Part 13

The Florida Gallinule, while not often recorded in Pennsylvania, may be commoner than we suppose. Look for it in cat-tail marshes, along channels or little pools of open water. Its call-notes are rather chicken-like.

COOT Fulica americana Gmelin

Other Name.—Mud Hen.

Description.—Size of a small duck; feet with wide, flat lobes, unique among American birds; sexes similar. Adults: Head and neck black, rest of plumage dark slaty gray, somewhat paler below, and sometimes irregularly barred with whitish on breast and belly; edge of wing, tips of secondaries, and lateral undertail coverts, white; bill whitish, with frontal shield and two small spots near tip mahogany-red; legs and feet greenish, somewhat paler on tibiæ and on lobes on toes. Young: Similar but with a brownish wash on back and lighter below; frontal shield noticeably smaller. Length: 15 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly regular and common migrant, especially on the lakes and larger waterways, from April 15 to May 15 and from September 15 to November 15; often found in company with ducks. Rare as a summer resident. It should be looked for along the shore of Lake Erie in summer.

Nest.—A crude cup made of cat-tail leaves, sometimes placed in a rather open situation, but arched over with grasses. Eggs: 7 to 15, pale buffy white, heavily and evenly sprinkled with small dark brown spots.

The Coot’s queer feet are distinctive. As the bird rises from the water, it patters along with these until it has sufficient momentum to rise. Nesting records for the Coot in Pennsylvania are desirable.

WOODCOCK Rubicolor minor (Gmelin)

Other Names.—Wall-eyed Snipe; Bog Snipe.

Description.—Appearance snipe-like, with very long bill and large eyes in back of the head, but feet very short, more as in gallinaceous birds; sexes similar, the female larger; three outer primaries narrow and stiff. Adults: Back of crown black, crossed with buffy bars; upperparts dark brown and black, the feathers barred, margined, and speckled with buffy brown and gray; wing coverts buffy brown, barred with darker brown; underparts buffy, tending toward rufous; tips of tail-feathers gray above, silvery white underneath; eyes dark brown; bill and feet pinkish flesh color. Downy young buffy brown considerably marked with blackish. Length: 11 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather uncommon and somewhat irregular migrant and summer resident, coming sometimes as early as the first week of March and remaining until the middle of October. It is sometimes common during migration, particularly in the fall.

Nest.—A mere depression in the leaves, usually in more or less open woodland, sometimes concealed from above by brush or a bush or tree. Eggs: 3 or 4, buffy brown, spotted with darker brown.

In spring the Woodcock must be sought in some bushy swale, along the borders of a marsh, or near a small stream where the low banks are constantly moist and where brush and old logs give this retiring species a retreat. Here the nocturnal birds bore in the mud with their long bills, searching for food which they may grasp with the mobile tips of their mandibles. When disturbed they fly up rapidly, their wings whistling musically as they make off, somewhat erratically, through the undergrowth.

The spring courtship flight of the Woodcock is remarkable. On warm evenings the males bleat in their favorite haunts, then, as darkness descends, mount on whistling wings higher and higher, until they are far above the earth. They then hurl themselves back and forth as they start pitching toward the earth, the while producing a twittering sound with their throats as they drop at considerable speed, to alight not far from the point at which they started. Courting Woodcocks will sometimes alight within a few feet of a quiet observer.

Because the incubating bird is quiet and her back so perfectly resembles the leaves and twigs near her, she is very difficult to see. She so implicitly believes that she cannot be seen that she is not often flushed from her nest; sometimes she will permit her back to be stroked or her whole body to be lifted from her eggs.

WILSON’S SNIPE Capella gallinago delicata (Ord)

Other Names.—Jack Snipe; English Snipe (erroneous).

Description.—A little heavier than a Robin, but with short tail, very long bill, and moderately long feet; sexes similar. Upperparts black, plumage edged, barred, and variously marked with white, buffy, and grayish; a light line through middle of crown, another over eye; wings dark brown, outer edge of outer primary and tips of greater coverts, white; tail black, tipped with orange-buff and white, the outer feathers white, barred with black; throat and belly white; neck and breast buffy, indistinctly barred with dark brown; sides barred with black; under tail-coverts buffy, barred with black; bill greenish dusky; feet dull green; eyes, which are placed rather far back in the head, dark brown. The female is somewhat browner than the male; immature birds are sometimes quite brownish, especially in the region of the head and neck. Length: 11 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—As a migrant, rather regular and common, particularly in suitable marshes or along the margins of streams, from March 15 to May 20 and from September 15 to November 10; as a summer resident, local, known to nest at Pymatuning Swamp, Crawford County, and presumably in other northern counties where there are suitable marshes.

Nest.—A shallow cup made of dead stalks of various plants, placed on a small island or a water-soaked log, or in a low, moist, field, among the grass. Eggs: 4, olive-brown, spotted with rich dark brown, chiefly at the larger end.

The average bird student knows the Snipe as a bird which springs from a marshy spot with startled scaip, scaip as it zigzags its way to a safe retreat, or mounts in the air to circle and return. At such a time the reddish brown band at the tip of the tail and the white belly, which flashes as the bird erratically turns, are good field-marks.

On its nesting-grounds the Snipe is a different creature. High overhead, in wide circles, the birds fly, giving forth strange windy hoots which they are said to produce by spreading widely the outermost feathers of the tail. When the performers come to earth they may perch on a wayside post, on a fence, or on a tree—an unheard-of feat for a Snipe at any other season. The male Snipe, and perhaps the female also, performs many queer antics during the nesting season.

The downy young, which leave their nests shortly after hatching, are beautiful creatures—dark brown and black with cream-colored and buffy spots and flecks which are arranged in a pattern which gives them a protective coloration. They are strong-legged creatures and can run rapidly and swim with ease as soon as they leave the nest.

The Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus griseus), a shore-bird which resembles the Wilson’s Snipe, is a rare migrant. It is pale rufous, speckled with black below, and variously mottled above in summer; in winter it is brownish gray above, white below, with a few dark barrings; in all plumages the rump and upper tail-coverts and tail are noticeably barred with black and white. Length: 10½ inches.

The rare Stilt Sandpiper (Micropalama himantopus) has long green legs, but otherwise looks rather like a Yellow-legs. In spring it has a red-brown patch on the face and heavily barred underparts; in the fall it is gray above, white below, with a few dusky spots on the breast. The upper tail-coverts in any plumage are white.

The Knot or Robin Snipe (Calidris canutus rufus), is a rare migrant also. It is dull rufous below in spring, and the upperparts are streaked and barred with black, white, and rufous. In winter it is gray above, with black and white barring on the upper tail-coverts; below it is white, with faint dark barring. The upperparts in winter have a scaly appearance as the result of light margins of the feathers. Length: 10½ inches.

PECTORAL SANDPIPER Pisobia maculata (Vieillot)

Other Name.—Oxeye.