Part I. 495.

Adult Male. Plate CLXXXVIII. Fig. 1.

Bill short, strong, conical, acute; upper mandible rather narrower than the lower, with the dorsal outline very slightly convex, the sides rounded, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip very slightly declinate; lower mandible also slightly convex in its dorsal line, the sides rounded, the edges involute; the gap-line slightly deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the feathers. The general form rather robust. Legs of moderate length, slender; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with a few long scutella, sharp behind; toes scutellate above, free, the lateral ones nearly equal; claws slender, slightly arched, that of the hind-toe considerably larger, much compressed, acute.

Plumage soft, blended. Wings of moderate length; the third and fourth quills longest and equal, but the second, third, fourth, and fifth are about the same length, and slightly cut out on the outer edge; secondaries emarginate. Tail long, emarginate, nearly straight, of twelve rather narrow, obliquely pointed feathers.

Bill black above, reddish-yellow beneath, with the tip blackish. Iris brown. Legs dusky-brown, the toes blackish-brown. Upper part of the head bright bay; a band of greyish-white passes over the eye, lighter at its commencement near the upper mandible, and gradually shaded into ash-grey; sides of the head and neck ash-grey, the latter with some streaks of bay, of which a short band proceeds from the eye backwards. Middle of the back streaked with deep brown, bay, and pale yellowish-grey; rump light yellowish-grey. Wing-coverts similar to the back, the first row of small coverts, and the secondary coverts broadly edged with bright bay and largely tipped with white, of which there are thus two conspicuous bands across the wing; quills dusky, margined the outer with dull white, the inner with pale bay, the three inner secondaries broadly margined towards the end with white. Tail-feathers also dusky, margined externally and internally with greyish-white, the edge of the outermost pure white. Fore-neck pale grey, the sides yellowish-grey, the breast and abdomen white, tinged with cream-colour, the under tail-coverts white. An obscure spot of dark brown on the middle of the breast; and the feathers that cover the flexure of the wing, when closed, are bay.

Length 6¼ inches, extent of wings 8¾; bill along the back 4/12, along the edge 6/12; tarsus 10/12.

Adult Female. Plate CLXXXVIII. Fig. 2.

The female resembles the male, but is paler in its tints, and rather smaller.

The species is very closely allied to the Field Sparrow and the Chipping Sparrow, which are at least as much Emberizæ as Fringillæ; but as the generic characters and affinities of species cannot be conveniently detailed in a work like this, I must for the present defer the grouping of these, and the numerous birds allied to them.

THE CANADIAN BARBERRY.

BERBERIS CANADENSIS, Willd. Sp. Pl. vol. ii. p. 227. Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 219.—HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA, Linn. BERBERIDES, Juss.

This species of Barberry is very abundant in Maine and Massachusetts, as well as in the British provinces. It is an erect shrub, from five to eight feet in height, with triple prickles, simple obovate remotely serrated leaves, short corymbose racemes; yellow flowers, and pendulous oblong red berries, having an agreeable acid taste.

THE SNOW BUNTING.

EMBERIZA NIVALIS, LINN.

PLATE CLXXXIX. ADULT AND YOUNG.

As soon as the cold blasts of winter have stiffened the earth's surface, and brought with them the first snow-clouds, millions of these birds, driven before the pitiless storm, make their way towards milder climes. Their wings seem scarcely able to support their exhausted, nay almost congealed bodies, which seem little larger than the great feathery flakes of the substance from which these delicate creatures have borrowed their name. In compressed squadrons they are seen anxiously engaged in attempting to overcome the difficulties which beset them amid their perilous adventures. They now glide low over the earth, relax the closeness of their phalanx, and with amazing swiftness sweep over the country in search of that food, without which they must all shortly perish. Disappointed in their endeavours, the travellers again ascend, close their files, and continue their journey. At last, when nearly exhausted by fatigue and hunger, some leader espies the wished-for land, not yet buried in snow. Joyful notes are heard from the famished voyagers, while with relaxed flight, and wings and tail expanded, they float as it were in broad circles, towards the spot where they are to find relief. They alight, disperse, run nimbly in masses from the foot of one corn stalk to the next, scratch the ground here, pick up a dormant insect there, or nibble the small seeds of the withered grass, mixing them with a portion of gravel. Now two meet, and contend for the scanty morsel; the weaker gives way, for hunger, it seems, acts on birds as on other beings, rendering them selfish and unfeeling.

The Snow Birds enter the eastern portions of the Union sometimes early in November, and remain in such parts as suit them best until the month of March. They now and then alight on trees, frequently on fences, and sometimes on the roofs of low buildings, in such compact bodies or continued lines, as to render it easy for the sportsman who may be inclined to shoot them, to procure a great number at once.

This species, while in the United States, never enters the woods, but prefers either the barreny portions of our elevated table-lands, or the vicinity of the sea, lakes, or rivers, where much loose sand, intermixed with small clumps of bushes and grasses, is to be found. To such places I have thought that the Snow Birds endeavour to return each successive winter, unless compelled by the weather to proceed still farther south. I have seen them on the borders of Lake Erie, and on some of the barrens of Kentucky, for several successive seasons in the same neighbourhood. At Louisville I saw a flock each winter, on a piece of open ground between that city and the village of Shippingport, when their movements seldom extended beyond a space half a mile in diameter. It was there that one morning I caught several which were covered with hoarfrost, and so benumbed, that they were unable to fly. At that season, they kept company with the Shore-larks, the Lark-finches, and several species of Sparrow. They frequently alighted on trees, particularly the sweet gum, of which they eat the seeds.

The flight of this bird has a considerable resemblance to that of the Shore-lark, being rapid, elevated, and greatly protracted. It glides, as it were, through the air, in long and easy undulations, repeating a soft whistling call-note at each of these curves. While on the ground they run nimbly, and if wounded make off with great celerity, hiding in the grass, where it is difficult to find them, as they lie close and silent until danger is over.

When they first arrive, they are usually gentle and easily approached; but as their flesh is savoury, and their appearance attractive, they are shot in immense numbers, so that they soon become shy and wary. During moderate weather, they become more careless, appear to stray farther from each other, and if by the middle of the day the sun shines out warm, the male birds sing a few plaintive but soft and agreeable notes.

Only a single nest of this bird has been found within the limits of the United States. It was seen by WRIGHT BOOTH, Esq. of Boston, on a declivity of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, in the month of July 1831. That gentleman described it to me as being fixed on the ground amid low bushes, and formed like that of the Song Sparrow. It contained young ones.

Whilst with us, these birds are found in all varieties of plumage, excepting the pure white and black, which form their summer dress. I have not seen any having these colours, even among those procured late in March when they usually leave the United States. In Labrador and Newfoundland, they are known by the name of the "White Bird." Their food there consists of grass seeds, insects of various kinds, and minute testaceous mollusca. They not unfrequently alight on the wild oats growing on the borders of lakes and ponds, to feed on its seeds, and with all these substances they mix a proportion of fine sand or gravel.

EMBERIZA NIVALIS, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 308.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 103.

EMBERIZA (PLECTROPHANES) NIVALIS, SNOW BUNTLING, Swains. and Richards. Fauna Boreal.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 247.

SNOW BUNTING, EMBERIZA NIVALIS, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 86. pl. 21. fig. 2.

Adult in winter. Plate CLXXXIX. Fig. 1, 2.

Bill short, robust, tapering, somewhat compressed; upper mandible slightly convex in its dorsal line, the sides rounded, the sharp edges inflected; the palate with a convex prominence; lower mandible broader, with involute sharp edges; the gap-line deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, rounded, open, partly concealed by the feathers. The general form is rather robust. Feet of ordinary length; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with a few long scutella, sharp behind; toes scutellate above, granulate beneath, compressed, lateral toes equal; claws slightly arched, compressed, rather obtuse, with a short deep groove on each side at the base, the hind claw much longer.

Plumage soft and blended, the feathers somewhat distinct on the back only. Wings long, pointed, first quill longest, second scarcely shorter, second and third slightly cut out on the outer edge towards the end; secondaries emarginate. Tail of moderate length, deeply emarginate.

Bill yellow, the tips brown. Iris brown. Feet brownish-black. Head brownish-white, the crown and ear-coverts pale chestnut. Hind neck greyish white, tinged with chestnut. Feathers of the back brownish, margined and broadly tipped with light yellowish-red; the rump feathers white, tipped with the latter colour. The whole under surface is white, the sides of the neck and breast tinged with reddish-brown. Wing-coverts on both sides, and six outer secondaries, white; primary coverts white, tipped with brownish-black, primaries brownish-black, slightly margined and tipped with white, and having a broad band of the same extending over the base, and enlarging inwards, inner secondaries brownish-black, margined with pale reddish. Three outer tail-feathers on each side white, excepting towards the end, where they are brownish-black, of which colour are the other feathers, all being tipped and edged with whitish; upper tail-coverts brownish-black, with a large white tip.

Length 7 inches, extent of wings 13; bill along the back nearly 5/12, along the edge 7/12; tarsus 9½/12.

Young bird in winter. Plate CLXXXIX. Fig. 3.

The young bird in autumn and winter has the bill of a more rufous tint, the legs dusky brown, the head deep reddish-brown tinged with grey, a rufous band across the fore part of the breast, the back streaked with blackish-brown and light red; the wing coverts dark coloured, and the white of the quills less extended. On the lower parts the white is also less pure.

THE YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER.

PICUS VARIUS, LINN.

PLATE CXC. MALE AND FEMALE.

This beautiful species returns to Louisiana and the other Southern States, about the beginning of October. It remains there during the winter, and takes its departure before the beginning of April, after which period I have never observed it in these districts. It is seen in Kentucky, and a few breed there; but the greater number return to the middle and especially the northern parts of the Union. During the winter months, it associates with the Hairy, the Red-bellied, and the Downy Woodpeckers. Its notes, which are extremely plaintive, differ widely from those of any other species, and are heard at a considerable distance in the woods.

The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker prefers the interior of the forest during spring and summer, seldom shewing itself near the habitations of man at those seasons. It is a sly and suspicious bird, spending most of its time in trees which have close branches and dense foliage. It generally bores its nest at a considerable height, and usually in the trunk of an undecayed tree, immediately beneath a large branch, and on its southern side. The hole is worked out by the male as well as the female, in the manner followed by other species, and to the depth of from fifteen to twenty-four inches. The aperture is just large enough to admit the birds, but the hole widens gradually towards the bottom, where it is large and roomy. The eggs, which are from four to six, and pure white, with a slight blush, are deposited on the chips without any nest. The young seldom leave the hole until they are fully fledged, after which they follow their parents, in a straggling manner, until the approach of spring, when the males become shy towards each other, and quarrel whenever they meet, frequently erecting the feathers of the head and fighting desperately.

They fly through the woods with rapidity, in short undulations, seldom going farther at a time than from one tree to another. I never observed one of these birds on the ground. Their food consists of wood-worms and beetles, to which they add small grapes and various berries during autumn and winter, frequently hanging head downwards at the extremity of a bunch of grapes, or such berries as those you see represented in the Plate.

I found this species extremely abundant in the upper parts of the State of Maine, and in the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, but saw none in Newfoundland or Labrador.

While travelling I observed that they performed their migration by day, in loose parties or families of six or seven individuals, flying at a great height, and at the intervals between their sailings and the flappings of their wings, emitting their remarkable plaintive cries. When alighting towards sunset, they descended with amazing speed in a tortuous manner, and first settled on the tops of the highest trees, where they remained perfectly silent for a while, after which they betook themselves to the central parts of the thickest trees, and searched along the trunks for abandoned holes of squirrels or woodpeckers, in which they spent the night, several together in the same hole. On one occasion, while I was watching their movements at a late hour, I was much surprised to see a pair of them disputing the entrance of a hole with an owl (Strix Asio), which for nearly a quarter of an hour tried, but in vain, to drive them away from its retreat. The owl alighted sidewise on the tree under its hole, swelled out its plumage, blew and hissed with all its might; but the two Woodpeckers so guarded the entrance with their sharp bills, their eyes flushed, and the feathers of their heads erected, that the owner of the abode was at length forced to relinquish his claims. The next day at noon I returned to the tree, when I found the little nocturnal vagrant snugly ensconced in his diurnal retreat.

This species of Woodpecker does not obtain the full beauty of its plumage until the second spring; and the variety of colouring which it presents in the male and female, the old and young birds, renders it one of the most interesting of those found in the United States.

PICUS VARIUS, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 176.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 45.

PICUS (DENDROCOPUS) VARIUS, Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor.- Amer. vol. ii. p. 309.

YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER, PICUS VARIUS, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. i. p. 147. pl. 9. fig. 2. Male.—Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith. vol. i. p. 75. pl. 8. fig. 1, 2, young.—Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 574.

Adult Male. Plate CXC. Fig. 1.

Bill longish, straight, strong, tapering, compressed towards the end, slightly truncated and cuneate at the tip; mandibles of equal length, both nearly straight in their dorsal outline, their sides convex, excepting at the base. Nostrils basal, lateral, elliptical, open, covered by the feathers, and having a sharp ridge passing over them to the edge of the bill near the middle. Head of moderate size, neck rather short, body rather robust. Feet rather short; tarsus compressed, anteriorly scutellate, laterally covered with hexagonal scales, sharp behind; two toes before, united as far as the second joint; two behind, the first very small, the second equal in length to the third, claws strong, much curved, compressed, with a short deep groove on each side, very acute.

Plumage soft, rather blended, slightly glossed, that of the head shining. Wings long, the first quill extremely small, fourth longest, third nearly equal, second shorter than fifth; secondaries slightly emarginate. Tail of ordinary length, cuneate, of ten pointed feathers, having very short shafts.

Bill brownish-black. Iris brown. Feet greyish-blue. Forehead and crown, chin and sides of the throat blood-red, the two patches margined with greenish-black, of which colour is a broad band on the occiput, and a large space on the lower neck and fore part of the breast, a broad band of white from the eye margining the back of the occiput; another from the base of the upper mandible down the side of the neck, the interspace black. Scapulars black, tinged with green. Wing-coverts and quills black, the first row of smaller coverts white, excepting at the base, those of the outer secondary coverts are white on the outer webs, and the quills, excepting the first, are spotted on the outer and inner edges, and more or less tipped with the same. The back is variegated with black and brownish-white. Tail-feathers black, the outer margined with white towards the tip, the two inner spotted with white on the inner web. Middle of the breast yellow, sides dusky yellow, variegated with brownish-black.

Length 8½ inches, extent of wings 15; bill along the ridge 10/12, along the edge 1-1/12; tarsus 10/12.

Adult Female. Plate CXC. Fig. 2.

The female resembles the male, but the throat is white, and the yellow of the lower parts less pure.

THE WILD ALMOND.

This plant has already been noticed at p. 340 of the present volume.

COD-FISHING.

Although I had seen, as I thought, abundance of fish along the coasts of the Floridas, the numbers which I found in Labrador quite astonished me. Should your surprise while reading the following statements be as great as mine was while observing the facts related, you will conclude, as I have often done, that Nature's means for providing small animals for the use of larger ones, and vice versa, are as ample as is the grandeur of that world which she has so curiously constructed.

The coast of Labrador is visited by European as well as American fishermen, all of whom are, I believe, entitled to claim portions of fishing-ground, assigned to each nation by mutual understanding. For the present, however, I shall confine my observations to those of our own country, who, after all, are probably the most numerous. The citizens of Boston, and many others of our eastern sea-ports, are those who chiefly engage in this department of our commerce. Eastport in Maine sends out every year a goodly fleet, of schooners and "pickaxes" to Labrador, to procure cod, mackerel, halibut, and sometimes herring, the latter being caught in the intermediate space. The vessels from that port, and others in Maine and Massachusetts, sail as soon as the warmth of spring has freed the gulf of ice, that is, from the beginning of May to that of June.

A vessel of one hundred tons or so, is provided with a crew of twelve men, who are equally expert as sailors and fishers, and for every couple of these hardy tars, a Hampton boat is provided, which is lashed on the deck, or hung in stays. Their provision is simple, but of good quality, and it is very seldom that any spirits are allowed, beef, pork, and biscuit, with water, being all they take with them. The men are supplied with warm clothing, waterproof oiled jackets and trowsers, large boots, broad-brimmed hats with a round crown, and stout mittens, with a few shirts. The owner or captain furnishes them with lines, hooks, and nets, and also provides the bait best adapted to ensure success. The hold of the vessel is filled with casks of various dimensions, some containing salt, and others for the oil that may be procured.

The bait generally used at the beginning of the season, consists of mussels salted for the purpose; but as soon as the capelings reach the coast, they are substituted to save expense; and in many instances, the flesh of gannets and other sea-fowl is employed. The wages of fishermen vary from sixteen to thirty dollars per month, according to the qualifications of the individual.

The labour of these men is excessively hard, for, unless on Sunday, their allowance of rest in the twenty-four hours seldom exceeds three. The cook is the only person who fares better in this respect, but he must also assist in curing the fish. He has breakfast, consisting of coffee, bread, and meat, ready for the captain and the whole crew, by three o'clock every morning, excepting Sunday. Each person carries with him his dinner ready cooked, which is commonly eaten on the fishing-grounds.

Thus, at three in the morning, the crew are prepared for their day's labour, and ready to betake themselves to their boats, each of which has two oars and lugsails. They all depart at once, and either by rowing or sailing, reach the banks to which the fishes are known to resort. The little squadron drop their anchors at short distances from each other, in a depth of from ten to twenty feet, and the business is immediately commenced. Each man has two lines, and each stands in one end of the boat, the middle of which is boarded off to hold the fish. The baited lines have been dropped into the water, one on each side of the boat; their leads have reached the bottom, a fish has taken the hook, and after giving the line a slight jerk, the fisherman hauls up his prize with a continued pull, throws the fish athwart a small round bar of iron placed near his back, which forces open the mouth, while the weight of the body, however small the fish may be, tears out the hook. The bait is still good, and over the side the line again goes, to catch another fish, while that on the left is now drawn up, and the same course pursued. In this manner, a fisher busily plying at each end, the operation is continued until the boat is so laden, that her gunwale is brought within a few inches of the surface, when they return to the vessel in harbour, seldom distant more than eight miles from the banks.

During the greater part of the day, the fishermen have kept up a constant conversation, of which the topics are the pleasure of finding a good supply of cod, their domestic affairs, the political prospects of the nation, and other matters similarly connected. Now the repartee of one elicits a laugh from the other; this passes from man to man, and the whole flotilla enjoy the joke. The men of one boat strive to outdo those of the others in hauling up the greatest quantity of fish in a given time, and this forms another source of merriment. The boats are generally filled about the same time, and all return together.

Arrived at the vessel, each man employs a pole armed with a bent iron, resembling the prong of a hay-fork, with which he pierces the fish, and throws it with a jerk on deck, counting the number thus discharged with a loud voice. Each cargo is thus safely deposited, and the boats instantly return to the fishing-ground, when, after anchoring, the men eat their dinner and begin a-new. There, good reader, with your leave, I will let them pursue their avocations for a while, as I am anxious that you should witness what is doing on board the vessel.

The captain, four men, and the cook, have, in the course of the morning, erected long tables fore and aft the main hatchway, they have taken to the shore most of the salt barrels, and have placed in a row their large empty casks, to receive the livers. The hold of the vessel is quite clear, except a corner where is a large heap of salt. And now the men having dined precisely at twelve, are ready with their large knives. One begins with breaking off the head of the fish, a slight pull of the hand and a gash with the knife effecting this in a moment. He slits up its belly, with one hand pushes it aside to his neighbour, then throws overboard the head, and begins to doctor another. The next man tears out the entrails, separates the liver, which he throws into a cask, and casts the rest overboard. A third person dexterously passes his knife beneath the vertebræ of the fish, separates them from the flesh, heaves the latter through the hatchway, and the former into the water.

Now, if you will peep into the hold, you will see the last stage of the process, the salting and packing. Six experienced men generally manage to head, gut, bone, salt and pack, all the fish caught in the morning, by the return of the boats with fresh cargoes, when all hands set to work, and clear the deck of the fish. Thus their labours continue until twelve o'clock, when they wash their faces and hands, put on clean clothes, hang their fishing apparel on the shrouds, and, betaking themselves to the forecastle, are soon in a sound sleep.

At three next morning comes the captain from his berth, rubbing his eyes; and in a loud voice calling "all hands, ho!" Stiffened in limb, and but half awake, the crew quickly appear on the deck. Their fingers and hands are so cramped and swollen by pulling the lines, that it is difficult for them to straighten even a thumb; but this matters little at present; for the cook, who had a good nap yesterday, has risen an hour before them, and prepared their coffee and eatables. Breakfast dispatched, they exchange their clean clothes for the fishing-apparel, and leap into their boats, which had been washed the previous night, and again the flotilla bounds to the fishing-ground.

As there may be not less than 100 schooners or pickaxes in the harbour, 300 boats resort to the banks each day; and, as each boat may procure 2000 cods per diem, when Saturday night comes about 600,000 fishes have been brought to the harbour. This having caused some scarcity on the fishing-grounds, and Sunday being somewhat of an idle day, the Captain collects the salt ashore, and sets sail for some other convenient harbour, which he expects to reach long before sunset. If the weather be favourable, the men get a good deal of rest during the voyage, and on Monday things go on as before.

I must not omit to tell you, reader, that, while proceeding from one harbour to another, the vessel has passed near a rock, which is the breeding place of myriads of Puffins. She has laid to for an hour or so, while part of the crew have landed, and collected a store of eggs, excellent as a substitute for cream, and not less so when hard boiled as food for the fishing-grounds. I may as well inform you also, how these adventurous fellows distinguish the fresh eggs from the others. They fill up some large tubs with water, throw in a quantity of eggs, and allow them to remain a minute or so, when those which come to the surface are tossed overboard, and even those that manifest any upward tendency, share the same treatment. All that remain at bottom, you may depend upon it, good reader, are perfectly sound, and not less palatable than any that you have ever eaten, or that your best guinea-fowl has just dropped in your barn-yard. But let us return to the cod-fish.

The fish already procured and salted, is taken ashore at the new harbour, by part of the crew, whom the captain has marked as the worst hands at fishing. There, on the bare rocks, or on elevated scaffolds of considerable extent, the salted cods are laid side by side to dry in the sun. They are turned several times a-day, and in the intervals the men bear a hand on board at clearing and stowing away the daily produce of the fishing-banks. Towards evening they return to the drying grounds, and put up the fish in piles resembling so many hay-stacks, disposing those towards the top in such a manner that the rain cannot injure them, and placing a heavy stone on the summit to prevent their being thrown down should it blow hard during the night. You see, reader, that the life of a Labrador fisherman is not one of idleness.

The capelings have approached the shores, and in myriads enter every basin and stream, to deposit their spawn, for now July is arrived. The cods follow them, as the blood-hound follows his prey, and their compact masses literally line the shores. The fishermen now adopt another method: they have brought with them long and deep seines, one end of which is, by means of a line fastened to the shore, while the other is, in the usual manner, drawn out in a broad sweep, to inclose as great a space as possible, and hauled on shore by means of a capstan. Some of the men in boats support the corked part of the net, and beat the water to frighten the fishes within towards the land, while others, armed with poles, enter the water, hook the fishes, and fling them on the beach, the net being gradually drawn closer as the number of fishes diminishes. What do you think, reader, as to the number of cods secured in this manner at a single haul?—thirty, or thirty thousand? You may form some notion of the matter when I tell you that the young gentlemen of my party, while going along the shores, caught cod-fish alive, with their hands, and trouts of many pounds weight with a piece of twine and a mackerel-hook hung to their gun-rods; and that, if two of them walked knee-deep along the rocks, holding a handkerchief by the corners, they swept it full of capelings. Should you not trust me in this, I refer you to the fishermen themselves, or recommend you to go to Labrador, where you will give credit to the testimony of your eyes.

The seining of the cod-fish, I believe, is not quite lawful, for a great proportion of the codlings which are dragged ashore at last, are so small as to be considered useless; and, instead of being returned to the water, as they ought to be, are left on the shore, where they are ultimately eaten by bears, wolves, and ravens. The fishes taken along the coast, or on fishing-stations only a few miles off, are of small dimensions; and I believe I am correct in saying, that few of them weigh more than two pounds, when perfectly cured, or exceed six when taken out of the water. The fish are liable to several diseases, and at times are annoyed by parasitic animals, which in a short time render them lean and unfit for use.

Some individuals, from laziness, or other causes, fish with naked hooks, and thus frequently wound the cod without securing them, in consequence of which the shoals are driven away, to the detriment of the other fishers. Some carry their cargoes to other parts before drying them, while others dispose of them to agents from distant shores. Some have only a pickaxe of fifty tons, while others are owners of seven or eight vessels of equal or larger burden; but whatever be their means, should the season prove favourable, they are generally well repaid for their labour. I have known instances of men, who, on their first voyage, ranked as "boys," and in ten years after were in independent circumstances, although they still continued to resort to the fishing; for, said they to me, "how could we be content to spend our time in idleness at home!" I know a person of this class who has carried on the trade for many years, and who has quite a little fleet of schooners, one of which, the largest and most beautifully built, has a cabin as neat and comfortable as any that I have ever seen in a vessel of the same size. This vessel took fish on board only when perfectly cured, or acted as pilot to the rest, and now and then would return home with an ample supply of halibut, or a cargo of prime mackerel. On another occasion, I will offer some remarks on the improvements which I think might be made in the cod-fisheries of the coast of Labrador.

THE WILLOW GROUS.

TETRAO SALICETI, TEMM.

PLATE CXCI. MALE, FEMALE AND YOUNG.

Although I have not seen this beautiful bird within the limits of the United States, I feel assured that it exists in the State of Maine, as well as in the northern districts bordering on the great lakes. THEODORE LINCOLN, Esq. of Dennisville in Maine, shot seven one day, not many miles from that village; and the hunter who guided me to the breeding grounds of the Canada Grous, assured me, that he also knew where the "Red-necked Partridge" was to be found. The places which he described as frequented by them, seemed to bear as near a resemblance to those in which I found the species in Labrador and Newfoundland, as the difference of latitude and vegetation could admit. I have also seen several skins of individuals that were killed near Lake Michigan.

The Willow Grous differs in its habits from the Canada Grous in several remarkable circumstances. In the first place, neither myself nor any of my party ever found the former solitary or single. The males were always in the immediate vicinity of the nest while the females were sitting, and accompanied them and the young, from the time the latter were hatched until they were full-grown; and whenever we met with them, we observed that the males and the females manifested the strongest attachment towards each other, as well as towards their young. In fact, so much was this the case, that when a covey happened to come in our way, the parents would fly directly towards us with so much boldness, that some were actually killed on the wing with the rods of our guns, as they flew about in the agonies of rage and despair, with all their feathers raised and ruffled. In the mean time, the little ones dispersed and made off through the deep moss and tangled creeping plants with great rapidity, squatting and keeping close to the ground, when it became extremely difficult to find them. This is the only American species of Grous I am acquainted with that possesses these habits; in all others found in the United States, the male not only leaves the female as soon as incubation has commenced, but both fly from man and urge their young to do the same from their earliest age.

The Willow Grouse, moreover, join their broods whenever an opportunity offers, and we found flocks of old and young, in which the latter were of very different sizes. This species rarely if ever alights on bushes or trees after being fully grown, and appears to resort at all times by preference to the ground, living among the naked rocks of the open morasses.

The young birds do not acquire their full summer plumage before they are two years old. Many of these middle-aged birds, as I would call them, which our party procured early in the month of July, differed greatly from the older birds, which had their broods then quite small. They were much lighter in colour, their tails were shorter, and they weighed less, but afforded much better eating. Some of them had young, but their broods were much smaller in point of number, seldom exceeding four or five, while the old birds frequently had a dozen or more.

The flight of the Willow Grous resembles that of the Red Grous of Scotland, being regular, swift, and on occasion protracted to a very great distance. They have no whirring sound of their wings, even when put up by sudden surprise. Whenever we found a pair without young, they were extremely shy, and would fly from one hill to another often at a great distance. If pursued, they would be seen standing erect, and boldly watching our approach, until we got to the distance of a few hundred yards from them, when they would run from the naked rocks into the moss, and there squat so close, that unless one of the party happened to walk almost over them, they remained unseen, and could not be raised. When discovered and put up, they were easily shot, on account of the beautiful regularity of their flight. In rising from the ground, they utter a loud and quickly repeated chuck, which is continued for eight or ten yards.

Young birds shot in Newfoundland, on the 11th of August, weighed 6¼ ounces, and were fully fledged. Their primaries were of a sullied white, but their legs were not closely covered with hair-like feathers as in the old birds. Although this species breeds in the districts inhabited by the Canada Grous, it never enters the thickets to which the latter resorts, but always remains in the open grounds.

One day while in search of young Wild Geese, in a large oozy and miry flat, covered with a floating bed of tangled herbage, we were much surprised at finding there several Willow Grous. They were extremely shy, and flew from one part of the marsh to another. We procured with great difficulty two, which proved to be barren females.

To give you an idea of the difficulties we had occasionally to encounter, in our endeavours to procure such birds as breed in that country, it will suffice to say, that one of us was so mired in the flat just mentioned, that it was with extreme difficulty another of us succeeded in extricating him, to the great danger of being himself swamped, in which case we must all have perished, had no aid arrived. We were completely smeared with black mud, and so fatigued, that when we returned, we found it impossible to proceed more than a few yards before we were forced to sit down on the dangerous sward, which at every step shook for a considerable space around so that we were obliged to keep at a distance from each other, and move many yards apart, constantly fearing that the least increase of weight would have burst the thin layer that supported us, and sent us in to a depth from which we could not have been extricated. But once out of the bog, we were delighted with the success of our enterprise, and as we refreshed ourselves from our scanty stores, when we had reached the rocky shores of the sea, we laughed heartily at what had happened, although only a few hours before it was considered a most serious accident.

As I am speaking of fowling in Labrador, allow me to relate an incident connected with the Willow Grous. Among our crew was a sailor, who was somewhat of a wag. He was a "man-of-war's-man," and had seen a good deal of service in our navy, an expert sailor, perhaps the best diver I have seen, always willing to work hard, and always full of fun. This sailor and another had the rowing of our gig on an excursion after Grous and other wild birds. THOMAS LINCOLN and my son JOHN WOODHOUSE, managed the boat. The gig having landed on the main, the sailors, who had guns, went one way, and the young travellers another. They all returned, as was previously agreed upon, at the same hour, and produced the birds which they had procured. The sailor had none, and was laughed at. While rowing towards the Ripley, we heard the cries of birds as if in the air; the rowing ceased but nothing could be seen, and we proceeded. Again the sounds of birds were distinctly heard, but again none could be seen, and what seemed strange was, that they were heard only at each pull of the oars. The young men taxed the tar with producing the noises, as they saw him as if employed in doing so with his mouth; however, the thing still remained a mystery. Sometime after we had got on board, the provision basket was called for, and was produced by Master BILL, who, grinning from ear to ear, drew out of it two fine old Grous, and a whole covey of young ones, in all the exultation of one who had outwitted what he called his betters.

While at the harbour of Bras d'Or, I was told by persons who had resided in the country for many years, that, during the winter, when the snow covers the ground, and the Grous are obliged to scratch through it, in order to get at the mosses and lichens, they are so abundant that a hundred or more can be shot in a day, and congregate in flocks of immense numbers, now and then mixed with the smaller species, called there the Rock Grous, and which is the Tetrao rupestris. Their flesh is then salted for summer use. At that season they are of a pure white, except the tail, which retains its jetty blackness. I was further informed that their flesh is then dry, and not to be compared with what it is in summer, when I found it tender, and having an agreeable aromatic flavour.

The Willow Grous breeds in Labrador about the beginning of June. The female conceals her nest under the creeping branches of the low firs. It consists of bits of dry twigs and mosses drawn into a form. The eggs are from five to fourteen, according to the age of the bird, and are marbled with irregular spots of reddish-brown, on a dull fawn-colour or rufous ground. They raise only one brood in the season.

The pair represented in the plate, with their young, were procured by my friend GEORGE SHATTUCK, Esq. of Boston, one of my party, who shot the first pair found by us in Labrador. They were in their full summer plumage. I think these birds, as well as the Canada Grous, have what I call a continued moult, young feathers being found upon them at all seasons.

TETRAO SALICETI, Temm. Manuel d'Ornith. p. 471.

TETRAO (LAGOPUS) SALICETI, Swains. and Richards. Fauna Boreali-Americ. part. ii. p. 351.

WILLOW GROUS or LARGE PTARMIGAN, Nuttall, Manual, part ii. p. 674.

Adult Male, in summer. Plate CXCI. Fig. 1.

Bill short, robust; upper mandible with the dorsal outline curved, the edges overlapping, the tip declinate and rounded, the basal part with a deep sinus on each side, lower mandible convex, broad, with the tip rounded. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the feathers. Head small, neck rather long, body bulky. Feet of ordinary length; tarsus feathered, as are the toes, excepting towards the end, where they are covered with small scales and three terminal scutella; hind toe extremely short, two lateral equal; claws slightly arched, depressed, broad, with thin edges, and rounded.

Plumage compact, the feathers generally rounded, those of the head and upper neck narrow and proportionally short. The legs and toes covered with hair-like feathers. Wings short, the primaries strong, narrow, tapering, curved, third longest, second and fourth little shorter. Tail short, even, or very slightly rounded, of fourteen broad feathers, and four narrower central ones, which are superior.

Bill black. Iris brown. Toes and claws dark brown, the edges of the latter yellowish-grey. Head and neck bright chestnut, the feathers on the back part of the latter and crown of the head barred with black, and tipped with whitish. The back, some of the wing-coverts, the nearer secondary quills, the four upper tail-feathers, the anterior part of the breast, and part of the sides under the wings, variegated with brownish-black, chestnut and white, the feathers being of the first colour in the middle, and transversely barred with the second towards the end, while the terminal margin is of the last. Most of the coverts, all the primaries, and the greater number of the secondaries, with the whole under surface of the wings, the middle of the breast, the abdomen, legs and feet, pure white, the shafts of the primaries are more or less brown, excepting towards the ends, The fourteen tail-feathers are brownish-black, with the tips white, as is the basal portion of the outer web of the outermost. The superciliary membranes are vermilion.

Length 17 inches, extent of wings 26½; bill along the ridge ¾; tarsus 1½; middle toe with the nail 1-7/12; weight 1¼ lb.

Adult Female, in summer. Plate CXCI. Fig. 2.

In the female the superciliary membrane is much smaller, but of the same colour, as are the wings and tail. The head, neck, breast, abdomen, sides, as well as the upper parts, are variegated in a manner resembling the back of the male, but with the black spots larger, and the transverse bars of light brownish-red, broader and less numerous; the lower surface much lighter.

Length 16 inches, extent of wings 25; weight 1 lb.

Young a few days old. Plate CXCI. Fig. 3, 3.

The young are covered with a dense elastic down, of a yellowish tint, variegated above with a few large streaks of dark brown, on a light brown ground; the top of the head with a longitudinal brown patch margined with black.

The Young when fully fledged resemble the Female.

THE LABRADOR TEA PLANT.

LEDUM LATIFOLIUM, Willd. Sp. Pl. vol. ii. p. 602. Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 301.—DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA, Linn. RHODODENDRA, Juss.

The Labrador Tea Plant springs up among the rich and thick moss that everywhere covers the country of Labrador. I was informed that the fishermen and Indians frequently make use of it instead of tea.

It is a small shrub, about a foot in height, with linear oblong leaves, which are folded back at the margin, and covered on the back with a rust-coloured down. The flowers are white.

THE SEA PEA.

PISUM MARITIMUM, Willd. Sp. Pl. vol. iii. p. 1071. Pursh, Flor. Amer. Sept. vol. ii. p. 470.—DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA, Linn. LEGUMINOSÆ, Juss.

This species of Pea grows in the same country, generally in the vicinity of the sea. It has an angular stem, with sagittate stipules, and many-flowered peduncles, with large purple, blue and red flowers.

THE GREAT CINEREOUS SHRIKE.

LANIUS EXCUBITOR, LINN.

PLATE CXCII. MALE, FEMALE, AND YOUNG.

Although this species spends the greater part of the year in our most Eastern States, and in countries still farther north, many individuals remain in the mountainous districts of the Middle States, and breed there. In severe winters, it migrates as far south as the neighbourhood of the city of Natchez, on the Mississippi, where I have shot several and seen many more. In Kentucky it is not a rare bird at that season, but along the coasts of our southern States I have never met with it, nor have I heard of its having been seen there.

In spring and summer it retires from the low lands of the Middle States, to the mountainous districts, where it generally remains until autumn. About the 20th of April, the male and his mate are seen engaged in building their nest, in the covered and secluded parts of the forests. I found several of their nests placed on bushes not above ten feet from the ground, without any appearance of choice as to the tree, but generally towards the top, and placed in a fork. The nest is as large as that of the Robin, and is composed externally of coarse grasses, leaves and moss, internally of fibrous roots, over which is a bed of the feathers of the Wild Turkey and Pheasant (Tetrao umbellus). The eggs are four or five, of a dull cinereous tint, thickly spotted and streaked with light brown towards the larger end. The period of incubation is fifteen days.

The young are at first of a dark bluish colour, but when they become covered with feathers, they assume a dull rufous tint above, and are transversely barred with zig-zag lines from the throat to the abdomen. In this State they remain until late in autumn, and might seem to one not acquainted with them to be of a different species. They remain with their parents all that time, and not unfrequently even during winter. Caterpillars, spiders and insects of various kinds form their first food, together with small fruits; but as they grow up, their parents bring them the flesh of small birds, on which they feed greedily even before they leave the nest.

This valiant little warrior possesses the faculty of imitating the notes of other birds, especially such as are indicative of pain. Thus it will often mimic the cries of Sparrows and other small birds, so as to make you believe you hear them screaming in the claws of a Hawk; and I strongly suspect this is done for the purpose of inducing others to come out from their coverts to the rescue of their suffering brethren. On several occasions I have seen it in the act of screaming in this manner, when it would suddenly dart from its perch into a thicket, from which there would immediately issue the real cries of a bird on which it had seized. On the banks of the Mississippi, I saw one which for several days in succession had regularly taken its stand on the top of a tall tree, where it from time to time imitated the cries of the Swamp and Song Sparrows, and shortly afterwards would pitch downwards like a Hawk, with is wings close to its body, seldom failing in obtaining the object of its pursuit, which it would sometimes follow even through the briars and brambles among which it had sought refuge. When unable to secure the prey, it would reascend to its perch, and emit loud and discordant notes of anger. Whenever I could see it strike its victim, it appeared to alight on its back, and instantly strike its head, which on such occasions I have several times found torn open. If not disturbed, the Shrike would then tear up the body, and swallow in large pieces, not well cleared of the feathers, every part excepting the wings. It now and then pursues birds that are on the wing to a considerable distance. Thus, I saw one follow a Turtle Dove, which, on being nearly caught, pitched on the ground, where its skull was bruised in a moment; but the next instant both birds were in my possession.

The courage, activity, and perseverance of this species, are quite surprising. In winter, when insects are scarce, and small birds rare in the Eastern States, I have known it to enter the cities and attack birds in cages. During my stay at Boston, several of them were brought to me, that had been caught in the apartments in which cages containing canaries were kept, and in every instance after the little favourite had been massacred. Near the same city I observed an individual poised on wing, in the manner of our Sparrow Hawk, for several minutes at a time, over the withered grass and sedges of salt water meadows, when it suddenly pounced on some small bird concealed there.

Although its feet are small and apparently weak, its claws are sharp, and it is capable of inflicting a pretty severe wound on the finger or hand. It bites with great pertinacity, and will seldom let go its hold unless its throat is squeezed.

Its flight is strong, swift, and sustained: it moves through the air in long undulations which have each an extent of twenty or thirty yards, but it seldom rises very high, unless for the purpose of obtaining a good point of observation, and in its usual flight merely passes over the tops of the low bushes rapidly and in silence, in starts of from fifty to a hundred yards. I never saw one walk or move on the ground.

They are extremely fond of crickets and grasshoppers, as well as other kinds of insects, and they feed on the flesh of birds whenever they can procure it. The individuals which I have kept in cages, appeared well pleased with pieces of fresh beef, but they generally remained dull and sullen until they died. As it was only during winter that I had them in confinement, when no coleopterous insects could be procured, I had no opportunity of observing if, like Hawks, they have the power of throwing up hard particles of the food which they swallow, although I should suppose this to be the case. Their propensity to impale insects and small birds on the sharp points of twigs and on thorns, which they so frequently do at all seasons of the year, is quite a mystery to me, as I cannot conceive what its object may be.

I have represented four of these birds of different ages, and therefore differing in colour and size, leaving to the naturalists of Europe to determine, if they can, whether the American species be the same as the one found in that portion of the globe. For my part, I believe the two to be the same. In our species the transverse lines of the breast disappear as the bird advances in age, when the tint of the upper part of the plumage also becomes lighter.

LANIUS EXCUBITOR, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 135.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 67.

LANIUS SEPTENTRIONALIS, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. p. 72.

LANIUS BOREALIS, Vieill. Ois. de l'Amer. vol. i. p. 80. pl. 50. —Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 111. pl. 33. (Young.)

GREAT CINEREOUS SHRIKE, Mont. Ornith. Dict.—Selby, Illustrations, vol. i. p. 148.

GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE or BUTCHER BIRD, LANIUS EXCUBITOR, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. p. 74. pl. 5. fig. 1.—Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 25.

Adult Male. CXCII. Fig. 1.

Bill of moderate length, strong, compressed; upper mandible with the dorsal outline a little arched, the tip declinate, the edges sharp and inflected towards the strong process, which is separated from the tip by a deep sinus; lower mandible with the dorsal line convex, the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the acute tip ascending. Nostrils basal, lateral, half closed by an arched membrane. Head large, neck short, body robust. Feet of ordinary length; tarsus rather short, compressed, anteriorly scutellate, sharp behind; toes five, the lateral ones nearly equal, the hind toe stouter; claws arched, compressed, acute.

Plumage soft, blended. Long bristles at the base of the bill. Wings of ordinary length, the fourth quill longest, third little shorter, second shorter than sixth, first about half the length of second; secondaries rounded, with a minute tip. Tail long, straight, graduated; of twelve rounded feathers.

Bill brownish-black at the end, paler towards the base, the edges of both mandibles and the basal part of the lower, flesh-colour tinged with yellow. Iris hazel. Feet brownish-black. The upper parts are light ash-grey, the ends of the scapulars, and the rump feathers and upper tail-coverts, greyish-white; a streak of the same colour over the eye; the lore and ear-coverts brownish-black. The first row of smaller wing-coverts, the primary and secondary coverts, and the quills, brownish-black; the latter, especially the secondary quills, as well as their coverts, tipped with white. Base of the primaries white, forming a conspicuous spot on the wing. Tail-feathers brownish-black; outer web of the outermost, with more than a third of the inner web from the tip, white; the extremities of all the rest, excepting the two middle, of the same colour, which gradually occupies less extent on the inner feathers. The whole under surface greyish white, tinged with brown on the fore part of the breast, which is transversely marked with faint undulating bars of dark grey, as are the sides.

Length 10¼ inches, extent of wings 14; bill along the back ¾, along the edge of lower mandible 1-2/12; tarsus 1-1/12.

Adult Female. Plate CXCII. Fig. 2.

The female differs from the male only in having the head and neck slightly tinged with brown, the band before the eye obscure, and the under parts with more numerous undulated lines.

Adult Male in summer. Plate CXCII. Fig. 3.

The grey of the upper parts tinged with brown, the white of the lower with yellowish-brown, in other respects the same.

Young bird. Plate CXCII. Fig. 4.

The bill greyish-blue, at the end brownish-black, the upper parts grey, deeply tinged with brown, with which the quills and their coverts are margined; the upper tail-coverts transversely barred; the whitish line over the eye less distinct, the ear-coverts dark brown, the lower parts pale grey, tinged with brown, and undulated all over; the four middle tail-feathers black.

The older the birds are, the more pure and pale does the grey of the upper parts become, while the undulations of the lower parts gradually disappear, although I have not seen an individual in which they were altogether obliterated.

On comparing this bird with the Lanius Excubitor of Europe, I cannot perceive any differences that could induce me for a moment to conceive them distinct. The relative length of the quills, the length of the bill and tarsus, the general form, size, and colouring, differ in no essential respect. I am, therefore, decidedly of opinion that our Shrike is the same bird as that which occurs in Europe. The old female, as has been stated above, differs little in tint from the old male, the younger birds only (of both sexes) being deeply browned. A fine adult male which was shot near Edinburgh, and is preserved in the beautiful Museum of the University of that city, agrees in all respects with specimens from America in my possession.

CRATÆGUS APIIFOLIA, Mich. Fl. Amer. vol. i. p. 287. Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 336.—ICOSANDRIA PENTAGYNIA, Linn. ROSACEÆ, Juss.

This species of Hawthorn bears a great resemblance to that so common in Europe. It grows on the banks of rivers and in damp woods in several of the Southern States, and attains a height of twelve or fifteen feet. The leaves are somewhat triangular in their general outline, inciso-lobate, the lobes acute and deeply toothed; the flowers white, and the berries ovate or oblong, of a deep red colour.

LINCOLN'S FINCH.

FRINGILLA LINCOLNII.

PLATE CXCIII. MALE AND FEMALE.

We had been in Labrador nearly three weeks before this Finch was discovered. One morning while the sun was doing his best to enliven the gloomy aspect of the country, I chanced to enter one of those singular small valleys here and there to be seen. The beautiful verdure of the vegetation, the numerous flowers that grew sprinkled over the ground, the half-smothered pipings of some frogs, and the multitudes of mosquitoes and flies of various sorts, seemed to belong to a region very different from any that I had previously explored. But if the view of this favoured spot was pleasing to my eye, how much more to my ear were the sweet notes of this bird as they came thrilling on the sense, surpassing in vigour those of any American Finch with which I am acquainted, and forming a song which seemed a compound of those of the Canary and Wood-lark of Europe. I immediately shouted to my companions, who were not far distant. They came, and we all followed the songster as it flitted from one bush to another to evade our pursuit. No sooner would it alight than it renewed its song; but we found more wildness in this species than in any other inhabiting the same country, and it was with difficulty that we at last procured it. Chance placed my young companion, THOMAS LINCOLN, in a situation where he saw it alight within shot, and with his usual unerring aim, he cut short its career. On seizing it, I found it to be a species which I had not previously seen; and, supposing it to be new, I named it Tom's Finch, in honour of our friend LINCOLN, who was a great favourite among us. Three cheers were given him, when, proud of the prize, I returned to the vessel to draw it, while my son and his companions continued to search for other specimens. Many were procured during our stay in that country. They became more abundant and less shy the farther north we proceeded, but no longer sang, in consequence of the advance of the season. We did not, however, succeed in finding a nest.

The habits of this sweet songster resemble those of the Song Sparrow. Like it, mounted on the topmost twig of the tallest shrub or tree it can find, it chants for hours; or, diving into the thickets, it hops from branch to branch, until it reaches the ground, in search of those insects and berries from which it derives its support. It moves swiftly off when it discovers an enemy; and, if forced to take wing, flies low and rapidly to some considerable distance, jerking its tail as it proceeds, and throwing itself at the foot of the thickest bush it meets. I found it mostly near streams, and always in the small valleys, guarded from the cold winds so prevalent in the country, and which now and then nip the vegetation, and destroy many of the more delicate birds.

Like every other species of the genus, Lincoln's Finch is petulant and pugnacious. Two males often chase each other, until the weaker is forced to abandon the valley, and seek refuge in another. On this account I seldom saw more than two or three pairs in a tract seven or eight miles in extent.

On the 4th of July, the young were out of the nest, following their parents; and as, from that time, the old birds ceased to sing, I concluded that they raise only one brood each year. Before we left Labrador, these Finches had all disappeared. In what parts this species passes the winter is unknown to me; nay, I never met with it in any of the Southern States, although I saw several specimens in the collection of the learned WILLIAM COOPER, Esq. of New York, that had been procured in the vicinity of that city.

The plants represented along with a pair of these birds, grew in the little valley in which the first individual seen by us was procured. They were taken up with a spade from the midst of a rich broad bed of mosses, and may serve to convey an idea of the nature of the vegetation of those places.

LINCOLN'S FINCH, FRINGILLA LINCOLNII.

Adult Male. Plate CXCIII. Fig. 1.

Bill short, conical, acute; upper mandible almost straight in its dorsal outline, rounded on the sides; lower mandible slightly convex beneath, the sides rounded; edges of both sharp and inflected; gap-line deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, roundish, partially concealed by the feathers. Head rather large, neck short, body rather full. Feet of moderate length, slender; tarsus covered anteriorly with a few longish scutella; toes free, scutellate above, the lateral ones nearly equal; hind-toe not much stouter; claws slender, compressed, slightly arched, acute.

Plumage soft, blended, the feathers somewhat distinct on the back, slightly glossed. Wings shortish, curved, second and third quills longest, and equal, first almost as long as fifth; secondaries long and rounded. Tail rather long, graduated and emarginate, of twelve straight, narrow rather acute feathers.

Bill dark brown at the end, greyish-blue at the base. Iris brown. Feet yellowish-brown. The upper part of the head has a greyish-blue band in the centre, and two at the sides, the intermediate spaces chestnut, streaked with brownish-black. The general colour of the upper parts is yellowish-brown, with streaks of brownish-black. Quills and larger coverts deep brown, margined externally with yellowish-brown, and the latter slightly tipped with whitish. Tail yellowish-brown, the outer feathers paler. Cheeks of the same tint, tinged with grey, beneath which is a curved band of ochraceous yellow; throat white, streaked with dusky, and having a line of dusky spots on each side; fore part of the breast, and the sides pale greyish-yellow, streaked with dusky, the rest greyish-white.

Length 5¾ inches, extent of wings 8-2/12; bill along the ridge 5/12, along the edge 7/12; tarsus 10/12.

Adult Female. Plate CXCIII. Fig. 2.

The female differs from the male only in having the tints a little duller.

This species belongs to the same group as the Yellow-winged, the Savannah, Henslow's and Bachman's Finches.

THE SWEDISH OR DWARF CORNEL. Fig. 1.

CORNUS SUECICA, Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 171. Willd. Sp. Pl. vol. i. p. 660.—TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA, Linn. CAPRIFOLIA, Juss.

A small herbaceous plant with stems from three to five or six inches high, with opposite, ovate, acute leaves, and two branches, between which is the involucrum of four large unequal white leaves, containing an umbel of dark purple flowers. The berry is red, and has a sweetish taste.

THE CLOUDBERRY.

RUBUS CHAMÆMORUS, Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 708. Willd. Sp. Pl. vol. ii. p. 1090. Pursh, Flor. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 349. —ICOSANDRIA POLYGYNIA, Linn. ROSACEÆ, Juss.

A herbaceous bramble with simple, plaited, and lobed leaves; stem without prickles, undivided and single-flowered. The flowers are white, the berries large and of a yellowish-red colour. They are ripe in July, when they drop from the stalk at the slightest touch, make an excellent preserve, and are collected by Indians, fishermen, and eggers, in great quantities. In Newfoundland I found them larger and better than in Labrador. Their ripeness is a sure intimation of the arrival of the Esquimaux Curlew (Numenius borealis), which comes in clouds from the north, to feed upon them.

THE GLAUCOUS KALMIA.

KALMIA GLAUCA, Willd. Sp. Pl. vol. ii. p. 601. Pursh, Flor. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 296.—DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA, Linn.

A small shrubby plant, with brown bark, opposite, sessile, ovato-oblong leaves, which have the margins revolute and the under surface glaucous; and terminal bracteated corymbs of beautiful rose-coloured flowers.

THE HUDSON'S BAY TITMOUSE.

PARUS HUDSONICUS, LATH.

PLATE CXCIV. MALE, FEMALE, AND YOUNG.

Nothing ever gave me more pleasure than the meeting with a bird long since discovered, at a time when I could fully study its habits. I had frequently searched for this interesting little Titmouse in the State of Maine, where it breeds, but always without success, nor was it until I visited Labrador, that I had an opportunity of seeing it.

On the 18th of July, after an early breakfast (at three o'clock), my party, accompanied by our captain and myself, left the Ripley in three boats for the main shore, distant about five miles. Although the fog was thick, the wind was fair, and we reached the land in safety, when we immediately commenced our search for birds. Having traversed an extensive marsh, without finding any thing of interest, the captain and I, fatigued and depressed by our want of success, retired to what in that country is called a wood, with the hope of mending our fortune. We separated and with great difficulty made our way among the stubborn tangled trees. Only a few minutes had elapsed when the report of my companion's gun reached my ear, and I at the same time heard him shout to me to come up as quickly as possible. This I managed to do after a while, and with much tugging and tearing; but as I approached him I heard with joy the notes of the Canada Titmouse. One had been shot, and a nest had been found. Securing both the parents and the young, which had leaped out on hearing the guns, we sat down to examine the curious fabric the birds had reared for their brood.

The nest was placed at the height of not more than three feet from the ground, in the hollow of a decayed low stump, scarcely thicker than a man's leg, the whole so rotten that it crumbled to pieces on being touched. I cautiously removed the woody enclosure, and took possession of the nest, which I obtained in perfect order. It was shaped like a purse, eight inches in depth, two in diameter inside, its sides about half an inch thick. It was entirely composed of the finest fur of different quadrupeds, but principally of the great northern hare, so thickly and ingeniously matted throughout, that it looked as if it had been felted by the hand of man. It was quite elastic throughout, and rather wider at the bottom, probably in consequence of the natural growth of the young. The captain told me that he had seen the parents enter the stump, and that on his walking towards it he was immediately assailed, not only by the owners of the nest, but by several other pairs of the same species, all of which, however, had retired when I reached the spot. It is probable they had nests in the vicinity, but we did not succeed in finding any. The male, which was shot last, several times flew at me so close, that I attempted to catch it alive, but it always eluded my grasp with dexterity, perched on a low branch, and emitted its angry te-te-te-tee. The young I carried on board alive.

This hardy little bird resembles in its manners the other species of its interesting and beautiful tribe; but as the habits of our Titmice are so well known, and have been so frequently spoken of by me, I shall not here trouble you with unnecessary repetitions. Its notes resemble those of our southern Black-headed Titmouse, but are much weaker.

This species is much scarcer in those parts of Labrador which I visited than in Newfoundland, where I found it as abundant as our northern Black-headed Titmouse. The old and young birds were moving in groups in the direction of Nova Scotia, whither I suppose they all retire in the autumn, and where I have seen the species along the roads between Halifax and Windsor. Many breed in that province, as well as in New Brunswick, and, as I have said, in Maine, where my young friend LINCOLN has at times found them. None have ever been seen as far south as even Massachusetts.

I have represented the male, the female, and the young, in the plumage in which I found them. The brown of the head is much duller in winter than in summer. The young do not acquire it until towards the spring following their birth.

PARUS HUDSONICUS, Lath. Index Ornith. vol. ii. p. 566.

HUDSON'S BAY TITMOUSE, Phil. Trans. vol. lxii. p. 408.—Penn. Arct. Zool. vol. ii. No. 329.—Lath. Synops. vol. iv. p. 557. p. 24.

Adult Male, in summer. Plate CXCIV. Fig. 1.

Bill short, straight, of moderate strength, somewhat conical, compressed towards the end; both mandibles with the dorsal outline a little convex, the sides sloping and slightly convex, the edges sharp, the tip acute. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the recumbent feathers. The general form is slender. Feet proportionally large; tarsus of moderate length, anteriorly covered with a few long scutella, and sharp behind; hind toe very large and strong, the two lateral nearly equal, the outer united at the base with the middle; claws large, arched, much compressed, very acute.

Plumage blended, tufty. Wings of moderate length, the fourth quill longest, fifth almost equal, third scarcely shorter than fourth, first very short. Tail long, much rounded, of twelve rather narrow, rounded feathers.

Bill black. Iris very dark brown. Feet lead-colour. The general tint of the upper parts is dull leaden, tinged with light brown, the head umber brown; primaries edged with pale greyish-blue. The throat and fore neck are deep black, that colour being separated from the brown of the head by a broad band of white running under the eye: The breast and belly greyish-white, the sides light yellowish-brown.

Length 5 inches, extent of wings 7; bill along the ridge 3½/12, along the edge 5/12; tarsus 7/12, middle toe with the claw 6/12, hind toe the same.

Adult Female, in summer. Plate CXCIV. Fig. 2.

The female resembles the male, but the upper parts are deeply tinged with brown, and the head and throat are of a lighter tint.

Young fully fledged. Plate CXCIV. Fig. 3.

Bill greyish-blue. Upper parts of a dull greenish-grey. The throat marked as in the adult, the under parts pale greyish tinged with brown.

The plant represented in this plate is abundant in Labrador, Newfoundland, and our Northern States. It is a species of Prunus, and attains a height of eight or ten feet.

THE RUBY-CROWNED REGULUS.

REGULUS CALENDULA, STEPHENS.

PLATE CXCV. MALE AND FEMALE.

The history of this diminutive bird is yet in a great measure unknown; and, although I have met with it in places where it undoubtedly breeds, I have not succeeded in finding its nest.

On the 27th June 1833, while some of my party and myself were rambling over the deserts of Labrador, the notes of a warbler came on my ear, and I listened with delight to the harmonious sounds that filled the air around, and which I judged to belong to a species not yet known to me. The next instant I observed a small bird perched on the top of a fir tree, and on approaching it, recognised it as the vocalist that had so suddenly charmed my ear and raised my expectations. We all followed its quick movements, as it flew from tree to tree backwards and forwards without quitting the spot, to which it seemed attached. At last, my son JOHN raised his gun, and, on firing, brought down the bird, which fell among the brushwood, where we in vain searched for it.

The next day we chanced to pass along the same patch of dwarf wood, in search of the nests of certain species of ducks, of which I intend to speak on another occasion. We were separated from the woods by a deep narrow creek; but the recollection of the loss of the bird, which I was sure had been killed, prompted me to desire my young friends to dash across and again search for it. In an instant six of us were on the opposite shore, and dispersed among the woods. My son was so fortunate as to find the little Regulus among the moss near the tree from which it had fallen, and brought it to me greatly disappointed. Not so was I; for I had never heard the full song of the Ruby-crowned Wren, and as I looked at it in my hand, I could not refrain from exclaiming—"And so this is the tiny body of the songster from which came the loud notes I heard yesterday!" When I tell you that its song is fully as sonorous as that of the Canary Bird, and much richer, I do not come up to the truth, for it is not only as powerful and clear, but much more varied and pleasing to the ear. We looked for its mate and its nest, but all around us was silent as death, or only filled with the hum of millions of insects. I made a drawing of it in what may be truly called its full spring plumage. A month later, the young of this species were seen feeding among the bushes.

The Ruby-crowned Wren is found in Louisiana and other Southern States, from November until March. Near Charleston, in January last, they were very abundant. The old birds were easily distinguished from the young, without shooting them, on account of the curious difference in their habits, for while the latter kept together among the lowest bushes, the former were generally seen on the top branches of high trees. I have not observed a similar difference in Regulus tricolor. The rich vermilion spot of the head in the present species was wanting in the young, that part being of the same plain colour as the back. I have found this bird in Kentucky also during winter, but generally in southern exposures, and usually in company with the Brown Creeper and the Titmouse.

The little bird of which I speak appears to feed entirely on small insects and their larvæ; and I have often thought it wonderful that there should seem to be no lack of food for it even during weather sometimes too cold for the birds themselves. It appears to migrate during the day only, and merely by passing from one bush to another, or hopping among the twigs, until a large piece of water happens to come in its way, when it rises obliquely to the height of above twenty yards, and then proceeds horizontally in short undulations. It emits a feeble chirp at almost every motion. So swiftly, however, does it perform its migration from Louisiana to Newfoundland and Labrador, that although it sometimes remains in the first of these countries until late in March, it has young in the latter by the end of June; and the brood is able to accompany the old birds back to the south in the beginning of August.

The pair before you are placed on a plant which occurs in abundance from Maine to Labrador.

REGULUS CALENDULA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 91.

RUBY-CROWNED WREN, SYLVIA CALENDULA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. i. p. 83. pl. 5. fig 3.—Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 415.

Adult Male, in summer plumage. Plate CXCV. Fig. 1.

Bill short, straight, subulate, very slender, compressed, with inflected edges; upper mandible nearly straight in its dorsal outline, the edges scarcely notched close upon the slightly declinate acute tip; lower mandible straight, acute. Nostrils basal, elliptical, half-closed above by a membrane, covered over by the feathers. The whole form is slender, although the bird looks somewhat bulky, on account of the loose texture of the feathers. Legs rather long; tarsus slender; longer than the middle toe, much compressed, covered anteriorly with a few indistinct scutella; toes scutellate above, the lateral ones nearly equal and free; hind toe stouter; claws weak, compressed, arched, acute.

Plumage very loose and tufty. Short bristles at the base of the bill. Feathers of the head elongated, silky. Wings of ordinary length, the third and fourth primaries longest. Tail of twelve feathers, emarginate, of ordinary length.

Bill black, yellow at the base of the lower, and on the edges of the upper mandible. Iris light brown. Feet yellowish-brown, the under parts yellow. The general colour of the upper parts is dull olivaceous, lighter behind. The eye is encircled with greyish-white, of which colour also are the tips of the wing-coverts. Quills and tail dusky, edged with greenish-yellow. The silky feathers of the crown of the head vermilion. The under parts greyish-white.

Length 4¼ inches, extent of wings 6; bill ⅓; tarsus ¾.

Adult Female, in summer plumage. Plate CXCV. Fig. 2.

The female resembles the male, but the tints are in general duller, especially the greenish-yellow of the wings.

THE NARROW-LEAVED KALMIA, OR LAUREL.

KALMIA ANGUSTIFOLIA, Willd. Sp. Pl. vol. ii. p. 601.—Pursh, Fl. Amer. vol. i. p. 296.—DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA, Linn. RHODODENDRA, Juss.

This species is characterized by its petiolate, ternate, cuneato-oblong leaves, which are obtuse and tinged with red beneath. The corymbs of beautiful deep rose-coloured flowers are lateral; the peduncles and calyx downy, and the bracteæ smooth. It grows to the height of two or even sometimes four feet, and is common in the Northern States and British Provinces; flowers from the end of June to the middle of August.

THE MERCHANT OF SAVANNAH.

I left the little port of St Augustine, in East Florida, on the 5th of March 1832, in the packet schooner, the Agnes, bound for Charleston. The weather was fair, and the wind favourable; but on the afternoon of the second day, heavy clouds darkened the heavens, and our sails hung flapping against the masts. Nature, with an angry aspect, seemed to be breathing for a moment, before collecting her energies, to inflict some signal punishment on guilty man. Our captain was an old and experienced seaman. I alternately watched his eye and the distant cloud; both were black, firm, and determined. Satisfied as to our safety, the vessel being perfectly sound, and the crew composed of young active men, I determined to remain on deck, and witness the scene that was about to present itself. The rest of the passengers had withdrawn when the cloud approached the vessel. The captain went up to the helmsman, and in a twinkling the sails were furled excepting one, which was so closely reefed, that it no longer resembled its former self. In another minute, down came the blast upon us, sweeping the spray over the vessel, and driving her along at a furious rate. It increased; all on board was silent; but onward, unscathed, sped the Agnes, driving through the snow-topped waves. I cannot tell you at what rate we were carried by the gale, but at the end of a few hours, the blue sky again appeared, and the anchor was dropped in the mouth of the Savannah River.

Landing there, I presented my credentials to an officer of the Engineer Corps, who was engaged in building a fort. He received me with great politeness, invited me to spend the night at his quarters, and promised to have his barge ready at dawn to convey my party to Savannah. We, however, accepted only the proffered favour of the boat, and having purchased some "shads," returned to the Agnes, where we slept.

The morning was beautiful, and we felt cheerful and buoyant as we ascended the stream in the barge. Thousands of Canvass-backed Ducks swam gracefully in pairs over the broad waters; from the adjoining rice-fields rose myriads of Grakles, Red-wings, and Ortolans, as we approached the shores, while now and then the great Heron opened its broad blue wings, and with a hoarse scream rose slowly into the air. Presently we passed a ship at anchor, and now opened on our view the city of Savannah, where we soon landed.

Repairing to a hotel, I immediately took a seat in the mail, in order to proceed directly to Charleston; but happening to have a letter of introduction from the Rathbones of Liverpool, to a merchant in the city, to whom I had already written, and to whose care I had several times taken the liberty of consigning my baggage trunks, I resolved to wait upon him, and return him my thanks. In the company of a gentleman, who kindly offered to guide me, I therefore proceeded, and was fortunate enough to meet him on the street. The merchant took my arm under his, and as we proceeded, talked of the many demands of money made on him for charitable purposes, the high price of the "Birds of America," and his inability to subscribe for that work, concluding with telling me, that he much doubted if even a single purchaser could be got in Savannah.

My spirits were sadly depressed, for my voyage to the Floridas had been expensive and unprofitable, not having been undertaken at the proper season; and I confess I thought more of my family than of what the gentleman said to me. However, we reached his counting-house, where I met with Major Le Conte of the United States Army, with whom I was previously acquainted. Our conversation turned on the difficulties which authors have to encounter even in their own country. I observed that the merchant was extremely attentive, and at length seemed uneasy. He rose from his seat, spoke to his clerk, and sat down again. The Major took his leave, and I was about to follow him, when the merchant addressing himself to me, said he could not conceive why the arts and sciences should not be encouraged by men of wealth in our country. The clerk now returned and handed him some papers, which he transferred to me, saying, "I subscribe to your work; here is the price of the first volume; come with me, I know you now, and I will procure you some others; every one of us is bound to you for the knowledge you bring to us of things, which, without your zeal and enterprise, might probably never have reached us. I will now make it my duty to serve you, and will be your agent in this city. Come along."

"Thus, poor AUDUBON, art thou alternately transported from a cold to a warm climate, from one mood to another, desponding this morning, and now buoyant with the hopes inspired by this generous merchant!" Such, reader, were the thoughts that filled my mind, along with many others; for I thought of you also, and of my work then going on in England, under the care of my excellent friend J. G. CHILDREN, Esq. of the British Museum. The merchant took me back to the hotel, when he desired me to open the few drawings I had with me, and lay them, as I usually do, on the floor. He then went off in search of subscribers. I received three visits from the worthy soul, on each of which he was accompanied by a gentleman, of whom two subscribed, the merchant himself paying me the price of a copy of my first volume for each of them. Others who he thought might have met my wishes in the same agreeable way, were absent from town. The time of my departure having arrived, he accompanied me to the ferry boat, when I bade him adieu with feelings of gratitude which I found it utterly impossible to express.

Travelling through the woods, already rendered delightfully fragrant by the clusters of yellow jessamines that bordered them, I arrived in safety at Charleston, where I had the happiness of finding all my friends well. The next mail brought me a remittance from Savannah, and an additional name to my list of subscribers; and before the week was ended, two checks on the Branch Bank of the United States came to me with two more names.

Leaving Charleston some time after, I revisited the Floridas, crossed the whole of the Union, went to Labrador, and in October 1833, returned to my starting place, when I wrote to my generous friend at Savannah, announcing to him my intention of sailing for Europe. By return of post I received the following answer:—"Three of your subscribers are now, alas! dead; but I had taken the precaution to insure the continuation of their subscription for your works. I have called on their executors, who at once have paid over to me their respective amounts for the second volume of the 'Birds of America;' and I now feel great pleasure in enclosing to you a bill for the whole amount, including mine for the same volume, payable in London at par."

Some weeks ago I had the pleasure of forwarding the volumes wanted at Savannah, which I hope have reached their destination in safety; and here let me express my gratitude towards the generous merchant, who, on being made aware of the difficulties which men have to encounter whose success in their pursuits tends to excite the malevolent feelings of their competitors, nobly resolved to exert himself in the cause of science. I trust he will not consider it improper in me to inform you, that on inquiring at Savannah for WILLIAM GASTON, Esq. you will readily find him.

THE ICELAND OR JER FALCON.

FALCO ISLANDICUS, LATH.

PLATE CXCVI. MALE AND FEMALE.

On the 6th August 1833, while my young friends, THOMAS LINCOLN and JOSEPH COOLEDGE, accompanied by my son JOHN, were rambling by the rushing waters of a brook banked by stupendous rocks, eight or ten miles from the port of Bras d'Or, on the coast of Labrador, they were startled by a loud and piercing shriek, which issued from the precipices above them. On looking up, my son observed a large hawk plunging over and about him. It was instantly brought to the ground. A second hawk dashed towards the dead one, as if determined to rescue it; but it quickly met the same fate, the contents of my son's second barrel bringing it to his feet.

The nest of these hawks was placed on the rocks, about fifty feet from their summit, and more than a hundred from their base. Two other birds of the same species, and apparently in the same plumage, now left their eyry in the cliff, and flew off. The party having ascended by a circuitous and dangerous route, contrived to obtain a view of the nest, which, however, was empty. It was composed of sticks, sea-weeds, and mosses, about two feet in diameter, and almost flat. About its edges were strewed the remains of their food, and beneath, on the margin of the stream, lay a quantity of wings of the Uria Troile, Mormon arcticus, and Tetrao Saliceti, together with large pellets composed of fur, bones, and various substances.

My son and his companions returned to the Ripley towards evening. The two hawks which they had brought with them, I knew at once to be of a species which I had not before seen, at least in America. Think not that I laid them down at once—No, reader, I attentively examined every part of them. Their eyes, which had been carefully closed by the young hunters, I opened, to observe their size and colour. I drew out their powerful wings, distended their clenched talons, looked into their mouths, and admired the sharp tooth-like process of their upper mandible. I then weighed them in my hand, and at length concluded that no Hawk that I had ever before handled, looked more like a great Peregrine Falcon.

At day-dawn, the same party, highly elated with their success of the former day, were dispatched in quest of the other two; but although a third specimen was shot, it flew off to a great distance, fell among the deep moss, and was never found. Several visits to the nest proved fruitless. The parents I had, and the last young had probably for ever abandoned the place of its birth.

While we remained in Labrador, I was ever on the watch for hawks, and I frequently inspected the country around with a telescope, to try if I could discover some object worthy of my attention. I several times observed the individuals which I have portrayed, ranging high in the air, over an island where multitudes of Puffins were breeding. Many were the instances in which I saw these warriors descend like a streak of lightning, pounce on a Puffin, and carry it off in their talons. Their aerial course I also marked, and was thus enabled to trace them to their habitation.

Their flight resembled that of the Peregrine Falcon, but was more elevated, majestic, and rapid. They rarely sailed when travelling to and fro, between their nest and the island mentioned, but used a constant beat of their wings. When over the Puffins, and high in the air, they would hover almost motionless, as if watching the proper moment to close their pinions, and when that arrived, they would descend almost perpendicularly on their unsuspecting victims.

Their cries also resembled those of the Peregrine Falcon, being loud, shrill, and piercing. Now and then they would alight on some of the high stakes placed on the shore as beacons to the fishermen who visit the coast, and stand for a few minutes, not erect like most other Hawks, but in the position of a Lestris or Tern, after which they would resume their avocations, and pounce upon a Puffin, which they generally did while the poor bird was standing on the ground at the very entrance of its burrow, apparently quite unaware of the approach of its powerful enemy. The Puffin appeared to form no impediment to the flight of the Hawk, which merely shook itself after rising in the air, as if to arrange its plumage, as the Fish Hawk does when it has emerged from the water with a fish in its talons.

The four Falcons mentioned were all that were seen of this species during our expedition, and I am inclined to think that these birds must be rare in that part of Labrador. On dissecting them, I found them to be a male and a female, and saw that the latter had laid eggs that season. It is therefore probable that the two which left the nest at the approach of the party were the young birds.

I made my drawing of them the day after their death. It was one of the severest tasks which I ever performed, and was done under the most disagreeable circumstances. I sat up nearly the whole of the night, to sketch them in outline. The next day it rained for hours, and the water fell on my paper and colours all the while from the rigging of the Ripley.

The weight of the female was 3 pounds 2 ounces, that of the male 2 pounds 14 ounces avoirdupois. Their flesh was tough and bluish, and their whole structure was remarkable for the indications of strength which it exhibited. The intestines measured 4 feet 9 inches. The heart was extremely large, and very remarkable for its firmness. The liver also was large. The stomach, which was thin, contained remains of fish, feathers, and hair.

From the account which I received from my son and his companions, I would willingly suppose that no one had ever before disturbed their solitude. They flew about and close to them, as if altogether unacquainted with the effects of a gun. The young appeared full grown, and, as if aware of the fate of their parents, alighted only on the highest and most inaccessible parts of the rocks around. Both the specimens procured were carefully skinned and preserved. One is in my possession; the other I gave to my worthy and generous friend JOHN BACHMAN.

When I first saw this noble pair of Falcons, I thought, as I have above said, that they were new; but since my return to Europe, I have seen several specimens, which, though not altogether similar in the tints of the plumage, agree in most other respects with them, in so far as I can judge from the comparison of skins shrunk or distended beyond measure, such as we too often see in museums. These specimens are said to be young birds of the famous Iceland Falcon, and I am disposed to think that my birds belong to the same species.

That this species, as well as many others, should mate and produce young, before obtaining its full plumage, is not a singular phenomenon. I am persuaded that many years elapse before it obtains its perfect plumage, from the remarks made by a gentleman not yet personally known to me, although acquainted with my son VICTOR, Mr JOHN HEPPENSTALL, of Upper Thorpe, near Sheffield, who has kept one of these birds alive for more than three years. Of his letter to my son, which is dated "5th month 14th 1834," the following is an extract. "The bird thou saw when at my house is yet living, in perfect health, which it has always been in since I possessed it. I have now had it a little more than three years. It came over from Iceland in a whaler to Hull, and was presented by the owner of the vessel to a friend of mine, from whom I obtained it. I believe it must have been a bird of the preceding year's brood. It is therefore four years old, not less certainly, and may be considered adult. It has always moulted early, and has already cast a number of its primary quill-feathers, and several of the scapulars, although not disfigured. It is a very powerful, strong bird, and were it to be carried such a distance in confinement, it would struggle so much, that I am afraid it would very much injure its this year's moult at this time, and I think thou should have much difficulty in securing it. I shall now describe the bird, that thy father may be able to judge how far it may probably be of the same species as the one he has lately discovered and brought out.

"In length I should think it does not much exceed the Rough-legged Falcon, but in every other respect is larger, being very broad and powerful, the legs and thighs much stronger and formidable. When seen with its head towards you, in the act of tearing its food, it conveys an idea of very great power. Its breadth, and particularly its powerful thighs, are then seen to very great advantage. The legs and feet are very much the type of the Peregrine Falcon, and indeed the whole form of the bird, only that it is so much stronger, even more than its increased bulk alone would occasion. It has always got through the moult very well and nothing can be more perfect than its general state of plumage, and it is a very cleanly bird.

"The head, neck, throat, breast, belly, and legs (which are feathered to within an inch of the toes), are the most pure white, and the plumage very compact. The first year I had it, all these parts were slightly marked with delicate pencilled lines lengthwise, but have now totally disappeared, except one or two faint ones on the outside of the thighs. The back and tail are also pure white; the two middle feathers of the tail are a little barred on each side the shaft, which is dark coloured, as also the primary quills of the wings. The back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and primary quills, are all elegantly marked with a dark mouse colour, the markings on the primary quills, which are chiefly towards the tip, approach nearly to black. The tail when closed is a little rounded at the tip; the under side of the wings and vent pure white. The bill, which is notched in a very graceful form, is pale blue, inclining to black at the tip and also at the notchings. Cere, orbits, and legs, yellow, which seems to increase in depth. When I first had it, they were not then tinged with yellow, but the colour of a very white-legged fowl: claws black and powerful, inner one largest. The eye, which is exceedingly bright and piercing, and does not appear to have changed, seems black, but on close inspection, in a good light, is evidently dark-brown. Between the cere and the orbits, and under the eye, the hairy feathers, which lie close, and are pure white, are intermixed with hairs of black, which lie pretty close to the head.

"Were I to guess the weight, I should say it was double that of the Rough-legged Falcon. The wings reach nearly to the tip of the tail."

The above detailed account appears to me to furnish a better description of the adult Jer Falcon than any that I have met with, and cannot fail to be acceptable to ornithologists.

On inquiring of a Mr JONES, who had been a resident in Labrador for twenty years, I was informed that these Hawks feed on and destroy an immense number of hares, Rock Partridges, and Willow Grous; but he could not give me any information as to the change of plumage, never having seen them in any other state than that of the individuals represented in my plate, which I shewed to him. The fishermen called them Duck Hawks, and some of them reported many exploits performed by them, which I think it unnecessary to repeat, as I considered them exaggerated.

FALCO ISLANDICUS, Lath. Ind. Ornith. p. 32. Adult—F. RUSTICOLUS, Idem, p. 28. Adult—F. GYRFALCO, Idem, p. 32. Young.—F. SACER, F. OBSCURUS, and F. LAGOPUS β, Idem.—Temminck, Manuel, part i. p. 17.—Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 27.

GYRFALCON, FALCO ISLANDICUS, Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 51.

Male in immature state. Plate CXCVI. Fig. 1.

Bill shortish, as broad as deep at the base, the sides convex, the dorsal outline curved from the base; upper mandible cerate, the edges a little inflected, rather obtuse, nearly straight to the tooth-like process, which is rather rounded, the tip trigonal, descending, acute; lower mandible involute at the edges, truncate at the end, with a notch near it on either side, corresponding to the process above. In an individual which I have seen, the margin line of the upper mandible was undulated, or formed a festoon behind the tooth, but in my two specimens, the skin of one of which is now before me, it is quite straight when viewed directly, although when placed obliquely it shews a slight undulation. Nostrils round, basal, lateral, with a soft papilla in the centre, connected with the upper edge. Head rather large and round; neck shortish; body ovate, anteriorly broad; the whole conformation indicative of great strength and activity, such as befit a hunter. Legs robust, short; tarsus feathered more than half way down, their exposed part covered anteriorly with small quincuncial transversely oblong scales, as is the proximal portion of all the toes, posteriorly with smaller papillar scales (there are no broad scales or other scutella on the tarsus, as in most other Hawks, and in the Peregrine). Toes, excepting at the base, covered above with broad scales or scutella, scabrous and tubercular below; middle and outer toes connected by a membrane; second and fourth toes nearly equal, the latter very little longer, the hind toe shortest, but with the longest claw; claws strong, curved, acute, marginate beneath, convex above.

Plumage compact, imbricated. Feathers of the head short and narrow, of the back rounded, of the neck and breast broadly oblong, of the thighs long and rounded. Space between the bill and eye covered with short bristly feathers. Wings long, about four inches shorter than the tail; the third quill longest, but scarcely longer than the second, the first and fourth of the same length. The first and second are cut out or sinuated on the inner edge towards the tip, the second slightly. The tail is long, straight, slightly rounded, of twelve broad feathers, which at the end suddenly taper to a point. When worn, they seem rounded, but in my specimens the plumage was new.

Bill and cere pale blue, the rather narrow ridge of the upper mandible darker. Iris brownish-black. Feet greyish-blue, the under parts of the toes greenish-yellow; claws dusky. The general colour of the plumage above, is brownish-grey, the feathers having a very narrow margin of paler. Some of the upper tail-coverts are tipped with brownish-white, and the base or concealed part of the posterior cervical feathers is of that colour. The quills are more or less mottled with brownish-white on the inner webs. The tail is transversely barred with thirteen rows of transversely oblong spots of brownish-white, confined chiefly to the inner webs, although there are some on the outer ones towards their end; the tips are of the same light colour. A few of these spots appear on the upper surface of the feathers towards their extremities. The tail is moreover very obscurely barred with darker. The two middle feathers are without white spots. The throat is brownish-white, finely streaked with brown. The lower parts in general are brownish-white, longitudinally patched with dark brown, the central part of each feather being of the latter colour. The under wing-coverts are similarly marked, as are the under tail-coverts, which are alternately barred with brown and white.

Length 22½ inches, extent of wings 4 feet 1 inch; bill 1-4/12 along the ridge, 1½ along the edge; tarsus 2.

The Female in the same state. Plate CXCVI. Fig. 2.

The above description applies in all particulars to the female, only the two middle tail-feathers were spotted like the rest.

Length 2 feet, extent of wings 4; bill 1-4/12 along the ridge; tarsus 2.

It is remarkable that the female, although the heaviest and apparently the strongest bird of the pair, has the alar extent less by an inch than that of the male, which she exceeds in length by 1½ inches.

THE COMMON CROSSBILL.

LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, LINN.

PLATE CXCVII. MALE, FEMALE, AND YOUNG.

This species I have found more abundant in Maine, and in the British provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, than any where else. Although I have met with it as early as the month of August in the Great Pine Forest of Pennsylvania, I have never seen its nest. Many persons in the State of Maine assured me that they had found it on pine-trees in the middle of winter, and while the earth was deeply covered with snow. The people employed in cutting pine timber at that season, when it is easier to remove the logs to the rivers, in which they are subsequently floated when the ice melts, have very frequently told me, that on felling a tree they have caught the young Crossbills, which had been jerked out of their nest. Several of my acquaintances in that district promised to send me nests, eggs, and young; but as yet, I am sorry to say, none of them have reached me. While at Labrador I was much disappointed at not finding a single bird of this species, although the White-winged Crossbill was tolerably abundant there; and in Newfoundland matters were precisely the same.

The Crossbill lives in flocks, composed apparently of several families, and is an extremely gentle and social bird. They are easily approached, caught in traps, or even killed with a stick. So unsuspicious are they with respect to man, that they not unfrequently come up to the very door of the woodman's cabin, and pick the mud with which he has plastered the spaces between the logs of which it is composed. When the huts are raised on blocks, to prevent dampness, they are often seen under them, picking up the earth for want of better food, while the weather is at its coldest.

Their food consists principally of the seeds contained in the cones of different species of the pine and fir. In the pine forests of Pennsylvania I saw them feeding on those of the white pine, the hemlock, and the spruce, as well as on various kinds of fruits. Wherever an apple-tree bore fruit, the Crossbills were sure to be on it, cutting the apples to pieces in order to get at the seeds, in the manner of our Parakeet of the south. Nothing can exceed the dexterity with which they extricate the seeds from the cones with their bill, the point of the upper mandible of which they employ as a hook, placing it at the base of the seed, and drawing it up with a sudden jerk of the head. They frequently stand on one foot only, and employ the other in conveying the food to their bill, in the manner of parrots. They are fond of all saline matter.

The flight of this species is undulating, firm, tolerably swift, and capable of being protracted over a large space. While travelling they pass in the air in straggling flocks, and keep up a constant noise, each individual now and then emitting a clear note or call. They move with ease on the ground, alight sidewise on the walls of houses and on trees, on the twigs of which they climb with the aid of their bill. When caged they soon become tame, and are fed without any difficulty.

I have presented you with a flock of these Crossbills, composed of individuals of different ages, engaged in their usual occupations, on a branch of their favourite tree, the hemlock pine.

Much has been said and repeated respecting the colours of this species as connected with the differences of sex and age. Accustomed as I am to judge of every thing relating to ornithology on the spot where I can procure specimens, and examine them with all necessary care, I have not failed to employ this method in the present case, and I now give it as my opinion that, although learned naturalists may contradict what I am about to state, it will eventually be acknowledged to be correct. I have shot as many specimens of this Crossbill as I could desire, and on opening perhaps more than sixty, which I should suppose enough to know their sexes, in early spring, summer, autumn and winter, I found the young of the year in July invariably similar to the females which had evidently laid eggs that season, excepting that they were smaller, and had their tints duller. The males, which had either been paired or not that season, but which, however, were older than the first (a fact easily ascertained by the inspection of their stronger bills, legs and claws, and their stronger, harder and tougher flesh), shewed a considerable quantity of red mixed with yellow on the rump, head and breast. Others having equal appearances of age were of a dull olive-yellow, and proved to be females. In such specimens as had the bill very much worn on its edges, and the legs and feet diseased from the adhesion of the resinous matter of the fir trees, on which they spend most of their time, and roost on them at night, were of a bright brick-red in certain lights, changing alternately to carmine or vermilion, on the whole upper parts of the body. Females bearing the same appearances of old age, were as I have represented them in my plate.

Reader, as men may commit errors when most anxious to arrive at the truth, you will greatly oblige me by undertaking a series of observations, similar to those which I have made, and stating the result.

LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 299.—Lath. Synops. vol. i. p. 361.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 117.

AMERICAN CROSSBILL, CURVIROSTRA AMERICANA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 44. pl. 21. fig. 1, 2.

COMMON CROSSBILL, Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 583.

Adult Male. Plate CXCVII. Fig. 1, 1.

Bill of ordinary length, strong, convex above and beneath; mandibles crossing each other and compressed towards the tips, which are incurvate and acute. Nostrils small, basal, rounded, covered by the small incumbent feathers of the forehead. The general form is compact and robust, the head and neck large. Feet rather short, strong; tarsus short compressed, anteriorly scutellate, sharp behind; toes separated, the two lateral nearly equal, and considerably shorter than the middle one; claws compressed, very acute, curved, the hind one largest.

The plumage is blended, but rather firm. Wings of ordinary length, curved, acute, the first and second primaries longest. Tail short, small, emarginate.

Bill brown, horn-colour on the edges, and darker at the tip. Iris hazel. Feet dusky. The general colour of the plumage is a dull light red, inclining to vermilion, darker on the wings. Quills and tail-feathers brownish-black; the red colour is paler on the lower parts, and on the belly passes into whitish.

Length 7 inches, extent of wings 10; bill along the ridge 8/12; tarsus 7/12.

Young Male after the first moult. Plate CXCVII. Fig. 2.

At this age the colours of the male are paler and duller, but are similarly distributed. There is an admixture of yellow tints on the back, and more especially on the rump.

Young Male fully fledged. Plate CXCVII. Fig. 3.

In its second plumage the young male is of a dull green colour mixed with brown above, greyish-yellow, tinged with green beneath, the sides of the head over the eyes greenish-yellow, and the rump and upper tail-coverts of the same colour.

Adult Female. Plate CXCVII. Fig. 4, 4.

The upper parts are greyish-brown, tinged with green, the rump dull greyish-yellow; the sides of the head and neck of the same colour as the back; the under parts pale greyish-yellow, brighter on the fore part of the breast.

Young Female fully fledged. Plate CXCVII. Fig. 5.

The young female resembles the old one, but has less yellow on the rump and under parts.

I have carefully compared skins of the American bird with others of that found in Scotland, but have not succeeded in detecting any differences sufficient to indicate a specific distinction.

THE HEMLOCK SPRUCE.

PINUS CANADENSIS, Mich. Arbor. Forest. vol. i. p. 137. pl. 13. Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. ii. p. 640.—MONŒCIA MONADELPHIA, Linn. CONIFERÆ, Juss.

The Hemlock or Canadian Spruce is characterised by its solitary, flat, somewhat distichous leaves, and very small ovate terminal cones. It is one of the most majestic and beautiful trees of the forests of the Middle States, where it grows abundantly in certain parts, such as the Great Pine Forest, the Pocano Mountains, &c., extending from Carolina to the extremity of Maine. The wood is not considered equal to that of the true pines and unless kept dry very soon decays, but the bark is excellent for tanning. The height sometimes reaches a hundred feet, and the diameter near the base is often six feet or more.

SWAINSON'S WARBLER.

SYLVIA SWAINSONII.

PLATE CXCVIII. MALE.

Shortly after the death of WILSON, one of the wise men of a certain city in the United States, assured the members of a Natural History Society there, that no more birds would be found in the country than had been described by that justly celebrated writer. Had the assertions however been made in the hearing of that ornithologist, he would doubtless at once have refuted the speech of this extraordinary orator, who continued as follows:—"No more Finches, no more Hawks, no more Owls, no more Herons, and certainly no more Pigeons; and as to Water birds, let the list given by WILSON of such as he has not described be filled, and again I say, there will end the American Ornithology." The orator has travelled much, having gone a few miles to the eastward of his own city, and even crossed the Mississippi; but as he had predicted, he never discovered a bird in all his wanderings. Time passed on, and the orator has dreamed over it; but several industrious students of nature, doubting if all that he had said might really be strictly correct to the letter, have followed in the track of WILSON, have extended their investigations, ransacked the deep recesses of the forests and the great western plains, visited the shores of the Atlantic, ascended our noble streams, and explored our broadest lakes;—and, reader, they have found more new birds than the learned academician probably knew of old ones. Then, be not surprised when I assure you that our BONAPARTES, our NUTTALLS, our BACHMANS, our COOPERS, PICKERINGS, TOWNSENDS, PEALS, and other zealous naturalists, have very considerably augmented the Fauna of the United States. To the list of these amiable men may be added the names of learned and enterprising Europeans—PARRY, FRANKLIN, RICHARDSON, ROSS, DRUMMOND, and others, who with a zeal equalled only by that of WILSON himself, have crossed the broad Atlantic, and made discoveries in ornithology in portions of North America, never before visited, in which they have met with species that, although previously unknown to us, have since been found to traverse the whole extent of our wide territories. Then, reader, will you not agree with me in believing that even now, discoveries remain to be made in a region so vast that no individual, whatever might have been his exertions, could truly say of it that he had explored it all?

The bird represented in the plate before you was discovered by my friend, JOHN BACHMAN, near Charleston in South Carolina, while I was in another part of our continent, searching for the knowledge necessary to render my ornithological biographies as interesting as possible to you:—it was in the spring of 1832, when I was rambling over the rugged country of Labrador, that my southern friend found the first specimen of this bird, near the banks of the Edisto River. I have been favoured by him with the following account of it.

"I was first attracted by the novelty of its notes, four or five in number, repeated at intervals of five or six minutes apart. These notes were loud, clear, and more like a whistle than a song. They resembled the sounds of some extraordinary ventriloquist in such a degree, that I supposed the bird much farther from me than it really was; for after some trouble caused by these fictitious notes, I observed it near to me, and soon shot it.

"The form of its bill I observed at once to differ from all other known birds of our country, and was pleased at its discovery. On dissection it proved to be a male, and in the course of the same spring, I obtained two other males, of which the markings were precisely similar. In the middle of August of that year, I saw an old female accompanied with four young. One of the latter I obtained: it did not differ materially from the old ones. Another specimen was sent to me alive, having been caught in a trap. I have invariably found them in swampy muddy places, usually covered with more or less water. The birds which I opened had their gizzards filled with the fragments of coleopterous insects, as well as some small green worms that are found on water plants, such as the pond lily (Nymphæa odorata) and the Nelumbium (Cyamus flavicomus). The manners of this species resemble those of the Prothonotary Warbler, as it skips among the low bushes growing about ponds and other watery places, seldom ascending high trees. It retires southward at the close of summer."

The Azalea and Butterflies accompanying the figure of this species were drawn by my friend's sister, Miss MARTIN, to whom I again offer my sincere thanks.

To none of my ornithological friends could I assuredly with more propriety have dedicated this species than to him, the excellent and learned, whose name you have seen connected with it—to him, who has himself traversed large portions of America, who has added so considerably to the list of known species of birds, and who has enriched the science of ornithology by so many valuable works. Surely, you will allow that on none else could I with more propriety have bestowed it.

SYLVIA SWAINSONII.

Adult. Plate CXCVIII.

Bill as long as the head, slender, straight, tapering to a point, much compressed, the ridge rather sharp, the sides of the upper mandible at the base declinate and flat, the edges inflected. Nostrils basal, lateral, oblong, half filled above by a cartilaginous membrane. The form is slender and graceful. Feet of ordinary length, slender; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with a few long scutella, posteriorly sharp, longer than the middle toe; toes free, but the outer united to the second joint; claws arched, very slender, very acute, extremely compressed, with a lateral groove, the hind claw much larger.

Plumage soft, blended, slightly glossed. Wings longish, the first three quills almost equal, the first being very slightly shorter, secondaries narrow and rounded. Tail of ordinary length, straight, even, of twelve rather narrow rounded feathers.

Bill light brown, darker at the tip. Iris brown. Feet and claws flesh-coloured. The colouring of the plumage is extremely simple, the whole of the upper parts being of a rich brown, tinged with red on the head, while the under parts are very pale brownish-grey, the sides darker. The sides of the head are brownish-white, the feathers tipped with brown, and a whitish line passes over the eye.

Length 5¼, extent of wings 8½; bill along the ridge 7/12, along the edges 9/12; tarsus 7½/12, middle toe including the nail ¾.

The species to which this approaches nearest is the Sylvia vermivora, which has been described in Vol. I. p. 177. The bird, however, is very closely allied to the Wrens, which it greatly resembles in the form of its bill and feet, although in the form of its wings it differs essentially.

THE ORANGE-COLOURED AZALEA.

AZALEA CALENDULACEA, Mich. Flor. Amer. vol. i. p. 151. Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 151.—PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA, Linn.

Leaves oblong or lanceolate, downy on both sides; flowers large, not viscous, of a deep orange colour, the hairy tube of the corolla shorter than its segments. It is a native of Georgia. If I am not mistaken, none of the objects represented in this plate have ever been figured before. The flowers and the butterflies are from the pencil of Miss MARTIN.

THE LITTLE OR ACADIAN OWL.

STRIX ACADICA, GMEL.

PLATE CXCIX. MALE AND FEMALE.

This lively and beautiful little Owl is found in almost every portion of the United States. I have observed it breeding in Louisiana, Kentucky, and along our Eastern States, as far as Maine, where, however, it becomes scarce, being, as it were, replaced by the Tengmalm Owl, which I have seen as far south as Bangor in Maine. It is rare in the lower parts of South Carolina, where indeed my friend BACHMAN never observed it.

The Little Owl is known in Massachusetts by the name of the "Saw-whet," the sound of its love-notes bearing a great resemblance to the noise produced by filing the teeth of a large saw. These notes, when coming, as they frequently do, from the interior of a deep forest, produce a very peculiar effect on the traveller, who, not being aware of their real nature, expects, as he advances on his route, to meet with shelter under a saw-mill at no great distance. Until I shot the bird in the act, I had myself been more than once deceived in this manner. On one particular occasion, while walking near my saw-mill in Pennsylvania, to see that all was right there, I was much astonished to hear these sounds issuing from the interior of the grist-mill. The door having been locked, I had to go to my miller's house close by, to inquire if any one was at work in it. He, however, informed me that the sounds I had heard were merely the notes of what he called the Screech Owl, whose nest was close by, in a hollow tree, deserted by the Wood Ducks, a pair of which had been breeding there for several years in succession.

I have been thus particular in relating the above circumstance, from a desire to know if the European Little Owl (Strix passerina), emits the same curious sounds. The latter is said by several authors of eminence to lay only two white eggs, while I know, from my own observation, that ours has three, four, or five, and even sometimes six. The eggs are glossy-white, and of a short elliptical form, approaching to globular. It often takes the old nest of the Common Crow to breed in, and also lays in the hollows of trees a few feet above the ground A nest of our Little Owl, which I found near the city of Natchez, was placed in the broken stump of a small decayed tree, not more than four feet from the ground. I was attracted to it by the snoring notes of the young, which sounded as if at a considerable elevation; and I was so misled by them that, had not my dog raised himself to smell at the hole where the brood lay concealed, I might not have discovered them. In this instance the number was five. It was in the beginning of June, and the little things, which were almost ready to fly, looked exceedingly neat and beautiful. Their parents I never saw, although I frequently visited the nest before they left it. The Little Owl breeds more abundantly near the shores of the Atlantic than in the interior of the country, and is frequent in the swamps of the States of Maryland and New Jersey, during the whole year. Wherever I have found the young or the eggs placed in a hollow tree, they were merely deposited on the rotten particles of wood; and when in an old Crow's nest, the latter did not appear to have undergone any repair.

This species evinces a strong and curious propensity to visit the interior of our cities. I have known some caught alive in the Philadelphia Museum, as well as in that of Baltimore; and, whilst at Cincinnati, I had one brought to me which had been taken from the edge of a cradle, in which a child lay asleep, to the no small astonishment of the mother.

Being quite nocturnal, it shews great uneasiness when disturbed by day, and flies off in a hurried uncertain manner, throwing itself into the first covert it meets with, where it is not difficult to catch it, provided the necessary caution and silence be used. Towards dusk it becomes full of animation, flies swiftly, gliding, as it were, over the low grounds, like a little spectre, and pounces on small quadrupeds and birds with the quickness of thought. Its common cry at night resembles that of the European Scops Owl, but is more like the dull sounds of a whistle than that of Owls generally is.

In all parts of the United States where this species occurs it is a permanent resident.

STRIX ACADICA, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 149.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 38. —Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. i. p. 97.

STRIX ACADIENSIS, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 65.

ACADIAN OWL, Lath. Synops. vol. i. p. 149.

LITTLE OWL, STRIX PASSERINA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 61. pl. 34. fig. 2.

Adult Male. Plate CXCIX. Fig. 1.

Bill short, compressed, curved, acute, with a cere at the base; upper mandible with its dorsal outline curved from the base, the edges acute, the point trigonal, very acute, deflected; lower mandible with the edges acute and inflected, obtuse at the tip. Nostrils oval in the fore part of the cere. Head disproportionately large, as are the eyes and external ears, the former, however, less so than in the larger Owls. Body short. Legs of ordinary length; tarsus and toes feathered, the latter bare towards the end; toes papillar and tuberculate beneath; claws curved, rounded, long, extremely sharp.

Plumage very soft and downy, somewhat distinct above, tufty and loose beneath. Long bristly feathers at the base of the bill, stretching forwards. Eyes surrounded by circles of compact feathers; auricular coverts forming a ruff. Wings rather short, broad, rounded, the fourth quill longest, the first short. Tail of ordinary length, rounded, of twelve broad, rounded feathers.

Bill bluish-black, yellowish at the base. Iris light yellow. Claws bluish-black. The upper parts generally are of an olivaceous brown; the scapulars and some of the wing-coverts spotted with white; the first six primary quills obliquely barred with white; the tail darker than the back, with two narrow white bars. The upper part of the head is streaked with greyish-white, the feathers surrounding the eyes pale yellowish-grey, the ruff white, and spotted with dusky. The under parts are whitish, the sides and breast marked with broad elongated patches of brownish-red.

Length 7½ inches; extent of wings 17; bill 7/12; tarsus 1.

Adult Female. Plate CXCIX. Fig. 2.

The female does not differ materially from the male in colouring, but is somewhat larger.

The Young, like those of other Owls, are at first covered with down, and are many weeks before they are able to fly. I have not been able to ascertain whether they raise more than one brood in the season, but am inclined to think that they do not.

THE SHORE LARK.

ALAUDA ALPESTRIS, LINN.

PLATE CC. MALE, FEMALE, AND YOUNG.

It was on the 26th of July 1833, that the Ripley, with every sail set, was gently bounding over the waves, towards the Harbour of Bras d'Or. A thin mist covered the surface of the surrounding waters, so that, although it was already full day-light, scarcely could any of the party distinguish the coast of Labrador, which was only about a mile distant from the vessel, that so trippingly moved toward its shores. The person who had undertaken to act as pilot, proved so inadequate to the task, that, notwithstanding his having fished for many years in sight of the harbour we were desirous of entering, he could not afford the least aid to our captain in navigating the schooner. We neared the land, however, and through the mist at last discovered the slender spars of several vessels at anchor. A signal was instantly run apeak, and to our great joy was immediately answered. Over the waves now came dancing one of those buoyant crafts used by whalers. In a few moments it was alongside the Ripley, when my old acquaintance, the sturdy cod-fisher BILLINGS of Eastport, offered his services, and soon guided us into port, in entering which we passed through an aperture, guarded by two dangerous rocks, so narrow that one might have leaped ashore from our bark. Once entered, our nostrils were assailed by odours that, could Vultures smell, doubtless might entice them to fly here from the farthest Indies. I was surprised to find so much bustle in such a place: perhaps more than a hundred fishing-barks lay at anchor, in so regular array that they might remind one of the disciplined order of a squadron ready for action, although the business-like appearance of the fishermen would soon remove the illusion. Every deck was heaped with fish, the value of which has, for many years back, brought vessel after vessel to those inhospitable shores. Each "pickaxe" had its "Hampton boats" well manned and ready to sail towards the shallows, where the cod is obtained. Some, in search of bait, were plying their oars and nets, while others were strewing the salted cod over the naked rocks around, there to lie under the drying rays of the sun. Stacks of fish, nearly cured, stretched along to the view, in as close and regular array as haycocks in a meadow. A continued splash was produced by the garbage as it was thrown overboard, and you may judge, if you can, how many thousands of cod and ling have been destroyed, before the whole bottom of this harbour has been paved with their heads.

The thick fog rolled around us, impelled by the chill breeze of the east. Mountains high and bleak we knew were near, but as yet the landscape was concealed from our view. At length the mist disperses, reft by the northern blasts, the sun appears riding among the fleeting vapours, and now the curtain rises, when lo! what a magnificent prospect presents itself! craggy cliffs, with masses of snow still hanging to their sides, and from whose summits, under sheets of ice, cataracts rush in fury towards the plain. The dismal table-lands form a striking contrast with the beautiful verdure below. Turning towards the south-west, where lay my cherished land, I beheld the precipitous shores of Newfoundland, with masses of ice between, fixed to the foundations of the deep, their everchanging prismatic tints dazzling the eye. But hark! the song of the Shore Lark fills the air, as the warbler mounts on high. "Man the whale-boat," cries the watchful captain; "young friends, let us off to the shore," say I; and soon were we all at the place where we had seen the bird alight.

Although in the course of our previous rambles along the coast of Labrador, and among the numberless islands that guard its shores, I had already seen this Lark in the act of breeding, never before that day did I so much enjoy its song, and never before I reached this singular spot, had I to add to my joys that of finding its nest. Here I found the bird in the full perfection of plumage and song, and here I had an opportunity of studying its habits, which I will now, kind reader, endeavour to describe.

The Shore Lark breeds on the high and desolate tracts of Labrador, in the vicinity of the sea. The face of the country appears as if formed of one undulated expanse of dark granite, covered with mosses and lichens, varying in size and colour, some green, others as white as snow, and others again of every tint, and disposed in large patches or tufts. It is on the latter that the Lark places her nest, which is disposed with so much care, while the moss so resembles the bird in hue, that unless you almost tread upon her as she sits, she seems to feel secure, and remains unmoved. Should you, however, approach so near, she flutters away, feigning lameness so cunningly, that none but one accustomed to the sight can refrain from pursuing her. The male immediately joins her in mimic wretchedness, uttering a note so soft and plaintive, that it requires a strong stimulus to force the naturalist to rob the poor birds of their treasure.

The nest around is imbedded in the moss to its edges, which is composed of fine grasses, circularly disposed, and forming a bed about two inches thick, with a lining of grous' feathers, and those of other birds. In the beginning of July, the eggs are deposited. They are four or five in number, large, greyish, and covered with numerous pale blue and brown spots. The young leave the nest before they are able to fly, and follow their parents over the moss, where they are fed about a week. They run nimbly, emit a soft peep, and squat closely at the first appearance of danger. If observed and pursued, they open their wings to aid them in their escape, and separating, make off with great celerity. On such occasions it is difficult to secure more than one of them, unless several persons be present, when each can pursue a bird. The parents all this time are following the enemy overhead, lamenting the danger to which their young are exposed. In several instances, the old bird followed us almost to our boat, alighting occasionally on a projecting crag before us, and entreating us, as it were, to restore its offspring. By the first of August many of the young are fully fledged, and the different broods are seen associating together, to the number of forty, fifty, or more. They now gradually remove to the islands of the coast, where they remain until their departure, which takes place in the beginning of September. They start at the dawn of day, proceed on their way south at a small elevation above the water, and fly in so straggling a manner, that they can scarcely be said to move in flocks.

This species returns to Labrador and the adjoining islands in the beginning of June. The males are then so pugnacious and jealous of their females, that the sight of one of their own sex, instantly excites them to give battle; and it is curious to observe, that no sooner does one of these encounters take place, than several other males join in the fray. They close, flutter, bite, and tumble over, as the European Sparrow is observed to do on similar occasions. Several times while in Labrador, I took advantage of their pugnacious disposition, and procured two or three individuals at a shot, which it is difficult to do at any other time. Several pairs breed in the same place, but not near each other. The male bird sings sweetly while on wing, although its song is comparatively short. It springs from the moss or naked rock obliquely, for about forty yards, begins and ends its madrigal, then performs a few irregular evolutions, and returns to the ground. There also it sings, but less frequently, and with less fulness. Its call-note is quite mellow, and altered at times in a ventriloqual manner, so different, as to seem like that of another species. As soon as the young are hatched, the whole are comparatively mute, merely using the call-note. Only one brood is reared each season.

The food of the Shore Lark consists of grass-seeds, the blossoms of dwarf plants, and insects. It is an expert catcher of flies, following insects on wing to a considerable distance, and now and then betaking itself to the sea-shore to search for minute shell-fish or crustacea. It associates with the Brown Lark (Anthus Spinoletta), which indeed breeds in the same places. As I found the nest of the latter in Labrador, for the first time in my life, I will here describe it. It is always, I believe, placed next to the foot of a rock, in a tuft of grass, and is entirely composed of fine bent grass, neatly lined with delicate fibrous roots, without any feathers. The eggs, usually four, are small, and of a very dark uniform chocolate colour.

The Shore Larks reach the United States at the approach of winter. When the weather is severe in the north, they are seen in Massachusetts as early as October. Many spend the winter there, in the vicinity of the sea shore and sandy fields; others retire farther south, but seldom proceed beyond Maryland on the Atlantic, or the lower parts of Kentucky, west of the Alleghany mountains. My friend BACHMAN never saw one near Charleston, and only one have I seen in Louisiana, where the poor thing appeared quite lost, and so fatigued, that I caught it. I am, therefore, scarcely disposed to believe that this species was ever found on the table land of Mexico, as asserted by Mr BULLOCK.

At this season they fly in their usual loose manner, over the fields and open grounds, in search of food, which now consists of seeds, and the dormant larvæ of insects, mixing with the Brown Lark, and now and then with the Cow Bunting and others. They become plump and fat, and afford delicious food, for which reason our eastern markets are supplied with them. Although they at times alight on fences, I never saw one on a tree. The ground, indeed, is their proper place; there they repose, near tufts of dry grass, in small groups, until the return of day, when they run about in a straggling manner. If affrighted, the whole take to wing, perform a few evolutions, and alight on the same ground again.

I have given six figures of this beautiful Lark in different stages. The male birds, which, during the love season, have the black tufts of feathers on their head, as represented in the plate, nearly lose them at the approach of winter, when the brightness of their whole summer plumage is also much diminished.

ALAUDA ALPESTRIS, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 289.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 498.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 102.

SHORE LARK, Wils. Americ. Ornith. vol. i. p. 85. fig. 4. Female.

HORNED OR SHORE LARK, ALAUDA CORNUTA, Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor.-Americ. vol. i. p. 245.

Adult Male. Plate CC. Fig. 1 and 3.

Bill rather short, somewhat conical, compressed, acute, straightish, entire; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly arched, the edges inflected and sharp, the point acute; lower mandible straight, with inflected edges and acute tip; nostrils basal, oval, with an arched membrane, and covered by the frontal feathers. Head rather large, neck short, body oval. Legs of ordinary length; tarsus longer than the middle toe, anteriorly scutellate, acute behind; lateral toes nearly equal, the outer united to the middle one at the base; hind toe of moderate size; claws longish, slightly arched, that of the hind toe very long, tapering, acute, and nearly straight.

Plumage rather dense and compact. Wings of moderate length; the second and third primaries longest, first and fourth nearly equal; secondaries emarginate; scapulars elongated. Tail emarginate, straight, of twelve feathers. The principal peculiarity in the plumage consists of two erectile pointed tufts of feathers on the anterior and lateral parts of the head, which give the bird, viewed from before, a very remarkable appearance, somewhat resembling that of an owl.

The colours of the male in its winter plumage, are as follows. Beak blue at the base, blackish at the point. Iris chestnut-brown. Feet and claws greyish-black. The general colour of the upper parts is a dusky-brown, the feathers paler on the edges. On the forehead is a recurved crescentic band of brownish-black, forming the erectile tufts; another curved downwards, proceeds on each side from the base of the upper mandibles; while a band of yellowish white runs over the eyes and forehead. Throat pale yellow, with a broad patch of a dusky tint on the lower neck anteriorly; the rest of the under parts brownish-white. The quills dusky, the tail-feathers blackish, excepting the two middle ones, which are of the same reddish-brown as the upper tail-coverts.

In summer, the male changes its aspect considerably; the brownish-black bands on the head and neck becoming deep black, the throat and frontal band white, and the upper parts light brownish-red.

Fig. 3 represents the Male in winter; Fig. 1 in summer.

Length 7½ inches, extent of wings 14; bill 3/12; tarsus 1 inch.

Adult Female. Plate CC. Fig. 2.

The female is dusky-brown above, dull white beneath, the wings and tail as in the male; but it wants the black bands on the head and neck.

Nestlings. Plate CC. Fig. 4, 5, 6.

The bill and feet flesh-coloured; iris brown; the upper parts deep brown, mottled with pale reddish-brown; the lower parts pale yellowish-grey.

KENTUCKY BARBICUE ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.

Beargrass Creek, which is one of the many beautiful streams of the highly cultivated and happy State of Kentucky, meanders through a deeply shaded growth of majestic beech woods, in which are interspersed various species of walnut, oak, elm, ash, and other trees, extending on either side of its course. The spot on which I witnessed the celebration of an anniversary of the glorious proclamation of our independence is situated on its banks, near the city of Louisville. The woods spread their dense tufts towards the shores of the fair Ohio on the west, and over the gently rising grounds to the south and east. Every open spot forming a plantation was smiling in the luxuriance of a summer harvest. The farmer seemed to stand in admiration of the spectacle: the trees of his orchards bowed their branches, as if anxious to restore to their mother earth the fruit with which they were laden; the flocks leisurely ruminated as they lay on their grassy beds; and the genial warmth of the season seemed inclined to favour their repose.

The free, single hearted Kentuckian, bold, erect, and proud of his Virginian descent, had, as usual, made arrangements for celebrating the day of his country's independence. The whole neighbourhood joined with one consent. No personal invitation was required where every one was welcomed by his neighbour, and from the governor to the guider of the plough all met with light hearts and merry faces.

It was indeed a beautiful day; the bright sun rode in the clear blue heavens; the gentle breezes wafted around the odours of the gorgeous flowers; the little birds sang their sweetest songs in the woods, and the fluttering insects danced in the sunbeams. Columbia's sons and daughters seemed to have grown younger that morning. For a whole week or more, many servants and some masters had been busily engaged in clearing an area. The undergrowth had been carefully cut down, the low boughs lopped off, and the grass alone, verdant and gay, remained to carpet the sylvan pavilion. Now the waggons were seen slowly moving along under their load of provisions, which had been prepared for the common benefit. Each denizen had freely given his ox, his ham, his venison, his turkeys, and other fowls. Here were to be seen flaggons of every beverage used in the country; "La belle Riviere" had opened her finny stores; the melons of all sorts, peaches, plums and pears, would have sufficed to stock a market. In a word, Kentucky, the land of abundance, had supplied a feast for her children.

A purling stream gave its waters freely, while the grateful breezes cooled the air. Columns of smoke from the newly kindled fires rose above the trees; fifty cooks or more moved to and fro as they plied their trade; waiters of all qualities were disposing the dishes, the glasses, and the punch-bowls, amid vases filled with rich wines. "Old Monongahela" filled many a barrel for the crowd. And now, the roasting viands perfume the air, and all appearances conspire to predict the speedy commencement of a banquet such as may suit the vigorous appetite of American woodsmen. Every steward is at his post, ready to receive the joyous groups that at this moment begin to emerge from the dark recesses of the woods.

Each comely fair one, clad in pure white, is seen advancing under the protection of her sturdy lover, the neighing of their prancing steeds proclaiming how proud they are of their burden. The youthful riders leap from their seats, and the horses are speedily secured by twisting their bridles round a branch. As the youth of Kentucky lightly and gaily advanced towards the Barbicue, they resembled a procession of nymphs and disguised divinities. Fathers and mothers smiled upon them, as they followed the brilliant cortege. In a short time the ground was alive with merriment. A great wooden cannon, bound with iron hoops, was now crammed with home-made powder; fire was conveyed to it by means of a train, and as the explosion burst forth, thousands of hearty huzzas mingled with its echoes. From the most learned a good oration fell in proud and gladdening words on every ear, and although it probably did not equal the eloquence of a CLAY, an EVERETT, a WEBSTER, or a PRESTON, it served to remind every Kentuckian present of the glorious name, the patriotism, the courage, and the virtue, of our immortal WASHINGTON. Fifes and drums sounded the march which had ever led him to glory; and as they changed to our celebrated "Yankee Doodle," the air again rang with acclamations.

Now the stewards invited the assembled throng to the feast. The fair led the van, and were first placed around the tables, which groaned under the profusion of the best productions of the country that had been heaped upon them. On each lovely nymph attended her gay beau, who in her chance or sidelong glances ever watched an opportunity of reading his happiness. How the viands diminished under the action of so many agents of destruction I need not say, nor is it necessary that you should listen to the long recital. Many a national toast was offered and accepted, many speeches were delivered, and many essayed in amicable reply. The ladies then retired to booths that had been erected at a little distance, to which they were conducted by their partners, who returned to the table, and having thus cleared for action, recommenced a series of hearty rounds. However, as Kentuckians are neither slow nor long at their meals, all were in a few minutes replenished, and after a few more draughts from the bowl, they rejoined the ladies, and prepared for the dance.

Double lines of a hundred fair ones extended along the ground in the most shady part of the woods, while here and there smaller groups awaited the merry trills of reels and cotillons. A burst of music from violins, clarionets, and bugles, gave the welcome notice, and presently the whole assemblage seemed to be gracefully moving through the air. The "hunting-shirts" now joined in the dance, their fringed skirts keeping time with the gowns of the ladies, and the married people of either sex stepped in and mixed with their children. Every countenance beamed with joy, every heart leaped with gladness; no pride, no pomp, no affectation, were there; their spirits brightened as they continued their exhilarating exercise, and care and sorrow were flung to the winds. During each interval of rest, refreshments of all sorts were handed round, and while the fair one cooled her lips with the grateful juice of the melon, the hunter of Kentucky quenched his thirst with ample draughts of well tempered punch.

I know, reader, that had you been with me on that day, you would have richly enjoyed the sight of this national fête champetre. You would have listened with pleasure to the ingenuous tale of the lover, the wise talk of the elder on the affairs of the State, the accounts of improvement in stock and utensils, and the hopes of continued prosperity to the country at large, and to Kentucky in particular. You would have been pleased to see those who did not join the dance, shooting at distant marks with their heavy rifles, or watched how they shewed off the superior speed of their high bred "old Virginia" horses, while others recounted their hunting exploits, and at intervals made the woods ring with their bursts of laughter. With me the time sped like an arrow in its flight, and although more than twenty years have elapsed since I joined a Kentucky Barbicue, my spirit is refreshed every 4th of July by the recollection of that day's merriment.

But now the sun has declined, and the shades of evening creep over the scene. Large fires are lighted in the woods, casting the long shadows of the live columns far along the trodden ground, and flaring on the happy groups, loth to separate. In the still clear sky, began to sparkle the distant lamps of heaven. One might have thought that Nature herself smiled on the joy of her children. Supper now appeared on the tables, and after all had again refreshed themselves, preparations were made for departure. The lover hurried for the steed of his fair one, the hunter seized the arm of his friend, families gathered into loving groups, and all returned in peace to their happy homes.

And now, Reader, allow me also to take my leave and wish you good night, trusting that when I again appear with another volume, you will be ready to welcome me with a cordial greeting.

ERRATA.

Page 9, line 15 from the bottom, dele primaries.

Page 204, for Plate CXXXIV. read CXXXIII.

Page 251, read extent of wings 22; bill along the back ¾.

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INDEX.

Page Acadian Owl, 567

Acer spicatum, 207

Alauda alpestris, 570

Almond, Wild, 340, 521

American Crow, 317

— Golden-crested Wren, 476

— Robin, 190

— Sparrow Hawk, 246

— Starling, 216

— Swift, 329

Anona, Purple-flowered, 359

Apple, Seven years', 391

Arbutus uva-ursi, 454

Azalea, calendulacea, 566

— Orange-leaved, 566

— viscosa, 96

Bachman's Finch, 366

— Warbler, 483

Ball in Newfoundland, 211

Balsam Fir, 426

Barberry, Canadian, 514

Barbicue, Kentucky, 576

Barn Owl, 403

Barn Swallow, 413

Bay of Fundy, 485

Bignonia capreolata, 83

— radicans, 16

Black and Yellow Warbler, 145

Blackberry, 175

Blackbird, Great Crow, 504

Blackburnian Warbler, 208

Black-cap Titmouse, 343

Black-poll Warbler, 201

Black-throated Blue Warbler, 309

Black Gum Tree, 204

Black Haw, 328

Black Jack Oak, 107

Black Larch, 459

Black Locust, 23

Black Snake, 107

Black Vulture, 33

Black Walnut, 324

Blue Bird, 84

Blue Grosbeak, 140

Blue-headed Pigeon, 411

Blue Jay, 11

Boat-tailed Grakle, 504

Brown-headed Nuthatch, 151

Bunting, Townsend's, 183

— Snow, 515

Burning of the Forests, 397

Butter-nut, 252

Calopogon pulchellus, 231

Canada Flycatcher, 17

Canada Grous, 437

Canada Jay, 53

Canadian Barberry, 514

Canadian Columbine, 311

Caprimulgus virginianus, 273

Caracara Eagle, 350

Cardinal Grosbeak, 336

Carolina Titmouse, 341

Carrion Crow, 33

Cat Bird, 171

Cathartes Aura, 296

— Jota, 33

Chat, Yellow-breasted, 223

Chelone glabra, 150

Chestnut-oak, 195

Chimney Swallow, 329

Chipping Sparrow, 21

Citrus aurantium, 260, 360, 475

Cloudberry, 542

Coccyzus Seniculus, 390

Cod-fishing, 522

Columba cyanocephala, 411

— leucocephala, 443

— montana, 382

— passerina, 471

— Zenaida, 354

Columbine, Canadian, 311

Common Crossbill, 559

Connecticut Warbler, 227

Cordia, Rough-leaved, 448

Cordia Sebestena, 448

Cornus canadensis, 365

— florida, 144

— suecica, 541

Corvus americanus, 317

— canadensis, 53

— Corax, 1

— cristatus, 11

— ossifragus, 269

Cotton Plant, 130

Cratægus apiifolia, 538

Crossbill, Common, 559

Crow, American, 317

— Fish, 269

Cuckoo, Mangrove, 390

Cypselus pelasgius, 329

Death of a Pirate, 180

Dogwood, 144

Dove, Ground, 471

Dove, Zenaida, 354

Downy Woodpecker, 81

Dwarf Cornel, 541

Dwarf Huckle-berry, 231

Dwarf Maple, 207

Eagle, Caracara, 350

— Golden, 464

— White-headed, 160

Emberiza nivalis, 515

Falco Chrysaëtos, 464

— islandicus, 552

— lagopus, 377

— leucocephalus, 160

— niger, 381

— Palumbarius, 241

— plumbeus, 108

— Sparverius, 246

— Stanleii, 245

Falcon, Rough-legged, 377

— Iceland, 552

Falcon, Jer, 532

False Acacia, 23

Finch, Bachman's, 366

— MacGillivray's, 285

— Pine, 455

— Savannah, 63

— Sharp-tailed, 281

Field Sparrow, 229

Fir, Balsam, 426

— Silver, 426

Fish Crow, 269

Ferruginous Thrush, 102

Florida Keys, 312, 345

Flowering Raspberry, 147

Flycatcher, Fork-tailed, 387

— Great Crested, 176

— Green-Black-capped, 148

— Olive-sided, 422

— Pewee, 122

— Pipiry, 392

— Small Green Crested, 256

— Warbling, 114

— Wood Pewee, 93

— Yellow-throated, 119

Force of the Waters, 97

Forests, Burning of the, 397

Forked-tailed Flycatcher, 387

Fox-coloured Sparrow, 58

Fringilla Bachmanii, 366

— canadensis, 513

— caudacuta, 281

— cærulea, 140

— iliaca, 58

Fringilla leucophrys, 88

— Lincolnii, 539

— ludoviciana, 166

— Macgillivraii, 285

— passerina, 185

— pinus, 455

— pusilla, 229

— Savanna, 63

— socialis, 21

Fundy, Bay of, 485

Gentiana saponaria, 228

Gerardia flava, 222

— yellow-flowered, 222

Glaucous Kalmia, 542

Gleditschia triacanthos, 279, 290

Golden-crested Wren, American, 476

Gordonia Lasianthus, 389

— pubescens, 484

Gossypium herbaceum, 130

Golden Eagle, 464

Golden-crowned Thrush, 253

Goshawk, 241

Grakle, Boat-tailed, 504

— Rusty, 325

Grape, Racoon, 80

— Summer, 92

Great Cinereous Shrike, 534

— Crested Flycatcher, 176

— Crow Blackbird, 504

— Laurel, 20

Green Black-capped Flycatcher, 148

Grosbeak, Blue, 140

— Cardinal, 336

— Rose-breasted, 166

Ground Dove, 471

— Ground Hemlock, 170

— Squirrel, 410

Grous, Canada, 437

— Pinnated, 490

— Spotted or Canada, 437

— Willow, 528

Habenaria lacera, 365

Hare, Northern, 469

Haw, Black, 328

Hawk, Black, 381

— Sparrow, 246

Helenium quadridentatum, 262

Hemlock, Ground, 170

— Spruce, 562

— Warbler, 205

Hickory, Thick shell-bark, 10

Hirundo rustica, 413

Hobble Bush, 260

Honey Locust, 272, 290

Honeysuckle, Swamp, 96

Hooded Warbler, 66

Huckleberry, 451

— Dwarf, 231

Hudson's Bay Titmouse, 543

Humming Bird, Mango, 480

Hydrangea quercifolia, 121

Iceland Falcon, 552

Icteria viridis, 223

Ilex laxiflora, 308

Indian Pink-root, 65

Iris versicolor, 306

Jay, Blue, 11

— Canada, 53

Jer Falcon, 552

Journey in New Brunswick and Maine, 459

Juglans cinerea, 252

— sulcata, 10

Kalmia angustifolia, 548

— glauca, 542

— narrow-leaved, 548

Kentucky Barbicue, 576

Key West Pigeon, 382

Kite, Mississippi, 108

Labrador, Squatters of, 154

— Tea-plant, 533

— Cod Fishing at, 522

Lanius Excubitor, 534

Large-flowered Bignonia, 482

Lark, Meadow, 216

— Shore, 570

Laurel, Great, 20

— Narrow-leaved, 548

Laurus Sassafras, 258

Ledum latifolium, 533

Lost One, The, 69

Loxia curvirostra, 559

Lilium superbum, 503

Lily, Tiger, 503

Lincoln's Finch, 539

Little Owl, 567

Live Oak, 509

Live-Oakers, the, 237

Macgillivray's Finch, 285

Magnolia glauca, 118

— grandiflora, 482

— swamp, 118

Mango Humming Bird, 480

Mangrove Cuckoo, 390

Maple, Dwarf, 207

Meadow Lark, 216

Merchant of Savannah, 549

Migratory Thrush, 190

Mississippi Kite, 108

— Squatters of the, 131

Moose Hunt, 431

Mullein, Great, 87

Muscicapa acadica, 256

— canadensis, 17

— Cooperi, 422

— crinita, 176

— dominicensis, 392

— fusca, 122

— savana, 387

— virens, 93

— Wilsonii, 148

Narrow-leaved Kalmia, 548

— Laurel, 548

Newfoundland, Ball in, 211

Night Hawk, 273

Nightshade, Woody, 255

Northern Hare, 469

Nuthatch, Brown-headed, 151

— Red-bellied, 24

— White-breasted, 299

Nuttall's Short-billed Marsh Wren, 427

Nyssa aquatica, 204

Oak, Black Jack, 107

— Chestnut, 195

— Live, 509

— White, 56, 278

Olive-sided Flycatcher, 422

Orange-crowned Warbler, 449

— leaved Azalea, 566

— Wild, 475, 460, 560

Owl, Acadian, 567

— Barn, 403

— Little, 567

— Snowy, 135

Parus atricapillus, 373

— carolinensis, 341

— hudsonicus, 543

Pea, Sea, 533

Pewee Flycatcher, 122

Phlox aristata, 65

— maculata, 210

Pigeon, Blue-headed, 411

— Key West, 382

— White-headed, 443

Picus pileatus, 74

— pubescens, 81

— tridactylus, 197

— varius, 519

Pileated Woodpecker, 74

Pine Creeping Warbler, 233

— Yellow, 235

— Swamp Warbler, 279

— Finch, 455

Pinus balsamea, 426

— canadensis, 562

— pendula, 458

— variabilis, 235

Pink-root, Indian, 65

Pinnated Grous, 490

Pipiry Flycatcher, 392

Pirate, death of a, 180

Pisum maritimum, 533

Polyborus vulgaris, 350

Porcelia parviflora, 359

Purple-flowered Anona, 359

Quercus alba, 56

— nigra, 107

— virens, 509

Quiscalus ferrugineus, 325

— major, 504

Racoon Grape, 80

Ramping Trumpet-flower, 83

Raspberry, Flowering, 147

Raven, 1

Red-bellied Nuthatch, 24

Red-eyed Vireo, 287

Regulus Calendula, 546

— tricolor, 476

— Ruby-crowned, 546

Rhododendron maximum, 20

Robin, American, 190

Robinia Pseudacacia, 23

Rock Oak, 195

Rosa rubiginosa, 225

Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 166

Rough-leaved Cordia, 448

Rough-legged Falcon, 377

Rubus Chamæmorus, 542

— villosus, 175

Ruby-crowned Regulus, 546

Runaway, the, 27

Rusty Grakle, 325

Sassafras, 258

Savannah, Merchant of, 551

— Finch, 63

Sea Pea, 533

Seven Years' Apple, 391

Shrike, Great Cinereous, 534

Sharp-tailed Finch, 281

Shore Lark, 570

Short-billed Marsh Wren, 427

Silver Fir, 426

Sitta carolinensis, 299

— canadensis, 24

— pusilla, 151

Small Green Crested Flycatcher, 256

Smilacina borealis, 454

Snake, Black, 107

Snake's Head, 160

Snow Bunting, 515

Snowy Owl, 135

Snowball, Swamp, 121

Solanum Dulcamara, 255

Sparrow, Chipping, 21

— Field, 229

— Fox-coloured, 58

— Tree, 511

— White-crowned, 88

— Yellow-winged, 180

— Hawk, American, 246

Spigelia marilandica, 65

Spotted Grous, 437

Spring Garden, 263

Spruce, Hemlock, 562

Squatters of the Mississippi, 131

— of Labrador, 154

Squirrel, Ground, 410

Strix flammea, 403

— nyctea, 135

Stanley Hawk, 245

Streptopus distortus, 442

Sturnus ludovicianus, 216

St John's River in Florida, 291

Swainson's Warbler, 563

Swallow, Barn, 413

— Chimney, 329

Swamp Honeysuckle, 96

— Magnolia, 118

— Snowball, 121

Swedish Cornel, 541

Sweet Briar, 225

Swift, American, 329

Supple Jack, 344

Summer Grape, 92

Sylvia agilis, 227

— Bachmanii, 483

— Blackburniæ, 208

— canadensis, 309

— celata, 449

— coronata, 303

— maculosa, 145

— mitrata, 66

— Parus, 205

— petechia, 259, 360

— peregrina, 307

— Pinus, 233

— Sialis, 84

— sphagnosa, 279

— striata, 201

— Swainsonii, 563

Tawny Thrush, 362

Tea Plant, Labrador, 533

Tennessee Warbler, 307

Tetrao canadensis, 437

— Cupido, 490

— Saliceti, 528

Thalia dealbata, 479

Thick Shell-bark Hickory, 10

Three-toed Woodpecker, 197

Thrush, Golden-crowned, 253

— Ferruginous, 102

— Migratory, 190

— Tawny, 262

Tiger Lily, 503

Titmouse, Black-cap, 343

— Carolina, 341

— Hudson's Bay, 543

Townsend's Bunting, 188

Tree Sparrow, 511

Trillium pictum, 442

Troglodytes Americana, 453

— brevirostris, 427

Trochilus Mango, 480

Trumpet-flower, 16

— Ramping, 83

Turdus aurocapillus, 253

— felivox, 171

— migratorius, 190

— rufus, 102

— Wilsonii, 362

Turkey Buzzard, 296

Turtle, Green, 371

— Hawk-billed, 371

— Loggerhead, 371

Turtlers, the, 370

Tyrannus borealis, 422

Vaccinium tenellum, 231

Verbascum Thapsus, 87

Viburnum lantanoides, 280

Vireo flavifrons, 119

— gilvus, 114

— olivaceus, 287

— Red-eyed, 287

— Warbling, 114

— Yellow-throated, 119

Vitis æstivalis, 80, 92

Walnut, Black, 324

Warbler, Bachman's, 483

— Black and Yellow, 145

— Blackburnian, 208

— Black-poll, 201

— Black-throated, 309

— Connecticut, 227

— Hemlock, 205

— Hooded, 66

— Orange-crowned, 449

— Pine Creeping, 233

— Pine Swamp, 279

— Swainson's, 563

— Tennessee, 307

— Yellow Red-poll, 259, 360

— Yellow-rump, 303

Warbling Flycatcher, 114

— Vireo, 114

White-crowned Sparrow, 88

— headed Eagle, 160

— — Pigeon, 443

— breasted Nuthatch, 299

— Oak, 56, 278

— Walnut, 252

Wild Almond, 340, 521

— orange, 360, 460, 475

Willow Grous, 528

Woodpecker, Downy, 81

— Pileated, 74

— Three-toed, 197

— Yellow-bellied, 519

Wood Pewee, 93

— Wren, 452

Woody Nightshade, 255

Worm-grass, 65

Wren, Nuttall's Short-billed Marsh, 427

— Wood, 453

Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, 519

— breasted Chat, 223

— flowered Gerardia, 222

— Pine, 235

— Red poll Warbler, 259, 360

— Rump Warbler, 303

— throated Flycatcher, 119

— — Vireo, 119

— winged Sparrow, 180

Zenaida Dove, 354

PRINTED BY NEILL & CO. OLD FISHMARKET, EDINBURGH.

FOOTNOTES

Birds of America, vol. i. Pl. V.

Fauna Boreali-Americana, p. 225. Note.

The name given by the wreckers and smugglers to the Marion.