of investigation to naturalists and liberally educated persons, even ■when the means of gratifying general curiosity were few and diffi- cult of attainment. Wilson's invaluable work removed the obstacles preventing access to this attractive study, conferred on him an imperish- able renown, improved the taste and elevated the scientific character of his fellow-citizens, and secured the approbation of the judicious and enlightened in all countries. Placed where he could derive little or no aid from scientific books or men, Wilson's ardent and perspicacious mind triumphed over circum- stances, and enabled him to exhibit the truths he discovered in that warm, lucid, and captivating language, which never fails to reach the heart of his reader, because it flowed direct from his own ; whilst his clearness of arrangement, accuracy of description, and faithfulness of delineation, show, most advantageously, the soundness of his judgment and the excellence of his observation. We may add, without hesitation, that such a work as he has published in a new country, is still a deside- ratum in any part of Europe. It was the inspiration derived from that pure and perennial source, the contemplation of nature, which gave Wilson the power of illus- trating .every object of his research, and imparting to the most abstruse discussions the charm of vigorous originality. Unfortunately for the interests of science, his eagerness to augment his stock of knowledge by more incessant application, impaired his constitution to such a de- gree, that he sunk under the hand of death, before his great work was completed, and before he could reap that rich harvest of fame which (141) 142 PREFACE TO ORIGINAL EDITION. has followed the appearance of his writings, wherever the' English lan- guage is understood, or natural history admired. A love for the same department of natural science, and a desire to complete the vast enterprise so far advanced by Wilson's labors, has induced us to undertake the present work, in order to illustrate what premature death prevented him from accomplishing, as well as the dis- coveries subsequently made in the feathered tribes of these States. This undertaking was not precipitately decided on, nor until the author had well ascertained that no one else was willing to engage in the work. He was aware of his inability to portray the history and habits of birda in a style equal to that of his distinguished predecessor, principally be- cause he does not write in his own language ; and were his abilities equal to his wishes, the species recorded in the following pages are, for the most part, so rare, and their history so little known, as to preclude the possibility of making the attempt. To compensate for such disadvantages, the author has throughout endeavored to give accurate descriptions, correct synonymes, and a nomenclature as conformable to nature as possible. He has been equally solicitous to procure the best representations of his birds ; in which he hopes he has succeeded, through the happy pencil of Mr. Titian Peale, who has invariably drawn from the recent bird, and not from the preserved specimen ; this being the principal advantage of works on Natural History, published in the country where the animals figured are found. The want' of such opportunities of making drawings, causes the chief defect of various magnificent European works, in which beauty and brilliancy of coloring scarcely compensate for the unnatural stiff- ness, faithfully copied from stuffed skins. With the birds always before him, Mr. Lawson has transferred our drawings to the copper with his usual unrivalled accuracy and ability. This artist, who acquired so much distinction by the engravings in Wilson's work, has become per- fectly master of his art, and so intimately acquainted with the various parts of a bird, that he may be justly styled the first ornithological en- graver of our age. That important part of the work, the coloring of the plates, has not been intrusted to inexperienced persons, but has throughout been executed from nature by Mr. A. Rider himself, whose talents as an artist are well kown. To my friends Mr. Thomas Say, and Dr. John D. Godman, my sin- PREFACE TO ORIGINAL EDITIO^f. 143 cere thanks are due, for the care they have bestowed in preventing the introduction of foreign expressions, or phrases not idiomatic, into my composition. As the birds of Florida were principally wanting, and it is even sup- posed that several of those belonging to Cuba, and other West India Islands, may occasionally resort to the southern part of Florida, and thus be entitled to a place in our work, a painter-naturalist was selected to visit that part of the Union which Wilson had been so desirous of exploring. A better choice could not have been made than that of Mr. Titian Peale, whose zeal in the cause of natural history had pre- viously induced him to join those useful citizens, who, under the com- mand of that excellent officer, Major Long, explored the western wilds as far as the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Peale's success in that expedition, where he procured and drew on the spot almost all the new birds con- tained in this volume, will warrant us in anticipating much from his exertions in Florida. We expect that our American Ornithology will extend to three volumes, so, that with the nine previously published by Wilson, the whole subject will be embraced in twelve. The present volume contains land birds only ; and in evidence of Wilson's industry we may state, that we have been unable to adduce a new Pennsylvanian bird. For the contents of this volume, w^e have been obliged to resort to birds inhabiting the western territories, the greater part of which were first made known by Say, in the Account of Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, a work that has justly acquired a high degree of celebrity, and is no less creditable to the nation than to the individuals' concerned in its production. The second volume will be devoted to water birds, some of which are common in the very city of Philadelphia. The third will contain birds of both sub-classes indiscriminately, and will chiefly consist of Mr. Peale's gleanings in Florida. PEEFACE TO THE SECOND AND THIRD VOLUMES. The author's original intention, as announced in the preface to the lirst volume of this work, was to have devoted the second exclusively to water birds, reserving for the • third the few unpublished land birds which he at that time possessed. Having since, however, by extending his researches to the most opposite and remote parts of the Union, for- tunately succeeded in procuring a suflScient number of land birds to make up a volume, or perhaps two, by themselves, he has changed his original plan for one which is more systematical, and which moreover enables him to complete the series of the numerous and interesting order of Passeres. All the remaining land birds of the United States will then be, the three large Vultures, the most interesting of which, the. Condor, is already drawn ; the Strix einerea, the largest Owl known ; and the Californian Quail.* * Two of the Vultures are figured by Temminok in the Planches Coloriies ; Cathartes californianus, PI. 31, and Catharies gryphus, PI. 133, the male, and PI. 408'the young female. The latter species had also been previously figured by Humboldt, Obs. de Zool. The third, Cathartes papa, was long since figured by Bufibn, PI. Enl. 428 ; and also by Vieillot, Gal. des Ois. PI. 3, under the name of Gypagus papa, Strix einerea has never been represented, and was ranked by us among those species which from their not having for a long period come under the observation of naturalists, we considered obsolete. "We have recently ascertained that it inhabits near Lake Superior, and intend that it shall occupy a plate in a future volume, along with several Hawks, which though represented by Wilson, we think it necessary to figure in various states of plumage in order to clear up the intricacy of their history. Perdix californica has been figured by Lapeyrouse, Shaw, and others. Vol. III.— 10 (145) 146 PREFACE TO VOLS. II. AND III. By all the land birds of the United States, we must be understood to mean those we have personally ascertained. While discoveries are daily making in the Ornithology of Europe, nay even among the feathered tribes of the island of Great Britain, whose limited extent, peculiar situation, and high degree of civilization, ought to have long since rendered her productions thoroughly known, it would be highly presumptuous to imagine that no bird remained to be discovered in a country embracing such a vast extent of unexplored territory as this. Mr. J. J. Audubon, painter-naturalist, who has devoted twenty years of his life to studying nature in the forests of the West, has gratified us with the sight of several drawings of new species which will* appear among the plates he is now engaged in publishing. It is greatly to be wished, for the advancement of American Ornithology, that while his work, so magnificent, but necessarily so slow in coming forth, is prepar- ing, a scientific abstract of his discoveries should be drawn up without delay. Besides the new discoveries that may be daily expected, many known species will probably hereafter be found entitled to enter the Fauna of these states. They may be arranged in two classes, of which the first will comprise those already well known to inhabit the more northern regions of America, and which may at some future period be ascer- tained to extend their range within our limits : these are all common to both continents ; as instances we may adduce Loxia pytiopsittacus, Saxicola omanihe, Tetrao alius, and T. lagopus, &c. Already in the present volume their companions, Emberiza lapponica and Picus tridae- tylus, take their station, for the first time, among the birds of the United States. The other class will include those tropical American birds which in all probability visit, either occasionally or at regular periods, the southern borders of Florida and Louisiana, thus entitling them to a place in this work. The Falco dispar, and Columha leuco- cephala, of the present volumes, may be cited as examples of the latter description. But in our opinion the most interesting, and towards which we most earnestly desire to direct the attention of American naturalists and col- lectors, are those species once noticed by former authors, but from not having been since obswved, now become in a manner obsolete, though still without being declared nominal. Such was for a period the case with G-arrulus stelleri of this volume, and is yet with Sylvia velata apd PREFACE TO VOLS. II. AND III. 147 others established by Vieillot, of wbose existence as distinct species there can hardly be any reasonable doubt. In order more clearly to explain our meaning, it may be proper to enter into the following calculations. In Linn^'s last edition of his Systema Naturce, a work professing to contain, like all others, all the then known birds of the United States, which had been chiefly taken from the original sources of Catesby and Edwards, only , one hundred and eighty-three are assigned to North America. It is true that he was acquainted with several other North American birds which also inhabit other countries, those common to Europe especially ; but as many of the one hundred and eighty-three are merely nominal, we may allow them to counterbalance those omitted. Of the entire number, one hundred and. three are land birds, all which we have verified either as real or nominal, four excepted, of which Picus hirundinaceus alone (a real species) may have escaped Wilson and our- selves, though we do not believe it. Of the three remaining, two, La- nius canadensis and Loxia canadensis, are now well known to be South American birds given as North American through mistake ; and the third, Sylvia trochilus of Europe, may have been reckoned as American on account of the resemblance between it and the female of some American Warbler, probably Sylvia trichas. Since the time of Linn^ however, great attention has been paid to American Ornithology, and very numerous contributions made to the Fauna of the United States, particularly in the standard works of Pen- nant and Latham. As all these are embodied in Latham's -vast compi- lation, the Index Ornithologicus, we shall take that as our guide. We there find that no less than four hundred and sixty-four species are set down as North American ! It is hardly necessary to remark how greatly surcharged with nominal species this number must be, when we consider that after the lapse of many years, and the addition of so many genuine species by Wilson and ourselves, the number we admit is still short of four hundred. A work professing to review with care the North American part of Latham's Index, species by species, on the plan of our " Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology," is still a desideratum ; and if executed with accuracy and judgment, would be as advantageous to science, as arduous for the naturalist who should undertake it. For the present, leaving what we have to say concerning the water birds to the volume wherein they 148 PREFACE TO VOLS. II. AND III. are to be especially treated of, we shall content ourselves with stating, that out of Latham's four hundred and sixty-four species, two hundred and sixty-nine are land birds. Of these, one hundred and fifty at most are admitted by us, and though it would not be difBcult to prove nominal about sixty, there will still remain about sixty others, whose habitat is false, or which are not sufficiently investigated. Such is the state of things to which we call the attention of ornithologists. However this may be, Wilson only described two hundred and seventy species, of which one hundred and seventy-nine were land birds. Six- teen more are added in the first volume of this work. The second and third will contain an additional sixteen, after which there yet remain five others whose existence we have ascertained, making a total of two hundred and sixteen.* The large size and importance of some of the birds given in the two present volumes, among which are three Hawks and four Grouse, have obliged us to distribute the sixteen new species that they contain, together with nine others, of which two only are reduced, upon twelve plates. It therefore rested with our publishers to issue one large, or two smaller volumes, and the latter course is that which they have thought proper to adopt. * These may all be found in our Synopsis of the Birds of the United States, and Appendix, published in the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of Jieyr York, Vol. II. AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. MUSCICAPA SAY ANA. FOEK-TAILED FLYCATCHER. [Plate I. Fig. 1.] Muscicapa tyrannus, Linn. Syst. i., p. 325, Sp. 4. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 931, Sp. 4. — Lath. Ind. p. 484, Sp. 69. — Tyrannus savana, Vieill. Ois. de I'Am. Sept. i., p, 72, pi. 43 (a South American specimen). — Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxxv, p. 87. — Muscicapa tyrannus cauda hifurca, Briss. Av. ii., p. 895, Sp. 20, pi. 39, fig. 3. — Le Moucherolle savana, Buff, iv., p. 557, pi. 26. — Le Tyran cl queue four choue de Cayenne, Buff. PL Enl. 571, fig. 2. — Fork-tailed Flycatcher., Penn Arct. Zool. Sp. 265.— Lath. Syn. ii., Part 1, p. 355, Sp. 59. Though Brisson, Linn^, and Pennant have stated the Fork-tailed Flycatcher to inhabit this region, as far north as Canada, still the fact seemed more than doubtful, since this bird escaped the researches of Vieillot, find, what is more extraordinary, those of the indefatigable Wilson. It is, therefore, a very gratifying circumstance, that we arc able to introduce this fine bird with certainty into the Ornithology of the United States, and, by the individual represented in the annexed plate, to remove all doubt on the subject. The specimen from which our drawing was made is a beautiful male, in full plumage ; it was shot near Bridgeton, New Jersey, at the extraordinary season of the first ^ week in December, and was presented by Mr. J. Woodcraft, of that town, to Mr. Titian Peale, who favored me with the opportunity of examining it. Brisson pujalished the first account of this bird. That we have rejected the name given by Linn^ may appear contrary to our prin- ciples ; but in this instance we certainly have no option, inasmuch as the same name has been very properly retained by Wilson, agreeably to Brisson, for the Lanius tyrannus of Linnd. Had Linn^ himself included them both in the same genus, he would doubtless have retained that specific name for the King-bird, which is unquestionably a Muscicapa and not a Lanius. As the King-bird is a very abundant species, known to every zoological reader by the name of tyrannus, it is obvious that (149) 150 FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER. less inconvenience will be produced by changing the name of an almost unknown species, than would result from altering that of one with which we are so familiar. We have therefore adopted Vieillot's specific name of savana, taken by that author from Montbeillard, who, in Bufibn's work, thereby endeavored to commemorate this bird's habit of frequenting inundated savannas. Naturalists who separate Tyrannus from Musci- capa generically, disagree with respect to the arrangement of this species. For ourselves, we consider the former as a sub-genus of Mub- cicapa, including the larger species, among which our Fork-tailed Fly- catcher must be placed. This species is fourteen inches long, its tail measuring nearly ten ; the extent from the tip of one wing to that of th^ other is fourteen inches. The bill is somewhat more slender and depressed at base than that of the King-bird, and, as well as the feet, is black. The irides are brown. The upper part of the head, including the cheeks and superior origin of the neck, is velvet-black. The feathers of the crown are somewhat slender, elevated, and of a yellow-orange color at base, con- stituting a fine spot, not visible when they are in a state of repose ; the remaining part of the neck above and the back are grayish ash ; the rump is of a much darker grayish ash, and gradually passes into black, which is the color of the superior tail coverts ; the inferior surface of the body, from the base of the bill, as well as the under wing and under tail coverts, is pure white. The wings are dusky, the coverts being somewhat lighter at tip and on the exterior side ; the first primary is edged with whitish on the exterior web, and is equal in length to the fourth ; the second primary is longest ; the three outer ones have a very extraordinary and profound sinus or notch on their inner webs, near the tip, so as to terminate in a slender process. The tail is very pro- foundly forked, the two exterior feathers measuring nearly ten inches in perfect individuals, whilst the two succeeding are but five inches long, and the other feathers become gradually and proportionably shorter, until those in the middle are scarcely two inches in length ; -the tail is, in fact, so deeply divided, that if the two exterior feathers were removed, it would still exhibit a very forked appearance. All the tail feathers are black, the exterior one each side being white on the remarkably narrow outer web, and on the shaft beneath, for nearly three-fourths of its length. I cannot agree with those who say that the female is distinguished from the other sex by wanting the orange spot on the head, as I think we may safely conclude, from analogy, that there is hardly any differ- ence between the sexes. The. young birds are readily recognised, by being destitute of that spot, as well as by having the head cinereous, instead of black ; the color of the whole upper part of the body is also darker, the tail considerably shorter, and the exterior feathers not so FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 151 much elongated as those of the adult. It is proper to remark, that the elongateii tail feathers of the full grown bird are sometimes very much worn, in consequence of the rapidity with which it passes through the bushes. Two colored figures have been given of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher, the one by Bufibn, which is extremely bad, although the rectilinear form of the tail is correctly represented ; the other, by Vieillot, which has the exterior tail feathers unnaturally curved, and notwithstanding it is preferable to Buifon's figure, yet it is far from being accurate. This author having been unable to procure a North American specimen, chose nevertheless to introduce the species in his Natural History of North American JBirds, on the authority of former authors, giving a figure from a South American specimen. The error in representing the exterior tail feathers curved, doubtless arose from the manner in which the dried skin was packed for transportation. That our drawing of this graceful bird is far superior to those above mentioned, will at once be evident on comparison ; this superiority is owing to the circumstance of this drawing, like all the others given in the present work, being made from the recent specimen. Bufibn's plain figure is a more faithful repre- sentation than that given in his colored engravings. From the very great rarity of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher in this region, and the advanced season in which this individual was killed, it is evident that it must have strayed from its native country under the influence of extraordinary circumstances ; and we are unable to believe that its wanderings have ever extended as far as Canada, notwithstanding the statements of authors to the contrary. It may be proper to observe, that the difierence indicated by Linn^ and Latham between the variety which they suppose to inhabit Canada, and that of Surinam, appears to have no existence in nature. Although this bird is so very rare and accidental here, we should be led to suppose it a more regular summer visitant of the Southern States, were it not impossible to believe that so showy a bird could have escaped the observation of travellers ; hence we infer, that the Fork-tailed Fly- catcher must be included in the catalogue of those species which are mere fortuitous visitors to the United States. As but a single specimen of this bird has been obtained, I cannot give any account of its manners and habits from personal observation. The native country of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher is Guiana, where it is rather common, and is improperly called Veuve (Widow), from the great length of its tail, in which character only it resembles the African birds of that name. The habits of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher resemble those of other species of the same genus. It is a solitary bird, remaining for a long time perched on the limb of a tree, whence it occasionally darts after 152 FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER. passing insects ; or, flying downwards, it alights on the tufts of herbage which appear above the water, affording it a resting place in the midst of those partially inundated lands called savannas, beyond the limits of which it is not frequently seen. While on the tuft, this bird moves its tail in a manner similar to that of the Wagtails. Besides insects, the Fork-tailed Flycatcher feeds occasionally on yegetable substances, as, on dissection, the stomach of our specimen was found to be filled with Pokeberries {Phytolacca decandra, L.). Beyond these particulars we have no positive knowledge of the man- ners of our Flycatcher, though Vieillot has recorded a history of some length, taken from D'Azara ; but the bird observed by the latter author in Paraguay and Buenos Ayres, though closely allied, appears to be specifically distinct from the one we are describing. Vieillot has since been convinced of this difference, and, in the (French) New Dictionary of Natural History, he has separated the more southern species under the name of Tyrannus violentus. In color that bird strongly resembles our Museicapa savana, but it is considerably smaller, and has different habits, being gregarious ; whilst the savana, as we have already stated, is a solitary bird. Another species, for which ours may be readily mistaken, is ' the Tyrannus bellulus, Vieill., which, however, is much larger, with a still longer tail, differing also by having a large T)lack collar extending to each corner of the eye, margining the white throat ; and the head of the same bluish-gray color with the other superior parts of the body ; the remaining under parts being of the same color, with a narrow brown line in the middle of each feather ; and by having a whitish line on each side of the head behind the eye, extending to the occiput. The Tyran- nus bellulus is a native of Brazil. MYIOTHERA OBSOLETA. ■ ROCKY MOUNTAIN ANTCATCHER. [Plate I. Fig. 2.] Troglodytes ohsoleta, Sat, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, vol. ir., p. 4, This bird is one of those beings which seem created to puzzle the naturalist, and convince him that nature will never conform to his systems, however perfect his ingenuity may be capable of devising them. This will hecome sufficiently apparent, when we consider in what manner different authors would have arranged it. We cannot positively decide whether Vieillot and his followers would have referred this species to Myrmothera, a name they have substituted for Myiothera ; to their genus Thryothorus, which we unite to Troglo- dytes ; or to their slender-billed section of Tamnophilus, rejected by us from that genus, and of which some recent authors have made a genus called Formicivora ; yet we have very little hesitation in stating our belief, that they would have assigned its place among the species of the latter. According to our classification, it is certainly not a Tamno- philus, as we adopt the genus, agreeably to the characters ^iven by Temminck, who, not admitting the genus Troglodytes, would undoubtedly have arranged this bird with Myiothera, as Illiger would also have done. The only point, therefore, to be established by us, is whether this bird is a Myiothera or a Troglodytes. It is, in fact, a link intermediate to both. After a careful examination of its form, especially the unequal length of the mandibles, the notch of the superior mandible, and the length of the tarsus ; and, after a due consideration of the little that is known relative to its habits, we unhesitatingly place it with Myiothera, though in consequence of its having the bill more slender, long, and arcuated than that of any other species I have seen, it must occupy the last station in the genus, being still more closely allied to Troglo- dytes, than those species whose great affinity to that genus has been pointed out by Cuvier. This may be easily ascertained, by comparing the annexed representation with the figures given by Buffon and Tem- minck. The figure which our Rocky Mountain Antcatcher resembles most, is Buffon's PI. Enl. 823, fig. 1 [Myiothera lineata). The colors of our bird are also similar to those of a Wren, but this similitude is likewise observed in other Myiotherce. (153) 154 ROCKY MOUNTAIN ANTCATCHER. The bird now before us was brought from the Arkansas river, in the neighborhood of the Kocky Mountains, by Major Long's exploring party, and was described by Say under the name of Troglodytes ohso- leta, from its close resemblance to the Carolina Wren {Troglodytes Ludovicianus), which. Wilson considered a CertMa, and Vieillot a Thryothorus. As the Rocky Mountain Antcatcher is the first and only species hitherto discovered in North America, we shall make some general observations on the peculiarities of a genus thus introduced into the Fauna of the United States. Buifon first formed a distinct group of the Antcatchers under the name of Fourmiliers, and considered them as allied to his Breves, now forming the genus Pitta of Vieillot, they having been previously placed in that of Turdus. Lac^p^de adopted that group as a genus, and applied to it the name of Myrmecopliaga. Illiger added such species of the genus Lanius of Linn^ and Latham, as are destitute of promi- nent teeth to the bill, and gave to the genus thus constituted the name of Myiothera ; rejecting Lac^p&de's designation, as already appro- priated to a genus of Mammalia. Cuvier perceived that some of the Fourmiliers of Bufi"on were true Thrushes ; but he retained the remainder as Myiotherce, among which he also included the Pittce. Vieillot, besides the Pittce, removed some other species, in order to place them in his new genera Qonopophaga and Tamnophilus, giving the name of Myrmothera to the remaining species, with the exception of the Myiothera rex, for which he formed a distinct genus, with the name of Grallaria. We agree with Vieillot, in respect to the latter bird ; but as regards the other species, we prefer the arrangement of Temminck, who has adopted the genus Myiothera nearly as constituted by Illiger, including some of the slender-billed Tamnophili of Vieillot, of which our Myiothera obsoleta would probably be one, as above stated. The genus thus constituted contains numerous species, which inhabit the hottest parts of the globe ; a greater number of them existing in South America than elsewhere. For the sake of convenience, several sections may be formed in this genus, founded on the characters of the bill, tail, and tarsus ; but as we have only one species, it does not rest with us to make divisions, and we shall merely remark, that our obsoleta is referable to the last section, consisting of those whose bills are the most slender, elongated, and arcuated, in company with the Turdus lineatus of Gmelin. The Antcatchers may justly be enumerated amongst the benefactors of mankind, as they dwell in regions where the ants are so numerous, large, and voracious, that without their agency, co-operating with that of the Myrmecophaga julata, and a few other ant-eating quadrupeds, ROCKY MOUNTAIN ANTCATCHER. 155 the produce of the soil would inevitably be destroyed in those fertile parts of the globe. The ant-hills of South America are often more than twenty feet in diameter, and many feet in height. These wonder- ful edifices are thronged with two hundred fold more inhabitants, and are proportionally far more numerous, than the small ones with which we are familiar. Breeding in vast numbers, and multiplying with great celerity and profusion, the increase of these insects would soon enable them to swarm over the greatest extent of country, were not their propagation and diffusion limited by the active exertions of that part of the animal creation, which continually subsist by their destruction. The Antcatchers run rapidly on the ground, alighting but seldom on trees, and then on the lowest branches ; they generally associate in small flocks, feed exclusively on insects, and most commonly frequent the large ant-hills before mentioned. Several different species of these birds are often observed to live in perfect harmony on the same mound, which, as it supplies an abundance of food for all, removes one of the causes of discord which is most universally operative throughout animated nature. On the same principle we might explain the comparative mild- ness of herbivorous animals, as well as the ferocity and solitary habits of carnivorous, and particularly of rapacious animals, which repulse all others from their society, and forbid even their own kind to approach the limits of their sanguinary domain. The Antcatchers never soar high in the air, nor do they extend their flight to any great distance without alighting to rest, in consequence of the shortness of their wings and tail, which, in fact, seem to be seldom employed for any other purpose than to assist them in running along the ground, or in leaping from branch to branch of bushes and low trees, an exercise in which they display remarkable activity. Some species, like the Woodpeckers, climb on the trunks of trees in pursuit of insects ; and, it would appear, from their restless habits and almost constant motion, that their limited excursions are entirely attributable to the want of more ample provision for flight. The Antcatchers are never found in settled districts, where their favorite inSects are generally less abundant ; but they live in the dense and remote parts of forests, far from the abodes of man and civilization. They also dislike open and wet countries. The note of the Antcatchers is as various as the species are different, but it is always very remarkable and peculiar. Their flesh is oily and disagreeable to the taste ; and, when the bird is opened, a very offensive odor is diffused, from the remains of half-digested ants and other insects, contained in the stomach. The plumage of the Antcatchers very probably undergoes considera- ble changes in color. The size of the sexes is different, the female being much larger than the male. Such variations may have induced natural- 156 ROCKY MOUNTAIN ANTCATCHER. ists to consider many as species, that really do not exist, as such, in nature. The nest of these birds is hemispherical, varying in magnitude accord- ing to the size of the species, composed of dried grass, rudely inter- woven ; it is fixed to small trees, or attached by each side to a branch, at the distance of two or three feet from the ground. The eggs are nearly round, and three or four in number. The discovery of any species of this genus in the old world is quite recent, and it had previously been believed that the genus was' peculiar to South America ; and though the existence of ant-destroying birds was suspected in other tropical regions, they were supposed to be gene- rically distinct from those of the corresponding parts of America, as was known to be the fact in the case of the ant-eating quadrupeds. This opinion was founded on the admitted axiom, that nature always varies her groups in remote tropical regions having no communication with each other. The reverse, however, is the fact in the case of the ant-catching birds, as we find perfect analogies between the species residing in those distant parts of the globe, even throughout the diifer- ent sections into which the genus may be divided. The Rocky-Mountain Antcatcher is six inches long. The bill, measured from the corner of the mouth, is more than one inch in length, being slightly curved almost from the base ; it is very slender, being nearly two-eighths of an inch in diameter at the base, and only the six- teenth of an inch in the middle, whence it continues to diminish to the tip ; and is of a dark horn color, paler beneath. The feet are dusky ; and the length of the tarsus is seven-eighths of an inch. The irides are dark brown ; the whole plumage above is of a dusky brownish, slightly undulated with pale, tinted with dull ferruginous on the top of the head and superior portions of the back. The sides of the head are dull whitish, with a broad brown line passing through the eye to the com- mencement of the neck. The chin, throat, and breast are whitish, each feather being marked by a longitudinal line of light brown. The belly is white ; and the flanks are slightly tinged with ferruginous. The primaries are entirely destitute of undulations or spots ; the tail coverts are pale, each with 'four or five fuscous bands ; the inferior tail coverts are white, each being bifasciate with blackish brown. The tail is nearly two inches long, rounded, broadly tipped with ferruginous yellow, and having a narrow black band before the tip ; the remaining part of the tail is of the same color with the wings, and is obsoletely banded, these bands being more distinct on the two middle feathers, which are desti- tute of the black and yellowish termination ; the exterior feather is dusky at tip, marked by four yellowish-white spots on the exterior, and by two larger ones on the inner web. The specimen of the Rocky-Mountain Antcatcher we are describing FEMALE GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER. 167 is a male, shot in the month^ of July, and possibly not adult ; as it is the only one brought by Major Long's party, we cannot determine the extent or nature of the variations the species may undergo from age, sex, or season. The note of this bird is peculiar, resembling the harsh voice of the Terns. It inhabits the sterile country bordering on the river Arkansas, in the neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains, where it is frequently observed hopping .on the ground, or flitting among the branches and weather-beaten, half-reclining trunks of a species of Juniper ; when it flies among the crooked limbs of this tree it spreads its tail considerably, but was never seen to climb. They were generally observed in small associations of five or six individuals, perhaps composing single families. SYLVIA CHRrSOPTEUA. FEMALE GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER.* [Plate I. Fig. 3.] Mbiacilla chrysoptera, Linn. Syst. i., p. 333, Sp. 20. Gmel. Sysi. i., p. 971, Sp. 20, Male. — Sylvia chrysoptera, Lath. Ind, p. 541, Sp. 123. Vieill. (Ms. de V Am. Sept. II., p. 37, pi. 97, Male. — Motacillaflavifron.i, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 976, Sp. 126, Male. — Sylvia flavifrons, Lath. Ind. p. 527, Sp. 69, Male. — Ficedula Pensylvanica cinerea gutture nigra, Brisson, Av. Suppl. p. 109, Sp. 80, Male. — Figuier aux (Ales dories, Bufe. Ois. v., p. 311, Male. — Golden-winged Flycatcher, Edwards, Glean, ii., 189, pi. 299, Male. — Gold-winged Warbler, Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 295. Lath. Syn. ii., Part ii., p. 492, Sp. 118, Male. — Yellow-fronted Warbler, Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 296. Lath. Syn. ii., Part ii., p. 461, Sp. 67, Male. — Parus alis aureis, the Golden-winged Flycatcher, Bartram, Trav. p. 292, Male. The female of this pretty little Warbler, hitherto unknown to any naturalist, is now figured and described for the first time. For the opportunity of presenting it to the reader, we are indebted to Mr. Titian Peale, who shot it on the twenty-fourth of May, near Camden, New Jersey ; and, with his usual kindness, and zeal for Natural History, communicated it to us for this work. This little Warbler diflfers so materially from its mate, as to require a distinct figure and description, in order to be recognised ; yet we can- not fail to perceive a kind of family resemblance between the sexes ; and, by comparing the two descriptions and accompanying figures, our readers will agree with us that they are but one and the same species, in a diff'erent garniture of plumage. The distribution of markings is * See Wilson's American Ornithology, ii., p. 182, pi. 15, fig. 5, for the Male. 158 FEMALE GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER. really similar in both sexes ; but in the female the colors are paler, and green prevails on those parts which, in the male, are of a dark slate color. The female of the Golden-winged Warbler is four and a half inches long. The bill is blackish, straight, entire, rounded, and gradually tapering to a sharp point. The feet are brownish-ash ; the irides dark- brown. The front is golden-yellow, the top of the head bright olive- yellow ; the back of the head, and superior parts of the nedk and body, are of a pale plumbeous hue, the feathers being tipped with yellow-olive, more particularly on the rump ; the superior tail coverts are pure pale plumbeous. A wide slate-colored stripe passes through the eye from the bill and dilates on the cheeks ; this is margined by a white line above the eye, and by a wider one on each side of the throat. The throat is of a pale slate-color, becoming still paler on the breast. The remaining under parts are whitish, occasionally tinged with yellow, and with slate^color on the flanks. The wings are of the same color as the back, but somewhat darker, and are crossed by two wide bands of bright yellow, formed by the tips of the first and second rows of wing coverts. The primaries are dusky, margined on the exterior web with pale, and on the inner broadly with white. The secondaries are broadly margined with yellow-olive on the outer web, and with white on the inner web. The tail is nearly even at tip, of a dusky plumbeous color ; the three lateral feathers have a large pure white spot on the inner web. This last essential character also exists in the male, though Wilson has not mentioned it. As to the manners and habits of the species, he has given us no information, except that it is rare, and remains only a few days in Pennsylvania. He says nothing of the female, and Vieillot never saw it. We regret that we are unacquainted with the form of its nest, and the peculiarity of its song. We can only state that, during its short stay in Pennsylvania, it is solitary and silent, gleaning amongst the branches of trees, and creeping much after the manner of the Titmouse, with its head frequently downwards, in pursuit of larvae and insects, which constitute exclusively the food of this species. Wilson was impressed with the opinion that the shape of the bill would justify the fo/mation of a distinct sub-genus, which would include this bird, the Sylvia vermivora, and some other species. In this opinion Cuvier has coincided, by forming his sub-genus Dacnis, which he places under his extensive genus Cassicus, remarking that they form the pas- sage to Motacilla. This sub-genus we shall adopt, but we differ from Cuvier by arranging it under Sylvia ; it will then form the transition to the more slender-billed Icteri. Temminck and Vieillot have arranged them also under Sylvia ; the latter aufhor, in the (French) New Diction- ary of Natural History, gives them the name of Pitpits ; and it is most SWALLOW-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 159 protably from want of examination, that he has not considered the present bird as belonging to that section. MUSCICAPA FOBFICATA. SWALLOW-TAILED FLYCATCHER. [Plate II. Fig. 1.]- Muscicapa forficata, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 931, Sp. 22. — Lath. Ind. p. 485, Sp. 70.— ViEiLL. Ois. de I' Am. Sept. i., p. 71. — Stephens, Oont. of Shaw's Zool. xx., p. 413, PI. 3. Tyrannus forficatus, Say, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Moun- tains, II., p. 224. — Moucherolle cL queue fourchue de Mexigue, Buff. Ois. ly., p. 564. — Gobe-mouche a queue fourchue de Mexique, Buff. PI. Enl. 667. — Swallow- tailed Flycatcher, Lath. Syn. ii.. Part, i., p. 356, Sp. 60. This rare and beautiful bird is, I believe, now figured from nature for the second time ; and, as the plate given by Bufi'on conveys but an imperfect idea of its characters, the representation in the accompanying engraving will certainly prove the more accessible to naturalists. That author had the merit of publishing the first account of this species ; and the individual he described, was received from that part of Louisiana which borders on Mexico. l5'either Latham, Gmelin, nor Vieillot, seem to have had an opportunity of examining this bird, as they have evidently drawn on Bufi"on for what they have said relative to it. Hence it appears, that the Swallow-tailed Flycatcher has never been obtained from the time of Bufibn to the period of Major Long's expedition to the unexplored region it inhabits. The specimen before us, which is a fine adult male, was shot by Mr. Titian Peale, on the twenty-fourth of August, on the Canadian fork of the Arkansas river. Although this bird is very different from the Fork-tailed Flycatcher, yet on account of the form of the tail, and the similarity of the com- mon name, they are apt to be mistaken for each other ; and, when both are immature, some caution is required to avoid referring them to the same species. Notwithstanding this similarity, some authors have placed the Fork-tailed Flycatcher in their genus Tyrannus, and the present bird in 'Muscicapa ; whereas, from an inspection of the bills, it will at once be seen, that the latter would be still more properly placed in their genus Tyrannus, as the form of its bill is exactly the same with that of the King-bird, the type of the sub-genus. The Swallow-tailed Flycatcher, when in full plumage, is eleven inches long. The bill and feet are blackish ; the irides are brown (red ac- cording to authors). The upper part of the head and neck is of a 160 SWALLOW-TAILED FLYCATCHEK. light gray; tlie back and scapulars are dark cinereous, tinged with reddish-brown ; the rump is of the same color, but strongly tinged with black, and the superior tail coverts are deep black ; the under part of the body is milk-white, the flanks being tinged with red ; the inferior tail coverts are pale rosaceous ; the wings are brownish-black ; the upper coverts and secondaries being margined externally, and at tip, with dull whitish ; the under wing coverts are whitish rosaceous ; the axillary feathers, above and beneath, are of a vivid scarlet color. The tail is greatly elongated and excessively forked ; it is of a deep velvet- black color, each feather having the terminal margin of a dull whitish tint, and the shafts white at their bases. The three exterior feathers on each side, are of a delicate pale rosaceous color, on a considerable part of their length from the base. The external one is five inches and a half long; the second and third gradually decrease in length, but the fourth is disproportionately shorter, and from this feather there is again a gradual decrease to the sixth, which is little more than two inches long. The fertiale of the Swallow-tailed Flycatcher is probably very similar to the male ; but the colors of the young bird are much less vivid, and the exterior tail feathers are much shorter than those of the adult. The Swallow-tailed Flycatcher is as audacious as the King-bird, at- tacking with unhesitating intrepidity, and turning the flight of the most powerful of the feathered tribe. Its note consists of a chirping, sound- ing like tsch, tseh, much resembling that of the Prairie Dog {Arctomys ludoviciana, Ord), by which it deceived the members of Long's party into a belief that they were approaching one of the villages of this animal. " A note, like that of the Prairie Dog (writes Say), for a moment in- duced the belief that a village of the Marmot was near ; but we were soon undeceived, by the appearance of the beautiful Tyrannus forficatus, in full pursuit of a Crow. Not at first view recognising the bird, the fine elongated tail plumes occasionally diverging in a furcate manner, and again closing together, to give direction to the aerial evolutions of the bird, seemed like extraneous processes of dried grass, or twigs of a tree, adventitiously attached to the tail, and influenced by currents of wind. The feathered warrior flew forward to a tree, whence, at our too near approach, he descended to the earth, at a little distance, contin- uing at intervals his chirping note. This bird seems to be rather rare in this region ; and, as the very powder within the barrels of our guns was wet, we were obliged to content ourselves with only a distant view of it." The range of the Swallow-tailed Flycatcher appears to be limited to the trans-Mississippian territories, lying on the south-western frpntier ARKANSAS FLYCATCHER. 161 of the United States, more especially frequenting the scanty forests, which, with many partial, and often total interruptions, extend along the Arkansas, Canadian, and Platte rivers, where, in some districts, they do not seem to be very uncommon. MUSCIOAPA VEBTWALIS. AEKANSAS FLYCATCHER. [Plate II. Fig. 2.] Tyrannus verficalis, Sat, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, ii., p. 60. This bird, brought from the Rocky Mountains by Major Long's ex- ploring party, is so closely allied to many imperfectly described species of the extensive genus to which it belongs, that ornithologists, at first sight, may very reasonably doubt its pretensions to rank as a new species. But, notwithstanding any doubt that may be produced by its similarity to others, it is certainly an addition to the already numerous catalogue of Flycatchers. The total length of the Arkansas Flycatcher is eight inches. The bill is similar to that of the Crested Flycatcher, but is more rounded above, and more abruptly inflected at tip, being of a blackish color, as well as the feet. The head above, and nucha, are pure pale plumbeous ; the crown has a restricted bright orange spot in the middle, invisible when the feathers are at rest ; there is a dusky spot between the bill and eyes. The cervix and back are pale plumbeous, tinged with oliva- ceous, and deepening on the rump almost to blackish, which is the color of the superior tail coverts. The chin is whitish ; the throat and upper part of the breast are of the same color as the head, but paler ; the remaining under surface, including the inferior wing and tail coverts, is yellow. The wings are brown, the secondaries being margined ex- teriorly ^ith whitish ; the inner webs of the primaries are whitish towards the base, and near the tips they are narrowed ; the first is remarkably so, being almost falciform. The tail is of a deep brown- blaok color, and very slightly emarginated; the exterior feather is white on the outer web, the shaft being white on the exterior half, and brown on the interior. Say first described and named this bird in the second volume of the work above quoted ; and he remarks that it is allied to the Tyrannus griseus and Tyrannus sulphuratus of Vieillot. There are many species for which the Arkansas Flycatcher might more readily be mistaken ; Vol.' III.— 11 jg2 SAY'S FLYCATCHER. of these, we may mention the Crested Flycatcher {Muscicapa crinita), so well described and figured by Wilson in his second volume ; and par- ticularly the Muscicapaferox* of Gmelin, a South American bird, the description of which agrees so well with the species we are now con- sidering, that it might be equally applied to either. Our bird differs from the two latter by that striking character, the white exterior web of the outer tail-feather. From the crinita it may, more especially, be known by the spot on the crown,- which does not exist in that species ; by not having the tail and wing feathers rufous in any part ; and by having the primaries narrowed at nip, while the crinita has them quite large, entire and rounded. On a particular comparison with the feroz, we shall perceive that the bill of that bird is flattened, broad, and cari- nate, whilst in the verticalis it is almost rounded above. The general color of the latter is, besides, much paler, and the tail is less deeply emarginated. The Arkansas Flycatcher appears to inhabit all the region extending west of the Missouri river. The specimen we have been describing is a male, killed in the beginning of July, on the river Platte, a few days' march from the mountains. MUSCICAPA SAYA. SAY'S FLYCATCHER. [Plate II. Fig. 3.] We now introduce into the Fauna of the United States a species which is either a nondescript, or one that has been improperly named ; and I dedicate it to my friend Thomas Say, a naturalist, of whom America may justly be proud, and whose talents and knowledge are only equalled by his modesty. The specimen now before us is a male, shot by Mr. T. Peale, on the 17th of July, near the Arkansas river, about twenty miles from the Kocky Mountains. We cannot be perfectly sure that this Flycatcher has not heretofore bt;en noticed, since we find in the books, two short and unessential de- scriptions which might be supposed to indicate it. One of these is the *■■ This bird had been incorrectly considered by Vieillot, in his Natural History of North American Birds, as identical with the Mvscicapa crinita; but, afterwards perceiving it to be a distinct species, he named it Tyrannus ferox. A specimen was in the Philadelphia Museum, designated by the fanciful name of Ruby-crowned Flycatcher (with this Say compared his Tyrannus verticalis, before he stated it to be new), and, in the New York Museum, three specimens are exhibited, with the erroneous title of Whiskered Flycatcher [Mvscicapa barbata). SAY'S FLYCATCHER. 163 MuBcicapa ohscura of Latham (Dusky Flycatcher of his Synopsis), from the Sandwich Islands ; but, besides the difference of the tail feathers, described as acute in that bird, the locality decides against its identity with ours. The other description is that of a bird from Cay- enne, the Muscicapa obscwra of Vieillot,* given by that author as very distinct from Lathapi's, although he has applied the same name to it, no doubt inadvertently. This may possibly be our bird ; but, even in this case, the name we have chosen will necessarily be retained, as that of ohscura attaches to Latham's species by the right of priority. This Flycatcher strongly resembles the common Pewee {Muscicapa fusca), but differs from that familiar bird by the very remarkable form of the bill ; by the color of the plumage, which verges above on cinna- mon-brown instead of greenish, and beneath is cinereous and rufous instead of yellowish-ochreous ; and by the proportional length of the primary feathers, the first being longer than the sixth in our bird, whereas it is shorter in the Pewee. The total length of Say's Flycatcher is seven inches. The bill is long, straight, and remarkably flattened ; the upper mandible is blackish, and but very slightly emarginated ; the lower mandible is much dilated, and pale horn color on the disc. The feet are blackish ; the irides are brown. The general color of the whole upper parts is dull cinna- mon-brown, darker on the head ; the plumage at base is of a lead color. The throat and breast are of the same dull cinnamon tint, gradually passing into pale rufous towards the belly, which is entirely of the latter color ; the under wing coverts are white, slightly tinged with rufous. The primaries are dusky, tinged with cinnamon, and having brown shafts ; they are considerably paler beneath. The first primary is a quarter of an inch shorter than the second, which is nearly as long as the third ; the third is longest ; the fourth and fifth gradually decrease, and the sixth is decidedly shorter than the first. The tail is hardly emarginated, and of a blackish-brown color. We know nothing of the habits of this Flycatcher, except what has been communicated by Mr. T. Peale, from his manuscript notes. The bird had a nest in July, the time when it was obtained ; its voice is somewhat different from that of the Pewee, and first called attention to its nest, which was built on a tree, and consisted chiefly of moss and clay, with a few blades of dried grass occasionally interwoven. The young birds were, at that season, just ready to fly. * Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxi., p. 451. REGULUS CBISTATUS. FEMALE GOLDEN-CROWNED GOLD-CEEST.* [Kate II. Fig. 4.] Motacilla regulus, Linn. Syst. i., p. 338, Sp. 48. Gmel. Syst. i., p. 995, Sp. 48.— Sylvia regulus, Lath. Ind. p. 548, Sp. 152. Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 229. Ran- zANi, Elim. di Zool. iii.. Part t;, p. 105, PI. 16, fig. 3. — Regulus cristatus, Rat, Syn. p. 79, Sp. 9. Aldr. Orn. ii., p. 649. Will. Orn. p. 163, PI. 42. Vieill. Nouv. Bid. d^Sisf. Nat. xxix., p. 420. — Regulus vulgaris, Stephens, Cont. of Shaw's Zool. xx. p. 758, PI. 59. — Parus calendula, Regulus cristatus vulgo Dicta, Briss. Av. III., p. 579, Sp. 17. — Le Roitelet, Gerardin, Tabl. Elem. d'Orn. i., p. 318, Sp. 26, PI. 15, (not of Botf. Ois. Y., p. 363, PI. 16, fig. 2, nor PI. Enl. 651, fig. 3, which represent Sylvia ignicapillaofBREajs.) — Regolo, Storia degliuccelli, IV. PI. Z^O.— Gold-crested Wren, Lath. Syn., ii., Part ii.,p. 508, Sp.l45. Penn. Brit. Zool. Sp. 153. Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 321. — Golden-crowned Wren, Edw. Glean, v., p. 95, PI. 254, lower fig. Male. Two distinct species of Gold-crest have been, until lately, considered by naturalists as but one. Are they both inhabitants of this continent ; and, if not, which is the American species ? These questions cannot be readily answered,, since we have nothing better than negative evi- dence to offer relative to the first. The present female, however, is decisive as to which of them inhabits this country, and we have there- fore concluded, that the faithful representation in the accompanying plate will be acceptable to ornithologists. A slight inspection of this specimen leaves no doubt as to its being the female of the Regulus cristatus ; and, should the Regulus ignicapillus, contrary to our expec- tations, also prove to be an inhabitant of this country, it will appear, along with its mate, in another volume of this work. All the ornitholo- gists state, that the latter is a native of this continent, whilst they take no notice whatever of the Regulus cristatus, which, if not the only indigenous, is certainly the more common species. This error seems to have originated with Vieillot, who, considering the two species as but one, probably was not careful in selecting the individual from which his drawing was made ; he may, therefore, have chosen an European bird, and unluckily of the other species, as both are found in Europe. However this may be, his figure is certainly that of the ignicapillus; and, it is equally obvious, that his short description of the female can only apply to the female of the cristatus, which corroborates my opinion. In the (French) New Dictionary of Natural History, Vieillot distin- * See Wilson's American Ornithology, ii., p. 169, PI. 8, fig. 2, for the Male. (164) FEMALE GOLDEN-CROWNED GOLD-CREST. 165 guishes two varieties of Regulus cristatus, and again describes the igni- eapilhis as the one he saw in America. If this observation could be relied upon, we should admit that both species are inhabitants of this country, although the present, which must be by far the most numerous, is certainly not the ignicapillus. I agree with Ray, Vieillot, and other authors, and dissent from Linn^, Latham, Wilson, and Temminck, respecting the propriety of placing these birds in a separate genus from Sylvia, and I have therefore changed the generic name adopted by Wilson. This genus forms a link inter- mediate to the genera Sylvia and Parus. It is small both in the num- ber and size of its species, consisting of the two smallest of the Euro- pean birds, one of which is the subject of this article ; an American species, the Ruby-crowned Gold-crest {Megulus calendulus), so well figured and described by Wilson ; and a fourth from Asia. The most obvious characters that distinguish the genus Regulus from Sylvia are, the bill remarkably slender throughout, and two small de- composed feathers, directed forwards so as to cover the nostrils. The habits of the Gold-crests resemble, in many respects, those of the Titmouse. They delight in cold weather, and then often perch on evergreen trees. They display great ~ activity and agility in search of their food, being almost constantly in motion, hopping from branch to branch, or climbing on trees, frequently with the head downwards, searching the chinks of the bark for their prey. These little birds commonly feed on the smallest insects, which they catch adroitly while on the wing ; in the winter they seek them in their retreats, where they lie torpid or dead. They are also very expert at finding larvae and all sorts of small worms, of which they are so fond as to gorge themselves exceedingly. During summer, they occasionally eat little berries and small grains. In autumn they are fat, and fit for the table, notwithstanding their very diminutive size. The species we are describ- ing is found in great quantities in the neighborhood of Nuremberg, in Germany, and sold in the markets of that city, where they command a high price. Wilson, in his account of the present species, observes, that " the very accurate description given by the Count de Bufibn, agrees, in every respect, with ours." Notwithstanding this observation, Buifon's plate and description designate the ignicapillus beyond the possibility of doubt ; whilst those of Wilson are intended for the cristatus. This statement of Wilson, joined to the testimony of Vieillot, would have led us to believe the ignicapillus to be an American bird, if Wil- son's plate, and more especially his description, as well as the inspection of the very individual he delineated, and a hundred others, had not confirmed our own belief. It may, however, be considered extraordi- nary, that so diminutive a being should extend its range so widely as to 166 PEMALE GOLDEN-CROWNED GOLD-CREST. participate equally in the bounties of two continents ; and that another, so closely allied to it as to be generally mistaken for a mere variety, should be limited in its wanderings by the boundaries of but one. That the reader may be assured of the specific difi"erence between these two birds, I add a short comparative description. The Regulus cristatus has the bill very feeble, and quite subulate ; whilst that of the ignicapillus is also subulate, but is wider at base. The cheeks of the former are pure cinereous, without any white lines, having only a single blackish one through the eye ; those of the latter, in addition to the black line through the eye, have a pure white one above, and another below, whence Temminck calls it Roitelet triple bandeau. The English name also may be derived from this character, or the bird may rather be called Fire-crowned Gold-crest, from its Latin name. The crest of the male Golden-crowned Gold-crest is yellowish-orange, that of the Fire-crowned is of the most vivid orange ; but, the most obvious difference is between the females, that of the Golden-crowned having a lemon-yellow crest, which, in the female of its congener, is orange, like that of the male, only much less vivid. The cheek bands of the female Fire-crowned are by no means so obvious as in its mate ; thus the fe- male of this species resembles the male Golden-crowned, than which the colors of its crest are not less brilliant. If, to these traits, we add, that the latter is a little larger, we shall complete the enumeration of their differences. The two species are also somewhat distinguished by their manner of living. The Golden-crowned Gold-crest associates in small bands, con- sisting of a whole family, whilst the Fire-crowned is only observed in pairs. The latter is more shy, and frequents the tops of the highest trees, whereas the former is more generally observed amongst low branches and bushes ; the voice of the Fire-crowned Gold-crest is also stronger. Their nests, however, are both of the same admirable con- struction, having the entrance on the upper part ; but the eggs are different in color, and those of the Fire-crowned are fewer in number. The female Golden-crowned Gold-crest is three inches and three- quarters long, and six in extent. The bill is black ; the feet dusky ; the toes and nails wax color ; the irides are dark brown. The frontlet is dull whitish-gray, extending in a line over and beyond the eye ; above this is a wide black line, confluent on the front, enclosing on the crown a wide longitudinal space of lemon-yellow, erectile, slender feathers, with disunited webs; a dusky line passes through the eye, beneath which is a cinereous line, margined below by a narrow dusky one. The cervix and upper part of the body are dull olive green, tinged with yellowish on the rump. The whole inferior surface is whitish ; the feathers, like those of the superior surface, being blackish-plumbeous at base. The lesser and middling wing coverts are dusky, margined Tith YELLOW-HEADED TROOPIAL. 167 olive-green, and tipped with whitish ; the greater coverts are dusky, the outer ones immaculate, the inner ones have white tips, which form a hand on the wings. The inferior wing coverts, and all the under surface of the wings, are more or less whitish-gray ; the primaries are dusky, with a narrow greenish-yellow outer margin, wider at base, and atten- uated to the tip, where it is obsolete. The secondaries are dusky ; on the outer web they are whitish near the base, then black, then with a greenish-yellow margin extending nearly to the tip ; the margin of the inner web is white ; the secondaries nearest to the body are, moreover, whitish on the terminal margin. The tail is emarginated ; the feathers are dusky olive-green on the margin of the outer web ; the inner mar- gins, with the exception of the two middle ones, are whitish. Until their first moult, the young of both sexes are much like the adult female, except in being destitute of the yellow spot on the crest, which is greenish-olive. In this state, however, they are not seen here, as they breed farther to the north, and moult before their arrival in the autumn. ICTERUS lOTEROCEPHALUS. YELLOW-HEADED TEOOPIAL. [Plate III. Fig. 1, Male ; 2, Female.] Oriolus Icterocephalus, Linn. Syst. i., p. 163, Sp. 16. Gmel. Syst. i., p. 392, Sp. 16. Lath. Ind. p. 183, Sp. 32, Male. — Icienis Icterocephalus, Daudin, Om. ii., p. 337, Sp. 9, Male. — Pendulinus Icterocephalus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet, d' Hist. Nat. v., p. 317, Male. — Icterus Xanthornus Icterocephalus Cayanensis, Bniss. Av. u., p. 124, Sp. 27, PI. 12, fig. 4, Male. — Comix atra ; cupiie, collo, pectoreque Jlavis, KoELBEUTER, Nov. Comrti. Ac. Sc. Peirop. xi., p. 435, PI. 15, fig. 7, Male. — Les Coiffes jaunes, Buff. Ois. iii., p. 250, Male. — Carouge de Caye^me, Buff. PI. Enl. 343, Male. — Yellow-headed Starling, Edwards, Glean, in., p. 241, PI. 323, Male. — Yellow-headed Oriole, Lath. Syn. i..Part ii., p. 441, Sp. 30, Male. Although this species has long been known to naturalists as an in- habitant of South America, and its name introduced into all their works, yet they have given us no other information concerning it than that it is black, with a yellow head and neck. It was added to the Fauna of the United States by the expedition of Major Long to the Kocky Mountains. The female has been hitherto entirely unknown, and all the figures yet given of the male being extremely imperfect, from the circumstance of their having been drawn from wretchedly stufied specimens, we may safely state, that this sex also is, for the first time, represented with a due degree of accuracy in our plate. The figures published by Edwards 168 YELLOW-HEADED TROOPIAL. and Buffon approach the nearest to the real magnitude ; but they arc mere masses of black, surmounted by a yellow cap ; those of Brisson and others, are considerably smaller. As that striking character, the white spot on the wing, is neither in- dicated in the figure nor description of any author, we might have been induced to believe that our species is different from the South American, if a close comparison of the two had not proved their identity. Another circumstance might have been equally deceptive : Brisson, who gave the first account of this bird, from a Cayenne specimen sent to Reaumur's Museum, and who seems to have been copied by all subsequent authors, states its length to be less than seven inches, a size considerably inferior to that of the living bird. Had this admeasurement been taken from a recent specimen, we could hardly hesitate to believe our bird distinct ; but as he had only a dried skin, and as Buffon's figure represents a nearer approach to the size of nature, we conclude that Brisson's esti- mate is not to be implicitly relied upon. Vieillot, who never saw the bird, states the length to be six inches and a half, and refers it to his genus PenduUnus, but it certainly belongs to his genus Agelaius. The male Yellow-headed Troopial is ten inches and a half long. The bill is dark horn color, and formed exactly like that of the Red-winged Troopial. The feet are black ; the irides dark brown. The whole head, neck, and breast, are brilliant orange-yellow, more vivid and seri- ceous on the head, and terminating in a point on the belly ; the fea- thers around the base of the bill, the chin, and a wide stripe passing from the bill through the eye, are black. The remaining parts, except- ing some feathers of the belly, and some of the under tail coverts, which are yellow at base, are glossy black, very slightly tinged with brownish. Some of the exterior wing coverts are pure white with black tips, con- stituting two very remarkable white spots on the wing, the larger of which is formed by the greater coverts of the primaries, and the smaller one by the middling coverts. The first, second, and third primaries, are longest and equal. The tail is four inches long, slightly rounded, the two middle feathers being somewhat shorter than those immediately adjoining. This character Wilson remarked in the Red- winged Troopial ; and, as other notable traits are common to both species, we must regard them, not only as congeneric, but as very closely allied species of the same sub-genus. They differ, however, in color, and the Yellow- headed Troopial is larger, having the bill, feet, and claws consequently stronger, and the first primary longer than the second and third, or at least as long ; whereas, in the Red-winged, the third is the longest. The female of our Troopial is eight inches and a quarter long, a size remarka.bly inferior to that of the male, and exactly corresponding with the difference existing between the sexes of the Red-winged Troopial. The bill and feet are proportionally smaller than those of the male, the . YELLOW-HEADED TROOPIAL. 16S feet being blackish ; the irides are dark brown. The general color is uniform dark brown, a shade lighter on the margin of each feather. The frontlet is grayish-ferruginous, as well as a line over the eye con- fluent on the auricles with a broad line of the same color passing beneath the eye, including a blackish space varied with grayish. An abbreviated blackish line proceeds from feach side of the lower mandible ; the chin and throat are whitish ; on the breast is a large rounded patch, of a pretty vivid yellow, occupying nearly all its surface, and extending a little on the neck. On the lower part of the breast, and beginning of the belly, the feathers are skirted with white. The form of the wings and tail is the same as in the male ; the wings are immaculate. The young of this species are very similar to the female, the young male gradually changing to the rich adult covering. The Yellow-headed Troopials assemble in dense flocks, which, in all their varied movements and evolutions, present appearances similar to those of the Red-winged, which have been so well described by Wilson. They are much on the ground, like the Cow Troopial (Cow Bunting of Wilson) ; on dissection, their stomachs have been found fllled with frag- ments of small insects, which seem to constitute their chief food, though doubtless they also feed on vegetable substances. Their notes resemble those of the Red-winged Troopial, but are more musical. The range of the Yellow-headed Troopial is very extensive, as it is found from Cayenne to the river Missouri ; although it passes far north in the western region, yet it does not visit the settled parts of the United States. The fine specimens represented in our plate were killed near the Pawnee villages, on the river Platte, where they were seen in great numbers about the middle of May. The males and females were some- times observed in separate flocks. We adopt the genus Icterus, nearly as it was established by Brisson, and accepted by Daudin and Temminck. Authors have variously esti- mated this genus both in regard to its denomination and limits. One of Wilson's most important nomenclatural errors, consisted in placing one of the species under the genus Sturnus, with which it has but little similarity, if we except some of its habits, and particularly its grega- rious disposition. Linn^ considered these birds as Orioli, in which he was followed by Gmelin and Latham, notwithstanding the remarkable difi"erence existing between them and the Oriolus galhula of Europe, the type of that genus. Illiger, and some other naturalists, considering that bird a Ooracias, appropriated the name of Oriolus to our Icterus, and separated from it the largest species, which he called Cassici. Linn^ had declared all generic names previously given to arts, diseases, &c., to be inadmissible in natural history ; Illiger, on that prmciple, altogether rejected the name Icterus, as being preoccupied by a disease. 170 FEMALE CAPE MAY WARBLEE. This may account for the introduction of new names for genera, one of which at least ought to have retained its first appellation. Vieillot, however, would have caused less confusion, if he had adopted the name of Icterus (which, with Saxicola, and all other names of that class, we do not think objectionable), instead of Agelaius, Pendulinus, or Yphantes, three of his four genera corresponding to our Icterus. But, if the latter name was considered as utterly inadmissible, we see no reason why he did not accept that of Xanthornus, applied to this genus by Pallas. All the species of Troopial are peculiar to America. We divide them into four sub-genera, the present bird belonging to the second, to which we apply the name of Xanthornus. The species of this sub-genus are peculiarly social in their dispositions, and their associations are not lia- ble to interruption from the influence of love itself. Not only do many individuals of the same family combine and labor in concert, but they also unite with very different species. Their aspect is animated, and their movements are quick, bold, and vigorous ; they fly rapidly, at a good height, and are much attached to the places of their birth. Their song is a kind of whistling ; they walk with the body nearly erect, with a slightly hurried step, and are seen sitting on the ground, or perched on the branches of trees. They seek no concealment, and never enter the woods, though they are very careful to construct their nests in a safe situation. The Troopials eat no fruits, but derive their subsistence from insects, worms, grains, and small seeds. They leave the temperate climates at the approach of winter, and are amongst the first birds of passage that return with the spring. SYLVIA MABITIMA.* FEMALE CAPE MAY WARBLER. [Plate III. Fig. 3.] I WAS so fortunate as to obtain this undescribed little Warbler in a small wood near Bordentown, New Jersey, on the fourteenth of May, at which season ornithologists would do well to be on the alert to detect the passenger Warblers, whose stay in this vicinity is frequently limited to a very few days. Judging by the analogical rules of our science, this bird is no other than the female of Wilson's Gape May Warbler. Its appearance is so different from the male he described, that the specific identity is not * See Wilson's American Ornithology, ii., p. 209, PI. 54, fig. 3, for the Male. FEMALE CAPE MAY WARBLEK. 171 recognised at first sight ; but, by carefully comparing the two specimens, a correspondence in the least variable characters may readily be per- ceived, especially in the remarkable slenderness of the bill, which dis- tinguishes the Cape May, from all other resembling species of North American Warblers. Wilson has given no information relative to the history and habits of this species, having never procured more than a male specimen ; and we have equally to regret, that, having obtained but a single female, we are unable to supply the deficiency, e^en in regard to its song. The female Cape May Warbler is four inches and three quarters long, and more than eight in extent. The bill is slender, delicate, and slightly curved, being black, as well as the feet. The irides are dark brown ; the upper part of the head olive-cinereous, each feather having a small blackish spot on the middle. A yellow line extends from the bill over the eye, and is prolonged in an obsolete trace around the auditory region, thence returning to the corner of the mouth. A blackish line passes through the eye which is circumscribed by a whitish circle ; the cheeks are dull cinereous, with very small pale spots ; the upper parts of the neck and of the body are olive-cinereous, tinged with more cinereous on the neck, and with yellow-olive on the rump. The chin is whitish ; the throat, breast, and flanks are whitish, slightly tinged with yellowish, each feather having a blackish spot on the middle ; the belly is immaculate ; the vent and inferior tail coverts are shaded in the middle of each feather with dusky. The smaller wing coverts are dull olive-green, blackish in the centre ; the middling wing coverts are black, margined exteriorly, and tipped with pure white; the greater wing coverts are blackish, margined with olive-white; the primaries are dusky, finely edged with bright olive-green on the exterior web, obsolete on that of the first primary, which is of the same length as the fourth ; the Second and third are longest, and but little longer than the fourth. The tail is slightly emarginated, the feathers being dusky,- edged with bright olive-green on the exterior side, and with white on the interior ; the two or three exterior feathers on each side have a pure white spot on their inner webs near the tip. The female Cape May Warbler may be very easily mistaken for an imperfect Sylvia coronata, of which four or five nominal species have already been made. The striking resemblance it bears to the young, and to the autumnal condition of the plumage in that species, requires a few comparative observations to prevent their being confounded together. The present bird is smaller than the coronata, with a more slender, and rather more elongated bill ; it is altogether destitute of the yellow spot on the head, as well as of the yellow on the rump, which is a 172 GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. striking character of the coronata in all its states, and gives rise to the English name adopted by Wilson. The color of the outer edging of the wing and tail feathers is a very good distinctive mark ; in the maritima it is olive-green, whilst in the coronata it is white. The white spot on the inner webs of the exterior tail feathers, is also four times larger in the coronata, than in the maritima. QUISCALUS MAJOR. GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. [Plate IV. Fig. 1, Male ; 2, Female.] Quiacalus major, Vieill. Nowb. Did. d'Hist. Nat. xxviii., p. 487. — Gracula guis' cala, Ord, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. i., p. 253. — Gracula harita, Wilson, Am. Orn. Ti., Index p. viii. — Gracula quiscala, the Purple Jackdaw of the sea- coast, Bartram, Travels, p. 290. — Corvus mexicanusf Gmel. Syst. i., p. 375, Sp. 42. Lath. Ind. p. 164, Sp. 36, Male. — Corvus zamoef Gmel. Syst. i., p. 375, Sp. 44. Lath. Ind. p. 164, Sp. 37, Female. — Pica mexicana major f Briss. Av. u., p. 43, Sp. 4, male. — Pica mexicana minor? Bkiss. Av. k., p. 44, Sp. 5, Female — L' Hocizana? Buff. Ois. in., p. 103, Male.-^ie Zano£f Bufp. Ois. in., p. 106, female. — Mexican Crow? Lath. Syn. i., p. 396, Sp. 34, Male. — Lesser Mexican Crow? Lath. Syn. i., p. 397, Sp. 36, Female. — Rocitzanatl, seu ma-gnus Sturnusf Hern AND. Hist. An. Nov. Hisp. p. 21, Male. — Tzanahoei? Hernand. Hist. An. Nov. Hisp. p. 22, Female. — Hoitzanatl? Rat, Syn. Av. p. 162, Male. — Tzanahoei, seu Pica mexicana Hernandezii? Rat, Syn. Av. p. 162, Female. No part of natural history has been more confused than that relating to North and South American birds of black plumage ; which is by no means surprising, when we recollect that they are chiefly destitute of colored markings, and that the greater number of admitted species, are founded on the short and inexact descriptions of travellers, who have ne- glected to observe their forms, habits, and characters. But little aid has been derived from the wretched plates hitherto given, for they seem better suited to increase the confusion than to exemplify the descriptions to which they are annexed, and every succeeding compiler has aggra- vated, rather than diminished this complication of error. It is there- fore solely by a studious attention to nature, that we can extricate -these species from the uncertainty involving them, and place them in a distinct and cognisable situation. With these views we now give a faithful representation of both sexes of the Great Cro'W-Blackbird, drawn by that zealous observer of nature and skilful artist Mr. John J. Audubon, and hope thereby to remove all doubt relative to this interest- ing species. GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. 173 For the same purpose we give in the following plate a figure of the female Common Crow Blackbird, which differs so little from its mate (admirably represented in the first volume of Wilson's Ornithology), that it would be otherwise unnecessary. This measure we believe will be acceptable to ornithologists, as it furnishes them with means of com- paring the females of both the species in question, whence the most striking distinctive characters are obtained ; that of one species differing considerably in size and color from the male, while the sexes of the other are very similar in appearance. Wilson having mentioned this species in his catalogue of land birds, evidently intended to describe and figure it ; but this he deferred, pro- bably, in expectation of obtaining better opportunities of examination, which are not so readily presented, as the bird does not inhabit this section of the United States. It would be difficult to ascertain whether or not Linn^ and Latham have mentioned this bird in any part of their works, but the reader may perceive our opiniQn on this point by referring to our synonymes, which, however, are given with much doubt, since we do not hesitate to say, that those authors have not published any satisfactory description of this species. We shall not endeavor to settle the question relative to the species inhabiting South America, or even Mexico and the West Indies ; but we may assert,' that this is the only Blackbird found in the United States, besides those of Wilson, which, as is the case with all that his pencil or pen has touched, are established incontestably : he may occa- sionally have been mistaken as to his genera, or incorrect in a specific name, but by the plate, description, and history, he has always deter- mined his bird so obviously, as to defy criticism, and prevent future mistake. Mr. , Ord has published an excellent paper in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, proving the existence, in the United States, of two allied species of Crow Blackbird, in which he gives new descriptions, indicates stable characters, and adds an account of their respective habits ; but in attempting to correct Wilson, he has unfortu- nately misapplied the names. In this instance, he should not have charged Wilson with error, who is certainly correct in regard to the species he published ; and even had this been doubtful, he who so well described and figured the Common Crow Blackbird, ought to have been followed by ornithologists. Therefore, notwithstanding Mr. Ord's deci- sion, we consider the quiscala of Wilson unquestionably the true quis- cala of authors; this is' so obvious, that is unnecessary to adduce any evidence in support of our opinion, which, indeed, is sufficiently afforded by Mr. Ord's paper itself. It is impossible to decide with certainty, what bird authors intended 174 GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. to designate by their Grraeula harita ; but after a careful review of the short and unessential indications, respective synonymes, and habitat o-iven by difierent writers, we feel assured that they have not referred to one and the same species. Thus, the harita of Linn^ is a species not found in the United States, but common in the West Indies, called Icte- rus niger by Brisson, and afterwards Oriolus niger by Gmelin and Latham : the harita of Latham, his Boat-tailed Grakle, is evidently the same with the quiscala:* Gmelin's harita is taken partly from that of Linn^, and partly from the Boat-tailed Grakle of Latham, being com- pounded from both species : we shall not be at the trouble of decipher- ing the errors of subsequent compilers. Ornithologists are all at variance, as to the classification of these spe- cies. Linn^ and Latham improperly referred them to Gfracula ; Dau- din, with no better reason, placed them under Sturnus ; Temminck considers them as Icteri, Cuvier as Cassici, and Vieillot has formed a new genus for their reception. I have no hesitation in agreeing with the latter author, and adopt his name of Quisealus ; but I add to the genus, as constituted by him, the G-raeula ferrugineou, which he regarded as a Pendulinus, and which other authors have arranged in several different genera, making of it a profusion of nominal species. Wilson judiciously included that species in the same genus with those above mentioned, although other authors had placed it in Turdus, Oriolus, &c. The genus Quisealus is peculiar to America, and is composed of four well ascertained species, three of which are found in the United States : these are, Quisealus major,-f versieolor, and ferrugineus ; the fourth, Quisealus haritus, inhabits the West Indies, and probably South America. The species of this genus are gregarious, and omnivorous ; their food being composed of insects, corn, and small grains, thus assisting and plundering the agriculturist at the same time. When the first European settlements were formed in North America, the havoc made by these birds and the Troopials in the grain fields, was so great, that a pre- muim was given for their heads. Their destruction was easily effected, as they are not shy, and are more easily approached as their numbers decrease ; but the evil which resulted from exterminating so many of these birds, was as unexpected as irremediable. The corn and pastures were so devoured by worms and insects, that the inhabitants were obliged to spare the birds, in order to avert a scourge which had been previously unknown. As population increases, and a greater quantity * It was probably by Latham, that Mr. Ord was led to misapply the names of the two species ; for, perceiving that the barita of that author was the quiscala, he inferred, that the quiscala was the barita. t We call the present species Quisealus major, agreeably to Vieillot, who cer- tainly intended this bird, although his description is a mere indication. GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. 17£ of grain is cultivated, the ravages of these birds become less perceptible, and the injury they cause comparatively trifling. The Great Crow Blackbird is more than sixteen inches long, and twenty-two in extent. The bill, from the angle of the mouth, is one inch and three-quarters, and its color, like that of the feet, is black ; the roof of the mouth is furnished with a slight osseous carina ; the irides are pale yellow. The general appearance of the bird is black ; the whole head and neck having bluish-purple reflections ; the interscapu- lar region, breast, belly, sides, and smaller wing coverts, are glossy steel-blue ; the back, rump, and middling wing coverts, are glossed with copper-green ; the vent, inferior tail coverts, and thighs, are plain black. The undescribed parts of the wings are deep black, slightly glossed with green, as well as the tail, which is cuneiform, capable of assum- ing a boat-shaped appearance, and measures nearly eight inches in length from its insertion, surpassing the tip of the wings by five inches. The female is considerably shorter, measuring only twelve and a half inches in length, and seventeen inches and a half in extent. The bill, from the angle of the mouth, is one inch and a half long, and, with the feet, is black ; the irides are of a still paler yellow than those of the male. The head and neck above are light brown, gradually passing into dusky towards the back, which, with the scapulars and lesser wing coverts, has slight greenish reflections ; a whitish line passes from the . nostrils over the eye, to the origin of the neck. The chin, throat, and breast, are dull whitish ; the anterior part of the breast is slightly tinged with brownish ; the flanks are brownish ; the belly brownish- white; and the vent and inferior tail coverts are blackish-brown, each feather being margined with pale. The remaining parts are of a dull brownish-black, slightly glossed with greenish ; the secondaries, tail coverts, and tail feathers, having a slight banded appearance, which is equally observable in the male. The young at first resemble the female, but have the irides brown, and the males gradually acquire the brilliant plumage of the adult. The Great and Common Crow Blackbirds, are both alike distinguished by the very remarkable boat-like form of the tail, but the great difi"er- ence of size, appearance of the females, length of the tail, prominence of the osseous carina, and brilliancy of coloring, most obviously prove them to be altogether specificailly distinct. The Great Crow Blackbird inhabits the southern part of the Union, where it is called Jackdaw ; Georgia and Florida appear to be its favor- ite residence. The disposition of this species is extremely social, and ihey frequently mingle with the Common Crow Blackbird ; vast flocks are seen among the sea islands and neighboring marshes on the main land, where they feed at low water, on the oyster beds and sand flats. The chuck of our species is shriller than that of the Common Crow 176 GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. Blackbird, and it has other notes which resemble the noise made by a watchman's rattle ; their song is only heard in the spring, and though the concert they mate is somewhat melancholy, it is not altogether dis- agreeable. Their nests are built in company, on reeds and bushes, in the neighborhood of marshes and ponds : they lay about five eggs, which are whitish, spotted with dark-brown, as represented in the plate. Mr. Ord mentions in his paper, that the first specimens he saw of this bird, were obtained on the 22d of January at Ossabaw Island, when but a few males were seen scattered over the cotton plantations. Advanc- ing towards the south, they became more numerous ; and in the early part of February, the males, unaccompanied by females, were common near the mouth of the river San Juan, in Florida. A few days after, the females appeared, and associated by themselves on the borders of fresh-water ponds ; they were very gentle, and allowed themselves to be approached within a few feet, without becoming alarmed. Flocks com- posed of both sexes were seen about the middle of March. About the latter end of November, they leave even the warm region of Florida, to seek winter quarters farther south, probably in the West Indies. Previous to their departure, they assemble in very large flocks, and detachments are seen every morning moving southward, flying at a great height. The males appear to migrate later than the females, as not more than one female (easily distinguishable even in the higher regions of the air by its much smaller size) is observed for a hundred , males, in the last flocks. The Great Crow Blackbird is also very numerous in the West Indies, Mexico and Louisiana ; but it does not frequent the Northern, or even the Middle States, like the Common Crow Blackbird. Our opinion that the Oorvus mexicanus of authors is the male of this species, and their Corvus zanoe the female, is corroborated by the male and female G/eat Crow Blackbird being seen in separate flocks. QUISCALU8 VERSICOLOR* FEMALE COMMON CROW BLACKBIRD. [Plate V. Fig. 1.] Quiscalus versicolor, Vieill, Nbuv. Did. d'Hist. Nat. xxviii., p. 488. — Nobis. Obs. Nom. Wils. Orn. Journ. Acad. Nat. So. Philad. iii., p. 365. — Gracula quiscala, Linn. Syst. i., p. 165, Sp. 7. Gmel. Syst. i., p. 397, Sp. 7. Lath. Ind. p. 191, Sp. 7. — Gracvla harita, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 396, Sp. 4. Lath. Ind. p. 191, Sp. 6. Ord, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. i., p. 254 (not of Linn.). — Oriolus ludovi- cianus, Guel. Syst. i., p. 387, Sp. 31 (pied variety). — Oriolus leucocephalus, Lath. Ind. p. 175, Sp. 4 (pied variety). — Pica jamaicensis, Briss. Av. ii., p. 41, Sp. 3. — Monedula purpurea, the Purple Jackdaw, Catesbt, Carolina, i., p. 12, PI. 12. — Gracula purpurea, the Lciser Purple Jackdaw, or Crow Blackbird, Bartr. Trav. 291. — Pie de la Jamaigue, Burr. Ois. iii., p. 'dl.^—Cassique de la Louisiana, Buff. Ois. iii., p. 242. PI. Enl. 646 (pied variety). — Purple Grakle, Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 153. Lath. Syn. i., Part ii., p. 462, Sp 6. — Boat-tailed Gi-akle, Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 154. Lath. Syn. i., Part ii., p. 460, Sp. 5. — White-headed Oriole, Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 147. Lath. Syn. i.. Part ii., p. 422, Sp. 4 (pied variety). The female Common Crow Blackbird is figured in the annexed plate, that naturalists may have an opportunity of comparing it with the corresponding sex of the Great Crow Blackbird, and thus receive a distinct idea of the difference between the two species, so well manifested in their females. The specific name of this bird {quiscala) has been changed, in conse- quence of its having been applied to the genus: we have substituted the name given by Vieillot, which is adniirably appropriate. The English name employed by Wilson being now rendered inadmissible by the generic change, we have thought proper to adopt a local appel- lation. The female Common Crow Blackbird is eleven inches in length, and sixteen and a half in extent. The bill is nearly an inch and a half long, and, as well as the feet, black ; the irides are yellowish- white ; the whole head, neck, and upper part of the breast, are blackish, with steel blue, green aiid violet reflections, which are not so vivid as in the male. The general color of the body, wings, and tail, is deep sooty- brown ; the feathers of the back are margined with coppery and purplish ; the rump, tail coverts, and wing coverts, are glossed with purplish ; the lower part of the breast and flanks have a coppery reflection ; the in- ferior tail coverts are obscurely glossed with violet. The tail is cuneiform, but slightly concave in flight, and is five inches long, extend- ing two and a half inches beyond the tip of the wings ; the feathers are glossed with very obscure greenish. In the male the tail is also * See Wilson's American Ornithology, i., p. 156, PI. 21, fig. 4, for the Male, and history. Vol. IIL— 12 (177) 178 FEMALE COMMON CROW BLACKBIRD. cuneiform, and greatly concave, exhibiting a singular boat-shaped appearance, as in the preceding species, and even more remarkably so, according to Mr. Ord, which induced him to change the name. "We shall not attempt to make any additions to the almost complete, and very excellent history of this species, given by Wilson : but as the four species of Quiscalus are liable to be confounded, we shall proceed to give a few comparative observations, that the student may be enabled to distinguish them from each other. Amongst other remarkable traits, the Quiscalus ferrugineus is at once known in all its various states, by its even tail, and comparatively smaller bill, which somewhat resembles that of a Thrush. In addition to the characters drawn from its dimensions, the Quiscalus versicolor can always be distinguished from its congeners, by the slight difference in size and color, between the sexes ; while, in the other species, the males and females are remarkably dissimilar : the mouth of this species is, moreover, armed with a prominent osseous carina, a quarter of an inch long, which, in the others, is much smaller. That the Quiscalus major, and Quiscalus baritus, should have been confounded together, is not a little surprising, as the former is sixteen inches long, the tail being eight inches, and extending five inches beyond the tip of the wings ; whilst the latter is only ten inches, the tail much less cuneiform, four inches and a half long, and extending but two inches beyond the tip of the wings ; the osseous carina is similar in these two species, , and the markings of the females are much alike. From this statement, it is apparent, that the females of the largest and smallest Crow Black- birds correspond in the disposition of their colors ; a parity that does not exist in the intermediate species. In comparative size, however, they differ considerably : the female of the baritus, though smaller, as we have already stated, is, in proportion to its mate, considerably larger than that of the other, being only half an inch, whilst the female of the major is nearly four inches, smaller. The individual represented in the annexed plate, is a remarkably fine one, in the most perfect state of plumage. It therefore more strongly resembles the male than is usual with its sex, which are generally much less brilliant in coloring, and more sooty-brown. This bird was obtained at Great Egg Harbor on the twenty-first of May, and was selected as the best female of several pairs, assembled to breed at one of the identical Fish-Hawks nests, in the interstices of which Wilson mentions having seen them building. One of their nests contained three eggs, and the species had not ceased to lay. These birds, as we have had occasion personally to observe, like most of the feathered tribes, are subject to become either wholly or partially albinos. From this circumstance, numerous errors have been introduced in the pages of ornithological works. SYLVIA CELATA. ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. [Hate V. Fig. 2.] Sylvia celata, Sat, in IjOng's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, i., p. 169. This little bird, discovered early in May, at Engineer Cantonment, on the Missouri river, was first described and named by Say ; the species was not uncommon at that season, and appeared to be on its passage further north. It is more particularly interesting, inasmuch as it enriches the Fauna of the United States with another species of the small sub-genus Daenis, which may be ascertained by inspecting the bill, represented in the annexed plate. The Orange-crowned Warbler is full five inches long, and seven in extent. The bill is dark horn color, slender, straight, entire, and taper- ing to an acute point ; the base of the inferior mandible is whitish beneath ; the legs are dusky ; the irides dark brown. The general plumage above is dull greenish-olive, the rump and tail coverts being bright yellowish-olive. The head is very slightly and inconspicuously Crested ; the feathers of the crest are orange at base, constituting a spot on the crown, visible only when they are elevated, being tipped with the common color. The whole bird beneath is dull olive-yellow ; the inferior tail coverts are pure yellow. The wings are destitute of spots or bands ; the primaries are dark brovm, olive-green on the exterior margin, which is much paler on the outer ones ; the interior margin is whitish ; the four outer primaries are sub-equal ; the fifth is but very little shorter. The tail is even, the feathers being dark brown, edged with olive-green on the outer, and with white on the inner web. The Orange-crowned Warbler resembles several species of indigenous and foreign Warblers ; and the females of others, such as that of the Sylvia trichas, may also be mistaken for it ; but it may be distinguished from each of them respectively by particular characters, which it is not necessary to detail, as the concealed orange spot of the crown is a pecu- liarity not possessed by either of the allied species. The Nashville Warbler (Sylvia rubrieapilla) of Wilson, seems to be more closely related to the Orange-crowned Warbler than any other. That bird, also, is evidently a Dacnis, and scarcely difi"ers from our species, except in the white belly, the light ash color of the head and neck, and the deep chestnut color disposed in small touches on the crown, instead of an uniform orange color. (179) 180 LARK FINCH. The figure given in our plate is that of a male ; and the only differ- ence observable between the sexes is, that the rump of the male is of a brighter color, approaching, in old birds, to a pure yellow. During winter, the Orange-crowned Warbler is one of the most com- mon birds in the neighborhood of St. Augustine, Florida, almost exclu- sively frequenting the orange trees. Their manners resemble those of the kindred species, though they have a remarkable habit of constantly inflecting the tail, like the Pewee. The note consists of a chuck, and a faint squeak, but little louder than that of a mouse. FRIN6ILLA OBAMMACA. LARK FINCH. [Plate V. Fig. 3.] Fringilla grammaca, Sat, in Long's Expedition to the Bocky Mountains, i., p. 139, Foe this very interesting new species. Ornithology is again indebted to Long's expedition, and particularly to Say, who gave it the name we have adopted, and informs us, in his notes, that many of these birds were shot in the month of June, at Bellefontaine, on the Missouri ; and others were observed, the following spring, at Engineer Cantonment, near Council Bluffs. It seems probable that the range of this bird is limited, in a great measure, by the Mississippi on the east. Like the Larks, they frequent the prairies, and very seldom, if ever, alight on trees ; they sing sweetly, and often continue their notes while on the wing. The Lark Finch is six inches and a half long ; its bill, a little notched at tip, is of a pale horn color, with a slight elevation on the roof of the upper mandible. The feet are pale flax color, tinged with orange ; the irides are dark brown. On the top of the head are two dilated lines, blackish on the front, and passing into ferruginous on the crown and hind head, separated from each other by a whitish-cinereous line ; from the eye to the superior mandible is a black line, which, as well as the eye, is enclosed by a dilated white line, contracted behind the eye ; from the angle of the mouth proceeds a black line, which is much dilated into a ferruginous spot on the auricles ; below this is a broad white line, mar- gined beneath by a narrow black one, originating at the inferior base of the lower mandible ; the chin and throat are pure white. The neck above, the back, and rump, are dull cinereous-brown, each feather of the interscapular region having a blackish-brown disc ; the neck beneath and breast are dull whitish-cinereous ; a small blackish-brown spot is on CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH. Igl the middle of the breast ; the belly and vent are white. The wings are dusky-brown ; the lesser wing coverts are margined with dull cinereous ; the exterior primary is equal to the third ; both are very little shorter than the second, which is longest ; the outer webs of the second, third, and fourth primaries, being whitish near their bases, form a distinct spot on the wing. The tail is rounded, the feathers being blackish- brown ; the two intermediate ones are immaculate, somewhat paler than the others. The adjoining ones have a small white spot at tip, which, on the lateral feathers, increases in size, until, on the exterior one, it occupies half the total length of the feather ; whilst its exterior web is white to the base. The female is very similar to the male, but the colors are duller, and the stripes on the head are not so decided ; the auriculars, moreover, are yellowish-brown. This species has the bill and feet precisely similar to those of Wilson's Black-throated Bunting, and those other Fringillce, and supposed Emherizoe, of which I have constituted the sub-genus Spiza, in my " Observations on Wilson's Ornithology." It cannot be mistaken for any other species, being very peculiar in its markings and manners. PTRRHULA FRONTALIS. CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH. [Plate TI. Fig. 1, Male ; Fig. 2, Female.] Fringilla frontalis, Sat, in Long's Expedition to the Roclty Mountains, ii., p. 40. Much confusion exists in the works of naturalists respecting those Finches and Bullfinches that are tinged with red ; and, in fact, their great resemblance to each other, and their intricate synonymy, render them very difficult to elucidate. The only species in Wilson's work with which the present may be confounded, is the Fringilla purpurea, a bird closely related to ours, and for the first time well figured, and per- manently established by that author.* But several other allied species * He was rather precipitate in asserting the Fringilla rosea and Loxia erythrina to be identical with his bird, as they are actually two very distinct species, belong- ing to the genus Pyrrhula, and proper to the old continent; whilst the purpurea is a true Fringilla, and peculiar to America. To those who have not critically inves- tigated the subject, it may appear somewhat inconsistent to state, that the erythrina is not an inhabitant of this continent, when it is a well known fact, that many authors speak of it as an American bird. This apparent contradiction may be readily removed, by considering what bird those authors alluded to, vrhen they stated the erythrina to be a native of North America. When Latham expressed a 182 CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH. may be mistaken for the Crimson-necked BuUfincli ; two of these, belong ing to the genus Pyrrhula, present so much analogy with the present species, judging from their descriptions, that we doubted the correct- ness of giving the latter a separate place, considering it identical with Pyrrhula erythrina of Temminck, whose description agrees better with it than that of any other. Yet, in addition to some differences discov- erable by comparing the Crimson-necked Bullfinch with his description, we cannot admit, that an arctic bird of the old continent, known to visit even the more northern portion of the temperate climates only during very cold winters, and then not very regularly, should be found, in the month of July, on the sultry plains of the Arkansas, and of course breeding there. We therefore conclude that our bird is not the ery- thrina, although we regret our inability to give differential characters, having never seen that species, as our endeavors to obtain a specimen have not been attended with success. The southern residence of our bird might lead us to suppose it the Loxia [Pyrrhula) violacea, which we have not seen, neither do we think the species well established. But, if we are to rely on the short description given of it, and on Catesby's figure, we cannot perceive much resemblance between them ; their iden- tity, however, would not much surprise us, when we consider that Cates- by's figure of the Pyrrhula violacea is as much like our bird, as his figure of the Purple Finch is like what it is intended to represent. Having the authority of Say, we consider it as new, notwithstanding these doubts. The Crimson-necked Bullfinch was procured by Long's party, near the Rocky Mountains, and Say described it in the journal of that expe- dition, under the name of Fringilla frontalis, adopting that genus in the comprehensive limits assigned by Illiger and Cuvier. The specific name given by Say is preoccupied in that genus by an African species ; but, as we consider our bird a Pyrrhula, we think proper to retain his name. The Crimson-necked Bullfinch is five inches and a half long. The bill and feet are horn color ; the lower mandible is paler ; the irides are dark brown. The head, neck beneath, and superior portion of the breast, are brilliant crimson, most intense near the bill and over the eye ; the space between the bill and the eyes is cinereous-gray, as well as the cheeks, and the small feathers immediately around the bill ; the doubt in his Synopsis, whether the birds in the neighborhood of New York, so much resembling the erythrina, were not specifically the same, he alluded to the Fringilla purpurea: Gmelin, as usual, in his miserable compilation, inserted this doubt of Latham as a certainty. As to the Crimson-headed Finch of Pennant, it is evidently the purpurea, thus excusing, in part, the strange assertion of Wilson. Latham, also, committed an error in his Index, by placing the Loxia ei-ythriiia of Pallas and Gmelin, his own Crimson-headed Finch, as a variety of Fringilla rosea. CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH. 183 crimson feathers are brown at base, being red only at tip. The occiput, and the neck above and on each side, are brown, with a reddish cast, the feathers being margined with pale ; the back is dusky-brownish ; the rump and superior tail coverts are crimson, but less vivid than that of the head ; the inferior portion of the breast, the belly, and vent, are whitish, each feather having a broad fuscous line ; the general plumage is lead color at base. The wings are blackish-brown, the primaries being broadly margined within, towards the base, with whitish, and exteriorly edged with grayish ; the coverts and secondaries are edged with dull grayish. The tail is blackish-brown, hardly emarginated ; the lateral feathers are edged, on the inner side, with whitish. Such is the description of our male specimen ; but as it was procured when summer was far advanced, a season in which the plumage begins to fade, it is proper to observe, that the coloring of this bird is probably much more brilliant in its full spring dress, the crimson extending much further down on the back, &c. As the season advances, the tips of the feathers, which are the only parts of a crimson color, being gradually worn off, the bird as gradually loses its brilliancy, and, in the autumnal and winter plumage, exhibits the humble appearance of the female. The female is altogether destitute of the brilliant color, being dusky- brown above, the feathers margined on each side with dull whitish ; the whole inferior surface is whitish, each feather having a brown longitudi- nal line in the middle, obsolete on the vent, which is almost pure white. A change similar to that above mentioned, takes place in the Purple Finch, whose habits also much resemble those of the Crimson-necked Bullfinch ; but the form of its bill is certainly that of a Finch, and will always distinguish it from the species we are describing, the bill of which is unequivocally of the Bullfinch form. The different tints of red adorning these birds, will also at once strike the eye of the least expert in discriminating species ; in the present bird the tint is vivid crimson, whilst in the Purple Finch it is rosaceous. In addition to these characters, the latter is a somewhat larger bird, with a pure white belly and inferior tail coverts, and a deeply emarginated tail ; whilst the former has a nearly even tail, and its belly and inferior tail coverts are striped with dusky. Some persons, without doubt, may think it highly improper to sepa- rate generically two birds, so closely allied as the present species and the Purple Finch, which may be mistaken for the same species ; but we may remark, that they stand at the extreme limit of their respective genera, and form the links of union between Pyrrhula and Fringilla. It is true, that the intimate alliance of these two groups would seem to justify Illiger, Meyer, and others, in uniting them under the same genus ; but as Fringilla is so vast in the number of its species, and Pyrrhula has a few distinctive characters, we choose to follow Tern- 184 CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH, minck, Vieillot, and other naturalists, by arranging them generically separate. The closeness of affinity between these two birds, when thus properly disposed, affords no good reason for the unity of their genera ; for, if we proceed to the abolition of all artificial distinction between genera united by almost imperceptible gradations, Sylvia would be joined to Turdus, Myiothera to Troglodytes, Lanius to Museicapa, the whole of these would be confused together ; and, in fact, orders and classes would be considered as genera; and even. the vast groups, thus formed, would be still observed to unite inseparably at their extremes, and we should finally be compelled to consider all living bodies, both animal and vegetable, as belonging to one genus. This argument, however, may not convince every naturalist of the propriety of our arrangement, and they must, therefore, place the two species, strictly according to nature, in one genus, and consider the present as a Fringilla ; but, how unnatural will then be the situation of Pyrrhula vulgaris, and Pyrrhula enucleator ! The inflated form of the bill, the curvature of both mandibles, very apparent in the superior one, as well as the compression of both at tip, are obvious characters, which distinguish the species of Pyrrhula from the Fringillce, in which both mandibles are nearly straight, and present a conic form on every side. Berries, and seeds which they extract from the pericarp, buds, and young shoots of different plants, constitute the food of the Bullfinches. They generally frequent forests and bushy places, building their nests on small trees, or low branches of large ones : the females lay four or five eggs. The greater nuniber of the species moult twice a year ; the sexes differ considerably in appearance. They reside in cold and tem- perate climates, with the exception of a few species, that inhabit Africa and South America. The Orimson-necked Bullfinch is found in the district of country extending along the base of the Rocky Mountains, near the Arkansas river, and has not been observed elsewhere. In the month of July, when our specimens were obtained, these birds occur in small scattered flocks, keeping mostly on the tops of the cotton-wood trees, on whose buds they partially feed. Their voice considerably resembles that of their relative, the Fringilla purpurea. FRINGILLA PSALTRIA. ARKANSAS SISKIN. [Plate VI. Fig. 3.] Fringilla psaltria, Sat, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, ii., p. 10. "A VERY pretty little bird," writes Say, in his precious zoological notes to the journal of Long's expedition, " was frequently seen hop- ping about in the low trees or bushes, singing sweetly, somewhat in the manner of the American Goldfinch, or Hempbird, Fringilla tristis. The tints, ^.nd the distribution of the colors of its plumage, resemble, in a considerable degree, those of the autumnal and less brilliant vesture of that well known species. It may, however, be distinguished, in addition to other differences, by the black tip of its tail feathers, and the white wing spot." The Arkansas Siskin inhabits the country near the base of the Rocky Mountains, south of the river Platte, and probably is also to be found in Mexico. The only specimen brought by the party, was shot on the sixteenth of July, near Boiling Spring creek : on the annexed plate, it is figured in company with the American Goldfinch in autumnal plum- age, for the sake of comparison. The Arkansas Siskin is four inches and a quarter long ; the bill is yellowish, tipped with blackish ; the feet are flesh color ; the irides burnt-umber. The top of the head is blue-black ; the cheeks are dusky- olivaceous ; the neck above and half its side, the back, and rump, are olivaceous, more or less intermixed with dusky and yellowish, particu- larly on the rump ; the superior tail coverts are black, varied with olivaceous-: all the under parts, from the very base of the bill to the under tail coverts inclusively, are of a pure bright yellow. The wings are brownish-black, the smaller wing coverts being very slightly tinged with blue, and edged with olivaceous; the greater wing coverts are tipped with white, which forms a narrow band across the wing; the primaries, excepting the exterior one, are slightly edged with white ; the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh, are white towards the base, so as to exhibit a white spot beyond the wing coverts ; the first four primaries are nearly equal in length, the fifth is a quarter of an inch shorter ; the secondaries are broadly margined with white exteriorly, towards their tips. The tail is slightly emarginated, the feathers being blackish, slightly edged with dull whitish ; the three exterior ones are widely pure white on the middle of their inner webs. The specimen we have just described is a male, evidently in perfect (185) 186 ARKANSAS SISKIN. plumage ; the female, and state of imperfect plumage, are unknown ; but, without risking any great deviation from the truth, we may state, from analogy, that the young resemble the female, which must be desti- tute of the black cap, and have the colors less vivid and less pure. The Arkansas Siskin certainly resembles the American Goldfinch in its winter dress ; but a still more .striking similarity exists in some other birds, such as the European Siskin {Fringilla spinus), and the Olivarez [Fringilla magellanica, Vieill.) of South America ; and it is so similar to the European, that it might with a much greater degree of propriety be considered as a variety, than those regarded as such by authors. They can, however, be easily distinguished by the following comparative characters : all the under parts of the Arkansas Siskin are bright yellow, whilst the corresponding parts of the European Siskin are tinged with greenish, the throat being black, and the belly, vent, and flanks whitish, spotted longitudinally with black ; the margins and spots of the wing and tail feathers are white in our bird, and yellow in the European Siskin ; the white spots on the tail of the Arkansas Siskin af e confined to the three outer feathers, whilst in the foreign bird all the feathors, excepting the two middle ones, are marked with yellow ; the bill of our species is also a little- shorter, less compressed, and less acuminated ; finally, we may notice another trifling difference, which consists in the proportional length of the primaries, the four first being nearly equal in the American bird, and the three first only in the European, the fourth being almost a quarter of an inch shorter. The other approxi- mate species, Fringilla magellanica, Vieill., considered by Gmelin and Latham as a variety of the European Siskin, is readily distinguishable by having the head entirely black. Though the Mexican Siskin {Fringilla mexicana, Gmel.) may prove to be the female of our bird, or the male in an imperfect state of plum- age (and, from the locality, we should possibly have referred it to that name, had the classification of it fallen to our lot), yet, as nothing posi- tive can be drawn from so unessential an indication as that of the Mexican Siskin, we have no hesitation in following the same course with Say, who considers it as entirely new, and have retained his elegant name of Fringilla psaltria. It is very possible that not only the Frin- gilla mexicana, but also the Black Mexican Siskin {Fringilla eatotol, Gmel.) may be the same bird as our Fringilla psaltria ; but how can we determine, from the vague descriptions that have been given of those species ? they are equally applicable to the American Goldfinch in its dull state of plumage ; and Wilson expresses a doubt whether or not the Black Mexican Siskin is the same as his new species, Fringilla pinus. All these pretty little birds belong to the sub-genus Carduelis, having a more slender, acute, and elongated bill, than other Fringillce. FRINGILLA TRISTIS. FEMALE AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.* [Plate VI, Fig. 4.] Fringilla tristis, Linn. Syst. i., p. 320, Sp. 12, Male. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 907, Sp. 12. Lath. Ind. p. 452, Sp. 64. Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nai. xn., p. 167.— Fringilla spinus, var. y Gmel. Syst. i., p. 914, Sp. 25, Male, in winter plumage. — Cardaelis Americana, Briss. Av. hi., p. 64, Sp. 3. — Carduelis Americanus, the American Goldfinch, Catesby, Carolina, i., p. 43, pi. 43, Male in spring dress. Barte. Trav. p. 291. — Chardonneret jaune. Burr. Ois. iv., p. 212. — Chardonneret du Canada, Buff. PI. Enl. 202, fig. 2, Male, in spring dress.— Tarin de la Nou- velle York, Buff. Ois. iv., p. 231. PI. Enl. 292, fig. 1, Male changing; fig. 2, Male in winter dress. — Golden Finch, Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 242. — American Gold- finch, Edwards, Glean, ii., p. 133, pi. 274, Male and Female.— Lath. Stjn. ii., Part I., p. 288, Sp. 57. Id. 1st Suppl. p. \?,&.— Siskin, var. B., Lath. Syn. ii., Part I., p. 291, Sp. 58, Male changing. Wb have been induced by the analogy existing between the preceding new species and this common bird, to figure them as companions on the same plate, that they may be immediately and readily compared. To give the present figure more interest, we have chosen the female, though we might with equal propriety have selected the male in winter plumage, as the latter differs but slightly from its mate during that season. The very great dissimilarity between the sexes in their spring dress, will justify the reappearance of a bird already given by Wilson, more espe- cially as it has, in this state, been mistaken for a distinct species, and most unaccountably arranged in the systems as a variety of the Euro- pean Siskin. The history of this bird, which so completely resembles the Goldfinch of Europe in song and habits, being nearly completed by the golden pen of Wilson, we shall not attempt to add any observations of our own, but shall refer the reader to his volume, quoted above, for its biography. As we cannot but observe that his description is short and somewhat imperfect, probably owing to the opinion he at first entertained, but afterwards judiciously relinquished, that a minute description of common birds is superfluous, we shall proceed to describe the species in all its different states. The male American Goldfinch in summer dress, represented by Wilson in his first plate, is four and a half inches long, and eight in extent. The bill resembles that of the European Goldfinch, and, as well as the * See Wilson's American Ornithology, ii., p. 99, pi. 1, fig. 2, for the male, and history. (187) 188 FEMALE AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. feet, is of a reddish-cinnamon color ; the irides are dark brown. The front and vertex are glossy black ; the remaining part of the head, and all the body, rich lemon-yellow ; the superior and inferior tail coverts are white, as well as the thighs. The wings and tail are black, the small coverts of the wings being yellow externally, and white on the inner side and at tip ; the greater coverts are tipped with white, an arrangement which exhibits two white bands across the wings ; the first and third primaries are equal, hardly shorter than the second, which is the longest, the fourth being nearly as long as the third ; the secondaries are margined with white. The tail is emarginated, the feathers being black, slightly edged with white, and having a large pure white spot on the inner web at tip. The female, as is usual in this family of birds, is rather smaller than the male, and is widely different from that sex in the colors of its plumage. The bill and feet are brownish ; the lower mandible is whitish at base : the head has no appearance of black, and, with the neck, the back, and rump, is brownish-olive, the latter part being of a lighter shade than the preceding portions ; the upper tail coverts are greenish- white. The frontlet, cheeks, sides of the neck, throatj and upper part of the breast, are pale greenish-yellow ; the lower portion of the breast, belly, vent, flanks, under wing and under tail coverts, are whitish. The wings and tail, which always afford the most constant specific characters, are like those of the male, except that the black color is less intense, and the white is less pure, being slightly tinged with rufous. In this state of plumage, the bird closely resembles the Fringilla eitrinella of the south of Europe, which however can always be distin- guished from it by several characters, but more particularly by its greenish-yellow rump, and by being destitute of the whitish spot at the tip of the inner w,eb of the tail feathers. The young are so like the females as to be distinguished with difficulty ; their colors, however, are still less lively ; they assume the adult livery in the spring, but do not exhibit all the brilliancy of the perfect bird until the third moult. The American Goldfinch moults twice a year, in the seasons of spring and autumn. At the spring moult the males obtain their vivid coloring, which is lost at the autumnal change, and replaced by a more humble dress, similar to that of the female, from which sex they cannot then be readily distinguished. The black of the wings is, however, somewhat more intense ; the white of the wings and of the tail is dull and dirty, and a yellowish tint prevails around the eyes, as well as on the neck. From this statement it follows, that Wilson's figure represents the adult male in that brilliant dress in which it appears for the space of four or five months only ; whilst the figure in the annexed plate exhibits the invariable colors of the female and young, as well as the appearance of the male for the remaining seven months in the year. LAZULI FINCH. 189 As the season advances, the plumage of the adult male gradually changes, but not simultaneously in the different individuals, so that in the spring and autumn we rarely find two that are alike ; some being more or less yellow, having a rudiment of black on the head, &c., accord- ing as the moulting process is more or less advanced. A remarkable variety is exhibited in a changing male, which I shot near Philadelphia, in the month of April, and which is therefore con- siderably advanced towards perfect plumage. All the primaries are pure white on the outer web towards the base, thus constituting, in the most obvious manner, that white spot beyond the wing coverts, assigned by Say as a good discriminating mark between this species and the pre- ceding. The fact we have related diminishes the value of this char- acter, which is nevertheless a very good one ; but as many other distinctions are observable, we need not rely exclusively upon it. The deviation we have here mentioned is the more remarkable, as the greater number of species allied to this bird have that spot either white or yellow. Since writing the above, I obtained, from one of the large flocks in which these birds congregate in the autumn, several specimens of both sexes, more or less distinguished by the marking above stated as pecu- liar to the variety. FBINGILLA AMCENA. LAZULI FINCH. [Plate VI. Fig. 5.] Emheriza amcena, Sat, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, ii., p. 47. The genus Emheriza, though very natural, and distinguished by well marked characters, has, notwithstanding these advantages, been often misunderstood ; and authors, without consulting the boundaries assigned to it by themselves, have recorded a copious list of species, whilst in nature its limits are much restricted. We are not therefore surprised, tliat so acute a zoologist as Say should have arranged his bird in that genus, particularly as it is more closely allied to Emheriza than many of those, not only of Wilson, but even of Linn^ and Latham. This bird, which we have no hesitation in pronouncing one of the most beautiful of its tribe, would be placed by Vieillot in his genus Passerina, but according to my classification it belongs to the genus Fringilla, and to that American sub-genus lately established in my " Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology," under 190 LAZULI FINCH. tlie name of Spiza. As a species, it is more intimately allied to Frin- gilla ciris and cyanea* -whicli I stated in that paper to differ so much from their congeners, particularly in the greater curvature of the upper mandi- ble, as to deserve, perhaps, a separation into a small sub-genus by them- selves : this would unite Fringilla to Tanagra, as Spiza, on the other hand, shows its transition to Emheriza. The Lazuli Finch is five inches and three-quarters long. The bill is formed like that of the Indigo-bird [Friugilla cyanea^ Wils.), but is emarginated near the tip, being horn color, as well as the feet ; the irides are dark brown. The whole head and neck are brilliant verdi- grise-blue ; the back is brownish-black, intermixed with blue, and a little ferruginous-brown ; the rump is pure verdigrise-blue : the superior portion of the breast is pale ferruginous ; the lower part of the breast, the belly, and inferior tail coverts, are white. The smaller wing coverts are blue ; the middling coverts are blackish at base, and broadly tipped with white, forming a wide band across the wing ; the greater wing coverts are blackish, obscurely margined with blue, and slightly tipped with white on the exterior web, constituting a second band across the wings parallel to the first, but much narrower ; the primaries and se- condaries are blackish, obscurely margined with blue on the outer web ; the under wing coverts are whitish, a little intermixed with blue. The tail is slightly emarginated, the feathers being blackish, edged with blue on the outer web, and with white on the inner web at tip. The above description of this handsome bird is taken from a male in summer plumage, the only specimen brought by Long's exploring party ; hence we are unable to give any positive information relative to the female and young, though from analogy we must believe them in great part destitute of the blue color, and otherwise less brilliantly adorned. This species appears to be rather rare ; it is found along the Arkan- sas river, near the base of the Rocky Mountains, during the summer months ; they frequent the bushy valleys, keeping much in the grass, and seldom alight on shrubs or trees. In this respect, also, they resem- ble the Indigo-bird, and probably their habits are the same, although the note is entirely dissimilar. * Its relation to Fringilla cyanea, considered as an Emheriza, probably induced Say to place it under that genus. EIRUNDO FULVA. FULVOUS OR CLIFF SWALLOW. [Plate VII. Fig. 1.] Jlirundo fulva, Vieill. Ow. de I'Am. Sept. i., p. 62, PI. 32. Stephens, Conl. of Shaw's Zool. x., Part i., p. 126. Dewitt Clinton, Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. N. Y. I., p. 156. — Hirundo lunifrons, Say, in Long's Expedition to the Roclcy Moun- tains, II., p. 47. With the exception of a very imperfect description, little was known relative to this interesting bird, anterior to Long's expedition to the Rocky Mountains. One of the notes annexed to the account of that journey contains an excellent description of this Swallow, with a notice of its habits, and remarkable manner of building. Mr. De Witt Clinton has recently published a paper on the same subject, accompanied by some observations from Mr. Audubon. Combining what these gentle- men have made known with the information previously given by Vieillot and Say, we can present a tolerably complete history of the Cliff Swallow. Some doubts having been entertained whether the Hirundo lunifrons of the Rocky Mountains be the same species as the Hirundo fulva of the western part of New York, I was desirous of deciding the question by comparing the specimens ; this I accomplished, through the polite- ness of Dr. Dekay of New York, who, with the kindness and liberality distinctive of those who cultivate science for its own sake, sent me the specimen and nest deposited by Mr. Clinton in the cabinet of the Lyceum. Thus being possessed of the individuals in question, we are enabled to place their specific identity beyond the reach of future uncertainty. That Say considered his Hirundo lunifrons as a new bird, is entirely attributable to the incorrectness of Vieillot's figure, which is one of those better suited to mislead than to assist the naturalist in his re- searches. The most striking characteristic of the Hirundo fulva is its even tail ; yet Vieillot has represented this part as forked. We are therefore not surprised that our learned zoologist, who had no opportu- nity of consulting the colored plate, should not have even thought of comparing his bird with that of Vieillot, who probably figured it with a forked tail merely because it was a Swallow. The characters of the Cliff Swallow are so remarkable, and its manner of building is so pecu- liar, that, when these are accurately delineated, it cannot be mistaken for any other species. (191) 192 FULVOUS OR CLIFF SWALLOW. The Cliff Swallow is five and a half inches long. The bill is black, and the feet dusky ; the irides are dark brown. A narrow black line extends over the bill to each eye ; the front is pale rufous, and the re- maining part of the crown black-violaceous ; the chin, throat, and cheeks are dark ferruginous, extending in a narrow band on the hind head ; the upper part of the body is black, glossed with violaceous ; the inferior part of the rump, and some of the tail coverts, are pale ferru- ginous ; the breast is of a pale rufous-ash color, and the remaining under parts are whitish, tinged with brownish-ferruginous. The wings and tail are blackish, the small wing coverts being glossed with viola- ceous ; the inferior wing coverts are ashy-brown : the tail is nearly entire, somewhat shorter than the tips of the -wings ; the exterior tail feather is slightly edged with whitish on the inner vane : the wing and tail feathers have their shafts black above, and white beneath. This description is taken from our finest male, which is also repre- sented in the plate ; no difference exists between the sexes, and the young, even during early age, can scarcely be distinguished from the parents, except by having the front white instead of rufous. We are informed by Vieillot, that some individuals have all the inferior surface of the body tinged with the same color as that of the throat ; these are probably very old males. A very singular trait distinguishes the migrations of this bird. While the European or white variety of the human race is rapidly spreading over this continent, from its eastern borders to the remotest plains beyond the Mississippi, the Cliff Swallow advances from the extreme western regions, annually invading a new territory farther to the eastward, and induces us to conclude, that a few more summers will find it sporting in this immediate vicinity, and familiarly established along the Atlantic shores. Like all other North American Swallows, this species passes the win- ter in tropical America, whence in the spring it migrates northward, for the purpose of breeding. It appears to be merely a spring passenger in the West Indies, remaining there but a few days, according to Vieillot, who, not seeing any in the United States, and observing some while at sea, in August, in the latitude of Nova Scotia, supposed that they pro- pagated in a still more northern region. As we have not received any account of their inhabiting the well explored countries around Hud- son's Bay, we are led to the conclusion, that the western wilds of the United States have hitherto been their summer resort, and that not until recently have they ventured within the domains of civilized man. Be this as it may, they were observed in great numbers, by Major Long's party, near the Rocky Mountains, in the month of July; and a few were also seen on the banks of the Missouri river. Within ten or twelve years, they have become familiar in different localities of Ohio, Ken- FULVOUS OR CLIFF SWALLOW. 193 tucky, &c., whence they are extending very rapidly, and have recently appeared in the western part of New York. In order to show the rapid progress of this little stranger, we quote the following passage from Mr. Clinton's interesting paper. The Fulvous Swallow " first made its appearance at Winchell's tavern, on the high road, about five miles south of Whitehall, near Lake Champlain, and erected its nest under the eaves of an out-house, where it was covered by the projection of a roof. This was in 1817, and in this year there was but one nest ; the second year seven ; the third twenty-eight ; the fourth forty ; and in 1822 there were seventy, and the number has since continued to increase." " It appeared in 1822 at Whitehall, on the fifth of June, and departed on the twenty-fifth of July ; and these are the usual times of its arrival and disappearance." This active little bird is, like its congeners, almost continually on the wing, and feeds on flies and other insects, while performing its aerial evolutions. Their note is different from that of other Swallows, and may be well imitated by rubbing a moistened cork around in the neck of a bottle. The species arrive in the west from the south early in April, and immediately begin to construct their symmetrical nests, which are perfected by their united and industrious efforts. At the dawn of day they commence their labors, by collecting the necessary mud from the borders of the river or ponds adjacent, and they persevere in their work until near mid-day, when they relinquish it for some hours, and amuse themselves by sporting in the air, pursuing insects, &c. As soon as the nest acquires the requisite firmness it is completed, and the female begins to deposit her eggs, which are four in number, white, spotted with dusky brown. The nests are extremely friable, and will readily crumble to pieces : they are assembled in communities, as repre- sented in the back-ground of our plate. In unsettled countries these birds select a sheltered situation, under a projecting ledge of rock ; and, in civilized districts, they have already evinced a predilection for the abodes of man, by building against the walls of houses, immediately under the eaves of the roof, though they have not in the least changed their style of architecture. A nest from the latter situation is now before me ; it is hemispherical, five inches wide at its truncated place of attachment to the wall, from which it projects six inches, and con- sists exclusively of a mixture of sand and clay, lined on the inside with straw and dried grass, negligently disposed for the reception of the eggs. The whole external surface is roughened by the projection of the various little pellets of earth which compose its substance. The entrance is near the top, rounded, projecting and turning downward, so that the nest may be compared to a chemist's retort, flattened on the side applied to the wall, and with the principal part of the neck broken off. Vol. IIL— 13 194 BURROWING OWL. So great is the industry of these interesting little architects, that this massive and commodious structure is sometimes completed in the course of three days. About the middle of July, some nests found near the Rocky Mountains contained young ones, while in others the process of incubation had not terminated. It is probable that the Cliff Swallows rear two broods in that region, though in Kentucky and Ohio, agree- ably to Mr. Audubon, they have but one in the year.- During the first few days of August they assemble in flocks, and after several attempts to commence their migration, they finally succeed in obtaining a unan- imity of purpose, and they disappear as suddenly as they came. STRIX CUmCULARIA. BURROWING OWL. [Plate VII. Fig. 2.] Strix cunicularia, Molina, Hist. Chili (Am. ed.), i. p. 184. Gmel. Syst. i., p. 192, Sp. 28. Lath. Ind. p. 63, Sp. 38. Vibill. Ois. de VAm. Sept. i., p. 48. Sat, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, ii., p. 36 and 200. — Ulula cunicu^ laria, Feuill^e, Journ. Obs. Phys. p. 562. — Noctua coquimbana, Bkiss. Av. i., p. 525, Sp. U.— Coquimbo Owl, Lath. Syn. i., p. 145, Sp. 33. Venerable ruins, crumbling under the influence of time and vicissi- tudes of season, are habitually associated with our recollections of the Owl ; or he is considered as the tenant of sombre forests, whose noctur- nal gloom is rendered deeper and more awful by the harsh dissonance of his voice. In poetry he has long been regarded as the appropriate con- comitant of darkness and horror ; and, when heard screaming from the topmost fragments of some mouldering wall, whose ruggedness is but slightly softened by the mellowing moonlight, imagination loves to view him as a malignant spirit, hooting triumphantly over the surrounding desolation ! But we are now to make the reader acquainted with an Owl to which none of these associations can belong ; a bird that, so far from seeking refuge in the ruined habitations of man, fixes its residence within the earth ; and, instead of concealing itself in solitary recesses of the forest, delights to dwell on open plains, in company with animak remarkable for their social disposition, neatness, and order. Instead of sailing heavily forth in the obscurity of the evening or morning twilight, and then retreating to mope away the intervening hours, our Owl enjoys the broadest glare of the noonday sun, and flying rapidly along, searches for food or pleasure during the cheerful light of day. BURROWING OWL. 195 The votaries of natural science must always feel indebted t. the learned and indefatigable Say, for the rich collection of facts he has made when- ever opportunities have been presented, but more especially in the instance of this very singular bird, whose places of resort, in this coun- try, are too far distant to allow many the pleasure of examining for themselves. We feel doubly disposed to rejoice that the materials for the history of our bird are drawn from his ample store, both on account of their intrinsic excellence, and because it affords us an opportunity of evincing out admiration of the zeal, talents, and integrity, which have raised this man to the most honorable and enviable eminence as a natu- ralist. In the trans-Mississippian territories of the United States, the Bur- rowing Owl resides exclusively in the villages of the Marmot, or Prairie Dog, whose excavations are so commodious, as to render it unnecessary that our bird should dig for himself, as he is said to do in other parts of the world, where no burrowing animals exist. These villages are very numerous, and variable in their extent, sometimes covering only a few acres, and at others spreading over the surface of the country for miles together. They are composed of slightly elevated mounds, having the form of a truncated cone, about two feet in width at base, and seldom rising as high as eighteen inches above the surface of the soil. The entrance is placed either at the top or on the side, and the whole mound is beaten down externally, especially at the summit, resembling a much used foot-path. From the entrance, the passage into the mound descends vertically for one or two feet, and is thence continued obliquely downwards, until it terminates in an apartment, within which the industrious Marmot constructs, on the approach of the cold season, the comfortable cell for his winter's sleep. This cell, which is composed of fine dry grass, is globular in form, with an opening at top capable of admitting the finger ; and the whole is so firmly compacted, that it might, without injury, be rolled oVer the floor. It is delightful, during fine weather, to see these lively little creatures sporting about the entrance of their burrows, which are always kept in the neatest repair, and are often inhabited by several individuals. When alarmed they immediately take refuge in their subterranean chambers, or if the dreaded danger be not immediately impending, they stand near the brink of the entrance, bravely barking and flourishing their tails, or else sit erect to reconnoitre the movements of the enemy. The mounds thrown up by the Marmot in the neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains, have an appearance of greater antiquity than those observed on the far distant plains. They sometimes extend to several yards in diameter, although their elevation is trifling, and, except imme- diately surrounding the entrance, are clothed with a scanty herbage igg BURROWING OWL. which always distinguishes the area of these villages. Sometimes several villages have been observed almost entirely destitute of vegetation, and recollecting that the Marmot feeds exclusively on grasses and herba- ceous plants, it seems singular that this animal should always choose the most barren spot for the place of his abode. However this may be accounted for, it at least affords an opportunity of beholding the approach of his enemies, and allows him to seek, within the bosom of the earth, that security which he has neither strength nor arms to command. In all these Prairie Dog villages the Burrowing Owl is seen moving briskly about, or else in small flocks scattered among the mounds, and at a distance it may be mistaken for the Marmot itself, when sitting erect. They manifest but little timidity, and allow themselves to be approached sufficiently close for shooting ; but if alarmed, some or all of them soar away, and settle down again at a short distance ; if further disturbed, their flight is continued until they are no longer in view, or they descend into their dwellings, whence they are difficult to dislodge. The burrows into which these Owls have been seen to descend, on the plains of the river Platte, where they are most numerous, were evidently excavated by the Marmot, whence it has been inferred by Say, that they were either common, though unfriendly residents of the same habi- tation, or that our Owl was the sole occupant of a burrow acquired by the right of conquest. The evidence of this was clearly presented by the ruinous condition of the burrows tenanted by the Owl, which were frequently caved in, and their sides channelled by the rains, while the neat and well preserved mansion of the Marmot showed the active care of a skilful and industrious owner. We have no evidence that the Owl and Marmot habitually resort to one burrow ; yet we are well assured by Pike, and others, that a common danger often drives them into the same excavation, where lizards and rattlesnakes also enter for conceal- ment and safety. The Owl observed by Vieillot in St. Domingo digs itself a burrow two feet in depth, at the bottom of which its eggs are deposited on a bed of moss, herb-stalks, and dried roots. These eggs are two in num- ber, of a very pure white, nearly spheroidal, and about as large as those of the Dove. When the young are only covered with down, they fre- quently ascend to the entrance to enjoy the warmth of the sun, but as soon as they are approached, they quickly retire into the burrow. The note of our bird is strikingly similar to the cry of the Marmot, which sounds like eheJi, cheh, pronounced several times in rapid succes- sion ; and were it not that the Burrowing Owls of the West Indies, where no Marmots exist, utter the same sound,- it might be inferred, that the Marmot was the unintentional tutor to the young Owl : this cry is only uttered as the bird begins its flight. Vieillot states that the BURROWING OWL. 197 Burrowing Owl inhabiting St. Domingo, sometimes alights on farm- houses at night, and produces a note which resembles that of the sylla- bles hoo, hoo, 00, 00 ; but has he not mistaken a nocturnal species for it in this case ? The food of the bird we are describing, appears to consist entirely of insects, as, on examination of its stomach, nothing but parts of their hard wing-cases were found. The authors we have quoted, inform us, that, in Chili and St. Domingo, the Burrowing Owls also feed on rats, mice, and reptiles, which we cannot suppose to be the case with the bird found in the United States, as our explorers never could discover the slightest reason for believing that they preyed on the Marmots, whose dwellings they invade. Throughout the region traversed by the American expedition, the Marmot was unquestionably the artificer of the burrow inhabited by the Owl, while the testimony of Vieillot is equally conclusive, that the Owl digs for himself when he finds no burrow to suit his purpose ; but, pre- ferring one already made, his fondness for the Prairie Dog Villages is readily explained. Whether only a single species of Burrowing Owl -inhabits the vast continent of North and South America, or whether that of Chili men- tioned by Molina, that of St. Domingo described by Vieillot, and the Owl of the Western American territory, be distinct though closely allied species, can only be determined by accurate comparisons.* When we consider the extraordinary habits attributed to all those, as well as their correspondence in form and colors noted in the several descriptions, we are strongly inclined to believe that they are all of the same species ; nevertheless, Vieillot states his bird to be somewhat different from that of Molina, and the eggs of the Burrowing Owl of the latter are spotted with yellow, whilst those of the former are immaculate. We have to regret that no figure has hitherto been published, and we cannot well understand why Vieillot did not thus exemplify so interesting a bird. Our figure will be the more acceptable to ornithologists, as it is the first which has been given of the Burrowing Owl : in the distance we have introduced a view of the Prairie Dog village. The peculiar sub-genus of this bird has not hitherto been determined, owing to the neglect with which naturalists have treated the arrangement of extra-European Owls. Like all diurnal Owls, our bird belongs to the sub-genus Noctua of Savigny, having small oval openings to the ears, which are destitute of operculum, the facial disk of slender feathers * Should they prove to be different species, new appellations must be given ; and, as that of Slrix cuiiicularia will, by right of priority, be exclusively retained for the Coquimbo Owl, we would propose for the present bird the name of Sirix Jiypugcea. 198 BUEROWING OWL. small and incomplete, and the outer edges of the primaries not recurved ; but it differs from them in not having the tarsus and toes covered by long thick feathers. The Burrowing Owl is nine inches and a half long, and two feet in extent. The bill is horn color, paler on the margin, and yellow on the ridges of both mandibles ; the inferior mandible is strongly notched on each side : the capistrum before the eyes terminates in black rigid bristles, as long as the bill : the irides are bright yellow. The general color of the plumage is a light burnt-umber, spotted with whitish, paler on the head and upper part of the neck ; the lower part of the breast and belly are whitish, the feathers of the former being banded with brown : the inferior tail coverts are white immaculate. The wings are darker than the body, the feathers being much spotted and banded with whitish ; the primaries are five or six banded, each band being more or less widely interrupted near the shaft, and margined with blackish, which color predominates towards the tip ; the extreme tip is dull whitish ; the shafts are brown above, and white beneath : the exterior primary is finely serrated and equal in length to the fifth, the second and fourth being hardly shorter than the third, which is the longest. The tail is very short, slightly rounded, having its feathers of the same color aa the primaries, and like them five or six banded, but more purely white at tip. The feet are dusky, and remarkably granulated, extending, when stretched backwards, an inch and a half beyond the tail ; the tarsi are slender, much elongated, covered before and on each side with loose webbed feathers, which are more thickly set near the base, and become less crowded towards the toes, where they assume the form of short bristles ; those on the toes being altogether setaceous, and rather scattered. The lobes beneath the toes are large and much granulated ; the nails are black and rather small, the posterior one having no groove beneath. The individual we have described is a male, and no difference is ob- servable in several other specimens : the female differs in nothing except that her eyes are of a pale yellow color. PICU8 VABIUS* YOUNG YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. [Plate VIII. Fig. 1, 2.] Picas varius, Linn. Syst. i., p. 176, Sp. 20. Gmel. Sysf. i., p. 438, Sp. 20. Lath. Ind. p. 232, Sp. 21. Vieill. Ois de VAm. Sept. ii., p. 63, pi. 118, adult Male ; pi. 119, very young. — Picus varius carolinensis, Briss. Av. iv., p. 62, Sp. 24. — Picus varius minor, ventre luteo, the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, Catesbt, Caro- lina, 1., p. 21, pi. 21, left- iigure, adult Male. Baktr. Trav. p. 291. — Epeiche ou Pic. vari^de la Caroline, Buff. Ois. vii,, p. 77. PL Enl. 78.5, adult Male. — Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, Penn. Arci. Zool. Sp. 166. Lath. Syn. i., p. 674, Sp. 20. As Wilson's history of this well known Woodpecker is complete, and his description obviously discriminates the sexes and young, we shall refer the reader entirely to him for information on those points. The present bird is introduced on account of its anomalous plumage ; for, although the color of the head is but slightly advanced towards its red tint, having only two or three reddish points visible on the forehead, yet the patch on the breast is quite as obvious as it is found in the adult state. In young birds of the first and second years, this patch is usually obsolete, the breast being chiefly dusky-gray, although the crown is entirely red. The specimen before us, possibly exhibiting one of the periodical states of plumage of this changeable bird, is the only one we have been able to procure, amongst a great number of the young of both sexes in the ordinary dress. The well marked patch on the breast might induce the belief that this individual is an adult female, and that this sex, as several writers have erroneously remarked, is destitute of the red crown ; but, in addition to the fact that our specimen proved, on dissection, to be a male, we obtained, almost every day during the month of November, young birds of both sexes, with the crown entirely red, or more or less sprinkled with that color, the intermixture arising altogether from age or advanced plumage, and not from sex. We are unable to state, with any degree of certainty, at what period the bird assumes the plumage now represented; and we rather incline to the opinion that it is an accidental variety. For the purpose of comparison, we have added, on the same plate, * See Wilson's American Ornithology, i., p. 179, PL 9, fig. 2, for the adult, and history. (199) 200 BAND-TAILED PIGEON. the most interesting portion of a young bird, as it usually appears ic November of the first year; and though the sexes are then alike in plumage, we had the figure taken from a young male, in order to com- plete the iconography of that sex. Vieillot's figure represents the young before the first moult, when, like our anomalous specimen, they have no red on the crown ; differing, however, in not having the head of a glossy black, but of a dull yellowish-gray, and the patch on the breast also of a dull gray tint. COLVMBA FA80IATA. BAND-TAILED PIGEON. [Plate VIII. Fig. 3.] Oolumba fasciaia. Sat, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, ii., p. 10. This bird, which is a male, was shot in July, by Mr. Titian Peale, at a saline spring on a small tributary of the river Platte, within the first range of the Rocky Mountains ; it was accompanied by another indi- vidual, probably its mate, which escaped. As no other specimens have been discovered, the reader will not be surprised that our specific description is unaccompanied by a general history of their m^inners. The Baiid-tailed Pigeon is thirteen inches long ; the bill is yellow, black at tip, and somewhat gibbous behind the nostrils. • The feet are yellow, and the nails black ; the irides are blackish. The head is of a purplish-cinereous color ; the neck, at its junction with the head, has a white semi-band, beneath which its back and sides are brilliant golden- green, the feathers being brownish-purple at base ; the under part of the neck is pale vinaceous-purplish, this color becoming paler as it approaches the vent, which, together with the inferior tail coverts, is white. The anterior portion of the back, the wing coverts, and scapu- lars, are brownish-ash; the primaries are dark brown, edged with whitish on the exterior webs ; the lower part of the back, the rump, tail coverts, inferior wing coverts, and sides, are bluish-ash, brighter beneath the wings. The shafts of the body feathers and tail coverts are remarkably robust, tapering rather suddenly near the tip. The tail, which consists of twelve feathers, is slightly rounded at tip, with a definite blackish band at two-thirds the length from the base, visible on both sides ; before this band the color is bluish-ash, and behind dirty grayish : the tail is much lighter on the inferior surface. This species is closely allied to Columba caribcea of Gmelin, with which Say stated its analogy, and also to Columba leucocephala of Linng. WILD TURKEY. 201 In fact, ii possesses some characters in common with each of these species, such as the band on the tail of the former, and an indication of white on the head of the latter. This character may induce some naturalists to suppose it the young of the leucoeephala, but by a careful comparison all doubt will be removed, and it will be admitted to the rank of a distinct species. The carihcea may readily be distinguished from the present species by its superior size, and by being destitute of the white band on the neck ; by having a reddish bill, tipped with yellow, and dark red feet. The leucoeephala, in the adult state, has the whole head white above ; but as it is destitute of this distinction when young, acquiring it gradually as it advances in age, other discriminating characters must be employed ; the tail is without a band, the bill is red with a white tip, and the feet are red. MELEAGRIS GALLOPAVO. WILD TURKEY. [Plate IX. Male and Female.] Meleagris gdllopavo, Linn. Syst. i., p. 268, Sp. 1. Gmel. Syst. i., p. 732, Sp. 1. Lath. Ind. p. 618, Sp. 1. Temm. Hist. Nat. des Pig. et Gall. Index, in., p. 676. — Wilson, Am. Orn. vi., Index, p. xvii. Stephens, Cont. of Shajt's Zool. xi., part I., p. 156, pi. 8. Ranzani, Elem. di Zool. iii., part i., p. 154. — Meleagris sylvestris, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'JBisi. Nat. ix,, p. 447. — Gallopam, Aldrovandi, Orn. II., p. 35, fig. on p. 39, domestic variety, Male ; fig. on p. 40, Id. Female. WiLLUGBT, Orn. p. 113, pi. 27, fig. 4, dom. var. Male. Johnston, Theatrum Universale de Avibus, p. 55, pi. 24, fig. 1, dom. var. Male ; fig. 2, Id. Female. — Briss. Av. i., p. 158, pi. 16, dom. var. Male. — Gallus indicus, Welscher Ran, Johnston, Th. Av. p. 83, pi. 29, fig. 1, dom. var. Male. — Gallapavo sylvestris NovVK, OR HEN-HARRIER. Lath. Ind. p. 48, Sp. 116. — Falco cinereus, It. Poseg. p. 27, adolescent Male. — Falco ulbicoUis, Lath. Ind. p. 36, Sp. 81, adult South American Male. — Falco buffonii, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 277, Sp. 103, Female and young American. — Falco uliginosus, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 278. Lath. Ind. p. 40, Sp. 95. Sabine, Zool. Jpp. to Frankl. Exp. p. 671, young American. — Falco ruhiginosus, It. Poseg. p. 29. Lath. Ind. p. 27, Sp. 56, young. — Falco ranivorus, Daudin, Orn. ii., p. 170. Lath. Ind. Suppl. p. 7, young. — Falco europogistus, Daud. Orn. ii., p. 1 10, ado- lescent Male. — Circus europogistus, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. i., p. 36, PI. 8, adolescent Male. — Circus Hudsonius, Yieill. I. c. i., p. 36, PI. 9, young. — Circus uliginosus, Vieill. I. c. i., p. 37, Female and young. — Circus variegatus, Vieill. I. c. I., p. 37, Male changing. — Circus gallinarius, Vieill. Nbuv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. IT., p. 459. Circus cyaneus. Id. xxxi., p. 410. — Circus cyaneus, BoiE. Circus ranivorus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Eist. Nat. it., p. 456, young African. — Falco strigiceps, Nills. Orn, Suec. i., p. 21. — Falco torquatus, Briss. Orn. i., p. 345, Sp. 7. Id. 8vo. p. 100, Male and Female, Brunn, Sp. 14. — Falco Montanua cinereus, Briss. Orn. i., p. 355, Sp. 9, Var. A. Id. 8vo. p. 112, adolescent Male. — Accipiier Freti Hudsonis, Briss. Orn. Ti., App. p. 18, Sp. 47. — Lanarius cine- reus, Briss. Orn. i., p. 365, Sp. 17. Id. 8to. p. 106. — Lanarius albicans, Bris.s, I., p. 367, Sp. 18. — Subbuteo, Gessner, Av. p. 48. — Pygargus accipiier. Rat, Syn, p. 17, Sp. 5. Will. Orn. p. 40, PL 7. — Falco plumbeus cauda tesselata, Klein, Av. p. 52, Sp. 22.— Lanarius, Aldr. Orn. i., PI. 381, 382, adult Male.— iaTjariV,? cinereus, sine Falco cinereo-albus, Frisch, PL 79, 80, adult Male. — Falco Monta- nus secundus, Aldr. Will. PI. 9, adult Male.— Albanella, Storia degli Ucc. i., PL 35, adult Male.— Falco Pigargo, Id. i., PI. 31, 'EemaXe.— Autre Oiseau St. Martin, Belon, Hist. Ois. p. \QA.—L' Oiseau St. Martin, Buff. Ois. i., p. 212. Id. PI. Enl. 459, adult Male. Gerardin, Tabl. Elem. Orn. i., -p. AZ.— La Sou- buse, Buff. Ois. i., p. 215, PL 9. Id. PI. Enl. 443, young Female, 480, young Male. Gerardin, Tabl. Elem. Orn. i., p. 37, Female and young.— Xc Grenouil- lard, Le Vaill. Ois. Afrique i., p. 63, PL 23, young.— Xore oder Balbweyke, Bechst. TascTi. Deutsch. p. 25, Sp. 20. Meter & Wolf, Ois. d'Allem. Ht. 27, PL 5, adult Male, PL 6, Female. Naumann, Vog. Deutsch. ed. 2, i., PL 39, fig. 1, adult Male, fig. 2, adult Female, PL 38, fig. 2, young Ua\e:.—Mause Habicht, Missilauche, Meter, Boehm. Abh. 6, p. 313, adult Ma.]e.—Blue-HawJc, Edit, t., p. 33, PL 225, adult Ma.\e.— Marsh- Hawk, Edit. p. 173, PL 291. Penn. Arci. Zool. Sp. 105. Lath. Syn. i., p. 90, Sp. 75, Var. A. Female and young.— .^sA- colored Mountain Falcon, Lath. Syn. i., p. 94, Sp. 78. Var. A. adolescent Male. -Hen-Harrier, Edit. PL 225, Tery old Male. Will. (Angl.) p. 172. Alb. ii., PI. 5. Hates, Brit. Birds, PL 1. Lettin, Brit. Birds, i., p. 18. Penn. Brit. Zool. I., Sp. 58, p. 28. Lath. Syn. i., p. 88, Sp. 74. Id. Suppl. p. 22, adult Ma.\e.—Ring-tail Hawk, Edit, hi,, pi. 107. Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 106, Female and joung.-Ring-tail, Will. (Ang.) p. 72. Alb. hi., PL 3. Hates, Brit. Birds, PL 2. Lewin, Brit. Birds, i., PL 18, Fenfale. Id. PL 2, fig. 4, the egg. Penn. Brit. Zool. Sp. 59. Lath. Syn. .., p. 89, Sp. 75. Id. Svppl. p. 22, Fe- male and Joung.— Whit^rumped Bay Falcon, Lath. Syn. p. 54, Sp. 34, Var. B. young.— Hudson's Bay Eing-tail, L^tw. Syn. i., p. 91, Sp. 76, young.- White Lanner, Lath. Syn. i., p. 87, Sp. 73, adult Male.- Gray Falcon, Penn. Brit. Zool. I., Sp. 49. Lectin, Brit. Birds, ,., PL 15. Lath. Syn. i,, p. 82. Sp. 67, adolescent Male.-JVe«, York Falcon, Penn. Arct: Zool. n., p. 209, adolescent UaXe.-Ranivorous Falcon, Lath. Syn. Suppl. Female and young. White-necked Falcon, Lath. Syn. Suppl. p. 30, Sp. 101, adult Male, South American.- Cayra^e Rmg-taU, Lath. Syn. i., p. 91, Sp. 76, Var. A. young.-Falco glaucus, the sharp- winged Hawk, of a pale sky-blue color, the tip of the wings Mack, Bartr. Trav. p. 290, adult Male.— ibZco subcceruleus, the sharp-winged Hawk, of a dark or dusky BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. 241 blue color, Bartr. Trav. p. 290, adolescent Male. — Falco ranivorus, the Marsh- Hawk, Bartr. Trav. p. 290, young. As will be perceived upon a slight inspection of our long and elabo- rate list of synonymes, this well-known species is found in almost every part of the globe ; and not only does it seem to have been considered everywhere distinct, but nearly every different appearance which it assumes during its progress through the various and extraordinary changes that its plumage undergoes according to sex and age, has in each country given rise to a nominal species. At the same time, how- ever, that names were thus inconsiderately multiplied for one bird, two, really distinct, were always confounded together. Analogous in their changes, similar in form and plumage, it was reserved for the acute and ingenious Montague, to point out the difference, and establish the two species by permanent characters. The new one was called by him Falco cineraceus, and is known by the English name of Ash-colored Harrier. It is figured and accurately described in all its states of plumage by Vieillot, in his Galerie des Oiseaux, where he has dedicated it to its discoverer, calling it Circus Montagui; thus fully apologizing for having in his article Busard, of the New Dictionary of Natural History, declared it to be a state of the other. How far, however, it may be considered a compliment to change the name given to a species by its discoverer, in order to apply even his own to it, we are at a loss to imagine. The principal distinctive characters of the two species are tp be found in the relative length of the wings and tail, and in the proportional lengths of the primaries. In the Ash-colored Harrier, the sixth primary is shorter than the first, the second is much longer than the fifth, and the third is the longest ; the wings when closed reach to the tip of the tail. In the Hen-Harrier, the first primary is shorter than the sixth, the second sub-equal to the fifth, and the third equal to the fourth, the longest ; the wings closed, not reaching by more than two inches to the tip of the tail, which is also but slightly rounded in the latter, while in the Ash-colored it is cuneiform. Other minor differences are besides observable in the respective sexes and states of both ; but as those we have indicated are the only ones that permanently exist, and may be found at all times, we shall not dwell on the others, especially as Montague's species appears not to inhabit America. "We think proper to observe, however, that the adult male of Falco cineraceus has the primaries wholly black beneath, while that of the F. cyaneus has them black only from the middle to the point ; and that the tail feathers, pure white in the latter, are in the former spotted beneath. The female in our species is larger than the corresponding sex of the other, though the males in both are nearly of equal size ; and the collar that surrounds the face is strongly marked in ours, whereas it is but little apparent in Vol. III.— 16 242 BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. the other. The F. cineraeeus has two white spots near the eyes, which are not in the F. cyanetis. The young of the former is beneath rusty without spots. Thus slight, but constant differences, are seen to repre- sent a species, while the most striking discrepancies in color, size, and (not in this, but in other instances) even of form, prove mere variations of sex or age ! We cannot wonder at the two real species having always been confounded amidst the chaotic indications of the present. Even Wilson was not free from the error which had prevailed for so long a period in scientific Europe, that the Ring-tail and Hen-Harrier were two species. Though he did not publish a figure of the present in the adult plumage of the male, he was well acquainted with it as an inhabitant of the Southern States ; for there can be no doubt that it is the much-desired Blue Hawk which he was so anxious to procure ; the only land bird he intended to add to his Ornithology, or at least the only one he left registered in his posthumous list. It was chiefly because he was not aware of this fact, and thought that no Blue Hawk existed in America corresponding to the European Hen-Harrier, that Mr. Sabine, in the Appendix to Franklin's Expedition above quoted, per- sisted in declaring that the Marsh-Hawk was a distinct species peculiar to America, of which he supposed the Hudson's Bay Ring-tail to be the young. The differences which he detected on comparing it with the European Ring-tail, must have been owing to the different state of plumage of his specimen of this ultra-changeable species. If, however, he had not mentioned the colors merely, as bringing it nearer to the Ash-colored Falcon of Montague, we might be inclined to believe that lb' specimen he examined was indeed a young bird of that species, which, though as yet unobserved, may after all possibly be found in North America. At all events, Wilson's and the numerous American specimens that have passed under our examination, were all young Hen- Harriers. After having stated that the error of considering the Hen-Harrier and Ring-tail as different species had prevailed for years in Europe, it is but just to mention, that Aldrovandi, Brisson, Ray, and others of the older authors, were perfectly in accordance with nature on this point. It was perhaps with Linn^, or at least with Buffon, Gmelin, Pennant, and Latham himself, who afterwards corrected it, that the error originated. Latham, confident of his own observations and those of Pennant, who had found males of the species said to be the female of the Falco cyaneus (Hen-Harrier), and not reflecting that these males might be the young, exclaims, "authors have never blundered more than in making this bird (the Ring-tail) the same species with the last mentioned (Hen-Harrier) ;" an opinion that he was afterwards obliged to recant. In physical science we cannot be too cautious in rejecting facts, nor too careful in distinguishing in an author's statement, what BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. 243 has passed under his own eyes, however extraordinary it may seem, from the inference he draws from it. Thus, to apply the principle in this instance, Latham might have reconciled the fact of males and females being found in the plumage of the Ring-tail, with the others, that no females were ever found under the dress of the Hen-Harrier, and that some Ring-tails would gradually change into Hen-Harriers. Whether or not the Marsh-Hawk of America was the same with the Ring-tail of Europe, Wilson would not take upon himself to pronounce, as he has left to his bird the distinctive name of Falco uliginosus ; though he positively states, that in his opinion they are but one species, and even rejects as false, and not existing, the only character on which the specific distinction was based, that of the American having " strong, thick, and short legs," instead of having them long and slender. For want of opportunity however of actually comparing specimens from both continents, he could ^choose no other course than the one he has followed ; and so great appears to have been the deference of ornitholo- fjists for this extraordinary man, that while they have unhesitatingly (juoted as synonymous with the European Hen-Harrier, the African specimens described by Le Vaillant, and even the various nominal species created or adopted by Vieillot as North American, the Falco uliginosus of former authors has been respected, probably as the Marsh- Hawk of Wilson ! But the latter is not more than the others entitled to be admitted as distinct, being merely the present in its youthful dress. The Hen-Harrier belongs to the subgenus Circus, which in English we shall call Harrier, the name of Buzzard being appropriated to the Buteones. Though perfectly well marked in the typical species, such as this, the group to which our bird belongs passes insensibly into others, but especially into that called Buteo, some even of the North American species being intermediate between them. • Whenever the groups of Falcons shall be elevated to the rank of genera, it will perhaps be found expedient to unite Circus and Buteo, as they do not differ much more from each other than our two sections of Hawks ; those with long and slender legs, and those with short stout legs, Astur and Sparvius of authors, the line of demarcation being quite as difficult to be drawn. The Harriers are distinguished in their tribe by their weak, much compressed bill, destitute of a tooth or sharp process, but with a strongly marked lobe; their short and bristly cere; their long, slender, and scutellated tarsi ; their slender toes, of which the outer are connected at base by a membrane ; their nails, subequal, weak, channelled beneath, much incurved, and extremely sharp : a very remarkable characteristic is exhibited in their long wings, subequal to.the tail, which is large, and even, or slightly rounded at tip : their first quill is very short, always shorter than the fifth, and the third or fourth is the longest. Their 244 BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIEK. slender body and elegant shape chiefly distinguish them from their allies, the Buzzards. They may be further subdivided into those in which the female at least, is possessed of that curious facial ring of scaly or stifif feathers so remarkable in the Owls, and those entirely destitute of it. One species only is found in the United States, which belongs to the first section, and cannot be confounded with any other than that from which we have thought proper to distinguish it at the beginning of this article. In this section, the female differs essentially from the male, the young being similar to her in color. The latter change wonderfully as they advance in age, to which circumstance is owing the wanton multiplication that has been made of the species. In those which com- pose the second section, the changes are most extraordinary, since, while the adult male is of a very uniform light color, approaching to white, the female and young are very dark, and much spotted and banded : they are also much more conspicuously distinguished by the rigid facial ring. These birds are bold, and somewhat distinguished for their agility, especially when compared with the Buzzards, and in gracefulness of fljght they are hardly inferior to the true Falcons. They do not chase well on the wing, and fly usually at no great height, making frequent cir- cuitous sweeps, rarely flapping their wings, and strike their prey upon the ground. Their food consists of mice, and the young of other quad- rupeds, reptiles, fishes, young birds, especially of those that build on the ground, or even adult water birds, seizing them by surprise, and do not disdain insects ; for which habits they are ranked among the ignoble birds of prey. Unlike most other large birds of their family, they quarter their victims previously to swallowing them, an operation which they always perform on the ground. Morasses and level districts are their favorite haunts, being generally observed sailing low along the surface, or in the neighborhood of waters, migrating when they are frozen. They build in marshy places, among high grass, bushes, or in the low forks or branches of trees ; the female laying four or five round eggs, entirely white, or whitish, without spots. During the nuptial sea- son, the males are observed to soar to a considerable height, and remain suspended in the air for a length of time. The male Hen-Harrier is eighteen inches long, and forty-one in ex- tent ; the bill is blackish horn color, the cere greenish yellow, almost hidden by the bristles projecting from the base of the bill ; the irides are yellow. The head, neck, upper part of the breast, back, scapulars, upper wing-coverts, and middle tail feathers pale bluish gray, somewhat darker on the scapulars ; the upper coverts being pure white, constitute what is called a white rump, though that part is of the color of the back, but a shade lighter ; breast, belly, flanks, thighs, under wing-coverts, and under tail-coverts pure white, without any spot or streak. The BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. 245 wings measure nearly fourteen inches, and wlien closed, reach only two- thirds the length of the tail, which is eight and a haif inches long, ex- tending by more than- two inches beyond them ; the primaries, of which the first is shorter than the sixth, the second and fifth subequal, and the third and fourth longest, are blackish, paler on the edges, and white at their origin, which is more conspicuous on their inferior surface ; the secondaries have more of the white, being chiefly bluish gray on the outer web only, and at the point, which is considerably darker. The tail is but very slightly rounded. All the tail-feathers have white shafts, and are pure white beneath ; the middle ones are bluish gray, the lateral almost purely white ; somewhat grayish on the outer vane, and obso- letely barred with blackish gray on the inner. The feet are bright yel- low, and the claws black ; the tarsus is three inches long, and feathered in front for an inch. The female is larger, being between twenty and twenty-one inches long, and between forty-four and forty-seven in extent; the tarsi, wings, and tail, proportionally longer, but strictly corresponding with those of the male. The general color above is chocolate-brown, more or less varied with yellowish rufous ; the space round the orbits is whitish, and the auriculars are brown ; the small stiff feathers forming the well marked collar,' or ruff, are whitish rusty, blackish brown along the shaft ; the feathers of the head and neck are of a darker brown, conspicuously margined with yellowish rusty ; on the nucha, for a large space, the plumage is white at the base, as, well as on the sides of the feathers, so that a little of that color appears even without separating them ; those of the back and rump are hardly, if at all, skirted with yellowish rusty, but the scapulars and wing-coverts have each four regular large round spots of that color, of which those farthest from the base lie generally uncovered ; the upper tail-coverts are pure white, often, but not always, with a few rusty spots, constituting the so-called white rump, which is a constant mark of the species in all its states of plumage. The throat, breast, belly, vent, and femorals, pale yellowish rusty, streaked length- wise with large acuminate brown spots darker and larger on the breast, and especially the under wing-coverts, obsolete on the lower parts of the body, which are not spotted. The quills are dark brown, whitish on the inner vane,- and transversely banded with blackish ; the bands are much more conspicuous on the inferior surface, where the ground-color is grayish white. The tail is of a bright yellowish rusty, the two middle tail-feathers dark cinereous ; all are pure white at the origin, and regu- larly crossed with four or five broad blackish bands ; their tips are more whitish, and the inferior surface of a grayish white, like that of the quills, but very slightly tinged with rusty, the blackish bands appearing to great advantage, except on the outer feathers, where they are obso- lete, being less defined even above. 246 BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIEE. The young male is almost perfectly similar in appearance to the adult female (which is not the case in the Ash-colored Harrier), being how- ever more varied with rusty, and easily distinguished by its smaller size. It is in this state that Wilson has taken the species, his very accu- rate description being that of a young female. The male retains this plumage until he is two years old, after which he gradually assumes the gray plumage peculiar to the adult : of course they exhibit almost as many gradations as specimens, according to their more or less advanced age. The ash and white appear varied or mingled with rusty ; the wings, and especially the tail, exhibiting more or less indica- tions of the bands of the young plumage. The male, v?hen he may be called already adult, varies by still exhibiting the remains of bands on the tail, more or less marked or obliterated by the yellowish edges of the feathers of the back and wings, and especially by retaining on the hind head a space tinged with rusty, with blackish spots. This space is more or less indicated, in the greater part, both of the American and European specimens I have examined. Finally, they are known by retaining traces of the yellowish of the inferior surface in larger or smaller spots, chiefly on the belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts. For the greater embellishment of the plate, we have chosen to repre- sent one of these very nearly, but not quite adult males, in preference to a perfectly mature bird, which may be easily figured to the mind by destroying every trace of spot or bar. It is moreover, in this dress that the adult is met with in the Middle and Northern States, where it is very rare, and we have never seen a specimen quite mature, though the young are tolerably common ; as if the parents sent their children on a tour to finish their education, then to return and marry, and remain contentedly at home. The specimen here figured, was shot on Long Island, and was preserved in Scudder's Museum, New York. Its total length is eighteen inches, breadth forty-one ; the bill bluish black ; cere, irides, and feet yellow ; claws black. The plumage above is bluish ashy, much darker on the scapulars,- and with the feather-shafts blackish : beneath white, slightly cream-colored on the breast ; the belly, flanks, and lower tail-coverts, with small arrow-shaped spots of yellowish rusty ; the long axillary feathers are crossed with several such spots, taking the appearance of bands : the upper tail-coverts are pure white ; the primaries dusky blackish at the point, edged with paler, and somewhat hoary on the outer vane ; at base, white internally and be- neath. The tail is altogether of a paler ash than the body, tipped with whitish, and with a broad blackish subterminal band; all the tail- feathers are pure white at their origin under the coverts, the lateral being sub-banded with blackish and white on their inner vanes, and the outer on the greater part of the outer web also ; the shafts are varied with black and white. BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. 247 The Hen-Harrier's favorite haunts are rich and extensive plains, and low grounds. Though preferring open and champaign countries, and seeming to have an antipathy to forests, which it always shuns, it does not, like the Ash-colored Harrier, confine itself to marshes, but is also seen in dry countries, if level. We are informed by Wilson, that it is much esteemed by the southern planters, for the services it renders in preventing the depredations of the Rice-birds upon their crops. Cau- tious and vigilant, it is not only by the facial disk that this bird ap- proaches the Owls, but also by a habit of chasing in the morning and f.vening, at twilight, and occasionally at night whe'n the moon shines, ifalconers reckon it among the ignoble Hawks. Cruel, though cow- ardly, it searches everywhere for victims, but selects them only among weak and helpless objects. It preys on moles, mice, young birds, and is very destructive to game ; and does not spare fishes, snakes, insects, or even worms. Its flight is always low, but notwithstanding, rapid, smooth, and buoyant. It is commonly observed sailing over marshes, or perched on trees near them, whence it pountes suddenly upon its prey. When it has thus struck at an object, if it re-appears quickly from the grass or reeds, it is a proof that it has missed its aim, for, if otherwise, its prey is devoured on the spot. It breeds in open wastes, frequently in thick furze coverts, among reeds, marshy bushes, the low branches of trees, but generally on the ground. The nest is built of sticks, reeds, straw, leaves, and similar materials heaped together, and is lined with feathers, hair, or other soft substances ; it contains from three to six, but generally four or five, pale bluish-white eggs, large and round at each end : the young are born covered with white down, to which succeed small feathers of a rust color, varied with brown and black. If any one approaches'the nest during the period of rearing the young, the parents evince the greatest alarm, hovering around, and expressing their anxiety by repeating the syllables, geg, geg, gag ; or ge, ge, ne, ge, ge. Crows manifest a parti- cular hostility to this species, and destroy numbers of their nests. The Hen-Harrier is widely spread over both continents, perhaps more than any other land bird, though it is nowhere remarkably numerous. In the northern countries of America, it is a migratory species, extend- ing its wanderings from Florida to Hudson's Bay. It is not known to breed in the Northern, or even in the Middle States, where the adults are but rarely seen. In the southern parts of the Union, and especially in Florida, they are rather common in all their varieties of plumage. The species is also found in the West Indies, Cayenne, and probably has an extensive range in South America. It is found throughout Britain, Germany, Italy, the north of Africa, and the northern portion of Asia. It is very common in France and the Netherlands, is found in Russia and Sweden, but does not inhabit the north of Norway, 248 STELLER'S JAY. being by no means an arctic bird. It is again met with in the southern parts of Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope, and is not uncommon all along the eastern coast of that continent. In Switzerland, and other mountainous countries, it is of very rare occurrence. OARBULUS STELLERI. STELLER'S JAY. [Plate XIII. Fig. I.] Conm sielleri, Quel. Syst. i., p. 370, Sp. 27. Lath. Ind. p. 158, Sp. 20. Nob. Suppl. Syn. Birds U. S. Sp. 63, bis, in Zool. Journ. Lond. v., p. 2. Id. in App. Gen. N. A. Birds in Ann. Lye. N. Y. -p.iZ^.— Garrulus coronaius? Swainson, Syn. Birds Mex. Sp. 67, in Phil. Mag. N. S. i., p. 437, old bird 1—Garrulus siel- leri, ViBiLL. Nouv. Diet. d'Hisi. Nat. xii., p. 4&\.—Geai de Steller, Daud. Orn. II., p. 2'^?,.— Staler' s Crow, Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 139. Lath. Syn. i., p. 387, Sp. 21. Id. 2d Suppl. viii., p. Ill, Sp. 8. Id. Gen. Hist, in., p. 56, Sp. 58. To the enlightened liberality and zeal for science of that distin- guished collector, Mr. Leadbeater of London, we, and the American public, are now indebted for the appearance of the first figure ever given of this handsome Jay. Trusting his previous specimens twice to the mercy of the waves, he confided to us this, together with several other still more rare and valuable North American birds, which no con- sideration would have induced him to part with entirely, to have them drawn, engraved, and published on this side of the Atlantic. It is the frequent exercise of similar disinterestedness in the promotion of scientific objects, that has procured for Mr. Leadbeater the distinction with which he is daily honored by learned bodies and individuals. The Steller's Jay is one of those obsolete species alluded to in the pre- face to this volume. It is mentioned by Pallas as having been shot by Steller, when Behring's crew landed upon the coast of America. It Avhich thosl of the second section are more particularly attached. But the entire g^nus is exclusively boreal, being only found in Europe and the northern: countries of America and Asia. The long and sharp- winged Grousk, or Pterocles of Temminck, which represent, or rather r-eplace these biids in the arid and sandy countries of Africa and Asia, a single species \nhabiting also the southern extremity of Europe, we consider, in common with all modern authors, as a totally distinct genus. That group, comjiysed of but few species, resort to the most desert regions, preferring ^ry and burning wastes to the cool shelter of the woods. These oceans, as they might be termed, of sand, so terrific to the eye and the imagiiation of the human traveller, they boldly venture to cross in large complies in search of the fluid so indispensable to life, but there so scarce\ and only found in certain spots. Over the intervening spaces they p^s with extraordinary rapidity, and at a groat elevation, being the only giUinaceous birds furnished with wings of the form required for such flighti. This however is not the only peculiarity in which they aberrate from >;he rest of their order, and approach the Pigeons, being said to lay but f«w eggs, the young remaining in the nest until they are full-fledged, and t»d in the mean time by the parents. The Grouse dwell in forests, especially such as are deep, and situated in mountainous districts ; the Bonhsi^ however, and the Tetrao cupido, frequenting plains where grow treeS,of various kinds. The Lagopodes 298 DUSKY GROUSE. of the Arctic regions, or Ptarmigans, are also found on the very elevated mountains of central Europe, where the temperature corresponds to that of more northern latitudes. Here they keep among the tufts of dwarf willows, which with pines, form the principal vegetation of these climates. The Grouse feed almost exclusively on leaves, buds, berries, and espe- cially the young shoots of trees, pines, spruce, or birch, resorting to seeds only when compelled by scarcity of other food, or when their usual means of subsistence are buried beneath the snow. They sometimes, especially when young, pick up a few insects and worms, and are fond of ants' eggs. Like other gallinaceous birds, they are constantly em- ployed in scratching the earth, are fond of covering themselves with dust, and swallow small pebbles and gravel to assist digestion. No birds are more decidedly and tyrannically polygamous. As soon as the females are fecundated, the male deserts them, caring no further abort them nor their progeny, to lead a solitary life. Like perfidious seducecs, they are full of attentions, however, and display the greatest anx.'ety to secure the possession of those they are afterwards so ready to abaxdon. The nuptial season commences when the leaves first appear in ^ring. The males then appear quite intoxicated with passion : they aie seen, either on the ground, or on the fallen trunks of trees, with a. proud deportment, an inflamed and fiery eye, the feathers of the heac' erected, the wings dropped, the tail widely spread — parading and strulting about in all sorts of extravagant attitudes, and expressing their feelings by sounds so loud as to be heard at a great distance. This season of ardor and abandonment is protracted till June. The deserted female lays, unnoticed by the male, far apart on the ground among low and thick bushes, from eight to sixteen eggs, breeding but once in a season. They sit and rear their young precisely in the manner of tie common fowl, the chicks being carefully protected by the mother onl/, with whom they remain all the autumn and winter, not separating un*l the return of the breeding season. It is only at this period that the males seek the society of the females. The Grouse are remarkably wild, shy, and untrmeable birds, dwelling in forests or in barren -uncultivated grounds, (.voiding cultivated and thickly inhabited countries, and keeping toj«ther in families. The Lagopodes only live in very numerous flocks c»mposed of several broods, parting company when the return of spring invites them to separate in pairs of difi'erent sexes, which is always doie by the birds of this divi- sion. Except in the breeding season, thj Grouse keep always on the ground, alighting on trees only when difturbed, or when going to roost at night ; by day retiring to the deepest part of the forest. The flesh of all Grouse is delicious food, dark-co'ored in some, and white in others, the dark being more compact, juicv, and richly flavored, as in Tetrao cupido ; while the white, though jomewhat dry, is distinguished for DUSKY GROUSE. 299 delicacy and lightness. Sucli are tlie Bonasice, T. umhellus of America, and T. honasia of Europe. The Grouse are distinguished by a short stout bill, feathered at base, and they are of all gallinaceous birds those in which the upper mandi- ble is the most vaulted : the feathers of the bill are very thick and close, and cover the nostrils entirely. The tongue is short, fleshy, acuminate, and acute. The eye is surmounted , by a conspicuous red and papillous naked space. The tarsi are generally spurless in both sexes, and partly or wholly covered with slender feathers, which in the Lagopodes are thicker and longer than in the rest, extending not only beyond the toes, but growing even on the sole of the foot ; a peculiarity which, agreeably to the observation of Buffon, of all animals is again met with only in the hare. These feathers in winter become still longer and closer. All the others have the toes scabrous beneath, and fur- nished with a pectinated row of processes each side.* This roughness of the sole of the feet enables them to tread firmly on the slippery sur- face of the ground or frozen snow, or to grasp the branches of trees covered with ice. Their nails are manifestly so formed as to suit them for scratching away the snow covering the vegetables which compose their food. The wings of the Grrouse are short and rounded, the first primary is shorter than the third and fourth, which are longest. The tail is usually composed of eighteen feathers, generally broad and rounded. The Red Grouse, T. scotious, however, and the European Bonasice, and T. canadensis or Spotted Grouse, have but sixteen ; while our two new North American species have twenty, one of them having these feathers very narrow and pointed, the narrowness being also observed in the Sharp-tailed Grouse. They have the head small, the neck short, and the body massive and very fleshy. The females of the larger species differ greatly from the males, which are glossy black, or blackish, while the former are mottled with gray, blackish, and rufous : such are all the typical Tetraones of Europe, and the Cock of the Plains, the Dusky, and the Spotted Grouse of America. The smaller species, in which both sexes are mottled, such as T. phasi- anellus and T. cupido, exhibit little or no diff"erence in the plumage of the two sexes ; which is also the case in all the Bonasice. and Lagopodes. The young in their first feathers are in all respects like the female, and the males do not acquire their full plumage until after the second moult. All moult twice a year, and most of the Lagopodes change their colors with the seasons in a remarkable manner. The genus Tetrao is now composed of thirteen species, three Lago- * These processes are liable to fall off, at least in preserved skins. It is owing to this circumstance that we committed several errors in characterizing these birds in our Synopsis of the Birds of the United States. 300 DUSKY GROUSE. podes, two Bonasice, and eight typical Tetraones. This enumeration does not include the Tetrao rupestris, which we do not consider well established, any more than the new species of Mr. Brehm. The species of Lagopus, as might be inferred from their inhabiting high northern latitudes, are common to both continents, with the exception of the Red Grouse, T. scotious, which is peculiar to the British Islands, and which, from its not changing the colors of its plumage with the seasons, may be considered as forming the passage to the true Tetraones. Of these there are five in North America, each and all distinct from the three European. Of the two Bonasice, one is peculiar to the old, and the other to the new continent, the former having sixteen, the latter eighteen feathers to the tail. Thus the entire number is seven in Europe, while it is eight in North America. Setting aside the two common to both, and the respective Bonasice, we may consider the Cock of the Woods of Europe, as the parallel of the Cock of the Plains of America. The Black Grouse, T. tetrix, will find its equivalent in the Dusky Grouse, T. ohscurus ; but the T. hyhridus has no representative in America, any more than the T. scoticus. These however are more than replaced as to number, by the T. phasianellus, T. cupido, and T. canadensis, all American species which have none corresponding to them in the old world. Perhaps no other naturalist has personally inspected all the known species of this genus of both continents, and having examined numerous specimens even of some of the rarest, and possessing all but one in my own collection, my advantages are peculiar for giving a monography of this interesting genus. Such a work it is my intention hereafter to publish, illustrated with the best figures, and accompanied with further details respecting their habits. In the mean time I shall merely state, that being replaced in Africa by Pterooles, and in South America by Tinamus, all the known species of Grouse are found in North America or in Europe, the European also inhabiting Asia ; from whose elevated central and northern regions, yet unexplored, may be expected any new species that still remain to be discovered. The extensive wilds of North America may also furnish more, though we do not think so ; for since we havp become acquainted with both sexes of the Dusky Grouse and the Cock of the Plains, we have been able to refer satisfactorily to known species all those of which any indications occur in the accounts of travellers in this country. North America is exceeded by no country in the beauty, number, and valuable qualities of her Grouse; and she is even perhaps superior to all others in these respects since the discovery of the Cock of the Plains. Although the careful and accurate researches of Wilson had led him to the belief that there existed but two species of Grouse in the territory of the United States, no less than six are now known to DUSKY GROUSE. 301 inhabit within their boundaries. But we are not aware that any of the subgenus Lagopus ever enters the confines of the Union, notwithstand- ing the pains we have taken to obtain information on this point from the high northern districts of Maine and Michigan, in which, if any- where, they are most likely to be discovered. It would however be very extraordinary if these birds, which are found in the Alps of Switzerland, should not also inhabit the lofty ranges of the Rocky Mountains, which are known to be the resort of the various species of Grouse. With the exception therefore of the well-known Tetrao ivn- bellus, which belongs to Bonasia, all the others are true Grrouse, Tetra- ones. The Spotted, and the Sharp-tailed Grouse, were long since known as inhabitants of that part of America north of the United States ; but the two others are newly added, not only to our Pauna, but to the General System, being found for the first time in the American terri- tory and not elsewhere. For the history of the discovery, the manners, habitation, and a particular description of each of these, we shall refer the reader to their several articles. The Dusky Grouse is eminently distinguished from all other known species, by having the tail slightly rounded, and composed of twenty broad and rounded feathers. This peculiarity of the extraordinai'y number of tail-feathers, is only found besides in the Cock of the Plains, in which however they are not rounded, but very slender, tapering, and acute. In size and color, the Dusky Grouse may be compared to the Black Grouse of Europe, so remarkable for the outward curvature of the lateral feathers of the tail. The figure in our plate is taken from the specimen on which Say established the species : this was killed on a mountain in the great chain dividing the waters of the Mississippi from those which flow towards the Pacific ; at a spot where, on the 10th of July 1820, the exploring party of Major Long were overlooking from an elevation of one or two thousand feet, a wide extent of country. A small river poured down the side of the mountain through a deep and inaccessible chasm, forming a continued cascade of several hundred feet. The sur- face of the country appeared broken for several miles, and in many of the valleys could be discerned columnar and pyramidal masses of sand- stone, some entirely naked, and others bearing small tufts of bushes about their summits. When the bird flew, and at the unexpected moment of its death, it uttered ar cackling note somewhat resembling that of the domestic fowl. The female Dusky Grouse is eighteen inches in length. The bill measures precisely an inch, which is small in proportion ; it is blackish, with the base of the under mandible whitish. The general color of the plumage is blackish brown, much lighter on the neck and beneath, all 302 DUSKY GROUSE. the feathers having two or three narrow bars of pale ochreous, much less pure and bright on the neck and breast ; the small short feathers at the base of the bill covering the nostrils are tinged with ferruginous, those immediately nearest the forehead have but a single band, and are slightly tipped, while the larger ones of the neck, back, rump, and even the tail-coverts, as well as the feathers of the breast, have two bands and the tip. These rufous terminal margins, on the upper por- tion of the back, and on the tail-coverts, are broad, and sprinkled with black, so as to be often blended with the lower band. The sides of the head, and the throat, are whitish dotted with blackish, the black occupying both sides of each feather, deepening and taking a band-like appearance on the inferior portion of the upper sides of the neck ; on each feather of the breast is a whitish band that becomes wider on those nearest the belly; the flanks are varied with rufous, each feather having besides the small tip, three broad cross lines of that color, and a white spot at the tip of the shaft, increasing in size as they are placed lower. The belly feathers are plain dull cinereous, the lower tail- coverts are white, black at their base, with one or two black bands besides, and tinged between the bands with grayish ochreous. The wings are nine and a half inches long, with the third and fifth primaries subequal, the coverts as well as the scapulars are of the general color, with about two bands, the second of which is sprinkled as well as the tip, each feather being white on the shaft at tip ; the primaries, second- aries, and outer wing-coverts, including their shafts, are plain dusky ; the secondaries) have ochreous zigzag marks on their outer webs, and are slightly tipped with dull whitish ; the primaries themselves are some- what mottled with dingy white externally, but are notwithstanding entirely without the regular white spots so remarkable in other Grouse ; the lower wing-coverts and long axillary feathers are pure white. The tail measures in length seven and a half inches, is very slightly rounded, of twenty broad feathers, of which the lateral are plain blackish, with the exception of a few whitish dots at the base of their outer webs, and the middle ones being varied with rufous dots disposed like the bands across their whole width ; all are thickly dotted with gray for half an inch at tip, which in the specimen figured, but by no means so much so in others, gives the tail an appearance of having a broad terminal band of cinereous sprinkled with blackish. This circumstance evinces the inutility of describing with the extreme minuteness to which we have descended in this instance, as after all the pains bestowed, the description is only that of an individual. The tail is pure black beneath, considerably paler at tip and on the undulations of the middle feathers. The tarsus is three-quarters of an inch long ; the feathers with which it is covered, together with the femorals, are pale grayish ochreous undulated with dusky ; the toes are dusky, and the nails blackish. SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 303 The male is but little larger, and entirely, but not intensely black. We can however say very little about it, having taken but a hasty and imperfect view of a specimen belonging to Mr. Sabine of London, and writing merely from recollection. The tail-feathers are wholly black, perfectly plain and unspotted, and in the female and young they are but slightly mottled, as is seen in almost all Grouse. Mr. Sabine has long had this bird in his possession, and intended dedicating it as a new species to thatt distinguished traveller Dr. Richardson. TETRAO PHASIANELLVS. SHAKP-TAILED GROUSE. [Plate XIX.] Tetrao phasianellug, liiyifi. Si/si. ed. 10, p. 160. Gmel. Syst.i., p. 747. Eorst. Phil. Trans. LXii., pp. 394 and 425. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 635, Sp. 2. Briss. Suppl. p. 9. Temm. Ind. Gall, in Hist. Pig. & Oall. iii., p. 702. Vieill. Naav. Diet. Hist. Nat. Sabine, Zool. App. to Frankl. Exp. p. 681. Nob. Cat. Birdi U. S. Sp. 208. Id. Syn. Birds U. S. Sp. 209.— Te^rao urogallus, var. P, Linn. Syst. I , p. 273, Sp. 1. — Gelinotte d longue queue, Buff. Ois. ii., p. 286. Sonn. Buff. VI., p. 72. BoNAT. Tabl. Encyc. Orn. p 196, PI. 91, fig. l.—Erancolin d longile queue, Hearne, Voy. d V Ocean du Nord [Fr. transl.), p. 386. — Tetraspha- sianelle, Temm. Pig. et Gall, in., p. 152. — Long-tailed Grouse, Edwards, Glean. PI. 117. Lath. Syn. it., p. 732. Id. Suppl. p. 21. — Sharp-tailed Grouse, Penn. Arct.Zool. Sp. 181. — The Grouse, or Prairie Hen, Lewis and Clark, Exp. n., p. 180, Sp. 1. This species of Grouse, though long since said to inhabit Virginia, is in fact a recent acquisition to the Fauna of the United States ; for it was only through an awkward mistake that it was ever attributed to that country. Mitchell, upon an inspection of Edwards's bad drawing of this bird, mistaking it for the Ruffed Grouse of that and the neigh- boring states, declared it to be an inhabitant of Virginia ; and upon his authority Edwards gave it as such. This statement, however, led Wilson into the erroneous belief of the identity of the two species, in which he was further confirmed, when after the most careful researches he became satisfied that the Ruffed Grouse was the only species to be found in Virginia. The gallant and lamented Governor Lewis gave the first authentic information of the existence of this bird within the limits of these states. He met with it on the upper waters of the Missouri, but observes, that it is peculiarly the inhabitant of the great plains of the Columbia. He states also that the scales, or lateral processes of the toes, with which it is furnished in winter like the rest of its genus, drop off in summer. 304 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. Say introduced the species regularly into the scientific records of his country. The expedition under Major Long brought back a specimen now in the Philadelphia Museum, from which, though a female, and unusually light colored, we have had our drawing made, on account of its having been procured in the American territory. The bird is never seen in any of the Atlantic States, though numerous in high northern latitudes. It is common near Severn river and Albany Fort, inhabiting the uncultivated lands in the neighborhood of the settlements, and par ticularly near the southern parts of Hudson's Bay, being often killed in winter near Fort York ; but it does not extend its range to Churchill. Near Fort William on Lake Superior, the Sharp-tailed Grouse is also found in spring, and we have seen specimens killed in winter at Cum- berland House, and others at York Factory in summer. In collections it is very rare ; and Temminck, when he wrote his history of gallina- ceous birds, had never seen a specimen, nor did it exist at the time in any European museum. It is by the shape of the tail that this Grouse is eminently distin- guished from all others. The English name which we have, with Mr. Sabine, selected from Pennant, is much more applicable than that of Long-tailed, given by Edwards ; for instead of being long, it is, except the middle feathers., remarkably short, cuneiform, and acute, more resembling that of some Ducks than of the Pheasant. By the elon- gated feathers, but in no other particular, this species approaches the African genus Pterodes. At Hudson's Bay it is called Pheasant, a name which though inappropriate, seems at least better applied to this than the Rufi"ed Grouse. The original writers that have mentioned this Grouse are, Edwards, who first introduced it, and has figured the female from a badly stuffed specimen, being however the only figure before ours ; Pennant ; Hearne, who has given the most information concerning its habits derived from personal observation ; and Forster, who has described it with accuracy. Linn^ at first adopted it from Edwards, but afterwards most unac- countably changed his mind, and considered it as a female of the European Cock of the Woods. It was restored by Latham and others to its proper rank in the scale of beings. The Sharp-tailed Grouse is remarkably shy, living solitary, or by pairs, during summer, and not associating in packs till autumn ; remain- ing thus throughout the winter. Whilst the Ruffed Grouse is never found but in woods, and the Pinnated Grouse only in plains, the present frequents either indifferently. They however, of choice, inhabit what are called the juniper plains, keeping among the small juniper bushes, the buds constituting their principal food. They are usually seen on the ground, but when disturbed fly to the highest trees. Their food in summer is composed of berries, the various sorts of which they eagerly SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 305 seek : in winter they are confined to the buds and tops of evergreens, or of birch and alder, but especially poplar, of which they are very fond. They are more easily approached in autumn than when they inhabit large forests, as they then keep alighting on the tops of the tallest poplars, beyond the reach of an ordinary gun. When disturbed in that position they are apt to hide themselves in the snow ; but Hearne informs us that the hunter's chance is not the better for that, for so rapidly do they make their way beneath the surface, that they often suddenly take wing several yards from the spot where they en- tered, and almost always in a different direction from that which is expected. Like the rest of its kind, the Sharp-tailed Grouse breeds on the ground near some bush, making a loose nest with grass, and lining it with feathers. Here the female lays from nine to thirteen eggs, which are white spotted with blackish. The young are hatched about the middle of June ; they utter a piping noise, somewhat like chickens. Attempts have been repeatedly made to domesticate them, but have as constantly failed, all the young, though carefully nursed by their stepmother, the common hen, dying one after another, probably for want of suitable food. This species has several cries: the cock has a shrill crowing note, rather feeble, and both sexes when disturbed, or whilst on the wing, repeat frequently the cry of cack, each. This well known sound conducts the hunter to their hiding place, and they are also detected by producing with their small, lateral, rigid tail-feathers, a curious noise resembling that made by a winnowing fan. When in good order, one of these Grouse will weigh upwards of two pounds, being very plump. Their flesh is of a light brown color, and very compact, though at the same time exceedingly juicy and well tasted, being far superior in this respect to the common Ruffed, and approaching in excellence the deli- cious Pinnated Grouse. The adult male Sharp-tailed Grouse in full plumage is sixteen inches long and twenty-three in breadth, The bill is little more than an inch long, blackish, pale at the base of the lower mandible, and with its ridge entering between the small feathers covering the nostrils : these are blackish edged with pale rusty, the latter predominating : the irides are hazel. The general color of the bird is a mixture of white, and different shades of dark and light rusty on a rather deep and glossy blackish ground : the feathers of the head and neck have but a single band of rusty, and are tipped with white ; those however of the crown are of a much deeper and more glossy black, with a single marginal spot of rusty on each side, and a very faint tip of the same, forming a toler- ably pure black space on the top of the head. The feathers between the eye and bill, those around the eye above and beneath, on the sides of the head, and on the throat, are somewhat of a dingy yellowish Vol. III.— 20 306 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. white, with a small black spot on each side, giving these parts a dotted appearance, but the dots fewer and smaller on the throat. The feathers of the back and rump are black, transversely varied on the margin and at tip with pale bright rusty sprinkled with black, forming a confused mixture of black and rusty on the whole upper parts of the bird ; the long loose-webbed upper tail-coverts being similar, but decidedly and almost regularly banded with black and sprinkled with rusty, this color being there much lighter and approaching to white, and even constitut- ing the ground color. The breast is brown, approaching chocolate, each feather being terminated by a white fringe, with a large arrow-shaped spot of that color on the middle of each feather, so that when the plum age lies close the feathers appear white with black crescents, and are generally described so. On the lower portion of the breast the white spots as they descend become longer and narrower, the branches form- ing the angle coming closer and closer to each other till the spot becomes a mere white streak along the shaft, but at the same time the white marginal fringe widens so considerably that the feathers of the belly may be properly called white, being brown only at their base, but the shaft is white even there, with no more than a brown heart-shaped spot visible on the middle. The heart-shaped brown spots of the belly become so very small at the vent, that this part appears pure white with a few very small blackish spots : the long flank feathers are broadly banded with black and white, somewhat tinged with ochraceous exte- riorly ; the under tail-coverts are white, blackish along the shafts, and more or less varied with black in different specimens, which also vary considerably as to the size and shape of all the spots, being in some more acute, in others more rounded, &c. The wings are eight inches long, the third and fourth primaries being the longest ; the scapulars are uni- form with the back, but besides the rusty sprinkling of the margins and tip, the largest have narrow band-like spots of a pure bright rufous, a slight whitish streak along the shaft in the centre, and a large white spot at the end. The smaller wing-coverts are plain chocolate brown ; the spurious wing, and outer coverts, are of the same brown, but each feather bears at the point a large and very conspicuous pure white ."pot ; all the other superior coverts are blackish, sprinkled and banded with rusty, each furnished with a conspicuous terminal spot ; the under wing-coverts, together with the long axillary feathers, are pure white, each with a single small dusky spot, and are marbled with white and brownish on the outer margin ; the quills are plain dusky brown, the primaries being regularly marked with pure white spots half an inch apart on their outer webs, except at the point of the first ; the longest feather of the spurious wing, and the larger outer coverts have also a pair of these spots : the secondaries, besides the outer spots, which assume the appearance of bands, are tipped with pure white, forming SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 307 a narrow terminal margin, those nearest the tertials are also slightly marked with rusty ; the tertials themselves are similar to the scapulars, that is, they are black, banded and sprinkled with different shades of rusty. The tail is strongly cuneiform and graduated, of eighteen feathers, with the middle five inches long, which is three more than the outer. According to some accounts, the two middle feathers are by more than two inches longer than the adjoining, but in all we have examined the difference was little more than an inch. The four mid- dle are similar in shape, texture, and color, being narrow, flaccid, equal in breadth throughout, though somewhat dilated and cut square at the end. In color they vary considerably in different specimens, the ground being generally black, and the tips white, but more or less varied, in some with white and in others with rusty, these colors being at one time pure, at another sprinkled with blackish, and assuming various tints ; in one specimen they are disposed in spots, in another in bands, lines, chains, angles, &c., but generally in a long strips on each side of the shaft at base, and in transverse spots at the point of the two longest, while they are in round spots all along each side of the two shortest : in one specimen the latter are even almost plain, being dingy white, sprinkled with blackish on the whole of their outer web : all the other lateral feathers, entirely concealed by the coverts, are pure white at the point, but with dusky shafts, and are more or less broadly dark cine- reous at base : these feathers are very rigid, and of a curious form, tapering from the base to the point, where they suddenly dilate ; they are deeply emarginate at tip, and their inner lobe projects considerably. The tarsus is two inches long; the slender hair-like feathers covering it are, as well as the femorals, of a dingy grayish white, obsoletely waved with dusky ; the toes are strongly pectinated, and are, as well as the nails, of a blackish dusky, while the long processes are whitish. The foregoing minute description is chiefly taken from a handsome male specimen from Arctic America. There is no difference between the sexes, at least we have not been able to detect any in all the speci- mens of both that we have examined : hence we conclude that the differ- ence generally described by authors, and which we have ourselves copied in our Synopsis, that of the breast being chocolate brown in the male, and uniform with the rest of the plumage in the female, does not exift. The female is merely less bright and glossy. Both sexes, like other Grouse, have a papillous red membrane over the eye, not always seen in stuffed skins, and which is said to be very vivid in the male of this species in the breeding season. This membrane, an inch in length, becomes distended, and projects above the eye in the shape of a small crest, three-eighths of an inch high. The male at this season, like that of other species, and indeed of most gallinaceous birds, struts about in a very stately manner, carrying himself very upright. The middle 308 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. featliers of the tail are more or less elongated, in young birds scarcely exceeding the adjoining by half an inch. The spring plumage is much more bright and glossy than the autumnal, and also exhibits differences in the spots and markings. The specimen we have selected for our plate, on account of its being the only one ive had from the United States territory, is a female in the autumnal dress, and was brought from the Rocky Mountains. We think proper to insert here in detail the description we took from it at the time, thus enabling the reader to contrast it with that made from a Northern specimen in spring plumage, rather than point out each and all the numerous and at the same time minute and unim- portant variations. The female represented in the figure was fifteen inches long. Its general 'color mottled with black and yellowish rufous : the feathers of the head above are yellowish rufous banded with black, the shaft yellowish : a line above the eye, the cheeks, and the throat, are pure yellowish rusty with very few blackish dots, and a band of the latter color from the bill beneath the eye and spreading behind. All the lower parts are whitish cream, with a yellowish rusty tinge ; each feather of the neck and breast with a broad blackish subterminal margin in the shape of a crescent, becoming more and more narrow and acute as they are lower down on the belly, until the lowest r re reduced to a mere black mark in the middle ; the lower tail-coverts and the femorals are entirely destitute of black. All the upper parts, viz., the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and scapulars, have a uniform mottled appearance of black and rusty, each feather being black with rasty shafts, spots, bands, or margins, the rusty again minutely dotted with black : on the rump, but especially on the tail-coverts, the rusty predominates in such a manner that each feather becomes first banded with black and rusty, then decidedly rusty varied with black, which however does not change in the least the general effect. The wing- coverts are dusky, each with a large round white spot at tip, the inner gradually taking the markings of the back and scapulars ; the lining of the shoulder is plain dusky, as well as the spurious wing and the primaries, each feather of the spurious wing having about five large round spots of white on its outer web ; the primaries are regularly marked on the same side with eight or ten squarish equidistant white spots, with a few inconspicuous whitish dots on their inner web besides ; the secondaries are also dusky, but in them the spots take the appear- ance of bands continued across the whole feather, of which bands there are three or four, including the terminal ; the inner secondaries become darker and darker as they approach the body, the white becomes rufous, the dots are more frequent, and they become confounded with the scap- ulars, and are banded and mottled with various tints of black and SPOTTED GROUSE. 309 rusty : the lower wing-coverts and long axillary feathers are pure white, the outer coverts being marbled with dusky. The tail is composed of eighteen feathers ; it is cuneiform, very short, and entirely hidden by the coverts, except the four middle feathers ; the two middle feathers are flaccid, narrow, equal in breadth throughout, longer than the others by more than an inch, rusty, crossed by chained bands of black, and dotted with black and whitish at tip ; the two next are also longer than the others, nearly whitish, but almost similar in shape, markings, and texture, to the longest; the lateral decrease in size very fast from the centre, but by regular degrees, and are remarkably stiff, somewhat like those of Woodpeckers, wider at base and tip" than in the middle, pure white at the end and on the inner web, the shaft black, and the outer webb dotted with blackish ; they are deeply emarginate at tip, the inner lobe being longer, acute, and singularly shaped. TETRAO CANADENSIS. SPOTTED GROUSE. [Plate XX., Male. Plato XXI., Fig. 1, Female.] Tetrao canadensis, LiNif. Syst. i., p. 274, Sp. 3. Gmel. Syst. i., p. 749, Sp. 3. Lath. Ind. p. 637, Sp. 6. Forster, in Phil. Tr. lxii., p. 389. Temh. Ind. Gall, in Hist. Pig. et Gall, iii., p. 702. Vieill. Nouv. Diet. Nisi. Nat. S.^eine, Zool. App. Franhl. Exp. p. 683. Nob. Cat. Birds U. S. Sp. 207. Id. Syn. Birds U. S. Sp. 208. — Tetrao canace, Linn. Syst. i., p. 25, Sp. 7, Female. — Lagopus Bonasa Freti Hudsonis, Bkiss. Orn. i., p. 201, Sp. 6. Id. Suppl. p. 10. Id. 8vo. it., p. 56, Male. — Lagopus Bonasa canadensis, BrissI Orn. i., p. 203, Sp. 7, PI. 20, fig. 2. Id. 8vo. IV., p. 57, Female. — Lagopus Freti Hudsonis, Klein, Av. p. 117, Sp. 6. — La Gelinotte du Canada, Buff. Ois. ii., p. 279. — Id. PI. enl. 131, Male, 132, Female. Sonn. Buff, vi., p. 58. Bon.\t. Tabl. Enc. Orn. p. 197, PI. 91, fig. 2.— Tetras tacJieti, ou Acaho, Temm. Pig. et Gall, iii., p. 160, \iis.— Black and Spotted Heathcock, Edw. Glean, p. 118, PI. 118, Male. — Brown and Spotted Heaihcock, Edw. Glean, p. 71, PI. 71, Female. Ellis, Hudson Bay, i., t. p. 50. — Spotted Grojise, Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 182. Lath. Syn. iv., p. 735, Sp. 6. Id. Suppl. p. 214, accid. var. — The small speckled Pheasant, Lewis and Clark, Exp. ii., p. 182, Male. — The small brown Pheasant, Id. Id. Exp. ii., p. 182, Female. As may be seen by tho synonymy, two separate species have been made of the present, the male and female being taken for different birds. This error, which originated with Edwards and Brisson, from whom it was copied by Li-nnd, was rectified by Buffon, Forster, and others ; and in their decision Gmelin, Latham, and all subsequent writers have acquiesced. Both sexes were tolerably well figured by Buffon, as they had also been previously by Edwards ; but we feel justified in saying that none of their plates will bear a comparison with the present. The Spotted Grouse is well characterized by its much rounded tail, 310 SPOTTED GROUSE. of but sixteen broad and rounded feathers, and may be at once dis- tinguished from all others by the large and conspicuous white spots ornamenting the breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts. It has been inaccurately compared with the European Tetrao lonasia, from which it difiiers very materially, not even being of the same subgenus, and approaching nearer, if indeed it can be compared with any, to the Tetrao urogallus. This bird is common at Hudson's Bay throughout the year, there frequenting plains and low grounds, though in other parts of America it is found on mountains, even of great elevation. It inhabits Canada in winter, and was seen byVieillot in great numbers during the month of October in Nova Scotia. Lewis and Clark met with it on the elevated range of the Rocky Mountains, and brought back from their western expedition a male specimen and deposited it in the Philadelphia Museum, where it was long exhibited under the name of Louisiana Grouse. This, as truly observed by Say, first entitled it to rank among the birds of the United States. But the Rocky Mountains are not the only region of ^the United States territory where the Spotted Grouse is found. We have traced it with certainty as a winter visitant of the northern extremity of Maine, Michigan, and even of the- state of New York ; where, though very rare, it is found in the counties of Lewis and Jefferson. On the frontiers of Maine it is abundant, and has been seen by Professor Holmes, of the Gardiner Lyceum, near Lake Umbagog and others. In these countries the Spotted Grouse is known by the various names of Wood Partridge, Swamp Partridge, Cedar Partridge, and Spruce Partridge. The American settlers of Canada distinguish it by the first. In Michigan and New York it goes generally by the second. In Maine it bears the third, and in other parts of New England, New Brunswick, &c., more properly the last. We have been informed by General Henry A. S. Dearborn, that they are sent from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Boston in a frozen state ; as in the north they are known to be so kept hanging throughout the winter, and when wanted for use, they need only be taken down and placed in cold water to thaw. General Dearborn, to whom we are much indebted for the information which his interest for science has induced him voluntarily to furnish, further mentions, that he has heard from his father that during the progress of the expedition under Arnold through the wilderness to Quebec in 1775, these Grouse were occasionally shot between the tide waters of Kennebec river and the sources of the Chaudi^re, now form- ing part of the state of Maine. Fine specimens of the Spotted Grouse have been sent to the Lyceum of Natural History of New York from the Sault de Ste. Marie, by Mr. Schoolcraft, whose exertions in avail- ing himself of the opportunities which his residence afi"ords him for the advancement of every branch of zoology, merit the highest praise. He SPOTTED GROUSE. 311 informs us that this bird is common from Lake Huton to the sources of the Mississippi, being called in the Chippeway language, Mushcodasee, i. e.. Partridge of the Plains. The favorite haunts of the Spotted Grouse are pine woods and dark cedar swampa, in ■winter resorting to the deep forests of spruce to feed on the tops and leaves of these evergreens, as ■well as on the seeds con- tained in their cones, and on juniper berries. Hence their flesh, though at all times good, is much better in summer, as in ■winter it has a stronLi flavor of spruce. At Hudson's Bay, where they are called indifferently Wood or Spruce Partridge, they are seen throughout the year. Like other Grouse, they build on the ground, laying perhaps fewer eggs : these are varied with white, yellow, and black. They are easily ap- proached, being unsuspicious, and by no means so shy as the common Ruffed Grouse, and are killed or trapped in numbers without much artifice being necessary for this purpose. When much disturbed, like their kindred species they are apt to resort to trees, where, by using the precaution of always shooting the lowest, the whole of the terrified flock may be brought down to the last bird. The Spotted Grouse is smaller than the common Partridge or Phea- sant, being but fifteen inches in length. The bill is black, seven-eighths of an inch long. The general color of the plumage is made up of black and gray mingled in transverse wavy crescents, with a few of grayish rufous on the neck. The small feathers covering the nostrils are deep velvety black. The feathers may all be called black as to the ground color, and blackish plumbeous at the base ; on the crown, upper sides of the head above the eye, and the anterior portion of the neck, they have each two gray bands or small crescents, and tipped with a third ; these parts, owing to the gray margin of the feathers being very broad, appear nearly all gray. These longer feathers of the lower part of the neck above, and between the shoulders, are more broadly and deeply black, each with a reddish band, and gray only at tip ; the lowest have even two reddish bands, which pass gradually into grayish ; a few of the lateral feathers of the neck are almost pure white, all the remaining feathers of the upper parts of the body have two grayish bands, besides a slight tip of the same color, some of the lowest and longest having even three of these bands besides the tip. The very long upper tail- coverts are well distinguished, not only by their shape, but also by their colors, being black brown, thickly sprinkled on the margins with grayish rusty, and a pretty well defined band of that color towards the point, then a narrow one of deep black, and are broadly tipped with whitish gray, more or less pure in different specimens ; their shafts also are brownish rusty. The sides of the head beneath the eyes, together with the throat, are .deep black with pure white spots, the white lying curi- ously upon the feathers, so as to form a band about the middle, con- 312 SPOTTED GROUSE. tinued along the shaft, and spreading at the point ; but the feathers being small on these parts, the white spots are not very conspicuous. The breast also is deep black, but each feather broadly tipped with pure white, constituting the large spots by which this species is so peculiarly distinguished. On the flanks, the feathers are at first from their base waved with black and grayish rusty crescents, but these become gradu- ally less pure and defined, and by getting confused, make the lowest appear mottled with the two colors ; all are marked along the shaft with white, dilating at tip, forming on the largest a conspicuous terminal spot. The vent is for a space pure white, the tips of its downy feathers being of that color : the under tail-coverts are deep black, pure white for half an inch at their tip, and with a white mark along the shaft besides. The wings are seven inches long, the fourth primary alone being somewhat longer than the rest. The upper coverts and scapu- laries are blackish, waved and mottled with grayish rusty ; the longest scapularies have a small terminal spot of pure white along their shaft. The smaller coverts are merely edged with grayish rusty, and in very perfect specimens they are even plain ; the under wing-coverts are brownish dusky, edged with grayish, some of the largest, as well as the long axillary feathers, having white shafts dilating into a terminal spot ; the remaining inferior surface of the wing is bright silvery gray : the spurious wing and the quills are plain dusky brown, the secondaries being slightly tipped and edged externally with paler, and those nearest the body somewhat mottled with grayish rusty at the point and on the inner vane ; the primaries, with the exception of the first, are slightly marked with whitish gray on their outer edge, but are entirely destitute of white spots. The tail is six inches long, well rounded, and composed of only sixteen feathers. These are black, with a slight sprinkling of bright reddish on the outer web at base, under the coverts, which dis- appears almost entirely with age ; all are bright dark rusty for half an inch at their tip, this color itself being finely edged and shafted with black. The tarsus measures an inch and a half, its feathers, together with the femorals, are dingy gray, slightly waved with dusky ; the toes are dusky ; the lateral scales dingy whitish, and the nails blackish. The female is smaller than the male, being more than an inch shorter. The general plumage is much more varied, with less of black, but much more of rusty. There is a tinge of rufous on the feathers of the nos- trils. Those of the head, neck, and upper part of the back, are black, with two or three bright bands of^j)range rusty, and tipped with gray ; there is more of the gray tint on the neck, on the lower part of which above, the orange bands are broader ; all the remaining parts of the body above, including the tail-coverts, are more confusedly banded and mottled with duller rusty, orange, and gray, on a blackish ground, these colors themselves being also sprinkled with a little black. The sides SPOTTED GROUSE. 313 of the head, the throat, and all the neck belo,w, are dull rusty orange, each feather varied with black ; on the lower portion of the breast the black bands are broad and very deep, alternating equally with the orange rusty, and even gradually encroaching upon the ground color. The breast is deep black, each feather, as well as those of the under parts, including the lower tail-coverts, are broadly tipped with pure white, forming over all the inferior surface very large and close spots, each feather having besides one or two rusty orange spots, much paler and duller on the belly, and scarcely appearing when the plumage lies close : the feathers of the flanks are blackish, deeper at first, and barred with very bright orange, then much mottled with dull grayish rusty, each having a triangular white spot near the tip. The wings and tail are similar to those of the male, the variegation of the scapulars and upper coverts being only of a much more rusty tinge, dull orange in the middle on the shaft, all the larger feathers having moreover a white streak along the shaft ending in a pure white spot, wanting in the male. The outer edge of the primaries is more broadly whitish, and the tertials are dingy white at the point, being also crossed with dull orange ; the tail-feathers, especially the middle ones, are more thickly sprinkled with rusty orange, taking the appearance of bands on the middle feathers, their orange-colored tip being moreover not so pure, and also sprinkled. The bird represented in the plate comes from the Rocky Mountains : it is a male, and remarkably distinguished from the common ones of his species by having the tail-feathers entirely black to the end. This difference I have observed to be constant in other specimens from the same wild locality; whilst all the northern specimens, of which I have examined a great number, are alike distinguished by the broad rufous tip, as in those described, and as also described by Linn^ and all other writers, who have even considered that as an essential mark of the species. The Rocky Mountain specimens are moreover somewhat larger, and their toes, though likewise strongly pectinated, are perhaps some- what less so, and the tail-coverts are pure white at tip, as represented in the plate. But heaven forbid that our statements should excite the remotest suspicion that these slight aberrations are characteristic of different species. If we might venture an opinion not corroborated by observation, we would say, that we should not be astonished if the most obvious discrepancy, that of the tail, were entirely owing to season, the red tip being the full spring plumage ; though it is asserted that this species does not vary in its plumage with the seasons. However this may be, we have thought proper to give a representation of the anomalous male bird from the Rocky Mountains in our plate, whilst the female, placed with the Cock of the Plains, that its reduced size may be properly estimated, has been chosen among the ordinary specimens 314 COCK OF THE PLAINS. having the tails tipped with red ; the red tip being still more conspicuous in the common males, from which in order to comprehend all, our description has been drawn up. TETRAO UEOPHASIANUS. COCK OF THE PLAINS. [Plate XXI. Fig. 2.] Tetrao uropkasianus, Nob. in Zool. Journ. Land. Id. App. to Syn. Birds U. S. p. 442, in Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York. — The Cock of the Plains, Lewis and Clark, Exp. ii., p. 180, Sp. 2. It is with the liveliest satisfaction that we are enabled finally to enrich the North American Fauiia with the name, portrait, and descrip- tion of this noble bird ; which must have formed from the earliest periods a principal ornament of the distant wilds of the west. Hardly inferior to the Turkey in size, beauty, and usefulness, the Cock of the Plains is entitled to the first place in the beautiful series of North American Grouse, in the same rank that the Cock of the Woods so justly claims among those of Europe and Asia. This fine bird, like its European analogue, seems to be restricted within certain bounds, and is probably nowhere numerous, owing to its bulk, limited powers of flight, and the eagerness with which it is pursued ; but chiefly to its polygamous habits, which are the cause of desperate combats between the males for the possession of the females. However long the period since it was first heard of in the accounts of hunters and travellers, no more was known than that there existed in the interior of America a very large species of Grouse, called by the hunters of the west the Prairie Turkey. We have little to add, it is true, to what is known of its habits, but we have it in our power to say that we have seen it, we can determine its place in the system, and now give a faithful representation of at least one sex. We have again to acknowledge ourselves indebted, no less to the industry and sagacity, than to the liberal views of Mr. Leadbeater, for the present opportunity of representing this bird. His invaluable collection contains the only specimen known to be any where preserved. The name of Cock of the Plains was given by Lewis and Clark, and we have retained it, as being not only appropriate, but at the same time analogous to that of the large European species called Cock of the Woods. Similar reasons have influenced us in selecting the scientific name, which though perhaps too long, and ill compounded, has never- COCKOFTHEPLAINS. 315 theless the advantage of combining analogy in meaning with the indica- tion of a most remarkable characteristic of the bird. This species is in fact distinguished from all others of its genus, and especially from its European analogue, by its long tail, composed of twenty narrow, taper- ing, acute feathers ; thus evincing the fallacy of the character errone- ously attributed to all the Grouse, of having broad and rounded tail- feathers. It is a singular fact that both of the newly discovered species from the north-western part of America, and they only, should be dis- tinguished by the extraordinary number of the feathers of the tail. In the Dusky Grouse, however, they are broad and rounded. The Cock of the "Woods, like the greater part of the species, has but eighteen, which are also broad and rounded. The only Grouse in which they are found narrow is the Sharp-tailed, though without being either acute or tapering, but on the contrary square at tip, and of equal breadth throughout, or if anything, the lateral rather broader at the tip. Lewis and Clark first met with this bird on their journey westward near the fountain of the Missouri, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. They inform us that it is found on the plains of the Columbia in great abundance, from the entrance of the south-east fork of the Columbia to that of Clark's river. It appears also to extend to California, for there can be but little doubt that it is the bird erroneously called Bustard by the travellers who have visited that country. Lewis and Clark state that in its habits it resembles the Grouse (meaning probably T. phasia- nellus), except that its favorite food is the leaf and buds of the pulpy- leafed thorn. The gizzard is large, and much less compressed and muscular than in most gallinaceous birds, and perfectly resembles a maw. When the bird flies, he utters a cackling note, not unlike that of the domestic fowl. The flesh of the Cock of the Plains is dark, and only tolerable in .point of flavor, and is not so palatable as either that of the Pheasant or Grouse. It is invariably found in the plains. The Cock of the Plains is precisely equal in size to the Cock of the Woods ; at least such is the result of a comparison of the female with the corresponding sex of the European bird, both lying before us. Each part exactly coincides in form and dimension, excepting that the tail rather gives the superiority to the American, so that if the male bears the same relative proportion to his female, the Cock of the Plains must be proclaimed the largest of Grouse. The two females are strikingly similar. The Cock of the Plains is however a much more grayish bird, wanting entirely the reddish that mottles, and occupies so much of the plumage of its analogue. This, the total want of beard-like appendages, and the singular shape of the tail, are the prominent discriminative features ; to which may be added, that the under wing-coverts marbled with black in the European, are pure white in our new species, though this, as well as the want of reddish, might be ascribed to the youth of 316 COCK OF THE PLAINS. our specimen. However this may be, the remaining differences mil be better estimated by attending to the following minute and accurate description. The female of the Cock of the Plains, represented in the plate of one half the natural size, is from twenty-eight to thirty inches in length. The bill is one inch and a quarter long, perfectly similar to that of T. urogallus, perhaps a trifle less stout, and with the base (if this remarkable character be not accidental in our specimen) farther pro- duced among the feathers of the front. The whole plumage above is blackish, most minutely dotted, mottled and sprinkled with whitish, tinged here and there with very pale yellowish rusty, hardly worth mentioning : on the head, and all the neck, the feathers being small minutely crossed transversely with blackish and whitish lines, gives the plumage quite a minutely dotted appearance : the superciliar line is slightly indicated by more whitish ; on a spot above the eye, in the space between the bill and eye, and along the mouth beneath, the black pre- dominates, being nearly pure : on the throat, on the contrary, it is the white that prevails, so as to be whitish dotted with black : on the lower portion of the neck the black again is the prevailing color, the black feathers there being nearly tipped with grayish ; the sides of the neck are pure white for a space ; from the lower portion of the neck to the upper tail-coverts inclusively, the back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and secondaries, the blackish feathers have each two or three yellowish white bands, which are broader especially on the upper part of the back, and are moreover sprinkled with white somewhat tinged with rusty : the scapulars and wing-coverts are besides shafted with white somewhat dilating towards the point, the scapulars being of a deeper black ; the spurious wing and primaries are plain dusky with paler edges, the outer with some indications of whitish dots (generally found in Grouse) on the outer vane, but no regular white spots ; the secondaries are tipped with white, and those which are next to the primaries nearly plain on their inner web ; the primaries are rather slender, the inferior surface of the wings is of a very pale silvery gray ; the under wing-coverts and long axillary feathers being pure silvery white, excepting on the lining of the wing, which is dusky blackish. The wings are twelve inches long. The breast is grayish, somewhat mottled with black ; on each side below is a pure white space, some of the feathers of which are tipped or banded with black ; the large feathers of the flanks are blackish shafted with white, crossed by several whitish bands and sprinkled with yellowish : a broad oblong patch of deep brownish black occupies the whole of the belly and vent, the outer feathers being shafted with white, and broadly white at the point of their outer webs. The femorals and small feathers of the tarsus extending between the toes are yellowish gray minutely waved with blackish: the tarsus COCK OF THE PLAINS. 317 measures two inches ; the toes are dusky black, and the pectinated row of processes long, strong, and dingy whitish ; the nails blackish. The whole base of the plumage, with the exception of that of the neck beneath (which is white), is of a dusky gray. The tail is ten inches long, and in color is, as well as its coverts, in harmony with the rest of the plumage ; the ground color is blackish, and crossed or rather mottled with bands of whitish spots disposed irregularly, between which are small additional darker spots ; the two middle ones are mottled all over, but the others are almost immaculate on their inner vane and at the point ; hence the lower surface of the unexpanded tail is of a silvery gray much darker than that of the wings ; at the very tip of the tail- feathers, the middle excepted, appears a very small whitish spot, the two outer pairs being rather broadly yellowish white, dotted" with blackish on that part. The tail is composed of twenty feathers, the highest number ever met with in any tribe of birds. Although it ap- pears strongly cuneiform, owing to the remarkable shape and curve of the feathers, it is when expanded and properly examined, nothing more than much rounded, the two in the middle, which are the longest, reaching but a trifle beyond the adjoining, and so on in succession, the difference in length increasing progressively, but very gradually at first, and more and more as they are distant from the centre, there being nearly an inch difference between the third and second, and full that between the second and the outer, which is only six inches long, while the middle is ten. All the twenty are narrow, tapering, acute, and falciform, turning inward. Those toward the middle are less curved, but more conspicuously acuminate and narrow for nearly two inches, all but the middle ones being slightly square at their narrow tips. Though we have reason to believe that the specimen described and figured is a female, yet from the broad patch upon the belly, and other marks unnecessary to be specified, we should not be surprised at its being a young male just beginning to change. In that case, and supposing him to have attained his full growth, this species would prove to be inferior in size to the Cock of the Woods, as its male would only be equal to the female of the latter. CATHARTES OBYPEUS. CONDOR. [Plate XXII. Young Male.] Vultur Gn/phus, Linn. Syst. i., p. 121, Sp. 1. Gmel. Syst i., p. 245, Sp. 1. Lath, rnd. Orn. i., p. 1, Sp. 1. Encycl. Brit, xviii., p. 695, pi. 510. Humboldt, Hist. Nat. in Obs. Zool. i., p. 26, pi. 8, ^.— Vultur magdlanicus, Leoer. Mus. p. 1, pi. 1, Female.— FaZiur condor, Daud. Orn. ii.,_p. 8. Shaw, Zool. vii., p. 2, pi. 2, 3_ 4. — Cathartes gryphus, Temm. Banzani, Nob. Ca<.