Part 3 Twelfths; the Cœca, _j_, Are Exceedingly Small, Forming Two

scarcely observable sacs, about half a twelfth in depth. The trachea is 2-1/12 inches long, its rings unossified, 78 in number; the bronchi long and slender, of about 18 half rings. The contents of the crop and stomach were portions of two small birds.

On comparing several specimens, male and female, of this Sharp-shinned Hawk, with others of the European Sparrow Hawk, the proportions are found to be similar, as are the colours of the upper parts; but the American birds, especially the males, are much smaller; and the transverse bands on the lower parts of the Sharp-shinned Hawk are redder and broader than those of the Sparrow Hawk. The number of dark bands on the tail is the same in both, namely four on the middle feathers, and six on the lateral. The tail is not always precisely even, being in both European and American birds often slightly rounded, the lateral feather being sometimes a quarter of an inch shorter than the longest.

A species most intimately allied to the Sharp-shinned Hawk presents the same form and colours, but differs somewhat in its proportions, and is much larger. The bill is much higher at the base, its upper outline slopes from the commencement, and the festoon on its edge is less prominent. The tarsi and toes are proportionally stronger, the edge on the former not nearly so prominent. The first quill is a little longer than the first secondary, the fifth quill (not the fourth) is longest; and the tail is rounded, the lateral feather in a female being eight-twelfths of an inch shorter than the longest. The dimensions of a female of this species, shot by myself in South Carolina, are as follows:—

Length to end of tail 16-1/2 inches; wing from flexure 10; tail 7-10/12; bill along the ridge 1; tarsus 2-7/12; hind toe 10/12, its claw 1; middle toe 1-8/12, its claw (7-1/2)/12.

It is very probable that this is the Accipiter Mexicanus of Mr SWAINSON, whose brief account of a female of that species, in the Fauna Boreali-Americana, agrees sufficiently with it. There are, however, some errors in his critical observations, at p. 44. Thus, he states that WILSON’s figure of the Slate-coloured Hawk, Accipiter Pennsylvanicus, is perfectly characteristic, in having the tail quite even at the end; but that TEMMINCK’s Autour a bec sinueux is doubtful, the tail being represented as distinctly rounded. Now, in fact, the tail of our Sharp-shinned Hawk is when perfect a little rounded, but often when worn quite even or square. Both the figures in Plate CCCLXXIV represent it as a little rounded, and such it is in five specimens out of eight, four of these being females, and one a male; while the three specimens in which the tail may be said to be quite even are males. Again, he states that “the anterior scales on the tarsus of A. Pennsylvanicus are entire, being apparently formed externally of one entire piece; whereas in Mexicanus, the transverse divisions are distinctly visible.” The latter part of the sentence is certainly correct, in so far as may be judged from a single very fine specimen; but the scales are equally distinct in all the younger individuals of the A. Pennsylvanicus, although in one, an old male, the distinctions between the greater number are obliterated, so that they resemble a single plate. There is nothing very remarkable in this, however, for the like happens to other Hawks; it having been long ago remarked with regard to the Sparrow Hawk of Europe, Accipiter Nisus, that “in some individuals, the anterior oblique scutella, as well as the hexagonal scales of the sides, are so indistinct, that all traces of them disappear when the parts become dry.”

Accipiter Nisus, A. velox, and A. Mexicanus, which are most closely allied, insomuch that it is extremely difficult to distinguish them from each other, may be characterized as follows:—

A. Mexicanus is largest; has the fifth quill longest, the first primary much longer than the last, the tail distinctly rounded, the tarsi stouter, and with fifteen scales; the upper parts deep slate-blue; the lower banded with light red and white.

A. velox is smallest, has the fourth quill longest, the first primary much shorter than the last, the tail even, the tarsi extremely slender, with fifteen scales; the colours exactly as in Mexicanus.

A. Nisus is intermediate in size, never so small as velox, but sometimes as large as Mexicanus, with the fourth quill longest, the first and last primary about equal, the tail very slightly rounded or even, the tarsi very slender, with eighteen scales, the upper parts deep slate-blue, the lower narrowly banded with light red in the male, and dusky in the female.

This species was described by WILSON under the name of Sharp-shinned Hawk, Falco velox, and figured in Pl. XLV, a young female only being represented, although a description is given of a young male also. He afterwards figured an adult male (Pl. XLVI), and described it under the name of Slate-coloured Hawk, Falco Pennsylvanicus, considering it as a distinct species. It appears, however, that it had previously been described under several names. Thus Falco fuscus of MILLER and GMELIN, and the American Brown Hawk of LATHAM, seem to be the same bird in the young state. Falco dubius of GMELIN and LATHAM, the Dubious Falcon of the latter and of PENNANT are also synonymous. The Dusky Falcon of PENNANT and LATHAM, Falco obscurus of the latter and of GMELIN, may also belong to the same species. If we consider priority of name as of paramount importance, then, in so far as can be shewn, the species ought to be named the “American Brown Hawk, Falco fuscus;” or, according to the newer nomenclature, Astur or Accipiter fuscus. The names of “Sharp-shinned,” “Slate-coloured,” and “velox” are not more distinctive; and Pennsylvanicus is out of the question, having been applied to another species.

LESSER REDPOLL.

FRINGILLA LINARIA, LINN.

PLATE CCCLXXV. MALE AND FEMALE.

When I was in Labrador, my young companions and my son one day (the 27th of July 1833) procured eight individuals of this species, of different sexes and ages. Next morning I went to the place where they had been shot, and found a good number remaining. The first observation I made had reference to their notes, which, instead of resembling those of the Goldfinch, as alleged by an American writer, are very similar to those of the Siskin, and are frequently uttered both when the birds are alighted and while they are on wing. They were in small parties of seven or eight, apparently formed by the members of the same family, and although several of these groups were around me, they did not intermingle until fired at, when they all simultaneously rose on wing, mixed together, and after performing several short evolutions returned to the same bushes, separated into families, and resumed their occupations. When alighted they were quite unsuspecting, and so heedless as to allow a close approach, scarcely regarding my presence, but clinging to the branches, dexterously picking out the seeds of the alder-cones, and occasionally coming to the ground after some which had dropped.

Few birds exhibit a more affectionate disposition than the Little Redpoll, and it was pleasing to see several on a twig feeding each other by passing a seed from bill to bill, one individual sometimes receiving food from his two neighbours at the same time. Occasionally, however, they shewed considerable pugnacity, and one would drive off its companion, inflicting some smart blows upon it with its bill, and uttering a low querulous chatter.

In other portions of the same country, I saw flocks composed of twenty or more individuals flying loosely at a moderate height, in the undulatory manner of the American Goldfinch and Siskin, without, however, making the deep sweeps of the former; suddenly alighting, and at once beginning to search with great expertness between the stems and leaves, picking at the embryo buds while perched over them, like Jays and Titmice.

So hardy is this species, that, according to Dr RICHARDSON, it is a “permanent resident in the Fur Countries, where it may be seen in the coldest weather, on the banks of lakes and rivers, hopping among the reeds and carices, or clinging to their stalks. Although numerous throughout the year, even in the most northern districts, a partial migration takes place, as large flocks visit Pennsylvania for a month or two in severe winters.” The migrations alluded to are of rare occurrence in that State, however, as well as in that of New York. I never saw one of these birds to the westward of the Alleghanies, and none were observed by Dr TOWNSEND or Mr NUTTALL on the Columbia River. They are abundant every cold winter in the northern parts of Massachusetts and Maine, as well as in all the British Provinces.

The food of this species consists of buds, seeds of various grasses, berries, and the small leaves of bushes and trees. I have represented a male and a female on a plant which grows abundantly in the localities in which I found it in Labrador.

The many young birds which I examined in the month of August, had the head entirely grey. The feathers of that part, and those on the breast and rump, were of the same colour nearly to the base, which is bluish-grey; and I suspect that they do not acquire any redness until the approach of spring. The old birds were moulting at the period mentioned, and from their appearance I concluded that all their red feathers are reassumed each spring. The eggs, from four to six in number, measure five-eighths in length, rather more than half an inch in diameter, and are pale bluish-green sparingly dotted with reddish-brown toward the larger end.

FRINGILLA LINARIA, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 322.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 458.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis. p. 112.

LESSER REDPOLL, FRINGILLA LINARIA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 42, pl. 30, fig. 4. Male.

LINARIA MINOR, LESSER REDPOLL, Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 267.

LESSER REDPOLL, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. 512.

Adult Male in Summer. Plate CCCLXXV. Fig. 1.

Bill short, strong, conical, compressed toward the end, extremely acute; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the ridge narrow, the sides convex, the edges sharp and overlapping, without notch, the tip acuminate; lower mandible with the angle short and semicircular, the dorsal line straight, the ridge broadish at the base, the sides convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute. Nostrils basal, roundish, covered by stiffish reversed feathers.

Head of moderate size, roundish; neck short; body moderate, Feet of moderate length, slender; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with a few scutella of which the upper are blended, posteriorly with two longitudinal plates meeting at a very acute angle; toes slender, the first with its claw as long as the third with its claw; the lateral toes equal. Claws large, moderately arched, much compressed, acute.

Plumage soft, rather blended, with very little gloss, unless on the red parts. Wings of ordinary length, the first three quills almost equal, but the second longest. Tail rather long, forked.

Bill yellowish, the upper mandible dusky on the ridge; iris brown; feet blackish brown. A band edging the forehead, the loral space, and the throat, brownish-black; the reversed feathers on the base of the bill yellowish; the crown of the head crimson; the hind part of the head, the neck, the fore part of the back, and the scapulars yellowish-brown, longitudinally streaked with blackish-brown, the feathers on the hind part of the back margined with whitish, and tipped with carmine; the wings and tail dusky, with yellowish-brown edges, and two transverse bands of the same on the tips of the first row of small coverts and the secondary coverts. The sides of the neck, its fore part, the breast, and flanks, rich carmine; the middle of the breast, the abdomen, and the lower tail-coverts white, tinged with rose colour; the sides longitudinally streaked with dusky.

Length to end of tail 5; to end of wings 4; extent of wings 8-3/4; wing from flexure 3-2/12; tail 2-1/2; bill along the ridge 4-1/2 twelfths, along the edge of lower mandible 5-1/2 twelfths; tarsus 7/12; first toe (2-1/2)/12, its claw, (4-1/2)/12; middle toe (4-1/2)/12, its claw 3/12.

Adult Female in Summer. Plate CCCLXXV. Fig. 2.

The female, which is somewhat less, has the black of the forehead and throat more brown, with less red on the head, and little or none on the rump, or on the lower parts, which are white, the breast and flanks longitudinally streaked with dusky.

TRUMPETER SWAN.

CYGNUS BUCCINATOR, RICHARDSON.

PLATE CCCLXXVI. YOUNG IN WINTER.

The history of the American Swans has been but very slightly traced. Few records of the habits of these majestic, elegant, and useful birds exist, on which much reliance can be placed; their geographical range still remains an unsolved problem; one species has been mistaken for another, and this by ornithologists who are said to be of the first order. The Cygnus Bewickii of Great Britain has been given as a North American Swan in place of Cygnus Americanus (well described by Dr SHARPLESS of Philadelphia) in the Fauna Boreali-Americana; and the latter bird has been taken for the Whistling Swan, C. musicus of BECHSTEIN, by the Prince of MUSIGNANO, who says in his Synopsis, p. 379, No. 321, that it is “very numerous in winter in Chesapeake Bay.” It is possible that we may have more than two species of Swan within the limits of North America, but I am at present acquainted with only that which forms the subject of this article, and the Cygnus Americanus of SHARPLESS.

In a note contained in the Journals of LEWIS and CLARK, written in the course of the expedition of these daring travellers across the Rocky Mountains, it is stated that “the Swans are of two kinds, the large and small. The large Swan is the same with the one common in the Atlantic States. The small differs from the large only in size and note; it is about one-fourth less, and its note is entirely different. These birds were first found below the great narrows of the Columbia, near the Chilluckittequaw nation. They are very abundant in this neighbourhood, and remained with the party all winter, and in number they exceed those of the larger species in the proportion of five to one.” These observations are partly correct and partly erroneous. In fact, the smaller species of the two, which is the C. Americanus of SHARPLESS, is the only one abundant in the middle districts of our Atlantic coast, while the larger Swan, the subject of this article, is rarely if ever seen to the eastward of the mouths of the Mississippi. A perfect specimen of the small Swan mentioned by LEWIS and CLARK has been transmitted to me from the Columbia River by Dr TOWNSEND, and I find it to correspond in every respect with the C. Americanus of SHARPLESS. Dr TOWNSEND corroborates the observations of the two eminent travellers by stating, that the latter species is much more numerous than the large C. Buccinator.

The Trumpeter Swans make their appearance on the lower portions of the waters of the Ohio about the end of October. They throw themselves at once into the larger ponds or lakes at no great distance from the river, giving a marked preference to those which are closely surrounded by dense and tall cane-brakes, and there remain until the water is closed by ice, when they are forced to proceed southward. During mild winters I have seen Swans of this species in the ponds about Henderson until the beginning of March, but only a few individuals, which may have staid there to recover from their wounds. When the cold became intense, most of those which visited the Ohio would remove to the Mississippi, and proceed down that stream as the severity of the weather increased, or return if it diminished; for it has appeared to me, that neither very intense cold nor great heat suit them so well as a medium temperature. I have traced the winter migrations of this species as far southward as the Texas, where it is abundant at times, and where I saw a pair of young ones in captivity, and quite domesticated, that had been procured in the winter of 1836. They were about two years old, and pure white, although of much smaller size than even the younger one represented in the plate before you, having perhaps been stinted in food, or having suffered from their wounds, as both had been shot. The sound of their well-known notes reminded me of the days of my youth, when I was half-yearly in the company of birds of this species.

At New Orleans, where I made the drawing of the young bird here given, the Trumpeters are frequently exposed for sale in the markets, being procured on the ponds of the interior, and on the great lakes leading to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This species is unknown to my friend, the Rev. JOHN BACHMAN, who, during a residence of twenty years in South Carolina, never saw or heard of one there; whereas in hard winters the Cygnus Americanus is not uncommon, although it does not often proceed further southward than that State. The waters of the Arkansas and its tributaries are annually supplied with Trumpeter Swans, and the largest individual which I have examined was shot on a lake near the junction of that river with the Mississippi. It measured nearly ten feet in alar extent, and weighed above thirty-eight pounds. The quills, which I used in drawing the feet and claws of many small birds, were so hard, and yet so elastic, that the best steel-pen of the present day might have blushed, if it could, to be compared with them.

Whilst encamped in the Tawapatee Bottom, when on a fur-trading voyage, our keel-boat was hauled close under the eastern shore of the Mississippi, and our valuables, for I then had a partner in trade, were all disembarked. The party consisted of twelve or fourteen French Canadians, all of whom were pretty good hunters; and as game was in those days extremely abundant, the supply of Deer, Bear, Racoons, and Opossums, far exceeded our demands. Wild Turkeys, Grous, and Pigeons, might have been seen hanging all around; and the ice-bound lakes afforded an ample supply of excellent fish, which was procured by striking a strong blow with an axe on the ice immediately above the confined animal, and afterwards extricating it by cutting a hole with the same instrument. The great stream was itself so firmly frozen that we were daily in the habit of crossing it from shore to shore. No sooner did the gloom of night become discernible through the grey twilight, than the loud-sounding notes of hundreds of Trumpeters would burst on the ear; and as I gazed over the ice-bound river, flocks after flocks would be seen coming from afar and in various directions, and alighting about the middle of the stream opposite to our encampment. After pluming themselves awhile they would quietly drop their bodies on the ice, and through the dim light I yet could observe the graceful curve of their necks, as they gently turned them backwards, to allow their heads to repose upon the softest and warmest of pillows. Just a dot of black as it were could be observed on the snowy mass, and that dot was about half an inch of the base of the upper mandible, thus exposed, as I think, to enable the bird to breathe with ease. Not a single individual could I ever observe among them to act as a sentinel, and I have since doubted whether their acute sense of hearing was not sufficient to enable them to detect the approach of their enemies. The day quite closed by darkness, no more could be seen until the next dawn; but as often as the howlings of the numerous wolves that prowled through the surrounding woods were heard, the clanging cries of the Swans would fill the air. If the morning proved fair, the whole flocks would rise on their feet, trim their plumage, and as they started with wings extended, as if, racing in rivalry, the pattering of their feet would come on the ear like the noise of great muffled drums, accompanied by the loud and clear sounds of their voice. On running fifty yards or so to windward, they would all be on wing. If the weather was thick, drizzly, and cold, or if there were indications of a fall of snow, they would remain on the ice, walking, standing, or lying down, until symptoms of better weather became apparent, when they would all start off. One morning of this latter kind, our men formed a plot against the Swans, and having separated into two parties, one above, the other below them on the ice, they walked slowly, on a signal being given from the camp, toward the unsuspecting birds. Until the boatmen had arrived within a hundred and fifty yards of them, the Swans remained as they were, having become, as it would appear, acquainted with us, in consequence of our frequently crossing the ice; but then they all rose on their feet, stretched their necks, shook their heads, and manifested strong symptoms of apprehension. The gunners meanwhile advanced, and one of the guns going off by accident, the Swans were thrown into confusion, and scampering off in various directions took to wing, some flying up, some down the stream, others making directly toward the shores. The muskets now blazed, and about a dozen were felled, some crippled, others quite dead. That evening they alighted about a mile above the camp, and we never went after them again. I have been at the killing of several of these Swans, and I can assure you that unless you have a good gun well loaded with large buck-shot, you may shoot at them without much effect, for they are strong and tough birds.

To form a perfect conception of the beauty and elegance of these Swans, you must observe them when they are not aware of your proximity, and as they glide over the waters of some secluded inland pond. On such occasions, the neck, which at other times is held stiffly upright, moves in graceful curves, now bent forward, now inclined backwards over the body. Now with an extended scooping movement the head becomes immersed for a moment, and with a sudden effort a flood of water is thrown over the back and wings, when it is seen rolling off in sparkling globules, like so many large pearls. The bird then shakes its wings, beats the water, and as if giddy with delight shoots away, gliding over and beneath the surface of the liquid element with surprising agility and grace. Imagine, Reader, that a flock of fifty Swans are thus sporting before you, as they have more than once been in my sight, and you will feel, as I have felt, more happy and void of care than I can describe.

When swimming unmolested the Swan shews the body buoyed up; but when apprehensive of danger, it sinks considerably lower. If resting and basking in the sunshine, it draws one foot expanded curiously towards the back, and in that posture remains often for half an hour at a time. When making off swiftly, the tarsal joint, or knee as it is called, is seen about an inch above the water, which now in wavelets passes over the lower part of the neck and along the sides of the body, as it undulates on the planks of a vessel gliding with a gentle breeze. Unless during the courting season, or while passing by its mate, I never saw a swan with the wings raised and expanded, as it is alleged they do, to profit by the breeze that may blow to assist their progress; and yet I have pursued some in canoes to a considerable distance, and that without overtaking them, or even obliging them to take to wing. You, Reader, as well as all the world, have seen Swans labouring away on foot, and therefore I will not trouble you with a description of their mode of walking, especially as it is not much to be admired.

The flight of the Trumpeter Swan is firm, at times greatly elevated and sustained. It passes through the air by regular beats, in the same manner as Geese, the neck stretched to its full length, as are the feet, which project beyond the tail. When passing low, I have frequently thought that I heard a rustling sound from the motion of the feathers of their wings. If bound to a distant place, they form themselves in angular lines, and probably the leader of the flock is one of the oldest of the males; but of this I am not at all sure, as I have seen at the head of a line a grey bird, which must have been a young one of that year.

This Swan feeds principally by partially immersing the body and extending the neck under water, in the manner of fresh-water Ducks and some species of Geese, when the feet are often seen working in the air, as if to aid in preserving the balance. Often however it resorts to the land, and then picks at the herbage, not sidewise, as Geese do, but more in the manner of Ducks and poultry. Its food consists of roots of different vegetables, leaves, seeds, various aquatic insects, land snails, small reptiles and quadrupeds. The flesh of a cygnet is pretty good eating, but that of an old bird is dry and tough.

I kept a male alive upwards of two years, while I was residing at Henderson in Kentucky. It had been slightly wounded in the tip of the wing, and was caught after a long pursuit in a pond from which it could not escape. Its size, weight, and strength rendered the task of carrying it nearly two miles by no means easy; but as I knew that it would please my wife and my then very young children, I persevered. Cutting off the tip of the wounded wing, I turned it loose in the garden. Although at first extremely shy, it gradually became accustomed to the servants, who fed it abundantly, and at length proved so gentle as to come to my wife’s call, to receive bread from her hand. “Trumpeter,” us we named our bird, in accordance with the general practice of those who were in the habit of shooting this species, now assumed a character which until then had been unexpected, and laying aside his timidity became so bold at times as to give chase to my favourite Wild Turkey Cock, my dogs, children, and servants. Whenever the gates of our yard happened to be opened, he would at once make for the Ohio, and it was not without difficulty that he was driven home again. On one occasion, he was absent a whole night, and I thought he had fairly left us; but intimation came of his having travelled to a pond not far distant. Accompanied by my miller and six or seven of my servants, I betook myself to the pond, and there saw our Swan swimming buoyantly about as if in defiance of us all. It was not without a great deal of trouble that we at length succeeded in driving it ashore. Pet birds, good Reader, no matter of what species they are, seldom pass their lives in accordance with the wishes of their possessors; in the course of a dark and rainy night, some of the servants having left the gate open, Trumpeter made his escape, and was never again heard of.

With the manners of this species during the breeding season, its mode of constructing its nest, the number of its eggs, and the appearance of its young, I am utterly unacquainted. The young bird represented in the plate was shot near New Orleans, on the 16th of December 1822. A figure of the adult male you will find in Plate CCCCVI; and should I ever have opportunities of studying the habits of this noble bird, believe me I shall have much pleasure in laying before you the results. Dr RICHARDSON informs us that it “is the most common Swan in the interior of the Fur Countries. It breeds as far south as lat. 61°, but principally within the arctic circle, and in its migrations generally precedes the Geese a few days.”

As the adult bird will be subsequently described, I judge it unnecessary at present to enter into a full detail of the external form and characters of the species, and will therefore confine myself to the colours and proportions of the individual represented.

CYGNUS BUCCINATOR, Richardson.—TRUMPETER SWAN, Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p.464. “White; head glossed above with chestnut; bill entirely black, without a tubercle; tail-feathers 24; feet black.”

Young after first moult. Plate CCCLXXVI.

In winter the young has the bill black, with the middle portion of the ridge, to the length of an inch and a half, light flesh-colour, and a large elongated patch of light dull purple, on each side; the edge of the lower mandible and the tongue dull yellowish flesh-colour. The eye is dark brown. The feet dull yellowish-brown, tinged with olive; the claws brownish-black; the webs blackish-brown. The upper part of the head and the cheeks are light reddish-brown, each feather having towards its extremity a small oblong whitish spot, narrowly margined with dusky; the throat nearly white, as well as the edge of the lower eyelid. The general colour of the other parts is greyish-white, slightly tinged with yellow; the upper part of the neck marked with spots similar to those on the head.

Length to end of tail 52-1/2 inches; extent of wings 91, wing from flexure 23-1/4; bill along the ridge 4-3/8, from the angle of the eye 6, along the edge of the lower mandible 4-1/8; tarsus 4-1/2; hind toe 1-1/4, its claw 3/8; middle toe 6-1/4, its claw 1; inner toe 4-1/2, its claw 10/12; outer toe 6-1/4, its claw 3/4. Weight 19 lb. 8 oz.; the bird very poor.

SCOLOPACEOUS COURLAN.

ARAMUS SCOLOPACEUS, VIEILL.

PLATE CCCLXXVIL MALE.

This very remarkable bird appears to be entirely confined to that section of the Peninsula of Florida known by the name of “Ever-glades,” and the swampy borders of the many bayous and lagoons issuing from that great morass. Few are found farther north than “Spring-garden Spring,” of which I have given you an account. I have heard of its having been in one instance procured on one of the Florida Keys, by Mr TITIAN PEALE, whose specimen, which was a young male, has been described and figured in the continuation of WILSON’s American Ornithology. None were seen by me on any of these islands, and our worthy Pilot told me, that in the course of the many years which he had spent in that country he had never met with one off the main-land. It did not occur to me on any part of the coast, while I was proceeding to the Texas, nor is it to be found in that country, which seems very strange, when I look at this bird, and compare it with the Rail family, which is so abundant along the whole of that coast, and to which it is very nearly allied in some of its habits, more especially to the Fresh-water Marsh Hen, Rallus elegans.

The flight of the Scolopaceous Courlan is heavy and of short duration; the concavity and shortness of its wings, together with the nature of the places which it inhabits, probably rendering it slow to remove from one spot to another on wing, it being in a manner confined among tall plants, the roots of which are frequently under water. When it rises spontaneously it passes through the air at a short distance above the weeds, with regular beats of the wings, its neck extended to its full length, and its long legs dangling beneath, until it suddenly drops to the ground. Few birds then excel it in speed, as it proceeds, if pursued, by long strides, quickly repeated, first in a direct course, along paths formed by itself when passing and repassing from one place to another, and afterwards diverging so as to ensure its safety even when chased by the best dogs, or other not less eager enemies inhabiting the half-submersed wilderness which it has chosen for its residence. When accidentally surprised, it rises obliquely out of its recess, with the neck greatly bent downward, and although its legs dangle for a while, they are afterwards extended behind in the manner of those of the Heron tribe. At such times these birds are easily shot; but if they are only wounded, it would be vain to pursue them. Although of considerable size and weight, they are enabled, by the great length and expansion of their toes to walk on the broad leaves of the larger species of Nymphæa found in that country. They swim with the same buoyancy as the Coots, Gallinules, and Rails.

The nest of this bird is placed among the larger tufts of the tallest grasses that grow at short distances from the bayous, many of which are influenced by the low tides of the Gulf. It is so well fastened to the stems of the plants, in the same manner as that of Rallus crepitans, as to be generally secure from inundation; and is composed of rank weeds matted together, and forming a large mass, with a depression in the centre. The eggs, which rarely exceed five or six, are large for the size of the bird. The young are hatched early in May, and follow their parents soon after birth, being covered with coarse tufty feathers, of a black colour.

The Ever-glades abound with a species of large greenish snail, on which these birds principally feed; and, from the great number of empty shells which are found at the foot of the nest and around it, it is probable that the sitting bird is supplied with food by her mate. Their notes, when uttered while they are on wing, are a sort of cackle, but when on the ground, much louder, especially during the pairing season, or when they are started by the report of a gun. The flesh of the young is pretty good eating. Although it is alleged that this bird occasionally alights on trees, I have never seen it in such a situation.

ARDEA SCOLOPACEA, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 647.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 701.

ARAMUS SCOLOPACEUS, Ch. Bonap. Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 39.

SCOLOPACEOUS COURLAN, ARAMUS SCOLOPACEUS, Ch. Bonap. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 111, pl. 26, fig. 2.—Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 68.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXVII.

Bill long, being double the length of the head, rather slender, but strong, much compressed, straight, its breadth less before the nostrils than towards the point; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight until towards the end, then slightly arcuato-declinate, the ridge convex in its whole length, the sides nearly erect, more convex towards the extremity, the tip blunted, the edges broad and obtuse for half their length, sharp but thick in the rest of their extent; lower mandible slightly ascending at the base, then direct, much compressed towards the tip, which is acute, the angle long and very narrow, the dorsal line slightly convex, the edges obtuse, becoming sharp towards the end. Nasal groove nearly half the length of the bill; nostrils direct, linear, long.

Head rather small, oblong, compressed. Eyes rather large. Neck long and slender. Body ovato-oblong, much compressed. Feet very long and slender, rather stout; tibia bare in its lower half, which is anteriorly covered with hexagonal scales, posteriorly with transverse scutella; tarsus long, compressed, anteriorly with numerous broad scutella, laterally with very small elongated scales, posteriorly with large scutelliform scales, many of which are divided; toes long, rather slender; hind toe small and elevated; fourth considerably longer than second, middle toe nine-twelfths of an inch longer than the outer; the anterior toes are divided to the base, compressed, scutellate above, scaly on the sides, papillate beneath, compressed and not marginate. Claws of moderate length, very slightly arched, compressed, tapering to a point; that of the first toe smallest, of the third largest, without serratures on the inner edge, which is thin and a little expanded.

Plumage of ordinary texture, rather compact and glossy on the upper parts, blended on the lower; feathers on the head and neck short, oblong; on the back ovate and very broadly rounded. Wings of moderate length, very broad, concave, rounded; primaries broad, secondaries very broad and rounded; first primary two-thirds of the length of the second, which is ten-twelfths shorter than the third; the fourth, which is longest, exceeds the third by one-twelfth, and the fifth by half a twelfth; some of the secondaries reach to half an inch of the tip of the longest primary when the wing is closed; the three outer quills are narrower toward the base than toward the extremity, more especially the first. The tail is short, broad, convex, rounded, of twelve broad, rounded feathers.

Bill greenish-yellow, dusky toward the end of both mandibles, but especially of the upper; iris hazel; feet lead-grey, claws dusky. The general colour of the plumage is chocolate-brown, the upper parts glossed, with purple and bronze reflections; the fore part of the head paler, inclining to grey, each feather with a greyish-white central line; the sides of the head and the throat are still lighter, and a small portion of the throat is whitish, these parts being streaked with greyish-brown and greyish-white; the lower eyelid white. The hind part and sides of the neck are marked with elliptical spots of white in regular series, there being one on each feather, some of them extending forwards to the posterior angle of the eye. Some of the feathers on the middle of the breast and the lower wing-coverts are similarly marked with lanceolate white spots; the tail is more highly glossed and coloured than the rest of the upper parts.

Length to end of tail 25-3/4 inches, to end of wings 25, to end of claws 32, to carpal joint 13-3/4; extent of wings 41; wing from flexure 12-1/2; tail 5-1/2; bill along the ridge 4-7/12, along the edge of lower mandible 4-3/4; bare part of tibia 2-1/2; tarsus 4-8/12; hind toe 1-1/12, its claw 7/12; second toe 2-4/12, its claw (3-1/2)/12 twelfths; third toe 3-1/2, its claw 10/12; fourth toe 2-8/12, its claw 8/12.

The Female is somewhat less, but resembles the male.

Length to end of tail 25 inches, to end of claws 33-1/4; to end of wings 24, to carpal joint 12-3/4; extent of wings 42; wing from flexure 12; tail 4-3/4; bill along the gape 4-3/8.

The young when fully fledged is of a much lighter tint; the head and fore-neck brownish-grey, the lower parts greyish-brown. The bill is yellowish-green, darker toward the end; the feet much darker than in the adult. Excepting the quills, primary-coverts, tail-feathers, and the rump, all the plumage is marked with spots of white, of which there is one along the centre of each feather; those on the neck elongated, on the back, wings, and breast lanceolate. In this state it is figured in the continuation of Wilson’s American Ornithology, by the PRINCE of MUSIGNANO.

Length to end of tail 23 inches.

This remarkable bird has exercised the ingenuity of the systematizing ornithologists, some of whom have considered it as a Heron, others a Crane, while many have made it a Rail, and many more a genus apart, but allied to the Rails, or to the Herons or to both. It seems in truth to be a large Rail, with the wings and feet approaching in form to those of the Herons; but while frivolous disputes might be carried on ad libitum as to its location in the system of nature, were we merely to consider its exterior; it is fortunate that we possess a means of determining its character with certainty:—if we examine its digestive organs, we shall at once see if it be a Rail, or a Heron, or anything else. If a Heron, it will have a very wide œsophagus, a roundish, thin-walled stomach, very slender intestines, and a single short obtuse cœcum; if a Rail or Gallinule, or bird of that tribe, it will have a narrow mouth, a narrow œsophagus, a very muscular stomach, intestines of moderate width, and two moderately long, rather wide cœca. Here then are two specimens, shot in Florida, and preserved in spirits.

The first, which is found to be a female, has the mouth narrow, measuring only 7 twelfths across; the tongue very long and extremely slender, trigonal, pointed, extending to within half an inch of the tip of the lower mandible, being 3-7/12 inches in length. The œsophagus, a b c d, which is 12 inches long, is narrow in its whole length, its diameter at the upper part being 6 twelfths, below the middle of the neck 8 twelfths. The proventriculus, b c, is nearly 1 inch long, 9 twelfths in its greatest diameter, bulbiform; its glandules cylindrical, 1-1/2 twelfth long. Between the termination of the proventriculus, and the commencement of the stomach, the space, c d, is more elongated than usual, an inch and 2 twelfths, and presents the appearance of a tube curved toward the left in the form of the letter S. The circular fibres of this part are strong, and its epithelium is very thick, soft, and raised into twelve very prominent rounded longitudinal rugæ. The stomach, properly so called, d e f g is an extremely powerful gizzard, of an orbicular form, compressed, with its axis a little inclined toward the right side, its length 1 inch and 9 twelfths, its breadth 1 inch and 8 twelfths, its thickness 11 twelfths. The left lateral muscle, d f, is much larger than the right, occupying nearly one-half of the organ; the muscles are thick, but not very remarkably so, their greatest thickness being 4 twelfths; the epithelium is very hard and rugous. The duodenum, g h i, curves in the usual manner, folding back upon itself at the distance of 3 inches. The intestine, g h i j k, is of moderate length, 31 inches, its greatest diameter 3 twelfths; the rectum, k l, 3 inches long, including the cloaca, l m, which is globular, 1-1/2 inch in diameter; the cœca, n n, of moderate size, 1-3/4 inch long, for nearly half their length 2 twelfths in diameter, in the rest of their extent from 4 to 6 twelfths, obtuse; their distance from the cloaca 10 twelfths.

The trachea, o p, is 10 inches long, narrow, of nearly uniform diameter, being narrowest in the upper third of its length, unless for three-fourths of an inch at the commencement. Its rings 186 in number, are ossified, and a little flattened. The contractor muscles are slender, as are the sterno-tracheal; and there is a single pair of inferior laryngeal. The bronchi, p q, are wide, tapering, of about 15 narrow cartilaginous half rings. The heart is of moderate size, 1-7/12 inch long, 1 inch in breadth. The liver is small, its lobes, which are equal, being 1 inch in length.

The other individual, a male, has the œsophagus 12 inches long; the distance from the proventriculus to the stomach 1-2/12 inch; the stomach 1-8/12 inch long, and the same in breadth; the cœca 2 inches long, the greatest diameter 5 twelfths; the intestine 32-1/2 inches in length, their greatest diameter 3-1/2 twelfths.

Now, in all this there is nothing indicative of any affinity to the Herons; the structure of the intestinal canal being essentially like that of the Coots, Gallinules, and Rails. Even the external parts sufficiently indicate its station, the bill; the plumage, and the colouring being more like these of the Rallinæ than of any other family.

The Prince of MUSIGNANO, who first described this bird as a Rail, Rallus giganteus, afterwards adopted for it VIEILLOT’s genus Aramus, and considered it as belonging to the Ardeidæ, forming a connecting link with them and the Rallidæ and “aberrating somewhat towards the Scolopacidæ, as well as tending a little towards the Psophidæ, sub-family Gruinæ” and claiming “again a well-founded resemblance to the most typical form of the genus Rallus.” Finally, he reverts to his original idea, and places it at the head of the Rallidæ. Mr SWAINSON refers it to the Tantalidæ, associating it with Anastomus, Tantalus, and Ibis, to which it certainly has very little affinity in any point of view.

The efficiency of the digestive organs as a means of determining affinities in cases of doubt, is happily illustrated in this instance; and any person who will make himself acquainted with them will easily discover numerous false associations in all systems founded on the external aspect alone.

HAWK OWL.

STRIX FUNEREA, LINN.

PLATE CCCLXXVIII. MALE AND FEMALE.

It is always disagreeable to an author to come forward when he has little of importance to communicate to the reader, and on no occasion have I felt more keenly than on the present, when introducing to your notice an Owl, of which the habits, although unknown to me, must be highly interesting, as it seems to assimilate in some degree to the diurnal birds of prey. I have never seen it alive, and therefore can only repeat what has been said by one who has. Dr RICHARDSON gives the following account of it in the Fauna Boreali-Americana:—

“It is a common species throughout the Fur Countries from Hudson’s Bay to the Pacific, and is more frequently killed than any other by the hunters, which may be partly attributed to its boldness and its habit of flying about by day. In the summer season it feeds principally on mice and insects; but in the snow-clad regions which it frequents in the winter, neither of these are to be procured, and it then preys mostly on Ptarmigan. It is a constant attendant on the flocks of Ptarmigan in their spring migrations to the northward. It builds its nest on a tree, of sticks, grass, and feathers, and lays two white eggs. When the hunters are shooting Grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the report of the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird being killed, to pounce down upon it, though it may be unable from its size to carry it off. It is also known to hover round the fires made by the natives at night.”

I lately received a letter from my friend Dr THOMAS M. BREWER of Boston, Massachusetts, in which he informs me that “the Hawk Owl is very common at Memphramagog Lake in Vermont, where as many as a dozen may be obtained by a good gunner in the course of a single day. Its nests in the hollow trees are also frequently met with.” It is surprising that none should have been seen by Mr NUTTALL or Dr TOWNSEND, while crossing the Rocky Mountains, or on the Columbia River; especially as it has been found by my friend EDWARD HARRIS, Esq. as far southward on our eastern coast as New Jersey.

The specimens from which the figures in the plate were drawn, were given to me by THOMAS MACCULLOCH, Esq. of Pictou, who had a good number of them. Two entire individuals preserved in spirits afford materials for the following descriptions.

STRIX FUNEREA, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 133.—Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. i. p. 62.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 35.

HAWK OWL, STRIX HUDSONIA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. vi. p. 64, pl. 50, fig. 6.

STRIX FUNEREA, AMERICAN HAWK OWL, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 92.

HAWK OWL, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 115.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXVIII. Fig. 1.

Bill short, strong, higher than broad; upper mandible with the dorsal line declinate and decurvate, the ridge convex, the sides convex toward the end, the edges nearly straight until toward the end, the tip decurvate, trigonal, acute; the cere covered with stiff bristly feathers directed forwards; lower mandible with the angle very wide, the dorsal outline convex, the ridge broad and convex, the sides convex, the edges sharp toward the end, the tip obtuse, thin-edged. Nostrils roundish, in the fore part of the cere, concealed by the feathers.

Head very large, roundish, convex above. Eyes very large. Neck very short; body of moderate size. Legs very short, robust; tarsus very short, feathered, as are the toes, of which the outer is reversible; claws long, stout, compressed, tapering to a very acute point, that of third toe with the inner edge considerably dilated.

Plumage full, very soft, blended; the cere covered with slender stiffish reversed feathers, having their filaments disunited; the facial disks incomplete above. Wings rather long, rounded; the third primary longest, the fourth one-twelfth and a half shorter, the second four and a half twelfths shorter than the third, the first intermediate between the fifth and sixth; the first four cut out on the outer web towards the end, the barbs on the greater part of the outer web of the first, and the terminal portion of the second, thickened, and a little separated, but not recurved; the secondaries of moderate length, rounded. Tail rather long, much rounded, of twelve rather broad rounded feathers, of which the lateral are two inches shorter than the middle.

Bill pale yellow; iris bright yellow; claws dusky. The facial disk is greyish-white, the shafts black, at its anterior part intermixed with black filaments. The upper part of the head brownish-black, closely spotted with white, there being generally three roundish spots on each feather. The hind part of the neck is brownish-black, with two broad longitudinal bands of white spots; a semicircle of brownish-black feathers margins the facial disk behind. The general colour of the upper parts is chocolate-brown, becoming lighter behind; all the feathers marked with white spots in pairs, larger and more conspicuous on the scapulars, disposed in bars on the rump and upper tail-coverts. On both webs of the quills are several transversely elliptical white spots, the outer webs of the first two and five inner primaries excepted; the tips of all brownish-white. The tail is marked with about eight transverse bars of white, formed by narrow oblong alternating spots on both webs, the feathers also tipped with white, the throat is greyish-dusky, that colour being succeeded by a semi-circular band of white, beneath which is an obscure brownish-black band; the rest of the lower parts transversely barred with dusky and white; the dark bars of a deeper tint anteriorly, approaching to chestnut on the sides and legs, fainter on the abdomen and feet, and greyish-brown on the lower tail-coverts.

Length to end of tail 15-3/4 inches, to end of wings 12-1/2, to end of claws 11-1/2, to carpal joint 3-3/8; extent of wings 31-1/2; wing from flexure 9-8/12; tail 7-1/2; bill along the ridge 1-2/12, along the edge of lower mandible 1; tarsus 1; hind toe 3/12, its claw (10-1/2)/12; middle toe 10/12, its claw 10/12; inner toe (8-1/2)/12, its claw 11/12; outer toe 6/12, its claw 10/12.

Adult Female. Plate CCCLXXVIII. Fig. 2.

The Female is somewhat larger, and resembles the male, but is of a lighter tint, especially on the wings and tail, where the white markings are smaller and less decided.

Length to end of tail 17-1/2 inches.

An adult male, presented by THOMAS M. BREWER, Esq. of Boston, and preserved in spirits.

The palate is concave, with two longitudinal, parallel, papillate ridges. The posterior aperture of the nares is lanceolate, with an anterior fissure, the space between which and the lateral ridge is papillate. The tongue is short, fleshy, deeply emarginate and papillate at the base, rounded and notched at the end; its length 7-1/2 twelfths, its breadth 3-1/4 twelfths. The mouth is very wide, measuring 1 inch 1 twelfth across. The œsophagus, a b c, which is 4-3/4 inches in length, is of nearly uniform diameter, its greatest breadth being 11 twelfths, and at its entrance into the thorax 10 twelfths. Its walls are extremely thin; but its longitudinal and transverse muscular fibres are distinctly seen. The proventricular glandules are very large and cylindrical, forming a belt, b c, 1 inch 1 twelfth in breadth. The stomach, c d e, is of moderate size, roundish, 1 inch 5 twelfths long, 1 inch 1-1/2 twelfth broad; its walls very thin, the muscular coat being composed of slender fasciculi converging toward two roundish tendinous spaces; the inner coat or epithelium very soft and rugous, but partially dissolved by the gastric juice. The pylorus has a semilunar margin, but is otherwise destitute of valve. The contents of the stomach are tufts of reddish hair, resembling that of some hare. The duodenum, e f g, which is 3-1/2 twelfths in diameter, curves backwards and upwards, running across to the left side, and returning upon itself opposite the fifth rib; it then proceeds to the right side under the liver, receives the biliary ducts, passes behind and above the stomach, and forms three folds, terminating in the rectum, which is laterally curved, and ends in a globular cloaca, j k, 10 twelfths in diameter. The entire length of the intestine, e f g h k, is 18 inches, its diameter from 4 twelfths to 1-1/2 twelfth. The rectum is 2 inches long. The cœca, Fig. 2, a b, a b, are 2-1/4 inches in length, for 1 inch and 2 twelfths very narrow, their diameter varying from 1 to 2 twelfths, their greatest diameter 4 twelfths, their extremity blunt.

The aperture of the ear, Fig. 3, although very large, is inferior to that of many Owls of similar size. It is of an elliptical form, 5 twelfths in its greatest diameter, and 4 twelfths across.

The trachea is 3 inches long, flattened, its diameter nearly uniform, averaging 2 twelfths; the rings moderately firm, 74 in number. The bronchi are long, slender, of about 20 very slender cartilaginous half rings. The contractor muscles are moderate, as are the sterno-tracheal. There is a single pair of flat inferior laryngeal muscles, going to the first and second bronchial rings.

RUFF-NECKED HUMMING BIRD.

TROCHILUS RUFUS, GMEL.

PLATE CCCLXXIX. MALE AND FEMALE.

This charming Humming Bird was discovered by the great navigator, Captain Cook, who found it abundant at Nootka Sound. It does not appear to have been seen by Dr RICHARDSON or Mr DRUMMOND in the northern parts of America, traversed by those most zealous and highly talented naturalists. As no account has hitherto been given of its habits, the following notices from my friends Mr NUTTALL and Dr TOWNSEND, will, I doubt not, prove highly interesting.

“We began,” says the first of-these enterprising travellers, “to meet with this species near the Blue Mountains of the Columbia River, in the autumn, as we proceeded to the west. These were all young birds, and were not very easily distinguished from those of the common species of the same age. We now for the first time (April 16.) saw the males in numbers, darting, burring, and squeaking in the usual manner of their tribe; but when engaged in collecting its accustomed sweets in all the energy of life, it seemed like a breathing gem, or magic carbuncle of glowing fire, stretching out its gorgeous ruff, as if to emulate the sun itself in splendour. Towards the close of May, the females were sitting, at which time the males were uncommonly quarrelsome and vigilant, darting out at me as I approached the tree probably near the nest, looking like an angry coal of brilliant fire, passing within very little of my face, returning several times to the attack, sinking and darting with the utmost velocity, at the same time uttering a curious reverberating sharp bleat, somewhat similar to the quivering twang of a dead twig, yet also so much like the real bleat of some small quadruped, that for some time I searched the ground instead of the air, for the actor in the scene. At other times, the males were seen darting up high in the air, and whirling about each other in great anger, and with much velocity. After these manœuvres the aggressor returned to the same dead twig, where for days he regularly took his station with all the courage and angry vigilance of a King-bird. The angry hissing or bleating note of this species seems something like wht’t’t’t’t sh vee, tremulously uttered as it whirls and sweeps through the air, like a musket-ball, accompanied also by something like the whirr of the Night Hawk. On the 29th of May, I found a nest of this species in a forked branch of the Nootka Bramble, Rubus Nutkanus. The female was sitting on two eggs, of the same shape and colour as those of the common species. The nest also was perfectly similar, but somewhat deeper. As I approached, the female came hovering round the nest, and soon after, when all was still, she resumed her place contentedly.”

Dr TOWNSEND’s note is as follows:—“Nootka Sound Humming Bird, Trochilus rufus, Ah-puets-Rinne of the Chinooks. On a clear day the male may be seen to rise to a great height in the air, and descend instantly near the earth, then mount again to the same altitude as at first, performing in the evolution the half of a large circle. During the descent it emits a strange and astonishingly loud note, which can be compared to nothing but the rubbing together of the limbs of trees during a high wind. I heard this singular note repeatedly last spring and summer, but did not then discover to what it belonged. I did not suppose it to be a bird at all, and least of all a Humming Bird. The observer thinks it almost impossible that so small a creature can be capable of producing so much sound. I have never observed this habit upon a dull or cloudy day.”

Mr NUTTALL having presented me with the nest of this species attached to the twig to which the bird had fastened it, my amiable friend Miss MARTIN has figured it for me, as well as the plant, about which these lovely creatures are represented. The nest, which measures two inches and a quarter in height, and an inch and three quarters in breadth, at the upper part, is composed externally of mosses, lichens, and a few feathers, with slender fibrous roots interwoven, and lined with fine cottony seed-down.

TROCHILUS RUFUS, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 497.

TROCHILUS COLLARIS, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 318.

TROCHILUS (SELASPHORUS) RUFUS, Swainson.

CINNAMON or NOOTKA HUMMING BIRD, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 324.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXIX. Figs. 1, 2.

Bill long, straight, subulate, somewhat depressed at the base, acute; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the ridge narrow at the base, broad and convex toward the end, the sides convex, the edges overlapping, the tip acuminate; lower mandible with the angle very long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line straight, the edges erect, the tip acuminate. Nostrils basal, linear.

Head of ordinary size, oblong; neck short; body slender. Feet very small; tarsus very short, feathered more than half-way down, toes small; the lateral equal, the middle toe not much longer, the hind toe a little shorter than the lateral, anterior toes united at the base; claws rather long, arched, compressed, laterally grooved, very acute.

Plumage soft and blended; feathers on the throat, fore part and sides of the neck oblong-obovate, with the filaments towards the end thickened and flattened, with metallic gloss, those on the sides of the neck elongated and erectile. Wings rather short, extremely narrow, falcate, pointed; the primaries rapidly graduated, the second being longest, but only slightly longer than the first; these two quills taper to a point; the rest are broader, and gradually become less pointed; the secondaries are extremely short, and only five in number. Tail rather long, broad, graduated, the lateral feathers four and a half twelfths of an inch shorter than the central; the latter are extremely broad, measuring four and a half twelfths across, and the rest gradually diminish to the lateral, which are very narrow; all obtusely pointed.

Bill brownish-black; toes brown, claws dusky. The general colour of the upper parts is bright cinnamon or reddish-orange; the head bronzed green, the wings dusky, the coverts glossed with green, the primaries with purplish; each of the tail-feathers has a narrow longitudinal lanceolate median streak toward the end. The loral space, a narrow band over the eye, another beneath it, and the auriculars are reddish-orange; the scale-like feathers of the throat and sides of the neck are splendent fire-red, purplish-red, yellowish-red, greenish-yellow or yellowish-green, according to the light in which they are viewed; behind them, on the lower part of the neck, is a broad band of reddish-white; the rest of the lower parts are like the upper, the abdomen inclining to white.

Length to end of tail 3-7/12 inches; bill along the ridge (7-1/2)/12, along the edge of lower mandible (9-1/4)/12; wing from flexure 1-(7-1/4)/12; tail 1-(3-1/2)/12; tarsus (1-1/2)/12; hind toe (1-1/2)/12, its claw (1-1/4)/12; middle toe (2-1/4)/12, its claw (1-1/2)/12.

Adult Female. Plate CCCLXXIX. Fig. 3.

The Female has the bill and feet coloured as in the male. The upper parts are gold-green, the head inclining to brown; the wings as in the male; the tail-feathers reddish-orange at the base, brownish-black toward the end, the tip white. The lower parts are white, tinged with rufous, of which colour, especially, are the sides; the throat marked with roundish spots of metallic greenish-red.

Length to end of tail 3-(7-1/2)/12 inches; bill along the ridge (8-3/4)/12; wing from flexure 1-10/12; tail 1-(1-1/2)/12.

The above descriptions are from two individuals shot by Dr TOWNSEND on the “Columbia River, 30th May 1835.” A “young male, Columbia River, 29th May 1835,” resembles the female as above described, differing only in having the metallic spots on the throat larger. A “young female, Columbia River, June 10th 1835,” differs from the adult only in wanting the metallic spots on the throat, which is spotted with greenish-brown.

CLEOME HEPTAPHYLLA.

The beautiful plant represented in the plate belongs to Tetradynamia Siliquosa of the Linnæan arrangement, and to the genus Cleome, characterized by having three nectariferous glandules at each corner of the calyx, the lower excepted; all the petals ascending; the germen stipitate; the siliqua unilocular, two-valved. The species, C. heptaphylla, is distinguished by its septenate leaves, of which the leaflets are lanceolate, acuminate, and of a deep green colour. It grows in South Carolina and Georgia.

TENGMALM’S OWL.

STRIX TENGMALMI, GMEL.

PLATE CCCLXXX. MALE AND FEMALE.

I procured a fine male of this species at Bangor, in Maine, on the Penobscot River, in the beginning of September 1832; but am unacquainted with its habits, never having seen another individual alive. Dr TOWNSEND informs me that he found it first on the Malade River Mountains, where it was so tame and unsuspicious, that Mr NUTTALL was enabled to approach within a few feet of it, as it sat upon the bushes. Dr RICHARDSON gives the following notice respecting it in the Fauna Boreali-Americana:—“When it accidentally wanders abroad in the day, it is so much dazzled by the light of the sun as to become stupid, and it may then be easily caught by the hand. Its cry in the night is a single melancholy note, repeated at intervals of a minute or two. Mr HUTCHINS informs us that it builds a nest of grass half-way up a pine tree, and lays two white eggs in the month of May. It feeds on mice and beetles. I cannot state the extent of its range, but believe that it inhabits all the woody country from Great Slave Lake to the United States. On the banks of the Saskatchewan it is so common that its voice is heard almost every night by the traveller, wherever he selects his bivouac.”

STRIX TENGMALMI, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 291.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 65.

STRIX TENGMALMI, TENGMALM’S OWL, Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 94.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXX. Fig. 1.

Bill short, very deep, strong; upper mandible with its dorsal line curved from the base, its ridge convex, as are the sides, the edges sharp and incurved anteriorly, the tip very acute, and at its extremity nearly perpendicular; the cere short, and bare on its upper part; the lower mandible has the angle broad and short, the dorsal line slightly convex, the edges inflected, towards the end incurved, with a notch on each side close to the abruptly-rounded tip. Nostrils broadly elliptical, oblique, in the fore part of the cere, which bulges considerably behind them.

The head is extremely large, roundish, when viewed from above somewhat triangular; the eyes large. The conch of the ear very large, of an elliptical form, extending from the base of the lower jaw to near the top of the head, being an inch and a quarter in length, with an anterior semicircular operculum stretching along its whole length, and an elevated margin behind. The neck is very short and thin; the body very slender; but both appear very full on account of the vast mass of plumage. The feet are rather short, and strong; the tarsi and toes covered with very soft downy feathers, the extremities of the latter with two scutella. The claws are slender, tapering to a fine point, compressed, and curved.

The facial disk is complete, as is the ruff. The plumage is full, very soft, and blended; the feathers broadly oblong and rounded. The wings are rather long, very broad, much rounded; the third primary longest, the fourth almost equal, the second four-twelfths of an inch shorter, the first equal to the seventh; the barbs of the outer web of the first, of half the second, and the terminal part of the third, free and recurved. Tail of moderate length, arched, slightly rounded, of twelve broad, rounded feathers.

Bill greyish-brown, yellowish-white at the end; claws yellowish-brown, their tips dusky. The general colour of the upper parts is greyish-brown tinged with olive. The feathers of the head have an elliptical central white spot; those of the neck are similarly marked with larger white spots, of which some are disposed so as to form a semicircular band; the scapulars have two or four large round spots near the end, and some of the dorsal feathers and wing-coverts have single spots on the outer web. All the quills have marginal white spots on both webs, arranged in transverse series, there being six on the outer web of the third quill. On the tail are five series of transversely elongated narrow white spots. The disk is yellowish-white, anteriorly black; the ruff yellowish-white, mottled with dusky. The throat is brown, the chin white. The general colour of the lower parts is yellowish-white, longitudinally streaked with brown, some of the feathers of the sides have two white spots near the end; the tarsal and digital feathers greyish-yellow, with faint transverse bars of brown.

Length to end of tail 11 inches; wing from flexure 6-10/12; bill along the ridge 1; tarsus 11/12; hind toe 5/12, its claw 5/12; middle toe 9/12, its claw 8/12.

Adult Female. Plate CCCLXXX. Fig. 2.

The Female resembles the male, but is considerably larger.

SNOW GOOSE.

ANSER HYPERBOREUS, BONAP.

PLATE CCCLXXXI. ADULT MALE AND YOUNG FEMALE.

The geographical range of the Snow Goose is very extensive. It has been observed in numerous flocks, travelling northward, by the members of the recent overland expeditions. On the other hand, I have found it in the Texas, and it is very abundant on the Columbia River, together with Hutchins’s Goose. In the latter part of autumn, and during winter, I have met with it in every part of the United States that I have visited.

While residing at Henderson on the Ohio, I never failed to watch the arrival of this and other species in the ponds of the neighbourhood, and generally found the young Snow Geese to make their appearance in the beginning of October, and the adult or white birds about a fortnight later. In like manner, when migrating northward, although the young and the adult birds set out at the same time, they travel in separate flocks, and, according to Captain Sir GEORGE BACK, continue to do so even when proceeding to the higher northern latitudes of our continent. It is not less curious that, during the whole of the winter, these Geese remain equally divided, even if found in the same localities; and although young and old are often seen to repose on the same sand-bar, the flocks keep at as great a distance as possible.

The Snow Goose in the grey state of its plumage is very abundant in winter, about the mouths of the Mississippi, as well as on all the muddy and grassy shores of the bays and inlets of the Gulf of Mexico, as far as the Texas, and probably still farther to the south-west. During the rainy season, it betakes itself to the large prairies of Attacapas and Oppellousas, and there young and adult procure their food together, along with several species of Ducks, Herons, and Cranes, feeding, like the latter, on the roots of plants, and nibbling the grasses sideways, in the manner of the Common Tame Goose. In Louisiana I have not unfrequently seen the adult birds feeding in wheat fields, when they pluck up the plants entire.

When the young Snow Geese first arrive in Kentucky, about Henderson for instance, they are unsuspicious, and therefore easily procured. In a half-dry half-wet pond, running across a large tract of land, on the other side of the river, in the State of Indiana, and which was once my property, I was in the habit of shooting six or seven of a-day. This, however, rendered the rest so wild, that the cunning of any “Red Skin” might have been exercised without success upon them; and I was sorry to find that they had the power of communicating their sense of danger to the other flocks which arrived. On varying my operations however, and persevering for some time, I found that even the wildest of them now and then suffered; for having taken it into my head to catch them in large traps, I tried this method, and several were procured before the rest had learned to seize the tempting bait in a judicious manner.

The Snow Goose affords good eating when young and fat; but the old Ganders are tough and stringy. Those that are procured along the sea-shores, as they feed on shell-fish, fry and marine plants, have a rank taste, which, however suited to the palate of the epicure, I never could relish.

The flight of this species is strong and steady, and its migrations over the United States are performed at a considerable elevation, by regular flappings of the wings, and a disposition into lines similar to that of other Geese. It walks well, and with rather elevated steps; but on land its appearance is not so graceful as that of our common Canada Goose. Whilst with us they are much more silent than any other of our species, rarely emitting any cries unless when pursued on being wounded. They swim buoyantly, and, when pressed, with speed. When attacked by the White-headed Eagle, or any other rapacious bird, they dive well for a short space. At the least appearance of danger, when they are on land, they at once come close together, shake their heads and necks, move off in a contrary direction, very soon take to wing, and fly to a considerable distance, but often return after a time.

I am unable to inform you at what age the Snow Goose attains its pure white plumage, as I have found that a judgment formed from individuals kept in confinement is not to be depended upon. In one instance at least, a friend of mine who had kept a bird of this species four years, wrote to me that he was despairing of ever seeing it become pure white. Two years after, he sent me much the same message; but, at the commencement of next spring, the Goose was a Snow Goose, and the change had taken place in less than a month.

Dr RICHARDSON informs us that, this species “breeds in the barren grounds of Arctic America, in great numbers. The eggs of a yellowish-white colour, and regularly ovate form, are a little larger than those of the Eider Duck, their length being three inches, and their greatest breadth two. The young fly in August, and by the middle of September all have departed to the southward. The Snow Goose feeds on rushes, insects, and in autumn on berries, particularly those of the Empetrum nigrum. When well fed it is a very excellent bird, far superior to the Canada Goose in juiciness and flavour. It is said that the young do not attain the full plumage before their fourth year, and until that period they appear to keep in separate flocks. They are numerous at Albany Fort in the southern part of Hudson’s Bay, where the old birds are rarely seen; and, on the other hand, the old birds in their migrations visit York Factory in great abundance, but are seldom accompanied by the young. The Snow Geese make their appearance in spring a few days later than the Canada Geese, and pass in large flocks both through the interior and on the coast.”

The young birds of this species begin to acquire their whiteness about the head and neck after the first year, but the upper parts remain of a dark bluish colour until the bird suddenly becomes white all over; at least, this is the case with such as are kept in captivity. Although it is allied to the White-fronted or Laughing Goose, Anser albifrons, I was surprised to find that WILSON had confounded the two species together, and been of opinion that the Bean Goose also was the same bird in an imperfect state of plumage. That excellent ornithologist tells us that “this species, called on the sea-coast, the Red Goose, arrives in the river Delaware, from the north, early in November, sometimes in considerable flocks, and is extremely noisy, their notes being shriller and more squeaking than those of the Canada, or common Wild Goose. On their first arrival, they make but a short stay, proceeding, as the depth of winter approaches, farther south; but from the middle of February, until the breaking up of the ice in March, they are frequently numerous along both shores of the Delaware, about and below Reedy Island, particularly near Old Duck Creek, in the State of Delaware. They feed on roots of the reeds there, which they tear up like hogs.”

This species is rare both in Massachusetts and South Carolina, although it passes over both these States in considerable numbers, and in the latter some have been known to alight among the common domestic Geese, and to have remained several days with them. My friend Dr BACHMAN, of Charleston, South Carolina, kept a male Snow Goose several years along with his tame Geese. He had received it from a friend while it was in its grey plumage, and the following spring it became white. It had been procured in the autumn, and proved to be a male. In a few days it became very gentle, and for several years it mated with a common Goose; but the eggs produced by the latter never hatched. The Snow Goose was in the habit of daily frequenting a mill-pond in the vicinity, and returning regularly at night along with the rest; but in the beginning of each spring it occasioned much trouble. It then continually raised its head and wings, and attempted to fly off; but finding this impossible, it seemed anxious to perform its long journey on foot, and it was several times overtaken and brought back, after it had proceeded more than a mile, having crossed fences and plantations in a direct course northward. This propensity cost it its life: it had proceeded as far as the banks of the Cooper River, when it was shot by a person who supposed it to be a wild bird.

In the latter part of the autumn of 1832, whilst I was walking with my wife, in the neighbourhood of Boston in Massachusetts, I observed on the road a young Snow Goose in a beautiful state of plumage, and after making some inquiries, found its owner, who was a gardener. He would not part with it for any price offered. Some weeks after, a friend called one morning, and told me that this gardener had sent his Snow Goose to town, and that it would be sold by auction that day. I desired my friend to attend the sale, which he did; and before a few hours had elapsed, the bird was in my possession, having been obtained for 75 cents! We kept this Goose several months in a small yard at the house where we boarded, along with the young of the Sand-hill Crane, Grus Americana. It was fed on leaves and thin stalks of cabbage, bread, and other vegetable substances. When the spring approached, it exhibited great restlessness, seeming anxious to remove northward, as was the case with Dr BACHMAN’s bird. Although the gardener had kept it four years, it was not white, but had the lower part of the neck and the greater portion of the back, of a dark bluish tint, as represented in the plate. It died before we left Boston, to the great regret of my family, as I had anticipated the pleasure of presenting it alive to my honoured and noble friend the EARL of Derby.

There can be little doubt that this species breeds in its grey plumage, when it is generally known by the name of Blue-winged Goose, as is the case with the young of Grus Americana, formerly considered as a distinct species, and named Grus Canadensis.

ANAS HYPERBOREA, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 504.—Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. ii. p. 837.

SNOW GOOSE, ANAS HYPERBOREA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. viii. p. 76, pl. 68, fig. 3, Male, and p. 89, pl. 69, fig. 5, Young.

ANSER HYPERBOREUS, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 376.

ANSER HYPERBOREUS, SNOW GOOSE, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 467.

SNOW GOOSE, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 344.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXI. Fig. 1.

Bill about the length of the head, much higher than broad at the base, somewhat conical, compressed, rounded at the tip. Upper mandible with the dorsal line sloping, the ridge broad and flattened at the base, narrowed towards the unguis, which is roundish and very convex, the edges beset with compressed, hard teeth-like lamellæ, their outline ascending and slightly arched; lower mandible ascending, nearly straight, the angle long and of moderate length, the dorsal line beyond it convex, the sides erect, and beset with lamellæ; similar to those of the upper, but more numerous, the unguis obovate and very convex. Nasal groove oblong, parallel to the ridge, filled by the soft membrane of the bill; nostrils medial, lateral, longitudinal, narrow-elliptical, open, pervious.

Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Neck rather long and slender. Body full, slightly depressed. Feet rather short, strong, placed about the centre of the body; legs bare a little above the joint; tarsus rather short, strong, a little compressed, covered all round with hexagonal, reticulated scales, which are smaller behind; hind toe very small, with a narrow membrane; third toe longest, fourth considerably shorter, but longer than the second; all the toes reticulated above at the base, but with narrow transverse scutella towards the end; the three anterior connected by a reticulated membrane, the outer having a thick margin, the inner with the margin extended into a two-lobed web. Claws small, arched, rather compressed, obtuse, that of the middle toe bent obliquely outwards, and depressed, with a curved edge.

Plumage close, full, compact above, blended beneath, as well as on the head and neck, on the latter of which it is disposed in longitudinal bands, separated by narrow grooves; the feathers of the lateral parts small and narrow, of the back ovato-oblong, and abruptly rounded, of the lower parts curved and oblong. Wings rather long, broad; primaries strong, incurved, broad, towards the end tapering, the second longest, but only a quarter of an inch longer than the first, which scarcely exceeds the third; the first and second sinuate on the inner web, the second and third on the outer. Secondaries long, very broad, rounded, the inner curved outwards. Tail very short, rounded, of sixteen broad rounded feathers.

Bill carmine-red, the unguis of both mandibles white, their edges black. Iris light brown. Feet dull lake, claws brownish-black. The general colour of the plumage is pure white; the fore part of the head tinged with yellowish-red; the primaries brownish-grey, towards the end blackish-brown, their shafts white unless toward the end.

Length to end of tail 31-3/4 inches, to end of claws 33-1/2, to end of wings 31-3/4, to carpus 14; extent of wings 62; wing from flexure 19-1/2; tail 6-1/4; bill along the ridge 2-5/8, along the edge of lower mandible 3-1/4; bare part of tibia 3/4; tarsus 3-5/8; hind toe 1/2, its claw (4-1/2)/12; middle toe 3, its claw 4/12. Weight 6-3/4 lb.

Young Female, in first winter. Plate CCCLXXXI. Fig. 2.

The colours of the young bird, in its first plumage, are unknown; but in its second plumage, in autumn and winter, it presents the appearance exhibited in the plate. The bill is pale flesh-colour, its edges black, and the unguis bluish-white; the feet flesh-colour, the claws dusky. The head and upper part of the neck are white, tinged above with grey, the lower part of the neck all round, the fore part of the back, the scapulars, the fore part of the breast, and the sides, blackish-grey; paler beneath. The hind part of the back and the upper tail-coverts, are ash-grey; as are the wing-coverts; but the secondary coverts are greyish-black in the middle; and all the quills are of that colour, the secondaries margined with greyish-white; the tail-feathers dusky-grey, broadly margined with greyish-white. The dark colour of the fore part of the breast gradually fades into greyish-white, which is the colour of the other inferior parts, excepting the axillar feathers, and some of the lower wing-coverts, which are white.

Length of an individual in this plumage, kept four years, to end of tail 26 inches, to end of claws 25; extent of wings 55; bill along the ridge 2-1/4, from frontal angle 2-1/2; tarsus 2-(7-1/2)/12; hind toe 6/12, its claw (4-1/2)/12; middle toe 2-1/4, its claw 4/12. Weight 2 lb. 13 oz. The bird very poor.

In an adult male preserved in spirits, the roof of the mouth is moderately concave, with five series of strong conical papillæ directed backwards. The posterior aperture of the nares is linear, margined with two series of extremely slender papillæ. The marginal lamellæ of the upper mandible are 25, of the lower about 45. The tongue is 2 inches 5 twelfths long, nearly cylindrical, with strong pointed papillæ at the base, and on each side a series of flattened, sharp lamellæ, directed backwards, together with very numerous bristle-like filaments. It is fleshy, has a soft prominent pad at the base above, and towards the end has a median groove, the point rounded thin, and horny. The œsophagus; which is 17 inches long, has a diameter of 9 twelfths at the upper part, and at the lower part of the neck is dilated to 1 inch. The proventricular glands are cylindrical, simple, and arranged in a belt nearly 1 inch in breadth. The other parts were removed.

The reddish tint on the head affords no indication of the age of the bird, some individuals of all ages having that part pure white, while others have it rusty. The same remark applies to our two Swans.

SHARP-TAILED GROUS.

TETRAO PHASIANELLUS, LINN.

PLATE CCCLXXXII. MALE AND FEMALE.

This is another species of our birds with the habits of which I am entirely unacquainted. Dr RICHARDSON’s account of it is as follows:—“The northern limits of the range of the Sharp-tailed Grous is Great Slave Lake, in the sixty-first parallel; and its most southern recorded station is in latitude 41°, on the Missouri. It abounds on the outskirts of the Saskatchewan plains, and is found throughout the woody districts of the Fur Countries, haunting open glades or low thickets on the borders of lakes, particularly in the neighbourhood of the trading paths, where the forests have been partially cleared. In winter it perches generally on trees, in summer is much on the ground; in both seasons assembling in coveys of from ten to sixteen. Early in spring, a family of these birds select a level spot, whereon they meet every morning, and run round in a circle of fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, so that the grass is worn quite bare. When any one approaches the circle, the birds squat close to the ground, but in a short time stretch out their necks to survey the intruder; and, if they are not scared by a nearer advance, soon resume their circular course, some running to the right, others to the left, meeting and crossing each other. These “Partridge dances” last for a month or more, or until the hens begin to hatch. When the Sharp-tailed Grous are put up, they rise with the usual whirring noise, and alight again at the distance of a few hundred yards, either on the ground, or on the upper branches of a tree. Before the cock quits his perch, he utters repeatedly the cry of cuck, cuck, cuck. In winter they roost in the snow like the Willow Grous, and they can make their way through the loose wreaths with ease. They feed on the buds and sprouts of the Betula glandulosa, of various willows, and of the aspen and larch; and in autumn on berries. Mr HUTCHINS says that the hen lays thirteen white eggs with coloured spots early in June; the nest being placed on the ground and formed of grass, lined with feathers.”

Dr TOWNSEND informs me that while crossing the north branch of the Platte (Lorimie’s Fork), he found this species breeding, and that as an article of food it proved to be a very well-flavoured and plump bird, considerably superior to any of the other larger species that occur in the United States.

TETRAO PHASIANELLUS, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 273.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 635.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 127.

TETRAO PHASIANELLUS, SHARP-TAILED GROUS, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 37, pl. 19.

TETRAO (CENTROCERCUS) PHASIANELLUS, Swains. Sharp-tailed Grous, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 361.

SHARP-TAILED GROUS, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 669.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXII. Fig. 1.

Bill short, strong, as broad as high; upper mandible with the dorsal line arcuato-declinate, the ridge narrow at the base on account of the great extent of the nasal sinus, which is feathered, the sides convex toward the end, the edges overlapping and thin, the tip declinate and blunt, but thin-edged; lower mandible with the angle of moderate length and width, the dorsal line ascending and convex, the edges sharp and inclinate, the tip obtuse.

Head rather small, oblong; neck of moderate length; body full. Feet rather short, stout; tarsus roundish, feathered, bare and reticulated behind. Toes of moderate size, with numerous scutella above, but covered over at the base by the hair-like feathers which grow from the sides and the intervening basal membranes, laterally pectinate with long slender projecting flattened scales; first toe small, second a little longer than fourth, third much longer. Claws slender, arched, moderately compressed, rather obtuse; that of the third toe with the inner edge dilated.

Plumage dense, soft, rather compact, the feathers in general broadly ovate; those on the head and upper part of the neck short, but some on the upper and hind part of the former elongated and forming a slight crest. There is a papillate coloured membrane over the eye, as in the other species; and on each side of the neck is a large bare space, concealed by the plumage, which I have no doubt is inflated, as in Tetrao Cupido and T. Urophasianus, during the love season. Wings rather short, concave, much rounded; the primaries stiff and very narrow, so as to leave large intervals when the wing is extended; the third quill longest, the fourth next, the second shorter than the fifth, the sixth longer than the first. Tail short, much graduated, of sixteen feathers, of which the lateral are three inches shorter than the central; all the feathers are more or less concave, excepting the two middle worn along the inner edge, obliquely and abruptly terminated, the two middle projecting an inch beyond the next.

Bill dusky above, brown beneath; iris light hazel; superciliary membrane vermilion; toes brownish-grey, claws brownish-black. The upper parts are variegated with light red or brownish-orange, brownish-black and white; the black occupying the central part of the feathers, the light red forming angular processes from the margin, generally dotted with black, and a lighter bar near the end; the white being in terminal, triangular, or guttiform spots on the scapulars and wing-coverts. The alula, primary coverts, secondary coverts, and quills are greyish-brown, the coverts spotted and tipped with white; the primaries with white spots on the outer web, the inner tipped with white, as are all the secondaries, of which the outer have two bars of white spots, and the inner are coloured like the back. The tail is white, at the base variegated, and the two middle feathers like the back. Loral space, and a line behind the eye, white; a dusky streak beneath the eye, succeeded by a light coloured one. The throat is reddish-white, with some dusky spots; the fore part and sides of the neck barred with dusky and reddish-white: on the lower part of the neck and fore part of the breast, the dusky bars become first curved, and then arrow-shaped, and so continue narrowing on the hind part of the breast, and part of the sides, of which the upper portion is barred; the abdomen, lower tail-coverts, axillar feathers, and most of the lower wing-coverts, white. The hair-like feathers of the tarsi are light brownish-grey, faintly barred with greyish-white.

Length to end of tail 17-1/2 inches, to end of wings 14, to end of claws 17; extent of wings 23; wing from flexure 8-1/4, tail 4-1/2; bill along the ridge (10-1/2)/12, along the edge of lower mandible 1-(1-1/2)/12; tarsus 1-(7-1/2)/12; hind toe 6/12, its claw 6/12: middle toe 1-(7-1/2)/12, its claw 7/12.

Adult Female. Plate CCCLXXXII. Fig. 2.

The Female is considerably smaller, but is coloured like the male, the tints being duller.

LONG-EARED OWL.

STRIX OTUS, LINN.

PLATE CCCLXXXIII. MALE.

This Owl is much more abundant in our Middle and Eastern Atlantic Districts than in the Southern or Western parts. My friend Dr BACHMAN has never observed it in South Carolina; nor have I met with it in Louisiana, or any where on the Mississippi below the junction of the Ohio. It is not very rare in the upper parts of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky, wherever the country is well wooded. In the Barrens of Kentucky its predilection for woods is rendered apparent by its not being found elsewhere than in the “Groves;” and it would seem that it very rarely extends its search for food beyond the skirts of those delightful retreats. In Pennsylvania, and elsewhere to the eastward, I have found it most numerous on or near the banks of our numerous clear mountain streams, where, during the day, it is not uncommon to see it perched on the top of a low bush or fir. At such times it stands with the body erect, but the tarsi bent and resting on a branch, as is the manner of almost all our Owls. The head then seems the largest part, the body being much more slender than it is usually represented. Now and then it raises itself and stands with its legs and neck extended, as if the better to mark the approach of an intruder. Its eyes, which were closed when it was first observed, are opened on the least noise, and it seems to squint at you in a most grotesque manner, although it is not difficult to approach very near it. It rarely on such occasions takes to wing, but throws itself into the thicket, and makes off on foot by means of pretty long leaps.

I have never seen this bird moving on wing to a sufficient distance to enable me to speak with certainty of its mode of flight, especially as it is one of our most nocturnal species, seldom beginning to seek for prey before it is quite dusky. In the morning I have never seen one abroad at however early an hour I have been on the look-out.

The Long-eared Owl is careless as to the situation in which its young are to be reared, and generally accommodates itself with an abandoned nest of some other bird that proves of sufficient size, whether it be high or low, in the fissure of a rock or on the ground. Sometimes however it makes a nest itself, and this I found to be the case in one instance near the Juniatta River in Pennsylvania, where it was composed of green twigs with the leaflets adhering, and lined with fresh grass and sheep wool, but without feathers. The eggs are usually four, nearly equally rounded at both ends, thin-shelled, smooth, when newly deposited pure white, with a slight blush, which is no longer observable when they have been for some time sitten upon, their average length an inch and a half, their greatest breadth an inch and three-sixteenths. I found eggs of this bird on the 15th of April, and again on the 25th of June, which induces me to believe that it rears two broods in the season in the State of Pennsylvania, as it probably does also to the westward. WILSON relates the following instance of its indifference as to the place selected for its eggs. “About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far from the Delaware, is a low swamp, thickly covered with trees, and inundated during great part of the year. This place is the resort of great numbers of the Qua-bird or Night Raven (Ardea Nycticorax), where they build in large companies. On the 25th of April, while wading among the dark recesses of this place, observing the habits of these birds, I discovered a Long-eared Owl, which had taken possession of one of their nests, and was sitting; on mounting to the nest, I found it contained four eggs, and breaking one of these, the young appeared almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of the Qua-birds’ nests on the adjoining trees all around, and one of them actually on the same tree.”

When encamped in the woods, I have frequently heard the notes of this bird at night. Its cry is prolonged and plaintive, though consisting of not more than two or three notes repeated at intervals.

Dr RICHARDSON states that it has been found “as far north as Lat. 60°, and probably exists as high as the forests extend. It is plentiful in the woods skirting the plains of the Saskatchewan, frequents the coast of Hudson’s Bay only in the summer, and retires into the interior in the winter. It resides all the year in the United States, and perhaps is not a rare bird in any part of North America; but as it comes seldom abroad in the day, fewer specimens are obtained of it than of the other Owls. It preys chiefly on quadrupeds of the genus Arvicola, and in summer destroys many beetles. It lays three or four roundish white eggs, sometimes on the ground, at other times in the deserted nests of other birds in low bushes. Mr HUTCHINS says it lays in April, and that the young fly in May; and Mr DRUMMOND found a nest on the ground in the same neighbourhood, containing three eggs, on the 5th of July, and killed both the birds. On comparing the above-mentioned eggs with those of the English Long-eared Owl, the American ones proved to be smaller, measuring only an inch and a half in length, and 1.27 inches in breadth; while the English ones measured 1.8 inch in length, and 1-1/4 in breadth. The form and colour were the same in both.”

The food of this Owl consists of rats, mice, and other small quadrupeds, as well as birds of various species; its stomach having been found by me crammed with feathers and other remains of the latter.

There is a marked difference between the sexes. The males are not only smaller than the females, but darker; and this has tempted me to consider the Strix Mexicanus of Mr SWAINSON and the Prince of MUSIGNANO as merely a large female of our Long-eared Owl.

STRIX OTUS, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 132.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p 53.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 37.

LONG-EARED OWL, STRIX OTUS, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. vi. p. 52, pl. 50, fig. 1.

STRIX OTUS, LONG-EARED OWL, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 72.

LONG-EARED OWL, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 130.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXIII.

Bill short, stout; upper mandible with its dorsal line slightly curved from the base, towards the end decurved, the ridge broad at the base, narrowed anteriorly, convex in its whole extent, the sides sloping at the base, convex towards the tip, the edges soft and obtuse as far as the nostrils, then sharp and barred to the end, below the nostrils inflected, afterwards direct, the tip acute, and at its extremity descending obliquely; the cere of moderate length, feathered on the sides; the lower mandible straight, its angle elongated, wide, and rounded, the dorsal line very short and slightly convex, the back and sides convex, the edges toward the end sharp and inflected, their outline decurved and with a slight sinus on each side, the tip obliquely truncate. Nostrils medial, lateral, large, oblique, oblong, in the fore edge of the cere, with a tough soft membrane above, and having internally a ridge curved backwards from the inner edge.

Head very large, flattened anteriorly; neck short; body very slender, but seeming large on account of the great mass of plumage. Feet of moderate length, and stout; tarsi feathered, short; toes also short, and feathered; the third and fourth connected at the base by a short web; the first shortest, and admitting of much lateral motion, the third longest, the second and fourth nearly equal. On all the toes are two terminal scutella. Claws long, curved in the fourth of a circle, tapering, extremely acute, rounded above, very narrow beneath, the first and second rounded, the rest flat; that of the fourth toe smallest, of the first slightly larger, those of the other toes much larger and nearly equal.

Plumage extremely soft and downy. The facial disks complete, and composed of circular series of weak, slender, slightly recurved feathers, having remote barbs; surrounding which is a ruff formed of several rows of oblong incurved feathers, having the barbs close. The feathers of the forehead are apparent between the ruffs, although that part is very narrow; the bill is partially concealed by the plumage; the feathers are oblong or ovate, and rounded, extremely soft, and blended, those on the tarsi and toes, small, and somewhat silky. Wings long and broad; primaries very broad, rounded, the outer a little incurved towards the end, the first sinuate on the inner web near the end, the second very slightly so; the second longest, the third a little shorter, the fourth a little longer than the first; the outer in its whole length, the second towards the end, and the first alular feather, with the barbs disunited and recurved at the ends. Tail rather short, slightly convex, a little rounded, of twelve broad rounded feathers, having feeble shafts.

Bill brownish-black, cere flesh-coloured; iris orange; claws bluish-grey, dusky towards the end. The colouring of the plumage is very intricate, but may be described as buff, mottled and spotted with brown and greyish-white. The disks are whitish anteriorly, with the tips black, posteriorly reddish-white; the ruff mottled with red and black; the upper part of the head, minutely mottled with whitish, brownish-black, and light red; the tufts light reddish toward the base, brownish-black in the central part toward the end, the inner edge white, dotted with dark-brown. The upper parts are buff, variegated with brown and whitish-grey, minutely mottled or undulatingly barred. The first row of coverts tipped with white on the outer web; the edge of the wing, and the outer margin of the first alular feather also white; the alula and primary coverts greyish-brown barred with darker; the quills and scapulars pale grey, barred with dark brown, and having more or less buff towards the base of the outer web, that colour being conspicuous on the six outer primaries. The tail is barred and mottled in the same manner, the bars very narrow, ten on the middle and eight on the outer feathers. The lower parts are in general similar to the upper, but with more buff, and fewer spots, each feather with a long dark brown streak and several irregular transverse bars. The legs and toes are pure buff. The lower surface of the wing is yellowish-white, a few of the coverts with a brown spot; the quills banded with brown towards the end. The lower tail-coverts have a narrow central brown line.

Length to end of tail 14-1/2 inches, to end of claws 14-3/4, to end of wings 15; extent of wings 38; wing from flexure 11-1/2; tail 6; bill along the ridge 1-5/12; tarsus 1-8/12; hind toe (7-1/2)/12, its claw 8/12; second toe 1, its claw 9/12; third toe 1-2/12, its claw 10/12; fourth toe 8/12, its claw 7/12. Weight 8 oz.

The Female is considerably larger, and of a lighter colour than the male, but otherwise similar.

A male sent in spirits from Boston by Dr BREWER:—The roof of the mouth is flat, with two longitudinal ridges, the sides ascending; the posterior aperture of the nares oblong, 4 twelfths long, with an anterior fissure. The tongue is 7-1/2 twelfths long, deeply emarginate and papillate at the base, flattish above, with a faint median groove, the sides parallel, the tip narrowed and emarginate. The mouth is very wide, measuring 1 inch and 1-1/2 twelfth. The œsophagus is 5-1/2 inches long, of nearly uniform diameter throughout, as in all other Owls, its breadth being 1 inch. The proventricular glandules form a belt 9 twelfths in diameter. The stomach is large, round, 1 inch 9 twelfths long, 1 inch 7 twelfths broad, its walls thin, its muscular coat composed of rather coarse fasciculi, but without distinction into lateral muscles, the tendinous spaces circular, and about 8 twelfths in diameter; its epithelium soft and rugous. The duodenum is 3 twelfths in diameter, and curves at the distance of 3 inches from the pylorus. The intestine is 23 inches long, its smallest diameter only 1 twelfth. The cœca, Fig. 2, are in this individual unequal, as they very frequently are in Owls; the largest being 2 inches 10 twelfths in length, their greatest diameter 5-1/2 twelfths, their distance from the anus 3 inches and a quarter. The cloaca is of an enormous size, ovate, 2 inches long, 1 inch 2 twelfths broad. It contains a calculous concretion 9 twelfths long, 7 twelfths broad, and 3 twelfths thick.

The trachea, which is 3 inches long, is 3-1/2 twelfths in breadth at the upper part, 2-1/2 twelfths in the middle, and 3 twelfths at its lower extremity; its rings about 75 in number, cartilaginous, and considerably flattened. The lateral muscles are strong, the sterno-tracheal moderate, and there is a single pair of very slender inferior laryngeal muscles. Five of the lower rings are elongated, arched, and slit. The bronchi are rather long, of 12 half rings.

The conch of the ear, Fig. 1, is of enormous size, extending from the level of the forehead over the eye to the chin, in a semilunar form, of which the posterior curve is 3 inches, and the distance between the two extremities in a direct line 1 inch and a half. There is an anterior semicircular flap in its whole length, 5 twelfths in breadth at the middle. The aperture or meatus externus is of a rhomboidal form 4-1/2 twelfths in length, 3-1/2 twelfths broad, bounded anteriorly by the eye, posteriorly by a ligament extended along the edge of the occipital bone, above by a ligament stretching to the operculum, below the articulation of the lower jaw. Above the meatus is a deep depression covered with skin, above which another ligament stretches across to the operculum.

In another specimen, a female, the œsophagus is 5-1/2 inches long, its average diameter 11 twelfths. The intestine is 21 inches long, from 2-1/2 twelfths to 1 twelfth in diameter; the cœca are 2-1/4 inches in length; their greatest diameter 4 twelfths; the cloaca still larger than that of the other individuals, being 2 inches long.

BLACK-THROATED BUNTING.

EMBERIZA AMERICANA, GMEL.

PLATE CCCLXXXIV. MALE AND FEMALE.

Although this handsome Bunting may be said to be abundant in our middle Atlantic districts, it is there much less so than in the vast prairies of the south-west; and I consider those of the Texas to afford the localities best adapted to its habits. There, as my companions and I were returning from the capital of the infant republic, Houston, we were surprised to see how very numerous the Black-throated Buntings were in every open piece of ground covered by tufts of tall grass. They are also abundant on the open lands of Missouri and Illinois: but rarer in Ohio, and scarce in Kentucky. They are rarely observed to pass over South Carolina, but in Pennsylvania they are plentiful, and there breed in every field covered with grass or grain. I have also met with them in Massachusetts, but beyond this they are not seen to the eastward.

At the approach of the period of their removal from our Middle States southward, the Black-throated Buntings congregate in particular localities, as if to consult regarding their future proceedings. At this season I once went from Philadelphia in search of them, accompanied by my friend EDWARD HARRIS, and my son JOHN WOODHOUSE. Having reached Salem in New Jersey, we rambled some time in the neighbourhood, and found an elevated piece of ground, closely covered with high rank weeds, among which a great number of these birds had assembled. It being late in July, the males were moulting, or had already acquired their new plumage; the young, although full grown, had not yet assumed their second clothing, in which the sexes are distinguished; and the females were generally ragged. The birds were at first quite gentle, but after we had fired a few times they all flew off to a considerable distance, from which, however, they soon returned. On our continuing to harass them, however, they rose high in the air, and flew out of our sight in a southward direction. They had then undoubtedly begun migrating. These birds are very partial to particular localities. Sandy soil, unmixed with clay or earth, is not favourable to them; and it is probably for this reason that none are found in any purely sandy part of the State of New Jersey.

The Black-throated Buntings reach our Middle States about the 10th or 15th of May, and at once betake themselves to the dry meadow lands and grain fields, where they soon after begin to breed. The males are often observed perched on the top branches of the shade trees found in those places, and engaged in delighting their mates with their simple ditty, which, according to my learned friend Mr NUTTALL, resembles ’tic ’tic-tshĕ tshĕ tshĕ tshe, and tship tship, tschĕ tschĕ tschĕ tschip. To my ears the notes of our Black-throated Bunting so much resemble those of the Corn Bunting of Europe, Emberiza Miliaria, that I have often been reminded of the one by hearing the song of the other. These unmusical notes are almost continuously uttered from sunrise to sunset, and all this while the female is snugly seated on her eggs, and listening to her beloved. He often visits her, alighting within a few yards of where she is concealed, and then cautiously proceeding toward the spot on foot, through the grass. When the bird leaves the nest, it creeps along to some distance, and then flies off low over the ground.

About the first of June the nest is formed. It is constructed of fine grass neatly woven in a circular form, and is partly imbedded in the soil, and sheltered or concealed by a tuft of herbage. The eggs, usually five, are six and a half eighths in length, four and three-fourths in breadth, of a sullied white, generally sprinkled with faint touches of different tints of umber. In Pennsylvania, it seldom rears more than one brood in the season; but in the Texas, I have reason to believe that it raises two.

The flight of this bird, when it has settled in a place, is usually of short extent. The male, while passing to and fro from the nest, exhibits a quivering motion of the wings. The female seldom shews this, unless when her property is in danger from intruders. While travelling, which they always do by day, they pass high over the trees, in flocks of thirty or forty, which suddenly alight at the approach of night, and throw themselves into the most thickly-leaved trees, where they repose until dawn. I have surprised them in such situations both in Kentucky and in Louisiana, and on shooting into the place to which they had betaken themselves, although I could not see them, have procured several at one discharge; which proved in one instance to be males, and in the other females, thus shewing that the sexes travel separately. On such occasions, the survivors would sally forth, make a few rapid evolutions, and alight on the same tree.

In spring, I have found them, on two or three occasions, near Natchez, in the State of Mississippi, in meadows, in company with Bob-o-links, Emberiza Oryzivora. On the ground they leap or hop, but never walk. Their flesh is good, especially that of the young birds.

EMBERIZA AMERICANA, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 872.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 411.

BLACK-THROATED BUNTING, EMBERIZA AMERICANA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. i. p. 54, pl. 3, fig. 2, male.

FRINGILLA AMERICANA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 107.

BLACK-THROATED BUNTING, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 461.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXIV. Fig. 1.

Bill of moderate length, stout, conical, compressed toward the end; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly declinate and convex, the ridge indistinct, the sides convex, the edges a little inflected, ascending to beneath the nostrils, then descending, with a slight notch close to the narrow tip: lower mandible with the angle short and wide, the dorsal line ascending and very slightly convex, the ridge broad at the base, the sides convex, the edges ascending at the base, then straight and involute to the end, the tip narrow. Nostrils basal, roundish in the fore part of the very short and wide nasal depression.

Head large, ovate; neck very short; body rather stout. Feet of moderate length, rather strong; tarsus of ordinary length, compressed, with seven anterior scutella, thin-edged behind; toes rather large; the hind one strong and longer than the lateral, which are equal, the third much longer, and united to the fourth at the base. Claws long, arched, much compressed, acute.

Plumage soft and blended, but firm. Wings of moderate length, acute; the first quill longest, the second slightly shorter, the other primaries graduated; secondaries slightly emarginate. Tail of moderate length, emarginate, of twelve rather narrow, obliquely pointed feathers.

Bill light blue; iris hazel; feet light brownish-red, claws of the same colour. The upper part of the head, the cheeks and the hind neck are ash-grey, the feathers on the head with a central blackish streak; loral space, a band over the eye, and a shorter one beneath it, bright yellow. The fore part of the back greyish-brown, with longitudinal streaks of brownish-black; the hind parts brownish-grey. The smaller wing-coverts are bright chestnut, the quills and large coverts blackish-brown, the primaries narrowly, the secondaries and their coverts broadly edged with pale greyish-brown. The tail is dark greyish-brown, the feathers faintly margined with paler. The fore neck is light yellow, the throat at first white, then with a large patch of black; the breast, sides, abdomen, legs and lower tail-coverts white, the breast tinged with yellow, the sides with grey; the lower wing-coverts yellow.

Length to end of tail 6-1/2 inches, to end of wings 5, to end of claws 6-1/4; extent of wings 10-3/8; wing from flexure 3-3/8; tail 2-1/2; bill along the ridge 7/12, along the edge of lower mandible 8/12; tarsus (10-1/2)/12; hind toe (4-1/2)/12, its claw (5-1/2)/12,; middle toe 8/12, its claw (4-1/2)/12.

Adult Female. Plate CCCLXXXIV. Fig. 2.

The Female has the upper parts coloured as in the male, but paler; the lower parts are also similar, but in place of the black patch on the throat, there are only two dusky lines from the base of the lower mandible, and some faint streaks on the lower part of the neck and the sides.

Length to end of tail 6, to end of wings 4, to end of claws 5-7/8; extent of wings 9; wing from flexure 3; tail 2-5/12; bill along the ridge (6-1/2)/12; tarsus (10-1/2)/12; hind toe (4-1/2)/12, its claw 5/12; middle toe 3/12, its claw (3-1/2)/12.

In an adult male, the roof of the mouth has anteriorly three longitudinal ridges, and two lateral grooves; the palate descends obliquely, and at its anterior part has a distinct prominence of a softish texture; from which there passes backwards and outwards, a large soft ridge on each side of the nasal aperture; which is linear and papillate. The tongue is 5-1/2 twelfths long, narrow, deep, trigonal, deeply emarginate and papillate at the base, soft for half its length, convex and hard towards the end, which terminates with bristly points. The œsophagus, a b c d, is 2-1/2 inches long, dilated along the greater part of the neck into a kind of crop, b, 5 twelfths in diameter, lying on the right side along with the trachea. The proventriculus, c d, is not much enlarged. The stomach, e f, is a strong gizzard, of a broad elliptical form, 7-1/2 twelfths in length, 6-1/2 twelfths in breadth. Its contents are small hard seeds, a few remains of insects, and some particles of sand. The epithelium is very tough, longitudinally rugous, and of a dark reddish-brown colour. The intestine, f g h, is 8-1/2 inches long, its greatest diameter 2 twelfths. The rectum, j k l, is 9 twelfths long; the cœca, j, extremely small, being 1-1/2 twelfth long and 1/2 twelfth in diameter.

The trachea, which is 1 inch 10 twelfths long, is rather wide, flattened, of uniform diameter, measuring 1-3/4 inch across, the rings about 55, and ossified. The contractor muscles are of moderate strength; the sterno-tracheal slender; and there are four pairs of inferior laryngeal. The bronchi have about 15 half rings.

In its habits, this bird closely resembles the Common or Corn Bunting of Europe, its flight and notes being almost the same. Like it, our bird alights on walls, fences, detached rocks, or eminences of any kind, where it is often seen even in the immediate neighbourhood of our cities. Indeed, I have found it in full song perched on the trees that ornament the squares of Washington city. In the form of its bill it also agrees with the Buntings, although that organ is proportionally longer and less attenuated toward the end. If, on the principle of minute division, it is not admitted into the genus Emberiza, it must at least occupy a place in its immediate proximity.

The plants represented are the Phalaris arundinacea and Antirrhinum Linaria, both common in many parts of the United States, as well as in Europe; the former growing in wet meadows and by the sides of rivers, the latter in fields and waste places, a troublesome weed, very difficult to be extirpated.

BANK SWALLOW OR SAND MARTIN.

HIRUNDO RIPARIA, LINN.

PLATE CCCLXXXV. MALE, FEMALE, AND YOUNG.

Imagine, Reader, how delighted I was when, in East Florida, in the winter of 1831, I found thousands of Bank Swallows gaily skimming over the waters, and along the shores of the rivers and inlets. So numerous indeed were they that I felt inclined to think that the greater part of those which are in summer dispersed over the United States, and the regions still farther north, must have congregated to form those vast swarms. The first time I saw them was before sunrise, when I stood by the side of Lieutenant PERCY of our Navy, on the deck of the United States’ schooner the Spark, then at anchor opposite St Augustine. The weather though warm, was thick and drizzly, so that we could not see to a great distance; but as probably some hundreds of thousands passed close to the vessel, in long and rather close flocks, I was well enabled to assure myself that the birds were of this species. On my expressing my surprise and delight at beholding so vast a concourse, Lieutenant PERCY assured me, that he had seen them on all the streams which he had visited south of where we then were. The weather cleared up in a few hours, the sun shone brightly, and the little creatures were seen all around, dipping into the water to wash themselves, gambolling close over its surface, and busily engaged in procuring insects, which in that country are always abundant. In the course of the same season I also observed a good number of our Green-backed and Barn Swallows, but few compared with what is seen about New Orleans.

We can thus account for the early appearance of the Bank Swallows in our Middle Districts. That species always arrives there sooner than the rest, sometimes preceding them by a fortnight, and keeping equally in advance as far northward as its range extends. The Green-backed Swallow, Hirundo bicolor, follows closely after it; then the Purple Martin, Hirundo purpurea; after which are seen the Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, and lastly, on our eastern Atlantic coasts, the American Swift, Cypselus Americanus. It is probable that these species extend their autumnal migrations southward in a degree proportionate to the lateness of their appearance in Spring. I have likewise observed the arrival of the Bank Swallows on the waters of the Serpentine River and those of the Regent’s Park, in London, to be in the same proportion earlier than that of the other species which visit England in spring, and have thought that, as with us, the first mentioned species retires to a less distance in winter than the rest.

The Bank Swallow has been observed on both sides of North America, and in all intermediate places suited to its habits. This is easily accounted for, when we reflect how easy it is for these birds to follow our great water-courses to their very sources. Even the ponds and lakes of our vast forests are at times visited by them; but no person seems to have been aware of the existence of two species of Bank Swallows in our country, which, however, I shall presently shew to be the case.

Wherever, throughout the United States, sand-banks or artificial excavations occur, there is found the Bank Swallow during the breeding season, in greater or smaller numbers, according to the advantages presented by the different localities, not only along the shores of our rivers and lakes, but also on the coasts of the Atlantic, and not unfrequently in inland situations, at some distance from any water. High banks, composed of softish sandy earth, on the shores of rivers, lakes, or other waters, suit them best, and in such situations their colonies are far more numerous than elsewhere. The banks of the Ohio, and some parts of those of the Mississippi, called “Bluffs” have appeared to me to be more resorted to by this species in our western and southern districts, although I have met with considerable numbers in every State of the Union.

In Louisiana this species begins to breed early in March, and generally rears two, sometimes three broods in a season. In our Middle Districts it commences about a month later, or about the period at which it lays in Kentucky, and there produces two broods. In Newfoundland and Labrador, it rarely begins to breed before the beginning of June, and lays only once. Dr RICHARDSON states, that he saw “thousands of these Swallows near the mouth of the Mackenzie, in the sixty-eighth parallel, on the 4th of July,” and from the state of the weather at that period supposed that they had arrived there at least a fortnight prior to that date, but no specimens were brought to England, and the description given in the Fauna Boreali-Americana is a mere transcript of that which in itself is quite imperfect. Indeed, there is not in any work with which I am acquainted an account of the Sand Swallow, sufficiently minute and accurate to characterize in an adequate manner that very common species.

The sociability and gentleness of these birds, the lightness and vigour with which they perform their various evolutions, the low and unobtrusive twittering of their voice, in short, all their actions and economy, are delightful to contemplate. Their flight is exceedingly graceful, light, yet firm, and capable of great continuance. They seem indeed as if created for the purpose of spending their time on wing, for they alight less often to rest when full grown than any other of our species, when not sitting on their eggs, and are seen abroad searching for food later in the dusk, retiring for the night as late, I think, as our Swift, Cypselus Americanus. As they procure their food more commonly than the other species along the margins or over the surface of pools, lakes, rivers, or even the sea, their flight is generally performed at a small elevation, which is the case with others only when the wind blows smartly, or the atmosphere is damp and chill. The movements of their wings are those common to the family of Swallows, which flap these members less frequently than perhaps any other small land birds. The wings act on the hinge formed by the carpal joint, opening and closing like the blades of scissors. Their sailings, though frequent, are not extensive, and their tail appears to be of great service to them, as you observe that on the least deviation from a straight course, it becomes suddenly more or less closed or inclined upward, downward, or sideways; and when you see some hundreds of pairs about their breeding places, passing, repassing, and crossing each other in various ways, you almost wonder that they never come into collision with each other. The slightest movement in any direction seems sufficient to enable them to overtake and secure their prey; and they less frequently than any other species follow an insect upward to any great distance. Like all other Swallows, they drink and bathe on wing.

Their migrations are performed by day, although perhaps continued by night, and their movements are more desultory and rather slower than those of other Swallows. It is rare to observe them in great flocks at that time, their associations not being apparently formed until they reach the countries in which they spend the winter months. Their flight, when they are thus travelling, is continued rather low over the land or the water; and as in America they retire to a less distance southward than our other Swallows, they are not unfrequently seen to linger behind the rest. In South Carolina, indeed, I have seen some in November.

In summer and autumn they roost in the holes excavated for their nests; but in winter, at least in the Floridas, they always repose at night among the tall grass of the salt marshes, making choice of situations sheltered by the winds and not liable to be overflowed. At this time they keep together in large bodies while searching for food. I have several times accidentally crossed their roosting places, which I at once recognised by the quantity of their dung attached to the blades, and lying on the ground, and from which I infer that they rest clinging to the plants.

At the first appearance of spring they leave their winter quarters in pairs, or singly, or in very small flocks; but they follow each other so closely in this manner as to form an almost continued line of march. I had the pleasure of observing this to be the case with the Barn Swallow also, whilst I was proceeding toward the Texas, when that species was advancing in a contrary direction.

Although small, the Sand Swallow is a rather hardy bird: for I observed that the transient cold weather that at times occurs in the Florida at night, seldom forces them to remove farther south. On one occasion, however, when the ice was about the thickness of a dollar, many were found dead along the shores, as well as floating on the water, whilst the rest appeared in great perturbation, wending their way in a hurried manner toward the warmer parts of the country, and taking advantage of every spot that afforded them more warmth, such as the borders of woods, and high banks of streams. I am, however, of opinion that the inclemency of the weather at times proves to be the greatest evil these birds have to encounter, especially when in early spring they are moving northward, and occasionally meet with a sudden change from temperate to cold. Even in the places selected for their summer residence, great numbers die in their holes, and many have been found there in a state bordering on torpidity.

Their food, which consists of small insects, principally of the hymenopterous kind, even during winter in the Floridas, is procured on wing. They very seldom approach walls or the trunks of trees to seize them, but frequently snatch them from the tops of grasses or other plants on which they have alighted. They also seize small aquatic insects; but, although, I suspect that they disgorge in pellets the harder parts of these, I have no proof, obtained from actual observation, that they do so.

The holes perforated by this species for the purpose of breeding require considerable exertion and labour. They are usually bored at the distance of two or three feet from the summit of the bank or surface of the ground, to the depth of about three feet, but sometimes to that of four or even five. They are near each other or remote, according to the number of pairs of swallows that resort to the place, and the extent of the bank. In one situation you may find not more than a dozen pairs at work, while in another several hundreds of holes may be seen scattered over some hundreds of yards. On the bluffs of the Ohio and the Mississippi there are many very extensive breeding-places. While engaged in digging a sand-bank on the shore of the Ohio, at Henderson, for the purpose of erecting a steam-mill, I was both amused and vexed by the pertinacity with which the little winged labourers continued to bore holes day after day, whilst the pickaxes and shovels demolished them in succession. The birds seemed to have formed a strong attachment to the place, perhaps on account of the fine texture of the soil, as I observed many who had begun holes a few hundred yards off abandon them, and join those engaged in the newly opened excavation. Whether the holes are frequently bored horizontally or not I cannot say, but many which I examined differed in this respect from those described by authors, for on introducing a gun-rod or other straight stick, I found them to have an inclination of about ten degrees upwards. The end of the hole is enlarged in the form of an oven, for the reception of the nest, and the accommodation of the parents and their brood.

When the birds have for a while examined the nature of the bank, they begin their work by alighting against it, securing themselves by the claws, and spreading their tails considerably so as, by being pressed against the surface, to support the body. The bill is now employed in picking the soil, until a space large enough to admit the body of the bird is formed, when the feet and claws are also used in scratching out the sand. I have thought that the slight ascent of the burrow contributed considerably to enable the bird to perform the severe task of disposing of the loose materials, which are seen dropping out at irregular intervals. Both sexes work alternately, in the same manner as Woodpeckers; and few ornithological occupations have proved more pleasing to me than that of watching several hundred pairs of these winged artificers all busily and equally engaged, some in digging the burrows, others in obtaining food, which they would now and then bring in their bills for the use of their mates, or in procuring bits of dry grass or large feathers of the duck or goose, for the construction of their nests.

So industrious are the little creatures that I have known a hole dug to the depth of three feet four inches, and the nest finished in four days, the first egg being deposited on the morning of the fifth. It sometimes happens that soon after the excavation has been commenced, some obstruction presents itself, defying the utmost exertions of the birds; in which case they abandon the spot, and begin elsewhere in the neighbourhood. If these obstructions occur and are pretty general, the colony leaves the place; and it is very seldom that, after such an occurrence, any swallows of this species are seen near it. I have sometimes been surprised to see them bore in extremely loose sand. On the sea coast, where soft banks are frequent, you might suppose that, as the burrows are only a few inches apart, the sand might fall in so as to obstruct the holes and suffocate their inmates; but I have not met with an instance of such a calamitous occurrence. Along the banks of small rivulets I have found these birds having nests within a foot or two of the water, having been bored among the roots of some large trees, where I thought they were exposed to mice, rats, or other small predaceous animals. The nest is generally formed of some short bits of dry grass, and lined with a considerable number of large feathers. They lay from five to seven eggs for the first brood, fewer for the next. They are of an ovate, somewhat pointed form, pure white, eight-twelfths of an inch long, and six-twelfths in breadth

The young, as soon as they are able to move with ease, often crawl to the entrance of the hole, to wait the return of their parents with food. On such occasions they are often closely watched by the smaller Hawks, as well as the common Crows, which seize and devour them, in spite of the clamour of the old birds. These depredations upon the young are in fact continued after they have left the nest, and while they are perched on the dry twigs of the low trees in the neighbourhood, until they are perfectly able to maintain themselves on wing without the assistance of their parents.

In Louisiana, or in any district where this species raises more than one brood in the season, the males, I believe, take the principal charge of the young that have left the nest, though both sexes alternately incubate, all their moments being thus rendered full of care and anxiety respecting both their offspring and the sitting bird. The young acquire the full brown plumage of the adult by the first spring, when there is no observable difference between them; but I am induced to think that they keep apart from the old birds during the first winter, when I have thought I could yet perceive an inferiority in their flight, as well as in the loudness of their notes.

This species has no song, properly so called, but merely a twitter of short lisping notes. In autumn it at times alights on trees preparatory to its departure. On such occasions the individuals, often collected in great numbers, take up the time chiefly in pluming themselves, in which occupation they continue for hours.

I must conclude with assuring you that in my opinion, no difference whatever exists between the Bank Swallow of America and that of Europe. The birds from which I made the drawing for my plate were procured on the banks of the Schuylkil River in 1824.

HIRUNDO RIPARIA, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 344.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 575.—Ch. Bonap. Synopsis, p. 65.

BANK SWALLOW or SAND MARTIN, HIRUNDO RIPARIA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. v. p. 46, pl. 38, fig. 4.

HIRUNDO RIPARIA, THE SAND MARTIN, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii p. 333.

BANK SWALLOW, or SAND MARTIN, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 607.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXV. Fig. 1.

Bill very short, much depressed and very broad at the base, compressed toward the point, of a triangular form with the lateral outlines concave, when viewed from above or beneath; upper mandible with the dorsal line considerably convex, the sides convex, the edges sharp and overlapping, with a slight but distinct notch close to the deflected tip; lower mandible with the angle very broad, the dorsal line ascending and convex, the ridge broad and flat at the base, narrowed toward the tip, which is acute, the edges inflected. Nostrils basal, lateral, oblong.

Head of ordinary size, roundish, depressed; neck short; body slender. Feet very small; tarsus very short, anteriorly scutellate, moderately compressed, with a tuft of feathers behind at the lower part; toes free, small, the lateral equal, the first much stronger; claws long, slightly arched, much compressed, very acute.

Plumage soft and blended, without lustre. Wings very long, extending a little beyond the tail, very narrow, slightly falciform; the primaries tapering to an obtuse-point, the first quill longest, the second half a twelfth shorter, the third four and a quarter twelfths shorter than the second, the rest rapidly graduated; six of the secondaries distinctly emarginate. Tail rather long, deeply emarginate, the feathers tapering to an obtuse point.

Bill brownish-black. Iris hazel. Feet flesh-coloured, claws dusky. The upper parts are greyish-brown, or mouse colour, the head and wing-coverts darker, as are the primary coverts, primary quills, and outer secondaries, of which the shafts are dusky above, white beneath. The lower parts are white; the cheeks, a broad band across the lower part of the neck and fore part of the breast, and the sides under the wings, greyish-brown. The tail-feathers are very narrowly edged with a lighter tint, the outer with whitish.

Length to end of tail 5 inches, to end of wings 5-1/4, to end of claws 4-1/8; extent of wings 11; bill along the ridge 3/12, along the edge of lower mandible (6-1/2)/12; wing from flexure 4-2/12; tail to the fork 1-11/12; to the end 2-(4-1/2)/12; tarsus 5/12; hind toe (2-1/4)/12; its claw (3-1/2)/12; middle toe (4-3/4)/12, its claw (2-1/2)/12.

Adult Female. Plate CCCLXXXV. Fig. 2.

The Female cannot be distinguished from the male by any difference in her external appearance.

Length to end of tail 4-7/8 inches, to end of wings 5-1/4, to end of claws 4.

Young. Plate CCCLXXXV. Fig. 3.

The young when fully fledged, have the bill dusky, with the edges yellow, the feet flesh-coloured, the claws yellowish. The colour of the upper parts is darker, but the feathers are margined with light greyish-brown; the quills brownish-black, the outer very faintly, the inner broadly margined; the tail-feathers greyish-black, edged with greyish-white. The lower parts are white, the throat faintly streaked with dusky; the band across the breast, and the sides, coloured as in the adult, but darker.

On very carefully comparing skins of this Swallow, with a series of those of the Bank Swallow of Europe, procured for me by my esteemed friend, THOMAS DURHAM WEIR of Boghead, Esq. an enthusiastic and successful observer of the habits of birds, I can perceive no difference whatever. Old birds compared with old, and young with young, prove perfectly similar. There is, however, another species closely allied to the present, and which might very readily be confounded with it. This species, to which I give the name of Rough-winged Swallow, Hirundo serripennis, I consider it expedient to describe, although it has not as yet been figured by me.

In a male of the present species, from Boston, the palate is flat, the mouth very wide, measuring 5 twelfths across. The tongue is short, triangular, 2-1/2 twelfths long, deeply emarginate and papillate at the base, two of the lateral papillæ much larger than the rest, the tip bluntish and slightly slit. The œsophagus, a b c, is 1 inch 9 twelfths long, narrow, 2 twelfths in diameter, without crop or dilatation. The proventriculus, b, is little enlarged. The stomach, cdef, a gizzard of moderate length, with distinct lateral muscles, and of an elliptical form, is half an inch long, and 5 twelfths broad; its epithelium longitudinally rugous, tough, and light red. It is filled with remains of insects. The intestine, f g h, is 5-1/2 inches long, its greatest diameter 1-1/2 twelfth; the cœca very small, being 1-1/2 twelfth long, and 1/2 twelfth in diameter, their distance from the anus 9 twelfths. There is no essential difference between the digestive organs of this and other swallows, and the Flycatchers, Warblers, and other slender-billed birds.

The trachea is 1 inch 4 twelfths long; slender, flattened, of about 55 unossified rings. The contractor and sterno-tracheal muscles are slender; and there are four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles

ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.

HIRUNDO SERRIPENNIS.

On the afternoon of the 20th of October 1819, I was walking along the shores of a forest-margined lake, a few miles from Bayou Sara, in pursuit of some Ibises, when I observed a flock of small Swallows bearing so great a resemblance to our common Sand Martin, that I at first paid little attention to them. The Ibises proving too wild to be approached, I relinquished the pursuit, and being fatigued by a long day’s exertion, I leaned against a tree, and gazed on the Swallows, wishing that I could travel with as much ease and rapidity as they, and thus return to my family as readily as they could to their winter quarters. How it happened I cannot now recollect, but I thought of shooting some of them, perhaps to see how expert I might prove on other occasions. Off went a shot, and down came one of the birds, which my dog brought to me between his lips. Another, a third, a fourth, and at last a fifth were procured. The ever-continuing desire of comparing one bird with another led me to take them up. I thought them rather large, and therefore placed them in my bag, and proceeded slowly toward the plantation of WILLIAM PERRY, Esq., with whom I had for a time taken up my residence.

The bill and feet of the Swallows were pure black, and both, I thought, were larger than in the Sand Martin; but differences like these I seldom hold in much estimation, well knowing from long experience, that individuals of any species may vary in these respects. I was more startled when I saw not a vestige of the short feathers usually found near the junction of the hind toe with the tarsus in the common species, and equally so when I observed that the bird in my hand had a nearly even tail, with broad rounded feathers, the outer destitute of the narrow margin of white. At this time my observations went no farther.

Doubts have been expressed by learned ornithologists respecting the identity of the Common Sand Martin of America and that of Europe. Some of them in their treatises write Hirundo riparia? or Cotyle riparia? which in my opinion is foolish, especially if no reason be given for appending so crooked a character. About two years ago, my friend the Rev. JOHN BACHMAN, sent me four Swallow’s eggs accompanied with a letter, in which was the following notice:—“Two pairs of Swallows resembling the Sand Martin, have built their nests for two years in succession in the walls of an unfinished brick house at Charleston, in the holes where the scaffoldings had been placed. It is believed here that there are two species of these birds.” The eggs which my friend sent me differ greatly from those of our Common Sand Martin, being so much longer, larger, and more pointed, that I might have felt inclined to suppose them to belong to the European Swift, Cypselus murarius. But of the birds which had laid them no particular account was given. Time has passed; and during the while I have been anxious to meet again with such Swallows as I had shot near Bayou Sara, as well as to determine whether our Common Sand Martin be the same as that of Europe. And now, Reader, I am at last able to say, that the Sand Martin or Bank Swallow, Hirundo riparia, is common to Europe and America; and further, that a species, confounded with it in the latter country, is perfectly distinct.

I perhaps should never have discovered the differences existing between these species had I not been spurred by the remarks of VIEILLOT, who, in expressing his doubts as to their identity, and perhaps holding in his hand the bird here spoken of, says that the tarsus is much larger than in the European Sand Martin. I have been surprised that these doubts did not awaken in others a desire to inquire into the subject. Had this been done, however, I should probably have lost an opportunity of adding another new species to those to whose nomination I can lay claim, not to speak of such as, although well known to me previous to their having been published by others, I have lost the right of naming because I had imparted my knowledge of them to those who were more anxious of obtaining this sort of celebrity. I have now in my possession one pair of these Swallows procured by myself in South Carolina during my last visit to that State. Of their peculiar habits I can say nothing; but, owing to their being less frequent than the Sand Martin, I am inclined to believe that their most habitual residence may prove to be far to the westward, perhaps in the valleys of the Columbia River.

I regret that I have not figured this species, though it would have proved exceedingly difficult to exhibit in an engraving the peculiar character presented by the outer quill, unless it were much magnified.

The specific characters of these two Swallows, so nearly allied, are as follows:—

Hirundo riparia. Tail, Fig. 1, slightly forked, margin of first quill smooth, tarsus with a tuft of feathers behind; upper parts greyish-brown, lower whitish, with a dusky band across the fore part of the neck.

Hirundo serripennis. Tail, Fig. 2, slightly emarginate, margin of first quill, Fig. 3, rough with the strong decurved tips of the barbs, tarsus bare; upper parts greyish-brown, lower pale greyish-brown, white behind.

In its general appearance, including proportions as well as colour, the Rough-winged Swallow is extremely similar to the Bank Swallow. It differs however in having the bill considerably longer, more attenuated toward the end, with the point of the upper mandible more decurved. The tail, Fig. 2, is shorter and but slightly emarginate, the lateral exceeding the middle feathers by only two-twelfths of an inch, whereas in the other species they exceed them by five-twelfths or even six; feathers are also broader and more rounded at the end. The wings are longer, and extend half an inch beyond the tail. The tarsi and toes are somewhat longer and more slender, and there are no feathers on the hind part of the tarsus as in the common species; the claws are much more slender.

The bill is black, the tarsi, toes, and claws dusky. The upper parts are of the same greyish-brown, or mouse-colour, as those of the Bank Swallow. The lower are of a very light greyish-brown, gradually paler on the hind parts, the abdomen and lower tail-coverts being white.

Length to end of tail 5-3/4 inches, to end of wings 6-1/4; extent of wings 12-1/2; bill along the ridge (3-1/2)/12, along the edge of lower mandible (6-1/2)/12; wing from flexure 4-4/12; tail to end of middle feather 1-10/12; to end of longest feather 2; tarsus 5/12; hind toe (2-1/4)/12, its claw (2-1/4)/12; middle toe 5/12, its claw (3-1/4)/12.

In a specimen, from Charleston, South Carolina, preserved in spirits, the roof of the mouth is flat, the width of the gape 5-1/2 twelfths; the tongue triangular, 3-1/2 twelfths long, emarginate and papillate at the base, with two of the papillæ much larger, flat above, tapering to a slit point, more narrow and elongated than that of the Sand Swallow. The œsophagus is 1 inch 11 twelfths long, without dilatation, its breadth 1-1/2 twelfth. The stomach is elliptical, muscular, 5 twelfths long, being 4-1/2 twelfths, and placed a little obliquely; the epithelium brownish-red, tough, longitudinally rugous, filled with remains of insects. The intestine is 4-1/2 inches long; the cœca 1-1/2 twelfth in length, and 8 twelfths distant from the anus.

The trachea is 1 inch 4 twelfths long, its diameter 1 twelfth; its rings about 50; the muscles as in the other species; the bronchi very slender, of about 12 half rings.

VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW.

HIRUNDO THALASSINA, SWAINSON.

PLATE CCCLXXXV. MALE AND FEMALE.

Of this, the most beautiful Swallow hitherto discovered within the limits of the United States, the following account has been transmitted to me by my friend Mr NUTTALL. “We first met with this elegant species within the table-land of the Rocky Mountains, and they were particularly abundant around our encampment on Harris Fork, a branch of the Colorado of the west. They are nearly always associated with the Cliff Swallow, here likewise particularly numerous. Their flight and habits are also similar, but their twitter is different, and not much unlike the note of our Barn Swallow. In the Rocky Mountains, near our camp, we observed them to go in and out of deserted nests of the Cliff Swallow, which they appeared to occupy in place of building nests of their own. We saw this species afterwards flying familiarly about in the vicinity of a farm-house (M. LE BOUTE’s) on an elevated small isolated prairie on the banks of the Wahlamet, and as there are no cliffs in the vicinity, they probably here breed in trees, as I observed the White-bellied Martin do. This beautiful species in all probability extends its limits from hence to the table-land of Mexico, where Mr BULLOCH, it seems, found it.”

Dr TOWNSEND, who afterwards had better opportunities of observing the habits of this bird, thus speaks of it:—“Aguila chin chin of the Chinook Indians, inhabits the neighbourhood of the Colorado of the west, and breeds along its margins on bluffs of clay, where it attaches a nest formed of mud and grasses resembling in some measure that of the Cliff Swallow, but wanting the pendulous neck in that of the latter species. The eggs are four, of a dark clay colour, with a few spots of reddish-brown at the larger end. This species is also found abundant on the lower waters of the Columbia. River, where it breeds in hollow trees.”

Dr TOWNSEND also informs me that in the neighbourhood of the Columbia River, the Cliff Swallow attaches its nest to the trunks of trees, making it of the same form and materials as elsewhere. From the above facts, and many equally curious, which I have mentioned, respecting the variations exhibited by birds in the manner of forming their nests, as well as in their size, materials, and situation, it will be seen that differences of this kind are not of so much importance as has hitherto been supposed, in establishing distinctions between species supposed by some to be different, and by others identical. To give you some definite idea of what I would here impress upon your mind, I need only say that I have seen nests of the Barn or Chimney Swallow placed within buildings, under cattle-sheds, against the sides of wells, and in chimneys; that while some were not more than three inches deep, others measured nearly nine; while in some there was scarcely any grass, in others it formed nearly half of their bulk. I have also observed some nests of the Cliff Swallow in which the eggs had been deposited before the pendent neck was added, and which remained so until the birds had reared their brood, amidst other nests furnished with a neck, which was much longer in some than in others. From this I have inferred that nests are formed more or less completely, in many instances, in accordance with the necessity under which the bird may be of depositing its eggs.

HIRUNDO THALASSINUS, Swains. Synopsis of Mexican Birds, Philos. Mag. for 1827, p. 365.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXV. Fig. 4.

Bill very short, much depressed and very broad at the base, compressed toward the point, of a triangular form, with the lateral outlines nearly straight; upper mandible with the dorsal line considerably convex, the sides convex toward the end, the edges sharp and overlapping, with a slight but distinct notch close to the deflected acute tip; lower mandible with the angle very broad, the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the ridge broad and a little convex at the base, narrowed toward the tip, which is acute. Nostrils basal, lateral oblong.

Head rather large, roundish; neck very short; body slender. Feet very small; tarsus very short, anteriorly scutellate, compressed; toes free, small, the lateral equal, the first stronger; claws rather long, arched, much compressed, very acute.

Plumage soft and blended, on the upper parts somewhat velvety. Wings very long, extending far beyond the tail, very narrow, slightly falciform; the primaries tapering to an obtuse point; the first quill longest, the second almost equal, the rest rapidly diminishing; six of the secondaries emarginate. Tail of moderate length, emarginate, the middle feathers four-twelfths shorter than the lateral; all rounded.

Bill black; iris brown; feet dusky. The upper part of the head deep green gradually shaded into the dark purple of the hind neck; the back rich grass-green, the rump and upper tail-coverts carmine purple. The smaller wing-coverts are dusky, broadly tipped with green, glossed with purple; the quills and larger coverts dusky, glossed with blue; the tail also dusky, glossed with blue. A line over the eye, the cheeks, and all the lower parts, are pure white excepting the lower wing-coverts, which are light grey.

Length to end of tail 4-10/12, to end of wings 5-7/12; bill along the ridge (2-3/4)/12, along the edge of lower mandible 5/12; wing from flexure 4-6/12; tail to end of middle feathers 1-1/2, to end of longest 1-((10-1/2)/12); tarsus (4-3/4)/12; hind toe 2/12, its claw 2/12; middle toe (5-1/2)/12, its claw 2/12.

Adult Female. Plate CCCLXXXV. Fig. 5.

The Female is somewhat smaller, and differs considerably in colour. The upper part of the head and the hind neck are light greyish-brown glossed with bronzed green; the back bright green as in the male, the rump greyish-brown; the wings and tail are as in the male, but less glossy; as are the lower parts, which are, however, anteriorly tinged with grey.

Length to end of tail 4-7/12, to end of wings 5; wing from flexure 4-1/4, tail 1-((8-1/2)/12).

GREAT AMERICAN EGRET.

ARDEA EGRETTA, GMEL.

PLATE CCCLXXXVI. MALE.

In the third volume of this work, I have already intimated that the truly elegant Heron which now comes to be described, is a constant resident in the Floridas, that it migrates eastward sometimes as far as the State of Massachusetts, and up the Mississippi to the city of Natchez, and, lastly, that it is never seen far inland, by which I mean that its rambles into the interior seldom extend to more than fifty miles from the sea-shore, unless along the course of our great rivers. I have now to add that on my way to the Texas, in the spring of 1837, I found these birds in several places along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and on several of the islands scattered around that named Galveston, where, as well as in the Floridas, I was told that they spend the winter.

The Great American Egret breeds along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and our Atlantic States, from Galveston Island in the Texas to the borders of the State of New York, beyond which, although stragglers have been seen, none, in so far as I can ascertain, have been known to breed. In all low districts that are marshy and covered with large trees, on the margins of ponds or lakes, the sides of bayous, or gloomy swamps covered with water, are the places to which it generally resorts during the period of reproduction; although I have in a few instances met with their nests on low trees, and on sandy islands at a short distance from the main land. As early as December I have observed vast numbers congregated, as if for the purpose of making choice of partners, when the addresses of the males were paid in a very curious and to me interesting manner. Near the plantation of JOHN BULOW, Esq. in East Florida, I had the pleasure of witnessing this sort of tournament or dress-ball from a place of concealment not more than a hundred yards distant. The males, in strutting round the females, swelled their throats, as Cormorants do at times, emitted gurgling sounds, and raising their long plumes almost erect, paced majestically before the fair ones of their choice. Although these snowy beaux were a good deal irritated by jealousy, and conflicts now and then took place, the whole time I remained, much less fighting was exhibited than I had expected from what I had already seen in the case of the Great Blue Heron, Ardea Herodias. These meetings took place about ten o’clock in the morning, or after they had all enjoyed a good breakfast, and continued until nearly three in the afternoon, when, separating into flocks of eight or ten individuals, they flew off to search for food. These manœuvres were continued nearly a week, and I could with ease, from a considerable distance mark the spot, which was a clear sand-bar, by the descent of the separate small flocks previous to their alighting there.

The flight of this species is in strength intermediate between that of Ardea Herodias and A. rufescens, and is well sustained. On foot its movements are as graceful as those of the Louisiana Heron, its steps measured, its long neck gracefully retracted and curved, and its silky train reminded one of the flowing robes of the noble ladies of Europe. The train of this Egret, like that of other species, makes its appearance a few weeks previous to the love season, continues to grow and increase in beauty, until incubation has commenced, after which period it deteriorates, and at length disappears about the time when the young birds leave the nest, when, were it not for the difference in size, it would be difficult to distinguish them from their parents. Should you however closely examine the upper plumage of an old bird of either sex, for both possess the train, you will discover that its feathers still exist, although shortened and deprived of most of their filaments. Similar feathers are seen in all other Herons that have a largely developed train in the breeding season. Even the few plumes hanging from the hind part of the Ardea Herodias, A. Nycticorax, and A. violacea, are subject to the same rule; and it is curious to see these ornaments becoming more or less apparent, according to the latitude in which these birds breed, their growth being completed in the southern part of Florida two months sooner than in our Middle Districts.

The American Egrets leave the Floridas almost simultaneously about the 1st of March, and soon afterwards reach Georgia and South Carolina, but rarely the State of New Jersey, before the middle of May. In these parts the young are able to fly by the 1st of August. On the Mule Keys off the coast of Florida, I have found the young well grown by the 8th of May; but in South Carolina they are rarely hatched until toward the end of that month or the beginning of June. In these more southern parts two broods are often raised in a season, but in the Jerseys there is, I believe, never more than one. While travelling, early in spring, between Savannah in Georgia and Charleston in South Carolina, I saw many of these Egrets on the large rice plantations, and felt some surprise at finding them much wilder at that period of their migrations than after they have settled in some locality for the purpose of breeding. I have supposed this to be caused by the change of their thoughts on such occasions, and am of opinion that birds of all kinds become more careless of themselves. As the strength of their attachment toward their mates or progeny increases through the process of time, as is the case with the better part of our own species, lovers and parents performing acts of heroism, which individuals having no such attachment to each other would never dare to contemplate. In these birds the impulse of affection is so great, that when they have young they allow themselves to be approached, so as often to fall victims to the rapacity of man, who, boasting of reason and benevolence, ought at such a time to respect their devotion.

The American Egrets are much attached to their roosting places, to which they remove from their feeding grounds regularly about an hour before the last glimpse of day; and I cannot help expressing my disbelief in the vulgar notion of birds of this family usually feeding by night, as I have never observed them so doing even in countries where they were most abundant. Before sunset the Egrets and other Herons (excepting perhaps the Bitterns and Night Herons) leave their feeding grounds in small flocks, often composed of only a single family, and proceed on wing in the most direct course, at a moderate height, to some secure retreat more or less distant, according to the danger they may have to guard against. Flock after flock may be seen repairing from all quarters to these places of repose, which one may readily discover by observing their course.

Approach and watch them. Some hundreds have reached the well-known rendezvous. After a few gratulations you see them lower their bodies on the stems of the trees or bushes on which they have alighted, fold their necks, place their heads beneath the scapular feathers, and adjust themselves for repose. Daylight returns, and they are all in motion. The arrangement of their attire is not more neglected by them than by the most fashionable fops, but they spend less time at the toilet. Their rough notes are uttered more loudly than in the evening, and after a very short lapse of time they spread their snowy pinions, and move in different directions, to search for fiddlers, fish, insects of all sorts, small quadrupeds or birds, snails, and reptiles, all of which form the food of this species.

The nest of the Great White Egret, whether placed in a cypress one hundred and thirty feet high, or on a mangrove not six feet above the water, whether in one of those dismal swamps swarming with loathsome reptiles, or by the margin of the clear blue waters that bathe the Keys of Florida, is large, flat, and composed of sticks, often so loosely put together as to make you wonder how it can hold, besides itself, the three young ones which this species and all the larger Herons have at a brood. In a few instances only have I found it compactly built, it being the first nest formed by its owners. It almost always overhangs the water, and is resorted to and repaired year after year by the same pair. The eggs, which are never more than three, measure two inches and a quarter in length, an inch and five-eighths in breadth, and when newly laid are smooth, and of a pale blue colour, but afterwards become roughish and faded. When the nest is placed on a tall tree, the young remain in it, or on its borders, until they are able to fly; but when on a low tree or bush, they leave it much sooner, being capable of moving along the branches without fear of being injured by falling, and knowing that should they slip into the water they can easily extricate themselves by striking with their legs until they reach either the shore or the nearest bush, by clinging to the stem, of which they soon ascend to the top.

This Egret is shy and vigilant at all times, seldom allowing a person to come near unless during the breeding season. If in a rice-field of some extent, and at some distance from its margins, where cover can be obtained, you need not attempt to approach it; but if you are intent on procuring it, make for some tree, and desire your friend to start the bird. If you are well concealed, you may almost depend on obtaining one in a few minutes, for the Egrets will perhaps alight within twenty yards or less of you. Once, when I was very desirous of making a new drawing of this bird, my friend JOHN BACHMAN followed this method, and between us we carried home several superb specimens.

The long plumes of this bird being in request for ornamental purposes, they are shot in great numbers while sitting on their eggs, or soon after the appearance of the young. I know a person who, on offering a double-barrelled gun to a gentlemen near Charleston, for one hundred White Herons fresh killed, received that number and more the next day.

The Great Egret breeds in company with the Anhinga, the Great Blue Heron, and other birds of this family. The Turkey Buzzards and the Crows commit dreadful havoc among its young, as well as those of the other species. My friend JOHN BACHMAN gives me the following account of his visit to one of its breeding places, at the “Round O,” a plantation about forty miles from Charleston: “Our company was composed of BENJAMIN LOGAN, S. LEE, and Dr MARTIN. We were desirous of obtaining some of the Herons as specimens for stuffing, and the ladies were anxious to procure many of their primary feathers for the purpose of making fans. The trees were high, from a hundred to a hundred and thirty feet, and our shot was not of the right size; but we commenced firing at the birds, and soon discovered that we had a prospect of success. Each man took his tree, and loaded and fired as fast as he could. Many of the birds lodged on the highest branches of the cypresses, others fell into the nest, and, in most cases, when shot from a limb, where they had been sitting, they clung to it for some time before they would let go. One thing surprised me: it was the length of time it took for a bird to fall from the place where it was shot, and it fell with a loud noise into the water. Many wounded birds fell some distance off, and we could not conveniently follow them on account of the heavy wading through the place. We brought home with us forty-six of the large White Herons, and three of the great Blues. Many more might have been killed, but we became tired of shooting them.”

ARDEA EGRETTA, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 629.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 694.

ARDEA ALBA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 304.

GREAT WHITE HERON, ARDEA EGRETTA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. vii. p. 106, pl. 61, fig. 1.

ARDEA EGRETTA, Wagler, Syst. Avium,—GREAT WHITE HERON, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 47.

ARDEA LEUCE, Illiger, Lichtenstein.

Adult Male in Summer. Plate CCCLXXXVI.

Bill much longer than the head, straight, compressed, tapering to a point, the mandibles nearly equal. Upper mandible with the dorsal line nearly straight, the ridge broad and slightly convex at the base, narrowed and becoming rather acute towards the end, a groove from the base to two-thirds of the length, beneath which the sides are convex, the edges thin and sharp, with a notch close to the acute tip. Nostrils basal, linear, longitudinal, with a membrane above and behind. Lower mandible with the angle extremely narrow and elongated, the dorsal line beyond it ascending and almost straight, the edges sharp and direct, the tip acuminate.

Head small, oblong, compressed. Neck very long and slender. Body slender and compressed. Feet very long, tibia elongated, its lower half bare, slender, covered anteriorly and laterally with hexagonal scales, posteriorly with scutella; tarsus elongated, compressed, covered anteriorly with numerous scutella, some of which are divided laterally and posteriorly with angular scales. Toes of moderate length, rather slender, scutellate above, granulate beneath; third toe considerably longer than the fourth, which exceeds the second; the first large; the claws of moderate length, rather strong, arched, compressed, rather acute, that of the hind toe much larger, the inner edge of that of the third regularly pectinated.

Space between the bill and eye, and around the latter, bare. Plumage soft, blended; the feathers oblong, with their filaments generally disunited, unless on the wings and tail. There is no crest on the head, but the feathers on its upper and hind part are slightly elongated; those on the lower part of the neck anteriorly are elongated; and from between the scapulæ arises a tuft of extremely long, slightly decurved feathers, which extend about ten inches beyond the end of the tail, and have the shaft slightly undulated, the filaments long and distant. The wing is of moderate length; the primaries tapering but rounded, the second and third longest, the first slightly shorter than the fourth; the secondaries broad and rounded, some of the inner as long as the longest primaries, when the wing is closed. Tail very short, small, slightly rounded, of twelve rather weak feathers.

Bill bright yellow, as is the bare space between it and the eye; iris pale yellow; feet and claws black. The plumage is pure white.

Length to end of tail 37 inches, to end of claws 49, to end of wings 57-1/4, to carpus 23-1/2, to end of dorsal plumes 57; bill along the ridge 4-7/12, along the edge of lower mandible 5-5/12; wing from flexure 16-1/2; tail 6-1/4; extent of wings 55; bare part of tibia 3-1/2; tarsus 6-1/12; hind toe 1-1/2, its claw 1-2/12; second toe 2-8/12, its claw 7/12; third toe 3-11/12, its claw 9/12; fourth toe 3-2/12, its claw (7-1/2)/12. Weight 2-1/4 lb.

The Female is similar to the male, but somewhat smaller.

The roof of the mouth is slightly concave, with a median and two lateral longitudinal ridges, the palate convex, the posterior aperture of the nares linear, without an anterior slit. The mouth is rather narrow, measuring only 8 twelfths across, but is dilatable to 1-1/2 inch, the branches of the lower mandible being very elastic. The aperture of the ear is very small, being 2 twelfths in diameter, and roundish. The œsophagus is 2 feet 2 inches long, 1 inch and 4 twelfths in diameter, extremely thin, the longitudinal fibres within the transverse, the inner coat raised into numerous longitudinal ridges. The œsophagus continues of uniform diameter, and passes as it were directly into the stomach, there being no enlargement at its termination indicative of the proventriculus, which however exists, but in a modified form, there being at the termination of the gullet eight longitudinal series of large mucous crypts, about half an inch long, and immediately afterwards a continuous belt, 1-1/2 inch in breadth, of small cylindrical mucous crypts with minute apertures. Beyond this the stomach forms a hemispherical sac 1-1/2 inch in diameter, of a membranous structure, having externally beneath the cellular coat a layer of slender muscular fibres, convex towards two roundish tendons, and internally a soft, thin, smooth lining, perforated by innumerable minute apertures of glandules. The intestine is very long and extremely slender, measuring 6 feet 7 inches in length, its average diameter 2 twelfths. The rectum, b d f, is 3 inches long; the cloaca, d e f, globular, 1-1/2 inch in diameter; the cœcum, c, single, as in the other Herons, 3 twelfths long, and nearly 2 twelfths in diameter.

The trachea is 1 foot 9-1/4 inches long, of nearly uniform diameter, flattened a little for about half its length, its greatest breadth 3-1/2 twelfths; the rings 285, the last four rings divided and arched. The contractor muscles are extremely thin, the sterno-tracheal moderate, and coming off at the distance of 1 inch from the lower extremity, from which place also there proceeds to the two last rings a pair of slender inferior laryngeal muscles. The bronchi are very short, of about two half rings.

TAPAYAXIN.

The animal represented on the plate is the Tapayaxin of Hernandez, Phrynosoma orbicularis of WIEGMANN, Tapaya orbicularis of CUVIER. The specimen from which it was drawn was entrusted to my care by my friend RICHARD HARLAN, M. D., to whom it was presented by Mr NUTTALL, who found it in California. A notice respecting this species by Dr HARLAN will be found in the American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. xxxi.

GLOSSY IBIS.

IBIS FALCINELLUS, VIEILL.

PLATE CCCLXXXVII. MALE.

The first intimation of the existence of this beautiful species of Ibis within the limits of the United States is due to Mr GEORGE ORD of Philadelphia, the friend and companion of the celebrated ALEXANDER WILSON. It was described by him in the first volume of the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. He states that “on the seventh of May of the present year (1817), Mr THOMAS SAY received from Mr ORAM, of Great Egg Harbour, a fine specimen of Tantalus, which had been shot there. It is the first instance which has come to my knowledge of this species having been found in the United States. I was informed that a recent specimen of this bird was, likewise in the month of May, presented to the Baltimore Museum, and that two individuals were killed in the district of Columbia.” In the sequel Mr ORD compares it with Dr LATHAM’s account of the Tantalus Mexicanus of that author, and conjectures that it is the same.

It is not a little curious to see the changes of opinion that have taken place within these few years among naturalists who have thought of comparing American and European specimens of the birds which have been alleged to be the same in both continents. The Prince of MUSIGNANO, for example, who has given a figure of the very individual mentioned by Mr ORD, thought at the time when he published the fourth volume of his continuation of WILSON’s American Ornithology, that our Glossy Ibis was the one described by the older European writers under the name of Ibis Falcinellus. Now, however, having altered his notions so far as to seem desirous of proving that the same species of bird cannot exist on both the continents, he has latterly produced it anew under the name of Ibis Ordi. This new name I cannot with any degree of propriety adopt. I consider it no compliment to the discoverer of a bird to reject the name which he has given it, even for the purpose of calling it after himself.

The Glossy Ibis is of exceedingly rare occurrence in the United States, where it appears only at long and irregular intervals, like a wanderer who has lost his way. It exists in Mexico, however, in vast numbers. In the spring of 1837, I saw flocks of it in the Texas; but even there it is merely a summer resident, associating with the White Ibis, along the grassy margins of the rivers and bayous, and apparently going to and returning from its roosting places in the interior of the country. Its flight resembles that of its companion, the White Ibis, and it is probable that it feeds on the same kinds of crustaceous animals, and breeds on low bushes in the same great associations as that species, but we unfortunately had no opportunity of verifying this conjecture. Mr NUTTALL, in his Ornithology of the United States and Canada, says that “a specimen has occasionally been exposed for sale in the market of Boston.”

I have given the figure of a male bird in superb plumage, procured in Florida, near a wood-cutter’s cabin, a view of which is also given.

TANTALUS FALCINELLUS, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 241.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii, p. 707.

IBIS FALCINELLUS, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 311.—Wagler, Syst. Avium.

GLOSSY IBIS, IBIS FALCINELLUS, Ch. Bonap. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 23.

TANTALUS IGNEUS, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 649.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 708. Adult.

TANTALUS VIRIDIS, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 648.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 707. Young.

NUMENIUS CASTANEUS, Briss. vol. v. p. 329. Adult.

NUMENIUS VIRIDIS, Briss. vol. v. p. 326. Young.

TANTALUS MEXICANUS? Ord, Journal of Acad. of Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. i. p. 53.

BAY or GLOSSY IBIS, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 88.

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXVII.

Bill very long, slender, higher than broad, compressed, tapering, acute, obtuse. Upper mandible with the dorsal line arched in its whole length, the ridge convex, broader towards the end, the sides at the base nearly erect, towards the end very convex and narrow, the ridge separated in its whole length from the sides by a deep narrow groove, the edges inflected and sharp. Nostrils basal, dorsal, linear, direct. Lower mandible more slender than the upper, its angle very narrow, and protracted in the form of a groove to the tip, the sides convex, the edges sharp, but strong and closely approximated, bearing only a very narrow groove between them.

Head small, compressed, oblong; neck long and slender; body slender, deeper than broad; wings rather large. Feet very long, slender; tibia long, bare about half its length, and covered all round with hexagonal scales; tarsi long, slender, anteriorly covered with numerous broad scutella, laterally with angular scales, beneath flattened, with thick soft margins; the anterior connected at the base by membranes, of which the outer is large; claws rather small, slightly arched, compressed, tapering, pointed, that of the middle toe with a sharp thin edge.

There is a bare space margining the forehead, occupying the part before the eye, and extending a little beyond it. Feathers of the head and neck slender lanceolate; those of the former glossy and compact, of the latter blended, as are those of the breast and abdomen, which are ovate. The upper parts highly glossed, with silky lustre, the feathers generally ovate and rounded. Wings long, ample, the first primary a quarter of an inch shorter than the second, which is two-twelfths longer than the third, the rest moderately graduated; the first sinuate on the inner web near the end, the second less deeply so; some of the inner secondaries elongated, but rounded, and when the wing is closed an inch and ten-twelfths shorter than the longest primary. Tail short, very slightly emarginate, of twelve rounded feathers.

Bill black; bare part of the head greyish-blue; iris hazel; feet greyish-black, claws brown. The upper part and sides of the head are dark glossy, with purplish reflections. The neck, a portion of the back anteriorly, the breast, abdomen, and legs, are of a deep rich brownish-red, or dark chestnut; part of the breast shaded with green, the sides dusky tinged with green, as are the lower wing-coverts, and lower tail-coverts. Excepting the anterior edge of the wing, and the anterior scapulars, which are deep glossy brownish-red, the upper parts are splendent dark green, glossed with purple; the primaries black, shaded with green; the tail glossy with purple reflections.

Length to end of tail 25 inches; to end of claws 30-1/2; bill along the ridge 5-4/12, along the edge of lower mandible 5-2/12; wing from flexure 11-1/4; tail 4-1/4; bare part of tibia 2-1/2; hind toe 1-1/12, its claw (5-1/4)/12; second toe 1-11/12, its claw (6-1/4)/12; third toe 2-8/12, its claw 7/12; fourth toe 2-4/12, its claw 5/12.

The Female is similar to the male, but somewhat less.

The young in its second plumage, has the bill dusky, tinged with yellow, the bare part of the head dusky; the feet blackish-brown, the head, neck and lower parts are greyish-brown, the head and greater part of the neck marked with small longitudinal streaks of white, of which there are two on each feather. All the upper parts are blackish-green, glossy in a less degree than those of the adult.

On comparing adult American specimens with others obtained on the old continent, I can perceive no difference between them. A young Mexican bird, and one from India, are also precisely similar. I cannot therefore entertain a doubt as to the identity of our bird with the Tantalus Falcinellus of LATHAM and other European writers, which has been shewn by SAVIGNY to be the Black Ibis of the ancients.

SUBSCRIBERS TO “THE BIRDS OF AMERICA,”

OBTAINED SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF THE THIRD VOLUME.

Miss Elizabeth L. Pickman, Salem, Massachusetts.

The Salem Atheneum, Salem, Massachusetts.

Augustus Thorndike, Esq. Boston, Massachusetts.

J. J. Hughes, Esq. Manchester, Mississippi.

John Hunt, Esq. Mobile, Alabama.

L. Baldwin, Esq. Civil Engineer, Boston.

The Honourable Daniel Webster, Boston.

Samuel Swartout, Esq. New York.

James Watson Webb, Esq. New York.

Thomas H. Faile, Esq. New York.

Lewis Rogers, Esq. New York.

Henry Hitchcock, Mobile, Alabama.

Jer. Van Rensselaer, Esq. M. D., New York.

The Honourable Levy Woodbury, Washington City, for the State Departments.

Stephen A. Halsey, Hallet’s Cove, Long Island.

The State of Michigan, by Governor Mason.

Thomas Metcalf, Esq. Augusta, Georgia.

Henry Clay, junior, Esq. Ashland, Kentucky.

H. C. De Rham, junior, Esq. New York.

Benjamin Phillips, Esq., F.R.S.L., &c. &c. &c. 17 Wimpole Street, London.

Henry G. Bohn, Esq., London.

John Gould, Esq. F.L.S., &c. London.

Charles J. Warde, Esq. Welcomb, near Stratford-on-Avon.

The British Museum, London.

His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, &c. &c. &c.

Earl Hardwicke, &c. &c. &c. Wimpole, Arlington, Cambridge.

Sir Jacob Hastley, Bart., &c. &c. 7 Cavendish Square, London.

INDEX.

Page

Alea impennis, 316

American Avoset, 168

—— Bittern, 296

—— Dipper, 493

—— Ring Plover, 256

—— White Pelican, 88

—— Widgeon, 337

Anas americana, 237

—— Breweri, 302

—— clypeata, 241

—— discors, 111

—— obscura, 15

—— strepera, 353

Anhinga, 136

Anser hyperboreus, 562

Aramus Scolopaceus, 543

Ardea cœrulea, 58

—— Egretta, 600

—— minor, 296

—— violacea, 290

—— virescens, 274

Arkansaw Flycatcher, 422

Ash-coloured Sandpiper, 130

Auk, Great, 316

Avoset, American, 168

Band-tailed Pigeon, 479

Bank Swallow, 584

Bartramian Sandpiper, 24

Bittern, American, 296

Black Skimmer, 203

Black-bellied Plover, 280

Black-cap Titmouse, 374

Black-headed Grosbeak, 519

Black-headed Gull, 118

Black-necked Stilt, 247

Black-shouldered Hawk, 367

Black-throated Bunting, 579

—— Diver, 345

Blue Heron, 58

Blue-winged Teal, 111

Bohemian Chatterer, 462

Bombycilla garrula, 462

Bonapartian Gull, 212

Brewer’s Duck, 302

Buffel-headed Duck, 217

Bunting, Black-throated, 579

Buzzard, Common, 508

Canvass-back Duck, 1

Charadrius helveticus, 280

—— montanus, 362

—— semipalmatus, 256

Chatterer, Bohemian, 462

Chestnut-backed Titmouse, 371

Chestnut-crowned Titmouse, 382

Clarke’s Nutcracker, 459

Cinclus Americanus, 493

Cleome heptaphylla, 558

Cock of the Plains, 503

Columba fasciata, 479

Colymbus arcticus, 345

—— glacialis, 43

Common Buzzard, 508

—— Gannet, 222

—— Magpie, 408

—— Tern, 74

Corvus Nuttalli, 450

—— Pica, 408

—— Stelleri, 453

—— ultramarinus, 456

Courlan, Scolopaceous, 543

Crossbill, White-winged, 467

Cygnus Buccinator, 536

Dipper, American, 493

Diver, Black-throated, 345

—— Great Northern, 43

Duck, Brewer’s, 302

—— Buffel-headed, 217

—— Canvass-back, 1

—— Dusky, 15

—— Gadwall, 353

—— Golden-eye, 318

—— Long-tailed, 103

—— Pied, 271

—— Red-headed, 198

—— Ruddy, 326

—— Shoveller, 241

—— Surf, 161

Dusky Duck, 15

Dusky Grous, 446

Egret, Great American, 600

Emberiza americana, 579

—— lapponica, 472

Evening Grosbeak, 515

Falco Buteo, 508

—— cyaneus, 396

—— dispar, 367

—— fuscus, 522

Falcon, Iceland, 476

—— Jer, 476

Finch, Macgillivray’s, 394

Flycatcher, Arkansaw, 422

—— Say’s, 420

—— Swallow-tailed, 426

Fringilla Linaria, 533

—— Macgillivraii, 394

—— melanocephala, 519

—— vespertina, 515

Fuligula Albeola, 217

—— clangula, 318

—— Ferina, 198

—— glacialis, 103

—— labradora, 271

—— perspicillata, 161

—— rubida, 326

—— valisneriana, 1

Gadwall Duck, 353

Gallinula martinica, 37

Gallinule, Purple, 37

Gannet, Common, 222

Glossy Ibis, 608

Godwit, Tell-tale, 68

Golden-eye Duck, 318

Goosander, 261

Goose, Snow, 562

Great American Egret, 600

—— Auk, 316

—— Cinereous Owl, 364

—— Northern Diver, 43

Green Heron, 274

Grous, Dusky, 446

—— Rock, 483

—— Sharp-tailed, 569

Grosbeak, Black-headed, 519

—— Evening, 515

—— Pine, 414

Guillemot, Little, 304

Gull, Black-headed, 519

—— Bonapartian, 212

—— Laughing, 118

Hawk, Black-shouldered, 367

—— Marsh, 396

—— Owl, 550

—— Sharp-shinned, 522

—— Slate-coloured, 522

Heron, Blue, 58

—— Green, 274

—— Yellow-crowned, 290

Himantopus nigricollis, 247

Hirundo riparia, 584

—— serripennis, 593

—— thalassina, 597

Humming Bird, Ruff-necked, 555

Ibis Falcinellus, 608

—— Glossy, 608

Iceland Falcon, 476

Jay, Steller’s, 453

—— Ultramarine, 456

Jer Falcon, 476

Knot, 130

Lapland Longspur, 472

Larus Atricilla, 118

—— Bonapartii, 212

Laughing Gull, 118

Least Petrel, 310

—— Tern, 175

—— Water Rail, 359

Lepus palustris, 510

Lesser Redpoll, 533

Little Guillemot, 304

—— Sandpiper, 180

Long-eared Owl, 572

Long-legged Sandpiper, 332

Longspur, Lapland, 472

Long-tailed Duck, 103

Loon, 43

Louisiana Tanager, 385

Loxia leucoptera, 467

Macgillivray’s Finch, 394

Magpie, Common, 408

—— Magpie, Yellow-billed, 450

Marsh Hare, 510

—— Hawk, 396

Martin, Sand, 584

Mergus Albellus, 350

—— Merganser, 261

Mocking Bird, Mountain, 487

Mountain Mocking Bird, 487

Muscicapa forficata, 426

—— Saya, 428

—— verticalis, 422

Northern Diver, 43

Nucifraga columbiana, 459

Nun, White, 350

Nutcracker, Clarke’s, 459

Owl, Great Cinereous, 364

—— Hawk, 550

—— Long-eared, 572

—— Tengmalm’s, 559

Parus atricapillus, 374

—— minimus, 382

—— rufescens, 371

Pelecanus Americanus, 88

Pelican, American, White, 88

—— White, 88

Petrel, Least, 310

Pied Duck, 271

Pigeon, Band-tailed, 479

Pine Grosbeak, 414

Plains, Cock of the, 503

Platalea Ajaja, 189

Plotus Anhinga, 136

Plover, American Ring, 256

—— Black-bellied, 280

—— Rocky mountain, 362

Purple Gallinule, 37

Rail, Least Water, 359

—— yellow-breasted, 251

Rallus noveboracensis, 251

—— jamaicensis, 359

Razor-billed Shearwater, 203

Recurvirostra americana, 168

Red-breasted Snipe, 285

Red-headed Duck, 198

Redpoll, Lesser, 533

Rhynchops nigra, 203

Ring-plover, American, 256

Rock Grous, 483

—— Wren, 443

Rocky Mountain Plover, 362

Roseate Spoonbill, 189

Rough-winged Swallow, 593

Ruddy Duck, 326

Ruff-necked Humming Bird, 555

Sand Martin, 584

Sandpiper, Ash-coloured, 130

—— Bartramian, 24

—— Little, 180

—— Long-legged, 332

—— Spotted, 81

Say’s Flycatcher, 428

Scarlet Tanager, 388

Scolopaceous Courlan, 543

Scolopax noveboracensis, 285

Sharp-shinned Hawk, 522

Sharp-tailed Grous, 569

Shear-water, Razor-billed, 203

Shoveller Duck, 241

Skimmer, Black, 203

Slate-coloured Hawk, 522

Smew, 350

Snake-bird, 136

Snipe, Red-breasted, 285

Snow Goose, 562

Spoonbill, Roseate, 189

Spotted Sandpiper, 81

Steller’s Jay, 453

Sterna Hirundo, 74

—— minuta, 175

Stilt, Black-necked, 247

Strepsilas Interpres, 31

Strix cinerea, 364

—— funerea, 550

—— Tengmalmi, 559

Sula bassana, 222

Surf Duck, 161

Swallow, Bank, 584

—— Rough-winged, 593

Swallow-tailed Flycatcher, 426

Swallow, violet-green, 597

Swan, Trumpeter, 536

Tanager, Louisiana, 385

—— Scarlet, 388

Tanagra ludoviciana, 385

—— rubra, 388

Tapaya orbicularis, 606

Tapayaxin, 607

Teal, Blue-winged, 111

Tengmalm’s Owl, 559

Tell-tale Godwit, 68

Tern, Common, 74

—— Least, 175

Tetrao obscurus, 446

—— Phasianellus, 569

—— rupestris, 483

—— Urophasianus, 503

Thalassidroma pelagica, 310

Thrush, Varied, 489

Titmouse, Black-cap, 374

—— Chestnut-backed, 371

—— Chestnut-crowned, 382

Totanus Bartramius, 24

—— macularius, 81

—— melanoleucus, 68

Tringa himantopus, 332

—— islandica, 130

—— pusilla, 180

Troglodytes hyemalis, 430

—— obsoletus, 443

Trochilus rufus, 555

Trumpeter Swan, 536

Turdus montanus, 487

—— nævius, 489

Turnstone, 31

Ultramarine Jay, 456

Uria Alle, 304

Varied Thrush, 489

Violet-green Swallow, 597

White Nun, 350

White-winged Crossbill, 467

Widgeon, American, 337

Winter Wren, 430

Wren, Rock, 443

—— Winter, 430

Yellow-billed Magpie, 450

Yellow-breasted Rail, 251

Yellow-crowned Heron, 290

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