Part 12

All in all, then, between politics and business, the city was "very much alive," as the saying goes; but somehow it was not so often the people about me that occupied my thoughts as those who had been here thirty years before. Precious is the power of a first impression. Because I was newly in the country I was constantly under the feeling of its past. Hither and thither I went in the region round about, listening at every turn, spying into every bush at the stirring of a leaf or the chirp of a bird; yet I had always with me the men of '63, and felt always that I was on holy ground.

FOOTNOTES:

The Auk, vol. iii. p. 103.

Both these warblers--the Nashville and the Tennessee--were named by Wilson from the places where the original specimens were shot. Concerning the Tennessee warbler he sets down the opinion that "it is most probably a native of a more southerly climate." It would be a pity for men to cease guessing, though the shrewdest are certain to be sometimes wrong.

The Auk, vol. iii. p. 175.

The Auk, vol. vi. p. 120.

Ibid., vol. v. p. 267.

The Auk, vol. iii. p. 315. Of sixty-two species seen by me during the last four days of April, eleven are not given by Dr. Fox, namely, Wilson's thrush, black-poll warbler, bay-breasted warbler, Cape May warbler, black-throated blue warbler, palm warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, blue golden-winged warbler, bobolink, Acadian flycatcher, yellow-billed cuckoo.

See Dr. Fox's list.

A LIST OF BIRDS

FOUND IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF CHATTANOOGA FROM APRIL 27 TO MAY 18, 1894.

1. Green Heron. Ardea virescens.--A single individual seen from a car window. No other water birds were observed except three or four ducks and a single wader, all upon the wing and unidentified.

2. Bob White. Quail. Partridge. Colinus virginianus.--Common.

3. Ruffed Grouse. "Pheasant." Bonasa umbettus.--Heard drumming on Walden's Ridge.

4. Carolina Dove. Mourning Dove. Zenaidura macroura.--A small number seen.

5. Turkey Vulture. Turkey Buzzard. Cathartes aura.--Common.

6. Black Vulture. Carrion Crow. Catharista atrata.--Two birds seen.

7. Red-tailed Hawk. Buteo borealis.--One bird seen from Walden's Ridge.

8. Sparrow Hawk. Falco sparverius.--One bird, on Walden's Ridge.

9. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Coccyzus americanus.--Common. First noticed April 29.

10. Black-billed Cuckoo. Coccyzus erythrophthalmus.--Seen twice on Lookout Mountain, May 7 and 8, and once on Walden's Ridge, May 12.

11. Belted Kingfisher. Ceryle alcyon.--A single bird heard on Walden's Ridge.

12. Hairy Woodpecker. Dryobates villosus.--My notes record seven birds. No attempt was made to determine their specific or sub-specific identity, but they are presumed to have been D. villosus, not D. villosus audubonii.

13. Downy Woodpecker. Dryobates pubescens.--A single bird was heard (not seen) on Walden's Ridge,--a noticeable reversal of the usual relative commonness of this species and the preceding.

14. Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Dryobates borealis.--Found only at Chickamauga, on Snodgrass Hill, in long-leaved pines--two or three birds.

15. Pileated Woodpecker. "Logcock." Ceophloeus pileatus.--Said to be common on Walden's Ridge, where I heard its flicker-like shout.

16. Red-headed Woodpecker. Melanerpes erythrocephalus.--One seen near Missionary Ridge and one at Chickamauga. The scarcity of this bird, and the absence of the red-bellied and the yellow-bellied, were among the surprises of my visit.

17. Flicker. Golden-winged Woodpecker. Colaptes auratus.--Not common. Three birds were seen at Chickamauga, and it was occasional on Walden's Ridge, where I listed it five days of the seven.